Confession time; this TLCB Writer has never seen, read, nor understood ‘Manga’. However TLCB has featured this apparently iconic Manga motorcycle several times over the years, and today ‘Kaneda’s bike’ from the Manga series ‘Akira’ arrives on these pages in mini-figure form courtesy of Dan Ko of Flickr. Dan’s bike complete with cleverly photoshopped decals and cunning techniques can be seen at his photostream – click the link above for more Manga motorcycle.
Making something static appear to be in motion is a tricky thing. Of course photo editing means almost anything is possibly digitally, but adding movement purely in brick-form is something we rarely see.
Today though, two builders have absolutely nailed it, by deploying some ingenious techniques to give their creations the appearance of speed.
Taken from the Japanese Manga ‘Dominion’, David Collins‘ ‘Bonaparte’ police tank has arrived on the scene in violent sideways fashion, kicking up a shower of broken asphalt and smoke as it does so. It’s a killer technique and one that would work brilliantly for rally cars, drift cars, and off-road motorbikes, and you can see more of how David has done it via the link.
Today’s second build manages to convey both ponderous movement and agile flight, as MadLEGOman recreates the iconic ‘Battle of Hoth’ scene from ‘The Empire Strikes Back’. An AT-AT is striding through the snow towards the Rebel Alliance base from which this A-Wing has departed, with cable in tow in hope of tripping the attacker.
Mad has cunningly used the cable to both support the A-Wing in-flight and depict the path it’s taken, to brilliant effect. Click the link above to jump to Hoth for more movement illusion.
Just like people, some cars are born into greatness. They might have limited talent and have achieved little, but a family name goes a long way (we’re looking at you Bentley Bentayga and Rolls Royce Cullinan). Others have become great, either through their own endeavour or through blind luck and a random affiliation. This is the story of the latter.
The Toyota Corolla AE86 Sprinter Trueno was a good car in the same way that most Japanese cars of the 1980s were; well priced, fuel efficient, and far more reliable than its American or European counterparts.
And that is where the story should have ended, with the AE86 just another Japanese compact quietly getting on with not breaking down or falling apart. But in 1995 the AE86 got a shot at fame. At ten years old it became the star of a Japanese comic called ‘Initial D’, in which 18-year old Takumi Fujiwara slid sideways up mountain passes delivering food behind the wheel of his father’s AE86 Sprinter Trueno.
By 1999 ‘Initial D’ had become an anime production, viewed not just in Japan but around the world, and Toyota’s humble hatchback – now long out of production – had become a megastar. The popularity of drifting has continued unabated, leading to the AE86 becoming one of the most sought-after and iconic Japanese cars in history.
This superb recreation of the Toyota Corolla AE86 as it appeared in ‘Initial D’ comes from Peter Blackert (aka lego911) of Flickr, who has captured the world-famous car brilliantly in Lego. His design appears in the new book ‘How to Build Brick TV and Movie Cars’, which includes building instructions for the Sprinter Trueno pictured here (along with many other iconic cars) so that you can create your own version at home for drifting around your desk.
Peter’s Toyota Corolla AE86 Sprinter Trueno model is available to view at his photostream via the link above, and you can find the book in which the instructions for this model features by clicking here.
Kaneda’s Bike from Akira has appeared here several times over the years, but no attempt had been made at a mini-figure scale version – so difficult is the build even in a large scale – until now.
TLCB favourite _Tiler, who we think might be the best Town-scale builder anywhere, has finally allowed Kaneda to feature in mini-figure form, and a stunning job he’s done too.
You can see more of mini-fig-Kaneda’s Bike at _Tiler’s Flickr photostream via the link above, where there are also instructions available, and you can see the larger recreations that have featured here in the past by using the search function at the foot of this page.
This beautifully slick creation is a product of the incredibly talented Arvo Brothers. Based on the AKIRA manga work of Katsuhiro Otomo, Kaneda’s bike is a stunning design in 2D, and looks even more spectacular with an additional dimension. Arvo Brothers’ Lego version of the Manga design is to be detailed in their new book, with explanations of how to build it and decals included. Read more at the brothers’ Flickr page here.