A Master Class in Mecha

I've been laid up at home with an awful illness for the past week and a half, and to pass the time outside of LEGO I've been working on something I've wanted to try my hand at for a long time - a Mobile Suit Gundam master grade model kit. Thus, it seems serendipitous that Chris Darmawan finishes and posts this beauty during the height of my new obsession.

Inspired by a Mobile Suit named "Tief Strumer," this beast looks positively wicked. There's so many cool details all over this thing, and the expertly sculpted head gives it a wonderfully sinister demeanor.

Thank you, Mr. Darmawan, for adding yet another project to my never ending list of MOCs I want to try my hand at.

Lifting Microscale to New Heights

As a predominantly microscale builder, I love the challenge of making something instantly recognizable with as few pieces as possible. Builder Kosmas Santosa will tell you himself that he doesn't build much in this scale - but after seeing this Gondola I'm certain he should continue to try his hand at it. I see a total of 11 pieces here, not counting the string and background. Masterful work.

Paint The Town Red

I'm a sucker for a good workshop scene - and builder Ted Andes has knocked this one out of the park. The robot in and of itself deserves attention, but be on the look out for some really great parts use, including tank treads for the workshop floor, and a bionicle minifigure leg as shop table equipment. Bravo!

Marchitecture Begins!

A new month within the AFOL community usually brings new challenges and contests, and I am personally rather excited for this new offering sponsored by SLUG from Saskatchewan! Marchitecture challenges us to build a microscale version of a real world building, in the style of the official TLG Architecture sets. Full contest rules can be found in the Flickr group.

First prize is a copy of 20128-1 New York City, so get building!

And the SHIPs come rolling in...

With only two days left in SHIPtember, we're starting to see completed SHIPs pull in to dock. Some of them, especially this beauty by LEGOLIZE IT MAN, are making the rest of us look like amateurs. This gorgeous battlecruiser utilizes some wonderful oddball color combinations, and really looks like it could dish out some serious punishment. If you haven't finished your own SHIP yet - get to it! There's only a day and a half left...

V-Galactic Racing

I'm a sucker for a good MOC backstory. It adds that extra touch of flair to really understand the world in which a build exists. Builder Markus Rollbühler has not only knocked it out of the park with two awesome space builds, but has generated a wonderful context - they're selectable racers from a video game! He's even gone the extra mile to craft his own select menu, which looks fantastic. I hope we get to "unlock" the rest of the racers soon.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Fellow denizens of space, SHIPtember is finally upon us! Test your resolve and mettle in a 30 day, no-holds barred battle of the builders! Boys will become men! Men will become champions! Champions will rise! The chaff will be unceremoniously culled from the wheat! Feast your eyes upon this year's trophy!

For the uninitiated - SHIPtember is a yearly challenge for any builder to try his hand at a SHIP within 30 days. A rather daunting task, as SHIP building is fraught with peril, frustration, and crumbling battlecruisers. Visit The Shipyard for official rules. Go ahead. Try it. You know you want to.

By the power of Grayskull!

Vitreolum is on an absolute roll - he's been blogged twice by BrickNerd in the past week, but that's not going to stop me from highlighting this amazing micro Grayskull. This combines my already overwhelming microscale obsession with a heart-string tugging blast from my childhood. Now to go find the correct parts so I can have my own!

All right, you primitive screw-heads, listen up!

See this? This... is my boomstick! It's a twelve-gauge, double-barreled Remington. S-Mart's top of the line. You can find this in the sporting goods department. That's right, this sweet baby was made in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Retails for about $109.95. It's got a walnut stock, cobalt-blue steel, and a hair trigger. That's right... shop smart: shop S-Mart... You got that?

Nice job, Mr. Maddison. Nice job. Cute as hell and instantly recognizable. 

They call me the Seeker...

One of my perennial favorite mecha builders, Lu Sim, has upgraded an older frame, and I must say the results are stunning. Everything here looks functional, and the long range rifle looks capable of dishing out some serious hurt. I also love that the builder takes the time to craft an excellent backstory and loadout, something that adds a lot of extra flair to his builds.

Here comes the story of the Hurricane

During last year's SHIPtember,  Tim Schwalfenberg stepped forward with the quite excellent Hurricane Battlecruiser, which landed him a well deserved win for the contest. Since then, he's been hard at work on the rest of the fleet. Although much smaller, they are no less magnificent. I've highlighted my favorites below, but make sure to check out the entire fleet, as they are all spectacular builds which maintain a wonderful design and color cohesion throughout.

Bugatti Vendicatore

I'm a total sucker for small, compact spaceships that look functional. This Bugatti Vendicatore by David Hensel is an excellent example of how you don't have to build big to build beautiful. It incorporates a great mix of technic panels and constraction parts that offer up a great bulky shape, and create some really interesting front air intakes. It's easy to imagine a swarm of these offering forth from the bowels of a giant capital ship. Extra kudos on the sharp photography and edit.

Your base is under attack!

As we roll into the biggest AFOL conventions of the year, one of the best things to see is all of the wonderful collaborative efforts that builders come out of the woodwork with. This year is no different, with nine different builders pooling their collective talents on a huge Microscale Starcraft II project. I've selected some of my personal favorites below, but you can view all of them in the group's Flickr pool. And since I was a die-hard Terran player in my day, I can't resist - YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME, BOY?!?!

A master class in SHIP building.

This is how it's done, ladies and gentlemen. I've been following this one for a long time, patiently awaiting its completion. The end results, I must say, have been more than worth it. Peter Mowry has been hard at work on The Solacium for nearly a year. I remember seeing the first concept sketch on Flickr in 2014, and wondered how he was going to pull it off. Well, here it is, in all its glory. Words fail me. One of the finest examples of SHIP building that has ever graced the ABS brick. Bravo, Pete.

Dream Garage

If you asked me what my dream garage would be filled with - Vespa scooters just might be the absolute last thing on my list. I would prefer mine to be filled with various iterations of twin-turbocharged 80's sports cars that dominated my bedroom wall when I was young. Yet, after seeing this masterful build by Andrea Lattazino, I'm not so sure anymore. The attention to detail in this MOC is stunning. Feast your eyes upon this, young builders, for within this build lies phenomenal technique, parts use, and color palette. Hats off to you, Andrea, for making me love Vespas.

Surf's Up!

I've been frantically scrubbing IMDB for a good Point Break reference, but alas none seem to do justice to the phenomenal styling of this build. Miro Dudas has crafted an exceptional flowing wave to wrap around his brick built surfer dude. The surfer's stance, along with the implied froth of the waves using minifigure ice cream leads to an amazingly dynamic MOC.

O.M.S.L.M.B.P.U.

With one build, Nooroyd has far exceeded "NPU" and has forced me to create an altogether new acronym. OH MY SWEET LORD, MIND BLOWING PARTS USE.

See if you can spot them all. Look at this thing. LOOK AT IT! BASK IN ITS GLORY, FOR YOU ARE NOW ITS HUMBLE SERVANT!

Toy Story army helmets & fig stands, clone visors & antennae, popsicles, rubber bands, minifigure hands, and yet it all looks like it belongs. Perfection.

The fairest lady of them all...

The Datsun 240Z (known as the "Fairlady" on the shores of its home country) is one of the most iconic Japanese sports cars of all time. In his usual inimitable fashion, Tiler has created a version in the brick that is immediately recognizable. Extra kudos on the photography, which is as clean as a Hutt's dinner plate. I take that back - a Hutt would likely eat the plate as well.

EXTREME Rooster Tail

On a scale of one to ten, one being the least extreme, and ten being the most extreme, I give this a solid ten.  Bricksky has created a fantastic scene here, with the boat's rooster tail wake blowing over the buoy adding to the dynamism of the build. Also a phenomenal use of the minifigure heads here - looks like they have mixed opinions of the ride.