Posts by Adam Jacobs

Is meat back on the menu?

While we know Bilbo Baggins doesn’t get eaten by orcs, he came close to being devoured several times. This build by Nathan Smith shows one of those near misses. This image looks like a scene straight out of LEGO: The Hobbit video game. It goes to show that part of a great build is building it. The other part is how you capture the moment.

Everything looks fantastic here. The blue glow on Bilbo’s sword is a nice touch, clearly indicating that orcs are nearby. The wargs that the orcs are riding on the look as menacing as ever. And the fire crawling up the trees adds to the sense that, for Bilbo, time is running out.

Do you remember how this tale of terror ends? You’ll just have to pick up your copy of The Hobbit and find out.

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It’s right behind us, isn’t it?

A step into the portal should have been the beginning of an adventure on another world. Instead, it was the expedition into a nightmare. Or at least that’s what builder Bart de Dobbelaer would have you believe with his newest LEGO model.

Not only are these intrepid explorers unaware of the monstrosity behind them, but they’re also in the dark about the fabulous building job on Bart’s creation! This landscape is truly unearthly, with black spiky plants pushing their way out of the ground and forgotten stone arches pointing to dangers left and right. The monster itself is a clever use of ancient Bionicle pieces. I like the wheels around the eye sockets as a gruesome bone-like skeletal superstructure. Very frightening. Very cool.

Do what must be done

Any time I see LEGO creations relating to Order 66 from Revenge of the Sith, I feel the emotional tension rising. As painful as it is to see clones turn on their former Jedi comrades, you have to admit that builder First Order Lego does a painstakingly good job at depicting the ultimate betrayal.

From the clones’ march into the Jedi Temple on Coruscant to the younglings hiding in the background, this build perfectly captures the epic darkness of the moment. The only word I have for the level of detail, especially in the Holocron bookcases and the statue work, is beautiful.

Oh, and did I mention that this build is literally lit?

Moon racers fight to the finish

Have you ever seen podracing in 1/6th of normal gravity? Thanks to builder Rubblemaker, now you can! In real LEGO high definition!

With a silent roar, four engines take off through the Sea of Tranquility, blowing up dust clouds visible from Earth. What you can only see up close, however, is the excellent detail work on each podracer. For example, look at the way each Blacktron engine is a sandwich of filters and fins, expertly crafted using flat brick pieces. Also, check out the dirt being blown up behind each pod; it definitely gives you the idea that these pods are flying along the lunar surface!

Robots with heads of rubber

Just when you think you’ve seen nearly every incarnation of LEGO robot to pass your computer screen, another master builder like Andreas Lenander shows up.

While we’ve seen mechs before here on The Brothers Brick, we’ve never seen tires turned inside out to create a robot head. It took a few minutes staring at this build to realize that the head wasn’t a plastic brick, but was actually rubber. Everything about this scene here is fantastic, but I’m still in awe of the idea of using inside-out tires. Mind-boggling, you might say!

An Orc-tastic Fishing Hideout

Sometimes, pillaging the land of righteousness just seems like too much work. So do what LEGO builder John Snyder does: put your feet up, cast in your line and relax.

There are a ton of little details that really make the build come alive. From the mossy vines growing all over the swamp to the different shades of brown used to look like wood rot, it’s all here. I especially like the use of pirate hook hands to hang the fish up. The roof tile work is equally exquisite.

My only gripe about this build is that I’m begging for more. It’s so good that I want to see the same thing spread out over dozens of baseplates. Congratulations on a job well done, John!

This is the way across the galaxy

As season 2 of The Mandalorian unfolds, we’ll likely see more and more custom LEGO creations of starships and characters of the show. An example of this is builder flambo14‘s version of the Razor Crest.

Right away, I see how flambo14 changes things up from other versions of the Razor Crest by using the large cockpit piece. I like it so much that I’d like to see the real Razor Crest utilize that large of a viewport.

The engines are smoothly built, just like the actual model we see in the show. I admire how flambo14 made narrow connections between the engines and the wings. The stand keeps the Razor Crest on an angle, showcasing the exciting flights both towards and away from danger.

The question is, will the Mandalorian fly the Razor Crest to bring The Child to his species or find Jedi? We’ll have to watch to find out!

Take the Train to Cakeville

Is your 5-year-old into steam trains as much as he is into LEGO? Builder Alexander (aka narrow_gauge) combines both of these passions into his LEGO steam engine cake.

Though you can’t eat it, this creation makes me shiver with delight just looking at it. From the wood bottom border to the shrubbery and birdlife, everything is detailed inexactness. As far as technical work goes, Alexander doesn’t hide any of his capabilities as a LEGO railroad engineer. It’s great to see the train wheels actually on the track as it curves around the hillside. Very few builders take on an original railroad track design, and this one is flawless.

And look! There’s even a bridge! Builds like this keep kids into both trains and bricks their entire lives.

This warship is all about the curves

From the wedge-shaped Star Destroyer to the cylindrical Saturn V, we’ve seen a lot of different shapes used in spacecraft design. This one built by F@bz, however, is a completely new direction.

I have never seen so many sloped downward curves in my entire life, and I don’t think I’ll see them anywhere else but here. F@bz’s ship looks like something that Thor might sail out of Asgard, or a vessel of Humanity in Warhammer 40k. Either way, I’m buying a ticket for the next cruise onboard.

Seriously. Almost nobody can find a use for these weird parts that hail from the mid-2000s LEGO Sports theme, and then F@bz goes and uses all of them. Nicely done!

Unique castle details leave nothing wanting

Move over, 1980’s LEGO yellow castle. There’s a new fortress in town: Jako of Nerogue has become my new favorite castle constructor.

At first glance, the thing that jumps out at me most is the curvature of the gate. That’s not something you usually see on medieval fortifications. It’s almost like a Moorish-Spain look. From the gate, my eyes are drawn to the teeny-tiny details of the walls and windows, with LEGO bricks having the exact appearance of stone. I really like the style Jako chose to use on the gate columns and the main keep windows.

Does anyone know how he did that? Just incredible! This is how I want all my castles to look like.

Behold the Blacktron Dreadnought!

Excerpt from Captain Nathan Proudlove‘s Log, M-Tron Freighter Miranda: “It was supposed to be a routine trip. Get the cargo, haul it to the destination, and go back home. But instead of cargo, the drop point consisted of this… thing. It was huge, like a long black dart bristling with death. We tried to reverse course and fired a warning shot at the Blacktron warship, only to realize it was in vain. Each of the three weapons bays on the warship opened to reveal gigasonic missiles, launched and reaching out to us like claws of an otherworldly deity. The bridge crew and I launched the escape pods and fled before it could catch us, but all other hands were lost…”

This behemoth is none other than a Neo-Blacktron Rocket Ship. It leaves a lot to the imagination, which is exactly what you want when building massive space ships. I love the detail here, such as the engine nacelles coming out of the wings’ front and back, and the sensor work at the rocket’s top. The three labeled doors on the side make me imagine that those are either weapon ports or docking bays, or both. The best part by far is the Blacktron logo embedded into the ship, stating the ship’s evil allegiance to the bad guys of LEGO space.

Not a very “chicken” walker

Known to fans as the “chicken walker”, this LEGO All Terrain-Scout Transport (AT-ST) model by builder Lewis Kiwi is anything but a wimpy chicken. I’d use this beast to stand up to rebel scum any day of the week.

This has to be the most well-built AT-ST I’ve ever seen. From the top of the highly-detailed roof to the bottom of the articulated feet, this AT-ST outshines even the Ultimate Collector’s Series AT-ST set. Just look at the joints! The blasters! The engine work!

Some of the best LEGO creations have a level of detail that implies more detail beneath it. Notice how simple pieces like tubing and fans draw your eyes into the walker’s interior, making you wonder where those tubes connect to and how the walker is powered.

Where Lewis shines the most, however, is in his color schemes. This AT-ST uses light gray as the main armor layer, while underlying dark gray form the walker’s structure. This effect establishes the battle-readiness and is a detail not seen in many of the AT-ST models built over the years.