NOTE: The “What LEGO MOC” series is a look back at some of the best LEGO MOCs that we featured here in the blog for the past decade, plus new ones as well. If you’re new here on our website, MOC stands for “My Own Creation” using LEGO bricks and represents anything original that a LEGO fan builder created. I hope that through the What LEGO MOC series, you’ll get inspired to start building that original creation of yours. So let’s jumpstart this week with this one.
I’m a huge fan of Jason Allemann ever since I first saw his LEGO Ideas Maze (21305) back in 2016. It was his very first project to become an approved LEGO set followed by a second one in 2018 with the creation of the LEGO Ideas Pop-Up Book (21315).
A prolific builder himself, and a LEGO Technic and Mindstorms expert, his website features some of the most awesome brick creations you have ever seen. Take for example his custom LEGO Steampunk Walking Ship (dubbed as Land Ship Amagosa) as seen on his JK Brickworks YouTube channel.
Jason’s robotic walking ship is inspired by the Strandbeest walker design created by renowned Dutch physicist and inventor Theo Jansen. Using LEGO Mindstorms, Jason’s MOC consists of a series of cams that goes around the robot that pulls the legs at certain pivot points. Operated remotely, the walking ship has a very smooth balance and a responsive set of controls as you can see from the video below:
Jason was also kind enough to share some of the inner workings of his LEGO MOC Steampunk Walking Ship over at his website. His walking creation features a post-apocalyptic trading ship complete with a functional crane that works in conjunction with its walking mechanism.
To help you get started, Jason also offers a free building guide to recreate the frame, crankshaft, and legs of this walking wonder. As you can see, mobility for this original LEGO creation is provided by LEGO Power Functions (or Mindstorms if you happen to have one) and other related accessories. The nice thing is that even if you don’t have those rather pricey power functions systems, you can still build a static model using Jason’s building instructions and create your theme or design from there. From the ground to the skies, you just let your LEGO imagination fly.
Do you have a particular original LEGO creation you want to take center stage in our What LEGO MOC series? Let me know in the comments below.
