Moonlighting

I hope not to have this blog lay dormant as it was for most of last month. I've taken on duties at another publication and my output on this one seems to have been halved.



Sly Owl has a real great post apoc / steampunk scene here. It is ornate but without all the pointless embellishments that permeate lesser builds in the genre, such as pearl gold. The floating rock technique is innovative.




This mech has good colors:





Each of these models, by Theo and Louis, display exceptional application of unique parts. The common phrase some throw around is NPU, but Nice Part Usage doesn't put enough emphasis on the integration of funky Lego pieces.

So the Rock and Roll contest over at Lego Steampunk has indeed turned out some pretty cool creations.


Erth&Fiya's Batmobile entry for the wheels of Justice contest over at FBTB was featured here recently. He continues the Batman trend with his, uh, Cyberpunk Bat-train. Certainly not the mainstream idea of steampunk, but it is refreshing to see someone bending the boundaries a bit. It looks good on the old blue tracks.



I adore the checker pattern on Psakaru76's "rail castle". Kind of a simple build, but as a rolling block of armor it doesn't need to be complex. The special 4 x 6 plates are utilized well. The catcher on the front is a bit illogical, but in form I find it similar to a knight's visor, adding to the medieval flair.

Armored Trains

Prepare yourself, for I am about to defer again the blogging of Lego for that of niche strangeness that suits my fancy, but I assure YSAB will be back on track with our favorite precision-molded blocks. I'm building an armored train of my own with the stuff, so here's some stuff I found inspirational. The fellow fan of Lego might find it an interesting collection, as might the random internet wanderer.

Lego Steampunk is holding a Train/Floating Rock competition, and while steampunk is a great premise, it is more likely to see quantity of MOCs built in the theme rather than quality. Here's to hoping that it brings out a similar turnout to that of the Ma.K. Starfighter contest that saw so many great entrants.


An armored train seen in the Miyazaki film Howl's Moving Castle. If I might allow myself to be obsessive and critical, I offer the opinion that this particular design doesn't jive with the rest of the war machines in the movie. The sloping armor, the reasonable barrel length (as opposed to the smoothbore nubs on the battleship of the same faction) and overall plausibility clash with the fantastical/turn-of-the-century theme, such as the quirky airships and ornithopters. But what the hell, it's a cartoon fantasy movie.

A German armored train from the second world war. After the war sloped armor would be teh n0rmalz and all the cool kids would be doing it. It was then deemed ruined by hipsters and in protest the Leopard 2A4 was developed, which was essentially a box on treads with the sloped armor swapped out for titanium armor.

Mind you, a handsome box with a 120mm armament. But back to static tracks:


An armored train from another Miyazaki work, Laputa / Castle in the Sky that seems to take heavy influence from the German design. Darn it if more combat vehicles shouldn't have pink/peach yellow camouflage.









I might coin the term, "rivet-punk".

Here's the Russian WWII era "MVB-2".
In pictures I've found of armored trains, most of them looked pretty DIY-grunge, but the MVB-2 has an amount of aesthetic value. Kind of submarine-like; the protrusion halway down the vehicle looks akin to a conning tower.



Seriously, what's with the pink and yellow?

On the Flickr Scene:

V & A Steamworks brings us the second in a series of fish-inspired mechanical creatures, each incorporating those fugly KK2 shields. That said Guy beautifully integrates said pieces in his models.


Lord Dane brings us a great hardsuit, I dig the leg detail and toilet-bowl shaped body.


Mike Psiaki finishes a WIP of his, it's come a long way since we saw it last a month and a half ago. Notice how Mike moves away from the prefab canopy, the final result looks much more realistic. His photography is a success as well.

Motorized Steampunk Walker Mecha Tank YES

3...2...1.....BLAST OFF (To Planet Awesome)

Tyler (Legohaulic) is a favorite on Lego blogs, and it's no wonder. Just look at this excellent little dio consisting of the heroic spaceship and the villainous rocket.
We've seen retro inspired spacecraft before, but more often than not, they don't adopt the Gothic/steampunk look that Tyler used.

Skyfishing

Take a good look at jehkay's latest Skyfishing build. He's included a vast number of details each with a thought-out purpose (like my favourite, the pheremone dispensers). A good model is good, but when it comes with this kind of concise, effective description, it becomes great.

See the entire Skyfishing set here.

Desert Chicken Apparently Not Fried

Builder Squinty Eyes built the Desert Chicken (based on this).

Iron... Maiden?

Brickshelfer tannavalley, author of more than a few superhero models, now presents us with this:

Tanya Stark assumed the role of hero when her father died. During the day she defends against the forces of evil, but at night she dons a different suit of heavy metal to become Iron Maiden.

I also recommend the Steam IronMan

WAY Better Than Frogspace!

Yes, TBB recently did a great (a and presumably time-consuming) post on cave racers, but the group pool has at least tripled since then. In particular, I would like to highlight Nathan Proudlove's collection (to date). Most of them are built to a particular theme, and they're all very creative.



+ Plus link to doll for added value.

The Town of Sproket, and some other Steampunk Minifigs

Mark Stafford (Nabii on brickshelf) made a very awesome Steampunk Diorama (which includes that bot that Jacob blogged). While some details I absolutely love (The Tavern, This Mech), I feel like the nicely tiled ground could use some more detail and the scene could have had a bit more movement in it. Take a gander yourself.

The now-famous Morgan19 (Jamie Spencer) first gained attention for his steampunk models for their custom-painted gold parts (and amazing construction!). He takes that customization skill and brings it to a minifig level with a little brickshelf gallery.

This, That, and the Other Thing.

Apparently, the shape of a bull moose's palmate antlers contributes to it's incredible sense of hearing. Okay, let's go!




Mark Strafford's Sprocket Guard Clockbot instills both wonder and fear in me. Maybe it's those eyes, or the functional cannons, but I just can't imagine that these guys would have a hard time going haywire and shooting up the palace. Look at the parts usage here- the tap detail on the back is especially cool.

Brickshelfer Jasperitis, progenitor of more than a few military vehicles, has discovered my suspension study. He's making good use of it and crediting to boot! So, I'd like to give a shout out to Jasperitis to thank him for making use of my ideas- thanks!

Also, check out this nifty six-wheeler, that swooshy ship, and the other incredible RGS

Porco Rosso by Uspez Morbo

Hooray for Studio Ghibli-inspired creations! Uspez has a nicely crafted (and tiled...) Version of Porco's lovely plane from the film. Be sure to check out the very nice cockpit, and other details such as the Italian flag on the rear fin, the engine, and the guns poking out the front. Plus, a human Porco!

Here it is on B-shelf, and on MOCpages, where Uspez has some more creations.

More new CRAP!

5 creations. 5 builders. 5 BRICKSHELF GALLERIES OKAY LET'S GO!

Robbed made a post-apocalyptic diorama. While that is pretty nice, I much prefer the vehicles, especially the walker.

NEXT

Larry-Lars has a (late?) entry to the FTBT steam-wars contest; A Steam Y-wing with nice details. Plus, look at the use of those boats!

NEXT

The oft-blogged izzo has a beautiful dark bley drilling mech. I'd like to point out the slick SNOT around the 'face.'

NEXT

Kidthor (who appears to be an avid mech builder) made an awesome 'desert mech.' I think what I love about this stout little guy is the use of dark tan (who doesn't love it?) and gears in the legs. The feet are nice as well.

NEXT

Last but not least, endrju94 has a technic-fig scale flying vehicle reminiscent of Zach's Calloused Boxer. It's got some nifty details such as window panes for the windscreen, a cylinder built into the top of the hull, and a seat made out of a tire.

More Competition!

Check out The Brothers-Brick for a round up of the latest and (as far I as I can tell) greatest (well, not counting that blimp speeder bike) Steam-Wars Entries! (Even though dean already blogged one of them.) I love all of those, and quite a few of the other entries that have appeared. An Awesome contest gets Awesome builds... now let's see how many of these pop up on steampunk/star wars sites/blogs- and judging by what already has, most of these will.

And it appears CheifLUG has whipped out the "oMICROn Weekend"- just check it out for yourself.And, while he really isn't allowed to enter as the host of the contest, it appears yoder has fanboi'd himself and goldman at the same time. Score!

General Greeve's Amazing Wheel Bike!

"Big Daddy" Nelson has come forward with a really awesome entry for the FBTB Steam Wars contest. To basically say the same thing I said on Flickr, the wheel looks a ton like the original while remaining different and steamy, the legs are nicely done, the smoke and guns add a nice steamy touch, and the font and slight rename put the icing on an already very tasty cake.

Racing at 15 Kmph!

It's Admiral Merryweathers Amazing Flying Machine, built by Darkspawn. It's like any other dirigible, but with a racing stripe and wings.

The Steam Wars Contest

Head over to FBTB to enter in the "Steam Wars" Contest- take a SW vehicle, and steamify it. As so. It's an A-wing, powered by steam! Not the cleanest entry thus far, but I like it.

And, I got blogged! :O

Steam is more efficient than fusion power.

The Steam-Wars Contest at FBTB is generating some interesting models.

PANZER IN CAPS

One of my new favorite builders (shoulda included him in my 2007 awards thing...) is brickshelf Kaitimar. He's got some sweet stuff under his belt, be sure to check out his steampunk section especially.

Today, however, he has a playable hovercraft called "PANZER" which he says is, "The armored hovercraft from the short story Panzerboy." Well, there ya have it. Whatever it is exactly, it's really sweet. First of all, it's got a nice low-profile sculpt, some awesome engines, and third (and most importantly), check out all the playability in this badboy!

Opening cargo area (see engines picture)
Retractable minigun
Stuff up front
And more! (including opening hatch, missiles, a little green-lighted whatever, and fins over the engines)

I need to try to make a model this playable sometime. I imagine this hovercraft zooming over post-apocalyptic waters, or in a brikwars battle, blasting the crap out of everything around it. Buce.