The history of the world is at stake!

In 480 BC, King Xerxes of Persia sent a massive army to invade the Greek city-states. A tiny force of Greeks (the subject of the movie 300) stalled the Persian advance at the pass of Thermopylae, giving the Greek general Themistocles just enough time to launch a naval defeat of the Persians in the straits near the island of Salamis. This deterred the Persian invasion, led to the proliferation of ancient Greece, and ultimately shaped the history of the world. 

That's not what's going on in this scene by Micah Beideman (Hacim Bricks), but it could very well be something just as important. Maybe that trade ship is holding the future king of a country? In any event, there's a Greek trireme involved; that was enough to kickstart me into history mode. 

Note the nicely constructed mountainous background, and a pretty cool part use on the trireme: a flaming sticker from a Racers set holds a cheese slope on the front of the ship! 

More than just a stud shooter

As most fans know, one of the best things about LEGO is that almost any piece can be used for almost any purpose. There are no limits to creativity, and in the right hands a seemingly very specific piece can be put to use in an unexpected way.

That's the case with the new(ish) LEGO stud shooter as used in these two recently posted MOCs. The first build comes from vir-a-cocha and is a creepy character entitled "Nightmare Designer." As you can see, the stud shooter finds a use as the character's head, creating a surprisingly well-defined facial expression.

The second MOC was actually influenced by the first - it was built by vitroleum and features stud shooters as a pair of those notorious Easter Island heads: 

Besides the stud shooters, check out some of the insane part usages in this build: a tooth/claw, feather, rocker hinge, backpack, and treasure chest lid have all found their way into the ship!

(Sorry for the lack of posts the past week - I just got back from music camp!)

Harbor tug

One of my uncles used to work on a tugboat, and I have a lot of respect for these small but powerful little boats. Konajra's MOC gets the style exactly right and crams in some great details as well, all while using difficult SNOT and curve-building techniques to shape the hull. Great build, and instead of just linking to the Flickr album I might as well stuff this post with photos from every angle: 

Iron Maiden

"The Imperial's Iron Maiden is one of the most versatile heavy hitters in the fleet. Her 12 great cannons oscillate like pistons on a well tuned engine, flexing in and out to the rhythm of her iron heart. While she is able to be airborne for high speed direct routes, she really outshines the rest when at home in the water. She is faithfully able to turn on a dime and repel most all attacks with her iron hide."

This is Sean and Steph Mayo's fifteenth entry into their Iron Builder battle against Nannan Zhang and Tyler Clites, and it's just as good as the first fourteen. I don't know how they do it! You can follow this round on Flickr here. 

Luxury yacht

This one's been on Flickr for a few months but I just found it this morning and thought is was good enough to warrant a post here. "Motor Yacht Mohican" by JBIronWorks:

More images on Flickr.

Rumrunner Blackhawk

Inspired by Clive Cussler's The Bootlegger, JBIronWorks, whose castle dioramas have earned him previous fame here on Brickology, built this rumrunner boat from the United States' Prohibition era.