Construction Toys News
News: How to Make Tinfoil Cars
In this video, I show you how to build tinfoil cars for crushing with toy Monster Trucks. My son Eston and I love monster trucks. One of the most exciting things when you go to see monster trucks live, is when they crush cars. Problem is, when you use your hot wheels or matchbox cars with your monster trucks, they don’t get smashed. So the realism isn’t there.
News: Magnets, Sticks, and Sugru Combine to Make an Awesome DIY Construction Toy
With just sticks, some magnets, and a bit of Sugru, you too can be the proud owner of an awesome set of magnetic construction toys! The idea is very straightforward. Simply bond magnets onto the tips of thin sticks using Sugru, but the results look like a whole lot of fun.
News: This LEGO Mindstorms Submersible Can Be Piloted by Your Xbox Controller
Making little robots with a LEGO Mindstorms NXT set is already cool, but putting one underwater? Now that's just crazy. That didn't stop this engineer, who built a LEGO submarine that can not only maneuver around his fish tank, but can also be remotely controlled with his Xbox controller. The craft has a sealed battery compartment, exposed Power Functions motors, and features real-time communication between it and a laptop using a NXTbee wireless module.
News: NASA's Curiosity Just Got Bricked! Working LEGO Mars Rover Ready for Exploration
Using a LEGO Mindstorms NXT kit, a pair of awesome engineers put together this fully functional replica of the Curiosity Mars rover. Not only is it built completely out of LEGOs, it's motorized, programmable, and ready to explore the far reaches of your living room. The rover was built for the Build the Future in Space event at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Four of the six wheels are powered, allowing it to make 360 degree turns, and the arm and mast are both fully controllable. The entire con...
News: Full-Sized Mechanical Skeeball Machine Built Entirely Out of K'Nex—And It Works!
If you played with K'Nex as a kid (or still do), you know that it can take a lot of those tiny little pieces to build something. Just imagine how many it must have taken to make this full-sized, fully functional, coin-operated skeeball machine with a mechanical score counter. Instructables user Shadowman39 (aka Kyle) spent an entire year building this masterpiece. It's the same size as the ones you see in arcades, and it's coin operated, too. But don't try to feed it your pennies, it knows th...
News: Flying Pegasus Operated with LEGO Gears & Cranks
Korean MOC Pages user Kyoung-bae Na, aka edulyoung, constructed this beautiful LEGO automaton of a winged Pegasus. Maneuvered with a series of mechanical LEGO gears and cranks, watch below as Pegasus "hovers", flapping her wings. Kyoung-bae Na sells his creations out of his e-shop, Studio Amida. The Pegasus automaton was previously going for $140, but is no longer listed; however, there is a clownfish currently available for the lower price of $33.50. The models are so fantastic—it makes one ...
News: 4 Years of Spectacularly Pointless Marble Machines
So very pointless, yet unquestionably spectacular. The best kind of "art" performs no other function than to delight the viewer, and Japanese YouTube user Denha's complex marble machines do just that. But are marble machines art? You can call them that—or toys, scientific contraptions, engineering feats—but however you choose to label them, the best marble machines are complicated, skillfully crafted, and driven by the principles of potential energy, kinetic energy and gravity.
Character Building: LEGO Kanji
Here at WonderHowTo, we know a good ideogram when we see one! That's why we're so fond of the these LEGO sculptures by Flickr user Empress of Blandings:
News: Haunted House in Rotting LEGO
Mike Doyle's latest LEGO house (perhaps even more hauntingly beautiful than the last) is a Victorian mansion that transcends the material so effectively, the plastic reads like real rotting bricks and mortar. Beautiful house-devouring trees, created with LEGO hinge cylinders to mimic the texture of tree bark, and ridged 3 mm hose, droid arms and other technic connectors for the creepy, spindly branches.
News: LEGO x Angry Birds
Kickass collection of Angry Birds LEGO art by Tsang Yiu Keung. Note: Catapult them and they will assuredly shatter into a pile of tiny LEGO bricks, just like the fate of the pigs they're aiming for.
News: Functional LEGO Snow-Eating Beast
The Stilzkin Indrik is a mighty, mini LEGO Russian crawler, capable of lugging heavy loads over snowy terrain: "It has a large contact surface, which prevents it from sinking into the snow. It offers great traction on almost any surface, and loads of torque to get out of tight spots."
News: Apple Engineer Builds Fully-Functional Ancient Computer With LEGOs
Apple software engineer Andrew Carol built a fully-functional replica of the Antikythera Mechanism, the world's oldest known scientific computer. The 2000-year-old analog device was used by the ancient Greeks to predict the year, date, and time of future solar and lunar eclipses accurately to within two hours. Carol put together the 110 gears (made with 1,500 LEGO Technic parts) in just 30 days. See how it works below. For more information, check out Fast Company's interview with Carol.
News: Harry Potter Freak Spends $30,000 Recreating Magical Chess Set With 100,000 LEGOs
It took him a year to build and about $30,000 in parts, but Steve Hassenplug has created a truly magnificent robotic chess set, inspired by the magical chessboard in the first Harry Potter movie. Quite a task, but Hassenplug did an incredible job!
News: Dissecting a Frog With LEGOs
You can almost feel the pain of Dave Kaleta’s outstretched, dissected frog (which is pretty incredible, considering it was constructed with those tiny, plastic bricks we call LEGOs). Kaleta's work of LEGO art was built for the MOCPages MOC Olympics.
News: Can Your LEGOs Fold T-Shirts?
You can learn how to fold a t-shirt perfectly with your own human hands. OR you can be like changyunhsu and teach your LEGO mindstorms robot to do it. Seriously impressive.
News: Economic Depression (LEGO-Style)
Imagine you wanted to make LEGO art, and you chose to make a spooky, abandoned house, like something out of economically depressed Detroit.
News: Star Wars + LEGOs + McDonalds = Corellian Cheeseburger
There's a lot going on with this Star Wars LEGO fast food snack. Angus MacLane turned the Millennium Falcon into a Corellian Cheeseburger for the FBTB MOC Madness 2010 Building Tournament.
News: The Most Dangerous Game of Operation (Ever?)
I suppose it depends how you define dangerous. It must have taken Flippy Cat a good amount of effort and planning to design and construct this giant Operation game made from Dominos. And then he lets a cat loose? Impressive work. Click on the second video in the gallery above for behind-the-scenes takes.
News: Who Knew LEGOs Could Be So Deadly?
Seems just about anything can be constructed with LEGOs these days. You name it- a printer, an engine, an ATM, guns... even a house!
News: Get Your World Cup LEGO Fix Now
Via WonderHowTo World, LEGO People: ToastyKitten says:
News: Wicked LEGO War Vehicle Crosses Chasms With Built-In Bridge
LEGO Technic builder Peer (Mahjqa) Kreuger has constructed the incredible Stilzkin Bridge Launcher, a vehicle modeled after real life ALVBs (Armoured vehicle-launched bridge).
Star Wars: A New Hope LEGO Chess Set
WonderHowTo World LEGO People points us to an amazing chess set made with LEGO Star Wars characters.
News: Ca-Ching. LEGO Brick Bank Dispenses Real Cash
100% functional LEGO ATM by Ronald McCrae. This bonafide brick bank performs the following functions:
News: Insane LEGO Replica of World's Most Expensive Car (Working 7 Speed Transmission!)
Sheepo HL's LEGO replica of the Bugatti Veyron is more than just a perfect facsimile, it also runs! It has a fully functional seven-speed gearbox, retracting spoiler, independent suspension, and more. DO NOT miss the videos below. Amazing. Previously, Obsessively Authentic LEGO V-8.
News: 3,000 Bricks Make 1 Amazing Amy Winehouse LEGO Portrait
Pretty impressive, as far as LEGO portraiture goes. Via The Telegraph:
News: Star Wars Foosball Table Made Entirely of LEGOs
An incredible LEGO feat: the Rebel vs. Empire Star Wars LEGO Foosball table. Built entirely, in and out, of LEGOs.
News: 16-Year-Old Builds Wicked LEGO Star Wars Diorama
Paul Yperman, you've got some competition (see previous entry, Star Wars LEGO Droid Ship). 15-year old Sven Junga's LEGO Stargate diorama (including a Daedalus from Stargate Atlantis) is nothing to shrug about. Incredibly impressive.
News: Fully Articulated LEGO Arm Mimics Human Movement
LEGO technic builder Sariel presents a mighty impressive weekend project: a motorized LEGO hand that emulates actual human movement. This feat of plastic engineering runs on a combination of electric motors and pneumatic valves.
News: Motorized LEGO Avatar Helicopter is Badass Na'Vi Killer
Another amazing LEGO feat (+more Avatar mania). Check out this elaborately constructed helicopter, with blades powered by an actual LEGO motor! Scroll down to see it in action. Previously, Man Spends 2 Years & 30,000 LEGOs Building Star Wars Ship.
News: Man Spends 2 Years & 30,000 LEGOs Building Star Wars Ship
Paul Yperman’s Droid Control Ship has been two years in the making, and required a whopping 30,000 LEGO bricks to build. Says Brothers Brick, "Paul’s build differs in the surface textures of the model. He uses tiles and greebling elements in shades of gray to add realistic-looking details, which really enhances the appearance of this amazing creation."
News: Insane Eco-Punk LEGO Crawler Town
LEGO maniac Dave DeGobbi has created a small, traveling "eco-punk" city which exists on a mobile platform.
News: LEGO 1858 Remington .45
Meticulously crafted LEGO replica of a Remington .45, circa the Wild Wild West, 1858. Created by Flickr user Arkov.
News: Hobbyist Builds World's Tiniest Engines
Jim Moyer builds tiny engines, with as much attention to detail and craftsmanship as some of our other favorite hobbyists (check out obsessive model airplanes and teeny tiny weapons). The engine demonstrated in the first video below is supposedly the smallest V-8 engine in the world, a 1/6 scale model of the 327 cubic inch motor in a 1964 Chevrolet Corvette. More images and info at Jim's site. Previously, Obsessively Authentic LEGO V-8.
Star Wars LEGO-gasm: 4' 6" Rebel Frigate
As Gizmodo says, "4 feet 6 inches of brickgasm". Star Wars-gasm. LEGO-gasm. Perfect combination. "The Lego version of the classic Nebulon-B Class rebel frigate Redemption is 4 feet and 6 inches long. That's 172 studs long, and I'm not talking about The Hoff. It's big enough to dock one mini-Millennium Falcon and three X-Wings."
News: Motoman, the LEGO Loving Bot
Motoman the Robot uses a 3D vision system to assemble LEGOs. "Motoman’s high resolution color cameras and object recognition make picking out and connecting LEGO pieces easy...he’s able to get the pieces with one hand while assembling the LEGOs with the other. "
News: Repair the World One (LEGO) Brick at a Time
Jan Vorman has installed quick LEGO-fixes all over the world - from Italy to Germany to Israel to Holland.
On EBAY: Mario Mania + LEGOs = Ultimate Fanboy Idol
To Mario enthusiasts everywhere: Mario mania has been lovingly expressed all over the web for some time now (including How-To). The most recent accomplishment brings together two classic favorites: Mario plus LEGOs.
News: Play Foosball With LEGOs
Stretta considered investing in a foosball table for his son, and ultimately decided to go the (much more fun) DIY route: a LEGO foosball table. Very nice work: Previously, Obsessively Authentic LEGO V-8.
News: DIY Gear Clock
Alan Parekh's latest creation is a clock made from wooden gears. Parekh says on Hacked Gadgets:
News: Obsessively Authentic LEGO V-8
Crazy! Real working v8 32 valve engine, made completely from LEGOs. Not made from a set, and apparently took about 300 hours to construct. Click through to YouTube description for link to parts list (PDF). 4500 Brick LEGO Pop-Up.