USS Utah

The moment I saw this I heard those familiar four chimes of the start of the Star Trek theme. Don't bother trying to figure out what film or series this is from, it's fan designed, but that doesn't mean it's not 100% Trek. Builder threeDadventures based this design on concept art by Ryan Denning, and it looks right out of one of the movies. Beautifully designed, expertly built and eminently swooshable.

S.H.A.D.O. Interceptor

Despite being almost unknown in the US, I distinctly remember having a toy of this vehicle as a kid (I also recall losing the missile, heartbreak), the UFO S.H.A.D.O. Interceptor. I recall the show being long on talking and slow on action, but having the coolest theme music ever. So the moment I saw this brilliant version of the ship by builder Norton74, the memories came flooding back, and now the theme song is stuck in my head.

Technique Tuesday - Simple But Effective Flooring

One of the best things about the LEGO community is that we can learn from one another.  Here at BrickNerd, we like to share techniques that we see from builders all around the world. . .

Flooring is an often overlooked aspect of a good vignette or diorama. But rather than treating it as an afterthought I think you'll find paying attention to this area adds a lot of punch if it's well integrated. This doesn't mean it has to be super elaborate or a parts hungry nightmare. This technique by N-11 Ordo is a pretty good balance of parts to impact and can be modified to fit a number of genres from space to castle. 

From Tragedy To Triumph

We've all been there, and seemingly more often lately. You go to snap an element in place and *snick* it snaps in two. It's heartbreaking, every element is sacred isn't it? It's especially disheartening when you're down to your last few of a particular color and it happens. Well builder  PigletCiamek has taken this torment and turned it into an asset with a brilliant little vignette that celebrates the fragments.

Green Abyss

Builder Blufiji shows us what it looks like when "unsavory characters, refugees, and denizens who simply want to disappear" take up residence in a swamp, and it's awesome. You can practically hear the insects, smell the damp air and feel the oppressive humidity as you look at this large, lush diorama. And if I'm not mistaken, in the distance, that's a banjo being played...slowly.

Hornet

One of the perks of living on the central coast of California is a distinct lack of bugs. I'm not saying there's none, there's plenty, but whenever someone visits from the midwest or south, they marvel at how few bugs there are, I'm totally OK with that. Take for instance this little critter by Takamichi Irie, I can't tell you the last time I saw a hornet, they're around I'm sure, but I haven't seen one. 

Wheeeee!

Just last week we blogged a coin-op rocket ride at minifig scale, now builder redfern1950s2 is here with a large scale one, with motion! It's not motorized (yet) but even hand cranked you can see that this thing would be a wild ride. What kid wouldn't want to waste a quarter in this baby? Even if it probably meant wasting lunch too.

The Last Skimmer

Grant Davis is leading the charge. . . This happens to be the first build I have seen from the Last Jedi trailer, and it's an excellent model indeed. The new resistance vehicles are seen skimming across the surface of Crait towards a battle with the First Order. Though we have very limited footage of these new vehicles, Grant was able to build a model that is easily recognizable, even if it didn't have the iconic dust behind it. This is one of the things I knew we would see multiple versions of in LEGO, because most of the other footage from the trailer is just scenes with a few characters. I was also planning to build this craft, but I may hold off, because we have this awesome representation!

HAL

Jason at JK Brickworks is back with another nifty MOC that has your best interests at heart. This one isn't kinetic, but sci-fi and Kubrick fans will recognize HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey. HAL is brought to life by the Pfx Brick, featuring light and sound. They're in the final push on their Kickstarter and need your help. You can also find instructions to build your own HAL here.

Tree Town

Is there anything more inviting than a tree house? Admit it, you see one, you just want to climb up and hang out (unless you're afraid of heights, or squirrels or something I suppose). I can say I've never had the opportunity to spend any time in a quality tree house, but I've always wanted to, especially if it was as awesome as this MOC by Tim Schwalfenberg. I'm not sure how much I'd trust that bridge, or that bee hive, but I desperately want to visit this place.

Preacher

As is usual with a comic related post, I've never ready Preacher, nor have I seen the TV show based on the comic. But I do appreciate a good character build, and this busts by Vitreolum are fantastic. Of course I did a little googling just to see who we're talking about and they're pretty much perfect.

Reaper

The description of this impressive beast of a MOC by Benjamin Cheh is "Surveillance and Target Acquisition" but judging by the armament on this thing, it's more than capable of target annihilation as well. I would love to see this thing walking...just not in real life, towards me, I don't ever want to see that.

Shadowcaster

This is a MOC that defies logic and the "rules" of brick construction. How this flowing curve and tapered shape was accomplished is a bit mystifying to me, but it's so gorgeous I don't care. Builder JON1138 describes the model in detail in this video by the fine humans at Beyond the Brick.

It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's A Cubist Interpretation

Superman has probably never been edgier (see what I did there?) than in this cool cubist version by builder Amida Na. The man of steel is a man of bricks, and I think he looks pretty super. Now some may debate that everything in LEGO is cubist, or even say that this isn't cubism at all (art is so subjective) but no one can deny that this is pretty awesome.

And You Had Trouble Picking Out A Tie This Morning

Tony Stark certainly has no shortage of suits, both three piece and Iron Man suits. One he uses for guest appearances at charity auctions and being a playboy on the town, the other he uses when he needs to look business-like. I don't know if this MOC by John Toulouse has every single Iron Man minifigure that has ever been made, but it certainly looks like it (even the micro-fig!). It also has some fun surprises on the back side, very cool.

The House That Jamie Built...

UK builder Jamie Douglas always thinks, and builds, big. In 2015 he built a giant train station  Manchester Brickadilly, and now he's turned his attention to the Palace of Westminster.  That's the British Houses of Parliament, the Commons and the Lords, to you & me.

Fun facts:  
To create this monster build, Jamie used parts from 10 of the Big Ben sets (#10253), as well as a large number of Bricklink orders.  So if you find the price of Tan elements has gone up, you know who to blame. The whole thing uses in excess of 50,000 pieces, and took 235 hours to build, which doesn't include the 25 - 30 hours planning time.

The finished MOC will be on display for the first time at this year's Bricktastic, 1-2 July in Manchester UK.  If you can, go see it in person, but if you can't, click through to Jamie's stream on Flickr.

TESS

Meet TESS, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. TESS will be in space planet hunting sometime next year, but thanks to builder Apojove you can have one on your desktop right now. You can download instructions and learn all about this fascinating satellitr and it's mission on Rebrickable.

Technique Tuesday - Building Guides

One of the best things about the LEGO community is that we can learn from one another.  Here at BrickNerd, we like to share techniques that we see from builders all around the world. . .

This week's tip isn't really about a particular technique, but more of an invaluable resource. Brickgun.com not only has a slew of really cool weapons, instructions and other nifty models to purchase, there's also a ton of really valuable and useful building guides in the free section. I have a print out of all these at the studio, they really come in handy. Click through and grab them, and give the site a good look, it's excellent.

The Simple Pleasures Of Childhood

I remember them well, out in front of the K-Mart, the rides. They were actually in front of several places here in my home town growing up. You know, those little rides that don't do much, don't cost much and don't seem to be very fun, but we all begged our moms for a quarter so we could ride. Builder LEGOMINDED takes advantage of the new rocket costume collectible minifigure to bring back a bit of nostalgia, and the results are as charming as they are clever.

Unaussprechlichen Kulten

For those that don't know, the Unaussprechlichen Kulten is a fictional book from Robert E. Howard's short stories, and was later referenced by H.P. Lovecraft, so you know it's got some dark mojo. It was built by Vitreolum as a companion piece to his Necronomicon. That's the beginning of a pretty bleak, but damn cool library.