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19 Jan 07:21

The world’s tiniest X-files poster in LEGO

by Chris (TBB Managing Editor)
Markku.lempinen

Awesome :D

Some fans build massive recreations of props from their favorite movies and TV shows. LEGO builder Corvus Auriac has gone the opposite direction with this tiny five-stud-wide microscale model of the UFO poster that hangs over Fox Mulder’s desk in the X-files. The trees made of epaulets provide interesting texture, while the flying saucer works spectacularly considering it’s made of only two pieces—a pair of 2×2 radar dishes attached on a clear rod. Is this the smallest brick-built LEGO poster ever? I’m not sure, but I know the truth is out there.

X-Files Poster

The post The world’s tiniest X-files poster in LEGO appeared first on The Brothers Brick.

12 Jan 19:07

Iconic platformer Prince of Persia now runs in JavaScript, in your browser

by Petteri Pyyny

Iconic platformer Prince of Persia now runs in JavaScript, in your browser

Back in 1989, the world of platformer games was pushed to new level. Genre, dominated by Nintendo's cute-sy platformer characters was overtaken by first-ever cinematic platform adventure, Prince of Persia.

Originally released for Apple II, but later ported to most of the available gaming / computing platforms of that era (including Commodore Amiga and Atari ST), the game became a commercial success - and an icon of its kind.

In Prince of Persia, you control the protagonist in order to save the princess who has been captured by the evil Grand Vizier Jaffar. Set in medieval Persia, the game resembles 1980s adventure movies in many ways.

Now, a Spanish developer ultrabolido has taken the 1990 MS-DOS port of the game and further ported it to... your browser!

Using purely HTML5 and JavaScript, the game is true to its MS-DOS port, using the same graphics and same music as the 31-year-old MS-DOS version.

Here's a reminder of how the game's Amiga port looked like:



Game can be played at PrinceJS.com. It doesn't work very well for mobile phones, as the controls are the same as they were back in the day: you use cursor keys to guide the protagonist through the dangers of medieval Persia. But for any modern browser and a computer can run the game smoothly.

Obviously, the game's source code has been released, too and is available at GitHub.

Permalink | Comments


20 Dec 05:41

The Temple of Technology demands your time

by Lino
Markku.lempinen

That is incredibly cool 😮

This kinetic LEGO structure by Sheo has presented a rare instance in which I’d rather not flap my piehole about it and allow the creation to speak for itself. It’s called the Temple of Technology and is part of a series of modular buildings Sheo has constructed.

Temple of Technology

I can assure you the magic of this creation is best seen in motion so be sure to watch the video. That use of the clock hands is just brilliant!

The post The Temple of Technology demands your time appeared first on The Brothers Brick.

24 Nov 06:16

Doc Brown’s Flying DeLorean

by Chris Burden
Markku.lempinen

This is so very cool 🤓

The move to 8-stud wide vehicles for LEGO’s Speed Champions line was a controversial move for some, although the space afforded allows for more detail and realism. Builder Jerry Builds Bricks chose an iconic design to reproduce that manages to pack in the details. A few clever techniques for the doors and wheels let Jerry build this sleek DeLorean from Back to the Future full of features.

BTTF DeLorean 8wide

It’s impressive how many features Jerry worked into this build. Choosing the second variant of this fan-favorite movie car provided plenty of details. The Mr. Fusion energy reactor and its components probably proved a challenge at this scale but he pulled that off and an interior. The functioning gullwing doors are extremely satisfying, as is the simple mechanism he used for the wheels. Aside from that, the angled flat hood and stand-out bumper really capture the character of the car.

BTTF DeLorean 8wide

It’s been a long time since the LEGO Cuusoo Delorean set and Jerry’s build is honestly a massive upgrade on multiple fronts. Just goes to show how much LEGO is evolving over the years. From fan builds to official sets, it just keeps getting better.

The post Doc Brown’s Flying DeLorean appeared first on The Brothers Brick.

17 Nov 05:33

It’s a trap! Wait...that’s a different movie. (But it’s still a trap.)

by Chris Doyle

Ah, that sweet spot between Cosplay and LEGO creativity. Brent Waller has built the perfect 1:1 scale Ghostbusters trap – and it looks just amazing! All details from the movie prop have been accurately recreated, including the various knobs, switches, and even opening trap doors. Side by side with the actual thing, you’d have to look twice to be sure you didn’t end up facing Slimer with a ABS plastic replica.

LEGO Ghostbusters Trap

It incorporates a few “Non-purist” elements, like tape for the warning stripes…and LED lights for when the trap is sprung. Yes, this is far more than just a static prop. You’re in for a treat, as Brent has documented all the secrets in a great video!

Better still, this is just the first of a series of 1:1 props Brent will be unveiling, so keep an eye on his channel for more! In the meantime, though, be sure to stroll through our archive of Ghostbusters creations to keep your appetite whetted!

The post It’s a trap! Wait...that’s a different movie. (But it’s still a trap.) appeared first on The Brothers Brick.

01 Nov 06:31

Facebook changes its name to Meta

by Thom Holwerda
Markku.lempinen

"You can call a pile of shit whatever you want, but that won’t magically turn it into gingerbread cookies." sums this zucking thing pretty nicely :D

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Thursday at his company’s Connect event that its new name will be Meta. “We are a company that builds technology to connect,” Zuckerberg said. “Together, we can finally put people at the center of our technology. And together, we can unlock a massively bigger creator economy.”

“To reflect who we are and what we hope to build,” he added. He said the name Facebook doesn’t fully encompass everything the company does now, and is still closely linked to one product. “But over time, I hope we are seen as a metaverse company.”

You can call a pile of shit whatever you want, but that won’t magically turn it into gingerbread cookies.

27 Oct 04:10

This giant LEGO Death Star docking bay is large enough to hold the UCS Millennium Falcon.

by Norm Harper

Docking Bay 327. You might not remember the numerical designation, but you’re almost certainly familiar with the location. It’s the bay aboard the Death Star that the Millennium Falcon is tractor beamed into when our heroes are attempting their heroic rescue of Princess Leia, and it’s the location Luke is in when he sees Obi-Wan cut down by Darth Vader. As parking spots go, it’s one of the most important ones in science fiction history. And now it’s been digitally created by Lysander Chau in a scale suitable to house LEGO’s UCS Millennium Falcon (10179) from 2007. The first thing you’ll register is the sheer size of the model, but this thing is as detailed as it is massive.

LEGO SW Docking Bay 327 - 2021

The hangar is divided into two levels. Up top is obviously where the spaceship sits, and down below are several rooms and hallways worthy of interest.

LEGO SW Docking Bay 327 - 2021

Up top, the stormtroopers are searching the ship for passengers as Darth Vader marches into the hanger bay followed by an Imperial Probe Droid and reinforcements to aid in the search.

LEGO SW Docking Bay 327 - 2021

LEGO SW Docking Bay 327 - 2021

But just where are our passengers? Well, Obi-Wan is hiding out amongst some smuggled goods.

LEGO SW Docking Bay 327 - 2021

And it looks like Chewbacca has gotten himself captured. Although there’s something familiar about those Stormtroopers. One of them’s a little short. Maybe he’s not in as much trouble as it looks…

LEGO SW Docking Bay 327 - 2021

The build even has some details we didn’t see in the movie, but which fit right in as part of the Death Star. These include an Imperial tram system, to move personal around, as well as what appears to be the generators for giant green planet destroying laser blasts.

LEGO SW Docking Bay 327 - 2021

LEGO SW Docking Bay 327 - 2021

LEGO SW Docking Bay 327 - 2021

The post This giant LEGO Death Star docking bay is large enough to hold the UCS Millennium Falcon. appeared first on The Brothers Brick.

14 Oct 06:43

This Super Nintendo Entertainment System is more than meets the eye

by Lino
Markku.lempinen

I highly appreciate the Soundwave-yness of this MOC :D

There’s a worry that when someone builds something in LEGO that looks so much like the real thing folks may simply pass it up when scrolling through social media. We at The Brothers Brick, on the other hand, are slightly more astute than the average bear when it comes to spotting clever LEGO creations. I can assure you, fellow bears, that this creation by Julius von Brunk is a clever one. It likely would have been featured anyway if it was merely a well-built LEGO facsimile of the Super Nintendo Game Console. Normally, we’d highlight this or that sweet build technique, point out a nice parts usage here or there then move on with our day. Shampoo, rinse, repeat. But then. But then upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that each element, the game console, cartridge, and both controllers transform into robots!

LEGO Super Nintendo Transformers (group shot)

Here is a group shot of each element in robot mode. Meet the console named Super Famitron, the cartridge called Polybius (named after a legendary 80s arcade game that apparently wished you were dead), and two gorilla controllers named Simian Kong and Primal Kong. The console even has a spring-loaded flap that accommodates the cartridge in both modes. While a marvel to be sure, Julius tells us that the console also has difficulty standing while in robot mode. Don’t we all?

LEGO Super Nintendo Transformers (group shot)

You can check out the video of them in action for yourselves and watch Julius explain the engineering difficulties faced when building this amazing creation. Stick around later in the video and he’ll talk about some of his favorite games. He should seriously consider a career reading audiobooks. I’d listen to that guy all day!

The post This Super Nintendo Entertainment System is more than meets the eye appeared first on The Brothers Brick.

08 Oct 05:16

I have your word, now... not a scratch

by Daniel

When Lando promised to bring the Millenium Falcon back from the battle of Endor without a scratch, he pretty much guaranteed something would get knocked off. And sure enough, this minimalist model by Miscellanabuilds shows the Falcon barely escaping the destruction of the second death star in one piece, let alone scratchless. The model captures the details of the much larger exhaust port perfectly, while the microscale Falcon looks great, even without her signature deflector dish. The only thing missing is the enormous burst of flames that nearly cooked Lando’s goose.

Destruction of Death Star II

The post I have your word, now... not a scratch appeared first on The Brothers Brick.

03 Sep 06:42

He’s a semi-aquatic egg-laying mammal of LEGO

by Rod

Phineas & Ferb was a work of genius. And for me, a central element of its appeal was the espionage adventures of Agent P — Perry the Platypus. In the immortal words of his theme tune, he’s got more than just mad skill, he’s got a beaver tail and a bill — and both of those are on display in PaulvilleMOCs‘ excellent LEGO version of the character. Sometimes I think those big Mixel tile eyes can be a little basic, and would prefer to see brick-built alternatives. However, the use of them here is a perfect choice, nicely reflecting the animation style of the model’s inspiration. Nice hat too.

LEGO Perry Platypus

Paul has previously built some of the other Phineas & Ferb characters in this style, including this brilliant rendition of Perry’s nemesis, Doctor Doofenshmirtz…

LEGO Doofenshmirtz

The post He’s a semi-aquatic egg-laying mammal of LEGO appeared first on The Brothers Brick.

02 Aug 06:13

Bringing LEGO back into game night

by Adam Jacobs
Markku.lempinen

A trio of Kell Hounds, anyone?
I still complain whenever someone calls 'Mechs robots, though.

Are you ready to play? Builder Pascal shows us how LEGO and board gaming can coexist as the ultimate game night. What was once an assortment of bricks is now a modular custom tile strategy game. A mix of grass, water, rocks and mountains can be created by filling in various parts of the map. The fact that I can recreate the terrain after every batch is fantastic, assuring no game is the same.

Modular Terrain

Pascal says the inspiration for this creation was found in the 1984 game BattleTech. I’m thrilled to see each 2×2 tile piece has a single stud in the middle to balance my robot warriors. This will definitely come in handy since everyone knows you’ll need to stay on the high ground if you’re going to win at this game.

The post Bringing LEGO back into game night appeared first on The Brothers Brick.

28 Jun 11:01

Bricks on the High Seas

by Adam Jacobs
Markku.lempinen

That ship is just fantastic! :o

If you enjoyed the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, then you’ll love this seafaring LEGO creation by Henjin_Quilones.

A drop of Nelson's blood wouldn't do us any harm

Do ye know what a pirate’s favorite letter be? Ye’d think it would be “R”, but his true love will always be the “C”. All jokes aside, this is truly a wonderful little build. Ship hulls are difficult to contrive out of most bricks, but Henjin manages it by using a variety of angles. The sails are made of sloped bricks and automotive spoiler pieces definitely give off the vibe of being pushed by the wind. My favorite part, however, is barely visible. If you look at the deck very closely, you can see a windowpane lattice doubling as the deck grating.

The post Bricks on the High Seas appeared first on The Brothers Brick.

22 Jun 05:43

Taking LEGO Great Ball Contraptions to the 5th level [Video]

by Bre Burns
Markku.lempinen

This is amazing stuff :D

Great Ball Contraptions (GBCs) are one of the most fascinating and mesmerizing pieces of LEGO art out there. GBC layouts at any convention will always enjoy an onslaught of wonderstruck fans. But what those fans may not know is that many LEGO GBC modules were inspired by one person. Of course, not all of them – there’s tons of originality in the hobby. That said, a household name amongst GBC enthusiasts is Akiyuki. His incredible designs have been the inspiration for hundreds of builds. Now he’s back with an incredible new creation, his “Five Tilted Rings” module.

This thing is ridiculous in the best way. As the name suggests, it’s a type of elevator module, with five rings stacked on top of each other. As they turn in the same direction, their long arms come to meet each other periodically. Then gravity helps guide the ball upward. Confused yet? I’ll shut up and let the video speak for itself. Just don’t get vertigo:

Nuts, right?! Needless to say, he’s a GBC wizard. If you think this stuff is as cool as we do, take a look at some of our favorite LEGO Great Ball Contraption creations from Akiyuki and others.

The post Taking LEGO Great Ball Contraptions to the 5th level [Video] appeared first on The Brothers Brick.

10 May 06:23

“Higitus figitus migitus mum! Prestidigitonium!”

by Bre Burns
Markku.lempinen

I can hear the song just by looking at the pictures here 🙈

If you do not recognize this character at all, you need to watch the Disney classic Sword in the Stone, stat. It’s certainly one of the best Disney films ever, and I think Rickard Stensby must agree! One of my favorite parts of the movie is when Merlin casts a spell where he packs the contents of his entire house into a traveling bag. In true Disney fashion, he sings his spell, “Higitus Figitus.” Arguably, the better line is “Hockety, pockety, wokety, wack,” but I digress. Rickard perfectly sculpts the scene in LEGO, from the shrinking belongings floating into the bag, down to the rickety wooden floorboards. Merlin himself is unmistakable with his blue outfit, glasses, and an overly long beard.

Merlin

Top marks for perfectly recreating the body pose, as well as the use of bananas and droid heads for fingers.

Merlin

This one had me feeling all the nostalgia. How about you? Click here to see more Disney builds. We also have more from Rickard too!

The post “Higitus figitus migitus mum! Prestidigitonium!” appeared first on The Brothers Brick.

06 May 06:07

This Star Wars Royal Guard TIE Interceptor has us seeing red

by Lino
Markku.lempinen

It is amazing indeed!

While we realize May the Fourth was yesterday it’s hard to contain so much Star Wars awesomeness in one day. Take, for example, this stunning LEGO Royal Guard TIE Interceptor by Jarek Książczyk. The complex shaping, the build techniques, even the breathtaking photography are all several notches above standard. The Emperor would approve.

Royal Guard TIE Interceptor

As if the striking red Royal Guard Interceptor wasn’t enough, here is a shot of some other TIE Fighters he’s been working on and perfecting lately. Here we have an updated TIE Fighter, a color variant for Iden Versio (I had to look that one up), the aforementioned Royal Guard Fighter, and a new TIE Interceptor.

New TIEs

He is a Star Wars spaceship aficionado as evidenced by this Razor Crest, and this Y-Wing. If you’re still craving all things Star Wars check out our archive of news and other fabulous creations from a galaxy far far away.

The post This Star Wars Royal Guard TIE Interceptor has us seeing red appeared first on The Brothers Brick.

18 Dec 06:34

Arvo brothers bring Robocop to life with LEGO – I’d buy that for a dollar!

by Chris Doyle

If you haven’t heard of the Arvo Brothers before, they’re Ramon and Amador Alfaro Marcilla, a pair of Spanish builders who are known for truly amazing LEGO sculptures. Their latest effort pays tribute to the 1987 classic, RoboCop. Standing around 2 feet tall, this towering figure is a dead-on recreation of Peter Weller’s portrayal of the titular character and is filled with intricate and screen-accurate detailing.

The first thing that becomes apparent is that there’s a level of articulation built into this sculpture. The shoulders, elbow, and head can all be adjusted to create a variety of bad-ass poses. The next thing that you notice is the spectacular part usage. There are just a few LEGO studs exposed, enough to let you know what he’s made of, but so few that you’re still required to really lean in to be sure. Curved tiles and slopes are everywhere, smoothing out the shapes and creating a perfectly streamlined set of armor.

RoboCop is perched on a simple brick-built display stand. This matches the style they used in their incredible Alien figure. (Their Iron Man, in contrast, was free-standing, or at least free-sitting.) Once again you can see how even minor changes to the position of the arms and head can create some very different looks for this creation. And if you look closely at his right leg, you’ll see some old-school phone handset elements adding a bit of detail. A very apt retro choice.

RoboCop also looks great from the back. The shaping on the calves is particularly nice, and those ankle-pistons are just swanky. It’s not easy to get a figure this large to stand, but the Arvo brothers have made it look effortless. And there are subtle details to enjoy, too. I like how the edges of the angled brick and plate in the rear of the upper thigh create just a touch of texture and break up what might have been an otherwise dull stretch of anatomy.

Finally, we need to talk about the great techniques in use in RoboCop’s face. The use of the back of this odd 2×2 slope brick for his signature grimacing mouth works really well, and the quarter-dome bricks in the helmet are the perfect choice. The 2×2 round tile w/center hole used for the earpieces is another great match.

Does this build inspire you to try your own hand at building the perfect cyborg? Take a look at our RoboCop archives to see how others have approached it, and be sure to check out other amazing builds we’ve featured from the Arvo Brothers!

The post Arvo brothers bring Robocop to life with LEGO – I’d buy that for a dollar! appeared first on The Brothers Brick.

17 Dec 06:25

The future is looking brighter all the time.

by Chris Doyle
Markku.lempinen

Great scott!

The nostalgia brought on by a quality LEGO Back to the Future DeLorean build is always welcome. Joey Klusnick has us looking forward to the future, too, with a version of this iconic vehicle that’s perfectly scaled for minifigure adventures. I’m really digging the use of transparent trapezoid flags and grey spikes to construct the windshield.

hero

This build looks great from every angle, with just the right level of detailing to get key design elements across without falling into a mass of incomprehensible greebling. It’s sleek and smooth, and a stunning example of what you can do with pop culture if you really put your mind to it.

profiles

I think this really shows how LEGO creations can evolve over time. Compare this build with the 2013 LEGO CUUSOO DeLorean – both have their merits, but I know which one I’d rather have on display at my house today.

The post The future is looking brighter all the time. appeared first on The Brothers Brick.

26 Nov 07:37

Updated Guarded Inn

by Bart Willen

I love a good old classic set, the 1986 Guarded Inn is no exception to this. Sets like these remind us of simpler times where LEGO only had 9 colors, and everyone supported the same smile. I love it when creators use a set like this as inspiration and manage to bring it to 2020 by using newer parts and techniques. Stuifzand didn’t use any of the tudor wall panel. And this set came with a lot of panels, 8 to be exact. The door was replaced by a brick-build but door but in the same style as the original set. The yellow shutters add a nice pop of colour as do the dark green half-round windows.

Guarded Inn_1

The post Updated Guarded Inn appeared first on The Brothers Brick.

09 Nov 06:43

All 31 seasons of The Joy of Painting are free to stream

by Mark Frauenfelder
Markku.lempinen

This was the first year since they started it on his birthday on twitch/bobRoss, that I couldn't have the JoP running non-stop on my secondary screen at work. He's just a delight to listen to on the background while working :D

2020 finally bears good news: All 403 episodes of alla prima virtuoso Bob Ross's Joy of Painting are free to watch on Ross' official Youtube channel. Above, the first (1/11/1983) and final (5/17/1994) episodes of the show.

From Open Culture:

It's said that 90% of the regular viewers tuning in to watch Ross crank out his signature "wet-on-wet" landscapes never took up a brush, despite his belief that, with a bit of encouragement, anyone can paint.

Read the rest
23 Sep 04:25

Facebook warns privacy rules could force it to exit European market

by Timothy B. Lee
Markku.lempinen

Oh what a shame it would be... :D

Facebook's European headquarters in Dublin.

Enlarge / Facebook's European headquarters in Dublin. (credit: Brian Lawless - PA Images / Getty)

Facebook has warned that it could be forced to pull out of the European market if European regulators push forward with limits on data sharing between the European Union and the United States.

Until this year, an arrangement called Privacy Shield allowed US technology companies to move data easily between the two jurisdictions. But Europe's highest court nixed that arrangement in July, arguing that US law lacks robust protections against surveillance by the US government.

In the wake of that ruling, Ireland's privacy regulator ordered Facebook to stop sending data on European users to its US data centers. Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) leads enforcement of European privacy regulations with respect to Facebook because Facebook's official European headquarters is in Dublin.

Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments

25 Jun 04:35

RSS Box creates the feeds missing on popular platforms

by Rob Beschizza

RSS Box generates the "missing" feeds for Twitter accounts, YouTube channels, Instagram users, and various other sites that fail to offer RSS.

This website lets you subscribe to RSS feeds for websites that do not support RSS themselves, by using the respective website's API and then translating that data to RSS feeds.

If you get a page saying "Application error", simply try again. This website resolves shortlink URLs to give the reader a better experience, and embeds linked content directly into the RSS feed. You will get this error if this takes longer than the web server allows.

Some websites, like YouTube, support RSS feeds but they are quite hard to find, so this website will provide the URL.

You can get that pin from Diesel Sweeties.

26 May 04:32

We’ll be safe in here

by David Guedes

As we learned on the first US season of LEGO Masters earlier this year, LEGO creations are best when they tell a story that is easily understood. Keith Reed has been setting up a story through his series of apocalyptic modular buildings, and the plot has become very clear with his latest scene. Here you see a family trying to escape their own impending doom, their car broken down, taking refuge in the back of a Nuka Cola truck.

A family trying to reach a bomb shelter, takes up refugee in a delivery truck.

They figured they’d be safe there for the night, but unbeknownst to them, they’d almost made it to the shelter. Turns out they didn’t make it. Whatever they were running from caught up with them that night, and they died right there, baby in arms.

Earlier this year, back when we could still gather in groups, this model was on display at Bricks Cascade. Keith was standing proudly beside his creation engaging with the public. A twelve year old kid came up and described the scene to his dad. Keith was floored at how well the intended story came across — I thought he might cry.

A family trying to reach a bomb shelter, takes up refugee in a delivery truck.

The post We’ll be safe in here appeared first on The Brothers Brick.

05 May 07:14

The art and science of LEGO tensegrity builds

by Edwinder
Markku.lempinen

Stunning builds :o
My favourites are the deLorean, the classic castle and the upside down.

The recent trend in the LEGO-sphere community has all been about magical floating compression structures, better known as a tensegrity – a portmanteau of “tensional integrity”. The fad started with a very rudimentary build on a Reddit and soon spawned many more creative iterations. We pick a few of the more outstanding ones that we’ve seen that has impressed us. A couple of them come with build videos and instruction guides for you to build your very own.

Tensegrity LEGO Model by Jason Allemann from JK Brickworks. One of the early builds to give a clean design was by Jason Allemann. Something that if you start digging enough from the parts in your LEGO bin, you may just be able to pull one together albeit with a more colourful representation of it.

The very first time looking at it simply stunned me as if there was some sorcery or soul sacrificing tasks needed to be performed. Once you get used to it, it just looks like an amazing wonder of science coupled together with our favourite toy, LEGO! You can find Jason’s Video Build guide here or if you prefer old school professionally designed pdf formatted guides, you can find them here.

Floating DeLorean from Back to the Future by hachiroku24. I simply love the tiny details used from the final scenes from Back to the Future ][ where the flag rope is dropped by Doc to give Marty a ride to save him from Biff while still on the hoverboard.

Tensegrity Delorean

Sensei Wu tightrope walk by Rollon Smith. I can’t vouch if this is lifted from a movie or the TV Series, but it’s one that could have happened. A Sinsei Wu minifigure from Ninjago balances ever so fine on a piece of LEGO string with end studs while the tensegrity build just provides the perfect Zen-like magic balancing contraption.

Balance and Tensegrity

Floating LEGO Classic Castle Tower by David Roberts. If there was ever a magic castle tower with an overlook, this is one that needs to exist. The signature yellow bricks of the castle against with a guard at watch – simply brilliant.

Tensegrity Tower

The Upside-down from Stranger Things by Richard Jones. If I had to choose a favourite, this has won my vote for being the most appropriately used theme to showcase the dark and evil side of the Upside-down.

IMG_9380.jpg

Tensegrity Dragon by captainsmog is so good that it deserves another mention here although we’ve already featured it not long ago. It makes the best use of all three tension chains built seamlessly into the vignette. It does not get any better than this and just showcases the fantastic talent we have here in the collective LEGO custom creation community.

Invocation

The Impossible Apartment Complex by Jeff Friesen, our winner of The Brothers Brick 2017 Creation of the Year takes a leaf of his winning and mesmerizing design and incorporated it into a futuristic building.

We hope you enjoyed some of our favourite picks of the magical play of tensegrity with LEGO elements. If these builds inspired you, why not give it a go? Take great photos and drop it in the LEGO Flickr Pool and you can bet we’ll be looking at them. If not, tell us about your favourite or drop us a favourite or two of yours in the comments.

The post The art and science of LEGO tensegrity builds appeared first on The Brothers Brick.

04 May 07:30

Inspector Gadget theme performed on 8 cellos

by Rob Beschizza

Here's Shuki Levy's theme from Inspector Gadget performed on an 8-pack of cellos by Samara Ginsberg. The gadget theme is a variation of the melody from Edvard Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King and a widely-sampled and borrowed motif in pop music.

28 Feb 11:57

The pitfalls of realistic building

by Lino
Markku.lempinen

That is just amazing :o

There’s a danger to building realistic LEGO creations in that there is a chance writers like us could pass it up. While seeking out inspiration for articles, my thought process went as follows, LEGO build; cool. Another LEGO build, our readers will like that one; cool. Someone selling their old Atari, maybe? Pffft, whatever, move on. LEGO creation; cool. Wait, go back. Was that? Holy shnikies, that’s LEGO! That reaction is courtesy of Joe Klang and every bit of this stellar Atari 2600 is genuine LEGO. The Atari logo is comprised of 1×2 curved slopes, the chrome jack is a harpoon piece and even the rubber bands are LEGO. Notoriously spotty quality control with brown works in Joe’s favor here as it replicates woodgrain nicely. Even the Pitfall box art with its 8-bit graphics are well played indeed!

Atari VCS 2600 recreated in LEGO

The post The pitfalls of realistic building appeared first on The Brothers Brick.

27 Feb 13:17

Huge 35,000-piece Lego Star Destroyer

by Rob Beschizza
Markku.lempinen

Some people are just awesome and do good work in the name of the Emperor! :D

Assembling LEGO's official Star Destroyer kit [Amazon] is no mean feat: it has nearly 4,800 pieces and retails for $700. But Matt Benner, aka TheBrickWiz, went 30,000 better, constructing a collossal Star Wars spaceship to put the fear of Vader into any rebel fool enough to fall into its gravity well. He even made the interior – check out the conference room (below)!

Matt Benner (screengrab)

28 Jan 06:31

Check out this incredibly huge and detailed LEGO diorama of the Eternal City, Rome

by Benjamin Stenlund
Markku.lempinen

Now I want to go to Rome again!

It is rare for a LEGO build to make my jaw drop and leave me drooling on my keyboard, but that is just what this stunning layout of Imperial Rome by Rocco Buttliere did. I have a Master’s degree in Classics, primarily in the Latin language, and so anything and everything Roman is right up my via, but there is a lot of great information to learn in the descriptions of the photos, even for one with an advanced degree in a tangential field. In fact, I could spend hours looking through all the pictures, and have already spent the better part of one skimming through the descriptions. It is fascinating stuff. And the build! It is huge, about 1×2 meters in size, with 66,000 bricks going into its construction. And not one is wasted or superfluous. So let’s take a brief tour of the Eternal City, shall we?

SPQR - Imperial Rome

Rocco built it for the Museu da Imaginação (Museum of Imagination) in São Paulo, Brazil, and his attention to detail is certainly worthy of being enshrined in a permanent display. Every building is unique, all showing the architectural style we associate with the Romans. There are innumerable fora, aqueducts, bathhouses, and temples galore, including my favorite, the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. He is the best and greatest Jupiter, not the cousin of an Autobot. A tap does a good job of depicting the triumphal four-horse chariot at the peak of the roof, and roller skates and hooks add other details to the temple. I love the use of vent slopes for microscale tile roofs.

No Expenses Spared

Contrary to appearances, Rocco did not build the whole city (but wouldn’t it be awesome if he did?) Most of what he built of the city is brick construction, but there were a lot of wooden structures too, allowing massive fires to destroy the place from time to time while emperors fiddled (or harped, more probably). Nero used the aftermath of the most famous fire as an opportunity to build a massive palace to his ego, and then that palace was turned into public areas after his death by the Flavians. The private lake, for example, became the Colosseum, or the Flavian Amphitheatre. This rendition of the gladiatorial arena is gorgeous, making brilliant use of brown wands and white curved modified plates.

Designing the Colosseum

Prior to the construction of the Flavian Amphitheatre, public spectacles were held in the Circus Maximus, a huge racetrack for chariots. It could hold over 150,000 spectators, and much more than racing happened there. Gladiator events, deaths of Christian martyrs, parades, animal shows, all happened there before the Colosseum. The Imperial Palace overlooked the circus, and emperors had their own private access direct from their house. No need to mingle with the hoi polloi. Rocco used a ton of wedge plates on their sides to recreate the slope of the stands, with their tiny gaps adding detail, and it looks great.

Circus Maximus

Heck, the whole thing looks great, but I have gushed and rambled on enough already. Check out the full album here, and brush up on your Roman architecture and history, or even better, go see it in person next time you’re in São Paulo.

The post Check out this incredibly huge and detailed LEGO diorama of the Eternal City, Rome appeared first on The Brothers Brick.

18 Dec 05:48

A retrospective on the making of Tie Fighter

by John Struan
Markku.lempinen

It's a good thing that TIE Fighter collector's CD-ROM came out way before Steam and the "this is how many hours you've spent on it" counters... %)

Writing for PCGamer, Alex Kane takes a long look at the creation of the video game Tie Fighter, where the player becomes an ace in the Imperial Navy between the Battle of Hoth and Battle of Endor. Supposedly, this was Lucas's reaction when he saw the copy on the package:

As the story goes, George Lucas was shown the packaging for TIE Fighter in a board meeting shortly after the game had come out and had started performing well financially and earning acclaim. Lucas picked up the box, examined the cover, and then turned it over to read the copy on the back. "'Imperial Navy'?" he said. "There's no navy in Star Wars." A moment later: "Well, I guess it doesn't matter."

A key moment in the marketing of the game came when a deal was reached to co-promote the game along the Dodge Neon:

"I think what really helped the game is that we were approached by Dodge, the car company," Gleason says. "I wasn't in much of a bargaining position; I didn't have a whole lot to give in return, other than they get to use Star Wars in their advertising. For the Dodge Neon, which was nothing like a sci-fi or futuristic car. It was from Michigan. There was nothing sexy about it; it looked like a family car. But it was a big win, because we couldn't afford to distribute 400,000 demos on our own, or do a TV commercial."

With an unlikely marketing companion in Dodge, Gleason got a TIE Fighter demo onto the PCs of thousands of gamers. In early 1994, Computer Gaming World magazine released a single-mission demo of the game on a pair of 3.5-inch floppy disks. After clicking their way through an ad for the then-brand-new Neon compact, players were rewarded with an early, rough build of the game.

You can see that demo in this video:

My personal favorite mission was Battle 12, Mission 6: Recon Military Summit, which takes place just before the Battle of Endor. You're given two tasks. Jump into the system where the rebel fleet is amassed, scan the capital ships, and jump back out before being destroyed. Along the way, locate and assassinate a Bothan who has grown suspicious the rebels might be walking into a trap. Just make sure you don't destroy so many fighters that the rebels might abandon the assault on Endor! Here's a no commentary playthrough:

02 Dec 08:33

Spinner from Blade Runner takes off in a blast of steam

by Daniel
Markku.lempinen

That's cool 8)

The gritty vision of a major metropolitan city after a mass-migration off-world is just one of the stunning visual elements in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. What is left behind is a world filled with the poor and downtrodden remnants of humanity struggling to eke out a living among crumbling infrastructures, lawlessness and an everyone-for-themselves dystopia. But at least they have flying cars, as depicted in this wonderfully detailed LEGO scene built by Keiichi Kamei. Keiichi’s scene features the classic flying car more commonly referred to as the Spinner, which is how the few police that are still around get a bird’s eye view of the city. It’s also perfect for dropping in and out of potentially dangerous situations.

Police_Spinner_Take_Off_01

The builder uses custom stickers to give the police vehicle it’s signature details, and I love the brick-and-slope-built steam clouds that really give the scene a dynamic aesthetic.

Police_Spinner_new01

The post Spinner from Blade Runner takes off in a blast of steam appeared first on The Brothers Brick.

04 Nov 05:18

I scream, you scream, we all scream for Starscream!

by Edwinder
Markku.lempinen

He's quite Masterpiece-y indeed! :o

The character attributes that I’ll always remember Starscream for are being whiny, always going around his boss’s plans, and frequently retreating when things go wrong. I guess those are also his best attributes that make him memorable after all these decades. What’s more interesting, however, is YouTuber Starscreamer’s creation of his namesake, the Transformers Generation 1 Decepticon Starscream. It’s created with an uncanny likeness, with the signature colors and parts that give it the perfect shaping.

The best part of the build is really to see how it transforms with ease and demonstrated in the YouTube video below. Trust me, it’s not something you’d want to miss. At this point, I think I’m just gonna scream for some instructions pretty please! Do note that if you’re attempting to replicate this build, the wings include a part with studs on the outer slope that’s no longer in production since 1999 and the only source would be from the aftermarket offerings from Bricklink.

The post I scream, you scream, we all scream for Starscream! appeared first on The Brothers Brick.