Root Canal

As a dentist, I see people cringe when I say those words.  But when I saw this creation by Lab Synth, I had a different reaction.  Drawing inspiration from Venice, the scene is comprised of a tight succession of palaces along a canal named for the tree in the small plaza.  The owners are extremely competitive, not only with architectural styles, but construction materials as well.  I recommend the zoom feature to see all the intricate details throughout the build.  It's almost like having the magnifiers dentists use when drilling on teeth. 

The Shard

This iconic building was still under construction when I was living and working in London in 2010, but even in it's half-built unfinished state it was impressive. It was completed in 2012 and while it had somewhat divided the public at first, it has since found it's way into the hearts and minds of Londoners and the world. It's a beautiful building, and this brick version by Rocco Buttliere is just as beautiful. Click through for more pics.

Getting Amp'd

One of the fun things about Iron Builder is the smack talk and MOC inspired MOCs. By that I mean one builder posts something, and the next builder responds to it with their own build. Some of it gets incredibly creative, if not a little sassy. For instance the drummer below is in direct response to this awesome amplifier from Legonardo Davidy.

Phonograph

There seems to be a music theme this morning here at BrickNerd. By total coincidence I was thinking moments ago about the Christmas music I have on vinyl, then this wonderful phonograph by bricks.life.idea pops up. I'll take it as a hint that I need to deck the halls today.

Gimme A Beat

Did I ever mention I'm a drummer? Well, let me clarify that, I'm a drummer in the sense that I have a drum set, and I make noise with it (or used to, it's been mothballed for ages). Of course I've never looked as cool as this cat by 6kyubi6 ready to rock your socks off

Red Five Standing By...

One of the classic problems when scaling down the X-Wing is keeping those iconic quad guns looking proper. This solution with the musketeer sword is pretty brilliant. We've seen countless LEGO versions of this Star Wars ship but this one by Legonardo Davidy just might be my favorite ever.

Pump It Up!

This is one of those classic situations where you might just skip over a MOC because it's so darned good it just looks like a mundane photo of an everyday object. This hand pump by 6kyubi6 may not be any good at inflating anything, but it's sure splendid to look at.

Standard Equipment

You know, I've never given much thought to the "mudflap girl". I grew up seeing her on nearly every 18 wheeler in the country, and since have seen her on hats and shirts and stickers and so on and so on. With a quick google search I discovered she's the product of Bill Zinda, who came up with her to promote his trucking products. And she's been going strong ever since. And now we can enjoy her curvaceous silhouette in bricks thanks to builder bricksnoir.

Batman

This would have made an excellent addition to the Comic Bricks collaboration at Designer-Con (which I didn't get to see, boo hoo). Builder vitreolum has crafted yet another brilliant mosaic MOC, this time it's the dark knight himself, Batman. I don't know about you, but I feel safer at night knowing he's watching over us.

Love

If you find yourself at Ozfest this gesture has a totally different meaning, but if you're familiar with American Sign Language, you know this means love. And what could be a more touching effort to show the woman you love than to build her a sculpture? That's exactly what alanboar did, and the results speak for themselves. Happy anniversary you two.

One Ends, Another Begins

I had the honor and burden of judging the last Iron Builder, in which CMaddisson emerged victorious. But no sooner does one end, than the next epic struggle begins. This round pits Legonardo Davidy against 6kyubi6, and what a round it will be. Both builders have unique and very different styles, and the seed part (the musketeer sword) should prove to be a challenge to both. Let's all sit back and enjoy the action.

Oh, and Spongebob Squarepants has always been a fixture in this house, in fact I hung a Spongebob ornament on the tree yesterday. So I would be amiss if I didn't post this awesome MOC of Gary

King Dedede

Hey Nintendo fans, It's Kirby's hammer wielding arch nemesis King Dedede! This guy loves nothing more than smashing stuff, which is sort of odd behavior for a penguin in my opinion. But then again, so is wearing kingly robes and carrying a hammer. Nice build Pate-keetongu.

Tadano Mobile Crane

Way back when I built a lot of Technic. Not really my own MOCs, but I did buy a lot of sets, especially the big ones. So I have a somewhat vague idea what went into the engineering behind this behemoth by builder Engineering with ABS. But I'll emphasize vague, because even the largest LEGO produced set pales in comparison to this mechanical marvel. Just check out the specs in the bottom picture, it's really impressive. Click through for more pics and specs.

Большой Космический Аппарат

I didn't even know I could read Russian.  When I saw this beast of a creation buy Timofey Tkachev, I said, "Dude! That's one huge spaceship!"  Turns out that's what the title means with a little help from Google Translate: Large Spacecraft. 

It's a fascinating design, with all sorts of complicated angles and components.  If you scroll through the photostream, you'll see some WIP shots that show parts of the internal structure.  I'm not sure if it's inspired by a movie, video game, or just Timofey's keen imagination, but whatever the language: Awesome!

Sisyphus Kinetic Sculpture

JK Brickworks has come up with a crafty LEGO version of everybody's favorite boulder pusher from Greek mythology.  Doomed to an eternity of rolling that huge rock up a hill, only to watch it tumble back to the bottom, Sisyphus probably shouldn't have tried to outsmart Zeus.  That never ends well.  Check out the video to see the cutaway and all the interesting technic bits inside.  You might just end up watching it over and over and over...

Viper: F78 Freya's Mercy

Mark Stafford has come up with a nifty Viper design, just as Nnovvember draws to a close.  What really caught my attention was the cockpit detail shot.  But the beefy guns and saucer wings create some dramatic visual interest as well. 

There's still time, boys and girls, to build your own!  Pascal will be stitching together a poster of all the Vic Vipers, so follow his instructions if you want to be a part of it.  Unless you're still recovering from a Turkey Coma or Black Friday shopping...

Ryuk

I happened into the room while my son was watching Death Note a couple months ago. I was impressed with the art style and concept, and fascinated with this guy, Ryuk. He's almost like Jiminy Cricket's alter ego, getting into your head and wreaking havoc mainly because he was bored. The series is dark, very dark, but strangely beautiful, much like this bust of Ryuk by builder Combee! 

Pixels City

I didn't see the Adam Sandler movie Pixels. It was so universally panned by critics I decided to pass. But if it was good enough to inspire this much building by OliveSeon, perhaps it's worth a look. Like Sandler, I'm a kid of the 80's who dropped many a quarter at the arcades, so I'm sure there's going to be some cool nostalgia to be had. 

Disc-overing "Discworld"

Honestly, I've never heard of Discworld, the late Terry Pratchett's imaginary world, set on a platter-shaped land set atop four elephants which, in turn, are riding the back of what must be a massive, massive turtle. (Tortoise?)  Just as much as I know about Star Wars and Star Trek and even Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, it's exactly the opposite for Discworld.

So please don't ask me about the backstory of this group of fellows, termed "The Ones Who Meddle With the Fabric of Reality," by Finnish AFOL Eero Okkonen. There's something magical about this bunch, and not just because they're wizards (I think). 

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It takes a particular skill to make MOCs look both stone-faced and alive at the same time, which Eero achieves by simultaneously using the traditional 1x1 headlight bricks for eyes and then other wildly disparate elements, such as Chima wings , to fluff out those lovingly-crafted beards.  The magicians' accoutrements are also perfectly color-coordinated, with their dark red / brown / red fabrics, Friends stars, X-Pod dishes, and, hey, does that gorilla have a banana that incorporates...  bananas? 

Discworld should really be called Discoworld.

Spray Can Robots

Builder LEGOLIZE IT MAN has a new series of quirky and cool robots he calls Spray Can Robots. Each is catered to different tasks and while similar, the customized accessories and color schemes make each one unique. The big question is, will there be an Easy Cheese one?