Inspirational Lego 30

Another week, and after an intense weekend a monday of full recuperation for me as I`m sitting here and typing this with ice packs strapped to my legs.

But then again, writing a few words about all the gorgeous eye candy I came along this week puts a smile on my face again, and there are some mighty builds again.

We start off the week with this pirate ship, which looks like a lovechild between the Black Pearl and the Imperial Flagship.  On steroids!

The second build is from the small exhibition that ran for the Waterloo celebrations here in Belgium, the detailing and custom decals are just great to add an extra layer of realism to this build.

Talking pirates, at the recent BrickWorld this motley crew turned up, having commandeered the Friends yacht as their vessel.

At that same convention, this hyper realistic build of waterlillies was shown.

And this ubercool thingie, especially for a fan like me: Thunderbirds chibies!

This Spider-Man vs Sandman build shows great details as people flee the alley where the two try to take out each other.

This Lego The Movie based build of the entrance to the Master Builders colluseum is just so sweet and happy feeling generating.

Another fantastic mosaic piece from a recent convention

A very detailed and vibrant catapult

The final build this week is this Ideas proposed set for Lord of the Rings, the ambush at Amon Hen where Boromir fell trying to save Merry and Pippin from the Uruk-hai.

And so we end this weeks tour again through the wonderfull creations of Lego fans all over the world, until next week!

Building the Exo Suit

The 7th release of the Ideas range, set 21109, is perhaps one of the most hyped sets of the range so far.  

Designed by Peter Reid, the Exo Suit first appeared in the Lego Space and Beyond book, which told the story of how mankind set into space, Blacktron`s origins, etc...

It was then brought into the Ideas project and swiftly gained it`s 10k followers, and gotten approved by the review commitee.  So let`s see what this box is all about.

It comes like all Ideas sets in a sturdy box without numbered bags, so opening it up we get the usual nicely detailed booklet with background info on the design and the designer, as well as 4 bags of parts.

The set was also acompanied by a fantastic animated trailer, seen here.

The first thing we get to build is the `Turtle`, a small utility robot that encounters out brave spacemen as they set out on a mission of recovery.

Secondly, we go to build a small loading deck with some vats.

And then we start the main menu, the Exo Suit itself.  It is build around a central platform where the pilot is standing to control the machine.

To this, we add the connections to bring the arms and legs to.

The legs are build up, having a nice amount of articulation points.

And once completed, are connected to the bodyframe.

Next up, the arms, making intricate use of the grey barrel elements, are attached to the shoulders.

Now these little piece is my least favorite, it is rather flimsy in connection and can drop off when handling (read: playing with) the suit.

The suit comes with two five fingered claw hands, which can hold the barrels from the loading dock.  This is perhaps the biggest difference between the Exo Suit and the one thing we all know that inspired it, the Aliens Power-Loader.

The suit stands completed.

I opted for the female to pilot the machine, just like in the teaser, instead of the male green astronaut like on the box.

And of course, we have some left over parts...

It definintly is a nice model, and makes clever use of a variety of parts.  But to say it is my all time favorite Ideas set, no, that still belongs to the Ecto-1.

Tomorrow, I`ll be having a another Exo Suit build... of a completely different Exo Suit!

Cheerios!

Building the Research Institute

Set 21110, or Lego ideas #008, is a small 20 euro set that has generated a lot of intrest.  And with a LOT, we mean already a total sell out on the Lego site and most stores, and like all ideas had only a single production run.

Even though it came together with the Exo Suit, that other big seller last week, this little set in his own way has caused quite a nice fuzz before release, even making it to the Belgium newspaper when it was announced.

The story is namely so, a young scandinavian Lego enthousiast and scientist lady designed the set to show more females in roles of sciences and the likes, and this has been received with a lot of anticipation.  Of all the proposed models, three made the cut.

The set comes with three bags, each for a seperate vignette of a scientist, and an instruction booklet with the necessary background on the professions and all.

1. The Chemist

This small vignette shows a female Minifig handling erlemeiers and other bottles, and yes I went for the spooked side of the face because it was a comical face compared to the standard face.

2. The Paleontologist

I love the T-rex skeleton and how it is build up.  The original proposal was a bit more tan in colour, but never the less this is the highlight of the set for me.

3. The Astronomer

With printed constellation chart instead of a sticker!  This was also with the Ecto-1, and I really like this compared to stickering.  The floor is mosaiced by all small 1x1 plates, a nice model as well.

Now, all the bags had a lot of extra pieces as well, and of the sort you can easily use in other builds no matter what your preference is.  As shown here from the respective sets above:

A very good looking set, I am so happy I grabbed one before they got low on supply, as I expect this one to make an impact on the secondary market in a few months (as in: around the holiday season).