A lot of the LEGO spaceships we feature here are large capital ships or nimble starfighters. David Roberts brings us an interesting change of pace with a heavy-duty maintenance pod — the sort of workhorse utility vehicle which keeps the solar system running. The striping and the brick-built ID number are excellent, but what caught my eye were the manipulator arms, the thruster design, and the cockpit design. A shout out for the landing skids too — a nice little practical touch in a building genre often obsessed with style over realism. The post Pod 3 on station for all your outer space maintenance needs appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Rod

Jme Wheeler has created the MDTDX Fiona Far, which is meant as a re-imagining of the official LEGO set 7706 Mobile Defense Tank. The builder notes that they thought the set “had a lot of cool things going for it, but the actual build was flimsy and lacking a bit in substance”. Starting with that basic idea, Jme rebuilt the set from the ground up, including adding more flexibility in the form of four sets of movable caterpillar tracks to replace the original’s rubber treads. Overall, his version of the MDT is smoother and more imposing. He has also beefed up the firepower, adding a Gatling-style stud-shooter below the cockpit for taking on ground vehicles, in addition to the original sixteen shouldered missiles for surface or air targets. The MDTDX can hunker down to reduce its targeting profile; the configurations that are possible allow the vehicle complete domination over a range of terrain and the...

You may know them as trams, streetcars, or trolleys. But these seemingly old forms of public transport are increasingly being found in our cities and towns once more. San Francisco is famous for them, but Edinburgh, Sofia, Helsinki, Rome and many more cities have trams running through their streets. David FNJ has built a lovely dark red tram pulling into a small stop, decorated with a bench and some pretty flowers. The tram is beautifully shaped with lots of curves, and the builder has utilised a great combination of highlight colours in the form of Bright Light Orange and Medium Dark Flesh. I’m not massively sold on the conical trees, but the little stop is a nice addition to set the scene while we wait for the next tram to arrive. The post A streetcar named LEGO appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Elspeth De Montes

I understand it is rude not to open a birthday present, but there have to be exceptions, right? Especially when you get literal hell in a box as a gift! Jme Wheeler tells us an idea popped up in his mind and he just had to build it. He also notes that it is his first attempt at building a skull, and I must say it is indeed a great start. The lighting and subtle editing makes for a powerful image that may or may not carry a deeper meaning. The post The gift you should not have opened appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Luka

Given his passion for recreating vintage Star Wars play sets in LEGO, it’s not a huge surprise to see French builder Eric Druon try his hand at recreating some classic Star Wars action figures too. And what better place to start than the beloved GONK power droid (especially given LEGO’s rather disappointing attempts to date). Over the years GONKs of various shapes, sizes and colors have been spotted shambling through the background in almost every corner of the Star Wars franchise, from the original movie trilogy to more recent animated shows and video games. But for his interpretation Eric has – not surprisingly – drawn inspiration from a 1st series 1977 Kenner action figure, which was modelled after the very first GONK ever to appear on screen, a rather snazzy blue number spotted at the Lars homestead. As an added treat, Eric has also produced a short instructional video showing you...