Awesome Sculptures

After giving us his “realistic” versions of a LEGO Minifig, Winnie the Pooh, and The Simpsons, Adam from North of the Border has created nightmarish interpretations of two beloved characters from Sesame Street, Bert and Ernie. The famous friends look especially creepy, with Bert wearing a unibrow and both with wrinkled skin and bulbous humanoid noses.

We thought the Teletubbies were pretty weird to begin with. Thanks to Adam from North of the Border, these kids’ show characters are now downright creepy. His nightmare-fuel “Terrortubby” versions of Dipsy, Laa-Laa, Po, and Tinky-Winky look like they just stepped from the gates of hell to steal your children.

Adam from North of the Border apparently got confused and got the names of two of Marvel’s superheroes backward. His Man-Ant and Man-Spider sculptures are two of his most disturbing creations to date, making the insects the hosts with human genetics taking over their bodies. It’s the human skin that really creeps us out.

Artist Blake McFarland spent over 400 hours carving this incredible wood T.Rex skull. He started with a hefty hunk of old-growth redwood, split it down the middle, then started carving the upper and lower portions of the skull and its impressive teeth. He encountered some hurdles along the way but ultimately delivered an awe-inspiring work of art.

Most off-the-shelf LEGO kits offer limited amounts of motion. The Brick Experiment Channel shows how LEGO and Technic parts can be used to create action-packed kinetic sculptures. While the first design is finger-powered, all of the others are motorized. That twisty Hoberman Linkage is our favorite.

Artist and ex-physicist Julian Voss-Andreae is known for making sculptures that seem to disappear as you approach them directly from the front or rear. He was commissioned by Max_LA to create this see-through astronaut with an even more effective design thanks to its mirrored slices. The finished piece will be installed on a granite slab over water.

British Colombia artist Kevin Stone creates large-scale metal sculptures. Among his works is this massive steel dragon inspired by Drogon from Game of Thrones. It took him two years to complete the 15,000-pound metal beast, which even breathes fire. Coolest Thing met the artist and got a look at some of his incredible works.

UK artists Two Brass Monkeys make wonderfully challenging sculptural puzzles from brass and stainless steel. Among their tricky designs are the spherical Gob Stopper, the hexagonal Joy of Hex, and log-shaped Pygmy and Marmoset. Each one will flex your brain as you attempt to separate and put together their geometry.

If we had to pick our favorite character from the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, it would have to be Rocket Racoon. So we loved watching this video from artist Steven Richter building a picture-perfect sculpture of the furry little badass. Every detail is there, from his sad brown eyes to his boop-able nose.

After artist Kayakasaurus saw a photo of a colorful slug caterpillar, he wanted to make a larger-than-life version. He started by sculpting a digital model of the blue and yellow creature’s body, then output it on a Elegoo Jupiter resin 3D printer. His application of transparent paint and fuzzy flocking really bring it to life.

The TPC Louisiana golf course is home to numerous alligators. Among them is a three-legged beast nicknamed “Tripod.” Blake McFarland was commissioned by Zurich to immortalize the big guy. Like some of his other sculptures, he carved Tripod’s body from foam, cast a fiberglass shell, and covered it with recycled tires.

King of chocolate Amaury Guichon adds another vehicle to his edible garage by building a scale model of Hyundai’s new Ioniq 6 EV. Amaury’s version is powered by sugar instead of batteries and has zero driving range, but it makes up for it with its delicious flavor and chocolatey aroma.

During parkour team STORROR’s “Floor is Lava” challenge, the team headed to Full Fathom Five, a seaside sculpture made of 108 granite pillars, then attempted to run from one end to the other. It’s incredible to see these athletes make it so far without being covered with scrapes and bruises.

If you’ve eaten at a Japanese restaurant, you’ve probably seen a maneki-neko. These decorative cat figurines are believed to bring good luck to those who possess one, so they’re incredibly popular. Process X visited the Umetsuki Tomimoto Doll Garden factory, birthplace of roughly 80% of ceramic maneki-neko sold in Japan.

Blake McFarland is no stranger to making sculptures of animals. He was recently commissioned to build his largest work yet, a life-size bison for the Henry Vilas Zoo. He started by welding the beast’s horns from stainless steel, then used a foam taxidermy form, spray foam, and fiberglass as the structure for its bike tire “fur.”

Kinetic sculpture maker JBV Creative shows off one of his coolest builds yet, a machine that creates a sine wave motion as ball bearings roll along its horseshoe-shaped ribs. He sells an STL template for 3D printing your own, along with a detailed assembly video. He’s also made a version that’s twice as long.

Typical 3D printers can output one or two colors at a time, but this 3D printer from Mimaki can print objects from a palette of more than 10 million colors. 3D Printing Nerd got look at its capabilities during Formnext USA. It creates objects by printing layers of UV-curable CMYK resins encased in a water-soluble support material.

Ideal Idea set out to build a unique terrarium inspired by infinity cubes. By upping the complexity to a 20-sided shape, he provided enough space for the plants to thrive. He cut the sides from acrylic and 3D printed the structure, which is held together with cord. The infinite illusion was created using reflective film and LED lights.

In mythology, Sisyphus was a man punished for cheating death by having to roll a boulder uphill only to have it roll back down as he neared the top. Artist Ross McSweeney created this amazing laser-cut wooden automaton that animates the core of the story. You can purchase template files for the sculpture on his Etsy shop.

The guys from FliteTest spend most of their time building and flying model aircraft. One of the materials they use to build flying machines is FT Maker Foam. Josh took some time out from flying to build a huge model of the Iron Giant out of the lightweight foam board. It ended up being much larger than he had initially planned.

North of the Border’s latest clay creation knife. But this is no ordinary knife. According to the maker of tiny nerdy things, Knifey is “a red sentient murder unicorn from High on Life.” If we were forced to bring a knife in a gunfight, this is the blade we’d go with.

North of the Border imagines what it might be like if the zombie apocalypse hit the night before Christmas. Santa is still coming down your chimney, but he’s looking for brains instead of milk and cookies. This handbuilt sculpture of the undead St. Nick includes a sack full of toys for all the good little zombies.

While his eyes always gave us the creeps, Thomas the Tank Engine is a pretty charming character. But in the hands of Adam from North of the Border, he’s is anything but pleasant. To turn Thomas evil, Adam sculpted a clay version of the anthropomorphic train with a blood red body, pointy teeth, and spider legs.