Custom Harley Bagger

Custom parts (modified, chromed, printed, painted) tend to divide a lot of builders. Purists consider them "cheating" or somehow offensive. I'm actually pretty OK with them (at least the chromed and printed ones) mostly because I use them in animation a lot. It's hard to deny the results of a nicely assembled bit of quality chromed parts. You can't tell me the impact of this outrageous custom Harley by builder brickthebrick would be just the same with gray parts and limited official chrome, just look at that engine!

You Knocked My Block Off!

Ah, childhood, when we weren't out beating each other senseless with our Sock'Em Boppers, we were inside beating each other's robots senseless with Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots. Builder jtheels is back with another solid dose of nostalgia, and has sparked a theory. As impossible as it sounds, I am absolutely convinced at this point we somehow shared a toy box from either side of the country.

The Flying Dutchman

I've always loved the Pirates of the Caribbean, from endless trips through the ride to the movies (well, maybe not At Worlds End, that was a bit of a train wreck), I dig a bit of salty swashbuckling. So this rendition of Day Jones' ship The Flying Dutchman by W. Navarre caught my eye instantly. You can practically hear the epic soundtrack and smell the popcorn can't you? 

Beyond The Brick Kickstarter

It was great to see our pals at Beyond the Brick at BrickCon. They even took time out of their busy schedule covering the event to serve as judges for the Bricks of Character display. Nobody covers an event in such detail as these guys, and now they want to reach beyond our borders for coverage in the UK and you can help. Check out their Kickstarter campaign and help them get to Brick Birmingham. They've got some very cool rewards, including some brick sketches by Chris McVeigh and a custom MOC by Tyler Clites. 

Secret Of The Mummy's Tomb

The other childhood obsession of mine was GIjOE (and since I never grew up, well...) I have hundreds of Joes stored away, and a few on display here at my house. I also have a couple Peter Pan Book & Records, fun little records with a comic attached. One of them was inspired by the same toy that inspired this MOC by baronsat, Secret of the Mummy's Tomb. It had an awesome six wheeled transport with detachable crane and a cool mummy in a sarcophagus (and my personal favorite Joe, the Land Adventurer). This MOC brings back a flood of feels, thanks Eric!

BMW R60

I love old motorcycles. The aesthetic, the utilitarian nature and the simplicity have always had an appeal. The earliest ones are my favorites, but even through the 60's bikes were being produced that had styling cues from their predecessors. This BMW R60 by young builder Maxime Cheng has a suburb level of detail, and captures the style perfectly. Some purists might want to look away though, if I'm not mistaken (and I usually am) there's several custom parts in this thing. But the results are so excellent I'm more than willing to overlook them.

Redeemer Of Albin

Builder nate_daly crafted an elegant and regal SHIP to celebrate SHIPtember, and it's quite lovely. The subtle, flowing forms and good balance of broad strokes to fine details really work here. And while it's mostly monochromatic, there's just enough color in select places to give it a bit of punch without getting garish. Click through for many more pictures and some WIP shots.

ODST Helmet

Builder Nick Brick has done it again. I've had the privilege and pleasure of watching this slowly take shape with updates from Nick, from it's humble beginnings as a clever frame of plates connected by Mixel joints, to the tedious sculpting and gap filling to the final mind-blowing results. Be sure to check out the video, a lot of work went into this MOC.

Le Garage

There are a few things in life that I really geek out about, the first being LEGO, of course, the second being automobiles. When you put the two together and add a little bit (or in this case, a lot) of charm you have me hook, line and sinker. The charm is in this case that builder brickbink didn't just create another auto shop, but he created an old French auto shop. The details are just perfectly French, from the building and automobile design, to the baguette on the work bench, and finally the mustachioed mechanic.

The Room of Requirement

"Sometimes it is there, and sometimes it is not, but when it appears, it is always equipped for the seeker's needs" - Dobby the House-elf.

Builder Wookieewarrior captures the look and feel of the famously elusive non-existent/existent Hogwarts room from the Harry Potter series of books. Look closely and you will find items of significance from the books scattered about the room including the Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw.
Now if only I could get this room to appear with a desk full of sorted LEGO bricks for when I start my next project.

BrickCon Was Awesome

It's Monday morning after BrickCon, I'm still in denial that it's over. There's always a little sadness that follows the closing ceremonies, as we all breakdown the MOCs and strip the tablecloths off. It takes over two days to set it up, and it's gone is just a few minutes. The reality sets in that it's over, at least for another year. The time spent with old friends and making new ones is really what it's all about for me. I mean the MOCs are great of course, but it's the people that bring them, the ones you chat with, dine with, party with, that are really what makes a con what it is. So many laughs, so many hand shakes, so many hugs, it's been great to be back.

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The Bricks of Characters display was outstanding as usual, with a diverse array of everything you could imagine. From humorous to scary, from big to small and from clean to downright filthy (I'm looking at you Angus). With a "head count" of approximately 232 characters, it was pretty epic. I'd like to thank everyone for contributing to our little corner of insanity, you all rock.

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Of course none of it would be possible without the biggest character of all, Iain Heath. He and I enjoyed taking our interpretation of the event's theme "Madness" to the next level, even going full ska for our outfits on Saturday. Since I couldn't be here last year, at least not in all three dimensions, it had been two years since we'd seen each other in person, it's been awesome to be reunited with my good friend.

I'm also happy to report that my MOC of the band took the award "One Step Beyond" (how appropriate) at the awards ceremony (big thanks to the Beyond the Brick guys for agreeing to be our judges). So now it's time to recover, and thankfully I'm staying in the area a few more days to see what other mischief me and Iain can get into. But first, time to rest. Thanks to everyone I encountered over the last four days for making BrickCon super special, you're what makes it great.

Welcome to Sanctuary

I absolutely adore micro models that tell so much of a story! Builder Galaktek has easily become a person I love to see new things from. His latest creation is described as a folding box, usually carved or painted, that is a keepsake for visitors of the Sanctuary; "Its design represents their experience, which can be held close inside, or unfolded to share the peace of the Sanctuary". The build "unfolds" like described; and can also come apart, allowing the four seasons to separate and be fitted like a box. Galaktek's story of the Sanctuary is as beautiful as the build itself, check detail images and the story below!

Sanctuary of Four Seasons

The Sanctuary rises from a ridge overlooking four valleys, famed for the clarity of their seasons. People from the region may be admitted to the Sanctuary for a period of secluded reflection -- traditionally, in Spring, for those who have just ended their education; in Summer, for those recently recovered from a life-threatening illness; in Autumn, for those who have completed their life work; or in Winter, for those who have lost a loved one. 

Macross Destroid Tomahawk

I consider it a privilege to witness someone emerging from their dark ages, to watch them explore this hobby again and join the ranks of AFOLs. Like me, builder prolost is a veteran of visual effects in motion pictures. We even worked on some of the same movies as the studios we worked for were sorta "sister companies", of similar size and capacity. So to be able to watch his "awakening" has special meaning to me. And from the looks of this clean and well-built Tomahawk, we can look forward to some amazing work from a talented artist and great guy. Welcome to the fold, brother.

GLDR

I don't know what the typical SHIP build time is. I know that if I was going to build one, it would probably take the entirety of the month (and then I still wouldn't finish). So you can imagine my shock to learn that this SHIP by Kris Manabo was built over the course of four days! That's the same time it took me to build my silly little Madness MOC. It's on display at BrickCon this weekend and worth a pause as you make your way around the show floor.

Into the Future. . .and Beyond!

Cesbrick has long been one of my favorite builders.  Typically, he builds in the medieval / fantasy theme, but today he has something completely new and different:  a SHIP!  Personally, this is my favorite model I have seen for SHIPtember 2016.  The color choices used in this model are perfect, and what's even better is the fact that there is a perfect balance between them.  The subtle amounts of light gray mixed into the white is very pleasing to the eyes.  Furthermore, there are excellent examples of greebling all over this creation, and finally those fancy rings that wrap around this futuristic vessel - super cool!  Already looking forward to next year's SHIPtember! 

Franken

I love a MOC that instantly conjures visions of scenes and scenarios. The moment I saw this construction mech by Moko, I saw teams of identical mechs busy at work constructing a futuristic building. Each one dutifully going about it's workday lifting, welding, fastening and moving. What a wonderful sight that would be.

The Ervana

Remember that ship Han Solo used to capture the Millennium Falcon in The Force Awakens? Yeah, me neither. It doesn't have much screen time, and you don't get a good look at it really, at least from the outside. We see plenty of the interior, during the rathtar (not to be confused with Raptar, from Rugrats) scene, but it's one of the scenes I'd rather forget. So I honestly didn't recognize this SHIP by builder Forgotten Days when I first looked at it. But I find that encouraging because I was ready to blog it before I knew it was from Star Wars, so maybe I'm not completely biased (spoiler alert, I'm completely biased).

Viper Mark II

As a BSG fan, this Mark II jumped right off the screen at me.  But when I read that it's actually over 100 studs long, I was struck: "No frakin' way!?!"  Chris Maddison has built a mega scale version of the iconic Colonial aerospace superiority fighter.  He's captured all of those sexy curves and angles which are a real challenge at the mini-fig scale.  And there's still plenty of room for tasty greebles on the side of the fuselage and around the engines.  Okay, Chris, time to go shoot some toasters!!

Curvy Carrier

As most of you know (unless your internet has been down for a month), SHIPtember is almost over, which means that lots of ships are finally starting to pop up. Tim Schwalfenberg's latest sci-fi offering is very unorthodox (in the best possible way). Lots of spaceships are very angle-y, with plenty of hard edges. Tim's ship, however, is almost entirely curvy, making for an extremely eye-catching design. I particularly like the few trans-light blue accents; they really go well with the white and gold.