Posts by Ryan Wood

Like an elephant, the trunk’s in the front of this Volkswagen Beetle

Lennart C is no stranger to the pages of The Brothers Brick and returns with another iconic vehicle, the Volkswagen Beetle Type 1! While the Beetle may have been knocked off the best-selling charts by the ubiquitous, evolving Toyota Corolla, the world’s longtime “Most Popular Automobile” can live on in our hearts with this stunning, slick black edition.

The model boasts some really great features for being such a compact creation, including working doors and engine lid, and teeny tiny foot pedals. Printed pieces from the official 10252 Beetle are smartly placed, and I’m pretty sure the seats have some degree of reclining action. Lennart is also already putting newer pieces to good use: the new 1×2 plate rounded with open studs is tucked away in the tail lights.

If you like this Beetle, check out more Volkswagen action in our archives!

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The Valzaleer spacecraft has a beautiful veneer

This incredible spaceship by AdNorrel features distinctive profile shapes and smartly integrated LEGO pieces. The lovely bits of filled-in details within the crevasses and armored surfaces of the starship are great examples of greebling done well. Not too out of place, not too overshadowed — there’s some real inspirational craftsmanship here.

I don’t want all of my articles to become running checklists of parts, but see if you can spot the messenger pouches, croissants, and frying pans. It’s a really fun scavenger hunt kind of model.

Click to see even more of the Valzaleer

Mimic Mishap: a Dungeons and Dragons LEGO adventure!

Taylor, of the Brandon and Taylor Walker building duo, has put out another entry in his Dungeons & Dragons series. As a newly-minted D&D player in the middle of his first adventure (I’m a half-elf Ranger with a sailor background who always follows orders, even if they’re wrong), I’m probably paying more attention to this one than I normally would have! There are five unique figures representing a range of the official character classes all facing off against a monstrous mimic treasure chest. The standout figure for me is the demonic tiefling with his mustache-for-horns. The floor and walls are also extremely well done, adding a patterned texture to offset the chaotic battle.

And if you’re as hungry for more D&D LEGO content as I currently am, check out our archives for cool models featured previously!

Vortexx, the beckoning Bionicle nightmare

Vortexx 2.0 is a stunning display of craftsmanship by Andrew Steele. It follows his amazing mighty Talos we featured recently. I get major Transformers Beast Wars Waspinator vibes from this model, but with a deadly serious twist instead of comedic incompetence.

Thanks to a beautiful blend of minifigure blasters, horns, robot arms, armor, chains, and a prize trophy stash of Atlantis treasure keys, this model jumps off the screen. This is actually my favorite shot of the model; the dim lighting and beckoning pose add to the feeling of emotion dripping off this hyper-detailed Bionicle/System creation.

Visit the busy town of Khevroa in the Isles of Aura

There have been many entries in the continuing Isles of Aura saga, a series of floating islands creations, but I wanted to spend some time touring Isaac and John Snyder’s latest effort: the Town of Khevroa.

We’ve previously featured models from the Isles after the concept’s genesis as Models Inspired by Music and later with Brother Stevens’ Sunset Slumber among others. However, this latest scene has some great examples of packing a lot of detail and building variety into one small town.

Continue deeper into the town

Drop into action with the DT-92 Rigellian Dropship

Prepare for action in hostile territory with Ben “Spaceship!” Smith’s phenomenal APC transport, the DT-92 Rigellian Dropship.

Technically, I’ve led off this article with the money shot of the rear 3/4 of the ship, because I am enamored with Ben’s gorgeous engine arrangement. There are crisp lines to follow all over the ship and clean color blocking in its asymmetrical form. The dropship deviates from the predominantly aerodynamic characteristics of the spacecraft we’re used to seeing in TV and movies – which is a great subject to explore as we approach SHIPtember when many in the spaceship-loving LEGO community will put out massive plastic spacecraft in a tight timeframe.

The dropship has some really fun bits scattered throughout the model but one of the features I think gets a little lost in the dramatic photo lighting is the VTOL engines that appear as if they would actually swivel on 2×2-stud turntables depending on how the ship is swooshed. I also like the integration of the 10248 Ferrari F40 windshield piece although I think it adds a bit of a quirky, off-putting Eagle 5 space Winnebago look to the cockpit.

Blacktron attack on Redstone Five

Last year LEGO model builder Moto debuted his dazzling Chrysalis spaceship, and recently at Denver Comic-Con he enhanced his original creation with a space dragon attack on a remote space base with space heroes on the defensive. In the builder’s own words- “While performing standard maintenance, the Redstone 5 launchpad has come under attack from the Blacktron Dragon Obscurtronum!” and you can see the brave efforts the base occupants are making to guard against the assault.

The star of the show here is still undoubtedly the Chrysalis ship, which shines on the screen even better now with a contrasting background element and the bustle of the battle scene.

Pangohihi powerizer, the beautiful black ray

I came into The Brothers Brick contributor gig knowing I would be challenged to find and write about LEGO creations outside of my comfort zone. What I didn’t expect was how quickly I would fall down the deep rabbit hole of Bionicle creations, and I keep finding myself drawn to Logey Bear’s works, many of which have been featured on TBB in the past (my favorite being Captain Falcon of Nintendo F-Zero fame). His latest model is an oceanic delight, a Bionicle-Galidor hybrid model that barely registered to me as LEGO at first glance. The key component of this radical ray is the pair of “powerizer legs” comprising the front of the beast. The spinal ridge straight through to the tail is also a slick, organic touch.

A different breed of bird

The United States’ Independence Day celebration may have been last month, but this feathery model from the crafty Sergei Rahkmaninoff is a high-flying patriotic tribute any time of the year. Like some of the other Bionicle models featured on TBB recently, this big bird was built as an entry for the 2018 Bio-Cup contest being held on Flickr.

We’ve featured birds of prey on TBB in the past, but you’ve never seen one with as dazzling a color scheme or innovative parts usage as this. The Hero Factory shoulder armor for the eagle’s beefy upper legs is impeccable, and the red-and-white striped wings are cleverly constructed with overlapping slopes and teeth pieces. I feel like freedom is about to claw my eyes out.

Gone with the wind

Although not based on a specific aircraft, the latest model from Finnish builder Tino Poutiainen accurately replicates the wild, “held together with string and dreams” frontier of the early days of manned flight. Like the real-life Wright Flyer, Baldwin Red Devil, and other early turn-of-the-20th-century experimental aeroplanes, Tino’s model appears rickety, thin, and massively unsafe: he did a superb job of making the whole thing look like it’s going to fall apart as soon as its wheels leave the ground.

Stug mkIII, a mech for the mean streets

Singapore-based Benjamin Cheh Ming Hann is no stranger to The Brothers Brick, with a huge array of top-tier, futuristic mecha and starships to his name (oh, and bugs). His latest creation continues to wow us as he presents a meaty mech that is bristling with weaponry and optional armor. The Stug mkIII features a colorful blend of chunky slopes and joints that I found really exciting as someone who has struggled to complete substantial mech models in the past. I also appreciate the nearly studless look, which is typical for Benjamin. This model would fit right at home with his prior work KURA IAM model.

Click through for more views of the back of the model and the bonus armor skirting!

Cooking up a chemically pure Breaking Bad scene with LEGO

The TV show Breaking Bad showed us chemistry-teacher-turned-drug-kingpin Walter White’s descent from sympathetic protagonist to monstrous antagonist over its run, and the ever-talented LEGO 7 has rendered the self-styled Heisenberg in brick form here at the peak of his meth-cooking days. Like the famously blue 99.1% chemically pure meth, this model has all the right ingredients to be a hit.

I absolutely love the use of the trans-clear Bionicle tooth for the chemical pouring into the pot, although I think the standout parts usage here is the trans-black windscreen 3x4x3 which expertly replicates the protective face mask of Walt’s meth-cookin’ outfit. Enjoy a bonus shot of this brilliant model with the facemask up to appreciate the work recreating Walt’s distinct glasses, goatee, and shaved head.

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