Posts by Ben Dodds

This Mech means business

There are MOC builders, and then there are Mech builders and their knowledge of crafting exquisite robots from the humble LEGO brick is worth praising often. Here, delights with his latest offering. Blending system bricks with constraction figures isn’t always a straight forward task but Mohamed often does so with ease. I love the colour palette of this Mech with the Sand Blue pieces serving as armour, overlaying the various greys of the mechanical parts. They perfectly compliment each other here with the trans pink pieces adding suggestion that this fella isn’t afraid to defend itself. My favourite detail has to be the Bionicle mask serving as chest armour, and whilst we’re calling that out, the use of the armour piece from the Jango Fett buildable figure adds the suggestion that this mech means business too.

Tachyon Thrasher

 

What shall we build today?

Pippi Longstocking holds a special place in my childhood memories, and when I stumbled across Sarah Beyer‘s latest LEGO build in tribute to Pippi, I had to share! Sarah’s builds are always worth taking the time to enjoy and appreciate her techniques, but when she tackles something different to her usual style it’s great to see. There’s some great build details in this build — from the shoelaces and the use of the minifig stand to add dynamism to Mr. Nilsson the monkey’s tail — are just a couple of the call outs here.

Pippi Longstocking and Mr Nilsson MOC

This caricature of Pippi ticks all the boxes for me — the gravity-defying hair, the never-matching  stockings, the colours used and of course Mr Nilsson! The pair are ready for their next big adventure to take them from Villa Villekula!

Whipping up a spell to update a beloved set

We’ve all got that favorite LEGO set from childhood that holds a special place, and Gunnbuilding has reimagined one of his in this revamp of the classic Witch’s Windship. Gunnbuilding has updated both the dragon and basket from the original set to great effect. The brick-built dragon maintains everything that made the classic dragon so popular, including the arched neck, the narrow jaw and red wings. I’m particularly fond of the solution to create the Dragon’s yellow neck and stomach using the spoiler piece. Because this is a digital build, Gunnbuilding was able to color the mixel joints for more seamless styling. If only we got these parts in a wider colour palette…

6037: Witch's Windship (Redux)

The witch’s basket has also had a pleasing revamp – less a cauldron and more ship-like in design. Increasing the size has allowed further decoration. The Fright Knight shield, courtesy of a recent CMF series, is a welcome addition. And a skeleton figurehead adds a perfect touch of horror.

The Brothers Brick favorites: Best LEGO products of 2022 [Feature]

Taking a look through all the LEGO sets released this year, it clearly has been a mammoth year of LEGO releases! At over 950 new products, this year’s lineup beats last year’s impressive back catalogue, with LEGO City taking the crown for the theme with most sets hitting store shelves this past year. In an attempt to figure out the best (and least impressive) LEGO products of the year, I asked the Brothers Brick team for their opinions. And here they are: all the LEGO sets that have piqued our interest in the Class of ’22…

Click here to learn our favorite (and not so favorite) sets of the year!

Here’s the scoop on this wintry scene...

The latest LEGO creation by builder Evancelt‘s depicts a wintry scene with an impressive castle towering above the nearby village. The castle, with its yellow colour scheme, is reminiscent of the classic LEGO Yellow Castle, but what impresses me with this castle is that the walls are made from a digger bucket! In micro builds like this, I’m always impressed when parts you wouldn’t expect should work really do work so well!

Winter Kingdom

But it’s not just a great castle on display here. Surrounding the castle is a beautiful wintry scene complete with snow-covered forests, using various horn pieces, and a small village which utilises the printed plate from the latest CMF series, but my favourite piece of detail in this scene? The snowy mounds made from white croissant pieces!

Now, all this talk of winter leaves me needing to find an open fire to warm up…

A deep dive in the Star Wars universe

We’ve all watched Star Wars, in the prequels we’re introduced to Kamino. Here, Eyrezer answers the question of just what lies below the rain soaked Kamino’s waves in LEGO form.

Kamino reef

Eyrezer has presented us with a colourful representation of what lies below Tipoca city; a wonderful contrast to the grey nondescript cities that featured in Episode 2. Theres some great subtle detail to be found, the use of sword pieces as seaweed is a great addition to this scene and did anyone else find the Kaminoan?

And sorry Qui-Gon, not a bigger fish in site…

See the turtle of enormous girth, on his shell he holds the Earth...

Giant turtles appear throughout works of fiction: Discworld, The Dark Tower, and The Neverending Story to name a few. Here, Gino Lohse realises one of these beasts in LEGO form. The castle, itself a great micro build, sits proudly atop the colossal reptile as it makes its way through the forest. The subtle detailing through grill pieces as crenels demonstrates some exceptional part usage here, as do the binocular window and minifigure-hand flags. But its “vehicle” is a great build too! I love how the brown colour of the shell gives way to a grey rocky outcrop ensconcing the fortification. Both the creature and its payload blend so well into the forest that they traverse.

Rock Turtle

I could Jabba on about this one all day...

There are LEGO pieces that are very much a one-trick pony, those pieces so unique that you’d be hard-pressed to use them any other way. It was then great to come across this fantastic build by Andreas Lenander

Castle Ja’baa

Using the Jabba figure as a base, Andreas has fashioned a magnificent microscale palace set amongst rolling hills and cloudy mountains. The detail in this palatial build is brilliant and is reminiscent of St Basil’s Cathedral with its colourful spires reaching for the sky. Moving away from the palace, the plateau this building sits upon is decorated with well-placed (and balanced!) surrounding vegetation. The figures printing adds additional detail to the grassy terrain it portrays along with the alien head  adding further detail here moving away from this inspired us of Jabba, the Swedish Lego Masters alumni, has used a wealth of parts to add subtle detail that is to be found and enjoyed here.
Now, I’m off to brush off my Galidor pieces to see what I can make from this…

By Air Mail, to the future!

When the land is flooded and we take to the skies to avoid global warming, LegOH! is here to allay our fears that we’ll still be getting our mail on time in this LEGO airship build.

LegOH! has managed to cram a lot of detail into this diminutive vessel that I love from the limited colour palette, the steampunk inspired furnace keeping the airship aloft to the wrought iron details and, of course, the cargo of letters connecting this brave new world of aeronauts.

This reminds me, I must stick the holiday post in the mail…

Most Impressive detail in this Star Wars Underworld scene

You can do little better in finding inspiration for a LEGO Star Wars build than Darth Bjorn‘s builds. Capturing that seedy underworld vibe we’ve seen in the recent Obi-Wan and Andor series here is on point and I love the futuristic urban decay that’s evident across this build.

Suiters on Borgo Prime

In his latest, he’s taken one of the Expanded Universe’s lesser-known planets as a basis for creating his own take on this backwater world for the Galaxy-spanning RPG this was built for.
The brick-built Graffiti on the back wall is perfectly crafted, sitting below the neon lights that draw you into this scene. The main draw is what can be found below the giant fan, which is a brilliant circular structure that dominates the building and invites you to look below.
Now, I love customizing figures but I’ve never seen this done with Jabba before and I love that sled contraption!

Suiters on Borgo Prime

The industrial elements that decorate this scene throughout from the gantries and communication equipment down to the floor itself are all brilliant examples of what detail can be made from the smallest elements in the LEGO catalog, and a reason I love what LEGO does in the Advent Calendar’s.

A table strong enough to hold the Earth

I think it’s fair to say a LEGO build by Ralf Langer is always a going to be special. So when this appeared in my feed, I felt it needed to be shared with the readers of TBB. At first glance, it’s an elegant table adorned with a little tree. But there’s always more! Using artistic license, Ralf has created a map of the world in the table design, which compliments the colour of the tree’s leaves perfectly. Using plant stem parts, these leaves capture a naturalistic look, sitting proudly atop the table. A round shape is notoriously difficult to recreate in Lego form but Ralf has executed it to great effect here, using a nice solution to capture a rimmed edge to the table.

Earth Table

It’s Hammertime for this Mech

Moko brings us another offering of his Animal LEGO Mech collection, this time with the Hammerhead Shark kitted out and ready to deliver the Hammer blow! The design of this build certainly emphasises the heavy armour of the Mech and the colour palette accentuates that militaristic vibe. Even within the heavy armour, there are some nice flourishes of design – from the Battle Droid Torso’s found in the ankle mechanism through to the technic construction briefly glimpsed in the arms.

Shark's Exo-suit "Big hands"

But let’s not forget the Mech’s weapon, the Warhammer reveals it’s own bite which is expertly hidden away ready to add a powerful bite to any adversary they encounter. But that Hammerheads grin – toothy!

Shark's Exo-suit "Big hands"

We’ve all been there, those two LEGO plates that need that additional pressure to stick together. Have no fear, this little Sharknado in a Mech suit is here to help!