A stylish gas station: the classic Esso

With World War II behind, the Netherlands was rapidly rebuilding its infrastructure, and the vast highway system required many gas stations. But resources were scarce, so the Dutch turned to stylish minimalism to make best use of what they had. Willem Marinus Dudok, a Dutch architect, was commissioned by Esso Netherlands to design a gas station. He came up with a modernist building which was fairly simple yet elegant. We previously featured LEGO builder Andrea Lattanzio’s Esso van and many of the interior decorations, but now he’s worked hard to replicate the entire building, and has managed to incorporate each and every detail of the functional and inexpensive design. Check out the original building to compare with Andrea’s interpretation.

Esso Gas Station

Make sure you check out the rest of the photographs because the amazingly detailed and beautiful interior is fantastic. The workbench, sliding doors, cracks on the wall, the lamp, the decoration, ventilation and pretty much everything is well crafted!

 

Service Garage

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Kiyonobu Military Centre

This Asian-style castle by Henry F. is so beautifully put together that I can’t stop looking at it. At first glance, this build appears clean and simple, but further reflection reveals tons of amazing details like the wooden lattice-style steps with multiple landings, the iron-barred windows, and the amazing texture Henry built into the rock formations. Henry cleverly designed this build with multiple levels, each one stepped up a little higher than the previous level. This results in a terrific photo composition that shows all the details of the build in one clear photo.

TSJ - Kiyonobu Military Centre

You can check out close-up photos (including a shot of that sweet, mullet-rocking soldier) on Flickr.

Three wildly different mechs

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I have for you today, in this single story, not one, not two, but three mech builds from three different builders. Together, the make quite the lovely trio!

First up is a spindly looking fellow in the form of Rv-12 Voron by legoricolaSomething about the angle of those ankle joints makes me really uncomfortable…

Next up it’s the police mech 02 by neruneruneranai which ditches the bipedal form factor of the previous build as well as (spoiler) the next. Instead we have this Tachikoma-esque wheeled design which is very nicely done.

police mech 02

Finally, Lancer Railgun by DeadCajun71, which uses one of my favourite pieces  to create a very unique shape for the cockpit area. Also: the way this mech picks up its pilot reminds me a lot of Titanfall 2, a game I’m very excited for.

Lancer Railgun

Make sure you check out each of the builders’ photostreams for more shots, as well as cockpit details to see how they managed to fit a full minifigure in each build.

Park 0937: perfect LEGO theme park for all minifigs

It may have taken two years to complete this amazing diorama but Alexis Dos Santos definitely nailed it! Alexis covered the whole theme park with numerous attractions including a fantasy castle, horror mansion, drop tower, flyer, carousel, hurricane, log flume, circling railroad, Ferris wheel, gondola and many more!

Most of them seem to be fully functional with the help of Power Functions parts. The diorama is not only filled with amazing details but it is also built in a stylish manner which adds a lot of character. Park 0937 turned out to be our most favorite theme park ever!

Park 0937

Big, black and beautiful: The Blacktron Behemoth

This huge Blacktron-themed tank by Adrian Drake measures a whopping 104 x 48 studs. Complete with a rotating turret and articulated corner treads, this LEGO tank is an absolute necessity for any Blacktron fleet worth its salt.

Adrian explained that his build was inspired by the artwork of DeviantArt user Duskie-06, but of course modified for LEGO building and tricked out in black with yellow trim and red transparent pieces in order to be a true Blacktron vehicle. According to Adrian, “The entire thing is basically a giant technic framework that, when I take the treads off, I can pick up and swoosh quite easily. It is, in reality, a SHIP with tank treads.”

If you’re looking to build a Blacktron Behemoth of your very own, be forewarned, to complete a tank like this you will need to spend countless man-hours in R&D and manufacturing. It took Adrian nearly two months to complete this build and that was even with the assistance of child labor: Adrian’s 9-year-old son designed the gun on the top of the turret and his 12-year-old son tirelessly mass-produced the tank’s treads. Without minions of your own, you’re looking at a much longer timeline before your tank rolls off the assembly line.

To see the up-close details of this build, be sure to check out more photos of Adrian’s massive Blacktron tank on Flickr. You can also see this tank in person at Brickworld Chicago or BrickFair DC.

A better proportioned Ultron

While we all love the iconic minifig, it does occasionally have its shortcomings. This was apparent in the Ultron minifigs from sets like The Avengers Quinjet City Chase or The Hulk Buster Smash. That version of Ultron was just too stubby and cute to be the monolithic, metallic machine that was the Ultron we saw in the movies. Luckily, takamichi irie does the character justice with this fan-made brick-built figure.

Ultron