Light Steam Landship Mk. LXIII

We haven’t had many Steampunk builds on here lately. It about time for one. This Landship is a sort of cross-country locomotive and looks like it packs quite the punch. I especially like the side-mounted turrets. I’m sure Beau Donnan intended it, but they remind me of the guns on the British “Mark” series of World War I tanks.

Amazing World War II LEGO diorama

A collection of Lugpol members (Pit, Mrutek, Rasch, Ciamek, Glaz_Pimpur, Misiek, Zgredek and Kris Kelvin) have combined forces to produce this stunning diorama of the Eastern Front. The diorama is presently on display at Gdansk Town Hall and if I was near the area I’d certainly be checking it out.

The diorama is full of amazing details, wonderful buildings, decay, flora and excellent military vehicles. Kris has a collection of his shots and a lot of links to further shots in this set. This is my favourite diorama ever and sets the bar very high. I’m even more amazed that with so many cooks the broth is so delicious.

PS. If anyone can provide links to the other builders please post them below.

“Iguana” Tank

I’m not sure exactly what the bits of Shannon Sproule’s (Shannon Ocean) tank do but I sure do love the lines of it.

The Battle of San Juan Hill

Brian Williams (BMW_Indy) yet again shows his expert vignette craftsmanship in his build of the Battle of San Juan Hill. Everything from the custom-built horse, the explosion, the grass field, the sloped hill, and the display base separate this creation from the ordinary.

Green Monster

Sorry if I suckered any baseball fans among our readers, this post is about a big green tank by Jason Heltebridle (Moctagon Jones). The smooth curves of this creation, coupled with the unusual gun certainly push this well into the sci-fi realm. Some of the details on the turret are also quite nice, in particular, the work between the wheels.

What’s more, it has taken me long enough to write this post, that it seems Jason has posted ANOTHER interesting tank.

Custom commando minifig by The-Bricker

Minifig customizer The-Bricker combines chopped-up bits of BrickArms, judicious use of paint, and a lot of glue for a really great commando fig.

Custom minifigs frequently don’t stand up to closer examination (and often look best in person), but don’t miss the photo’s large size for all the details.

Microscale World War II planes and armor

I’ve been enjoying Kaptain Kobold‘s fun little LEGO creations for just about as long as I’ve been blogging, and I’m especially enjoying his latest set of microscale arms and armor from World War II.

Alan’s Renault FT-17 tank and Heinkel He 162 “Volksjäger” fighter jet illustrate that you don’t have to put a lot of parts together to make really great, recognizable models.

My favorite is this Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter, complete with spinning prop and tiny guns.

M3 Grant Medium Tank by PhiMa

LEGO M4 Sherman tanks are the single most popular tank to build, so it’s nice to see a builder break out of that mold and reproduce in LEGO a less popular but more interesting tank design. PhiMa does this with the tank that preceded the Sherman, the M3 Grant.

Three reasons I think the Sherman is so popular are because 1) They were the most common tanks by the end of World War II, 2) The convention is to build them in gray (standing in for olive drab) and gray is a fairly common color in LEGO, and 3) The structure above the chassis is fairly straightforward (though the curves are hard to get right in LEGO). In contrast, M3 Grants were used widely by British forces in North Africa, requiring tan instead of gray/olive, and they’re a lot more complex — especially with those two turrets — above the treads.

But PhiMa’s version isn’t just about the pretty exterior; he’s built significant playability features into the model, including a full interior and detailed engine.

Iron Mountain Legion Prowler APC

I’m sure it’s a surprise to see me blog about anything other than our charity auctions right now, but I’m giving it a shot. Here’s an APC for my Iron Mountain Legion military theme. I built and photographed this creation before my son was born in January, and I’m finally managing to get it uploaded.

I built this to compliment the other creations that I’d already built for the theme. I’ve uploaded my initial sketch of the design, and hopefully, you can see a bit of my creative process. I tried to incorporate some of the details I used in the wheeled tank I built for this theme, including a similar front and headlight configuration, and beveled top. I also tried to add some APC functionality, like hatches, and a removable top (which I failed to photograph).

Dark bley war machines

Sure I could have made these two blog posts but to my eyes these two LEGO models look like they could be from the same universe so I’m indulging my imagination and putting them together.

First is the Fast Attack Vehicle by Kyle Vrieze (bermudafreze) in three variants. The whole design is cleverly built at an angle.

Secondly an older model F-90 ‘Comet’ by Joe and Will Merzlak (Brothers Merz) uses lots of hingeing and angling to give a brutal insect feel. And it’s a truly lovely photo to boot.

« Previous Page — Next Page »