VirtuaLUG Putt Putt

For Brickworld 2016, VLUG opted to scale things back a bit from previous years, and focus more on individual creativity.  What better way to accomplish that goal than to build our own Mini-Land Plus Putt-Putt golf course!  Fearless leader Dave Kaleta took the helm again.  But unlike the Wizard of Oz collaboration which required very specific scenes and exacting standards, this year's concept left a lot up to the individual builders.   As long as you had your tee box and a path, you were good to go.  So from Cthulhu to Gamma Trianguli VI, the VLUG crew certainly didn't disappoint! 

VirtuaLUG's Putt Putt

Photos in the slideshow courtesy of Dave Kaleta, and one by Mrs. Barto of the Sand Castle scene.  There's also a nice Beyond the Brick tour with Dave.  He highlights each builder and their themes, plus you can see the mechanical action featured in several of the holes. 

Teedo's Luggabeast

The Force Awakens was rife with new and wonderful alien lifeforms (but, sorta strangely devoid of all our favorites, hmmm). This one captured everyone's imagination, not only for it's size and the fact that it was a beast of burden, but the fact that's a fusion of animal and machine. This version by robert.lundmark has a fantastic level of detail.

Teedo´s Luggabeast

Bobbajo

One of the things that got people so hyped for The Force Awakens was the promised return to a more practical approach to filmmaking, real sets, real costumes, real creatures. This guy was one of the first alien life forms we saw in a video shared by JJ during production, and we all went nuts. Now Takamichi Irie has built him in brick, and we can all go nuts again.

Bobbajo

Jakku Infliction

All I can say is...wow!  Outstanding work with this build.  Star Wars builder KevFett2011 has expanded and finished a magnificent diorama for The Force Awakens.  The Star Destroyer Inflictor is half buried in the sands of Jakku as depicted in the newest film.  I suppose you could say it inflicted pain on Jakku when it crashed?  Not only is the ship itself well built and realistic, but the microscale debris is well done.  The inclusion of the battle between the Millennium Falcon the TIE fighter is also a detail that I love.  If you want to learn more about the official Star Wars back story of this scene, you should read the novel Lost Stars. 

[MOC]Episode VII-The Force Awakens-Crashed Star Destroyer Inflictor on Jakku

I always find it fascinating to see builds of this scale in production.  This is no exception!

WIP: Crashed Star Destroyer Inflictor
2 Comments

Nathaniel Stoner

     My name is Nathaniel Stoner, and I am an very active LEGO builder.  I mostly build in the themes of castle and science-fiction, but I also dabble in other genres and create occasional random MOC's (My Own Creations). 

     When I was younger, I would get and build small LEGO sets for my birthday, but I was never really into them.  When they fell apart, I would become frustrated attempting to put them back together and would throw them in a box in my closet.  I couldn't stand them!

     Then, miraculously, I became addicted to the LEGO brick later in my teen years.  Ever since, I have continued to build up (pun intended) my collection of bricks and to expand my knowledge of techniques and building skills.  LEGO is truly more than a toy, its an art form and a way to express yourself.

     For the most part, I collect LEGO Star Wars (mainly the minifigs), which is probably my favorite LEGO theme.  I have a fairly decent collection, including some of the original 1999 sets, such as the Snowspeeder, X-Wing, and Naboo starfighter.  I also collected LEGO the Lord of the Rings when those sets first came out.  The minifigs are great, and the story remains one of my favorites ever. 

     My hope is to inspire other young (and perhaps even older) LEGO builders to unleash their inner creativity!  You can find me on my Flikr here

Do You Choose the Light?

Whether you like the light or the dark, this picture by the always excellent Avanaut has both. The multiple sources of light as well as the slight bit of haze make for a beautifully atmospheric picture which totally captures the sinister, moody feel of Jabba's Palace. Avanaut says this picture is one of many in his new book, so if you want to see more goodness like this, go check it out.

Jabba's Prize

Karate Jedi

I personally never felt that Star Wars Rebels was anywhere near as good as Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which is the show I could say I grew up watching.  I loved it like most fans.  However, Rebels has finally started to get interesting.  Thanks to Tristan, we now have an amazing recreation of the Jedi training room (dojo?) in the temple on Lothal that our rebels visit in the last few episodes of season 2.  What's interesting about this build is that the creator not only focused on the main ground floor, but also took the time to build high walls surrounding the iconic scene with Kanan Jarrus and the Jedi Temple Guard.  I don't believe many builders would have done that, which makes this build stand out at a higher quality!  Also, you must admit, it looks a bit like a Karate Kid moment...right?

Star Wars Rebels- Shroud of Darkness Jedi Dojo
Comment

Nathaniel Stoner

     My name is Nathaniel Stoner, and I am an very active LEGO builder.  I mostly build in the themes of castle and science-fiction, but I also dabble in other genres and create occasional random MOC's (My Own Creations). 

     When I was younger, I would get and build small LEGO sets for my birthday, but I was never really into them.  When they fell apart, I would become frustrated attempting to put them back together and would throw them in a box in my closet.  I couldn't stand them!

     Then, miraculously, I became addicted to the LEGO brick later in my teen years.  Ever since, I have continued to build up (pun intended) my collection of bricks and to expand my knowledge of techniques and building skills.  LEGO is truly more than a toy, its an art form and a way to express yourself.

     For the most part, I collect LEGO Star Wars (mainly the minifigs), which is probably my favorite LEGO theme.  I have a fairly decent collection, including some of the original 1999 sets, such as the Snowspeeder, X-Wing, and Naboo starfighter.  I also collected LEGO the Lord of the Rings when those sets first came out.  The minifigs are great, and the story remains one of my favorites ever. 

     My hope is to inspire other young (and perhaps even older) LEGO builders to unleash their inner creativity!  You can find me on my Flikr here

Rogue One Trailer In LEGO

I'm very proud to have played a small role in bringing this to life. This is the result of small group of talented artists called The Animators Collective working very hard for just a few short weeks. Two of the shots were completed here at BrickNerd Studios, and we contributed several elements for use in other shots. Check out the breakdown below to see just what went into the 28 frames of the bacta tank shot alone. 

BrickNerd LiveBuild - Star Wars UCS Assault On Hoth

That's right LEGO Star Wars fans, we've seen a communication from a probe droid in the Hoth system and have it under good authority the rebels are there. Join me and James Morr as we build LEGO 75098 UCS Assault On Hoth live! So use your harpoons and tow cables and go for their...I mean come watch a couple dorks play with LEGO.

Building starts at 11am PST, join us!

Binary Sunset

As I begin Star Wars day 2016, this was one of the first images I saw on Flickr. Builder cmaddison was going for a retro stylistic 70's graphic look but isn't sure he succeeded. I can tell you Chris, you totally did. It's got an excellent retro feel and I recognized it instantly. My first reaction was "ohh", then a smile, then John Williams music in my head.

Under a Tatooine Sky

Expanded Wretched Hive Of Scum And Villainy

Builder I Scream Clone is back and has expanded on this brilliant Mos Eisley Cantina MOC from last year and it's just as wretched. It's instantly recognizable as everyone's favorite desert planet (that is of course you're a fan of Jakku, and really, who's not?) and must look awesome side by side with the cantina section. Although, according to the description this is part of a 24 baseplate diorama, and I count six in this and six in the previous. Does that mean we've only seen half of it? If so I can't wait to see the rest (and eventually the whole thing assembled)!

Mos Eisley Spaceport
Mos Eisley Spaceport
Mos Eisley Spaceport

Update: Ask and you shall receive. I Scream Clone just posted his whole section of the collaborative build. It's enormous and gorgeous. I really want to see this in person, especially when the entire collab build is assembled, it's going to be epic.

Mos Eisley Spaceport complete

BB-8 Behind The Magic

Oh man, there's so much about this I love. It's Star Wars, so it's instantly got my attention, it's by Pete Reid, my best mate across the pond, and it's behind the scenes, where the real movie magic happens. Here we see one of the secrets of BB-8's endearing performance in The Force Awakens, his puppeteer. I assume it's Brian Herring, but it's hard to tell, he's wearing a mask.

BB-8 - Behind the magic

DH-17 Blaster

One of the challenges of play in my youth was the lack of rebel weapons sold as toys. When I was a kid there were two blasters available, the Stormtrooper blaster and Han Solo's blaster (both back then were fairly accurate to the screen too, overlooking the big "Star Wars" sticker, those days are over) But when it was time to recreate the Tantive IV battle, there were no rebel blasters (but plenty of white plastic bowls for our heads). If only we had thought to build one from LEGO like Nick Brick. Of course, I don't think they would have been even remotely as cool as this (and would have fallen apart the moment we got shot and fell down). 

Star Wars DH-17 Blaster Pistol
Star Wars DH-17 Blaster Pistol
Star Wars DH-17 Blaster Pistol

Falcon Coffee Table

Just last night I was having a snack while watching Star Wars The Force Awakens and lamenting the fact that I don't have a coffee table. That got me thinking about what kind of table I would want, and I really had no clue. But thanks to builder lysanderchau I have a better idea. Check out this UCS Millennium Falcon coffee table! When faced with the difficult challenge of available space in small Hong Kong apartments lysanderchau solved the problem by building this combination display/table. And sure, you could just put your Falcon in a glass box and have a place for your cheese and crackers, but he also decked it out to look like docking bay 327 on the Death Star! 

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