Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Blastoise, use Hydro Pump!

If you're wondering why I haven't posted anything here on Brickology recently, I can give you two reasons... schoolwork and marching band. I've been pretty busy recently, but one of these days when I have a lot of time I'm going to scroll through Flickr, find a ton of MOCs to blog, and queue up a bunch of posts. Today I only have time for one post, so I'm making it a good one. 

Here's a great Pokemon figure built by Siercon and Coral: a mini Blastoise! The use of a rubber band and the blue Power Miner helmets are inspired and the character is instantly recognizable, at least if you haven't been living in a cave for the last 20 years. Nice work. 
I will be posting regularly again soon... (I hope!)

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

STOMP STOMP STOMP STOMP

STOMP STOMP Check out STOMP this STOMP STOMP lovely STOMP mecha by STOMP Chris Maddison STOMP STOMP:
STOMP STOMP STOMP STOMP STOMP

LEGO Dragon Lands Series 2!

A couple of months ago I reported on the awesome custom Dragon Lands theme by Nuju Metru. Well now the builder is back with series two of his great theme! 
Dragon Lands has a fantastic, well-thought-out backstory, and the sets are designed just like real ones...or even better. So I suggest you go check out Nuju Metru's work via the link above.  I know I'm not the only one that wishes he worked on the LEGO Castle design team... 

Jumbo shrimp

A prawn may just be a little shrimpy thing... but this DTC-914 "Prawn" Starfighter by Andy Baumgart (D-Town Cracka) is anything but. 
There's some good part usage here: note the skateboards, train "cow-catcher" element, and of course the X-Pod as a cockpit.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Raptor

Ralph Savelsberg (Mad physicist) built a nice model of a Raptor from Jurassic Park: 
I like the patterning with the various shades of brown and tan, as well as the eyes made from a cut tube. 

Unbelievable magic tricks with an iPad and LEGO bricks

Magician Simon Pierro used an iPad and the new LEGO Fusion app and sets to perform some awesome magic tricks. Check out the video below:
I personally think this is pretty cool. 

L'il Hotrod

Sometimes smaller is better, and no one knows this better than Karf Oohlu. Check out this miniature masterpiece:

Friday, September 19, 2014

It's everything you want to see, but nothing that was meant to be.

The more you look at this scene by Nannan Zhang, the more you see. I don't know what exactly is going on here... but the overall effect is pretty cool. 

Wizard's Cottage

This fantasy scene by Cesar Soares (Cesbrick) has it all: a big, rustic wizard's cottage, plants and trees, nice rockwork, even a path and little bridge. It's everything you could want in a castle MOC. 
There's much, much more to see on Flickr... I suggest you go check it out

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Bucket Loader

This fantastic LIEBHERR L556 Bucket Loader model comes from Lego Junkie. I can't remember the last time I saw a real vehicle recreated so skillfully in LEGO. This is pure awesome. 
Via TLCB

Oh and enjoy this zombie fighter team alternative version as well:

Los Angeles 2078

Guy Smiley imagines a futuristic cityscape that honestly doesn't look like a very appealing place to live. Let's hope the future doesn't really turn out this way... 

Sunday, September 14, 2014

A BIONICLE twosome

While on Flickr tonight I saw a pair of nice little character builds using BIONICLE and HERO FACTORY elements, and I thought I'd blog them here. First is Serbian builder Djokson with his Floral Freak, "Orchideous":
Next, from Finland, we have Eero Okkonen (Pate-keetongu) and "Womba the Stalwart":
(Read more on Cyclopic Bricks.)

Saturday, September 13, 2014

It's never too early for Christmas...

...but I think September might be pushing it. Regardless, this Santa head ornament by Miro Dudas (Miro78) is a nice little build incorporating some awesome building techniques:

Friday, September 12, 2014

Flint's fort

vitroleum's MOC depicting the Treasure Island scene in which pirates attack the crew at Flint's fort has a lot to like. In particular, I'm drawn to the repetitive part usage like the dark brown 1x1 cylinders, brown rods in the fence, and all those battle droid arms on the roof. Also check out the palm tree trunk technique using clips and an upside down bush! 

EXTERMINATE... EX-TER-MIN-ATE...

Ralph Savelsburg (Mad physicist) built a Dalek from Doctor Who, and it's spot-on. 
I used to be a big Whovian, until Season 7 when the writing started to go downhill. But I did enjoy (and still enjoy) watching Matt Smith bound around the galaxy in his blue box, fighting these robo-alien menaces, so it's great to see this iconic villain recreated in LEGO. 

EDIT- I didn't realize at first, but Ralph also built a nice TARDIS and Fourth Doctor to go with the Dalek: 

Thursday, September 11, 2014

This town has seen better days

Remember when I mentioned that disorder- things like old buildings and vehicles and tools that are disheveled and falling apart- is really tough to build realistically in LEGO? These four buildings by LegoJalex do that perfectly. 

Car wash:
 Fisherman's cottage:
 Food store:
 TV store:
You've got to love all that disrepair! Details like broken glass and TV screens, jumpers and small plates intermingling with tiles for an uneven texture, grass poking up through pavement, recycling bins, buoys, and lobster traps make these models really pop. Fantastic work. 

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Deforestation

I'm a big fan of A Plastic Infinity's work. He's prolific; his MOCs are well-built, wonderfully weird, and creative; plus he's a fellow TFOL, which automatically makes him cool... Anyway, here's his latest build, a yellow mech thing destroying a mostly-unconnected natural background. Awesome. And just look at all those wacky part uses...*
A closer look at the 'bot:
There's a little backstory and some notes on the build, so without furthe ado:

Baqnarra used to be a particularly nice place.

It had a lot going for it. An almost perfectly round and very rapid orbit close to its star, a weak Red Dwarf, and negligible axial tilt allowed the planet to sustain an all-but-perpetual, balmy summer for millennia.

Naturally, it was thickly forested all around except for a few patches of tundra toward the axial poles. An extremely shallow "ocean" extending over the planet's surface and dividing the landmasses into countless tiny islands kept everything well irrigated. Plants and animals abounded.
You could say it was a pretty well-rounded planet. It was averaged out; no extreme biomes.

And this was very Unusual.
Very Valuable.
It attracted Attention.
____________________

1.) I built a robot while sorting, incorporated a fiddler crab-style arm with a yellow surfboard as I've been wanting to do for a while, and built a 95% unconnected background for it to burn to ashes.
Seriously. There's literally less than thirty pieces connected. -_-
2.) I also finally used all my green spiky Barraki things, yellowish Barraki squids, and silver Rahkshi carapaces. :D
3.) I might take some photos of the bot alone later.
4.) FROG!!!!
5.) I learned how to use curves in 
Photoshop that editing program I use. :D
6.) 400TH PUBLIC PHOTO IS 400TH PUBLIC PHOTO!!!!
Hue hue hue so many private photos

Enjoy. :)

*Jackhammer, surfboard, Ninjago snake tail, Joker hair, random BIONICLE elements

Sunday, September 7, 2014

The Legend of Zorro

It's been over a year since TheBrickAvenger last found time to make a MOC... and he says this one will probably be his only build this year. Fortunately, it's a fantastic one. Enjoy "The Legend of Zorro".
There's so much to look at here, so allow me to list a few of my favorite little details and techniques:

  • I love how the walls have little bricks that stick out partway, giving the surface a rough and textured look.
  • We've seen that roof design- using a ton of 1x1 cylinders- before (and even on official sets), but it looks so darn good here!
  • The alternate use of plates and tiles to create an uneven ground surface is nice. 
  • I really like the little windmill rig on the lefthand side. 
  • The archway with the little section of slanted roof is a nice touch. 
  • And of course, there's the little things, like the wagon wheel and little brown sack leaning against the wall of the building. 
Check out the Brickshelf gallery for this MOC here. And, while he may not be very prolific, TheBrickAvenger is an amazing builder. Go check out his Flickr photostream here and prepare to see some more awesome LEGO creations. 

Mobile signal scanner

stephann001 built this rugged space vehicle with armor, tech, and just the right amount of greebling. And it turned out pretty darn cool. SPACE!

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Darkmatter S1

David Steeves (SuperHardcoreDave) brings us a very sleek, very fast, very powerful, and very gray starfighter in this "Darkmatter S1." I love how the cockpit is not transparent- it gives a rather menacing, alien feel to the fighter. Nice work. 

Carried in by the stork

To celebrate the birth of son Corin, Pistash built this whimsical scene depicting a stork flying in to deliver a baby. 
I love all the creative part uses in there, like the lollipop swirl, pink dinner plate, and crowbars. Nice build...and of course, congratulations to the proud parent! 

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Crater Racer

Admittedly this is not a new MOC- it was built for Febrovery 2014- but builder Hammerstein NWC just uploaded it to the Builders Lounge pool on Flickr, and I'd never seen it before, so here it is. It's a pretty neat little space rover, with a lot of nice part uses like hte paint rollers, rock monster arms, and ice skates. 

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Detached house

There's not much to say here. It's simple, but awesome. I've built a couple of houses (in LEGO, of course) myself, but I've never gotten anything approaching those sleek lines and edges. Fantastic work by Acticis

Monday, September 1, 2014

Glorp Corp

I don't feel like talking (or typing) much today, as it's approaching 90 degrees out and all I want to do is sit in front of a fan, in a pool, in Antarctica, and drink ice water. Luckily for me, Gregory Coquelz (yatkuu) has written a little bit about his latest MOC, so through the wonders of copy and paste, I can just put that here instead of raving about how cool this thing is. 


A mixel-mech inspired by the "Glorp-Corp" tribe built for a contest on Brick Fanatics.
The mech can comfortably fit a Minifigure pilot - with mohawk ;-)

I am really proud of this build that was once again a family project. Both my son and my wife helped me with the design and details.Family and Lego, that's about as good as it gets!

Two from Tatooine

Today Brickology travels to the Outer Rim world of Tatooine. This planet's climate is hot and dry, fueled as it is by twin suns, and the environment is harsh and desolate. But there are those who make a life here: hardened spice runners, hardworking farm boys, diminutive Jawas... and maybe the occasional Jedi master. 

Today two LEGO builders have each brought us a view of life on this desert world. First, Outer Rim Emperor takes us to the simple home of the Morboro family, located far out in Tatooine's dune seas. 
See more images of the home, moisture farm, landscape, droids, and speeder in this fantastic model on MOCpages

Next, Mark McPeek has built his Tatooine model in a much smaller scale, but he still perfectly captures the essence of the world. The home and those moisture vaporators are only built with a few pieces, so the still-tiny sandcrawler looks huge next to them. You can instantly tell what this scene is supposed to represent. 
That's it for our look at Tatooine today. Why don't you check out Brickology's Star Wars archives for some more LEGO action from a galaxy far, far away?