Yearly Archives: 2017

Achieve serenity with free LEGO building instructions for an “Outlaw Spaceship” from TBB [Instructions]

As a holiday gift to our readers, The Brothers Brick commissioned talented LEGO artist Tyler Clites to design a LEGO model that everybody can build. This custom “Outlaw Spaceship” should make any sci-fi fan’s heart twinkle like a firefly in the depths of space.

Our simple, step-by-step instructions and parts list will help you assemble this unique model unveiled for the first time here. It’s full of LEGO building techniques you won’t generally see in an official LEGO model, so it’s also an opportunity to learn a few tips and tricks. Let us know in the comments if you like these instructions, and we may do them more regularly in the future.

See the step-by-step instructions and parts list for our Outlaw Spaceship

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A utopian place to call home

Life can be busy and sometimes we need to find a place that allows us to relax and unwind. Rather than search high and low for that special place, Milan Sekiz has built his own sanctuary with LEGO bricks. This tranquil scene is beautiful, with its soothing colour scheme and some very nice natural features in the garden. I love the way the colour combination of the leaves tone in nicely with the sloping roofs of the home in the background.

My own favourite part of the scene is the little stream and the cleverly constructed bridge connecting the stone path. Milan has used different coloured plates under the transparent light blue tiles to give the impression of a textured river bed.

There’s only one minor part of the scene that kicked me from my tranquil, meditative state; the combination of the yellow minifigures and flesh has a jolting effect on my irritable nerve.

One tram-endous model

Public transportation has never looked as cool as this tram by Vince Toulouse, who has put a ton of design consideration into this multi-story vehicle. There are some very cool details built using a number of distinct LEGO System, DUPLO, and Fabuland components in yellow.

See more details of this sci-fi tram below

2017 LEGO Advent Calendars: Day 13

Welcome to Day 13 of our LEGO Advent Calendar countdown. Each day, we’ll reveal the three mini-builds from the LEGO City, LEGO Star Wars, and LEGO Friends 2017 advent calendars along with commentary from our team.

If you’re opening one (or more) of these advent calendars along with us, we’ve made sure the pictures and commentary on each day’s models will be behind a jump and posted in the evening every day, so we don’t accidentally ruin the surprise. Will Day 13 be routine?

Click to reveal today’s LEGO advent calendar builds!

A Jurassic Park Jeep you’ll want to keep [Instructions]

There must be something about Jurassic Park that LEGO fans are fond of, because there seems to be a never-ending stream of cool Jurassic Park builds. We’ve certainly covered quite a few of those neat Jurassic Park LEGO builds on The Brothers Brick in the past. This time around, it’s a super-sleek Jeep Wrangler from Jurassic Park built by hachiroku24. The scale of this build closely mirrors that of the vehicles that appear in various LEGO sets, however this Jeep is much more intricate than most sets.

Perhaps you want to build your own version of this Jeep? Fortunately, the builder has been kind enough to create a wonderful instructions video and post it on YouTube for us all to enjoy. And build.

A neat historical flick made from the brick: “Chicago Pile-1: A Brick History” [Video]

Recently, Dave Pickett from the YouTube channel Brick 101 created a video for the Argonne National Laboratory called “Chicago Pile-1: A Brick History”. The final product turned out great. Coming in at 2 minutes and 51 seconds, the animation is full of all sorts of thoughtful touches. From the composition of the scenes to the LEGO buildings found within, this is absolutely the work of a maestro.

But how exactly did he make it? David’s behind the scenes video gives some insight.

Watch the behind-the-scenes video and learn more about how LEGO stop-motion movies are made

A little bubble of festive cheer

Every LEGO-loving home should have some brick-built decorations. Why not take inspiration from seb toutouille and build your own lovely little snow globe model? This is so sweet, with good use of unicorn horns and ice cream scoops to create snowy upper branches for the trees. The silver and gold microfigures add a nice touch of festive sparkle to proceedings too. I could just see this as a table decoration during Christmas dinner.

Murder in Dead End alley

If you have never heard of Barthezz Brick before, I will not blame you. But after this recent creation of his, “A Cold Day in Hell,” there will be no excuse for that! We rarely feature custom minifigures, which seem to be Barthezz’s strongest point, so there is no surprise he has stayed under the radar for most LEGO fans, but now he has made a definite breakthrough into more widely popular themes.

Not a single stud of space is wasted on this diorama, with a busy crime scene at the ground level and details on every single building, on every level — including the roof.

See more of this fantastically detailed LEGO diorama

2018 seasonal LEGO BrickHeadz revealed: 6 new original characters starting with 40270 Valentine’s Bee [News]

All official LEGO BrickHeadz sets until now have represented characters from movies and comic books, including Marvel, DC, Star Wars, and The LEGO Ninjago Movie. With the unveiling of 70270 Valentine’s Bee, LEGO is highlighting the potential of non-IP BrickHeadz (in other words, BrickHeadz not inspired by a licensed intellectual property like a movie or comic book).

The back of the box also reveals five more LEGO BrickHeadz seasonal characters for 2018. If you prefer to be surprised by seasonal sets, consider this a SPOILER warning. If not, hit the jump and check out the rest.

See all six 2018 seasonal LEGO BrickHeadz characters

Flitting hither and thither, the fantail always appears in a dither

The New Zealand fantail, or pīwakawaka in Te Reo (the language of the native Maori), is one of the cheekiest little birds you will ever meet. Beautifully recreated in LEGO by BrickMonkey MOCs, the fantail is known for its friendly ‘cheet cheet’ call and energetic flying antics. Smaller than a house sparrow, these audacious little guys flit around twittering and swooping within centimetres of your head if you find yourself outdoors in the native bush. The aptly named fantail is one of the most common and widely distributed native birds on the New Zealand mainland.

2017 LEGO Advent Calendars: Day 12

Welcome to Day 12 of our LEGO Advent Calendar countdown. Each day, we’ll reveal the three mini-builds from the LEGO City, LEGO Star Wars, and LEGO Friends 2017 advent calendars along with commentary from our team.

Click to reveal today’s LEGO advent calendar builds!

We’re going to need a bigger boat

After writing our review of the giant shark-mech 70656 garmadon, Garmadon, GARMADON! from The LEGO Ninjago Movie, Elspeth De Montes was inspired to transform the shark into the most famous one of all. I mean, of course, the great white from Jaws, and Garmadon’s shark seems well suited to the role once the un-shark-like feet are removed. Add in the the back half of the Orca and some waves, and this vignette already has me humming duuuun dun…. duuuun dun…. duuuun dun….