Archive for August, 2009
You are currently browsing the The Brothers Brick weblog archives for August, 2009.
BrickArms cries “FREEDOM!” [News]
BrickArms, makers of custom minifigure accessories, announced several new products at BrickFair today. Check out our exclusive pictures and give your feedback in the comments!
Just a note, these are pre-production prototypes and are not available at this time. They will change slightly and there is no guarantee that each of these items will make the cut. Also, some of these have been announced before, so fans of BrickArms will recognize a few of the items in these pictures.
I have another puzzle for you…
Craig Lyons (legolyons) has added a new addition to his Wonka Universe:
The whole thing just works for me: the fantastic purple forklift, the head-sized jawbreakers, and the Oompa Loompas. You can get a better view of the Oompa Loompas here, as well as his Willy Wonka and Mr. Slugworth mini-figures.
Ben Ellermann launches “Ask a Lego Fan” [News]
Ben Ellermann has recently announced the launch of his new blog, Ask a LEGO Fan. His purpose behind this new site is to field questions from adult fans, young fans, parents of fans, and anyone interested in anything to do with Lego. Ben is one of the most knowledgable fans I’ve had the privilege of knowing. He has also been selected as a Lego Ambassador in the current cycle. This puts him in a unique position to get answers to your questions. Check it out and drop him a line with any questions you might have. I think his site will be an asset to the community and to all of those connected to it.
“This won’t hurt a bit…”
This droid repair ship by Ernesto Carrillo is packed with detail, but the lighting is what really stands out. While the overhead light bars have been photo-shopped, that welding “spark” is an actual light. Nicely done, Ernesto, nicely done!
Pointed out to me by Joe.
Sebastiaan builds small
Sebastiaan Arts has taken up the 32 challenge and pulled it off well. Of course, would we expect anything else? No. What is the challenge you ask? To build a castle on a nothing larger than a 32×32 baseplate.
Samurai mecha slices off heads with honor
The latest creation from Moko is dressed in samurai mecha armor and wields twin energy katanas. That’s enough to spell awesome, but there are some worthwhile details to note such as the use of tiered tiles and cheese slopes to imitate the jagged samurai armor. And as with pictures involving chrome radar dishes, you get a bonus image of the photographer.
Ford GT Le Mans by Arvo
The Arvo Brothers present their latest LEGO vehicle, a Ford GT Le Mans.
It’s always hard to find only one thing to like about an Arvo creation, so beyond the obvious shapeliness of the car as a whole, I hereby pick the funky orange spiky bits in the wheels.
Thanks for the tip, Evo!
Proudlove gets Stagefright
Nathan Proudlove built this classic showrod and it’s smokin’! This particular model brings back fond memories of my own childhood Hotwheels cars. I had this one…
There’s a video too.
Shark slayer
Not only does Chris Malloy know how to slay a shark, but he also knows how to make a scene out of it. Take the boat for instance: whereas anyone can use the stubborn piece that LEGO has intended for, Chris made his own out of flags and flex tubing while cleverly disguising the broken end of the ship in sea grass. Genius.

Favorites from the Speeder Bike Contest (well, so far)
Dali Zheng has been hosting a Speeder Bike Contest with some really excellent entries so far. If you’d like to enter yourself, you have until the end of August.
Thomas Oechsner contributes a Neo-Classic Space speeder bike with appropriate greeblage.
What LEGO contest would be complete without a nostalgic Octan entry? This one’s by Mristoph Chonnaie.
Karf would be proud of the Bananabike by NIRDIAN.
Oh, I give up. There are too many cool little speeder bikes to pick just a few. Go look through the entries yourself.
LEGO Rock Band gameplay footage reveals destructive power of rock ‘n’ roll
Rock and roll may not be noise pollution, but it can apparently bring down an otherwise indestructible building.
Via Kotaku.
Alive in JoBerg biosuit by Lemon_Boy
As twee affect rightly notes, we’re going to be seeing a lot of LEGO creations inspired by District 9 over the coming weeks. Some truly crappy, others rather awesome, like this biosuit by Erik (Lemon_Boy).
This is actually based on the suits from “Alive in JoBerg” — the short film writer/director Neill Blomkamp expanded into the feature-length District 9. Thanks to the magic of YouTube, you can watch “Alive in JoBerg” without leaving TBB:
Leavenworth, your Bavarian getaway!
Leavenworth, WA is a small town about 100 miles east of Seattle styled as a “Bavarian village,” with the world’s largest collection of nutcrackers and an annual Oktoberfest rivaling Munich’s.
Catherine (LegoQueen) created a trio of buildings inspired by our faux-German neighbors to the east.
The scene needs more drunken tourists eating frozen cheesecake, but I love the variety of rooflines, and the green and brown building in particular.
Down by the river…
Flickr user einsteinonthebeach1982 posted this gorgeous River Citadel. It has so much incredible detail! It’s hard to pick my favorite.
Every detail is well thought-out and exquisitely executed, from the landscaping to the marketplace and well inside the Citadel itself.
The Iron Horse
This road machine is sweet. I love the rugged look of it. Cole Blaq done good on this one.
Aquastlenauts versus The Dragon Shark Clan?
Okay, now this is strange…but cool…in a rather demented way. Uspez Morbo mashes up Castle and Aquanauts in this bizarre battle scene. I have a strange urge to build something in this theme. Must…resist…crazy…mashup!
BrickMania M4A3 Sherman Tank custom kit now available for pre-order [News]
Dan Siskind of BrickMania has just announced that his next custom kit is available for pre-order — the M4A3(76)W VVSS Sherman Tank.
I’d never bought any custom LEGO kits from somebody else, but I bought two of Dan’s kits a few months ago.
I couldn’t have been more pleased. They’re well-designed, interesting to build (well, except maybe the tank treads, heh heh), and a lot of fun to see how another LEGO builder solves interior structure problems you’d never see in a photo.
Though the printed instructions for the two kits I ordered were $10 more expensive, I found them harder to read than the electronic version on a CD.
If you’re reading this, you probably have a computer, so I recommend taking the cheaper, more legible route.
You can pre-order your own Sherman from BrickMania.com.
Monkey in the middle
Fedde needed somewhere for his mischievous monkeys to hang out.
Looks like the keeper forgot to take away the monkey’s wrench…
RAILBRICKS Issue 6 now available for download [News]
Jeramy Spurgeon and the team have just released a double issue edition of RAILBRICKS magazine covering all things LEGO trains. It has in-depth articles on a few models we’ve featured here on TBB.
This 100 page issue was a long time coming, but features an interview with UK
builder Carl Greatrix, more Steam tips & Tricks, the Indiana Jones Circus
Train MOC by Brian Williams, Billund’s Miniland Trains, and much more!
Check out the website to download or read the magazine.
The Bionic Ogre
Anthony Sava challenged Classic-Castle members to build their own version of Steve the Ogre.
Sebastiaan Arts (Aliencat) took a more…modern approach.
You can check out some of the other creations in this thread!
I can haz your cheese?
Cheesers wants your cheese. Even as cute as he is, Legoholic won’t feed him, so you have to.
(Just to avoid confusion now, Legoholic built this. Tyler, aka Legohaulic, did not.)
Gears of Jelly
V&A Steamworks has released yet another incredibly detailed clockwork sea-creature into the ocean depths. This one wants to sting you.
LEGO Architecture Fallingwater and Guggenheim now available [News]
Might not be news for everybody, but I’ve been checking the LEGO Shop online off and on since we heard about the new Frank Lloyd Wright LEGO Architecture sets, and it looks like they’re finally available to order.
Fallingwater includes 811 pieces and goes for $100.
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum costs $40 and has 208 pieces.































