About Iain

Iain Heath is an avid builder specializing in the "Bricks of Character" style, which he helped define. He has been using LEGO to parody popular culture since 2007, when he created the now infamous Stephen Hawking model. He is a SeaLUG member and regular theme coordinator at BrickCon. For five years he also ran a blog called The Living Brick, that showcased the best character-based LEGO creations from around the world. You can find his irreverent body of work on Flickr.

Posts by Iain

Mary and the Witch’s Flower

Mary and the Witch’s Flower is the first feature from Studio Ponoc, an anime production house formed from the ashes of the legendary Studio Ghibli. Based on the Mary Stewart book The Little Broomstick and directed by the very accomplished Hiromasa Yonebayashi (including his directorial debut with The Secret World of Arrietty), this movie easily matches the charm of any Miyazaki production. I enjoyed it immensely, and even listened to the soundtrack while building this LEGO version of Mary on her broomstick:

The above layout takes inspiration from the pivotal scene where Mary first takes flight on her broomstick. Observant readers will notice the inclusion of Tib the cat, a few Fly-by-Night seeds, and a background made entirely from LEGO bricks.

Tis the season to be hideous

Since LEGO has decided to expand it’s super blocky Brickheadz line to include seasonal characters rather than just screen icons, I figured it made sense for my Rejectz to do the same. So just in time to ruin Christmas, I present… holiday Rejectz!

Build your own LEGO porg from The Last Jedi [Instructions]

If you enjoyed seeing a porg in peril in my recent LEGO vignette Porg: The Other White Meat then why not build your very own LEGO porg, using my new Build-a-Porg building guide? It would make a great Holiday gift for the Star Wars obsessed LEGO fan in your life – there’s still time!

Click here for a preview of the building guide

WIN A UCS MILLENNIUM FALCON! [Exciting News]

Unless you’ve been hiding from the Empire on a remote desert planet for the past few decades, you’ll know that LEGO recently unveiled its massive new 75192 UCS Millennium Falcon set. But in the all the excitement you may have missed the fact that to celebrate this event, The Brothers Brick is currently holding a Millennium Falcon themed building contest!

Well, it’s time to add to that excitement: We are pleased to announce that LEGO has graciously donated a copy of the new UCS Falcon set as an additional prize in our contest. That’s right, you can now win* one of these monsters, rather than dipping into your kids’ college fund (again). All you need to do is wow us with an amazing Falcon-themed LEGO model or scene of your own creation!

Four winners will still each receive a super rare limited edition Escape the Space Slug set. But the 1st place winner will now receive a 75192 UCS Millennium Falcon, and the 2nd place winner will receive the smaller 75105 Star Wars Millennium Falcon.

We are also extending the competition deadline to Sunday, October 15th. That gives you a whole month from today to dream up something really special …so get building! Any style, scale or idea goes so long as it features the Falcon or something Falconesque, in whole or in part. For example, it might be a re-themed version of the Falcon, a movie crossover space battle, or even a mini-fig scene that takes place inside the ship. The more imaginative and original the better.

RULES FOR ENTERING: Contestants must be 18 years of age or older. Once you have built your entry, post a single photo of it to the contest Flickr group. Only one entry is accepted per person. All entries must be new builds, that have not been previously posted online. They must also be physical models — no digital renderings will be accepted. However, use of custom accessories and stickers is permitted. Entries must be submitted by October 15th to be considered for judging.


*Please note that the grand prize UCS set will be shipped directly from LEGO, who have stipulated that they cannot ship to addresses in China or PO boxes.

But what if it’s just some crazy guy in a clown suit?

In anticipation of the latest screen adaptation of Stephen King’s classic coulrophobia-inducing book IT, builder Tim Lydy has crafted this wonderfully creepy bust of Pennywise the dancing clown. Guess I won’t be sleeping tonight! I also love the added touch of the brick-built origami sailboat.

I think Tim might be a bit of an IT fan, as this isn’t the first time he’s rendered these characters in LEGO. Check out his “adorable” Brickheadz versions too. We all float down here. (shudder)

The brick is mightier than the sword

The Iron Throne is probably one of the most iconic elements of the hysterically popular Game of Thrones series. But if you became the ruthless ruler of your particular domain, taking trophies from those you crushed to create a throne of your own to rule over them, what would it be constructed from? Builder Chris CAPTAIN uses LEGO to re-imagine the concept outside the crushingly limiting confines of a fantasy world filled with gigantic pies and toilet murders. Check out the full set here. This is a concept I’d love to see other builders try their hand at! (nudge, wink)

Announcing the TBB LEGO Millennium Falcon Contest [News]

To celebrate the unveiling of LEGO’s monumental new 75192 UCS Millennium Falcon, the Brothers Brick is holding a building contest! Presenting the TBB LEGO Millennium Falcon Contest.

What can I win?

Four winners will each receive a super rare limited edition Escape the Space Slug set. One of those winners will also be declared the grand prize winner and receive a 75105 Star Wars Millennium Falcon (…note this is the existing Falcon set, not the new UCS set).

How do I compete?

Build a custom LEGO creation featuring the Millennium Falcon!

There are no restrictions on scale, style or content — but the more imaginative and creative the better. Maybe you’ll dream up a custom themed version of the Falcon (…a Meowlennium Falkitten piloted by cats, perhaps?). Or portray the Falcon fleeing sand worms over the surface of Arrakis. Literally anything goes, so long the build includes something recognizable as a Falcon (in whole or part).

What are the rules?

The contest begins today and runs until October 1st, when LEGO’s new UCS set goes on general release. Once you have built your entry, post a single photo of it to the contest Flickr group. Only one entry is accepted per person. All entries must be new builds, that have not been previously posted online. They must also be physical models — no digital renderings will be accepted. However, use of custom accessories and stickers is permitted. Entries must be submitted by October 1st to be considered for judging.

Best of luck — now stop gawking over that new UCS set and start building!

Official trailer for Brick MADNESS released [Video]

Blare Media has finally revealed the full trailer for it’s brick-themed mocumentary Brick MADNESS. The film pits an underdog “Brix” builder against an arrogant long-time champion in a battle to build his way to not only fame, but redemption. The PG-13 rated film premieres on September 8th.

Click here to learn more about the film

Chihiro’s journey: A LEGO tribute to Spirited Away

They say that Disney movies touch the heart, but Studio Ghibli films touch the soul. None more so than the Miyazaki classic Spirited Away. I’ve modelled the works of this legendary Japanese animator in LEGO before, but on the 15th anniversary of its US release I figured it was time to take a deeper dive into this particular masterpiece:

Spirited Away remains unrivalled for its blend of the spiritual, realistic, fantastic, and human. In balancing all of those realms, Miyazaki was the master. No surprise then that this movie won the Oscar for best animated film and remains Japan’s highest grossing movie to date.

Click to see more Spirited Away scenes

LEGO shuttle from Star Trek: The Next Generation [Instructions]

We’re probably gonna see more Trek builds than usual this year, it being the 30th anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Such as this minifig scale Type 6 shuttle designed by Jerry builds LEGO, which captures the lines of this iconic vessel perfectly, thanks to deft use of some canopies probably from a Star Wars set (I’m not even gonna check, I assume it’s a Star Wars set, since there’s not exactly a shortage of those to choose from).

As an added treat, Mr Builds With LEGO has even put together this neat instructional video, showing you how to build one of these for yourself. I like the format of this video, in which each step is shown being built so you can easily follow along. The video doesn’t show which sets you’ll have to rip apart to get those lovely canopies, or how far you’ll have to search to find matching STNG minifigs — that’s an exercise left for the viewer.

Of course in the Star Trek universe, transporters are method of choice for getting from point A to point B. But if you think really hard about it they’re actually just giant death machines and the entire franchise is just the story of hoards of people (and their subsequent clones) willingly stepping into oblivion. So it’s no wonder there a few characters in the show actually opt to travel exclusively by shuttle craft. Slower, and more tedious, but at least it gets to you your destination without being bloody vaporized.

You are never lost when you can see the temple

Built relatively recently, around the turn of the 20th century, Kek Lok Si is said to be the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia. Now local builder WingYew has constructed this gorgious LEGO diorama of the famed site:

As you can see below, and also in the full photo album, the build is brimming with tiny details such as the central 7-storey pagoda that contains 10,000 statues of Buddha (which are sadly too small to be captured at this scale!). From the looks of it, a person could lose themselves for hours in this temple – and quite possibly in this LEGO version as well!

Yeah, uh huh, you know what it is... Black and yellow, black and yellow

Serbian builder Milan Sekiz recently unveiled this amazing collection of vehicles inspired by the classic range of LEGO space sets known as Blacktron. Each one is a stylish example of stud-free “neo classic” design, wrapped in that gorgeous Blacktron color palette that just screams “I’m more dangerous than a wasp with a migraine!”.

Click here for more Blacktron porn