Thinking outside the element

One of the joys of writing for the Brothers Brick is seeing how LEGO builders make clever use of the parts in their collection. Emil Lidé has been experimenting with parts in unconventional ways, including using dark green minifig plumes for grass. The plumes are affixed to the 1×1 round tile with bar and pin holder, which allows them to be tilted in multiple directions. This in turn gives the grass a random but natural-looking pattern. As someone who loves LEGO landscaping, it would be exciting to see this technique used on a larger scale!

Element Experimentation: Grass

Another dinosaur comes back to life in this kinetic sculpture

Building dinosaurs is undeniably awesome. Even more awesome is taking it a step further and making them move. This eye-catching Allosaurus is the work of Cornbuilder, who we featured back in March with his incredible giant black dragon. (At the time, his username was mrxsto99) His latest carnivore creation isn’t a major departure, although instead of lighting effects, this time the creature walks!

Allosaurus

The movement of the lumbering giant is actually made possible through a reverse engineering and tweaking of Jason Allemann’s iconic Sisyphus kinetic sculpture. The mechanism runs off a single LEGO Power Functions M-motor and battery pack.

Back in May we covered some other dinosaurs that could not only walk, but also swing their tale and bend their necks to eat. Read more about the evolution of those creations here.

Great deals on LEGO Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts sets on Amazon (US)

There are a few LEGO Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts deals on Amazon right now that are a steal if you haven’t already got them. Here’s your chance to grab them before they’re gone.

Click to see the items on discount

An epic battle on a teeny tiny scale

Straight from a storybook, this little build by Lubeee is simple yet adorable. Titled, “Micro Fable” it gives us a window into another world, and I must say it looks nice under that glass. You can’t help but admire the tiny dueling dragons as they soar above the castle and forest below. I’d love to see this continue as a series of small fable vignettes!

Micro Fable

Pandora’s changed... are you ready?

Borderlands 2 is a first-person action role-playing game and the most popular title from 2K Games, selling over 13 million copies. It’s no wonder that there are hardcore fans like Sam Beattie who can’t resist bringing them to life as LEGO character models.


(Left to Right) Axton, Gaige, Krieg, Claptrap, Maya, Salvador, and Zer0

It’s not often we get to peek inside a builder’s mind to learn their development process, so hopefully some of you will be inspired by the amount of toil and sweat to get to the end product. Every journey begins with a spark, and Sam tells The Brothers Brick that this group of heroes has been in idea form for many years. What triggered him to finally get building was when BrickCon was nearing — just 6 weeks before the event earlier this month, to be exact.

Learn more about these Borderlands characters built from LEGO

Ninjago City collaborative display at BrickCon 2018

Our recent collaborative display at BrickCon 2018 in Seattle was an outstanding success, generating an amazing response from both the convention attendees and the public. What started as an idea back in February of this year to expand on the official city set for my son, who is a big Ninjago fan, turned into one of the most popular displays at BrickCon, judging by the crowds leaning into the stanchions, and the tremendously positive feedback we received throughout the 4-day convention. Our collaboration enjoyed the participation of over 30 people, comprising a few of our staff and a lot of awesome readers, and together we displayed nearly 60 custom blocks for Ninjago City, plus numerous sections of waterway.

Ninjago City-0

Read on for more details about the display

Who drove it best? Lamborghini Aventador or Toyota Prius

A couple of really high quality LEGO car models rolled across our monitors this week so I thought we’d take the opportunity to feature both models, hailing from very different economic classes but from a pair of equally talented creators. On the affordable-by-the-common-man end of the spectrum, we have hachiroku24‘s Toyota Prius model topping out around USD$24,000. And he’s provided a handy parts guide and instructional video.

Lego Toyota Prius MOC

Breaking the bank at the other end of the scale is Jonathan Elliot‘s high class USD$400,000 Lamborghini Aventador.

Lamborghini Aventador

I genuinely appreciate when iconic shapes are accomplished with creative parts use, and both these cars fit that qualification. Both builders are masters of their craft, consistently perfecting minifig scale automobiles. My absolute favorite new(er) piece use here is the front bumper of the start white Aventador achieved with mirrored Wedge 2×1 with stud notch Left and Right. It’s such a distinctive shape at such a small scale. The utilitarian grey Prius’ curved frame is brought about with flex cable and the Bar Holder with Handle

And if you like these cars as much as we do, make sure to check out hachiroku’s chill, easy-to-follow VW Bus building instructions from last week and Jonathan’s trio of classic cars shared earlier this summer.

Cute kraken is cracking me up

Behold the beast as it rises from the depths! Fear his googly-eyed gaze! Smirk at his cuteness! And bow down before Kelvin Low‘s innovative LEGO parts usage. This giant Kraken menacing a medieval town’s waterfront is a great example of what can be done when imagination meets even the most specialised LEGO pieces. The aquatic monstrosity is built from T-Rex parts! The colours of the dinosaur torso and tails work perfectly as Kraken-skin, and the threatened town is a nice little collection of microscale buildings. This is just plain old good fun with the bricks.

LEGO Kraken

Mechanical master of the arena

Gladiators had to face all manners of dangers in the arena, but as Mitsuru Nikaido shows, sometimes the gladiator is scarier than any beast that could be pitted against it, and the builder has made quite a few, many of which featured on the Brothers Brick.

LEGO Robot Mk16-01TT

Nothing says “dangerous” like black and yellow stripes, showing which parts of the mech should be avoided–which here is basically all of them. The builder uses lots of new elements to achieve very flowing shapes of the armour, as well as intensely detailed mechanical parts. The best part use is probably the sword, made out of a helicopter rotor blade.

The escape of the Gringott’s dragon

There were so many terrific creations for our Microbuild Magic! Contest that it was incredibly difficult to choose the winners. While not everyone can win, there are still more that are certainly worthy of a spot on our front page. One wonderful build that caught our eye was this little recreation of Gringott’s Bank, complete with the Ukrainian Ironbelly dragon. The artist behind the build is Zed, who also recreated Harry’s “Cupboard Under the Stairs” for the competition. There were several Gringott’s scenes, but this was one that really stood out.

Gringott's Bank

I’m a big fan of the clever parts usage on the dragon, as well as the contrast of the dark vaults below. The wand-sprue gate is a perfect touch. Overall, the build is clean and elegant, and made even more so by the black background and crisp photography.

Mini LEGO Fireball racer from Star Wars: Resistance

If the Disney animated series Star Wars: Rebels was any indication, LEGO fans can look forward to a full assortment of sets featuring the characters and vehicles from the new series, Star Wars: Resistance, which just debuted a couple weeks ago. While we wait for official sets, we can enjoy this lovely mini version of the Fireball, a racing ship maintained by Kaz Xiono, Tam Ryvora, and their teammates, built in brick by Tim Goddard. Tim captures the unique color schemes and markings wonderfully, including the little fins and vanes on the nose and wingtips, and even the small gray panel in the white stripe near the nose.

Fireball

Next up, Torra Doza’s Blue Ace in iconic Gulf Oil livery?

LEGO outpost under construction

LEGO castles have been a fan favorite subject for builders for a very long time, possibly ever since the release of the classic castle set back in 1978. And we here at TBB feature many castles and other medieval constructions every year. Typically, castle models we feature are fully completed structures, but every now and then, we come across a model that shows the long and arduous construction process that went into building the real-life castles and fortifications that so many builders get their inspiration from.

And that is exactly what we have in this outpost under construction by Ayrlego The keep is situated on a very nicely sculpted riverside setting and features two sections in various stages of construction.

Falcontop Keep

The slate roof uses collectible minifig bases and shows an internal structure of brown pipes. The roof even includes a small stack of slates and a section in progress where 1×1 plates and tiles are used to show the installation process.

Falcontop Keep - Roofing

At the top of the keep, the main turret is incomplete. The star of the model, for me, is the crane with a wheel which uses human power to raise the rocks needed to complete the work.

Falcontop Keep - Crane

There are also many great details in the completed portion of the keep, such as the perfect amount of plates and tiles in alternate colors to give a little wear to the walls. Also, sturdy, well-fortified arrow slits on the first floor, balanced by more detailed windows on the second floor provide a blend of form and function.

Fealcencnæpp Keep - Crane and Roof