Yearly Archives: 2021

Kneel before the queen

Moko’s Hornet Queen is surely one of my favorite LEGO creations from the past week. And in this case, I can’t decide what I like about it more: the character or the execution. Maybe it’s the posture and the fancy haircut? Or an alien-looking “backpack” in the shape of a giant hornet on her back? For sure, this design can brag some great piece combinations which I only noticed after a very close look.

Hornet Queen

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All aboard as this train glides through an icy scene

Pieter Post has created this immersive diorama in which a powerful locomotive, drives through a frozen landscape. The colour palette of sand blue and white emphasise the frigidity of the scene while hints of earthy tones through the tundra suggest the ground is gradually thawing. The train is also built to be fully functional and even features working lights. Flexible pipes are applied along the body of the train, in order to create some of the more angled tubular details. The train is escorted by a bubbling cloud of steam which uses a variety of rounded pieces to portray the odd and random shapes of the vapor. The claw pieces on the bridge represent icicles dripping down onto the smooth, frozen riverbed below. The deer in the corner has accurate proportions thanks to Harry Potter wands used for its scrawny legs.

Pieter has succeeded in creating a train that is accurate to its real-life counterpart and surrounded by a beautifully constructed landscape. Love Trains? You can check out more of our articles on engaging locomotives, here.

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Who knew a dragon could be so gorgeous?

I have to say, as a writer for TBB, I’ve seen A LOT of custom builds. I spend far too much of my time scanning Flickr and Instagram for the next awesome piece of art to share with you all. Maybe it’s the fantasy nerd in me, but this… is exceptional.  This dragon, built by talented LEGO designer, Wes Talbott, is all sorts of awesome. The ombre, rainbow-esque coloring is so perfectly executed! Making it for The LEGO House collection, he fittingly calls it, “Chromalagous” but the beauty goes beyond the color palette.

The placement of the scales is so organic and detailed, it truly looks like the skin of a giant reptile. It certainly doesn’t look like LEGO at first glance. And I don’t know about you, but I find myself with my mouth agape, muttering “how?” questions. Those horns?! I’d love to get a look at the internal structure, but this has to take a great deal of sculpting talent. What techniques does he use to make all those odd angles? Your guess is as good as mine.

Wes is a prolific artist, both in LEGO and graphically. Check out some of his official work in our archives, including reviews of the new 21327 Typewriter and 21325 Blacksmith Shop.

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The delicate hum of nature

Hummingbirds are truly miraculous little creatures. It’s incredible how something so small and delicate can achieve such monumental tasks. For example, they can migrate hundreds of miles between the summer and winter seasons. Builder LEGO Monkey pays tribute to these little guys with this great vignette, and the composition is nicely done. The tall blades of grass, “large” flower, and broken stick set the scale well. I’m particularly fond of the little ladybug, created using the minifigure costume element attached to a stud with Black Panther ears to cap it off.

If you like this, check out our other nature related builds! In particular, we have loads of examples of excellent LEGO birds.

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Castle of Dreamers

Oh, castles. Though the LEGO Group did pretty well with the classic yellow brick, fans of LEGO have taken it to new levels. Textured castle walls with ornate and abstract embellishments stand as works of art that emulate life in medieval times through a fantastical lens. Builder Kevin Peeters is one such detailed builder whose models grab the eye and immerse you in a level of realism often sought after. Here he brings us his dream castle, a towering keep with fine carpentry perched on rocks and surrounded by water. Let’s check out this dollhouse-style model that Kevin calls Krylhan Castle.

Krylhan Castle

The outer portions of the model show off various techniques from the masonry of the walls to the angles and insets of the wooden residential sections, Kevin shows us that he knows the system well. Tank treads are used in the main windows, with wheels used in the chimney above. Offset and layered plates help achieve a textured and curved look for the rooves. The display base makes for a great anchor into the world around the castle while still allowing the focus to be on its tall, slim, ornate construction.

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Never make light of a Lizard’s bloodline

Though the Bionicle and Hero Factory lines died a while ago, plenty of fans still covet and horde the pieces that LEGO provided us during those golden ages. Nonetheless, builders hold onto the parts to provide some unique and specific detail to their character models. I had a chat with Alex_mocs about their build process for this model, Dawnpike Azaria, inspired by the Lizards in the game, Divinity: Original Sin. Alex challenged himself to sculpt a more feminine reptilian character saying that he hadn’t seen “many feminine coded dragon characters built from LEGO.” Thus, he had fun sculpting a lizard-like head with that energy in mind. He certainly did well, utilizing dragon wings, vines, and various other decorative elements to capture the frills and horns common to this character’s people. Though the color palette limited his piece choices, Alex made great use of them throughout Azaria’s figure. Her armor and jeweled necklace are wonderful details that work well to fill in the gaps that some pieces leave. Alex also found that gold hoops fit snugly around some rubber tires which made it possible for them to be stacked and hold their position. He used this technique in the neck, tail, and ankles. Meanwhile, Alex admitted to using a paperclip in the gold hose around her waist to help her chainmail skirt hold its shape.

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That is one smooth SHIP you have there sir

September is quickly coming to an end, and you know what that means… pumpkin spice (the spice must flow). But it also means an end to one of the most challenging and rewarding LEGO monthly build contests. That epic challenge known to many as SHIPtember. SHIP in this case stands for seriously huge investment in parts, as demonstrated by this tall boy by Andreas Lenander. One of the hallmarks of a great ship is its greebles, those seemingly random bits and bobs. Andreas uses them sparingly to spice up the large top section.

SS New horizon - L21

There are lots of subtle curves throughout the build like the small repeated section on the lower sides, and the long smoothed out front section. I also like the tangle of black pipes leading to the main thruster, but I think my favorite part is the large eye-like orange ring on the side. Another nice part usage is the bit of straight roller coaster track used to attach an assortment of sensors.

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TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for September 25, 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 September 2021.

TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS With the end of another fantastic and fun-filled season of the hit Fox show LEGO Masters, this week’s news is dominated by interviews with the three teams of finalists, including the newly crowned LEGO Masters.

Click through to read more LEGO news from around the world

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A long journey arrives at a most tranquil place

They say that the journey is what matters more than the destination, and that is certainly true for this weary traveler who has reached a gate in his long journey towards a distant temple in this tranquil scene by Andreas Lenander. The walls have a slightly weather-worn look using a few tan plates and even a few ingot pieces mixed in with white. The many black roof areas are accented with several angled black tiles. Two tall trees made with flexible brown tubes are a very nice touch.

Reaching the gate...

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Red Rover, Red Rover, send Beat Felber on over

LEGO builder Beat Felber is a master at building massive moving vehicles with Technic. Take this Land Rover 110 for instance. He tells us that this model uses two Power Functions L-Motors for the all-wheel drivetrain and a servo motor for steering. The chassis features a hi/low gearbox which was automated using an M-Motor. Also both front and rear axle are of the solid type with differential and are spring mounted.

Land Rover 110

If that wasn’t impressive enough, here is the model posed with the real Land Rover. The car was used as a fire engine for about twenty-five years until Beat bought the vehicle in 2017.The car is called ‘Grisu’, named after an Italian cartoon figure of a dragon who wanted to become a firefighter. Be sure not to miss out on some other Technic vehicles from this builder in our archives.

Land Rover 110

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Fabulous Fabuland Homestead

No Fabulous Fabulandspeeder is complete without a Fabulous Homestead. So we are very grateful that Stewart Cromar continued to fabulize Star Wars sets. Whenever you buy a LEGO Star Wars set and you open up all the bags and spread out all the parts on the table you’ll notice that a lot of the parts are light grey, dark grey, or black. Then there are some pops of colour but those are mostly used in the construction of the vehicle and later covered up with light grey, dark grey, or black bricks. Completely the opposite of the Fabuland theme and therefore it is ever so delightful to see these sets get the Fabuland treatment. Some of the original Fabuland parts work so perfectly that LEGO might have to consider recoloring those parts to light grey, dark grey, or black for future releases of Star Wars sets. For instance the mailbox top works perfectly as an arched rooftop and the refrigerator door looks stunning as a front door to this lovely Tatooine Homestead. So LEGO, please consider bringing back some of those iconic Fabuland pieces.

‘Tatooine Homestead’ (1/9)

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Better call the Survey Corps, there’s a Titan on the loose!

Imagine seeing this monstrosity peeking over your fence. Expect your fence is a 164-foot wall and the creature is a goliath, looking for snacks. That’s the basic plot of Attack on Titan. Khang Huynh has faithful recreated the Colossal Titan from the franchise. The fleshy, muscular form is accurately portrayed through the inventive application of pieces. Take a look at those nostrils. At first, they appear to be made up of an engine part, but upon closer inspection, it is actually made up of two backpack pieces. Another great use of parts is at the lower lip which is represented by baguettes. Mudguard pieces create rounded forms at the shoulders and chin providing the model with realistic, humanoid shaping.

[AOT] -  Epic scence

The head sculpt of the Titan can also be placed on a segment of the defensive wall, which is used to keep those pesky monsters out. The wall has some great details such as the suggestion of age, conveyed through the variation of colours nestled amongst the brickwork.

[AOT] - Colossal Titan (Bertholdt Hoover) with podium

Just hide your minifigures, I’ve heard this build gets hungry. You can check out more of our articles on Attack on Titan creations, here.

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.