Steeling the spotlight

And the epic Iron Builder creations from Tyler and bruce just kept on coming and coming! Here are a couple of my favorites. To quote their respective creators, "While Carl was deathly afraid of girls, ghosts were another matter entirely", meanwhile "Everything goes with medium azure!".

Sometimes it sucks to be a ghost by Tyler


ZIP! by Bruce

 

Fe26, Fi, Fo, Fum!

Today's picks from my continuing Iron Builder retrospective. Bruce extracts artistic value from the monotony of a pediatrician's office, while Tyler reminds us that what has been seen, cannot be unseen!

Bead Maze by Bruce


Grandpa! You better not be using my loofah again! by Tyler

 

Oh, the irony!

Another selection of works from the Tyler/Bruce "Iron Builder" challenge to complete your day...

'mere Brucy by Tyler


...and I didn't even know Tyler had met my grandmother!

Circuit Board by Bruce


...which almost looks like it ought to fit inside this, for the perfect geek experience.
 

Ferrous Builder's Day Off

See, I told you the puns were gonna get worse! Anyway, here's my next two picks from the recently completed Iron Builder contest.

Slot Machine by Bruce


...yes, once upon a time they actually used to spit out coins. It's so quiet in the casinos now, you could almost forget you're in Vegas. Then someone wanders past and blows smoke in your face, and suddenly you remember :-).

Paradise Frost by Tyler


...the Hula girl doll is a particularly nice touch. I hope that's not a yellow snow cocktail, though!
 

Steel mangolias

Here's my first pick from the recently finished Iron Builder contest between Tyler and Bruce. Tyler provides an insight into why we really never returned to the moon. While Bruce rocks it old school with a beautiful light and sound recreation of a historical artifact that will probably mystify our younger readers (hint: it's a 1950's iPod).

Houston, We Have a Problem by Tyler


Jukebox by Bruce


Oh, and if you found the pun in this post title's to be somewhat painful and irrelevant... I haven't even got started yet!
 

"Steel" yourself for awesome-ness!

I've covered the Iron Builder contest here before, and have even had the honor of being a judge in a few of them recently. Each month, two reknowned Lego builders at the top of their game are chosen at random (possibly involving a black minivan and some chloroform) and forced to engage in a "build to the death", out-doing eachother and engaging in peurile trash-talk, until it is time to be judged by a panel of their peers.

Of course, this contest is not without its rules:

1st rule of Iron Builder: You do not talk about Iron builder.
2nd rule of Iron Builder: You do NOT talk about Iron builder.
3rd rule of Iron Builder: You must always use the "seed part".

The seed part for each bout is usually chosen based on it's total uselessness as a Lego part. But this month's seed part, an Azure 1x1 clip, actually looked quite promising! Here it is. Memorize this, it'll be important later...



And now onto our contestants, who really need (or deserve) no introduction!

Tyler Clites	Bruce Lowell

The contest has been going all month, and imho has proved to be one for the ages. The judging has not yet commenced, but I will be posting samples of their work here over the next few days for your enjoyment.

For me, it's hard to take sides in this match. Partly because I know both these guys and love their work. But also because they both have characteristic building traits that I personally appreciate and look for in models, and try to impart in my own: Tyler for his humor and cartoon-like character work; and Bruce for super-realistic sculpture at a small-scale.

Stay tuned for my 'picks' of the contest!
 

Smooth surfaced criminal

2012 MocAthalon team Ninjiant and the Ninjets can't possibly fail to sweep the contest, if they keep submitting entries like this interpretation of Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal, by team member Shannon Sproule.

Created for the contest category "MOCing the 80s", this is one of those MOCs that makes me just wanna give up Lego and focus more on my drinking problems other hobbies. Which could be a problem since I don't actually have any drinking problems other hobbies. (...what, what?)



Apart from the wonderful pose and technique on the suit (which I shall immediately steal), this MOC is just full of win because it depicts something from the 80s. And as we all know, the 80's was offically the Best Decade Ever.

If you disagree me with me I'll build a time machine and sent you back there as punishment. Or pelt you with Rubik's cubes.
 

Flogging a wet horse

Once again, competitive spirit among Lego fans yields great results! Gabriel Thomson (who's work I've featured here before) created this interpretation of the Water Horse of Scottish mythology, for the 2012 MOCathalon. Click here for both the full scene, and the full story!


 

"Nipples, for men..."

Sorry, totally irrelevant Time Bandits quote there, but it was the first thing that popped into my head when I saw this awesome model of former Seattle resident and martial arts movie legend Bruce Lee. You'll probably recognize this quite easily now as the work of newly-minted Lego sculpting legend Schneider Cheung.



The sculpting of the muscles, the signature intense facial expression, and the nunchucks are all just perfect.

I'm hoping he does Jimmy and Kurt next...
 

Bionicle evolved

Among the ranks of the AFOLs, there are a select few visionaries - possibly victims of Cthulhu's touch - that are somehow able to gaze upon a Bionicle piece and see not the work of a bored 8-year old with a cigarette lighter, but a shoulder blade, or a cheek bone, or an ankle.

Finnish builder Pate-keetongu is one of these people. Regular readers may recall his working appearing here on previous occasions. His latest sculpture is named Qwena, and she stands over 18 inches tall!



It's been really interesting following the evolution of this guy's Femalicles and Bionimales - and I'm sure the best is yet to come.

Oh, and if you think you have a cool AFOL "sig fig", think again!
 

Taking the biscuit

Ice hockey is widely recognized as the sport of gentlemen, enjoyed by coffee-sipping beatnik intellectuals everywhere, and executed with almost monk-like calm and dignity by an elite group of petite ex-Olympic figure skaters. I mean, that's the only possible explanation for how Patrick Kaleta of the Buffalo Sabres could turn out to be a collosal Lego nerd.

So he will probably appreciate this excellent likeness created by Dave Kaleta (no relation!) for the 2012 MocAthalon, now underway over a MOCPages.



I mean, a sport with about fifty words for "fight" couldn't possibly be populated by psychopathically violent knuckle-draggers, right? Of course, a lot of these are Canadian psychopaths, which is probably how they ended up with such dainty terms as "mitts" and "fisticuffs". (...hey, I'm not scared of them, what are they gonna do, beat me up with their no army and then force me to use free healthcare?)