What's On Your Mind?

According to Blue Builder this is what’s been on her mind the last couple years, and I think we can all relate to some level. Inside my head is a constant battle and noise of wanting to create, needing to provide, compulsion to make those around me happy and entertained and the need to shut the world out. We all have our demons, our light side and dark side, and finding the balance makes us human. And learning to understand and express those feeling, for instance building something this thought provoking and beautiful, is a wonderful way of exploring them.

Resistance is Futile

Where Star Trek shines is in how Gene Roddenberry reflected humanity back through the other races: Vulcans and pure logic, the conflict driven Klingons, the military industrial complex of the Romulans, the greed of the Ferengi, the techno hive zombies that are the Borg.  So many good philosophical questions are explored with each race, but I especially enjoy the Borg. Some Borg themes I see are the meaning of individuality, the good of the many vs the few, the cost of war, and the need for hope. Martin Latta captures a Borg vs the Enterprise D encounter in a small vignette. The shape of Federation vessels is challenging to capture at any scale, but he nails the NCC-1701-D and the repetitive use of grille plates, jumpers, and single studs captures the super greebled Borg cube exterior without overdoing it at this scale. Well done, Mr. Latta, set course for Wolf 359 warp 9. Engage.

Welcome To The Future

When I see a spectacular futuristic micro metropolis like this one from builder Didier Burtin my first instinct is to build an enclosure, smoke it up, light it carefully and use a real-time motion control setup with a snorkel lens to do some Blade Runner type sleeping flyovers, doesn’t everybody?

Bond, James Bond

While adult me finds the womanizing and chauvinistic overtones a bit unsettling (we’ve come so far, sort of) I’m still a bond fan. And while this piece by JS_Ninjnerd depicts MI6’s most infamous agent as a silhouette, I’m choosing to see him as my personal favorite Bond, Sean Connery. And admit it, the theme song is in your head now huh? It’s in mine, and it’s totally agreeable.

Hedwig

I was never allowed to take an animal to school, which is one of the things that makes Hogwarts so appealing. Of course you only ever hear about cats, rats, owls and toads, which makes me wonder if dogs are allowed. I think it would really upset my corgis to learn they couldn’t go, I’m pretty sure they’re Potter fans. Speaking of Potter fans, check out this excellent Hedwig by builder DOGOD Brick Design.

Hooded Badassery

I will admit that when I first saw this badass character build by Arkov I thought it was a cool foam craft cosplay. Maybe that means I’ve been spending too much time with my other site Nerds&Makers, but I think it’s because this is a fantastically detailed and proportioned character nicely posed and shot.

Local Dog Faithful To Terrible Owner

Dateline Whoville Nov 2018

A local dog, who goes by the name of Max, is being celebrated for his loyalty and patience with local Grinch. “He’s a terrible guy, like a black banana y’know?” said a local girl when recalling the events of last Christmas. “But that Max, you really have to admire him”. Despite being dressed up in ridiculous horns and being made to drag a sled with his owner, who is clearly five times his size, Max the dog remained diligent and stoic. He is to be commended. Artist Miro Dudas agrees, and his built this fitting tribute to Max

Cambridge Castle

Check out this lovely micro scale castle by builder soccerkid6, his fifth entry in CCC XVI. Castles like these existed in real life, taking advantage of a mountainous terrain to gain a high ground against enemies. And they were build long before the invention of the elevator, meaning if you wanted to get to that tallest part, you were climbing hundreds of steps. People in medieval times must have had absolutely ripped calves.

Nock, Draw...

Have I ever talked about being into archery on this blog? Not so much any more, I’ve since sold my bow, but I was into it several years ago. I still have my trap target and a small bow, should the notion strike. I don’t think my form was ever as nice as this stunning creation by Pate-keetongu though, she’s gorgeous. Just look at all the lovely details, I’m smitten.

Shipwreck Island

This is what I call making the best of a bad situation. When you wreck your ship you can think of it as “broken”, or you can think of it as “building materials”. As you can see these industrious pirates went full Bob Villa and have themselves a pretty spiffy little island. Nice build Travis Brickle.

Sylvanas Windrunner

I love when a MOC absolutely stops me in my tracks. Not that I’m really scrolling Flickr when I’m walking, but the whole world just stops, and I stare. That’s precisely the reaction to this sculpture of Sylvanas Windrunner by builder timofey_tkachev. The good news is you can build your own world stopping version of this because he has released building instructions, how cool is that?

The Dark Knight Reimagined

I think we can all agree Batman is pretty badass, but what if he was even more badasser? I mean, we’ve seen him with armor, but was it samurai armor? And we know he likes his tech, but what if it was steampunk tech? Well wonder no more dear reader, builder M<0><0>DSWIM has brought this mashup to life for all of us to enjoy.

Finding The Sculpture Inside

Being a maker and a craftsman I can really get into this piece by builder qi_tah. It combines some of my favorite things, LEGO, sculpture and the artistic drive to make something from nothing. I’ve never had a try at marble sculpture (or any stone for that matter) but it’s always interested me.

Niffler

You better hind your valuables, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald opens this weekend and Niffler loves a bit of shiny shiny. This little platypus-like magical creature has an absolute weakness for treasure, and is cute enough to get away with it. And this brick version by builder Cha Mi captures that cuteness perfectly.

Get Distracted

Keeping up with the memes of the internet is exhausting, every time I turn around there’s a new one, and half the time I don’t get it (get off my lawn!). But builder Ochre Jelly not only keeps up, he expands on them and has pretty much woven himself into the memesphere (is that a thing? I just made it up). Take for instance the meme of the year “distracted boyfriend”, now we have a LEGO version thanks to Iain (which, by the way, is brilliant), now go forth and meme away, or go meme yourself, or memeify (I’m terrible at this).

Mecha Coelacanth

It’s just a logical extrapolation, the coelacanth has been around for millions of years, it seems inevitable that it will be around in the distant future, and prowling the sea bottom in mecha form. And honestly, I don’t know what’s more terrifying, the present (and ancient) version, or the mechanical version depicted here by builder ToyForce 120.

The Interlace

Micro builds allow your imagination to fly free. They’re small in size but large in creativity, like this futuristic complex by builder Dan_Sto. With it’s stacked, irregularly rotated blocks it looks like something from a sci-fi movie. Imagine my surprise when I discovered it’s actually based on a real structure. The future is now! (where’s my flying car?)

Riskrunner

If video games are any indication the weapons of the future are going to be pretty crazy, if not downright wacky. Check out this number from Destiny 2 by BrickinNick, which is as colorful as it is futuristic. Nick even successfully developed a four shot semiautomatic mechanism, check out this video to see it in action.

He's Especially Good At Expectorating

He’s got it all going on, quick, slick, Incredibly thick neck, biceps to spare, covered in hair, etc. All the stuff the ladies in the village are after, well except one… He’s Gaston, and Belle just isn’t interested, and man that chaps his hide. A wonderfully perfect rendition by builder retinence.

'Tis The Season

There are several clues that the holidays are upon us. For one, EVERY retailer has already flooded the shelves with stuff slathered in glitter. Second, the premium car companies have started their annual “you don’t really love your spouse unless you bought him/her a car” campaigns. But most importantly Chris McVeigh has unveiled his first ornament of the season! It’s also a compliment for one of my personal favorites from a couple years ago, the burger. Head over to his website to download instructions and start the season off right, with some building!