Posted by
Dan
at
12:17 AM
| Name of Series: Marriott hotels |
| Created by: Sean Kenney |
| Found at: http://www.mocpages.com/folder.php/28543 |
Details:  LEGO Certified Professional Sean Kenney was recently commissioned to create replicas of eight different Marriott hotels. As you would expect from Sean's reputation, all of them are fantastic models. Built in microscale, they show off the architecture of the buildings nicely. Each model was presented to the matching hotel as an award for design, construction, collaboration, and and participation. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
11:43 PM
| Name of Model: Galaxy Diner and Empire Theater |
| Created by: sonicstarlight |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26864031@N00/sets/72157626344290071/ |
Details:  In a bit of a retro/deco-ish feel, this pair of Cafe Corner-standard buildings gives us something we don't see enough in this modular style. It's easy to get wrapped up in the time period that we see in the official sets, but these feel a bit more 1950's or 1960's. Many of the techniques used are what you'd expect (the cinema in particular seems to borrow a bit from set 10184 Town Plan), but there are some great surprises. Plates with rails give the diner a surprisingly convincing impression of texture. The mix of three different styles of mosaic-based lettering gives a realistic feel, breaking up the impression that you're looking at something whipped up based on one person's preferences - the combination of blocky letters for the "Galaxy" sign and curvy letters on the "Empire" sign is a brilliant touch. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
11:46 PM
| Name of Model: Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes |
| Created by: Joel.Baker |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joel_baker/sets/72157625701256635/with/5356656246/ |
Details:  This model (not related to the great recent set) is based on Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter books (more specifically, it's Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes). Just to kick things up a notch from the open-back nature of the Harry Potter kits, this rendition actually conforms to the Cafe Corner standard. The bold, rare colors are the first thing to catch your eye, but they're not even the most outrageous over-the-top feature - that would have to be the tipping of that hat.
The cleverly brick-built windows and the sidewalk mosaic make this stand out even more. Those great round dark orange protruded windows are also accurate to the version in the movies.
Oh, and about those rare colors - guess who figured out how much further you can go with them when you use DUPLO? This underused technique was able to keep the part count here unusually low - exactly 1,000 pieces were used. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
1:22 AM
| Name of Model: Burberry™ store |
| Created by: Jared Chan |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaredchan/sets/72157624216703327/ |
Details:  Recently featured on Brick Town Talk (which you should be reading in addition to this blog anyway), this Burberry store stands out as a high-water mark amongst recent highlights in the Cafe Corner standard of modular building (I post those highlights over at Brick Town Talk instead of here at LMOTD, but I did feature another model by the same builder this past March). Some of my favorite bits here: The Grand Emporium's awning technique recast in gold using parts from the Battle of Alamut, the use of a wheel and a dish for a unique gold-ish flourish at the top, and a group of bracket-plate-tile testures on the second floor (this actually adds up to the width of a normal brick and gives you that vertical stripe effect). I'm also a big fan of the studs that face toward the front of the building - the added texture looks great, and it's a feature that tile-crazed LEGO fans tend to forget actually looks pretty good in many contexts. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
11:30 PM
| Name of Model: Blacktron Intelligence Agency |
| Created by: bdarrow |
Details: 
Note that I skipped the "Found At" links in the section I usually fill in above. That's because this model is so huge, it requires its own round-up style post. This very large layout is only ever seen at LEGO fan conventions - it cannot be assembled in its creators own home. As it grew over the years, it became a legend on it's own. Known as the Blacktron Intelligence Agency (BIA for short), it's the ultimate in fully assembled cities for official LEGO themes (this is based on the original 1987 Blacktron line).
Here are some Brickshelf galleries by the builder showing how it grew over time:
BIA circa 2004
BIA circa 2005
BIA circa 2005 July
BIA circa 2006
BIA circa 2007
BIA circa 2008
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Posted by
Brickapolis
at
8:52 PM
 Judging by the copious amounts of fun that was had in 2008, 2009 is looking to be even better.
I'm eagerly awaiting photographs from the convention to see what kind of fun/craziness is taking place. And Brickcon always seems to have alot of that.
And yes, Steve Witt will be there in all of his Nerf gun wielding glory. He was in Atlanta catching a flight to Seattle earlier today.
Sadly, I have to report that Nannan will not be at Brickcon this year. Something to do with DNA and splitting I'm told.
On another note, I'm wondering if we will see a set revealed to the world for the first time, as was done at the convention in 2008.
So here's to everyone enjoying themselves at this year's Brickcon. Held, as always, in the Emerald City.
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Posted by
Lego Model of the Day
at
4:00 AM
| Name of Model: Amsterdam - Cafe De Kroon - original design by Gerrit van Arkel - built in 1898 - built in january 2008 by Patrick Bosman | | Created by: Patrick Bosman | | Found at: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=309141 | Details:
 If you've been reading LMOTD for a while, you've probably figured out that I really love the modular house style of city building. However, that's not the only amazing type of building being erected by adult LEGO fans today. This amazing reproduction of a real Cafe in Amsterdam turns things around by building diagonally across the baseplate. The front half is used for exterior details, while the back half shows off the completely furnished (and occupied!) interior. All of the flashiness would be for nought if the building wasn't up to par, but this building is also to the same scale (albeit a large building to start with) and is at the same high level of detail as those modular buildings I keep blogging about. Spiky hair shrubbery, sailboat sail holder signs, intricate windows (including some with curvature), a lasso lamppost, Technic axle columns...this is just a masterpiece, with a wide variety of amazing details and techniques. There are only 12 photos - and they're all worth letting carefully soak in. Then you come to the thirteenth photo - a picture of the inspiration for this - and realize that it's not just a great model, but a spot-on reproduction of the original building, too. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
9:24 PM
| Name of Model: Duna Plaza Layout | | Created by: MALUG members brob, Tibicsoki, Akos, GP, Gyurma77 and Matyo | | Found at: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=306151 | Details:
 The Magyar LEGO® Users Group (MALUG) put together this fantastic layout for the Duna Plaza in Budapest, Hungary. It's on display for the rest of March. There are a dozens of photos at the link above, but every one has another surprising detail to be seen - it's one of the most complete cities I've ever heard about. There are quite a few smaller sections that would have justified entries of their own here - I'd mention some standouts but I'd surely insult something amazing by forgetting to mention it.
This being a good model for a Sunday, I had picked it out to be Sunday's model of the day, but I was having trouble finding details about where it was and if it was on public display - however, while I was off doing other things, Brick Town Talk found this city and got info from one of the builders about where it is and such. I'm sorry for the delay, but it was worth it to make sure that the builders get proper credit. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
2:41 PM
| Name of Model: Certis Cisco City | | Created by: Nicholas Foo | | Found at: http://blackbulbcreations.blogspot.com/2008/01/certis-cisco-city.html | Details:
 There's a good deal of information written about this particular city. Foo documented several of the buildings and vehicles separately with in-progress animations. Most of the buildings were built modularly for easy transport. Power functions elements were built in for use with a remote control (for the uninitiated, "Power Functions" is the name of a new line of motors, battery packs, lights, cables, and remote controls that the LEGO company is phasing in now). Oh, and did I mention that the buildings are really well-detailed too? |
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Posted by
Dan
at
12:56 PM
| Name of Model: Mocs build my me for Trivia Contests | | Created by: tbaixinho | | Found at: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=278799 | Details:
 Here's a fun microscale cityscape. Some newer sloped pieces were used for the water here (and they look great). The use of lighter green parts for trees (and brown round plates for the bottoms of the trees) is a great touch too. Studs-not-on-top parts are used facing backwards for the windows - they have plates (those LEGO® parts one-third the thickness of a LEGO® brick) on the other side - which means that this doesn't look good from the back, but it looks great from the front. | | This is Tuesday's model of the day. |
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