Clockwork Heart

Little known fact: the human heart, pictured here in a model by JK Brickworks, has at least 16 gears, a choo choo mechanism and in some cases an escapement. This is all kept running by a small reactor located in the lower abdomen and lubricated by Bio Lubrication OOzing Dilution, or B.L.O.O.D. This explains the age old tradition of giving a heart shaped box full of mechanical parts (later changed to chocolate) to loved ones.

Clockwork Heart

Love

Here at BrickNerd we like to look back from time to time, especially when we're feelin' the love. It's Valentine's day, and the first thing that popped in my head when thinking of what to post to celebrate it was this sculpture by Bill Ward from 2009, based on Robert Indiana's sculpture from 1970, so we're going deep nostalgia today. Happy Valentine's day everyone, hug someone you love!

Robert Indiana "LOVE" Sculpture

Nornfang

The bard of brick weapons Nick Brick is back with another stunning MOC. This time it's the Nornfang, a specially tuned SRS99-S5 AM sniper rifle from Halo 5. It's working features include removable magazine, moving trigger, sliding bolt/charging handle and the ability to widen the eyes of anyone who views it. In the game this thing will drop a Spartan in one shot, in real life it will drop jaws all over the internets.

Nornfang - Halo 5: Guardians
Nornfang - Halo 5: Guardians
Nornfang - Halo 5: Guardians

Review - LEGO Architecture Venice 21026

Review - LEGO Architecture Venice 21026

A few weeks ago, Tommy asked if anyone on the Bricknerd Team wanted to do a review of one of the new LEGO Architecture sets.  Yes!  I volunteered for Venice.  My wife and I went to Venice on our honeymoon, and I had been there a few times before.  Tommy informed me that I should be on the lookout for a box from Billund, so I waited anxiously by the mailbox. But since it’s February in Vermont, my wife suggested I come inside.  Good thing too, it was almost two weeks before it arrived. 

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Beauty On A Beauty

There's been a long time and somewhat baffling fascination with combining the photography of cars with women. I sort of understand it at a "primal man level" (lowers brow, grunts, shiny car, pretty girl). But in the end the practice does neither subject justice if for no other reason than size discrepancy. Back far enough to see the car, can't see the girl, and vice versa. None of this applies to brick-built silhousaics though, like this latest masterpiece by Bricks Noir.

Sweet Ride

Cylon Raider

My US contemporaries will remember the Sears Wishbook. That venerable catalog of all things Christmas that we waited for every year and wore out well before the holiday ever came. Well, when I was about 10 years old I noticed an error in the wishbook, they had accidentally swapped the name of the Cylon Raider, as seen here in this marvelous MOC by builder 2 x 4, and the Colonial Viper model kits. Well, I wasn't going to stand for that and wrote a letter to Sears. Flash forward a few months and I got a package in the mail along with a nice letter. I can't remember all the details, but an executive from Sears explained that clearly some of the staff wasn't as big of a fan of Battlestar Galactica as he and I were, and to enjoy both the models for free. I was very happy.

CylonRaider01

Adventure's End

I instantly thought of two things when I saw this absolutely brilliant MOC by Paddy Bricksplitter, the old Adventurer's Club at Disney's Pleasure Island in Orlando (kungaloosh!) and one of my favorite all-time jokes which I won't tell here (it really needs to be heard, not read). There's so much to love here I don't know where to start, I'll just invite you all to take in all that detail and backstory, there were some excellent adventures indeed.

Adventures End

LEGO FairlightCMI 11x

Our buddy Iain Heath, harkening back to his Disco Days, was inspired by grobie's ongoing series of classic synthesizers.  "Launched in 1979, the Fairlight CMI was the first commercially viable digital sampling keyboard. It ushered in a new decade of musical experimentation at the hands of artists like Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Mike Oldfield and the Art of Noise."  The only thing missing is a pic of Iain with some nice sideburns and a pair of bell bottoms--Funky!

LEGO Fairlight CMI IIx

LEGO Fairlight CMI IIx

Leisure Suit Larry

A perfect evening for me and the future Mrs BrickNerd in the late 80's early 90's would be a yummy dinner, some pretzel sticks and ranch dip and a classic adventure game. The one that inspired this brilliant MOC by Vitreolum was one of our favorites, Leisure Suit Larry. The whole point of the game was to try and get poor hapless Larry a little bit of action, and it wasn't easy, but it sure was funny.

Leisure Suit Larry

LEGO Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0

I've always been a Porsche fan.  My dad had a 356 Cabrio when I was a little kid, but you guessed it, mom made him sell it and get something "safer."  Rats!  But that was a long time ago, and Porsche has come a long way, not only in its production cars, but in its racing division.  What's great about the brand, though, is that after all these years, Porsche design cues are still immediately recognizable.  Fast forward to 2016: Malte Dodowski is clearly a fan as well with this flawless 911 GT3 model. Check out his photostream for all the detail shots!

Blurred Vision

I feel the need, the need for speed!. One of things I love to see is great Lego photography.  granada_tunier blurs the background to give the impression of high speed movement, almost like being in a wind tunnel and the rover looks like its been driven straight off of the next "Rescue Matt Damon" Space Adventure! Built as part of the Febrovery 2016 build challenge, this will take some beating.

Febrovery 2016

"Give Me A Hand With This Trestle"

At some point I will write about something big, but for now I write about something big on details! There are so many wonderful features in this vignette from Tim Schwalfenberg  Built as part of an Ironbuilder challenge, (the metallic silver pin thing is the seed part) and simply called Choo Choo! Just feast your eyes on that train, the village, the windmill, the trees, so much in such a small space!. My favourite bit is the trestle bridge, made of Mini-Figure hands.

Choo Choo!

Utter Silliness

When I started BrickNerd nearly three years ago a YouTube channel was part of the vision. I really had no idea what it was going to be, and decided I'd let it evolve naturally. Looking back I could not have predicted what a wacky and fun thing it was going to be. While cutting this new channel trailer I looked at a great deal of content from the channel, it was eye-opening and wonderful to relive the journey so far.  Looking forward I'm excited to see what mischief I get into next. Thanks to everyone who watches, you make it all worth it.

Governor Swann

It can't be easy being the father of a beautiful girl with a preoccupation with pirates. Everyone's always trying to kidnap her, or falling in love with her, or she's off becoming a pirate herself, it's gotta be stressful. Add to that the need to wear a silly wig because of your position and status, it's a wonder Governor Swann didn't go completely mad. Nice build Legopard.

PotC - Governor Swann

Citrico de Mexico

I remember in high school opening an issue of Hot VWs magazine and seeing an open wheeled beetle hot rod for the first time. It belonged to a member of the band ZZ Top if memory serves, and it blew my mind. I've been fascinated with this extreme VW mod ever since, so seeing this awesome MOC by tiler instantly perked me up. The use of the chairs for the side of the vehicle is inspired genius, just look at that contour, it's perfect.

Cítrico de México _06
Cítrico de México _05

BrickNerd LiveBuild - Dr. Who

What could be more fun than watching two people build a LEGO Dr Who set live on the internet? Watching two people who haven't the first clue about Dr Who building a LEGO Dr Who set live on the internet, that's what! You've got nothing better to do, the Superbowl is hours and hours away. 

Join me and Mrs BrickNerd live at 10:30 am PST. Guaranteed 17% more exciting than opening bean dip.

Rescue Eagle

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Space:1999. Back when we were kids we had a hard time getting through any given episode, there was just so much talky talky. But we still tuned in even if we were playing with space toys while it was on in the background. Builder and Gerry Anderson buff Bricks for Brains has crafted a perfect rescue Eagle here seen on pad 5. I just wanna swoosh it!

Rescue Eagle on pad 5
Rescue Eagle on pad 1