Monthly Archives: September 2018

The lurker in the murky depths

Erstwhile LEGO gearhead guru Lino Martins is mixing it up, bringing us a big vignette of a haunting brackish backwater with a dark secret. This collection of treehouses forms a small bayou village, whose residents are sworn to placate a fearsome beast with blood sacrifices, often in the form of giant alligators lowered into the creature’s tentacled arms by means of a rickety contraption. The smooth dark green bricks make excellent ponds of stale water, with a smooth finish of algae broken only by a few small ripples as the monster’s arms raise.

Horror at Mangrove Swamp

What with the swamp being infested by an otherworldly horror, it’s best not to disturb that calm water, or indeed get anywhere near more than is absolutely necessary. That, plus the lack of land in the middle of swamp, means the townsfolk of Mangrove Swamp have all the necessities built on raised platforms, from farming to swine raising. Continue reading →

Happy Birthday, Bilbo and Frodo! It’s Hobbit’s Day!

Bilbo and Frodo Baggins were born 78 years apart, but with exactly the same birthday, on the 22nd of September. It is their birthday today and thus they make a mark on our Gregorian calendar – declared as Hobbit Day! And to commemorate the festivities, builder Thorsten Bonsch gifts us with a vignette that’s worthy of a weary hobbit to rest and unwind with a warm and cozy corner of home tucked in a corner of the Shire. Thorston’s clever techniques with 1×1 plates for the arc of the fireplace and a tessellated centrepiece for the floor using an assortment of cheese slopes in a variety of colors, all lit with perfect lighting, makes this a breathtaking and picturesque scene.

Happy Hobbit Day everybody!

Take another look at this Space Police 6986 box art

In the past we’ve covered 1:1 scale reproductions of boardgame boxes, computer monitors, even LEGO’s earliest wooden toys. Some builders have even set up display cases to show off original sets with some basic background mockups. What you’ve probably never seen is a lovingly recreated diorama of original box art made out of LEGO. Builder Renaud Petit has transported us back to 1989 when this Space Police set was originally produced.

6986

Check out the original box art on Brickset:

Although this particular set was outside my age range, I still have nostalgic feelings for the dated old themes’ box art that featured landscaping, sunsets, and laser fields. We’d love to see this as a series: I have some recommendations. Shoot, even the recent 71043 Hogwarts Castle would look fetching with a detailed LEGO backdrop of that beautiful box!

If you have an appetite for more 1:1 scale LEGO models take a look through our tagged archives!

Brilliant, beautiful, Brickatti.

Building a LEGO Bugatti in minifigure scale is a task that could baffle a novice builder. Luckily, Jussi Koskinen is no beginner, as he has managed to artfully capture the delicate curves and lines of the Bugatti Chiron Sport. And not only are those curves artfully captured, they are represented with innovative parts usages as well — for example, the sausages used on the fenders, and red flex tube to accomplish the sweeping lines on the side of the car.

Bugatti Chiron Sport

The Bugatti looks just as alluring when viewed from the back as well, where red rubber bands are wrapped around the rear lights, both to provide the lights with a solid color outline and fill in gaps that would otherwise be visible. Couple this excellent build with some beautiful photography and subtle effects, and you’ve got a photo that appears to be right out of Car and Driver magazine.

Bugatti Chiron Sport

She’s got it where it counts, kid. I’ve made a lot of special modifications myself.

The newest Star Wars movie, Solo, actually showed that the origins of the Millennium Falcon had her covered in a sleek blue and white paint job. I’d like to think that if you go back a few more years, her factory finish looked a lot like this awesomely LEGO Classic Space redux from BeO Johansson. A classy makeover of the original Ultimate Collector’s Series Millennium Falcon (not the new version we reviewed), the blue and trans-yellow color scheme is packed full of nostalgia, helped with some fun nods to the old space sets from the 70s and 80s, such as the rear wing.

Although this version of the UCS Falcon doesn’t feature an interior (unlike the new version we reviewed), the cockpit, the builder has done some nifty upgrades to the cockpit, outfitting it with period-appropriate telemetry, AKA old-school computer elements.  Continue reading →

There’s still time to build for TBB’s Ninjago City collaboration for BrickCon 2018 [News]

With only a few weeks until BrickCon 2018, we here at The Brothers Brick are super excited by the tremendous positive response to our collaborative public display! With over 30 contributors signed up to participate, it is shaping up to be one of our larger projects! For more information about the project, check out our original announcement feature. Also, be sure to check out our recent feature on building the lower level of Ninjago City. There is still time to join the fun if you are registered to attend the private convention from October 4-7 in Seattle. Check out the Flickr group to join the project, or to see more photos by contributors.

Just be sure to register your creation by Sept. 30th so we can be sure to have enough space allocated for the display.

Continue reading

Citizen Brick Day 5.5 brings short-run prototypes and other rare minifigs – Sat, Sep 21 [News]

A couple times a year, our friends over at Citizen Brick open their vault and pull out all the prototypes and other rare pieces that they’ve only produced in limited amounts. Because their quality is indistinguishable from official LEGO products, we’ve been huge fans of Citizen Brick for many years. As always, one-off items will be released every couple of hours, and tend to disappear quickly, so check CitizenBrick.com regularly to pick up unusual items that may never be produced as products.

Full disclosure: Citizen Brick is an advertising partner of The Brothers Brick. However, our advertisers have no influence over The Brothers Brick’s news coverage.

Star Wars dune buddies

I’d always imagined that a Stormtrooper’s lot was a hard one. Endless patrols beyond the Dune Sea hunting down pesky Rebels; and for what thanks! These LEGO Sandtroopers by LEGO 7 go some way to humanising the Empire’s faceless heavies. Built with dirty and distressed body armour and posed reminiscently of soldiers from real-world conflicts, I absolutely buy into their battle-weary plight. It’s a genuinely touching human tribute to one of Star War’s most recognisable bad guys.

Sandtroopers

Sit down, open wide, and get ready for the fluoride

When I saw this dental chair built by Luis Peña, I was uncomfortably impressed. On one hand, it triggered anxiety about needing to schedule a dental appointment. At the same time, Luis’ attention to detail brought my teeth out of hiding with a beaming smile. The entire scene feels authentic, with a tilting chair, folding overhead lamp, and a drill. “Yikes!” Luis presented this lovely model to his sister-in-law, who is celebrating her 30th anniversary working as a dentist.

Dentist’s Office

Mini LEGO Mini is, in a word, Fab

There are a few cars from the 60’s that are instantly recognizable in any form they take, and the Mini is definitely one of them. Originally produced from 1959-2000 by the English-based British Motor Corporation and its successors, it became an icon for British popular culture. This LEGO model by Pixeljunkie captures the iconic vehicle quite nicely. The custom chrome elements and racing stripes give the tiny car so much character, and the use of a minifigure roller skate for the door handle is pure genius. I also love the gold ingot piece as the headrest on the driver seat.

Classic Mini

Oh, and in case you are wondering… it does fit a minifigure driver.

Original Mini

Build your own LEGO Fortnite Glider and Loot Llama [Instructions]

YouTuber The Action Brick shares the love for Fortnite and his LEGO knowledge with a couple easy-to-follow minifigure-scale building guides. Gather your materials and drop into these instructional videos showing how to build a glider and Loot Llama from the wildly popular battle royale! These mini builds were featured in his vignette of the Fatal Fields region.

The Action Brick LEGO Fortnite Fatal Fields

First, we have the default glider. After following these instructions, all you will need is a minifigure avatar to fly it!

Second, we have the cute little Loot Llama! Will its contents lead to a victory royale?

These LEGO scenes from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them are magical

The wizarding world is back with a new Fantastic Beasts movie this fall, and with it comes a whole bunch of new LEGO, such as Newt’s Case of Magical Creatures. Over the years we’ve featured a lot of great custom Wizarding World LEGO creations here on TBB, but these vignettes by Thorsten Bonsch are among my personal favorites, capturing some iconic scenes from the first Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which was released to theaters in 2016.

The collection opens with Newt on the deck of the ship that will deliver him to New York. One of my favorite parts is the black robot arm that makes the armrest on the bench, which gives it a great wrought-iron look.
Fantastic Beasts 1

Next, there is the scene at the New York Customs station, where Newt disguises his mysterious case as an ordinary collection of mundane possessions. All of the other mini-figures in the scene are well suited to the time period. Also, this scene has some of the best floor textures I have seen in a while, including a simple 1×1 plate set upside down. Continue reading →