Details: This beautiful mix of Technic, Bionicle, and "System" elements makes a startlingly convincing vic viper. You can sort of tell where parts begin and end (with how much you can spot likely being a direct function of your level of Bionicle knowledge), but the parts gel together in a way we rarely see with elements that don't usually connect seamlessly. In those few places where a piece would normally create it's own gap, smaller pieces are used to fill those gaps. Don't miss the underside, which shows more traditional elements holding the craft together, providing greebling, and giving us sturdy landing gear.
Details: Here's a new take on the Maersk set released recently - a wider version in a different color. Unless you see them side-by-side, it can often be difficult to tell the difference between Maersk blue and medium blue - which can be used to your advantage if you want to use a wider variety of parts to get the exact look you want. In this case, the issue was size. The builder is very passionate about scale. "Minifig scale" is an inherently nebulous concept, and LEGO's habit of throwing minifigs into things at wildly different sizes makes it even murkier. Having decided that 8 studs wide is appropriate for a train, the next challenge was to work out the details (such as the brick-built lettering on the sides). Many of them are essentially unchanged from the design in the set, but elsewhere - such as on the windows - things look much better.
My apologies about the gap in lately - it's been a rough few weeks for me personally (a death in the family) and I haven't been able to make blogging a priority. We're trying to get back up to speed now. I won't be making up the missing posts.
Details: While hardsuits (and mecha in general) are seemingly a dime-a-dozen on flickr, few of them seem to push the envelope on techniques. After all, once you've figured out how to build a compelling frame, it's tempting to create variations on it in every color. Here, though, we see a few unusual ideas. Plates with clips connect to radar dishes to make the feet. Flick-fire missiles on the arms connect to half-width Technic beams, which are then held on with half pins. The balance of greebling to smooth surfaces seems more like what we'd see on an actual robot. The hints of a roll cage near the minifig's head are another unusually realistic touch.
Details: You may have noticed the odd pacing of posts these past few days. We are at BrickMagic, and earlier today (erm, yesterday now) were present during the official unveiling of 10218 Pet Shop. I've been slowly uploading my photos of the event (including 10218 and a few great town and train layouts) to BrickMagic 2011 flickr set, and we'll probably put more of a round-up together sometime in the next few days. The high-res press photo pack has also been put on flickr. Here's the official info from LEGO:
10218 Pet Shop
Ages 16+. 2,032 pieces.
US $149.99 CA $199.99 DE 149.99 € UK 119.99 £
Available: Beginning of May
Continuing the LEGO® Modular Buildings series, this highly detailed, 3-story Pet Shop building and townhouse with full internal and external detailing is the perfect addition to your LEGO town. Greet customers with a menagerie of pets and let them treat them with a selection of toys and supplies. The pet shop building features a hinged staircase for easy access, upper apartment with kitchenette and upper loft overlooking the open plan interior below. To the side, the tastefully appointed townhouse features a detailed ground floor with accessories and spiral staircase leading to the upper floor. The attic space features storage boxes and French doors leading out to an elegant front balcony, while the rooftop garden, complete with fresh vegetables, brightens up the rear of the building.
• Includes 4 minifigures with accessories: pet shop owner, girl on bicycle, painter with paint roller and woman!
• Pet shop includes dog, cat, 2 parrots and fish tank with goldfish!
• Also includes 3 dog bones, ball, frog toy, birdhouse, bucket and brush!
• Kitchenette features stone fireplace, stove, sink, coffee maker and small table and chair!
• Upper loft features skylight, bed and lamp!
• Townhouse features ground floor with mailbox and mail, hat rack, couch, telephone, toilet and access to basement crawl space!
• Measures 11″ (25.5cm) wide and 10.5″ (26.5cm) high!
• Combine with other modular buildings, like 10197 Fire Brigade and 10211 Grand Emporium!
Details: Although the tricky use of color, solid landscaping, and clever minifig placement could steal the show here, the focus is clearly on the monstrous dragon. A frightening sight with an even more frightening number of points of articulation, the dragon is shown here mid-battle, just after fatally maiming a minifigure. The combination of slopes and spikey bits is very evocative of a scaly skin texture. Don't miss the bits of Bionicle chain hanging down, making it instantly clear that the dragon has escaped.
Details: No, we would never succumb to product placement. Never! We're like a popular 60's pop group, and just naturally suggest that Things Go Better With Coca-Cola occasionally without skipping a beat. In this case, we see Coke logos and iconography brilliantly added to a Star Wars-style pod racer. The technique for the roughly life-size cans is particularly clever - and fortunately for coke fiends like myself, well detailed in the work-in-progress photos of this model. Building a round mosaic with a size requirement is an impressive feat, even without working it into a complete model concept.
Details: We've touched on this design before, back when instructions were made available for it. Originally, it only existed in that digital form, but now one has been made of real bricks. A few minor modifications had been made (forcing a few parts into a dark green color, making some structural improvements), but otherwise the design is still the same. What makes it so special is that this model is being auctioned off on eBay as part of Creations for Charity, which is currently raising money for relief efforts in Japan.
Details: We've seen other epic models before - but never anything quite this ambitious. This room-eating display was built in about 9 months by one person. In some of the photos, you can see a bit of a bridge and a couch. The LEGO bridge actually goes completely to the other end of the couch, where more is being added to this colossal model. One interesting technique used to quickly reach some of the heights seen here is using baseplates at various angles - in the image shown here, the large grey expanses are all 48x48 (15 inches square) baseplates. Don't miss the second centerpiece, which is a bit more Castle-y and features some great landscaping. The inside of the arena (behind the large statue) is surprisingly detailed considering how hard it must be to get in there and move the minifigs around.
I, for one, can't wait to see what's on the other side of that bridge.
Details: This sleek spaceship captures the car-of-the-future look perfectly while putting some rather obnoxious LEGO elements (specifically, those clunky windscreens with a front edge) to fantastic use.
Details: At Klodsfest 2010, this minifig-scale recreation of the inn from the movie Nights in Rodanthe won fourth place in the "building" category. It's not hard to see why, with the amount of detail packed into it. The building itself has a surprising amount of texture (particularly for such a monochromatic structure), and the subtle landscaping is also top-notch.
Details:
If you know your Star Wars ships, you've heard all about the "A-Wing", "X-Wing", "Y-Wing", and "B-Wing", but you've probably noticed that they haven't done the whole alphabet. A few LEGO aficionados have, though. The latest to finish such a project is andertoons, who recently finished building completely original crafts for every letter of the alphabet.
Details: You may remember something similar to this scene from the movie Spaceballs. See, we need these troopers to comb the desert in of these droids...
A little texture goes a long way here. Grill tiles make the sand behind the troopers actually look combed, and the use of flag poles to make the tines of the comb itself is very realistic. Those are held in upside-down thanks to a row of Technic half-pins, which fit directly into the brick above.
A.B.S. Snorter and his Lego brick sorter,
Will suck up your bricks and do other neat tricks.
He'll place them in bins with nothing but grins,
And sort them by color for only a dollar.
But be careful my friend with the money you spend,
For if it is A.B.S. Snorter you decide to employ,
He may run away with your most precious toy.
The verse above was written by the builder (who also took the lone photograph of this model). Clearly, someone has been inspired by Dr. Seuss. His unique style of illustrating comes across clearly here, as does the whimsical feel of his children's books. The most obvious special technique here is probably the hands - they're made out of minifig arms, but with the minifig hands attaching them to plates with bars and the shoulder joints facing outward. In the back, we see what appears to be falling bricks but turns out to be completely attached. Things are built out in every direction to get the look just right. I particularly love how the arms coming out of the sides are mounted on white steering wheels, which provide a nifty porthole effect.
Details: This stunning scene was built for a recent contest with a romantic theme - the concept being that the older couple is dancing away from the hustle and bustle out front. The scene itself steals the show from them, thanks to a brilliant mix of great colors and techniques. Every arch features a unique decoration, and seemingly every surface has some plant life on it - we even see sand green next to the water, where a grime from higher tides would be. The boat is a fantastic surprise - those large sloped elements are originally from Star Wars kits, but here they make a very realistic hull. The arbor in the back left corner makes impressive use of dark tan elements, and the roofs are made almost entirely of 1x1 round bricks. The base of this model is a very subtle use of studs-not-on-top technique - although that checkered pattern appears to be 2x2 tiles at first glance, it's actually sideways bricks and plates to come to the exact same final dimensions.
Details: Here's something you don't see every day - a model from 1987, re-created. Back then, kits from the original Blacktron theme were widely available and still new. This model is based on the theme but an entirely original creation. Back in 1987, the builder created building instructions for it. When this instructions were rediscovered recently, he decided to give this spaceship another go - which led to this set of photos.
Details: So a few weeks ago, we were hamming it up by featuring a model of a Maersk train while other LEGO blogs were leaking images of what appeared to be some sort of official set with a similar theme. That set became official back on February 19th and looks really neat - here are the details from LEGO (they also have more photos at the link above):
10219 Maersk Train
Ages 14+. 1,234 pieces.
US $119.99 CA $159.99 DE 119.99 € UK 91.99 £
The highly-realistic Maersk diesel-electric freight train has arrived! A replica of the real engine that operated on the railroads of America, this Maersk train features exceptional detailing and functions, such as opening driver’s cab, removable side panel revealing a detailed, 16-cylinder engine, and authentic Maersk branding. The model also includes 2 wagons and 3 containers with opening doors (1 with refrigeration detailing). The set also includes a shunter truck and detachable trailer for loading and offloading the containers. Add LEGO® Power Functions accessories to motorize!
• Includes 3 workman minifigures!
• Train measures 36″ (92cm) long!
• Building instructions include a historical description of the LEGO Group/A.P. Moller Maersk Group cooperation and a timeline of the products launched!
• Containers can be loaded side-by-side or stacked!
• Motorize your Maersk train by adding LEGO Power Functions 8878 Power Functions Rechargeable Battery Box, #8887 Transformer 10V DC, #8884 Power Functions IR Receiver, 8879 Power Functions IR Speed Remote Control and 88002 Power Functions Train Motor!
Details: Every once in a while, you come across a gorgeous large layout that feels like minifigs could actually live in it. It's less like looking at a model, and more like seeing a little world. This minifig-scale model clearly meets that criteria - the four large buildings are flanked by smaller buildings, vehicles, and landscaping, in a way that resembles a well-maintained professional or academic campus early in the morning (before the crowds have come about). This project was started in 1991, and the colors reflect that - note how red and white are the main colors, and green is used sparingly. Back then, large plates and plants were the only widely available (non-DUPLO) parts in green. In spite of the limited palette, there's still a colorful ceiling pattern and plenty of other subtle details. The tall windows make this interpretation of minifig scale very close to that of the Cafe Corner set. The details around the windows aren't filled with tricky techniques, but they still take on a grand effect when repeated over these large walls. Don't miss the use of grey goblets on the chimneys, or the fantastic use of Imperial flags outside of a Pirates-based setting.
Details: Every once in a while, you come across a model that rewards close inspection but can't be photographed well from a distance. Trust me - this model is one of them. This airship (in a loosely "steampunk" tradition) features some spectacular techniques and part usages. One thing you can see in many of the photos is a choppy, water-ish texture (perhaps it's supposed to be a cloud) created by dozens of minifig legs. The balloon-shaped bit hear the top is made entirely out of 2x2 round plates - and that's attached cleverly with hooks, chains, and skis! The front hull is a pair of sideways staircases, with click hinge sections attached. That hinge element reappears in quite a few other places, somehow feeling like an intentional motif instead of an overly-available part. Minifig telescopes make nice railings on the sides, and an unusual open cabin rounds things out - with the fins in the back being an entertaining nod to proper ship steering.
Details: If you've really waded through all of the thousands of photos from this past year's Brickfair, you've seen this beauty before. Had any part of this model been registered on its own instead of as part of the PennLUG town/train layout, it would have won one of the convention's awards. There's too much here to do an in-depth look at the details fairly, and it's connected to the rest of the layout in a way that makes it difficult to tell where various people's contributions start and end. A few striking things should not be missed: the large amounts of shipping containers, the enormous dark blue boat, the trans-green water (built with tiles in something of a mosaic style), the docks, the cranes. This was so much of a show-stopper that you could be forgiven for not knowing that the PennLUG is generally more well known for trains!
This beautiful mix of Technic, Bionicle, and "System" elements makes a startlingly convincing vic viper. You can sort of tell where parts begin and end (with how much you can spot likely being a direct function of your level of Bionicle knowledge), but the parts gel together in a way we rarely see with elements that don't usually connect seamlessly. In those few places where a piece would normally create it's own gap, smaller pieces are used to fill those gaps. Don't miss the underside, which shows more traditional elements holding the craft together, providing greebling, and giving us sturdy landing gear.
occasionally without skipping a beat. In this case, we see 
logos and iconography brilliantly added to a 
-style pod racer. The technique for the roughly life-size cans is particularly clever - and fortunately for coke fiends like myself, well detailed in the work-in-progress photos of this model. Building a round mosaic with a size requirement is an impressive feat, even without working it into a complete model concept. 
, 
, or 
.
won fourth place in the "building" category. It's not hard to see why, with the amount of detail packed into it. The building itself has a surprising amount of texture (particularly for such a monochromatic structure), and the subtle landscaping is also top-notch. 
. See, we need these troopers to comb the desert in of these droids...
. His unique style of illustrating comes across clearly here, as does the whimsical feel of his children's books. The most obvious special technique here is probably the hands - they're made out of minifig arms, but with the minifig hands attaching them to plates with bars and the shoulder joints facing outward. In the back, we see what appears to be falling bricks but turns out to be completely attached. Things are built out in every direction to get the look just right. I particularly love how the arms coming out of the sides are mounted on white steering wheels, which provide a nifty porthole effect.
