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acquired immunity – the only way to be sure

acquired immunity – the only way to be sure

Once again, Grantmasters has created something outside the box — and to think it all started with a bulk lot of LEGO Belville purchased online. Wanting to make something reminiscent of an old toy catalogue with all characters posing for the photograph, he has included an array of various doctoring devices. I love how the X-ray seems the perfect scale, and the discarded plaster cast boot on the floor by the bin.

A Distraction

Grant started with the computer screen – constructed by miniaturising Chris McVeigh‘s designs – he says the biggest challenge was getting the black part of the screen to hold the correct angled curve. He solved it by pivoting it and attaching it to an angled pin protruding through a hole in the middle of the screen.

“Say what again. I dare you. I double-dare you mister falcon.”

tablizm has used LEGO to capture the infamous scene from Pulp Fiction where Jules and Vincent demand the return of Marcellus Wallace’s briefcase. Poor Brett doesn’t look happy, probably because Jules just took a big bite out of his burger. All together now: “The path of the minifig is beset on all sides by the infinity of sorting and the terror of standing on a brick. And you will know my name is Lord Business when I lay my instructions upon thee..

What! Say what again one more time!

When I was a wee lad my mates were all about the Ferraris and Lamborghinis. Not me though, nor Serge S either. Don’t get me wrong — they are both highly skilled manufacturers of beautiful cars — but for me, nothing even comes close to the classic Porsche 911.

Early Porsche 911

With his faithful recreation of every curve and nuance of this early 911’s superb lines, Serge has lovingly furnished this crimson coloured Carrera with working doors, bonnet and trunk.

Early Porsche 911 Early Porsche 911

Barad-dûr — or as most people will know it, that tall black scary thing that can see very far — has magical properties and scares hobbits. Created by Koen, this intricate reconstruction of the Dark Tower is about as tall as the LEGO Saturn V. The bright Eye of Sauron and glowing lava stand out instantly, but it’s not until you look close that you notice the amazingly fine details. I love how the builder has integrated the blacks and greys around the base of the tower and the hundreds of spires, ramparts and turrets adorning Lord Sauron’s base of operations.

Barad-dûr

Then at last his gaze was held: wall upon wall, battlement upon battlement, black tower of adamant, he saw it: Barad-dûr, Fortress of Sauron. All hope left him.

With flying cars becoming a not-too-distant reality, my hope is that they come in models  like Volker Brodkorb‘s awesome underground racer. This ferocious tiger-coloured beastie brings to mind old-school 1970s American Muscle cars. With its bold front wheel arches, front grill and air intakes all helping to give it a chunky look, yet has a very Jetson’s-like vibe with it’s bubble top and the omission of rubber wheels. Wouldn’t you love to jet around in this futuristic retro cutting-edge classic.

Team

We are now fully entrenched in October, but SHIPtember is still with us with this late entry by Tim Schwalfenberg. Living away from his home (and his LEGO collection), but still wanting to participate, Tim was convinced by a friend to construct an alt-build of the LEGO Saturn V and voila we have the Jupiter V. Making good use of printed elements Tim has created a sleek molded body using most of the Apollo launch vehicle, even using the stand as a kind of outrigger for a necessary splash of colour. Combine all this with some fancy editing skills and the Jupiter V looks quite capable of boldly going to a galaxy far, far away.

Jupiter V

Hello kiddies, it’s time to tune in to some fabulous retro Terovision. Doctor Dog is performing the final external pre-flight examination of the infamous Fabuland Freighter – the fastest ship in the whole of LEGOLAND. Flagship of the Fabuland Freight Service, I hear it made the Billund Run in less than 12 parsnips.

Fabuland Freighter

Together with Lionel Lion at the helm, this duo is responsible for transporting envelopes and brown packages all over Fabuland. Their trusty ship has compartments for small cargo and specially designed clamps in the front to haul bigger things like mail boxes.

Fabuland Freighter

Terovision decided to build this ship because of a love for both Star Wars and Fabuland. A fun and original mashup, the builder appears to have blended as many Fabuland pieces as possible seamlessly with System elements. Extra points have to be awarded for the extra effort that went in to creating the cut-out background!

Hi, my name is Jonathan Samson and I am an addict. This is the first post for The Brothers Brick that I’ve written about one of my own LEGO creations. One of the unfortunate side effects of writing for The Brothers Brick is that when you’re immersed in the best LEGO creations the planet has to offer, it makes one a little more picky about what classifies as a great build. Most of my builds end up being dismantled before they are completed due to my perfectionist streak.

What do you get if you cross a Ralph MacQuarrie picture, a large LEGO collection and a crazy image you cannot shake from your head? Let me present Batman vs. Star Wars. 

Batman vs. Star Wars

The Bat-lenium Falcon is loosely based on the Microfighters Falcon, but I made it a bit thinner, completely rebuilt the cockpit and front mandibles, and gave it bat ears! I wanted to hark back to the classic Adam West Batmobile, hence the red go-faster-stripes. Night-wing is a mish-mash of a few different microscale LEGO X-wings I’ve seen, crossed with the colours of Robin from The LEGO Batman Movie. Darth Joker came about because after building the Falcon, I felt it needed more; I had intended to build an explosion similar to the original image, but instead opted for the cartoonish “Kapow” floating fighting words to compliment the Tex Avery look of the Joker, and as a nod to 60s Batman. Enjoy.

Bat-lenium Falcon - front Night-Wing

At first glance this wee Hulkbuster looks enormous, then you realise that Iron Man’s head is that of the Minifigure and Tony Stark’s infamous arc reactor is a single tiny element. The Ka. Lor Project has created the Hulkbuster, Crimson for your viewing pleasure. As the name suggests, the Hulkbuster was specifically designed for hand-to-hand combat with the rampaging Hulk. During its maiden run, the armour enabled Stark to temporarily hold his own in sustained physical combat with the Hulk. This mighty miniature has so many fine details and tons of tiny greebling, I love everything about this heavy Hulk harrassing hybrid.

The Hulkbuster, Crimson

New Zealand LEGO wunderkind David Hensel is at it again with another awesome build inspired by the movie The Martian — the 2780 Moon rover. Superb shaping and a lovely aesthetic feel leaves me with the impression this could be a real rover. David has used fantastic lighting and a rumpled grey sheet to give the impression it is trundling along the surface of the ‘moon’. I love the clever use of the trans yellow cockpit pieces with the LEGO horns giving an organic curve to the angled pieces. Other features worth noting are the cool telescopic arm with camera and it would be remiss of me to not mention those gorgeous wheels using Technic pins!

2780 Moon rover

SHIPtemper is by far my favourite month of the LEGO building calendar — we get to see inside the imaginations of the most talented builders and see what they envision for the future of humanity. This year, when friends Sean Mayo and Tyler Clites got together, not only did they create two of the most beautiful SHIPs to enter cyberspace this year, they also filmed a time-lapse of their build so we can see into their process.

Sean’s Kel Corona is a deep space scanning station that’s 110 studs long. Creating curves in LEGO is always a challenge, but the payoff is spectacular — the lines, the colours and the small touches all contribute to make this SHIP spectacular.

Kel Corona

Meanwhile, Tyler’s Bishop is seen here on its voyage to the Yens galaxy. The color choices are brilliant, the dark blue and vibrant LEGO yellow contrasting against the grey. The angled protruding air intakes on the side are sublime and I am loving the use of the new squared macaroni pieces as the company logo.

The Bishop

Click more to see more pictures and the video

When most people today hear the name Tesla, you probably think of those snazzy electric cars. If you dig a little deeper, you’ll find that Serbian-American engineer Nikola Tesla, with or without credit, influenced our modern world in ways that perhaps no man ever has. the_jetboy knows this, creating a fantastic kinetic magnetic tribute to the great inventor. If you include designing the first hydroelectric power plant, advocating Alternating Current, and inventing electric motors, robotics, new ways of harnessing and distributing light – including lasers and X-rays, radio (sorry Marconi), and wireless communication (including TV remotes), then there’s not a lot he hasn’t contributed to today’s modern world.

Nikola Tesla

Inspired by Sensei Yoshihito Isogawa, the builder has also created a video showing this beautiful, magnet-bearing kinetic sculpture in action. One final tantilising piece of Tesla trivia: Teslas are a unit used to measure the strength of magnetic fields.

A final quote from the genius madman inventor himself:

The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane.

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