Yearly Archives: 2019

Classic Castle or Modern Town?

In the last few decades, two of the most popular themes for LEGO creations are Castle and Town. Sandro Damiano has built a scene that could fall into either. Usually, it’s pretty easy to categorize a creation as one or the other, but at what point does a castle creation become a town creation? Is it a town creation simply because it is clearly in the modern day? Couldn’t we have a medieval village and still call categorize it as Town? Is an abundance of grey, brown, or tan required to be called a castle? Or maybe a protective perimeter wall?

The name of this beautiful creation does call it a Bavarian Town, but I’d argue it could fit into either theme. Replace the town minifigures and details with castle characters and details and – ta da – you’d get an amazing medieval Bavarian Town.

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Take a sip of ’90s pop-culture with the new LEGO Ideas 21319 Central Perk set from Friends [News]

It’s been 25 years since the day Rachel entered the doors of the Central Perk Café dressed as a bride, kicking off the story of the six most famous friends in New York City. Recently, The LEGO Group has been doing an excellent job celebrating anniversaries of the most remarkable events (such as the moon landing) and the 25th anniversary of the US TV show Friends is yet another fantastic occasion for one special set, LEGO Ideas 21319 Central Perk. The model of the iconic coffee-house consists of 1,070 pieces and comes with 7 minifigures of the cast. The set will be available for purchase beginning September 1 and will retail for $59.99 US | $89.99 CAN | £64.99 UK.

Click here to learn more about the new set…

A very special homecoming

Every journey comes to an end sometime, and for this weary traveler, his journey ends with a warm welcome from a loving father in this lovely scene by Carter Witz. One of the first details that caught my eye was the gently angled wall along the riverside.

The same style of stacked plates and tiles is carried through to the back yard, which also features simple but interesting trees and other vegetation.

Carter has included a fully detailed interior, which suggests, along with the letter in the father’s hand, that this homecoming was expected, and a yet another treasure of home is waiting. A good meal.

The Xiantong Temple Tribute

Chinese builder Qian Yj has been producing beautiful architectural models for a few years now, many of which can be found in the TBB archives, including the hexagonal Tianfeng Pagoda and the Sichuan home. The builder’s latest creation is a mammoth tribute to the Wuliang Hall of the sprawling 400-building Xiantong Temple complex in China. “Wuliang” translates to “infinite” or “immeasurable” but we think it measures up quite magnificently.

Continue reading →

A castle for your princess

When I first saw this diorama titled Molly’s Castle, I actually thought it was microscale due to the overall silhouette. But then I spotted some minifigures high atop the turrets, and mounted knights wending their way through the forest. Built by Jon & Catherine Stead over just six days, this LEGO diorama features a rare tan castle in a verdant setting, with plenty of details to ogle. Measuring nearly 4 feet in length and 17 inches tall, you won’t lack for adventure here.

Click to see more of the castle diorama

Build your own reversible LEGO Castle Byers model from Stranger Things [Instructions]

Does your copy of 75810 The Upside Down look a little lonely displayed all on its own? To help celebrate the TBB Upside Down building contest, we’ve got step-by-step instructions to build a minifigure scale Castle Byers to keep it company. Created by yours truly, the creation features both Will Byers’ pleasant-looking forest abode and an upside-down version in the same style as the official set.

LEGO did release a tiny version of Castle Byers which we reviewed recently, but we think this one fits the theme a bit better. The instructions PDF can be downloaded here, along with the Bricklink Studio digital file. And if you have an itch to build more Hawkins locations and their corresponding upside-down versions, don’t forget to enter our TBB Upside Down building contest! There’s only a week left to enter, with the deadline on August 15th. Now’s your chance to swoop in and win a copy of 75810 The Upside Down, along with the LEGO store exclusive Castle Byers build.

Ridin’ high on the Hog

What do you do after you buy the LEGO Harley-Davidson Fat Boy set? If you guessed build it a black and dark red friend and an entire garage for it, then you would be correct. That is clearly the most logical option and a builder who goes by the name Derboor has beat the rest of us to it. The result is part garage, part toy shop and part museum. The clutter, the disarray, and even haphazard pattern on the walls and floor make for a well-used, well-loved space. I’m seeing a refrigerator likely filled with cold refreshments, along with a toy train, model skeleton and an R2-D2 Polybag set. I also spy several trophies, a first aid kit, a spider and even Darth Vader looming in a most uncanny place — but I will let you find that for yourself. What other hidden treasures can you find?

After zooming in and discovering all the treasure you can, you might want to also discover our Harley-Davidson set review.

What exactly am I looking at?

I’m always impressed when someone builds something with LEGO bricks that doesn’t have a strong tie to an established theme or building style. It takes a special kind of eye to look beyond the mundane, and builder why.not? has that vision. Or they had a vision. Or maybe just a very bad dream. Whatever the source, they have brought to us an unsettling image indeed.
The central eye is built from 1×2 and 1×4 plates, using subtle color variation in light blue, tan, and blue grey to create a convincing iris against a white brick background.

Eyelashes are constructed from minifigure hands clipped to the modified plates and tiles that create a smooth curve to the eyelid. There’s even a curved brick to represent the tear duct.
Additional creepy details include an abundance of Technic (eye)ball joints, a floating maw made of teeth and quarter-round tiles, and dangling red tentacles. The heart uses exotic elements like a sand blue dinosaur tail and medium lavender flexible hose. There’s even a dragon wing hidden in the blood(?) in the upper right.

I’m not sure what this piece says to me. But I’m kind of glad it can’t talk. I doubt I’d want to hear the messsage it brings.

A perfect castle destination for that end-of-summer family vacation

When I think of all the activities and amenities I want in the perfect vacation locale, the first things that come to mind are: disease-filled swamps; crocodile-infested waters; dark, damp, and uncomfortable rooms; seminars on torture; unnecessary violence; and a complimentary continental breakfast. Fortunately for me, Patrick Massey has built exactly such a place! The dark green waters around Stormholme Castle tempt me with their malaria, West Nile, or dengue-carrying mosquitoes, and the lushness of the vegetation makes me certain that the humidity level is probably about as close to the carrying capacity of air as it can get; I love sweating profusely while being bitten by bugs, don’t you? The dark gray castle itself looks appropriately foreboding, given its swampy setting, and is, shockingly enough, Patrick’s first actual castle (he has specialized in the medieval fantasy genre for at least six years, yet never built a castle; a few towers, and small fortresses, but no castles). The wait has been worth it.

Click to see more of this incredible castle

An Old Lady you really want to cradle in your arms

Music is cool. Electric guitars are cool. Brian May, the guitarist for Queen, is cool. The Red Special, the electric guitar that Brian May designed and built with his father is very cool. You know what else is cool? LEGO. And here’s something very, very, cool – Nick Jensen‘s stunning 1:1 replica of the Red Special in LEGO.

Learn more about this icon of classic rock built from LEGO

Darling, it’s better down where it’s wetter

Builder Malin Kylinger takes us under the sea with this lively and colorful model built in a picture frame. Ariel, Flounder, Sebastian and the evil Ursula are all on hand to welcome you to the depths where an array of sea life and corals await!

Sometimes inspiration can came from the strangest places, and in this case it came from IKEA! This compact little LEGO creations fits perfectly into a RIBBA frame which fortunately has enough depth to it that it can accommodate bricks and create a nice feeling of dimension. The school of silver fish with the blue transparent plate background draws your eye to the center where you can start to take notice of everything that surrounds them. The jellyfish are fantastic with their lightning bolt tentacles and I like the fact that the builder didn’t rely too heavily on sea grass to create the colorful plants. The sea floor bears closer inspection as it’s full of wonderful little touches. I really like the Swamp Creature’s mask at the bottom left in front of the gorgeous blue flower plant. I’m also quite taken with the interpretation of Ursula’s cauldron, ready to accept the witch’s brew she’s whipping up. So many beautiful details leave me asking: How many wonders can one cavern hold?

It’s not who I am underneath, but what I build that defines me

In this, the Caped Crusader’s 80th birthday year, what better way to celebrate the influence and impact of Bob Kane’s creation than with Timofey Tkachev‘s large-scale LEGO sculpture? The Batman has rarely looked better in the brick — the model’s shaping is spot-on, perfectly capturing those to-die-for Bat-Abs, and making a nice job of the comic world’s Second-Most-Iconic-Chin (Judge Dredd is clearly No. 1, in case you were wondering). The sculpting of the bat sigil on the chest is worth a good look, and I dread to think about the tricky connections which were required underneath all that armour to get the angles right.