The Scout

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A never before seen UFO is orbiting the Earth.  Is this a scout?  Is war coming?  All I know is that I'd love to fly around in this spaceship!  This craft, designed by A Plastic Infinity, has a very unique design and color combination.   After studying this build closely, I haven't been able to find a single standard LEGO brick (1x2 or 2x4's).  Every brown element is a sloped or angled piece that creates the magnificent look of this UFO.  I also especially like the turbine in the rear and also the light blue translucent cockpit.  Safe travels!

Earthbound
01
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Nathaniel Stoner

     My name is Nathaniel Stoner, and I am an very active LEGO builder.  I mostly build in the themes of castle and science-fiction, but I also dabble in other genres and create occasional random MOC's (My Own Creations). 

     When I was younger, I would get and build small LEGO sets for my birthday, but I was never really into them.  When they fell apart, I would become frustrated attempting to put them back together and would throw them in a box in my closet.  I couldn't stand them!

     Then, miraculously, I became addicted to the LEGO brick later in my teen years.  Ever since, I have continued to build up (pun intended) my collection of bricks and to expand my knowledge of techniques and building skills.  LEGO is truly more than a toy, its an art form and a way to express yourself.

     For the most part, I collect LEGO Star Wars (mainly the minifigs), which is probably my favorite LEGO theme.  I have a fairly decent collection, including some of the original 1999 sets, such as the Snowspeeder, X-Wing, and Naboo starfighter.  I also collected LEGO the Lord of the Rings when those sets first came out.  The minifigs are great, and the story remains one of my favorites ever. 

     My hope is to inspire other young (and perhaps even older) LEGO builders to unleash their inner creativity!  You can find me on my Flikr here. 

Builder Showcase - Kosmas Santosa

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Builder Showcase - Kosmas Santosa

The name Kosmas "Kos" Santosa should be very familiar to readers of BrickNerd. His build style, imagination and photography skills are so good that just about everything he posts gets blogged here. I realize that sort of makes me a bit of a fanboy, but I defy you to argue against it. He is also very active in the Indonesian as well as online AFOL community, furthering the hobby with generosity and a singular wit. 

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Jakku Infliction

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All I can say is...wow!  Outstanding work with this build.  Star Wars builder KevFett2011 has expanded and finished a magnificent diorama for The Force Awakens.  The Star Destroyer Inflictor is half buried in the sands of Jakku as depicted in the newest film.  I suppose you could say it inflicted pain on Jakku when it crashed?  Not only is the ship itself well built and realistic, but the microscale debris is well done.  The inclusion of the battle between the Millennium Falcon the TIE fighter is also a detail that I love.  If you want to learn more about the official Star Wars back story of this scene, you should read the novel Lost Stars. 

[MOC]Episode VII-The Force Awakens-Crashed Star Destroyer Inflictor on Jakku

I always find it fascinating to see builds of this scale in production.  This is no exception!

WIP: Crashed Star Destroyer Inflictor
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Nathaniel Stoner

     My name is Nathaniel Stoner, and I am an very active LEGO builder.  I mostly build in the themes of castle and science-fiction, but I also dabble in other genres and create occasional random MOC's (My Own Creations). 

     When I was younger, I would get and build small LEGO sets for my birthday, but I was never really into them.  When they fell apart, I would become frustrated attempting to put them back together and would throw them in a box in my closet.  I couldn't stand them!

     Then, miraculously, I became addicted to the LEGO brick later in my teen years.  Ever since, I have continued to build up (pun intended) my collection of bricks and to expand my knowledge of techniques and building skills.  LEGO is truly more than a toy, its an art form and a way to express yourself.

     For the most part, I collect LEGO Star Wars (mainly the minifigs), which is probably my favorite LEGO theme.  I have a fairly decent collection, including some of the original 1999 sets, such as the Snowspeeder, X-Wing, and Naboo starfighter.  I also collected LEGO the Lord of the Rings when those sets first came out.  The minifigs are great, and the story remains one of my favorites ever. 

     My hope is to inspire other young (and perhaps even older) LEGO builders to unleash their inner creativity!  You can find me on my Flikr here. 

He's Only Mostly Dead

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One of the funniest and most quotable movies of the 80's, possibly of all time, is The Princess Bride. So much witty dialogue and clever comebacks. A must-watch, for sure. This build by W. Navarre perfectly captures the iconic Pit of Despair. Even though this scene has been built multiple times (even once before by W. Navarre), this particular one is definitely one of the best. It has a lot of great detail, and that texturing is just wonderful.

The Machine!

Flights Departing Daily

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We all know what a Disney geek I am, we go to Disneyland all time despite the fact that it's over three hours away. And as much as I love Space Mountain, I rarely ride it. The line is always long, and when you're a frequent visitor like us, we just don't do long lines (it'll be there next time). Plus there's something about the geometry of the ride vehicle and my body, it just beats the crap out of me every time I ride. I never rode the one in Orlando though, and I didn't realize the cars were different, as illustrated here in this absolutely brilliant MOC by jtheels. So perhaps on my next visit to Florida I'll give it a go. And now I want to be at Disneyland...

LEGO Space Mountain
LEGO Space Mountain 6

Henchman in a Half-Shell

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 Koen (whose video-game style you may recognize) has just put out a fantastic model of Koopa Troopa from the Mario games. In the brief amount of time I spent playing Nintendo games as a kid (mostly Mario Kart), I remember enjoying this character more for his name than anything else, because it was so fun to say. Koopa Troopa!

Koopa Troopa

Dudes on Duty

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Another fascinating pair of character builds from creator Eero Okkonen.  What really interests me is all the pieces and techniques used for the armor construction.  My favorite part use is the actual LEGO chain used as chainmail, which is a great and realistic detail.  These two fellows speak for themselves.  Well done all around!

Corporal Nobbs and Sergeant Colon

Sergeant Colon

Sergeant Colon

Corporal Nobbs

Corporal Nobbs
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Nathaniel Stoner

     My name is Nathaniel Stoner, and I am an very active LEGO builder.  I mostly build in the themes of castle and science-fiction, but I also dabble in other genres and create occasional random MOC's (My Own Creations). 

     When I was younger, I would get and build small LEGO sets for my birthday, but I was never really into them.  When they fell apart, I would become frustrated attempting to put them back together and would throw them in a box in my closet.  I couldn't stand them!

     Then, miraculously, I became addicted to the LEGO brick later in my teen years.  Ever since, I have continued to build up (pun intended) my collection of bricks and to expand my knowledge of techniques and building skills.  LEGO is truly more than a toy, its an art form and a way to express yourself.

     For the most part, I collect LEGO Star Wars (mainly the minifigs), which is probably my favorite LEGO theme.  I have a fairly decent collection, including some of the original 1999 sets, such as the Snowspeeder, X-Wing, and Naboo starfighter.  I also collected LEGO the Lord of the Rings when those sets first came out.  The minifigs are great, and the story remains one of my favorites ever. 

     My hope is to inspire other young (and perhaps even older) LEGO builders to unleash their inner creativity!  You can find me on my Flikr here. 

Knight

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I've always found it fascinating that not so long ago in the grand scheme of things men would wrap themselves in hugely heavy, constricting metal armor, put on a hot and uncomfortable helmet that restricted their vision, and go out and try to kill each other. Can you imagine standing there with your sharpened metal stick while this badass by nobu_tary came charging at you? I'd soil my armor.

Knight

The Journey Itself Is My Home

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Newcomer to the Flickr community Aido K is already building some impressive stuff. I stumbled upon this little build and once I looked closely at the NPU of the LEGO Elves mini-doll legs I literally yelled out “IT'S LEGS, IT'S LEGS” - to which my coworkers questioned confusingly. The forced perspective is super fun (is that an Alligator body in the background?) and this all around bright creation makes me want to know more about this little creature! Who are you? Where are you going, friend? 

Off on a journey!

 

Follow Aido K on flickr, I have a good feeling about this one.  

MOColate Cake

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Here is a tasty-looking chocolate cake by UK builder Luc Byard.  Luc says he drew inspiration from a series of builds called 'Foodcember' at the end of 2015 by Kosbrick, I'm drawing inspiration to put on a couple more pounds. I like the use of a minifig cape as a decoration, neat.  And there's a nice fork too...

...use the fork, Luc! (sorry, couldn't resist)

MOColate dessert 1

Do You Choose the Light?

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Whether you like the light or the dark, this picture by the always excellent Avanaut has both. The multiple sources of light as well as the slight bit of haze make for a beautifully atmospheric picture which totally captures the sinister, moody feel of Jabba's Palace. Avanaut says this picture is one of many in his new book, so if you want to see more goodness like this, go check it out.

Jabba's Prize

A Delightful Prawn Cocktail

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One of my favourite recent sci-fi movies is District 9. The fact that it wasn't the USA being attacked or invaded made it different. I have seen it about five or six times now and every time I see it I see something new.  This MOC of the film poster by Sad Brick in micro scale, really captures the most important part of the film brilliantly, a huge alien space ship just hanging there in the sky! There has been some talk of a sequel, I do hope so!

District 9

Napping in Class

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"Looks like Longbottom's neglected his earmuffs."  ~Professor Sprout

Or has he?  Maybe he's taking a little snooze in the middle of Herbology!  That won't get you any house points.   I really appreciate that Markus Rollbühler is continuing a magical vignette series for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.  Every build he has done for this series has been fantastic in its own little way, but this greenhouse scene has become my new favorite.  There are so many nice techniques used throughout this build (which it should be pointed out that it's only 14x14 studs) to create an excellent floor, arch, table, window, and of course a Mandrake.  The amazing outcome of all these techniques speaks for itself.  If this doesn't inspire you to do a Harry Potter build, I don't know what will!  I say 50 points to Gryffindor!

012 - Mandrakes
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Nathaniel Stoner

     My name is Nathaniel Stoner, and I am an very active LEGO builder.  I mostly build in the themes of castle and science-fiction, but I also dabble in other genres and create occasional random MOC's (My Own Creations). 

     When I was younger, I would get and build small LEGO sets for my birthday, but I was never really into them.  When they fell apart, I would become frustrated attempting to put them back together and would throw them in a box in my closet.  I couldn't stand them!

     Then, miraculously, I became addicted to the LEGO brick later in my teen years.  Ever since, I have continued to build up (pun intended) my collection of bricks and to expand my knowledge of techniques and building skills.  LEGO is truly more than a toy, its an art form and a way to express yourself.

     For the most part, I collect LEGO Star Wars (mainly the minifigs), which is probably my favorite LEGO theme.  I have a fairly decent collection, including some of the original 1999 sets, such as the Snowspeeder, X-Wing, and Naboo starfighter.  I also collected LEGO the Lord of the Rings when those sets first came out.  The minifigs are great, and the story remains one of my favorites ever. 

     My hope is to inspire other young (and perhaps even older) LEGO builders to unleash their inner creativity!  You can find me on my Flikr here. 

There's Nothing Like Friendship

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Here at BrickNerd we like to reminisce about the past...

Fellow friend and LUG-er Simon Liu was one of the first members of ToroLUG to welcome me into the group. Back then he was a shy nerd, and although not much has changed, he has been a great support for me in the LUG through all these years.One of the first MOCs that I noticed of Simon's was his section of FRIENDSHIP for the Fairview LEGO Store Community Window (oh the good ol' days). I pointed out the cool technique behind the back panels and called it “messy building” and later learned the term was “greebling”. The Friends theme was just released and with the up-roar of a new theme separating genders came some cool new pieces and colors too!

FriendSHIP One -
FriendSHIP One -

Some of my favorite details are the classic space logo with a purple ribbon at the end and the medical area with the red classic space guy on the examination table.

Simon is also the reason I got stuck into building a giant Unikitty, and then later four...so I guess thank you?

Karate Jedi

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I personally never felt that Star Wars Rebels was anywhere near as good as Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which is the show I could say I grew up watching.  I loved it like most fans.  However, Rebels has finally started to get interesting.  Thanks to Tristan, we now have an amazing recreation of the Jedi training room (dojo?) in the temple on Lothal that our rebels visit in the last few episodes of season 2.  What's interesting about this build is that the creator not only focused on the main ground floor, but also took the time to build high walls surrounding the iconic scene with Kanan Jarrus and the Jedi Temple Guard.  I don't believe many builders would have done that, which makes this build stand out at a higher quality!  Also, you must admit, it looks a bit like a Karate Kid moment...right?

Star Wars Rebels- Shroud of Darkness Jedi Dojo
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Nathaniel Stoner

     My name is Nathaniel Stoner, and I am an very active LEGO builder.  I mostly build in the themes of castle and science-fiction, but I also dabble in other genres and create occasional random MOC's (My Own Creations). 

     When I was younger, I would get and build small LEGO sets for my birthday, but I was never really into them.  When they fell apart, I would become frustrated attempting to put them back together and would throw them in a box in my closet.  I couldn't stand them!

     Then, miraculously, I became addicted to the LEGO brick later in my teen years.  Ever since, I have continued to build up (pun intended) my collection of bricks and to expand my knowledge of techniques and building skills.  LEGO is truly more than a toy, its an art form and a way to express yourself.

     For the most part, I collect LEGO Star Wars (mainly the minifigs), which is probably my favorite LEGO theme.  I have a fairly decent collection, including some of the original 1999 sets, such as the Snowspeeder, X-Wing, and Naboo starfighter.  I also collected LEGO the Lord of the Rings when those sets first came out.  The minifigs are great, and the story remains one of my favorites ever. 

     My hope is to inspire other young (and perhaps even older) LEGO builders to unleash their inner creativity!  You can find me on my Flikr here. 

Vespa P200

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The Arvo brothers are back with another brilliant MOC, this time of a more humble nature but no less appealing. This captures the classic lines of the venerable Italian scooter perfectly. One of my friends in high school had a classic Vespa, it seemed most of my friends had a scooter of some sort, they were all the rage (except me of course, I was dirt poor and spent what little I had on art supplies and make-up...and food). Someday I want to convince my wife to rent a couple while we visit a foreign place, and try not to crash into each other.

P200 Moto Front
P200 Moto Back

Sir Wizard Mecha-Nic Stronghold

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This ramshackle castle punk fortress by builder hrtx is as confusing to the eye as it is appealing. So many angles, so much detail, so much storytelling, it's lovely. I don't know what they get up to in this complex structure, but one look and you ache with curiosity. I guess that's why it's a stronghold, to keep you from finding out.

Sir Wizard Mecha-Nic Stronghold 01
Sir Wizard Mecha-Nic Stronghold 06
Sir Wizard Mecha-Nic Stronghold 08

Some Light Reading

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This library scene by henrik_zwomp makes me want to go read a book. I hear good things about Lord of the Rings, maybe I should read those again. Anyway, this is a lovely build. I really like the way the walls are angled outward, making the room feel open and spacious. The subtle forced perspective out the window is also superb and gives a great feeling of depth to an otherwise fairly small scene.

A Scene in a Library