It's All An Illusion (Or A Sham)

Towering over the city of Pyongyang in North Korea, the Ryugyong Hotel is a testament to ill-conceived ideas (that's a pun, trust me). While started in 1987, it was never finished. And despite the shiny glass exterior, it's basically just a glorified telecommunications tower. In fact, it's only shiny on one side, the side that faces their mortal enemies, South Korea. The other side is indicative to it's true nature, an abandoned building. Ryan McNaught built this as part of his Brickman Wonders of the World exhibit.

LEGO Ryugyong Hotel
Ryugyong Hotel north side

"Diabolically Simple!"

Captainsmog has begun what looks like a fantastic new series of MOCs based on a cartoon classic - the Wacky Races! Sure, every episode had the same basic premise, but this show still holds a place in my heart, full of memories of Boomerang re-runs from the mid-2000s. His series starts with a great rendition of the most famous car of the series, the Mean Machine - and he's already posted the second MOC, which you can check out on his Flickr page.

Wacky Races - Mean Machine

Gladiatorial Combat

When I look at the state of the world these days and wonder if we've lost our collective minds, it's easy to forget we were never terribly bright to begin with. Tossing some guys in the middle of an arena and making them fight to death was considered rather good entertainment once. Or just a single guy, and maybe a tiger (who just wants to be left alone), that's some good fun right there. Well, it makes for a jaw-dropping MOC, that's for sure. This stunning scene was done for the MOCOlympics by W. Navarre.

Into the Arena

The Southern Air Temple

I've never watched The Last Airbender, so I'm unfamiliar with the source for this model by Hacim Bricks. But I can still appreciate a great build without knowing the inspiration. The forced perspective going on here is extremely cool. I really like how the structures in the front are fully 3-D, but the ones towards the back are a lot flatter. This gives the whole build a real sense of depth, even though the builder says it's only 26 studs deep.

The Southern Air Temple

Piranha Plant

That mechanical mad genius JK Brickworks is back with another cool creation, and this one's from a video game classic, Mario Bros. Anyone that's played the game (and pretty much everyone else as well) is familiar with the Piranha Plant, those tube-dwelling, perpetually hungry pains in the butt. We've seen these before in LEGO, but this one's mechanical. Check out the video to see it in action and learn how it's done.

Working Piranha Plant

But Where's the Ninja?

The Classic Castle Contest is currently under way, and I'm loving it. Every couple days, there are several absolute gems that pop up in my feed. This peaceful Oriental bridge scene by 'LL' is one of my favorites so far. The bridge perfectly evokes classic Eastern architecture, and very cleverly uses the old rope bridge pieces for the arch. But what I like best about this build are those trees. The grey trunks compliment the fall leaves very nicely, and the addition of some roots really makes them look accurate.

Eastern bridge

Fence Designs

Legopard has shared three wonderful techniques for creating intricate fences around your MOC's.  These techniques were created for "The New Black" parts challenge, a contest featured on New Elementary.  I believe each design is self explanatory, including fairly common parts to create iron fences.  The first model he features I could see surrounding a manor, perhaps in London.  His second technique would fit well for a prison gate or an entrance into a graveyard.  Third and lastly (and my personal favorite), the builder uses Ninjago helmet ornaments to create complex shaping to the bars.  What fences can you create?  A special thanks to the builder for sharing these techniques on his Flikr page!

TheNewBlack - Fences [1]
TheNewBlack - Fences [2]
TheNewBlack - Fences [3]
Comment

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

Fall in Winter

Though the actual season may be winter, that doesn't change the fact that this is a beautiful autumn tree.  The trunk is my favorite part, which has been created very well using some new common elements.  I find that LEGO string really adds a nice bark texture to tree trunks (assuming it's the same color as the "wood.")   It's rare for such a small landscape scene to be this detailed, but Legopard has done just that with this little creation.

TheNewBlack - Autumn Tree
Comment

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

Mettaton

This is Mettaton by Alexander Blais, he's a robot with a soul from the game Undertale. I've never heard of him, or the game of course (nerd cred -6) but I found him instantly engaging. From the little research I did I found the game pretty awesomely retro as well, right down to the sound design. This guy seems to be the real stand out character, and with his appealing design and quirky ways, I understand why.

Metal Crusher

Festive Holiday Scene

Santa! It's Christmas everywhere you look these days, and I love it. This cheerful little scene by builder HCK_1974 has it all, a stunning tree adorned with festive decorations, a snowy lot where all the action is taking place, children and elves having a good time and a couple of adorable oversized reindeer. And of course santa flying by, spreading holiday cheer.

CHRISTMAS TREE & REINDEER
CHRISTMAS TREE & REINDEER
CHRISTMAS TREE & REINDEER

Review - The Unofficial LEGO Technic Builder's Guide 2nd Edition

Review - The Unofficial LEGO Technic Builder's Guide 2nd Edition

If you've ever built a Technic set, you know what a potentially dizzying complexity they can reach. And if you've ever tried to build your own Technic creation, you know just how deep the rabbit hole goes. The possibilities of connections, complex mechanical structures and intricate linkages is effectively limitless, and can quickly become overwhelming. Well, luckily there's a new resource to navigate those murky waters, The Unofficial LEGO Technic Builder's Guide, Second Edition. If you build Technic, you need this book.

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The Bullet-Proof Bomb

Builder redfern1950s continues his quest to build all the vehicles from Wacky Races. This one is another childhood favorite of mine, the Bullet-Proof Bomb, AKA The Roaring Plenty. It was driven by the Ant Hill Mob, seven inept but strangely lovable mobsters. One of their secret tactics was the ability to lift the car and simply run across the finish line (I'm pretty sure they stole that trick from Fred Flintstone).

Wacky Races " The Ant Hill Mob "

Dash Baron

I've never been good at sports, in fact I consider myself athletically retarded. In my youth I once played baseball for a single season, I was left field (left out) and I was the worse player on the team. We came in last place that year, so for one shining season I was the single worse baseball player here in Lompoc, CA. So the concept Mech racing has a natural appeal to me. First, it's pretty nerdy, and second, with a properly calibrated mech I might actually be kinda good. OK, I wouldn't, but if my mech looked half as cool as this one from Lu Sim, at least I'd look pretty spiffy doing it.

ARMT-M01X-SR Dash Baron

A Full Month Of Half-Blood Prince

BrickNerd's own Mel Finelli has taken on the admirable (if not slightly bonkers) task of building a MOC a day for this entire month inspired by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. So far she's right on point, and the wonderful little vignettes are a daily delight. Here's just a few of those done so far, and we have plenty more to look forward to.

04 - Horace Slughorn
05 - Excess of Phlegm
06 - Draco's Detour

Königsfeld Manor

Welcome to Königsfeld Manor, in lovely Avalonia, Historica. Sometimes a parts shortage is all the inspiration you need for a brilliant solution, and sometimes that solution is better than the original plan. This lovely castle scene by builder MassEditor was originally going to have a pretty standard irregular border, but short of parts he came up with this very interesting "spilling over" border, which is the touch that makes this diorama really stand out.

Königsfeld Manor