ARES-3

Bob DeQuatre has been waiting to build this for quite a while now.  Exactly three years, in fact.  Designed on LDD, he's finally gotten around to building this ship in real bricks.  And it's certainly been worth the wait!  Gotta love the curves and the color scheme, complete with the massive blasters on each side.  And a couple of Classic Space logos thrown in for good measure.  Awesome!

Space Marine Helmet

This space marine helmet by builder timofey_tkachev looks right out of a movie or video game. The sleek black design looks intimidating, and not only does it have all the right aesthetics, it's wearable too. I assume it's an original design, but it feels familiar, almost imperial. While it doesn't necessarily look Star Warsy (is that an adjective?) you can definitely feel some of the DNA in it.

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil

Mizaru, covering his eyes, sees no evil. Kikazaru, covering his ears, hears no evil. And Iwazaru, covering his mouth,  speaks no evil. The three together are the wise monkeys, an ancient reminder of ethics and code of conduct, here depicted brilliantly by builder J.B.F. While the notion of being a wise monkey seems appealing, I would like to hesitantly propose the 4th monkey, "have no fun".

Aircraft Hangar

Here's a fun fact, both me and Mrs BrickNerd know how to fly a plane. She actually went to flight school, I was just an enthusiast, but we've both flown. So we've both spent a little time in environments like this, and I was instantly smitten with this lovely aircraft hangar by bricks.life.idea. 

Vengeful Spirit

I really dig this ship design by Tim C76, it looks like a mashup of angular Imperial design and classic NASA, with a touch of rebel spirit. But based on the name I'm guessing it's not transporting colonists or doing research. The contrast of the white cladding against the greebly goodness is visually appealing (but must have made it hard to photograph). Regardless I want to rig it, light it, do a motion control pass and put this baby in a movie!

The Last Of Us

I hope you have some time on your hands, because I have a little eye candy for you. Actually it's a lot of eye candy, like a full game level of eye candy, in this intensely detailed and jaw-dropping diorama by builder Tim Schwalfenberg. It's inspired by the video game The Last of Us, and like the game it's an absolute work of dystopian art. Click through for many more pictures, and make yourself comfortable, you have some gawking to do.

*Boop Boop Boop, Weeoo Weeoo Weeoo, Wop Wop Wop*

I was totally a kid of the 70's and 80's, I saw the rise of the video game and the subsequent decline of pinball. And like an entire generation of kids, none of us ever had a quarter in our pocket that wasn't itching to be converted to a few minutes of pixelated fun. Now you can recreate this bygone era with Chris McVeigh's charming little modular arcade. You can get instructions and full kits at his website chrismcveigh.com

Exterminator

Pest problems? No Problem! Just call A-1 Pest Services and we'll send over one of our trained technicians to take care of you. We specialize in draknort infestations, ploopknit problems, flindershiver nests and homnibble dens. Ask about or 20% discount for non gravity dwellings and our special this month on shelter fumigations. That's A-1, for all your extermination needs!

The Compact Pussycat

Builder redfern1950s' quest to complete all of the Wacky Racers is nearly complete. I will confess Penelope Pitstop was never a favorite of mine, far too girly for me. Her classic "southern bell" ways and beauty supplied car gizmos were just irritating to 7 year old me. And of course she's the one that got her own spinoff cartoon, I would have much rather watched the antics of the gruesome twosome.

U-Wing Starfighter

The U-Wing is an exciting addition to the fleet of Star Wars. I will admit when I first saw it in the trailer for Rogue One my first thought was "uh oh, a new ship, this is going to get fan boys' panties in a twist." And of course soon after I starting seeing comments like "how come we don't see those in episode 4?" I don't know if it's a legitimate complaint, I don't want to take a position on it. I think it's a cool ship, and I enjoyed seeing it in action in the movie. So did builder JBIronWorks, who crafted this brilliant minifigure scale one that puts the official set to shame.

Rockin' In Wonderland

Talk about eye catching. This musical scene from Alice in Wonderland is as much about the photography as it is the build. Julius von Brunk brings us this colorful and whimsical scene, showing Alice, Hatter, March Hare and the White Rabbit absolutely rocking. The shot was accomplished with the clever use of multicolor party spotlights, a great effect expertly done.

Vinochope

I love getting fooled by MOCs (well, most of the time). I almost scrolled right past this brilliant presentation by J.B.F. At first glance, this just looks like a bottle of wine, a craft beer and a yummy snack. But don't be fooled, while still delicious, this is all bricks (and stickers of course).

Batman/Batcave

Batman Movie mania is in full swing (we've got the bug too, obviously) and Batman MOCs are everywhere. As if a cool Batman maxi fig wasn't impressive enough, Norton74 went and put a awesome little Batcave surprise inside his. Open his chest and there's Batman and Robin, ready for some crimefighting action.

TIE Bomber

Star Wars has a pretty vast collection of vehicles. A great many of them only make brief appearances in the films, and I think that's great. Just like in real life, you don't see giant Caterpillar land movers or F1 cars in the same place or very often, there's no reason to expect you'd see every ship in every movie or show. The TIE Bomber only really got any decent screen time in Empire, and I'm totally cool with that. I always loved that it took what we thought was an exceptional design aesthetic, exclusive to Vader, and made it very utilitarian. This version by marking not only nailed the proportions and details, but it's an impressive scale. I want to see this thing in person!

This Issue: Everybody Dies!

Henry Pinto has completed the daunting task of building this massive LEGO Sentinel, complete with a working light center. I've always loved the menacing, monolithic forms of these villains, contrasted with their bright pink heads and highlights, and this one looks like it could easily stomp on all of those tiny X-minifigures.

Tropical Shores

I was fortunate enough to view this impressive tropical island pirate MOC in an earlier iteration at BrickCon. It's a collaborative build by Takkata1 and ForlornEmpire and it's pretty spectacular. There's little touches and fun back story everywhere you look, but that temple entrance is a total scene stealer. Check out the video for a time lapse of it's construction and to see the moving features in action.

Hornet

It's been a while since we've featured some good old Neo Classic Space. I really like the use of the large canopy and staggered seating of the pilot and gunner in this fighter by ZCerberus. It's sort of a optimistic future aesthetic mixed with modern apache kickassery. I think if I saw this coming over the horizon I'd be simultaneously sincerely admiring and pooping my pants.

Batman's Favorite

After a long day of crimefighting and being everyone's favorite, Batman totally deserves a lobster dinner. Builder team and awfully fine people Siercon and Coral bring us this appetizing little dish, and I do mean little. It's deceptively small, just take a closer look. And as everyone has pointed out, that lemon steals the show, very clever.

Jack Skellington

The Nightmare Before Christmas is such an amazing piece of cinematic history. The quirky design, the unforgettable music, the phenomenal stop-motion animation. It's really no wonder it's such a fan favorite. Those quirky designs make for some serious build challenges to those endeavoring to recreate them in LEGO, but as you can see, with some mad skills like J.B.F, it can be done.