Vietnam Rocky Highland

I've never been to Vietnam, but I hope if I ever get to visit it's as vibrant and charming as this little MOC by builder Know Your Pieces. There's an interesting mix of traditional and modern aesthetics, with the waterwheel giving a timeless touch, but the power poles letting us know this is contemporary.

BrickFair Virginia 2017 Recap

It's that time of year again. BrickFair Virginia 2017 wrapped up this past Sunday after five days of friends, games, shopping, and mostly LEGO. BrickFair is my favorite week of the year because of how friendly the LEGO community is. I saw lots of old friends and new friends this year, and in just the same way I saw lots of old and new MOC's. My fellow contributor Nathaniel was there this year as well, and we'd like to share some of our favorite MOC's of the weekend with you, below. You can find more information about BrickFair here. Nathaniel has written a few words about his experience at the convention below as well.

Hi guys! Nathaniel here. I can't believe that BrickFair has already ended. As the highlight of my summer, it always goes by too quickly. As Kodi said above, both he and I were there proudly representing BrickNerd to fellow exhibitors and the public. It was great to see old friends again, and make some new ones for future conventions. How can I summarize BrickFair Virginia, without spending hours describing it? It's simply pure joy. I would highly recommend it to any fellow LEGO builder. If you're really interested in seeing more of the convention, I would highly recommend that you head on over to Beyond the Brick's YouTube channel and await their guided video tour of the convention.

Already looking forward to next year! Until then, we will take our memories (and loot) and look to the future.

So long, BrickFair!

Kodi & Nathaniel

Sky Pirates Dragon Attack

This is one of those MOCs that's just hard to take in as a photo, or series of photos for that matter. There's so much going on and so many complex angles that pictures just don't do it justice. But one thing is clear from this single picture, that builder LEGO 7 put some serious time and effort into it. Do yourself a favor and click through for more pics.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Web-Head

I've never been too much into comics, they just weren't available in the little town I grew up in. But I did manage to get my grubby little paws on some occasionally, and my two favorites were Iron-Man and this guy, brilliantly built by umamen. I remember having several action figures of Spidey as a kid too, and none of them had the poseability of this brick-built one, making it even more impressive.

BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL!

Builder Alex Jones aka Orion Pax is back and seemingly on a one man crusade to recreate the toys of my (and many other fella's of a certain age) childhood in LEGO form. His latest build is what looks like an almost 1:1 scale recreation of HE-MAN and his best pal and trusty steed BATTLE-CAT stars of the "HE-MAN and the Masters of the Universe" cartoon.  Alex has faithfully recreated the furry pant wearing hero of the 80's - The recent release of the Batman - Clayface playset making the tanned complexion of HE-MAN possible. The detail on Battle Cats armoured mask in particular makes it almost indistinguishable from the rigid plastic version many of us owned way back then. Although I'm personally not a fan of sculpting, he's done a fantastic job of recreating HE-MAN's face using a Buzz Lightyear head as a base.

As a kid I loved Tuesday afternoons at 4 o'clock for my taste of Eternian action with a dose of morality at the end for good measure. I hope Alex gets round to giving Skeletor and Panthor the same treatment soon!

Motorized BB-8

BB-8 is pretty much universally adored, and since the release of The Force Awakens we've seen thousands of iterations of this little guy. He's on everything from sports bottles to hats. Being nothing but round makes him naturally difficult to build in bricks, but our love for him means that builders keep doing it. Check out this version by Takamichi Irie, not only does it look great, the motorized functions really bring him to life.

Technique Tuesday - Panels And Cheese Make A Delicious And Interesting Wall

Getting large flat surfaces (AKA walls) to be interesting usually takes a lot of parts and a lot of work, but even then they lack sufficient detail. Builder Simon NH shows us a technique that uses panels and a wide assortment of small parts to really break up the surface in not only color and size, but also subtle texture. I can't vouch for how sturdy it is, but it certainly looks fantastic.

M8A1

Weapon builder extraordinaire Nick Brick is back with another stunning rifle. This is the M8A1 from the game Call of Duty Black Ops II, and it's pretty badass. It features a moving trigger, removable magazine, sliding ambidextrous charging handle with centering tab, and detachable working reflex sight. I can't help but think that somewhere in Nick's house there's a room that's starting to look like Big Daddy's in Kick Ass.

Chicken Run

If you haven't seen Chicken Run you need to give it a chance. For one, it's by Aardman, the Wallace and Grommet people, so you know it's funny. And it's heavily inspired by Stalag 17, and The Great Escape, so it's a good story. And of course it's stop-motion animated, a subject close to my heart. Builders SuckMyBrick liked it so much they were inspired to build. And this is the result, pure enchantment and fun, just like the movie,

Lumiére

Humans have always been captivated by fire, from our very early days it has been a central feature of our lives. It cooks our food, it keeps us warm and it wards off danger. Of course we think we've mastered this element, but that is only by the good grace of Lumiére, the goddess of fire, depicted here by builder Pate-keetongu. So next time you turn that dial of the stove top or click that lighter, remind yourself to be thankful.

Lightsabers

“This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster. An elegant weapon... for a more civilized age.”

— Obi-Wan Kenobi

These of course need no introduction, everyone knows what a lightsaber is, which is really interesting when you think about it. Prior to 1977, they weren't a thing. They were a notion in George Lucas' imagination, and a collection of parts somewhere in England. A graflex flash handle, plumbing parts, pieces of calculator. Now they are part of our lives, as ubiquitous as an automobile or television. And now they are beautifully crafted brick-built showpieces by Swan Dutchman. There have been countless lightsabers built in LEGO, but these are perhaps the cleanest I've ever seen, gorgeous.

Tower Bridge At Tower Bridge

A builder with an awesome outlook on life and a pretty awesome name, Tommy Williams (it's so hard not not add the "on" on the end of that) has done something I've been dying to do. The Tower Bridge is an icon of London, and the LEGO set is a fitting tribute to it. So why not build it in the shadow of the real thing? Tommy has done just that, and produced this exceptional video documenting the event. It's all part of his Year of Projects and the philosophy to never lose your inner child. As a self professed man-child, I totally support this notion.

The Battle of Maerwynn Creek

What is it with humans? We've been squabbling over everything for as long as we've been walking upright (and probably before). We're just not wired for cooperation or coexistence it seems, or maybe not. It's kinda ironic that this depiction of man's tendency to bonk each other on the head and not work together is the product of two builders collaborating. Nice work SirWilsonBricks and The Maestro, you give me hope in humanity.

World Map

When faced with what to put on the wall of his living room, builder Dirkb86 (with the encouragement of his wife) decided on a world map. And not just any world map, but this majestic relief map of our tiny blue marble. These few pictures really don't do the project justice, you can see tons more pictures and read the story of it's creation over on MOCpages.

Evening in the Living Room

Heikki M. has created another stunning interior that you might see featured on one of those high-end HGTV shows.  But what's interesting, beyond all the stylish designs and artistic details, of course, is the fact that we've got a little forced perspective built into the scene.  The fireplace in the foreground is actually out of proportion to the furniture and the TV to create the illusion of a much larger room.  Pretty crafty, there, Heikki! 

Doc Brown's Time Traveling Train

Who can forget the moment Doc Brown and his beloved Clara appeared in this stunning steampunk time traveling train at the end of Back to the Future III? And of course the absolutely mind-blowing surprise of when it lifted off and flew away (uh, spoilers I guess?). It's a movie vehicle classic, and this version by Mister Bricks does it justice. For a detailed breakdown check out the video from our pals at Beyond the Brick.

Ascension of the Flood

M.C. Escher has always been one of my favorite artists. AFOLs have been recreating his work for a long time, but I don't think I've ever seen a motorized Escher MOC until now: Jarren Harkema has assembled a beautiful display inspired by Escher's Waterfall which must look remarkable in person. You can see it in motion in this video.

Granny Weatherwax & Nanny Ogg

Builder Pate-keetongu is back with some more characters from his ever-expanding cast of characters from the venerable Discworld. This time around it's Granny Weatherwax & Nanny Ogg, and of course I still haven't read the books yet so I have no idea who they are. But as every character is added to his collection, I become more and more fascinated and curious.

Chibi Air Superiority

This is a fun little forced perspective and chibi vignette by builder Klikstyle. It featured the last biplane to see official use by the US Navy, the Grumman F3. And while I say chibi, the F3F-2 has the distinction of actually being pretty chibi in real life, with it's squat fuselage, tucked in landing gear it's got cartoony but endearing proportions, earning it the nickname "beer barrel".

Eats Yer Spinach

Growing up in the 70's meant Saturday morning was king. When you only have 3-4 channels, there was pretty much never anything for kids on, until Saturday morning. From 5am to about 11am it was nothing but kid's stuff, and we were glued to the TV. Classic WB toons, Tom & Jerry, HR Pufnstuf, Land of the Lost, we couldn't get enough of it. Then the Saturday film festival would come on (please be Godzilla, please be Godzilla...) but before the movie it was usually Popeye cartoons. So when I see this brilliant character build of everyone's favorite spinach eating sailor, I'm 8 years old, wearing my Planet of the Apes pajamas and polishing off a box of frosted flakes. Thanks for a dose of nostalgia lummerlander.