Details: Reader Todd Wilder recently sent word about his latest creation (finished in January 2011): a "Mystery Box" table with a variety of secret compartments. Since just having mysterious compartments wouldn't be mysterious enough, the compartments are set up to only open in a certain order. A fun tessellated question mark pattern covers the sides, while the top is a very classy black. Rather than spoil the surprises, I'll point you to the site listed above to read more about this model.
Details: Recently, LEGO set designer and frequentlyfeaturedbuilder Marcos Bessa has made available for free download the LEGO Digital Designer (LDD) files (useful as building instructions) for five of his models. Two of these models have previously been featured here as a model of the day, and all of them were built before he was brought into the LEGO company. Several of these models can be found in the portfolio used when he applied to join the company. Here are the links to the page for information for each model (each page includes information on the model, a link to photos on flickr, and a link to download the LDD file - along with a brief note regarding reuse of these designs):
Details: Miniland scale (the large scale used by LEGOLAND model builders for the miniland parts of the parks) can be a bit difficult to build in, due to the sheer size of buildings large enough to fit people. Not surprisingly, this leads miniland fans to focus on people, characters, vehicles, and other smaller objects. If a design is good, it doesn't matter what it depicts or how large the scene it's in is. Most of the parts in this bench have been available in Pick-A-Brick over the past few years, but that's still enough to support a classy reddish brown and dark red color scheme with trans-red accents. Even though the studs-not-on-top work is relatively straightforward, it fits perfectly and gives the bench a great look - all while stretching those dark red 1x4 tiles (to this day the most inexpensive way to cover a surface in dark red). Like this? The same builder also made a small family to sit on the bench (also visible from at the links above).
Details: Here's a very simple, minifig-ready design that uses very easy-to-find parts (particularly if you live near a LEGO store - some of us have been looking for good uses of the red 2x2 tiles that have been available in bulk in Pick-A-Brick for the past year or so). With a footprint of 4 studs by 8 studs, it's ready to go in a house. Using only one hinge for the back works surprisingly well to give this a realistic modern look.
Details: Inspired by TV home design shows, these two rooms (in roughly a miniland or Belville scale) get the modern look down just right. The bed makes use of one of those odd pink-ish colors (looks like magenta to me), and sits on top of a raised floor made using plates and tiles inlaid sideways (at two different angles). Another nice touch is the blinds, which use some loose angle work and even include a rope so the inhabitants can adjust them. The pillows give great use to a number of difficult to use parts, mostly in rare colors. The lamp even uses an upside-down Scala flower pot!
The three flickr photos (one of which is shown above) are just a teaser - check out the Brickshelf gallery for close-ups of each detail and piece of furniture.
Details: In a rare move, I blogged work-in-progress photos of this model. It's now complete, and the old WIP links now point to the finished model. The updated photos feature some great stuff, and you know we would have featured some of this furniture had it been posted separately. The room shown here is new, as is the living room. Lots of great details in the 21 photos here, but you can stop me since you've heard this one before.
Details: There is now another great entry in the category of life-size LEGO furniture. This buffet has four drawers and two doors. While there doesn't appear to be any particularly trickery building technique here (we all already knew you could use tiles to let part of a model slide on top of another part of the model, right?), the scope of the model is very impressive. Over 25,000 LEGO pieces were used to make this life-size - over 6 feet long. Based on a design by Dutch furniture designer Gerrit Rietveld, this model captures the look of the 1919 original as perfectly as can be done with LEGO parts. This buffet will be on display as part of droog's presentation at design miami / basel 2010 from June 15th to june 19th, 2010.
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Your Belville/Scala/Technic characters don't have enough nice furniture. The sad fact of the matter is that it's impractical for most of us (although it is possible) to build a proper house with walls and furniture at that scale. Even rarer than nice furniture this size is functional furniture this size. This recliner is an interesting start, and it looks like it works fairly well. You can see more of how it works by looking at the photos at the link above.
Take this as a challenge, too: this recliner really reclines, but the foot rest is always in the up position. Can you build a recliner that has a moving foot rest as well as a reclining back?
Details: For many people the great taboo is trying to build a piece of furniture. Even fairly experienced builders who wouldn't think twice about building a giant sculpture often shy away from building furniture. That didn't stop today's builder, though, who paid top-dollar for thousands of shiny new bricks in black and white and glued them together to build a sturdy replica of a George Nelson Platform Bench. In context, it looks just like the "real" thing. There's also a stop-motion video of the table's assembly at the site listed above.
Details: Minifig-scale furnishings can be difficult to create, so it's not unusual to see ideas recycled from one builder to the next. These candy machines were first built with zanier parts that provided specific varieties (such as the gumball machine - that "dome" is originally from a Spongebob astronaut set) [see image on lower right], and later they were built with more common parts (except for the candies themselves, which are the hard-to-find cherry part) and techniques that would still fit nicely but be a bit easier to build with parts on hand [top left image]. I would never have thought of putting loose smaller pieces inside of a clear 1x2 brick to make the front of a machine, but it works perfectly here. All of these candy machines are great examples of how to build candy machines at this scale, but I wanted to show both at once to highlight how we improvise while borrowing ideas and techniques. While I try to avoid sticking too closely to AFOL (Adult Fan Of LEGO) specific ideas, I think this idea is important at all ages (and even with small collections of parts). There has been a bit of controversy within the LEGO hobby about how much credit should be given for simple but noteworthy techniques like the ones shown here. If you're up for reading an adult-oriented discussion on the topic, you should read the recenteditorials and comments over at TBB.
Details: Yes, I know what you're thinking. "That's not LEGO!" OK, some of it isn't LEGO, but the use of LEGO bricks, tiles, plates, and a few other parts here is pretty clever. The back of the bed shows off an entirely new use for windows (especially of the sort you can't find the little glass panes for). The shelves are surprisingly effective, even though they're a very simple build. You could be forgiven for thinking that the coffee table is real. While the dresser appears to use non-LEGO legs, even the combination comes off well. The lamp uses angled 1x1 bricks to great effect on top of a more traditional table. Everything is built to look studless, with tiles on top of all the bricks. Sometimes I wonder if it's really worth the effort to hide the fact that you're building with LEGO - to me part of the appeal of building with LEGO bricks is that the end result does look like it belongs in a little LEGO world. In this case, however, I think it's clear that the tiles were the right move - and that the less "purist" combination of LEGO with more traditional dollhouse furnishings and accessories is definitely a good idea.
Details: A while back, this builder built a beautiful fridge. Then, due to popular demand, a set of instructions were made. Now we are blogging them. Enjoy the minifig-scale goodness - it'll look great in nearly any minifig scale kitchen (and of course, those rare-ish curve elements used for the front are now available in enough colors for you to choose how to decorate your own fridge without having to resort to stickers as refrigerator magnets).
Details: Every once in a while, my putting off doing a post for a day pays off when somebody posts something amazing during the day and I get to share it right away. Such is the case today, with this spectacular foosball table. While the use of swords may be technically be "cheating" to fans of the sport, Wikipedia's entry on Foosball sure makes it look like we're allowed to have multiple players on the goalie row (and hey! I had no idea foosball was such a complicated topic, or that there were so many names for it!)
To make LEGO fans like myself happy, there are some great details and parts usages - note the "useless" handle element making it's appearance on all the rods (which are themselves an impressive collection of Technic axles and axle extenders, completely in black), the use of Knight's Kingdom head on one side of the table, and the colorful team choice - swashbuckling Pirates vs Castle Knights!
Details: Although I have previously mentioned the Cave Racer craze, I somehow managed to not mention the Reasonably Clever Pigs on the Wing Contest where people were challenged to build cave racers piloted by animals. Be warned, not all contest entries are kid safe. Although there are many possibilities still not explored even after this contest (which ended yesterday), there are also a ton of very clever entries into this contest. My personal favorite is this one, where a counting sheep rides a cave racer that appears to have once been a bedroom set. Oh, and did I mention that two minifigs are still trying to sleep in that bed? They look pretty terrified, but at least they're LEGO® people, so it's not like their lamps aren't sturdily attached to their nightstands. I was actually surprised that this model still included all of the parts required to meet the contest's standards for cave racers, but they're actually all in there. This is also a computer-generated image (probably done in LDraw), but I do believe that this could actually be built too. Of course, the details here are as excellent as you'd expect for a model of the day - don't miss the goblet-and-rocket-booster lamps or the clever design of the sheep.
Details: If you're familiar with any of the official boat sets, you probably already know that they're not really to scale - most boats are much larger than that. Of course, building a fantastic ship out of LEGO® parts can be pretty difficult and expensive because of the sheer size of these things. Today's model uses a novel approach to get around this: only building half of a ship - and then using the open cross-section as a way to show off complete interiors. Rather than focus on building a huge exterior, joaquin did tons of details in the middle of the ship. I don't know if the engine room or workers' quarters are actually based on the life-size Spanish sea vessel or not, but they look pretty good. The rescue vessel that this ship was apparently based on was named for 16th century navigator/cosmographer Alonso de Chaves - but surprisingly, it's hard to find a good link to compare with.
Details: Every once in a while, someone asks whether or not it would be possible to build usable furniture out of LEGO® bricks. The answer, of course, is yes, as it's been done before. Of course, just the amount of hard-to-find tan bricks required is impressive, but this is actually a half-size scale model of the Schou furniture company's real table. There are links to two chairs that were part of the same commissioned project on the page above as well. Personally, I'm a big fan of the angle work - the legs are built at a 45 degree angle from the tabletops. The pictures don't make it entirely clear just how this was done, but I suspect that some sort of turntable component was used (LEGO has made a variety of turntable components over the years and some of them are quite small and easy-to-hide). The tabletop also uses some well-placed studs-not-on-top effects to get a teak look. It doesn't look very sturdy (those bricks appear to be laying in there closely, but not actually attached to each other), but it does a good job of getting just the right look.
Details: This extremely clever design for a minifig-scale LEGO coat rack makes use of some newer parts that you probably don't have. The effect is worth it though, even if you don't have that part on the top or the base (I don't either). It's also surprising to me that the color scheme works too - it's hard enough just to keep track of new elements, never mind finding them all in just the right color. I love the way that minifig torsos with the hands removed are used as coats. I'm guessing it wouldn't be too hard to copy that technique and the hanger technique on a coat rack of a less conventional shape, but this is really an exceptional model.
Details: OK, so I lied yesterday when I said I'd get back to focusing on original models. I have a bit of a stockpile of things to post here, and it makes sense to get some of these groups of models done on one page.
So anyway, these "models" are individual pieces of furniture, done in a nice old-fashioned-wood style. They're apparently intended for castle-themed creations, but if you ask me, they'd look great as antiques in any mini-fig scale LEGO building. Some of the parts used are fairly expected, but some of these are a bit more unusual - legs and hands from minifigs, tiled plates, pneumatic tubing and such. Of course, these all seem much more special when you consider how hard it is to find some of these parts in brown.
Reader Todd Wilder recently sent word about his latest creation (finished in January 2011): a "Mystery Box" table with a variety of secret compartments. Since just having mysterious compartments wouldn't be mysterious enough, the compartments are set up to only open in a certain order. A fun tessellated question mark pattern covers the sides, while the top is a very classy black. Rather than spoil the surprises, I'll point you to the site listed above to read more about this model.
. In context, it looks just like the "real" thing. There's also a stop-motion video of the table's assembly at the site listed above.
