Microscale moonshot is a stellar creation

RebelLUG member Marc Lenares (Syrdarian) is one of the hardest-working builders around, participating in competitions and collaborations that push outside of their comfort zone and learning from peers to broaden their toolbox of techniques. Marc’s latest is a microscale scene of extra-solar exploration on the planet Gothea, where miners work in domed settlements under an icy moon. The banded horizon evokes the iconic Tales of the Space Age ideas set, while the rockets and domes follow the colors of City Space. What impresses most about the build is the texture and depth. The icy moon features so many clever textural bits across its blue gradient.

The planetary vista is made from a mix of studs up and SNOT planes, some a brick tick, others just a tile, creating so many layers in a compact space. And around the colony, incredible details come into focus, like a hill made from a minifig turkey.

If you’re a fan of Marc’s microscale work, you have a chance to vote on turning another model into a Bricklink Designer Program set as part of Series 10. Village in the Sky even adds kinetic functions, designed in collaboration with BLDP alum Leewan. Voting is open until February 20.

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Febrovery 2026 – Merrily we roll along with our mid-month Febrovery round-up

Febrovery is an annual event for LEGO Space fans where builders share their wheeled creations for exploring distant moons. Some passionate builders share a new rover every day of February while others focus on one special build for the month. This year, Febrovery turns 15 years old, making it one of the longest-running traditions in the AFOL community. To learn more about the event’s history, Rover regular Andreas Lenander created an excellent primer over on Brick Nerd). As we pass the halfway point, let’s roll out some of our favorite rovers of the month so far!

Speakin of Andreas Lenander, this Swedish builder is always on the lookout for new elements to turn into wheels! This year it’s the Unikitty tail that helps the rover get around.

Huw Gwilliam is a digital creator who has created several stellar rovers so far. We’re especially fond of this HV-W8 model used by Crystal speculators. The diamond tiles make great treads for those oversized wheels.

Click here to continue the rover rollout

The Knights of the Old Republic’s Ebon Hawk returns in LEGO

The Knights of the Old Republic games remain some of the finest adventures to ever be told in the Star Wars universe. They even spawned some of the best (and most expensive among collectors) LEGO Star Wars playsets. One ship that never made the jump to official set is the player’s primary ship and home base in the games – the Ebon Hawk. Builder Jonah Frost corrects this oversight with a wonderful take on the beloved starship.

Better yet, the model opens up with rooms for your custom crew of misfits to plan their next mission. Built to play-scale rather than UCS, things might get a bit cramped for a full party of companions. I’d love to see Jonah or other builders expanding on the Ebon Hawk with a full party of companions. For now, this is just the build I need to bring back those gaming memories as we await the upcoming Fall of the Old Republic. Will the Ebon Hawk make an appearance in KotoR’s spiritual successor? We can hope!

Machine-moving machine

Rawcliffe & Sons is a British heavy haulage firm, one of whose specialisations is machine transport. My latest model represents one of the vehicles used for this: a Volvo FH. While most of my minifigure-scale trucks are tractors with semi-trailers, this one is a bit different. The truck itself has four axles, with steering on the front and rear. It has a flatbed with a rear-mounted knuckleboom crane, for (un)loading cargo, and pulls a three-axle drawbar trailer.

On quite a few of my recent truck builds, the cargo is more of an attraction than the truck. I am thinking of my combine or my bulldozer transport, for instance. For this build, I wanted the truck itself to be the starring attraction. Hence, the cargo is a fairly simple set of crates, for machine parts, and a little forklift. The truck is recognisably British, with its green and red colour scheme and the drop shadow lettering.
Continue reading →

LEGO Koi capture graceful motion in bricks

Some LEGO builders find a niche and stick to it, but others, like builder David Duperre, prefer to move gracefully between styles and subjects. David’s Medusa model had us transfixed, and the builder rolled a natural 20 with his Stranger Things tribute. David’s latest celebrates the “dragons of the pond” – koi – in a model that captures both the dynamism of swimming and the delicate fins of these beautiful fish.

The rippling fins are built largely from 2×1 round plates, which angle easily for gentle curves. To create feathered edges, David uses minifig flippers and a mix of horn and blade elements. The fish are accompanied by “Sammy the snail” – the builder’s take on an aquatic apple snail – and water lilies that would be right at home in the Botanicals line. David will br bringing the model to LEGO events this summer, so perhaps some of our readers will have the chance to see it in person soon!

LEGO Ideas 21365 Love Birds: Seeing the birds for the tree [Review]

LEGO Ideas contests let builders bring their own spin to a selected theme, and fan designer Micah Longden entered a number of challenges in the process of growing into the love-themed submission that turned into 21365 Love Birds. It’s botanicals-adjacent with a twist, and some lovely new colors in plumage and foliage. Let’s take quick look at what we can do with it.

LEGO Ideas 21365 Love Birds | 750 Pieces | Available now | US $49.99 | CAN $64.99 | UK £44.99

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Cozy up for our review and bonus build!

Love is in the air (and the water) in this Guillermo del Toro LEGO tribute

It’s Valentines day, and what better time to get cozy with your special someone to watch a romantic movie? And what could be more romantic than a film that packs in clandestine government labs, janitorial work, and a magical fish man? French builder Keyser Bricks pays tribute to Guillermo del Toro’s Best Picture-winning The Shape of Water in LEGO. As much as we love a good Star Wars or Superhero movie build, it’s a treat to see more personal films like this one get the vignette treatment. Keyser does a commendable job building the Cold War era tech – the pipes and cables around the amphibious man’s tank are especially eye-catching.

Step right into this dreamy LEGO kitchen

Victor van den Berg has a unique ability to create and photograph LEGO rooms that feel so real that you could walk right into them. This stunning kitchen is his latest creation, and it’s a dream kitchen for most. The lighting in this photo really sells the realism, but a closer look will have you hunting all over for great parts usage. I spy at least 12 One Rings (that’s enough to make Sauron jealous), a knife block supporting a slew of lightsaber handles, and a silver technic ball joint that makes for a perfect doorknob. Of course, as with any dream kitchen there’s enough masonry bricks and alternating tiles to make you feel right at home.

Into the Tahu-Verse with hotdog_waffles [Bionicle25]

Hot-headed hero Tahu is the most iconic hero of the Bionicle universe, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Number one Tahu stan and LEGO builder hotdog_waffles has been paying tribute to the king for the last year with Tahu builds that are as inspired as they are insane.

Tahu has yet to appear as a minifigure, but that doesn’t stop hotdog from making an upscaled version!

Maybe you’d prefer your Tahu in a cuter form? If you want to see the baby, “Tagu” is ready for your gaze. This is the way.

Venture into the Tahu-verse for more Tahu mash-ups

A galactic library on the back of a giant turtle joins Star Wars: Teal Squadron collab

Teal Squadron is a UK Star Wars collaboration for Space builders who love Star Wars and the color teal, featuring familiar builders like Mansur Soeleman and set designer Theo Bonner. The Collab is returning to Bricktastic in Manchester next week, and today we have a preview of a fun addition to the Teal Nebula: the Turtle Library! Built by Jake (jayfourke), the model continues the collab’s tradition of exploring the more whimsical side of the Star Wars universe, featuring a droid-manned library built atop an enormous space turtle. Paired with Tim Goddard‘s Lunt Snail caravan, I sense a theme for this year’s collab!

Click to see more of Jake’s Teal toting turtle!

BLDP Series 7: Alchemist’s Shop – Set designer Sean Wallace makes magic [Interview]

The Bricklink Designer Program features LEGO sets designed by fans, voted on by fans. Unlike LEGO Ideas, these sets aren’t reimagined by in-house LEGO staff, so when you build the set, you experience exactly what the designer dreamt up, professionally packaged by LEGO. Crowdfunding for Series 7 opens on February 16th. One set you can pre-order is the Alchemist’s Shop, a 2,319-piece Castle creation that’s a spiritual successor to the beloved Medieval Blacksmith set. I had the pleasure of building an early copy, and the set is a wonderful building experience packed with magical details, clever techniques, and a great display presence. Even better, we had the chance to chat with the set’s designer, Sean Wallace, about how the set went from idea to reality.

Our interview and insights with Alchemist’s Shop designer Sean follow

Mini Mosaics find big creativity on tiny canvasses

Mini Mosaics are built atop a 6×6 or 8×8 plate that can be completed in under 15 minutes as a way to fit creativity with LEGO into a busy life. Nicole (blu.fam.bricks) demonstrates and advocates for the format online and in person and hosts events to encourage participation and sharing. Earlier this month, she hosted a 10-day challenge to build 9 daily mini mosaics and a final 10th post with each build in a grid. Dozens of builders from around the globe and of all ages participated. Here is a selection of the inspiring mini mosaics, starting with Nicole’s creations.

Across her nine creations, Nicole plays with printed tiles and textures. She even made a lenticular mosaic using cheese slopes that shows a different pattern depending on which angle you examine it from.

Explore more mini-mosaics below