MEGATech Showcase: More Amazing LEGO Creations Beth Snyder September 5, 2014 Features Once again, we embark on a journey to a place where few have gone before… the minds of LEGO Master Builders. Well, maybe not their minds, but definitely the creations born of their minds. That’s probably better, really. Creative types tend to be a bit odd, and I’m not at all sure I’d want to wander around inside their heads without an escape plan. Pot, Kettle. I get it. Anyway, this first picture has no credit attached, so I have no idea who made it. I do know that it has been posted on Facebook approximately 947,382,871 times, and every single time I see it I giggle. Which made it worthy of being not just included, but featured. Unless you live under a rock, you’ve heard of the ice bucket challenge to benefit the ALS Association, and this just goes to show that even LEGO characters aren’t immune from the challenge. I’m not alone in loving The Princess Bride and I know it. I’ve seen it countless times, can recite whole scenes of dialogue without an error, and have been known to more than once break a tense silence by asking, “Anybody want a peanut?” So when I saw that the builder’s group ChiLUG+ImpLUG+Friends put together a slew of scenes from the movie for this year’s Brickworld, I was in heaven. There are a total of thirteen, so you should definitely click on the source article to see them all. Source: The Escapist From the creative mind of Angus MacLane comes “Couch Potatoes”, which is a series showing well-known superhero types hanging out on their couches taking a break from saving the world. Iron Man made me giggle so that’s the picture I’ve chosen to feature, but there are several more posted to his Flickr page (Batman with a freshly-delivered pizza was pretty good, too). MacLane builds all sorts of nifty stuff out of LEGOs, so I suspect we’ll be seeing his work again. Source: Nerd Approved I guess since the world won’t shut up about it, I’ll have to see if the guy wants to go see Guardians of the Galaxy. In the mean time, I’m gonna check out this life-sized Groot and Rocket Raccoon. It was a joint project between Marvel and LEGO, and it took 80 builders about 300 hours to complete. It was on display for the London premiere of the film, and I have no idea where it might be now. I do hope they employed some Kragle to keep it together, because it’s really neat. Normally I don’t include videos, but there’s a time-lapse of the build that’s pretty amazing. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akk1SA6TZcg] Source: Technabob Have you seen the very first ever episode of Dr. Who? Do you want to see it in LEGO? If the answer to the latter questions is “yes”, then head over to LEGO Ideas and cast your vote in favour of this project. This was created by Concore, and it depicts that first episode that set a cult following in motion. Minifigs included would be First Doctor (played by William Hartnell), his granddaughter Susan (Carol Ann-Ford), Ian Chesterton (William Russell) and Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill). It also would have a Tardis (duh) and the Junkyard from the episode. The project needs 10,000 supporters to reach the next stage and it’s sitting at just over 1,000 right now. Source: Nerd Approved Not only is the LEGO microscope incredibly detailed and very accurate, it actually works! Carl Merriman decided to take on the challenge of building this one, and I have to say he succeeded admirably. He was inspired by the (now discontinued) X-Pod, which looks an awful lot like a Petrie dish. In Carl’s words: While trying to find a use for the pod itself, I realized that it was very close to a deep petri dish. I used a planetary gear system to allow both coarse and fine adjustment of the objective lens. A little more tinkering and I connected the focus to a magnifying glass and fiber optic light in the eyepiece, so adjusting the focus knobs would actually bring the writing on a LEGO stud in and out of focus. Source: Geek.com From microscope to telescope, LEGO offers something for everyone. This LEGO version of the Hubble Telescope is currently seeking support on LEGO Ideas, and if it makes it the set should be out in time for the telescope’s 25th anniversary. This one comes from the mind of GRusso, and he’s very secretive about how he got LEGO bricks to make a round shape. Source: Nerd Approved You want a Starcraft 2 Siege Tank, don’t try to tell me you don’t. This one was created by basilfawlty and is currently seeking support on LEGO Ideas. It’s got 4 motors and 2 linear actuators, can drive forward and backwards and turn… and sieges and unsieges simply by pressing a button on the remote. I think I must have this. Source: Futurelooks Here’s another one up for voting on LEGO Ideas: Metroid. It would come with a Samus minifigure with printed details, a poseable Ridley figure, and Samus’s gunship. This was created by, appropriately enough, Lizardman, and he’d really like your vote. Source: Technabob Steampunk LEGO? Well, why not. Titled The Grand Arrest of Professor Filius Bertram”, this was created by builder Logan for Brickfair VA 2014. It’s got all sorts of quirky details that delight the eye, and an overall feeling of fun. Of course, there’s also the Steampunk aspect of it, with coal-powered airships, a tank, and even some smoke effects. Neat! Source: Nerd Approved Look at this cute little guy! Angus MacLane is back, this time with a LEGO playset idea that has already cleared the first hurdle toward becoming reality. It already got the requisite 10,000 supporters at LEGO Ideas, and is now being reviewed by designers and project managers to see if it’s going to end up on store shelves. The review process is beginning any day now if it hasn’t already, and if Wall-E passes muster he could enter production as early as 2015. Source: Damn Geeky No, I don’t want to build a snowman, and I’m not going to let it go. Although I did kind of enjoy the movie, and if this playset makes it through the LEGO Ideas process it has potential to sell. Might end up being a bit late to catch all the hype, though. Elsa’s Ice Palace was conceived by Fohzen, and it’s a little better than halfway to its support goal. It currently includes the Ice Palace as well as minifigs of Anna, Elsa, Olaf, and the Snow Monster, with plans to also include Sven and Kristoff. Source: Nerd Approved Created by AlessandraThreepwood, this of course is Monkey Island’s Scumm Bar, and it could use your support over at LEGO Ideas. It would come with a bunch of minifigs and the bar itself, with really a lot of detail considering how simple it is. Your memories of the original LucasArts game are free, but you’ll need the playset to kickstart your imagination. Source: Geek.com From Monkey Island to Monkey King, there’s something for everyone. This is a character taken from Chinese mythology (properly known as Sun Wukong), familiar to many. Tyler Halliwell built this using about 1,500 LEGO bricks over a period of about two months (100 hours of actual working time), and it measures 40? x 15? x 21″ (about 102 x 38 x 54 cm). If you think that doesn’t sound like enough bricks, it’s because the Monkey King is hollow. Source: Nerd Approved Super Mario 64! This is one of many builds by Matt De Lanoy, and it’s pretty darn awesome. It is also woefully short on detail, other than the fact that this is a recreation of the first stage (Bob-omb Battlefield) from the classic game. You can check out the entire line of photos over at Matt’s Flickr account. It’s really pretty neat. Source: Dorkly From the creative mind of markus19840420 comes the LEGO Steampunk AT-AT. This was built for Round Three of the Steam Wars competition (first rounds were starfighter, speederbikes, landspeeders and airspeeders… all made Steampunk using LEGO). If this example is any indication of the quality of submissions, I can only assume it’s got to be nearly impossible to pick a winner. Source: Technabob Baron von Brunk decided the world was distinctly lacking in LEGO DL-44s, so he created one and put it up on LEGO Ideas in an effort to make one a reality. It’s got a custom Arduino Uno circuit which produces sound and lights up, and is intended for a collector’s item/display piece rather than something you would play with. If you can’t wait for the kit to possibly come to fruition, he’s even posted build instructions over at Instructables. Source: Gadget Review I’m not entirely sure how you go about determining what is “life sized” for an anime character, but Chaos Brick has done it with this LEGO build of Hatsune Miku from Vocaloid. If you’re familiar with Vocaloid, you know her. If (like me) you have no earthly idea what Vocaloid even is, then just appreciate it for the time and effort it must have involved. Either way, building anything that stands about 5 feet tall out of LEGO bricks is impressive. Source: Nerd Approved I’ll close this one out with a fabulous rendition of Fawlty Towers built by Nathan Feist. If you’re not familiar with Fawlty Towers, you’re missing out on some comedic gold. There are no minifigs, but the attention to detail is amazing. The moose head is fantastic, and even has the broken antler. Now I’ve got to go dig out my VHS tapes and hope the VCR still works. I love that show. Source: Geek.com Share This With The World!
