Yearly Archives: 2021

Nostalgic Vic Viper

What happens when you change up the position of the components of a classic Vic Viper? You’ll end up with a Pasukaru Viper! Pascal decided to step away from the classic Vic Viper rules and changed the location of the twin-pronged fuselage. Rotating them changes the silhouette of the Vic Viper and adds a new flavor to the beloved spacecraft. The usage of the octagonal squiggle brick adds a nice touch to the vehicle. The primary colours of this vehicle somehow remind me of the plastic toys you would get at fast-food chain restaurants during the ’90s. Which for me is a ticket straight to memory lane. The fact that these colours come from the classic LEGO themes Aquanauts and Aquasharks is another reason to hop on that nostalgia bus.

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Beware the servants of the Goblin King

Busts have become ever-popular, and with them have come a wealth of fun ideas. Builders trying their hand at sculpting a character’s features with bricks are forced to try new things and innovate. This Goblin bust by builder Jnj_bricks was such a foray that was definitely successful. Texturing really helped this character come through, from the spikey, short hair to the boats used in his jacket. The knobbly, green skin translates well as a Goblin, as do the bright orange eyes which hold a mischievous light. The gold earrings and jutting jaw with sharp teeth add that extra bit of character emblematic of this trickster species in lore, old and new.

Quite a few techniques were used to achieve all the interesting angles and textures of this build. Though Jnj_bricks says this is a very different style for him, it’s clear it wasn’t too far out of his range.

The Unimog 406 is ready for action!

Winter is coming, and this time it has nothing to do with Game of Thrones but rather a regular winter in the northern hemisphere. Thankfully, Alexandre Rossier is up for the task with this massive LEGO ’67 Unimog 406. He tells us that the fully-detailed model is remote-controlled with a 4×4 with central differential, portal axles, and a 6-cylinder engine that you can admire by removing the cabin. I’m particularly smitten by its stance, color, beefy tires, snowplow…pretty much everything that makes it a Unimog.

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A Bridgetown that should be zoomed in on

I recall going to LEGO World in Utrecht with my uncle to just look at some of the awesome builds created by the attendees. Every once and a while, you’d stumble upon a LEGO creation that you spotted before online. It never ceases to amaze me that you can still spend a good amount of time looking at a creation in the brick even though you thoroughly analyzed it online months prior. Bridgetown by Markus Rollbühler is one of those builds I’d just love to see in real life. This creation is quite massive. The rocks and pillars at the base are not just there to support the small town on top of them. They are quite detailed and actually little works of art themselves. Building a tower out of curved slopes will always impress me. These round pillars even contain windows with a lovely detailed window canopy and a flower-filled windowsill.

As if that is not enough, each of the town’s houses is a standout itself. We get a hexagonal tower with a dome top of which I have no idea how it is constructed. We get a church with a brick-built clock dial. There are even cordless electric drills incorporated in the roof of the church. The corners of the building are rounded off, which adds a nice touch to the church. On the rim of the city, there are two Tudor-style houses. The one on the left uses treasure chest lids for the woodwork. On the one on the right macaroni tiles are used. I could go on for hours about this one, but I think you should just zoom in and explore all the lovely details and techniques for yourself.

One laid-back Viper

Anime-inspired color schemes and NoVVember are two great tastes that go great together, and Shannon Sproule is a master of that delicious combo. This classic red and white body gets some pops of yellow color with an exciting pod-cockpit design. That’s not to say that there aren’t a few odd choices made in the Powerful Owl Viper, though. In Shannon’s own words, “The prone pilot position is of course rather silly, but there you go.”

Are you enjoying the yearly onslaught of Vic Vipers? How do you think they compare to previous Novvembers?

One Faaborg-ulous boat

With the giant LEGO Titanic gracing the seas, it’s only fitting that builders like Henrik Jensen are choosing to showcase some of the great steamships of the past. This 1/87 scale model has a few custom painted elements, but also makes clever use of existing parts, like those hockey sticks as part of the lifeboat racks. I’m also fond of the compact display stand and printed flags. A recreation that, dare I say it, is certainly ship-shape.

Henrik shared this info about the origins of his model:
In September I visited the island Ærø which is located in the South Funen archipelago. In the town of Rudkøbing, they have a museum called “The Old Shipyard”. There, the restoration of an old steamship that was close to being dismantled has been undertaken. It gave me the idea to build a model of a steamship that, along with several other small steamships, has been part of the lifeblood between the islands and the mainland, in a time before World War I, when bridges between parts of the country were not common.

At “Det Gamle Værft” they restored the ship “Angelo”, or as it was previously more aptly called, “Svendborgsund”. My model of the steamship “Faaborg” is partly based on photos of the ship, partly on drawings of “Svendborgsund”.

If you’re in the mood for more nautical goodness, be sure to browse our boats tag!

Star Wars isn’t just about fast ships and gunfights

It’s also about stunning vistas, and run-down buildings at the far edge of the galaxy. In this scene by GorillaGluedLEGO featuring a weather-worn structure in the middle of a jungle landscape, a lone figure feeds a small critter. He looks like a simple Bith trying to make his way in the universe. Or her way, it’s hard to tell with Bith, and most Star Wars names are pretty ambiguous. At any rate, there are lots of great details in this somewhat chaotic scene. The foreground is cluttered with various broken things, including an astromech, and what looks like a moisture vaporator, although it feels a bit out of place in a jungle. The building has some wonderful worn effects using color and texture to distress the exterior. There is another nice part usage in the vines wrapped around the trees, made from the plastic bit that is found surrounding leaf elements.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for November 27, 2021 [News]

In addition to the amazing LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick brings you the best LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the third week of November 2021.

TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS

This week was the week of Monkie Kid, with the announcement of another wave of sets from the theme, and a review of a set from a few waves back that is worth a look. We also got a look at a new VIP reward with purchase that is a nod to early LEGO branding

[NEWS] LEGO Monkie Kid 2022 sets revealed online — LEGO revealed 7 new Monkie Kid sets coming out in Jan 2022
[REVIEWS] LEGO 5007016 VIP 1950’s Retro Tin — We reviewed a neat bit of art inspired by early marketing graphics printed on a tin sheet
[REVIEWS] LEGO Monkie Kid 80024: The Legendary Flower Fruit Mountain — We looked back at a standout set from the Monkie Kid theme that tells the story behind the legend

Taking modular buildings to the next level.

LEGO’s line of modular buildings have been captivating fans of larger, more advanced sets since 2007. Naturally, the line has inspired plenty of fans to create their own buildings to stand alongside LEGO’s offerings. Builder Sheo has taken custom modulars up a notch by producing a modern building with a working glass elevator.

Have a look at the video below to get a peek inside and watch the elevator in action.

Take the train to Château Guillard from Overwatch

We’ve checked in with esteemed LEGO builder Matt De Lanoy and found he’s been quite busy this past year building the fictional Château Guillard castle from Overwatch. He tells us, “this castle was started in April 2019 and finished in November 2021. I would estimate the actual building/planning time to be about 6-8 months. There are approximately 70,000 pieces. The castle itself rests on a 50 x 50-inch footprint, the tracks bring the whole layout to 60 x 60 inches.”

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LEGO Monkie Kid 2022 sets revealed online [News]

LEGO has just published official product pictures of the new Monkie Kid 2022 sets. The new wave of sets will include at least seven new products varying from a box of bricks for free-style building all the way to a city block in the style and format of the iconic Ninjago City. The new sets will be available from January 1, 2022.

More picture of the new sets…

Take a seat with this anime character in her banana chair

After a long day, chilling out in a banana chair looks like a great way to relax. Magmafrost13 has built this dynamic looking character based on Black Hanekawa, from the Monogatari anime series, as she stretches out on a vibrant lounger. The chair has a complex construction as a variety of angled plates have been placed to create the arc of the banana chair. Magmafrost13 has perfectly captured the humanoid form of the anime character including the bend of the body with the chair. The hair has some greatly varied shaping with cat ears sprouting from the top of her head. A pyramid piece portrays the nose which is ideal for conveying the sharp, anime style.