"I'll Be Back!"

Aaron Newman April 10, 2020

I designed this version of the eponymous character from James Cameron’s landmark movie The Terminator (1984) in collaboration with Build Better Bricks (B3). When B3 initially approached me about recreating the famous cyborg in bricks, I’d actually never seen any of the Terminator franchise films… and, embarrassed as I am to admit it, I still haven’t seen the original movie all the way through!

Read more to learn about all the design choices I made on this model.

However, I didn’t have to watch more than a few clips of the original T-800 Terminator to refresh myself on just how iconic of a design I was dealing with. Of course, I already knew Arnold Schwarzenegger’s accented catchphrase from the movie, “I’ll be back,” and would’ve recognized the Terminator’s distinctive metallic endoskeleton anywhere. But there’s something beyond just fame that sets this character apart and captures the imagination. Its menace, its strength, its doggedness, its humanoid teeth… The Terminator is just intimidating, no question about that!

Behind-The-Build: Catastrophe at the Crescent

Aaron Newman February 14, 2020

In the winter of 2020, my friend Christian Cowgill and I appeared in the first American season of LEGO Masters, a reality-style building competition show. For Episode 2 of the series, “Space Smash” (2/12/2020), Christian and I built Catastrophe at the Crescent, an unorthodox space station designed to be blown up by real-life explosives.

Read on for my special dissection of this model’s process, design choices, and more!

Behind-The-Build: Spaceland

Aaron Newman February 7, 2020

In the winter of 2020, my friend Christian Cowgill and I appeared in the first American season of LEGO Masters, a reality-style building competition show. For Episode 1 of the series, “Dream Park Theme Park” (2/5/2020), Christian and I assembled Spaceland, a retro-space themed amusement park complete with a spinning UFO swings ride, a crashed-alien-spaceship-turned-café, a modern visitor center, a laser-gun shooting gallery, intergalactic storefronts, and an enormous, motorized Ferris wheel… all built in just 15 hours

Read on for my special dissection of Spaceland. This model became the winning build in its week, earning Christian and me the coveted Golden Brick!

The First Toa: A New Beginning

Aaron Newman November 14, 2019

Growing up, one of my favorite LEGO themes was BIONICLE, a story of mythological proportions populated by heroes and villains who were equal parts mechanized and alive, and in possession of fantastical powers. The very first characters of the franchise (indeed, the characters that drew me into BIONICLE in the first place) were the 2001 Toa, six elemental heroes.

Tahu, Kopaka, Lewa, Pohatu, Gali and Onua are icons in their own right. So—in the interest of breaking new ground—when I decided to recreate these legendary characters, I opted to eschew BIONICLE’s traditional building scheme in favor of “standard” LEGO system parts. I think that my approach has resulted in some pretty cool-looking figurines!

Read on to learn more about the design of these 6-7” (17-18cm) figurines.

"Throw a Little Hot-Rod Red in There."

Aaron Newman September 9, 2019

When I first saw Iron Man in 2008, I left the theater enraptured and amazed by the film I’d just seen. I imagine most audiences felt similar enthusiasm; after all, for more than ten years, Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal of Tony Stark served as the foundation upon which the Marvel Cinematic Universe—the most lucrative film franchise in history—was built. In 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, as we had to say goodbye to this character, it truly felt like the end of an era.

After seeing Endgame, I wanted to create a brick-built homage to Iron Man. However, rather than opting to build the nano-tech suit that comprised the hero’s final iteration, I chose to recreate the form in which this character captured the imagination of the world eleven years ago. I’ve assembled Iron Man in his first and—I’d argue—most iconic form: Tony’s Mark III Armor, the first suit to sport his signature gold and “hot-rod red” color scheme.

Read on to learn more about the design of this 10” (25cm) figurine.

This Build is Parthenonsense

Aaron Newman August 21, 2019

I designed this scene with a friend of mine, another talented LEGO artist named Tristan. Tristan trekked north to visit me one Thursday night, and over the course of a little under three hours, we conceived of and put together what you see here! We wanted to assemble a creation that required both of our complementary styles. I specialize in fine details, the small and the clever, while Tristan’s forte is building large and implementing functionality into his work. A large-scale microscale scene with an electronic component included seemed the optimal way to showcase our strengths, so that’s what we built.

The story: an intergalactic spacecraft arrives on Earth… not in present day, or in the future, but back in ancient times. The UFO’s mission is a Wall-E-esque one: gather vegetation samples from our green planet and harvest them for alien science. Indiscriminate in their approach—or, perhaps, just totally unruffled by the presence of human civilization—the UFO has alighted on the forest surrounding a greco-roman city atop a plateau. And thus begins Earth’s first contact with extraterrestrial life!

Originally, we thought we’d build the same UFO, accidentally beaming up a dragon from a medieval European castle. As we built, though (really, as we assessed how much time we had left in our session together!) our vision evolved. Read on to learn some more about who built what, what thoughts went into this creation, and more.

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stranger

Aaron Newman July 3, 2019

Since it first aired in 2016, Netflix’s sci-fi/mystery/horror show Stranger Things has become something of a cultural phenomenon… enough so that The LEGO Group produced a Stranger Things set, and hosted a Stranger Things building competition. I designed this model to answer that competition’s prompt, which asked its contestants to present what they thought to be the most “iconically Stranger Things.” To me, nothing better captured the iconography of the series than one of its signature monsters: the Demogorgon.

Read on to learn more about the design of this 10” (27cm) figurine.

Earth's Last Line of Defense

Aaron Newman February 14, 2019

Like my Retro Space Minifigures, I designed this minifig series (affectionately known as a “figbarf” among the fan community) for a contest. It seemed like a perfect time to debut these designs, the majority of which have waited almost-finished in my back pocket for about a year. The combo of sand-blue overalls with Hero Factory armor was one I really liked when I first made it, especially when I added dark brown hands to match with the straps on their legs.

Who did I end up with? A squad of futuristic Earth Defenders! I’m not sure exactly what they’re defending against (Intergalactic invaders? Terror cells? Warring superpowers?), but I do know that they hail from all over the globe, united in their mission to save our planet from a disastrous fate.

Earth Defender Minifigures

From left to right, these are our characters:

• Sgt. Quan Ngyuen | Formidable gunner | Vietnamese | Specialty: thriving between a rock and a hard place |

I’m happy with the pose I achieved on Sgt. Nguyen; he was the hardest to balance for obvious reasons. The night-vision goggles and gunmetal grey racing helmet is a combination I’ve had around since the very first iteration of these minifigures; if not for variety’s sake, I probably would’ve given this headgear to more characters because I think it looks so good! Also notice how, very conveniently, the bar hole on the green power blade piece (seen more clearly on Pvt. Agustín) slots perfectly onto the back of the Hero Factory armor.

• Pvt. Juan Agustín | Typical maverick | Colombian | Specialty: overestimating his own abilities |

Of this series of five characters, I find Pvt. Agustín the least interesting. He essentially just demonstrates the Earth Defender uniform and color scheme on a basic canvas—which I guess is valuable, to an extent—and lets me show off the power blade, a common weapon among this team, when drawn. I opted to use Asaaj Ventress lightsaber handles for these swords because I liked how sleek they look, plus they subtly extend the curve of the blade into a pleasing sine shape.

• Cpt. Freja Nielsen | Vigorous leader | Danish | Specialties: rousing speeches, shrewd planning, and chewing out Pvt. Agustín |

This was the last of these minifigs to come together. To me, Cpt. Nielsen is what really ties this figbarf together and gives me a clear idea of who these uniformed people are. Plus, she gives a spot of visual interest with the brightness of her attire. I opted for a clean white uniform largely because the parts I wanted to use (pants with printed shoes, the side cap, the utility belt, those short-sleeve arms, and the rubber band) all came in that color. Nevertheless, I think it’s a perfect, pure hue for an international soldier. That small gold collar she has on is a backwards Elves necklace.

• Cpl. Tayshia Wright | Heroic commando | American | Specialty: shooting reasonably accurately in two directions at once |

Named after a contestant on ABC’s The Bachelor (which I watch with my fiancée), Cpl. Wright has the most personality of the lot here, in my opinion. I love how the Hero Factory armor let me pose her arms splayed this way, as its pauldrons holds them in their sockets. The reason that these minifigs are Earth Defenders, and not the defenders of some other planet, is that glowing plant symbol on their chests… That leaf symbol reminded me of Eve’s plant sigil from Disney/Pixar’s Wall-E.

• Sgt. Mikhail Vasiliev | Battered veteran | Russian | Specialty: surviving pretty much anything |

My concept here was to show a soldier of myriad campaigns, someone who had sustained quite a few injuries in his day. Sgt. Vasiliev sports futuristic prostheses on his right arm and leg, an eye patch, and some more recent bandages around his face. Ouch! This figure originally used LEGO’s specially-molded cybernetic leg, but I ended up giving that to the robot Bort-Bort from my previous figbarf instead. As homage, and tying these two together, Vasiliev’s synthetic leg is actually the companion to Bort-Bort’s regular one!

Thanks for reading! If you have any other questions or comments about these minifigs, feel free to leave them in the comments below

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Retro is Very Fashionable

Aaron Newman February 13, 2019

I designed this LEGO Minifigure series (affectionately known as a “figbarf” among the fan community) for a figbarf contest. One of the categories was “Space,” and I wanted to do something a little different. I became enamored of the bold graphic language of retro science fiction and retrofuturism a few years ago; indeed, I first explored LEGO retro sci-fi with my series of “set-style” creations Body Battlers in 2017. Rather than making a series of Body Battlers figures here, though, I opted to create some characters that were a bit more universal in the ‘50s sci-fi space.

Retro Sci-Fi Minifigures

From left to right, these are our characters:

• Bort-Bort, a deadpan robot. Devoid of emotion, cultural references, and understanding of human scansion, Bort-Bort frequently lets off one-liners which are unintentionally hilarious.

Here, at last, was an excuse for me to use every possible robotic limb piece from LEGO! I enjoyed designing such a washed-out figure; I think it makes his “eye” scanner stand out even better. Originally, this figure also held a ray-gun, but I thought exposed claws seemed more fitting of a classic humanoid robot.

• Lois Mills, a hapless All-American Girl. A neophyte to space exploration, Lois hopes—maybe in vain—that she can get back to Earth in time for her senior prom!

Problematic and utterly sexist as the trope of the helpless “damsel in distress” is, it’s nevertheless a staple of the pulp sci-fi genre… As such, it felt accurate to include such a character here. Stay tuned for much more empowered women in upcoming works! I love the combination of dark azure and purple, so that’s another reason I’m glad I designed Lois. Interesting note: the head dome she wears is only 1/2 there, as her hairpiece is too large in back for the second piece to attach.

• Chip Fleming, a dashing adventurer. Leader of a hundred space explorations, captain of his own rocket ship, and frequenter of dozens of worlds, Chip is a classic hero of ‘50s science fiction.

Just as quintessential as the disempowered woman in this genre is the hyper-masculine, clean-cut, alien-blasting spaceman. I loved getting to use some of the blondest possible hair here for that perfect, matinée idol look. Like Lois, Chip only wears 1/2 of his helmet; although his hairpiece would have fit inside the full sphere, I wanted the two bubbles we see here to be of equivalent opacity.

• Toscoob, a malevolent Martian. Emperor on his home planet, and renowned even there for his wickedness, Toscoob’s favorite delicacy is raygunned human!

What more can you ask for than a villainous green Martian? This character was another clear trope to include in my retro space collection. The decorous military flairs, like the cape and epaulets, are actually inspired by the Looney Toons character Marvin the Martian. I appreciated getting to use a Harry Potter wand element in the enormous raygun, which itself has been borrowed and modified from Body Battlers Set 52015. Toscoob steals his name from Tolstoy’s Aelita, a famous work of Soviet sci-fi about an advanced Martian society.

• Salno, an absentminded Venusian. Half the time, Salno even forgets her home planet—this is why she carries around a sonic resonator, which can capture and replay sounds to jog her memory (as well as blast aliens with sound waves!).

Of the five characters on display here, Salno is the most out-of-left-field, not really having a clear precedent in retro sci-fi literature or film. Nevertheless, I think her aesthetic matches with the rest of the collection nicely. I built this fig around that gigantic pink afro; giving her short legs resulted in a hugely disproportionate body that I really liked. Originally, Salno was gonna have the hairpiece on backwards, resulting in a bulbous, textured head, but I so appreciated the expression of the minifig head I chose that I couldn’t resist showing it off. I also am proud of the combo of silvered 2x2 dish and silver-capped microphone on her sonic resonator.

Thanks for reading! If you have any other questions or comments about these minifigs, feel free to leave them in the comments below

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Strike Gundam: Launch Ready!

Aaron Newman October 4, 2018

I had no prior experience with Gundam before this little model, and have never seen any of the Gundam anime, but I absolutely loved my experience building my first Bandai model! The intricate parts, the tiny stickers, and the awesome flexibility all enraptured me. (I had such a good time, in fact, that I returned to the store one more time some days later to acquire another even more sophisticated Gundam.)

The idea to recreate my first Gundam in my more usual medium, LEGO bricks, occurred to me soon after I finished assembling the Bandai model. However, as other projects took the forefront for me, I forgot about this idea… until one afternoon when I had a lot of time on my hands, and felt like building something new, I picked up the ol’ Gundam and decided to try my best to replicate it 1:1 with LEGO. Seemed like a fun brain teaser.

Read on to learn more about the design process behind this creation!

This replica of the Doof Wagon is my fourth ABS challenge build.

Ride Eternal on the Fury Road

Aaron Newman March 25, 2018

This model, a recreation of the Doof Wagon and Nux Car from Mad Max: Fury Road, is the fourth build I've completed for my second round in the ABS Builder Challenge, an online competition where LEGO® artists are tasked with implementing a "seed part"—in this case, a silver goblet—creatively into as many builds as possible.

Read on to learn more about the design choices behind this model.

The 5PY 8UG is my third ABS challenge build.

Bzzzz!

Aaron Newman March 21, 2018

This model, a transforming robot known as 5PY 8UG, is the third build I've completed for my second round in the ABS Builder Challenge, an online competition where LEGO® artists are tasked with implementing a "seed part"—in this case, a silver goblet—creatively into as many builds as possible.