Disorder

It's difficult to convey disorder in LEGO. It takes a certain level of skill to build ramshackle buildings and run-down old vehicles. But in this MOC, Brick Vader has made it look too easy. 

Here's a closer look at that van:

Lunar Jeep (Pimp My Ride edition)

Wheels are so over-rated.

Flickr user billyburg builds Classic Space style vehicles with a twist: MORE GREEBLES! As you can see from the above model, that's a very good thing... 

(And check out those alien tourists!)

The Steam Wars continue with Legopard

Legopard has been churning out vehicles for FBTB's steampunk Star Wars contest. I blogged his steampunk take on the Slave I already, but he's built three more "Steam Wars" vehicles while I wasn't paying attention! They're all awesome, so what the heck, I'll just blog them all. 

First up is this interpretation of Zam Wesell's KORO-2 speeder. The whole thing is pretty slick, but if you look closely you'll notice some nice part uses as well. I can see wagon wheels, a clown horn, and a whole lot of robot arms. 

Then we have this retro-futuristic AT-TE walker, built with plenty of nice greebly barrels, ladders, and HERO FACTORY joints: 

And finally, my personal favorite- the HyperSteam Ring:

Be sure to check out the FBTB Steam Wars contest to see more awesome Steam Wars MOCs!

Red-eyed tree frog

This cute little rainforest tree frog model comes from Matt De Lanoy (Pepa Quin) as he battles Disco86 in the Iron Builder arena. 

That's so cheesy

"The Temple of Mithras" by Dan Harris (Macsen Wledig) has cheese everywhere- 1x1 "cheese" slopes that is!

The floor in the center of the room is tiled using cheese, but my favorite part is the painting and sculpture in the back:

I also like how the MOC is photographed from the "inside," making it seem as if you are actually in the scene and not just viewing it from the outside. 

Kurjudroid

The martial aliens, called 'Tonbasha', plan an invasion on the planet 'Kurju'. But humans still live there ... Here's a battle robot from the humans.

Builder Nooroyd says this 'bot will appear in an upcoming sci-fi MOC. Whatever it is, I can't wait to see it! I love the circular tubes and touches of light pink., 

Filling up the tank

As the current round of Iron Builder rages on, Disco86 decided he needed some gas. So he built this Octan filling station. As nice as the whole build is, my favorite thing might just be the motorbike. Look closely- you'll see that (excepting the wheels) it doesn't use any prefab motorbike pieces. What it does use is this round's seed part, that 2x2 red inverted dome on the front. 

Orange, orange, orange, orange... green?

What could this mean for the Torang Prime mining plant?

Here's a nicely done brickfilm by Jam Pot Studios. It won 10th place out of 44 entries in BRAWL 2014. I like everything from the plot and characters to the scenery and effects. 

Check out Jam Pot Studios' YouTube channel via the link above for more awesome stop-motion action! 

Get ready to rumble

The recently blogged Tim Schwalf (One More Brick) returns to Brickology with a MOC of an entirely different type than last time. This is Rumble from League of Legends, built for Tim's brother's birthday: 

I love the shape of this mech. The skinny legs and big fat torso contrast wonderfully, and the greebles and weapons add to the character. Very well done! 

"Three Projects That Make LEGO Toys Into High-Tech Tools" in Popular Science

My new September issue of Popular Science has a short article covering three practical models that makers have constructed with LEGO MINDSTORMS pieces. 

Included are a braille printer created by a 12-year-old boy; a device that digitizes printed text; and an atomic force microscope. It's really quite amazing that all these projects were built with only LEGOs and maybe a few dollar-store items. You can read the article on popsci.com via this link: http://www.popsci.com/article/diy/three-projects-make-lego-toys-high-tech-tools

T-22 Hyperion mecha

From the dark, dangerous depths of MOCpages comes this fabulous mecha by Justin Knelsen: 

I particularly like the awesome texture and detailing on the back of the mech, as it lends a very "sci-fi" cold metal tech feel to the build. Well, really there are a lot of things to like here: all those little touches of trans-blue, the bubble cockpit canopy, all the rounded edges and joints made with disc pieces... nice build! 

Japanese Restaurant and Board Shop

Check out this great Japanese restaurant/skateboardboard shop modular building by Brian Lyles:

The MOC is done in the style of LEGO's popular Modular Buildings line, and in my opinion it seems like it could actually be sold as such by LEGO! While this may not be a reality anytime soon, you can come close to having this building as a real set by downloading the instructions for it on Brick City Depot! 

Rear view:

Interior views:

I like the 1x2 grille slopes used to hold goggles on the wall in the board shop. That's an inspired part use that probably took some time to find!

This is a sweet MOC and if you don't mind spending $12 for the instructions, you could have one for yourself! 

EDIT: Brick City Depot also has many more instructions for models of all themes- go check them out at brickcitydepot.com! 

Goats!

The life of a goatherd is a solitary journey... 

This MOC by Tim Schwalfenberg employs an innovative rock-work technique to create a "jumbled boulders" look. Combined with the run-down old goat pen, the whole scene looks bleak and desolate (in the best possible way!). I love the use of tubes in the pen's roof and the white croissant elements as the goats' horns, as well as that little cave in the foreground. 

See more photos on MOCpages. 

The Monkey King

If you've been on any other LEGO blogs or Flickr groups recently, you've probably seen this MOC. "The Monkey King" by The Deathly Halliwell measures 40"x15"x21" and has a design influenced by Japanese, Chinese, and Korean culture. Really, it's pretty much just one of the coolest builds of the year so far. Now I'll stop blabbering and let the pictures do the talking: 

Fruit and cheese platter

Want the perfect start to your fancy dinner party? Look no further than this delectable fruit and cheese platter by Bruce Lowell! Beautifully packaged in an oak-wood box with a checkered cloth cover, this set includes a wooden serving board, cheese knife, bunch of sweet red grapes, and two kinds of delicious specialty cheeses! With this on your table you'll be the envy of all your party guests! Order today at BruceLowell.com! 

And I also feel obligated to point out this Flickr comments pun-fest:

There's something fishy here

Even though it's a small model with very few pieces, this Bull Warrior figure by Filip Soukup is fantastic. There are a couple of very inspired part uses: note the hood elements on the shoulders and... hold on, are those fish for feet? 

Target acquired

Builder Dead Frog Inc. is back on Brickology with this "Desert Runner Sentry Turret" mech. I love this thing's style, from the spindly little greebly legs to the big gun to the armored midsection to the big tan plates on top. Nice build. 

Stickers are from The Cooper Works

Watchtower of Gragoloon

Even before I really got a close look at this I knew it was a must-blog. This beautiful fantasy scene by Cesar Soares (Cesbrick) incorporates a ramshackle old watchtower building, some wonderfully built trees and landscaping, some minifig villagers heading off to market, and lots of other great details. Do click through to Cesbrick's Flickr photostream to see lots more images. 

Tomahawk

Builder _TrapleS_ says this "SFU II 'Tomahawk' " is his first attempt at building a spaceship, so he warns us "don't judge strictly." I say there's no need- this thing is awesome. Just look at all these greebles: 

kh-99 Kinvenj

For today's double dose of sci-fi, .Tromas has served up this bizarre (but nonetheless awesome) "Kheprosian Variable Assault Fighter." (There's lots more scientific descriptions with equally indecipherable pronunciations here.)

I like the color scheme- it's a very unusual combination of colors but they work well here. The fluid edges and use of ball joints give it a "mecha" look; in fact I thought this was a mecha when I first saw it. 

EDIT- Concept art for this build

ANOTHER EDIT- Here are a few more images of the vehicle when it's been "folded up" into a more compact mode. Now it looks more like a spaceship! 

OVERLOADR Junk Bot

Dead Frog Inc. went a little nuts building his latest mech. I'm both impressed and slightly terrified by the result. 

Rocket

Confession: despite all the hype, I have not yet seen Guardians of the Galaxy. (I guess I should!) But of course I still know about Rocket, the genetically enhanced, gun-toting raccoon from the movie. Here he is in all his furry-faced glory in this Brick Sketch by Chris McVeigh (powerpig). 

Grillin' it

Bruce Lowell has another ultra-realistic LEGO item to add to his arsenal: this small but detailed barbecue grill. 

You may remember Bruce's Weber grill model from a couple years back. 

Titanfall Hemlok BF-R

Remember a few days ago when I said Titanfall has inspired a lot of LEGO creations? Here's another one. 

It's the Hemlok BF-R gun from the game, beautifully and accurately replicated in brick form by Nick Brick, who is no stranger to building video game weapons out of LEGO. 

More photos of the Hemlok BF-R can be found here. 

It's getting steamy in here

Here's a nice steampunk creation that, somewhat refreshingly at this point, has nothing to do with Star Wars. 

Bartosz Kacprzyk (the oneman) is the builder. I especially like the use of the ship rigging, treasure chests, welding tool, and the pink umbrella. 

He's Iron Man...and you're not

Builder Starscream Soundwave says he "chose to sacrifice looks for functionality" in this Iron Man action figure MOC, but I think it came out looking pretty darn cool. 

Action shot: 

Slick and very posable, great for play or display! A true action figure as much as a great build. Nice work. 

More photos here. 

Luke Steamwalker's Steamspeeder

It looks like steampunk/Star Wars combo MOCs are a thing right now, as exemplified by the Steampunk Slave I I posted earlier this month. I'm a big Star Wars fan (isn't everyone, really?) and I love the greebly aesthetic of steampunk, so these models are great to my eyes. This steampunk take on Luke Skywalker's landspeeder by Âtin makes great use of propellers, grilles, and other textured and mechanical parts to convey a stripped-down, antique look that still has style. Nice build. 

Life's better with a Titan

The game Titanfall has inspired a fair few MOCs (like this one) with its futuristic mechs and weapons. This amazing model of an Atlas Titan from the game is by -infomaniac-. 

Custom stickers on the mech are from The Cooper Works. 

Beware the Balrog!

There's a MEMO going on on MOCpages, and- what's that? You don't know what a MEMO is? It stands for Middle Earth MOC Olympics, of course! This entry from Leonardo Da Brick shows the scene from The Fellowship of the Ring where Gandalf battles an ancient and deadly Balrog in the Mines of Moria. Spoiler alert- Gandalf dies :)

The builder has more equally excellent LotR scenes on MOCpages and on Flickr.