Details: Here's a fun one we can all try at home - a small, fairly simple LEGO globe with building instructions available online. You do still have to make sure you put the parts together in a way that they will stay, but that shouldn't be too difficult. They're in a normal .gif image file too, so you can even see them without having to deal with CAD and such. What's particularly elegant about this globe is that it's at a small enough scale to be easy to build, but at a large enough scale that the rounded effect works using only standard LEGO bricks without any of the more precise LEGO plates.Some larger LEGO globes with continents and such were featured here last month.
Details: I don't actually know what to say about this vignette. It appears to have a monkey actually perfectly balanced on a unicycle on a LEGO string between two LEGO trees. I don't think that's actually possible. I have no clue how this was done. Since there are several different angles shown in the pictures, I'm assuming that the photos weren't manipulated (and thus, it counts here, bizarre as it is).
Details: LEGO mosaics are an art form, much like many other forms of large-scale LEGO building. Former professional builder Eric Harshbarger used his "pixelego" software to dither LEGO bricks in just six colors (red, blue, white, black, yellow, and green) so that they would look like the true colors of the Mona Lisa. The frame was made from a variety of plates and more specialized elements. Technic plates were used to create "hangers" for wall mounting. Some cheating (glue) was used to make sure that this did not fall apart after it was sold (as bizarre as glue sounds to most of us, it is normal for professional builders to glue the parts together to prevent breakage).
Details: Microscale builder torgugick has built yet another impressive landmark. This time, it's the Tower of Belem in Lisbon, Portugal. To get the gritty and realistic look of the walls smaller LEGO parts called "plates" were used instead of the larger LEGO "bricks" we're more used to seeing. These sorts of things are also good case-studies on why you shouldn't use off-brand parts - other brands don't have pieces that are the correct size to work with LEGO plates in models like this. Other things worth mentioning include the use of a fence from a LEGO Wild West set to make windows, the tile bricks used in the water, and the way slopes were used near the model's base. If you look closely, you can also see slopes and cones used for other architectural details. The offset-based stairs are a cool trick too!
Details: "Mecha" is becoming an increasingly popular unofficial theme for LEGO fans. This amazing "mecha" is full of unusual uses of parts. To be honest, I'm having a hard time figuring out which elements I'm seeing in a few places. Also, note the careful color scheme. If you can read Japanese, you can read what I believe is a detailed description of the model here
Details: Once again, I find myself without much of anything specific to say about a model. As far as I know, this YouTube video is all anyone's seen of this model:
Sorry that this entry is up late and not really too lengthy, but hey, I'm a busy guy and I'm not getting paid to write this.
Details: The Abston Church of Christ is, for those of you not already familiar with it, an enormous mini-figure scale church made out of fairly standard LEGO parts. The interior is incredibly spacious - I have a feeling that it might actually be the largest interior in any LEGO building I've seen. There are too many details to mention - heck, I'm not even picking a picture to focus on here this time out. This project was incredibly ambitious, and it came out very well - it's worth taking some time to give the website devoted to it a browse. This is the type of thing you really have to see for yourself - and besides, I can't do this justice and much has already been written about it.
Details: If you clicked the link for today's model, you may have noticed that that page is written in Spanish. For those of you who can't read Spanish (or don't want to deal with an online translator), this summary will cover the basics. This car is modeled after an old family car - specifically, a Fiat 131. After the color was chosen, measurements were taken to properly build the car to scale. The chassis and steering system were built first with a good deal of detail, and the rest of the model was assembled little-by-little from there. The chassis has a combination of traditional LEGO bricks, Technic beams, and Technic bricks.
The original page uses a number of pictures to describe the details of the model, so you may find it of interest even if you don't understand the text. There is also a brickshelf page for this model.
Details: This is a bit gimmicky, but it's a gimmick that never seems to get old. It's a little microscale train that fits on the flatbed of the minifig-scale train it looks like! The larger version of this wood-burning steam locomotive is well-done as well. Note the use of half-wide Technic beams and Town wrenches on the wheels and the way that a small window was used for the large front light. It's also interesting that the motor element is in the back of the vehicle instead of the front - allowing for more details on the locomotive, but probably offering a bumpier ride to passengers. The shovel on the front is also quite unusual. A close look at the Brickshelf gallery reveals that there's even some trickery to the steering geometry (which isn't something most LEGO train builders worry about).
The lettering on the regular-size train appears to have been done by "cheating" with a custom sticker.
Details: To some extent, anyone can try their hand at make a sculpture out of LEGO parts. It takes a certain sort of skill, though, to work in more unusual parts for details, and to set things up so that a certain array of motion can be achieved. This particular model is a bit of a two-for-one - a detailed, jointed horse and a detailed, jointed warrior are both exceptionally well-done.
