Tag Archives: Gears of War

We’re sure that Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago would be proud of all the custom LEGO models and minifigures inspired by the gritty, complex world of the Gears of War video game series. Check out Armadillo APCs, Lancer rifles, and squads of Gears ready to take on the Locust horde.

New Gears of War gets the custom treatment

Some may already know me but I am Jas (Jasbrick on Flickr) and I have an unhealthy obsession with mutilating ABS plastic.  I promise that this fixation will not divert me from highlighting unadulterated creations, but I thought it fitting that my first official post involves customisation… and what better way to start than with pure brilliance:

Gear Project Update

Andrew (Pecovam on Flickr) is a talent that I have been watching closely over the last year and this image of his Gears of War project is all the reason you need to see why.  This project combines all the best aspects of the customisers art, with flawless sculpting, painting, combinations and even an MOC by Legohaulic to just add the cherry to the cake.

There are more pictures of his work on Flickr and any aspiring customisers can use this to see how it should be done… and us Gearheads can just drool at the COG goodies he is working on.

The top video games of 2011 recreated in LEGO

Organizers for the 15th Interactive Achievement Awards approached Alex Kobbs back in October to create a montage of the top video games of the year, animated in LEGO. Alex used clips from some of his earlier animations, including the super-awesome Gears of War 3, and a whole batch of new animation to create the opening sequence shown in Last Vegas earlier this month.

And don’t miss Alex’s making of video.

Top 10 most popular LEGO models of 2011

We’ve taken a look at the top LEGO news stories of 2011, but The Brothers Brick is really about the great LEGO creations built by LEGO fans all over the world. Let’s take a look back at the ones that proved most popular over the course of the year.

  1. Plum B’s LEGO Gears of War Lancer assault rifle with firing action and motorized saw blade

LEGO Gears of War Lancer assault rifle with firing action and motorized saw blade

  1. Nick Jensen’s life-sized LEGO Halo sniper rifle
  2. Hannes Tscharner’s (aka Marshal Banana) 10,000 piece LEGO Star Wars Jawa Sandcrawler

diorama

  1. Will Page’s Portal turret
  2. Michael Thomas’s LEGO Settlers of Catan design
  3. ShoBrick’s post-apocalyptic stormtroopers
  4. Nathaniel Shields’s LEGO Halo grunt
  5. OneLug’s 7-foot LEGO Tower of Orthanc from Lord of the Rings

The Last March of the Ents

  1. Ben Caulkins’s life-size LEGO Halo Master Chief armor
  2. Chris Malloy’s LEGO Minecraft diorama

Leveling up in Gears of War 3 & Skyrim with LEGO Mindstorms NXT robots

Though I prefer to earn my experience, medals, and achievements the old-fashioned way, I never cease to be impressed (and mildly amused) by those who design LEGO robots to accomplish their video game goals.

Guy Himber built a robot to get the Onyx Active Reload medal in Gears of War 3 (watch him get the medal).

Meanwhile, Justin built his own robot to max out his restoration level to 100 in Skyrim.

What do you think? Fair play or hax0rs?

Between home and the war’s desolation

After I posted my little fleet of microscale spaceships in September, I kept tinkering with the design of the ships, and when I got bored, built new ones. By BrickCon, I had added a new cruiser and hospital ship.

U.E.F. Expeditionary Strike Group - V2

The cruiser is based on the same keel as the carrier, but the most notable improvements overall are the little bits of light gray, red, and yellow, plus the decals. Exo-Force sets provide a remarkable diversity of military/industrial designs on clear sticker sheets that add cool details to a finished model.

Since I had all that gray greebly LEGO lying around, I tried building a Silverback from Gears of War 3, but it got considerably bigger than I intended — though I like the ultimate design — so I’m calling this little battlemech “Sasquatch”:

C.O.G. "Sasquatch" battlemech (1)

For the minifigs, I’m trying out the new Gears-inspired armor and weapons from BrickWarriors. Their lineup doesn’t currently include a non-retro Lancer rifle or Gnasher shotgun, so I’m using the old Amazing Armory versions.

(I’m also experimenting with a new indoor photo setup and post-processing, which explains the difference in the same light bluish gray between the two photos.)

Bricks of War brings Gears of War 3 to life in epic LEGO animation

When I haven’t been working, sleeping, building, or blogging, most of my waking hours over the past month have been spent playing Gears of War 3. My favorite things often inspire LEGO creations, a tendency I seem to share with LEGO stop-motion animator Kooberz Studios (aka Alex Kobbs), whose “Bricks of War” is going viral — for good reason!

It’s hard to miss Marcus’ Hammer of Dawn taking out the Corpser, but watch for some cool details like aiming the frag grenade and a Retro Lancer execution.

The making-of film itself has some excellent stop-motion sequences:

LEGO Gears of War Lancer Assault Rifle with firing action and motorized saw blade

This life-sized LEGO Gears of War Lancer Assault Rifle by PLUM B already has the looks to fit a C.O.G. soldier, but it also features a clip-fed firing mechanism that shoots rubber bands — perfect for taking out the paper Locust horde. If that’s not enough, the saw blade on the front of the gun is motorized for slice-and-dice action. See it all in the video below:

LEGO Gears of War Lancer rifle

New Arealight, BrickArms, & HAZEL items, + Minifig World stands [Review]

LEGO steampunk minifigsAs my contacts on Flickr will already have noticed, I’ve been posting custom minifigs fairly regularly over the past few weeks, but haven’t posted anything about them here on The Brothers Brick.

That’s because I’m approaching our review of the latest custom accessories a bit differently from the reviews we’ve posted of BrickArms and BrickForge in the past.

Our past reviews have taken somewhat of a purist approach — using nothing but items from one custom accessory creator. But I believe that the accessories LEGO fans have created to work with LEGO are best when they’re used together, so that’s how I approached the minifigs in these photos.

You’ll also see accessories from vendors we’ve reviewed more recently:

Still, each custom accessory vendor deserves their own review, so read on for my take on all the recent minifig accessories from Arealight, BrickArms, HAZEL, and Minifig World.

Arealight

Arealight Vespa scooterLEGO customizer Bluce Shu goes by Arealight online, and has been selling resin-cast accessories from his Bricklink store for some time.

I’d never seen any of Arealight’s items in person, but I hadn’t been impressed with the quality of the resin-cast stuff I’d seen from other customizers. When my batch of Arealight accessories arrived in the mail, though, I couldn’t have been more pleased.

Custom LEGO Jedi Roron Corobb minifigTrue, some of Arealight’s accessories don’t have the same tolerance as official LEGO elements — the hair doesn’t fit quite as perfectly and the headlight tends to fall off my Roman Holiday Vespa unless I twist the clear piece just right. There are also minor imperfections that differ from item to item.

Surprisingly, I’m willing to dismiss these quality issues because they just give the accessories a charming, handmade feel.

And because Arealight creates accessories unlike all others — Ithorian heads, Mandalorian armor, Vespa scooters, wavy capes, and more — I haven’t had so much fun building custom minifigs in a very long time.

For more photos, see my full photoset of Arealight accessories on Flickr.

BrickArms

LEGO sky piratesOne reason we didn’t do the full review of 2009 BrickArms accessories we’d promised is that the quality of Will Chapman‘s prototypes has improved so much that many of the released items don’t differ substantially from the preview versions we’ve already highlighted here.

That’s a great thing, but it makes a review seem a bit redundant.

Nevertheless, the latest BrickArms weapons include the wonderfully designed Lewis gun and Bazooka, as well as the much-anticipated MGL and combat shotgun. The quality and playability are nothing less than we’ve come to expect from BrickArms.

LEGO Jean-Luc Picard minifigAs always, Will is cooking up new prototypes in his garage.

The “photon pistol” is lovely in the hands of my Star Trek minifigs, the buildable ammo chain has infinite uses, and the “buzz gun” looks awesome.

History buffs are sure to be pleased by the Browning Automatic Rifle.

See lots more photos of past, current, and future BrickArms accessories in the full photoset on Flickr.

Amazing Armory by HAZEL

LEGO Gears of War character minifigsCustom accessory creator HAZEL is fairly new to the LEGO scene, first posting custom samurai on Flickr less than a year ago.

It wasn’t until he posted a batch of minifigs decked out in armor and weapons inspired by Gears of War that the customization community really took notice. There was clearly demand for these items, and HAZEL soon had a Bricklink store up and running.

Unfortunately, HAZEL disappeared from the online world just around the time I thought I’d buy a few items to review for the blog. With a string of negative feedback on Bricklink, I looked elsewhere, and ended up buying my HAZEL accessories from Custom Minifig Shop in the UK. Prices were about the same as directly from HAZEL, and shipping to the US was also reasonable.

Custom LEGO riot police minifigAs it turns out, HAZEL was in a horrible motorcycle accident and has apparently been in the hospital for a while. He recently posted again to Flickr and promises to make good on his overdue orders.

Why is all this relevant to my review? Because it’s important to remember that you’re often buying from a single individual with a side business, not a big corporation.

The custom accessories themselves appear to be resin-cast like Arealight’s. The texture isn’t perfectly smooth, nor the black a perfect match with LEGO, making these ideal candidates for further customization through painting. Having no talent in that area, I prefer my own accessories ready to use. Still, HAZEL’s accessories are great fun and a nice match for mecha pilots, post-apocalyptic survivors, and other sci-fi characters.

Minifig World Stands

LEGO Star Wars chrome-gold C-3PO minifigUnlike the weapons, headgear, and other accessories we’ve reviewed so far, Minifig World produces display stands for minifigs.

The stands have two studs for your little plastic friend’s feet, as well as holes on the underside for stackability.

Minifig World stands are excellent for showing off your minifigs, like that super-rare chrome-gold C-3PO.

Custom Gears of War 2 LEGO minifigs by HAZEL

HAZEL burst onto the scene with a Gears of War APC we featured less than a month ago. HAZEL’s latest batch of creations includes a set of absolutely amazing custom LEGO minifigs inspired by Gears of War 2.

LEGO Gears of War 2 minifigs by HAZEL

Tai Kaliso, Marcus Fenix, and one of the Carmine brothers are all decked out in custom armor and weapons created by HAZEL. I can’t wait to see what this master customizer will cook up next!

More than one way to skin an APC

Gears of War APC

One sure way of attracting my attention to your LEGO model is making it look bigger than it is. HAZEL-Fantasy (HAZEL-頑張ります!) has created a version of the Gears of War APC that’s well-crafted, detailed, beautifully curved and small. I’m quite blown away. It’s also nice to see a model of an APC that isn’t the (very cool) one from Aliens.

Marcus Fenix Minifig by Chuck

Everybody loves Gears of War! As demonstrated above, Chuck loves Gears of War. Legohaulic loves Gears of War. Alex Peacock loves Gears of War. I love Gears of War.

Hurray for Gears of War!

We’re not here to sell cookies!

Legohaulic presents a sculpture of Marcus Fenix from the Xbox 360 game Gears of War.

This creation has a lot going for it. In addition to being a great representation of a cool character from a cool game, Legohaulic uses pieces in some very interesting ways. Check out the tan minifig arms used for Marcus’ jaws, the tires and wheels on his arms, and the minifig capes around his hips.