It's All In The Reflections And Highlights

This MOC by Moko is really cool, but not as cool as the presentation of it. It was a risky move shooting a dark green and black MOC against a very dark background, but this is how it's done. What makes it work is careful lighting. It's the reflections and specular highlights that you're mostly looking at here, and that's the secret of dark model photography. Beautifully done.

Psychic Green

Those Darn Pirates

Dear Cardinal Augustus,

Pirates once again attacked the church of St. Lucia today. There were no fatalities this time but docent Marcus received quite a knock on the head. We really need to address the issues stemming from the misunderstanding about the steps of the church. How that cartographer misheard "measure of truth" as "treasure of blue" is mind-boggling, but it's been nothing but trouble since. Whatever you can do would be most appreciated.

Regards,

Docent Jorge, St. Lucia church

 

PS, send my regards to Mark of Falworth, I'm a big fan of his work.

The Battle of St. Lucia

The Blacksmith's House

When you spend every day looking for notable MOCs it gets more and more rare that you say to yourself "that's cool, I've never seen that before". Well it happened this morning when I gazed upon this lovely little blacksmiths house by Simon S. The first thing that caught my attention was the cool purple shingled roof, but then I saw the walls festooned with all manner of armor and I was smitten.

Belynia's Blacksmith
Belynia's Blacksmith

Voyager

A lot happened when I was 9, many things that shaped me as a person, many things that happened around me. I remember the hype about this mission, recreated quite faithfully here by eldeeem, and watching the launch on the news. Knowing that it has since passed the boundaries of our solar system and is doggedly continuing on it's mission fills me with pride in the US space program. Of course it will come back in the year 2271 as V'Ger and attempt to destroy us, and that's kinda messed up.

Voyager 2

Rolls Royce Phantom II

This, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful cars ever built. Of course it's a product of the 1920's and of Rolls Royce, and between the aesthetics of the period, and the famous attention to detail of RR, how could it not be utterly stunning. Builder Lino M does it justice in this MOC. Or as the Sultan famously said in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom...

Rolls-Royce Phantom Two. 4.3 litre, 30 horsepower, six cylinder engine, with Stromberg Downdraft carburetor. Can go from zero to 100 kilometers an hour in 12.5 seconds...And I even like the color.
— Sultan
Rolls Royce Phantom II…Vanilla Flavor
Rolls Royce Phantom II…Vanilla Flavor

It's The Last Day Of The Pledge Drive (Sorta)

The month of July is drawing to a close, and the 2014 BrickNerd Pledge Drive with it. But I'm still giving stuff away (check out Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!) including this totally jaw-dropping assortment from the fine humans at customBRICKS. Of course donations are always happily accepted, and I'm giving swag away all the time, so I guess it never really stops.

tommy_pledge.jpg

Wake Me Up When We Get There

The eighties were a great time for visual effects. Computer generated imagery was in it's infancy and unproven so filmmakers relied on clever tricks and careful planning to make unique visuals. Unlike today, where it's just an onslaught of 50 foot robots beating the hell out of each other in polygonal pixel porn. The movie Aliens was a great example of the former, and this MOC by Missing Brick not only pays tribute to the scene and set of the cryotubes, but also the brilliant way it was accomplished, with mirrors.

Wraiths On Treads

Here's a thing of nightmares, or maybe a nerdgasmic mashup, up to you. Builder Chris Darmawan dared to imagine what the Nazgul would do with a little military upgrade, and I have to say it would be terrifying to see this roaring at you across the rocky plains of Mordor. It's like Batman and the Witch King got together and spent a little time in the garage. 

When Nazgul have a tank

Oh and if it wasn't cool enough standing still, it's motorized!

Happy Birthday Brothers Brick!

The fine humans at TBB were some of the first friends I made when I jumped into the AFOL scene back in 2009. They showed me just how awesome the people of this community are and made me feel very welcome. I look forward to seeing them every year at BrickCon and I've been visiting their website at least once a day for years. Today they celebrate their 9th birthday, let's all sing along....

LiveBuild Tonight With Special Guest Joe Meno!

Hey LEGO fans we're going live again tonight to build 10244 Fairground Mixer and I'm very happy to be joined by none other than BrickJournal Editor-In-Chief and AFOL superstar Joe Meno! We'll also be giving away a load of free stuff to supporters and fans including badge bricks, Nerdly bricks, books, props from Beyond the Brick and an Exo Suit! Speaking of supporting, we're still having our 2014 Pledge Drive and really appreciate all your donations.

We'll start building at 6pm PST, join us!

Sharkdiculous

SyFy is the epicenter of all things ridiculous when it comes to plot devices and preposterous title characters. But how can you accuse them of jumping the shark when they blew them in on a tornado? Well our pals at TBB are having a little contest and things are starting to get interesting. Take for instance this offering from M<0><0>DSWIM, which not only features the main character riding a shark on top of a tornado holding a chainsaw, but it's got forced perspective too!