I Forgetted a Title....

Brickshelf user teamfuel (Clay Atchley IRL) built a craft dubbed the Javelin. It shares similarities to Dan Rubin's Galactic Inquisition MOCs.

I can dig it.


Also, Dark Knight just became my favorite movie on the face of the planet. Which may or may not have to do with the remarkably amazing girl I went to see it with last night.
I swear I won't let it distract me from blogger.



*snicker* yeah right.

Good hardsuits are hard to come by...

Taylor has made a pleasantly demented collection of figures called the Sewer Rats. He also accompanies them with a quote, which I shall steal for use here.



They are both heroes and villians in there own right, struggling with their own duality. They drag that poor girl around claiming she started this whole damn thing with the belief that it will give people hope. No one knows who she is, and I doubt they do either. Many lives have been saved by these men however, but at what cost do we put them on a pedestal as our salvation?

Pseudo-RAMM?

Or RAMM inspired I'd wager. Have a look, and make sure to check all the new posts we've had today. This is number nueve I believe?
Or Ten. One of the two. Post quality is slipping, proving that it's quality over quantity that counts. So this is my last post of the night.

Yeah, WH40K is all right

But every Mecha's heart has room for a little Gundam love:


by torokimasa

I like how simple this is. With the exception of the cheese slopes and some internal snot bricks, I'm sure, it looks like it could be built from pieces available a decade ago.

I Wasn't Flaunting

....much.

But in all seriousness, you should check out this killer cool mech by Brickshelf user Kidthor. It's a toss up between the nose and the feet for best part. Plus, proof that SW cannons aren't useless as weapons after all.

Perhaps,

... if you had not been wasting your time asserting your superiority, you would have noticed this beautifull sculpted and articulated Shrek figures by AdmiralStupid!



Wait, what kind of blog is this?

I'm Sorry,

But if you were truly on duty, you'd have caught this beautiful mirco by our long time favorite micro-scale-Star Wars builder, Rougebantha.
Featuring enough bley cheesers to make Nick jealous.

I am too on duty!

Kidthor's Eternus Lex bikes are "a mish-mash of ideas from Judge Dredd and Warhammer 40K"... whatever that means.

I'm Just About Blogged Out

But nobody else is on duty today, so I must bring you, our faithful readers, the spacey goodness that the AFOL community has posted today.

This microscale cruiser is chock full of details, but my favorite part is the subtle yet attractive striping on the hull.

Gallery

Nnenn's New Fighter

Is painted! zOMG internetdrama drama drama!

So anyway, yeah it's totally cool.
Gallery

LEGO LEGO SPACE LEGO LEGO LEGO SPACE

See? It just doesn't work as well as our witty titles....


Most people build the MOC after the artwork. But not Tyler (aka Legohaulic) His Bloodbot went the other way.


It's not that I'm racing to blog things before TBB catches it. It's just that I am....
That, and it was this or clean my bathroom...

And so! We return you to your regularly scheduled interruptions.

This just in:

Moko's WM-03 Probably Used to Collect Dinosaur Eggs



We also believe it to be capable of leaping entire protoshrubs in a single bound as evidenced by this sequence.

Word

So much
awesome it hurts.

Taiidan Scout Ship

I don't think I've ever seen legodrome's work before- which makes me sad, because everything he's built is uniquely interesting. For example, his most recent creation, the Taiidan scout ship from Homeworld:

Interview: Nick Dean

Skilled builder Nick Dean was gracious enough to do an interview for YSA, so I've been asking him a few questions over the past few days. Here's what he had to say:

--------

>To start off, could you tell us a little about yourself?

My name's Nick Dean, I'm 16 and a student from Massachusetts. I'm a rower and a *fairly* good student. I started building at that generic age where everyone says they began building and I believe my first set was the Deep Reef Refuge Divers set. I entered the online scene in late 2005 on CSF and now have migrated to Flickr, where I'm most active. I build mostly military at this point, but in the past I built a lot of Space. I'm also the originator of the highly controversial RAMM theme.




>Can you talk a bit about RAMM- when you came up with it, where/when it takes place, what it means, etc.?

RAMM started about 2 years ago when Andrew Horvatits built a Neo-Prussian vehicle. I liked the idea of the reestablishment of early twentieth-century military powers, so I created RAMM, the Royal Austrian Mechanized Military. RAMM is sometime in the future, but not too far from now. The idea is that sometime in the future the world has fallen into economic collapse. Somehow, (don't ask me how) Austria survives. When the country's next-door neighbor, Hungary, is thrown into a coup, Austria intervenes. Obxcrew has created a substory where Austrian troops are fighting Russians in Central Asia.

The major thing that separates RAMM from most themes is that I attempt to control who builds it. Elitist, I know, but I do this for a number of reasons. Firstly, and most importantly, I do this to maintain the quality of the theme. With many themes, although there are plenty of fantastic MOCs, there are tons of MOCs that aren't so great, and it's these that I try to weed out. I also control the theme to keep the story from becoming diluted. Lastly, I try to control the theme because I want to maintain the style. Although Andrew Lee made a great MOC last time I said this, I don't want laser toting hovertanks. It just wouldn't fit the theme.

RAMM recently has been expanding exponentially with new builders creating great MOCs (and some not so great) lately. I just finished the largest RAMM vehicle to date, my Vulture Heavy Lift Dropship, and I'm trying to build a few smaller things at the moment.


>I think you're completely right to control your theme. Are there any subthemes (current or old) that you've always been interested by? If so, why?

When I entered the online scene, the MOCs from Chris Giddens, Mark Sandlin, and others seemed god-like. Recently, though, I haven't found much inspiration in them. Magnus's subtheme is a definite inspiration for me, however. He's got tons of great, modern military vehicles that always cause me to think outside the box in new ways. Plus he's an awesome guy, so you can't get much better than that.


>What do you think of the idea of builder's inventing their own theme/army/faction to build in?

I think it's a great idea. Subthemes are a great way for people express themselves. It allows people to prove their talent in their own way. However people need to talk less and build more if they want to be taken seriously, as well as build well. When people build in others' subthemes it gives them a skill challenge, and when they build in their own, it allows them to be more creative. RAMM is my way to express myself in both these ways. It's a challenge to maintain the style and it's fun to be creative with new vehicle designs.


>What does the future hold for RAMM?

The future of RAMM's up in the air at the moment. I'm getting pressure to open it up and I'm also wicked tired of dealing with the drama. A few people I have consulted have said that I shouldn't, though, so I don't know what to do at the moment. I've been contemplating a contest to mark the opening of the theme, but I again don't know.

 MOCwise I plan on expanding into the other military services more. I have a few naval ship designs I want to try, and I have a few more ideas for aerial vehicles. I'm a little burned out on land vehicles, although I have plenty of things I want to build. I also have been trying to build some enemy vehicles lately. Specifically, I've been trying to build Soviet-styled vehicles for the Hungarian Liberation Front, the main enemy in Hungary. Anyone's welcome to build the HLF.




>Any final thoughts?

Subthemes are a way for people to define themselves. Before building RAMM, I was just another space builder and didn't stand out. But with RAMM, as I noticed at Brickworld, I've been defined in the community. So I encourage anyone to define themselves and to have fun while doing it. I'd love to see more people pick up building Military as well. It's slowly becoming a larger part of the flickr community and the LEGO community in general, and we need every builder we can get. It's a fun theme whether you're modeling or inventing vehicles.



I'd also like to thank Jacob for interviewing me and the LEGO community as a whole for all it's helped me to achieve in the past 3 years.

--------

And thank you for agreeing to do this, Nick. I've definitely learned a lot, and I hope our readers will too.

Super Roadkill King

I don't actually know what the name stands for, but Don Wilson's SRK is a snazzy racer. And here on the YSA, we like snazzy.

I love me some good SPII

... And Uspez of MOCpages delivers.

Speaking of Retro.....

Here's some more.
I love the window at the top of the rocket. The base is well done as well. Well, since I've now used the word "well" four times in two sentences, I shall now sign off.

Words Cannot Express My Feelings For This.

Gallery

O_O

gallery, credit vana.

SAVAGE

Yeah, small feature, but look at the way the nermal has used the jumper plates to get that microscale spacing. This is actually one of the best micromechs I've seen in a while. Also, when perusing his (99% probability) gallery, I saw that he and I used the exact same technique to make laser swords. I wonder who else has done that?

Here's Looking At You Kid

I've been meaning to blog this ever since Jacob Blogged Lukas' fleet. Now I'll post mine and Lukas can blog it.

I've Been On A Rap Kick Lately...

Which means a lot of crappy music, videos featuring swearing, inappropriate content and typically no talent. Such is the generic rap song.
What relevance is this to LEGO?

Actually, none whatsoever. But it was either that or I'd start talking about the latest female in my life.
And since we aren't going there, we're going

this way.
The shape is unusual. It's been a while since I've seen something outside the typical spaceship configurations.

I'm too Lazy to Think Up a Witty Title

We can't logically blog everything that nnenn builds. But I figure I can show you this one. I'm still in awe of the cockpit area. So smooth it hurts.
What really makes this one is the Amphibious Vehicle it carries.
Yeah, the engine intakes just blew my mind.

A smash return

People don't often build miniature version of their models, but mingminzeno's mini Ragnarok is a great shrinkage of the original:



(source)

And So, Jacob and Mike Play Post-Ping-Pong

Dig it.

Kassarian Ship Group

Our own Lukas has built the latest fleet in a fad of microspacehips:



I think his may be my favourite collection so far. Good job, Lukas.

So Don't Touch Me Now!

BShelf user Tagl presents this Mobile Laboratory. While the detailing is good, and the color blocking and parts usage is great, the thing that grabs me the most is the idea. Very creative.


On a totally unrelated note, Busta Rhymes sucks and has one of his songs stuck in my head. (hence the title)

Cylons are very 3vil

Or, that's what this build from Bram Lambrecht suggests:

Everyone Loves Ninja Chicks.

And Everyone loves explosions.
And Everyone loves new MOCs from DARKSpawn
Ergo, this wins.

Jerac wins hard, again.

Because of this A-wing:



I think it may actually be one of the best Star Wars models I've ever seen. Props to you, Jerac: I've always loved your building, but there's something about the level of polish here that just blows my mind.

Izzo's Transformers

My, it was hard to pick a picture for this post.



I'm not 100% up on the myriad of mecha izzo has built, but I'm pretty sure this ifs the first time he's tackled transformers. take a look through the gallery; I highly recommend it.

Featured builder: Hase0

I found this guy contributing to the YSA flickr group (join while you still can!), and really liked his "1st-Gen" ships. Here's my favourite so far:



Click through, and see if you like his stuff. He deserves more than twenty contacts.

Venus Mantrap

I finally built something I thought it worthwhile to upload to Next-Gen and post on here.

In the late 21st century, an effort to terraform the moon went terribly wrong, flooding the atmosphere with high levels of Carbon Dioxide. This greatly encouraged plant life, even in the most rocky terrain, while proving dangerous to animal and human life. As plants grew in both size and range, any mutant breeds came into being. This small group of survivors has run afoul of one such specimen.

Next-Gen

Flickr

Finding New Ideas

Check out the VLH3j Pathfinder Patrol Vehicle by Joe and Will of MOCpages:



The originality of the shapes and details used make this a refreshing model to look at.


In other news, Hellboy II came out today! Demons and clockwork assassins rejoice!

Rumors of My Demise Are Hardly Exaggerated.

Utilizing Barnacle pieces in a decisive and creative fashion, BShelf user Brokenegg built this awesome blockade runner

It's schmooth and swoooshy. And, obviously, its ornj.

Why build in a theme?

For obvious reasons, the idea of subthemes has been on my mind of late. Why are we so obsessed with creating them? What makes us want to build in someone else's? What satisfaction is derived from building in a subtheme that cannot be gained otherwise? I don't really know; I can only postulate.

Perhaps it's the concept of being part of something bigger. The US Army uses the phrase "Army Strong" to mean that the army is stronger than the soldiers it's made of. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Is it that support, that feeling that our tank isn't all alone, that makes building in a faction desirable? To try to get a grip on them, we can take a look at the subthemes registered at Classic-Space.

After spending a couple minutes looking through those pages, you might notice that most of those subthemes have some distinguishing element, some style or idea which makes it different from all the rest. PCS is the good-guy faction that protects all the peaceful realms of SPACE. The Space Hippies are peace loving pacifists. The Galatic Inquisition is a group of religious extremists. Each has their own style to go with their ideology- PCS, righteous white and blue; Space Hippies, groovy rainbows; the Inquisition, grey with imposing architecture.

But those were the old days, when all of those themes were being created by grown men. These days, you can go to MOCpages and find a plethora of personal armies with no way to tell one from another. To make a good faction, you must, in my opinion, combine an original idea with a distinguishing style and the building skills to back it up. When someone like Keith Goldman or Nick Dean comes along, a lot builders want to build in their themes- want to become a part of the Iron Reich or the Royal Austrian Mechanized Military. Why? To be cool, I guess.

But really, those builders should try coming up with their own themes.

Those are my thoughts on the subject; I don't have much experience in thoughtful, wordy posts, so I hope it doesn't suck too much. Please share any thoughts of your own in the notes section.

-Jacob

Catsy's Colonial Voyager

Catsy on CSF has made an awesome microscale 'city in the stars' Voyager ship. Check it out!

Via TBB.

Shakespearian Proportions!

I hope this beast makes up for yesterday's mishap. The Mammoth tank by Peter Morris. I think nnenn put it best when he said "[E]very inch is a little spot to explore... lots of texture."

Old-School SPACE

John Socal (I think that's his name) has built an Avalanche-11Y Mineral Retrieval and Research Vessel



There a couple of neat details I'd like to point out here. The crystal collection tank, the colourful floor hosing, and the holoprojector, especially. The trans-green stud underneath the dish is so suggestive!

The Answer to Military Laygoes

The setting is AIM, roughly midnight, The actors are Spook and myself. We're pretty much funny dudes.

Spook:I think lego politics would be worse than lego military though
Dez: haha
Spook: John McCain vs Barack Obama final duel set!
Spook: with flick-fire insults
Dez: John Kerry set includes realistic flip flopping!
Spook:hahaha
Dez:Hilary set never goes off the shelves
Spook:with the turn of a gear!
Dez:even after the store goes out business
Spook:hahah
12:15 AM
Dez: or, refuses to be taken apart
Spook: rigged poling location!
Spook: you decide the vote!
Dez: GWB set, now with falling approval rating action!
Spook: yay!
Spook: hours of fun

Half-Life 2 Jalopy

4 people have made the 'jalopy car' from the game Half-Life 2 recently. The first, a maxi-fig scale one by the popular Adrian Florea.

Second, a WIP by our own blogger, Dean.

Third, a minifig version by Crusty.

And Finally, another minifig scale one by Don Solo.

It Gob b.

The title is what happens when I get a hair stuck between the V and B keys on my keyboard. FYI.


Our very own Jacob gives us this dandy little half-track truck with a few tricks up it's metaphorical sleeve.
Take a look.

Taniec

If this Polish Wikpedia page is any indication, I'd say that Taniec is some sort of dancing. Perhaps one of our Polish readers could enlighten me?

Slow day... for everyone else.

Nothing worth blogging showed up today. So, in the interest of keeping the pace here, I built something to blog:



Its'a halftrack!

Funny Mecha Story

So, I saw this ferocious mecha (it's made of freakin' guns) by squieu today, and knew I had to blog it:



While I was procrastinating, I saw this cute tank in his gallery, and it struck me as the perfect inspiration to get me out of my building slump momentarily. So, I came up with this little guy. As soon as I post this, I'll type down the description and upload some more pictures to Brickshelf.

Bark Mulch Is Awesome

It's light and easy to move, and is invaluable for adding the finishing touch to any landscaping that needs work. That is the first of two valuable lessons I learned this past week. The second is that a wedding ceremony can take less than ten minutes. Thanks for keeping the blog running while I was away, guys.

Why has no one posted this? It's beautiful!



PS- Happy Robot Day!