Welcome to OCP Headquarters, or should I say Dallas City Hall? Yes, that towering symbol of corporate greed is actually a government building, and not even in Detroit. That's the magic of visual effects. And while I'm sure plenty of Dallasites went "heyyyy..." when they saw RoboCop, but the rest of us were just thinking "cool building". Just like you LEGO fans might be looking at this MOC by Grantmasters and thinking "where's the top of the building?"
This microscale village by -Balbo- shows off some lovely techniques. My favorite is the way he's built up the shoreline: the layering of angled plates makes for a very cool, non-blocky look. The water is really well done as well, since its dark coloring is much more realistic than the bright blue so often seen in landscape builds. Also, the technique of clear bricks laid sideways allows for a really cool reflection which adds a lot to the realism of this scene.
It's not hard to imagine this lovely deep green and black beauty by Moko chuffing down the tracks in the Victorian era. The design aesthetic is absolutely gorgeous, with just the right balance of classic lines and splendid steampunkery. I would love to climb aboard this steam powered wonder for a cross country tour.
I don't know enough about tall ships to speak with any authority, but there's definitely an asian influence to this vessel by W. Navarre. Judging by the size and ornateness of the captain's cabin and the number of guns, I'm guessing this a fairly successful privateer.
Aside from the official Mines of Moria LEGO set, I don't think many people have built Balin's tomb chamber (or the Chamber of Mazarbul for all you book nerds out there). It's a really cool scene that hasn't seen much LEGO treatment. But this build by Dunedain98 remedies that. This is a spot-on recreation of the scene in the movie. Lots of attention to detail here, from the layout of the room to all the scattered books. And it's full minifig scale too, instead of that tiny version in the official set. Beautiful work all around: the texturing is fantastic.
Here at BrickNerd we like to reminisce about the past. . . This time in Middle-earth!
"Splashes and splashes, precious! That's a meaty mouthful!" Thanks to Iain Heath (Ochre Jelly on Flikr) we have one of the finest recreations of Bilbo Baggins and the infamous Gollum I have ever seen. Iain never ceases to amaze with his outstanding characters built out of LEGO elements, and these two are no exception. The shaping of Gollum is well executed, and I especially like the loincloth and eyes. Bilbo's clothing is also represented so very well with simple elements! For lack of a better word, every creation Iain produces always has character. The posing and emotion he is able to capture is truly inspiring. I hope to see more builds like this in the future! Iain's Gollum creation is also briefly featured in the LEGO Brickumentary.
For those who don't know, Sadako and Kayako come from Japan's two most famous horror movie series, Ringu and Ju-on respectively. What's the significance you may ask? Well, Japan has seen two "Versus" movies so far this year and there is yet one more to come. In March there was Batman v. Superman, in April there was Civil War, and in mid-June there will be Sadako vs. Kayako. At first I thought it was a joke when I saw the teaser poster at the conbini (convenience store) around the corner from my workplace as it was nearly identical to the BvS poster, but apparently this movie is really happening. I'm not sure if I'll go see it but I can guarantee these two ghostly ladies won't be as cute as builder delayice makes them.
Normally, I would rather stay away from anything from the Michael Bay Transformer movies. I haven't seen them and I don't want to. Also, I normally shy away from digitally built LEGO, and normally, I'm not a huge fan of Bionicle. But today I don't care about any of that, because this robot dinosaur by Nicola Stocchi is awesome. I think one of the coolest things is how it blends Bionicle and System pieces so cohesively. There are very few builds with Bionicle in them that look this convincing. Also, when I first saw this, I thought it was a really nicely photographed physical model, and was really surprised to read that it's digital. The render for this picture is very impressive, and makes the model even more menacing. Definitely wouldn't want to meet this thing on a dark night.
Anyone who was a kid in the 80's instantly recognizes these guys, the characters and their symbols. But builder Chris van Vliet qualifies the title by saying," NO NOT CHIMA!" ThunderCats was part of that era of Japanese animation paired with American voice acting. Although I was already in high school, I'll admit it, I watched the show while chomping on Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. Chris has done a great job recreating the logos and the 3D profile busts of Lion-O and Mumm-Ra on four 32x32 baseplates. I'd say they'd be perfect book ends for a ThunderCats VHS collectors box set- ThunderCats Ho!!!
This is a whole lot of spectacular in not a whole lot of space. With careful and inspired part selection and an attention to detail, builder marcu44 managed to cram oodles of character into this microscale floating castle. I invite you to click through and peruse the large image of this, you'll find yourself delightfully identifying tiny parts.
I salute you sebastian bachórzewski! This guy's heading off on a highway to hell with his sweet new gee-tar 'cos London's calling! I love the use of the neon LEGO pieces to create the lights in this scene - I can just imagine them illuminating the guitars underneath. The sugar skull details on the punk rocker's top and the flame tattoo on his arm are awesome additions. I can picture this Insomnia's Guitar Heaven being down a side-alley where only the toughest of minifgs would dare to venture. There's probably a tattoo studio next door and a 'biker's bar' opposite blasting music from the juke box....
The movie didn't do well at the box office, but Oblivion is worth a watch in my opinion. If for no other reason than some pretty spectacular visuals. Yeah, the plot's a bit thin and the pace is a bit plodding, but overall I enjoyed it. It would seem builder Grantmasters was OK with it too, so much so he recreated one of the posters from the film in excellent microscale.
Tonight we have a lovely Cranberry Black Forest Cake, baked just for you by chef Sad Brick. Made from the finest organic and gluten-free ingredients imported directly from Billund, Denmark. This cake was expertly crafted with great attention to detail, from the moist center, to the delicious garnish on top. And no need to feel any guilt, it's completely calorie free!
This build by Simon Schweyer is inspired by Into the Wild, a film I have never seen and a book I have never read. Maybe I don't need to have seen/read the source material to appreciate the craftsmanship in this diorama. The emotion translates very well in the lady's pose, her bare feet on soft grass, the apparent height of the cliff, and the coloring of the sky and water. Coloring a sunset with LEGO bricks is tricky business, especially for someone as severely colorblind as I am, but not as tricky as pulling off such a moody scene and making it look so effortless.
I want one of these in my backyard. My 10-year-old self could have happily spent dozens of summer afternoons playing in this thing. Built by Sergeant Chipmunk, this awesome forest ranger watchtower reminds me quite a lot of Lothlorien. And that's definitely a good thing. The landscaping and rocks are extremely well done, and I like how the structure is built right over a stream. That's a cool detail which really adds a lot of visual interest to the scene.
Just kidding. You're not bugging me at all!
From what I can tell from being an English teacher for nine years, Japanese boys and girls have a unique fascination with insects and even have a knack for collecting them. They're not all just creepy crawly critters! This makes me wonder if Takamichi Irie collected insects as a child. He recently spent a year studying abroad and time to time expressed his feelings of being homesick, which might explain where his LEGO insect series came from. It's amazing what you can do with just a few tiny parts (and especially with those that seem to have only a single use). NPU, dude! You can see the rest of the his "Small Animals" series on his Flickr.
Every few years The LEGO Group produces a set that is universally applauded and I think this year we have a winner. Whether you're into Technic or cars or not, you have to appreciate the skill, care, engineering and love that went into this set. It's truly a work of art and a premium building experience. The attention to detail in every aspect, starting with the box it comes in, is superb. I can't wait to share the finished model with you, but for now, an unboxing will have to suffice.
And there aren't any pop-up ads, either. This massive build by Praetorian- is a minifig-scale recreation of the ancient Roman Forum of Nerva, one of the four Imperial fora, or public squares, in Rome. The architectural details in this are just fantastic, from the columns and wall patterning to the magnificent arch. I really like how clean this build is: all the spotless white makes it look like new, instead of ruined like the Roman buildings we're used to seeing. I highly recommend viewing more pictures in the Flickr album.
Every country likes to rattle it's saber, and humans have been squabbling over resources and wealth since we figured out how to walk upright. The governments declare the wars, and their men and women pay the price. This stirring MOC by vir-a-cocha illustrates this all too well, but also has a second more important message, about finding beauty and overcoming circumstances. I can't be easy to carry an accordion with crutches, but this scrappy vet was up to the challenge, and now he can play a little music, for everyone's enjoyment.
Look out Mechy Mouse, there's some stompy competition in town courtesy of Moko. I'm going to be vacationing at the Disneyland resort in July, so I think there's enough time for the Imagineers to get going on some of these. I mean floats are nice, and I do watch a parade from time to time, but if these were clomping down Main Street, I would so be there.
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