Tag Archives: Italy

Dazzle me with your Battleship skills

LEGO builder João Eínon has been working on a series of Italian battleship models and his latest creation of the Andrea Doria in dazzle camouflage is absolutely stunning. The camouflage pattern is what caught my eye first, as it’s entirely brick-built and takes this scale model of the WWI and WWII battleship to a whole new level. It’s difficult enough to get decent shaping on a ship’s hull, but all the more so while building in an abstract pattern.

Andrea Doria rear view

But as impressive as the dazzle camo is, the rest of the ship’s details are also worth examining. Despite this model’s small scale, all of the turrets are faithfully recreated, and João’s ability to integrate interesting patterns gets more of a workout with the distinct red and white bow striping, a hallmark of Italy’s warships during WWII.

Andrea Doria details

Giving new meaning to the term “Little Italy”

Check out this duo of microscale Venetian palaces by builder -Brixe! The shaping on these two domiciles is impeccable, perfectly capturing the worn texture of these canal-hugging houses using bars and round plates. The color palette, with its shades of nougat and tan, contrasts the crisp light blue of the water flowing behind and in-between them. But the techniques are really where this micro-marvel stands out. I adore the use of this old school finger hinge to hold the grill plates in place as windows, with this similar piece employed for their associated balconies. And one final detail of note: the bridge joining both buildings is built with studs facing down, allowing for ideal stair construction at this scale.

Mini Venetian Houses

Studded seas and sea studs

Here at The Brothers Brick we love smart building techniques. Our hearts start beating a little bit faster when we see a LEGO part used in a clever way. But clever and smart do not always mean complex. Andrea Lattanzio shows us that sometimes simple is the way to go with their 1×1 round plate sea.

Theo's Trabuchet fishing hut

While it’s not a new technique, using different colours to create waves is a real nice touch. Making the house in the same vibrant colour as the ocean is a nice way to draw attention away from the bright sea and towards the detailed little house. Plus the bright colour of the house highlights all the earth-toned details around the house. If the house was earth-toned too, those little details wouldn’t stand out as much as they do now. However, the simple studded sea is probably one of the only simple techniques used in this creation. Andrea also built a trabucco, which is an ancient fishing machine from the east coast of Italy. This build looks like it is defying gravity and I truly wonder how sturdy it is. It looks so fragile with those thin legs. I can’t help but wonder how many times the legs collapsed when Andra made alterations to the platform on top. Or maybe the legs were added as the final step to the build to prevent this from happening.

Visiting a Venice-like Vacation

LEGO builder Ayrlego has stunned us with this incredible Venitian-style vintage building and dock.

L'incontro sul Balcone

What’s not to like about this build? The windows caught my eyes first, as their simple design carries so much implied detail. It’s impressive that Ayrlego was able to replicate the window design not once, not twice, but seven times. Harder to spot is the stair railing, which is made up of cheese slopes and eyeglass pieces. So simple, yet the paired brick choice is flawless for how well it works here. I love the pattern of the rounded and square tiles scattered throughout the build as well.

Ayrlego has been featured on The Brother’s Brick several times before. Check out his builds here.

Silencio, Bruno!

It hasn’t been long since Luca premiered and already we have a fantastic model to behold. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, don’t worry, there aren’t any spoilers to be had here, just a beautiful scene based on the town of Portorosso. Builder Thomas Carlier is fond of creating vignettes of Disney and Pixar films, making beautiful models of iconic scenes from each movie. Scrolling through his feed is a rollercoaster of nostalgia, each creation beautifully crafted to capture the spirit and feeling of the movie being celebrated. Pixar’s dreamy stylizations and Miyazaki-inspired visual flow are full of lush details that make for intense models when translated into brick form and this rendered model of Portorosso is bright and eye-catching, the textures and proportions matching well with their film counterparts. Let’s take a closer look at how Thomas tackled this perfect summer flick.

Those roofs definitely draw the eye but moving down we can appreciate the texture and structure of the buildings. Various techniques were used to emulate the masonry of the shops and homes from the movie. I love the slanted shutters and the use of flat clips lining the gutters. Minifigure versions of each of the main characters make an appearance with Luca and Alberto enjoying some ice cream while Giulia makes deliveries on her bike and Ercole stands near his precious Vespa waiting for someone to bully. The slight bit of water lapping up against the dock really set the scene, allowing us to imagine what might come out of those calm waves while the people of the town enjoy the sun and community of the fountain in the square.

LEGO 10276 Colosseum takes builders to Ancient Rome [Review]

Recently, LEGO has been licensing numerous franchises and brands, from auto manufacturers to movies and cartoons. However, none of those collaborations is strong enough to result in the biggest LEGO product ever released. The truth is, LEGO is at its best when “licensing” Italian history and culture. And it’s not surprising: there are so many perfect things created by Italians, and they look even better when rendered with danish bricks. After numerous Ferrari cars, the recent 10271 Fiat 500, and even 21026 Venice from Architecture theme, here comes the largest LEGO set released so far, 10276 Colosseum. Consisting of 9,036 pieces, it is almost 1,500 pieces bigger than the previous record-holder, Star Wars 75192 UCS Millennium Falcon. The new set is available starting today, for US $549.99 | CAN $649.99 | UK £449.99, which is, in the US, $250 less than the original 75192 Millennium Falcon price tag. Let’s build and take a closer look at one of the most famous Italian landmarks.

Click for the full review of the magnificent architecture

Say Ciao to this charming Italian villa

Koala Yummies is no stranger to The Brothers Brick and their latest creation definitely deserves a mention. If this were a modular I’d buy it in a heartbeat. There are quite a few features that set this creation apart so let’s dive into it!

The roof design on both of the buildings is amazing. For the taller building, 1×1 round bricks are used to represent roof shingles while on the shorter building curved double slopes were used. The window treatments are different but equally stunning with the white building utilizing boomerangs to adorn the windows and on the tan buildings we have arches combined with curved wedges. Tying it all together, both buildings use the ingot bar and masonry brick have been used to add texture to the walls. There are also a lot of half circle and quarter round tiles used to represent broken pavement. Last but not least, I love a building with plants trailing the facade, in real life and in LEGO life. And this one looks lush with all those plant parts added to it.

1_D4C5616

The perfect pastime

The idea for a new quarantine hobby — marble sculpture. Oh sure, it can be pricey and a little hazardous… but if we’re talking about LEGO, all you need is a monochrome minifig on hand and a few Tuscan houses to set a scene like Kev.the.builder’s latest creation. In this idyllic build, Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci is carving out a new masterpiece. The sculpture looks very polished, being made of a variety of tiles, including a Nexo Knights shield and macaroni tiles. The houses in the background are great examples of Kev’s knack for textured brickwork. My favorite is the dark tan house on the right, with its inset masonry brick door. The exposed studs on its pediment add a nice rustic touch at the top of an upside-down cheese slope archway.

The Polymath: Sculpture

Italy-stay home, stay strong

We are living in truly strange and uncertain times. There is a silver lining amid this global pandemic lockdown though. Most nations are reporting cleaner air, cleaner water, and nature sort of healing itself. I, for one, am enjoying hearing more birds and frogs and seeing stars in the night sky for the first time in quite a while. And I don’t know about you but my car is getting a solid four weeks to the gallon! However, First Order Lego also sees a glimmer of hope, as do most of us, in a return back to normalcy.

“Balcony Runway” (Italy- Stay home, stay strong)

A plane in the sky is becoming an increasingly rarer sight these days and it looks rather awe-inspiring in this composition. The low-angle view is well-suited here and I really enjoy the colors and textures of these balconies. Italy has been hard hit with the pandemic so this builder was inspired to build balconies with a Mediterranean feel complete with numerous plants. Italy, and the rest of the world, let’s stay home, stay strong and, if we listen to our healthcare officials, we should be back to normalcy in due time.

A stunning rendition of Venice’s St. Mark’s Basilica

With all that is going on in the world today, it makes me wonder if I’ll ever be able to travel again. Will I get to see Italy, with all of its beautiful architecture, from the Roman ruins to the Catholic cathedrals, in person? Maybe not; although, if airfare stays cheap, I might be able to afford it for once! But just in case I can’t make the trip myself, talented LEGO builders like Giacinto Consiglio bring a taste of Italy to me. In this case, it is St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice. The architectural beauty is lovingly crafted for us in microscale, perfect for tiny statuette tourists and worshipers.

St Mark's Square: instructions are coming!

These days, I find it increasingly difficult to differentiate between good renders and photos of real bricks, but does it really matter when the building is done so well? The tower is fantastic, especially the windows. The winged lion representing St. Mark over the entrance is also lovely, as are all of the other saint statues with One Ring golden halos. But my favorite detail has to be that rose window on the south facade, with excellent use of the newer arch piece. It’s the best rose window I have seen in LEGO, at any scale. Now to go buy my plane tickets to pay a visit to the real thing!

St Mark's Basilica-south facade

Santa Maria del Fiore – a Florentine cathedral to lift the spirit

When the master builders of the Renaissance were building things from bricks, they were not using ABS plastic like LEGO master builders do today. They were building with marble, constructing some of the most beautiful buildings ever built. The proportions, the balance, the arrangement of the different elements were intended to raise the hearts and spirits of those visiting to an experience of the supernatural. Scaled down and converted from marble to ABS, those same buildings remain awe-inspiring. Take this model of Santa Maria del Fiore, the cathedral of Florence, Italy. Perhaps bricksandtiles is not Arnolfo di Cambio or Filippo Brunelleschi, some of the men who designed various parts of it (the cathedral was under construction from 1296 until 1436, when the dome was completed and the church was consecrated, so lots had their hand on it), but nonetheless this LEGO version is spectacular in its own right.

Florence Cathedral

The famed octagonal dome is built from countless rounded 1×2 plates, mimicking the tiled roof splendidly. Sand green grille tiles serve as green marble borders to the intricate multicolored inlays on the real thing. But there is a lot more inlaying of sand green with the white, brick built all over the place. With the tower and the baptistry, the whole structure is a massive LEGO build, worthy of the UNESCO World Heritage site.

Florence Cathedral

Of course, this is not the first version of the cathedral featured on The Brothers Brick; check out another LEGO Florence cathedral we featured last year.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the gelato

Once you sample gelato, you won’t look at ice cream the same way anymore! It’s absolutely creamy and delightful, and a little bit goes a long way. Builder Sebastian-Z has taken the famous Italian dessert and given it a LEGO home. The architecture is iconically Italian, complete with an outdoor dining area and tall shuttered windows. Looking through the tall first-floor windows reveals a glimpse of the interior, though the exterior steals the limelight. The lighting in the central courtyard is a nice touch, as is the greenery alongside the building and crawling up its walls.

Romantic Gelato 4 (Lego MOC)

To be truly appreciated, the building is best viewed from multiple angles. I didn’t notice the sculpture in the courtyard until seeing this composite image. It’s a delicious looking build that will leave you exclaiming, “Buon appetito!”

Romantic Gelato Collage (Lego MOC)