Indonesian Chinatown

Builder KOSbrick and his LUG recently completed a large scale collaborative build celebrating Chinese New Year and Indonesia's rich Chinese heritage. He claims to be somewhat intimidated by the modular building standard, but as far as I'm concerned those fears are unfounded, because these buildings are gorgeous, and all based on actual structures. They connect together seamlessly yet each has it's own distinct personality. Check out more pics and the fascinating story behind these MOCs and the culture and buildings that inspired them on his blog.

Classic Enemies

What fun is a starship without an enemy to fight? Builder Riskjockey thought the same thing apparently, and has paired up a classic Klingon Battlecruiser to go with his excellent Enterprise he completed last year. The scale of these is so appealing, they're just begging to be swooshed.

The Golden Tree

This is one of those MOCs that you almost skip over the thumbnail because it simply does not look like it's built out of LEGO. In fact I almost did, then I noticed the background looked studded. I don't know what those parts are, but out-of-the box thinking and some serious building chops by torgugick turned them into a beautiful and compelling relief portrait.

Moving People, The Old School Disney Way

This one hits me right in the feels. You all know what a Disneyland geek I am, well this was one of my favorite rides, and it's gone. The People Mover was a Tomorrowland staple from 1967-1995, when it was replaced by the ill-fated Rocket Rods which opened and pretty much closed two years later. This lovely brick built tribute by Andy Baird is also in one of it's original colors, and so perfectly done I just want to climb aboard for a fun sixteen minute tour of Tomorrowland.

Via Yesterland

Magnum Opus

When someone says "rat rod" you tend to think of some old beater, lovingly if not crudely brought back to life, rust and all. Well this month's LUGnuts Challenge is all about modern rat rods. These cars aren't old jalopies, they're cars you can get off the lot right now, like this Dodge Magnum by Lino M. This isn't some shiny, macho, gas guzzling muscle car. It's a wood planked, beach combing, gas guzzling muscle car. So, grab some bait, fuel up and hit the beach.

BB-8 Behind The Magic

Oh man, there's so much about this I love. It's Star Wars, so it's instantly got my attention, it's by Pete Reid, my best mate across the pond, and it's behind the scenes, where the real movie magic happens. Here we see one of the secrets of BB-8's endearing performance in The Force Awakens, his puppeteer. I assume it's Brian Herring, but it's hard to tell, he's wearing a mask.

Phantom

I am as eternally mystified by Moko as I am impressed. Usually it's because I haven't heard of the character before so it requires a little research, and since his blog posts are in Japanese I have to depend on Chrome to translate so I can sort of guess what's going on. This usually results in some unintended humor as well, this is my favorite passage today...

"Since Bionicle greed was filled some time Do not (laughs) or I can not made ecause too much detour if not soon return to the Big O production."

...anyway, check out this absolutely badass and remarkably posable figure by one of my favorite builders.

Goo

Goo...goo goo gah gah. Goo goo goo..da da...ma ma. Goo goo goo, gah gah gah Cevka goo goo. Wah wah, goo goo goo *burb* gah. Ooohwah ooh ohh ohh. Goo goo gah...hrrmmm (fills diaper)...

...Goo goo...

The Night Is Dark, And Full Of MOCs

Rumored author of the year 2016 (really George, knock it off) and legendary book and HBO series Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin never looked better than in brick form on the Throne of Swords. I've been a fan since 2004 and can hardly wait for the series premiere tomorrow night, and this MOC just made it all that more exciting. Thanks for stoking that fire mandrakesarecool2.

Dave Grohl: Fighter Of Foos

I wish I listened to more Foo Fighters, I could probably make some more witty references (or at least bad puns) about this stunning silhousaic by Grantmasters. It's not that I have anything against them, I'm sure there's some songs I know, I just couldn't name them off the top of my head. I invite you to look at this from a distance, and then get in close, it can be totally appreciated from either and I love that.

The Engineer

JK Brickworks is back with another mind-blowing kinetic sculpture. This is the second in a series by Kristal (the K in JK Brickworks) showing what's going on inside the human mind. The mechanical aspects of this are absolutely wonderful, and Jason explains them quite clearly in the video. It's a fascinating watch, I highly recommend it.

Peterbilt

When someone mentions "18 wheeler" you might immediately think Optimus Prime, but this is what I think of. Check out this huge, shiny and supremely detailed classic Peterbilt truck by builder jarekwally. This is classic trucking, the kind we were all fascinated with for some odd reason back in the days of disco. It must have been a combination of the movie Convoy and Smokey and the Bandit, but suddenly everyone had on a trucker hat and owned a CB, damn the 70's were weird. Check out the really nicely done video for more details.

In The Not Too Distant Future...

Next Sunday A.D. 
There was a guy named Joel,
Not too different from you or me.
He worked at Gizmonic Institute,
Just another face in a red jumpsuit.
He did a good job cleaning up the place,
But his bosses didn't like him
So they shot him into space.

We'll send him cheesy movies,
The worst we can find (la-la-la).
He'll have to sit and watch them all,
And we'll monitor his mind (la-la-la).
Now keep in mind Joel can't control
Where the movies begin or end (la-la-la)
Because he used those special parts
To make his robot friends.

Robot Roll Call: (All right, let's go!)
Cambot! (Pan left!)
Gypsy! (Hi, girl!)
Tom Servo! (What a cool guy!)
Croooow! (Wisecracker.)

If you're wondering how he eats and breathes
and other science facts (la la la),
Then repeat to yourself, "It's just a show,
I should really just relax
For Mystery Science Theater 3000!"

Awesome bots SPARKART!

Destination Wedding

Built for the Wedding Planning category in the MocAthalon on MocPages, W. Navarre has created this amazing cliff hangar train-going-off-a-bridge scene.  "Build your ideal wedding"  He's got bandits, a demolished bridge, and a rocky cliff.  The bride, the groom and the pastor are all at the front of the train as it hurtles towards the abyss.  Now that I think about it, that's pretty much how most people feel on their wedding day, at least a little bit.  Scroll through his post on MocPages to see it all up close, especially that rattly bridge.  Wonder where the lucky couple will go on their honeymoon?

Ariel The Hutt

My Eyes! What horror is this I see before me! Take one of the most disgusting villains from the Star Wars Universe and cross it with The Little Mermaid and this is the result. I hope the Exec's at Disney don't see this and get ideas for yet another spin off movie! Whats next R2-Dumbo? This horrific mash up was created by Jonas. This may well haunt my dreams for a while!

X Marks The Spot

When I first saw this it reminded me of the cool map montage's from the Indiana Jones films. I love the way its been composed, lovely little details whilst still having a practical purpose. I have always had a passion for maps and who doesn't love Pirates?. A build by Kai NRG/Geneva for the Mapped Out category of the MOCathalon, Its gonna take some beating. 

ADDITIONAL. So there I was on the train, feeling good for blogging, when Tommy sent me a message saying that I hadn't mentioned that the MOC was an expanded version of the printed tile of the pirates map. Of course I had seen that (I had not seen that!) I just chosen not to mention it (again, I had not seen that!) So double wow! Its the Pirates printed map tile blown up. Sometimes the obvious escapes me!

Birds From Bricks

One of my friends is into birds, big time! His name is Thomas Poulsom. You might recognise the name from the Lego Ideas set 21301, Birds. Well he has written a book showing how you can build another 15 different birds from all around the world. And I have been lucky enough to have been sent a copy to review. 

I was totally amazed by the original birds Thomas made and so when I heard that there was going to be a book full of bird instructions I was very excited. The book arrived recently and as soon as I opened it up I was blown away by how clear the instructions are laid out. Each bird has a parts list so its easy to get the bits together before you start. The steps are small and the sometimes complicated SNOT techniques are clearly explained. The book is in full colour and there is even a colour key for each bird. 

I thought I would build a bird and see how easy it is to follow the instructions in real life. I chose the Canary (Serinus Canaria), collected up all the parts and built it. It was easy to follow and didn't take too long to finish!. Here is where I found a couple of weak points in the construction. However by adding a couple of plates I was able to strengthen the bird considerably. More an oversight than a fault. Overall the bird looks stunning. The half a stud connections in the wings are delicate but as this is a display model, thats not too important.

I can recommend this book not only if you are into birds but also if you like Creator style builds and are looking for more realism in the finished model. I plan to build a few more birds in the future.  The book is published by Quarry and has a retail price of $24.99/£15.99/$29.99 CAN. Its available at Amazon (use the link on this page!) and is even available as a Kindle download. Nice work Thomas, now where are the instructions to that Hedgehog?

Ella "Tall Tide" Kneebone

The life of a pirate isn't all clashing sword fights and plundering treasure. Sometimes you just need a break from all the piracy and adventure on the high seas and just have a sit down. Like Ella "Tall Tide" Kneebone here, I can't decide if she looks pensive, exhausted or just bored. But judging by that treasure, she's earned a little "down time".

Space Battle Ride

You'd think someone who's as into Disneyland and theme parks in general as I am would also be a huge ride buff, but the truth is I'm decidedly barfy, very prone to motion sickness. So while I totally dig this space battle ride by builder tkel86 I wouldn't go anywhere near it in real life. Check out the video to see this baby in action.

Oops

The first reaction to seeing this fantastic MOC by monstrophonic is likely "whoa, there's a train hanging out of that building" followed shortly by some internal calculations of the plausibility of this scenario. The thing is, this really happened. On October 22, 1895, in an attempt to get back on schedule, the driver of the Granville–Paris Express entered the station too fast and when the brakes failed the train burst through the buffer stop and station wall, coming to rest on the street below.