Nerdy About The Bricks
Often, a good LEGO build hints at a backstory, but a great one tells a story of its own. This fairly simple build by legophthalmos showing a samurai warrior departing for battle is an excellent example of how to effectively tell a complex story with a visual medium like LEGO. The thought-provoking narrative shown here, combined with some very slick building, makes for an impressive overall effect.
No, that's not a typo, it's a pun. Anyway, Guy Smiley posted this absolute beast of a mech. It looks incredibly utilitarian and rugged, what with the combination of smooth armor panels and greebly mechanical bits. The builder says this is a vertical tank, and I couldn't agree more. This thing could totally demolish whatever it met on the battlefield.
I always love a good collaborative build, and this one by Si-mocs and Zachmoe is no exception. Zach built the spaceship and Simon built the shipyard around it. Both parts are equally fantastic: the ship has wonderful color blocking and gorgeous shaping, and the shipyard is packed with lots of clever micro-scale details. I especially love the little trucks made from roller skates and the genius two-piece tanks.
I'm not exactly sure where that meme comes from, but I'll use it nonetheless because it's funny. Anyway, sci-fi master Tardisblue is back with this awesome transport vehicle. Even though it's quite different from his usual spaceship builds, this truck is still fantastic. It seems fairly simple at first, but once you look closely, you can tell that there is some next-level brickery going on here. Just look at that diagonal caution stripe across the trailer! Awesome.
Even though they were some of the more difficult levels, I always enjoyed the airship levels when playing Mario. They're just so different from the rest of the levels, even though that auto-scroll gets obnoxious. This awesome version of Bowser's airship by Nick Brick has all the necessary features: the cannons, the goofy propellers, and Bowser Jr.'s little flying machine. I really like how clean and polished this build is, it makes it feel very cartoony (and therefore accurate to the source material). It's very cool to see a 3-dimensional version of this ship.
I always love it when someone builds a good life-size movie prop, and this original Star Trek phaser by buriedbybricks is a great example. Although I wasn't around when the original Star Trek TV show and movies were showing, I still quite like it at times. Sure, the effects are a little old and the cardboard sets are wobbly, but it was a huge step in science fiction entertainment and was sometimes quite impressive. Similarly, this model is old (the builder says he built it in 2010) but excellent. The shaping is splendid and there's lots of great detail.
...Unlike the mythological one, which crashed and burned. This sweet mecha by Devid VII definitely isn't susceptible to the problems Icarus Mk.1 had. It looks awesome, with the dark red color scheme and all those menacing angles. I particularly like the design of the missile pods on the shoulders, as well as the turbine above the head.
Out of all the places seen in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, Bag End is one of my absolute favorites. I've built it multiple times, but never been quite happy with it. This version by Sergeant Chipmunk, though, is fantastic. He has a lot of really nice SNOT work, particularly around the windows, which provides some great detail. The foliage looks very realistic as well. With the nicely rounded base and tidy edges, this build is a very clean and natural chunk out of a much larger scene.
I've never been to Spain, but this lovely build by Toltomeja makes me want to catch a flight there sometime. This build beautifully recreates the "pueblos blancos" (white houses), a particularly charming style of architecture that you just can't find here in the USA. Even though the roof technique has been done before, this one really stands out because of the dark orange used. Most of the time, this technique is used with red and dark red, but the dark orange is really nice here. I also quite like the use of olive green; it works really nicely with the rest of the color scheme.
The NASA space program is arguably one of the greatest engineering achievements of the past millennium. It put men on the moon, for goodness' sake! This build by Lia Chan showcases one of the famed space shuttles that regularly sent humans into orbit. I know, LEGO space shuttles have been built many times before, including in at least three official sets. But this build shows the shuttle with its launch facility and transportation vehicle, all recreated in great detail. This is one of those super realistic creations that makes you do a double take and say, "Wait, that's LEGO?!"
No, I'm not apologizing. Puns are awesome. Anyway, I love me some good microscale, and this tiny winter village by Sad Brick is a fantastic example. Creative parts usage is a must for a good micro build, and this is no exception. From the minifigure chicken wings as clouds to the cheerleader pompoms as snow-covered trees, there's a lot of really clever and unorthodox pieces here. And I think that sun is the back of a Simpsons minifigure head. Nicely done, sir, nicely done.
This microscale village by -Balbo- shows off some lovely techniques. My favorite is the way he's built up the shoreline: the layering of angled plates makes for a very cool, non-blocky look. The water is really well done as well, since its dark coloring is much more realistic than the bright blue so often seen in landscape builds. Also, the technique of clear bricks laid sideways allows for a really cool reflection which adds a lot to the realism of this scene.
Aside from the official Mines of Moria LEGO set, I don't think many people have built Balin's tomb chamber (or the Chamber of Mazarbul for all you book nerds out there). It's a really cool scene that hasn't seen much LEGO treatment. But this build by Dunedain98 remedies that. This is a spot-on recreation of the scene in the movie. Lots of attention to detail here, from the layout of the room to all the scattered books. And it's full minifig scale too, instead of that tiny version in the official set. Beautiful work all around: the texturing is fantastic.
Normally, I would rather stay away from anything from the Michael Bay Transformer movies. I haven't seen them and I don't want to. Also, I normally shy away from digitally built LEGO, and normally, I'm not a huge fan of Bionicle. But today I don't care about any of that, because this robot dinosaur by Nicola Stocchi is awesome. I think one of the coolest things is how it blends Bionicle and System pieces so cohesively. There are very few builds with Bionicle in them that look this convincing. Also, when I first saw this, I thought it was a really nicely photographed physical model, and was really surprised to read that it's digital. The render for this picture is very impressive, and makes the model even more menacing. Definitely wouldn't want to meet this thing on a dark night.
I want one of these in my backyard. My 10-year-old self could have happily spent dozens of summer afternoons playing in this thing. Built by Sergeant Chipmunk, this awesome forest ranger watchtower reminds me quite a lot of Lothlorien. And that's definitely a good thing. The landscaping and rocks are extremely well done, and I like how the structure is built right over a stream. That's a cool detail which really adds a lot of visual interest to the scene.
And there aren't any pop-up ads, either. This massive build by Praetorian- is a minifig-scale recreation of the ancient Roman Forum of Nerva, one of the four Imperial fora, or public squares, in Rome. The architectural details in this are just fantastic, from the columns and wall patterning to the magnificent arch. I really like how clean this build is: all the spotless white makes it look like new, instead of ruined like the Roman buildings we're used to seeing. I highly recommend viewing more pictures in the Flickr album.
Is that quote too cliche to use? Nah, I'll go with it. This sweet UN chopper by Guy Smiley is definitely the Arnold Schwarzenegger of helicopters. It's big, beefy, and could probably pulverize anything smaller than an elephant. The shaping of the fuselage is very nicely done, and the custom stickers really make it feel authentic. This beast also has some great realistic details, like the winch and the dual engines above the cockpit.
I always love it when a good solid landscaping build shows up in my Flickr feed. This build by Markus1984 is a really good example of many different landscaping techniques. The path and rocks are very nicely integrated into the greenery. I particularly like how the path is built at an angle; it makes the build feel a lot more realistic. Also, even though I would normally advise against taking pictures in direct sunlight, it looks great here, since the way the light filters through the LEGO leaves is just gorgeous.
The sinks in this build are just gorgeous. And no, I never would have guessed I'd write that sentence. But it's true: the sinks in the latest installment of 'Rolli's Chamber of Secrets vignette series are very nicely done. It's not easy to get several angled sections like that to join smoothly, but he's pulled it off. Also, the cobblestone technique, though fairly simple, is extremely effective. Combine those with a really clever cauldron design, and it makes for a solid build in a very small space.
This near-future UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) by Red Spacecat is sleek and intimidating. I definitely wouldn't want to get on the bad side of whoever owns this thing. The build, which is a redesign of another UAV, looks very realistic and definitely feels like it could be a real-life weapon in a few years from now. I really dig the color scheme, too: the dark blue and white combine really nicely with the yellow accents.
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