We Have Liftoff

The NASA space program is arguably one of the greatest engineering achievements of the past millennium. It put men on the moon, for goodness' sake! This build by Lia Chan showcases one of the famed space shuttles that regularly sent humans into orbit. I know, LEGO space shuttles have been built many times before, including in at least three official sets. But this build shows the shuttle with its launch facility and transportation vehicle, all recreated in great detail. This is one of those super realistic creations that makes you do a double take and say, "Wait, that's LEGO?!"

The 21st Century Ball And Chain

Ordo makes a good photo and a good point about where the relationship between technology and social interaction has gone.  My dad calls smartphones "the electric bellybutton" because everywhere you go you see people looking down and constantly fiddling with their fingers.  The smartphone really is a double-edged sword.

The brick-built phone isn't the only impressive model here--it's an ensemble.  The tiled wall, the electrical socket, and the phone's charger look real to me and sell this photo. 

Meet Matteo 4.0

This extraordinary guy is born from the awesome imagination of Dave Foreman. Matteo is made from Bionicle LEGO pieces and is packed full of detail. I can imagine Matteo skulking the streets of Victorian London late at night, hiding in the shadows as he makes his way to deliver a potion. He carries a gas lamp and a messenger bag - which contains books, a magnifying glass, medicine bottle and syringe. His cane is topped with a red spider eating a snake and he wears a bat pendant and pocket watch. Matteo's cape and hat make me think he's quite the gentleman . I wonder what the keys on his belt are keeping locked away...?

If You Can't Play Nice, Play Derby

Well this MOC by Julie vanderMeulen makes me wanna lace up my skates and get on the track! These 1:1 scale Riedell R3's use a combination of standard LEGO bricks and Bionicle pieces. Roller derby players agonise over sourcing the right components and settings for their skates, and Julie looks like she's done just the same for this pair, which are kitted out in her Hammer City Roller Girls colours. Unsurprisingly one of the most important elements of the skates are the wheels, and players use a combination of durometers to optimise performance - this can be seen with the use of different colour wheels on this build.

You can see me in action in my Riedell She Devils in the bottom pic. Keep calm and skate left!

Snow Place Like Home

No, I'm not apologizing. Puns are awesome. Anyway, I love me some good microscale, and this tiny winter village by Sad Brick is a fantastic example. Creative parts usage is a must for a good micro build, and this is no exception. From the minifigure chicken wings as clouds to the cheerleader pompoms as snow-covered trees, there's a lot of really clever and unorthodox pieces here. And I think that sun is the back of a Simpsons minifigure head. Nicely done, sir, nicely done.

OCP Headquarters (Pre Visual Effects)

Welcome to OCP Headquarters, or should I say Dallas City Hall? Yes, that towering symbol of corporate greed is actually a government building, and not even in Detroit. That's the magic of visual effects. And while I'm sure plenty of Dallasites went "heyyyy..." when they saw RoboCop, but the rest of us were just thinking "cool building". Just like you LEGO fans might be looking at this MOC by Grantmasters and thinking "where's the top of the building?"

The Tiny Village

This microscale village by -Balbo- shows off some lovely techniques. My favorite is the way he's built up the shoreline: the layering of angled plates makes for a very cool, non-blocky look. The water is really well done as well, since its dark coloring is much more realistic than the bright blue so often seen in landscape builds. Also, the technique of clear bricks laid sideways allows for a really cool reflection which adds a lot to the realism of this scene.

Steampunk Train

It's not hard to imagine this lovely deep green and black beauty by Moko chuffing down the tracks in the Victorian era. The design aesthetic is absolutely gorgeous, with just the right balance of classic lines and splendid steampunkery. I would love to climb aboard this steam powered wonder for a cross country tour.

Black Dragon

I don't know enough about tall ships to speak with any authority, but there's definitely an asian influence to this vessel by W. Navarre. Judging by the size and ornateness of the captain's cabin and the number of guns, I'm guessing this a fairly successful privateer.

I Have No Memory of this Place

Aside from the official Mines of Moria LEGO set, I don't think many people have built Balin's tomb chamber (or the Chamber of Mazarbul for all you book nerds out there). It's a really cool scene that hasn't seen much LEGO treatment. But this build by Dunedain98 remedies that. This is a spot-on recreation of the scene in the movie. Lots of attention to detail here, from the layout of the room to all the scattered books. And it's full minifig scale too, instead of that tiny version in the official set. Beautiful work all around: the texturing is fantastic.

Sadako Vs. Kayako: Dawn of Civil War

For those who don't know, Sadako and Kayako come from Japan's two most famous horror movie series, Ringu and Ju-on respectively.  What's the significance you may ask?  Well, Japan has seen two "Versus" movies so far this year and there is yet one more to come.  In March there was Batman v. Superman, in April there was Civil War, and in mid-June there will be Sadako vs. Kayako.  At first I thought it was a joke when I saw the teaser poster at the conbini (convenience store) around the corner from my workplace as it was nearly identical to the BvS poster, but apparently this movie is really happening.  I'm not sure if I'll go see it but I can guarantee these two ghostly ladies won't be as cute as builder delayice makes them.

Nom Nom

Normally, I would rather stay away from anything from the Michael Bay Transformer movies. I haven't seen them and I don't want to. Also, I normally shy away from digitally built LEGO, and normally, I'm not a huge fan of Bionicle. But today I don't care about any of that, because this robot dinosaur by Nicola Stocchi is awesome. I think one of the coolest things is how it blends Bionicle and System pieces so cohesively. There are very few builds with Bionicle in them that look this convincing. Also, when I first saw this, I thought it was a really nicely photographed physical model, and was really surprised to read that it's digital. The render for this picture is very impressive, and makes the model even more menacing. Definitely wouldn't want to meet this thing on a dark night.

ThunderCats Good vs. Evil

Anyone who was a kid in the 80's instantly recognizes these guys, the characters and their symbols.  But builder Chris van Vliet qualifies the title by saying," NO NOT CHIMA!"  ThunderCats was part of that era of Japanese animation paired with American voice acting.  Although I was already in high school, I'll admit it, I watched the show while chomping on Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal.  Chris has done a great job recreating the logos and the 3D profile busts of Lion-O and Mumm-Ra on four 32x32 baseplates.  I'd say they'd be perfect book ends for a ThunderCats VHS collectors box set- ThunderCats Ho!!! 

Nocturnian floating castle

This is a whole lot of spectacular in not a whole lot of space. With careful and inspired part selection and an attention to detail, builder marcu44 managed to cram oodles of character into this microscale floating castle. I invite you to click through and peruse the large image of this, you'll find yourself delightfully identifying tiny parts.

For Those About to Rock....

I salute you sebastian bachórzewski! This guy's heading off on a highway to hell with his sweet new gee-tar 'cos London's calling! I love the use of the neon LEGO pieces to create the lights in this scene - I can just imagine them illuminating the guitars underneath. The sugar skull details on the punk rocker's top and the flame tattoo on his arm are awesome additions. I can picture this Insomnia's Guitar Heaven being down a side-alley where only the toughest of minifgs would dare to venture. There's probably a tattoo studio next door and a 'biker's bar' opposite blasting music from the juke box....

Oblivion

The movie didn't do well at the box office, but Oblivion is worth a watch in my opinion. If for no other reason than some pretty spectacular visuals. Yeah, the plot's a bit thin and the pace is a bit plodding, but overall I enjoyed it. It would seem builder Grantmasters was OK with it too, so much so he recreated one of the posters from the film in excellent microscale.

And For Dessert...

Tonight we have a lovely Cranberry Black Forest Cake, baked just for you by chef Sad Brick.  Made from the finest organic and gluten-free ingredients imported directly from Billund, Denmark.  This cake was expertly crafted with great attention to detail, from the moist center, to the delicious garnish on top.  And no need to feel any guilt, it's completely calorie free! 

Into The Wild

This build by Simon Schweyer is inspired by Into the Wild, a film I have never seen and a book I have never read.  Maybe I don't need to have seen/read the source material to appreciate the craftsmanship in this diorama. The emotion translates very well in the lady's pose, her bare feet on soft grass, the apparent height of the cliff, and the coloring of the sky and water.  Coloring a sunset with LEGO bricks is tricky business, especially for someone as severely colorblind as I am, but not as tricky as pulling off such a moody scene and making it look so effortless.

Ultimate Tree Fort

I want one of these in my backyard. My 10-year-old self could have happily spent dozens of summer afternoons playing in this thing. Built by Sergeant Chipmunk, this awesome forest ranger watchtower reminds me quite a lot of Lothlorien. And that's definitely a good thing. The landscaping and rocks are extremely well done, and I like how the structure is built right over a stream. That's a cool detail which really adds a lot of visual interest to the scene.

Stop Bugging Me

Just kidding.  You're not bugging me at all!  

From what I can tell from being an English teacher for nine years, Japanese boys and girls have a unique fascination with insects and even have a knack for collecting them.  They're not all just creepy crawly critters!  This makes me wonder if Takamichi Irie collected insects as a child.  He recently spent a year studying abroad and time to time expressed his feelings of being homesick, which might explain where his LEGO insect series came from.  It's amazing what you can do with just a few tiny parts (and especially with those that seem to have only a single use).  NPU, dude!  You can see the rest of the his "Small Animals" series on his Flickr.

Snail Black Widow Spider Stag Beetle