Posts by Chris Burden

He’s a gigantic fluffy monster with an arrow on his head! Its kinda hard to miss him!

Sokka sure got it right when he pointed out this major flaw in Team Avatar’s main mode of transportation. Despite his lack of stealth, Appa proved to be an essential part of the team, carrying the gang and more all over the bending world. Fans of Nickelodeon’s The Last Airbender surely look back wantingly at the small line of sets that The LEGO Group blessed us with when the show was still airing and plenty of builders have expressed their dreams in brick form. Jay-Roon Bricks has joined in with this wonderful brick-built Appa, Avatar Aang’s loyal sky bison. Katara and Sokka look pretty comfy in that lovely saddle, while Aang looks ready for the next adventure. I’m glad they haven’t lost their supply bag yet either, represented here by the sand blue round plates and tiles behind the saddle.

This version models Appa’s body well and seems to be in scale with Toph and the rest of the gang. His face has some great details and seems very expressive, helping to capture the big guy’s spirit.

This picture from above also shows off the details of Appa’s tail and patterning. The rounded end and tight joints really match the character’s design and probably make this model very poseable.

Check out some more cartoon-inspired builds that we’ve shared.

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.

An alternate tribute to automotive history

It’s probably fair to say that Firas Abu-Jaber is an expert at building realistic models of iconic cars. The attention to detail and scale in his designs helps him realize some truly life-like designs. On top of that, he’s fond of making these insane replicas as alternates to LEGO Creator Expert sets like the Ford Mustang and the Fiat 500. I mean, this replica of a Lamborghini Countach 5000 Quattro Valvole is amazingly detailed for being an alternate of the LEGO Creator Expert 10295 Porsche 911 and it isn’t even the first alternate build he’s done of that set! Let’s take a closer look at what Firas is able to do with a parts limit.

Continue reading →

Lombax and the Bot

Watching my brothers during the summer months usually meant playing video games for hours on end until about an hour before our parents got home. In our flurry of cleaning before the front door opened, we always looked forward to the next day, the next level, the next boss. One of our absolute favorites was Ratchet & Clank, and I’m sure we weren’t alone on that. Though many of us can’t yet enjoy the newest edition in the series on the PlayStation 5, we can at least appreciate these fantastic models of the titular characters by Peter Zieske. Built at a great scale with wonderful color-blocking and parts usage, the construction enables expressive articulation and posing which make this duo a great addition to any gaming shrine or entertainment center.

The alternate option to attach Clank to Ratchet’s back is also a crucial detail for that extra level of immersion in the characters. Great job on capturing these guys, Peter.

Those that watch as cities fall

Ominous beings turn their gaze upon the last city as it is swallowed by the rising sands, the rubble of ancient roads leading to and from nothingness. Otherworldly figures and a crumbling metropolis created by the laudable Tino Poutiainen inspire plenty of stories to tease our minds. Titled Trio, this mysterious group of dark figures with lantern-like heads tower over the ruins of a great city as it fades into the dunes. The construction of this scene transcends its components. This microscale model almost doesn’t even look like LEGO! Bars and bar clips attach to 2×2 plates with holes that give the figures their long legs and rounded bodies. Their lamplight heads use radar dishes with white studs or a rounded bottom plate for contrast. The tan plates and cheese wedges lead into a block of light bluish grey plates and tiles in various orientations, accented with grill tiles whose exposed sides make up the windows of the city. A fantastic model reminiscent of the post-apocalyptic world of Nausicaä and the Valley of the Wind.

Art that educates helps the world in many ways

This is the type of diagram I’d like to see in a doctor’s office. LEGO can be used to make life fun and free for many of us but there are plenty of stories of our favorite plastic parts being used in the professional world for one purpose or another. This display by Nannan Zhang is a marriage of science and art that helps bring light to the inner workings of a disease that plagues millions of people every year. This model of a neuron being attacked by the immune system represents how Multiple Sclerosis affects the central nervous system resulting in the myriad of symptoms that patients experience. White droid arm dendrites connect to a spider web representing the nucleus. A flex hose functions as the axion running through myelin sheaths made with domes and bottom domes that become progressively more broken down by the various colorful immune cells that surround it. Set against that smooth, black background, this piece is fit for display and would surely engage those that saw it in trying to understand more about this disease.

Check out some more designs inspired by the medical field or find more by Nannan Zhang on Flickr or Instagram (@nannanz_creations).

Silencio, Bruno!

It hasn’t been long since Luca premiered and already we have a fantastic model to behold. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, don’t worry, there aren’t any spoilers to be had here, just a beautiful scene based on the town of Portorosso. Builder Thomas Carlier is fond of creating vignettes of Disney and Pixar films, making beautiful models of iconic scenes from each movie. Scrolling through his feed is a rollercoaster of nostalgia, each creation beautifully crafted to capture the spirit and feeling of the movie being celebrated. Pixar’s dreamy stylizations and Miyazaki-inspired visual flow are full of lush details that make for intense models when translated into brick form and this rendered model of Portorosso is bright and eye-catching, the textures and proportions matching well with their film counterparts. Let’s take a closer look at how Thomas tackled this perfect summer flick.

Those roofs definitely draw the eye but moving down we can appreciate the texture and structure of the buildings. Various techniques were used to emulate the masonry of the shops and homes from the movie. I love the slanted shutters and the use of flat clips lining the gutters. Minifigure versions of each of the main characters make an appearance with Luca and Alberto enjoying some ice cream while Giulia makes deliveries on her bike and Ercole stands near his precious Vespa waiting for someone to bully. The slight bit of water lapping up against the dock really set the scene, allowing us to imagine what might come out of those calm waves while the people of the town enjoy the sun and community of the fountain in the square.

Always take some precautions when playing around with hypermatter

Fans of the Classic Space LEGO theme may be quite familiar with the prolific builder, Tim Goddard. Known for challenging the limits of the LEGO system and showing us the possibilities, he’s given us another great build to appreciate. This new ship, Dragons Progress, utilizes unique pieces combined in a pleasing and simple color palette for tons of detail and greeble. From the nose to the pointy bits protecting us all from the hypermatter static build-up of the experimental engines, this ship has a wonderful form that breaks the mold of the Classic Space theme.

Continue reading →

Aloysius Animo, at your service

Fans of Ben 10 may recognize this Earth-68 version of the conflicted Doctor Animo, a genius in mutagenic effects and subsequently frequent bad guy. This build by The Underscored Double is an awesome representation of the character. The modeling and color-blocking hit on key points of his design, like the tech strapped to his chest or the exposed brain, antennae, and goggles. The claws are also a perfect match with the lime green accents. In addition to this villain, we’re also given a great version of an alien on Ben’s Omnitrix, the Stinkfly. The ghostly green color palette, as well as the translucent green head, compliment the wealth of interesting Bionicle and Galidor pieces used by the builder to mold this complicated character.

If you enjoy builds like this, check out some more characters. If you’d like to see more by this builder, you can find them on Flickr or Instagram (@theunderscoreddouble).

I seek an audience with Your Greatness to bargain for Solo’s life

Luke Skywalker was dedicated to getting his friends back at all costs. Star Wars fans share in that dedication when constructing their detailed reproductions of scenes from the series. Here, Anthony shows us an excellent slice of Jabba’s Palace from an iconic scene in the Return of the Jedi. The detailing captures the throne room well and I love the bottles with spilled liquid along the edges of the display. I also enjoy how Anthony decided to portray the scene. On top of the notable characters, the builder staged the display at a great scale and in a way that evokes some emotion. Having Luke’s back to the viewer helps us imagine that we are in Luke’s place, facing down a wretched scumlord holding our friends captive. Paired with the dramatic irony of knowing what’s in store for our hero, I think it helps add a feeling to the model that hits me right in the nostalgia.

Old gods and hidden dangers

The heart of the forest lay deep within the multitudes of birch protected by the Forestmen. The unaware would see a plain tree but within its ancient form lay the spirit of the forest, a god older than the dirt its roots now dig through. Those that hear whispers of its power seek to gain a piece of it to use for their means, good or evil. At least, that’s the story that comes to mind when I see this model. Here builder Eli Willsea shows us the Prince of Persia attempting to evade the Forestmen as he seeks the power granted by the ancient birch. Check out the parts Eli used, like the vehicle shovel in the background of the underground chamber or the horns and large claws as branches. Fantastic rock molding frames the sandy texturing of the bricks at the base of the chamber, detailed with minifigure legs and candles. While the smaller birch trees make use of the slits in the technic parts for their look, Eli used black lifesaver bouys to achieve the bigger birch’s characteristic stripes.

You can find more of Eli Willsea’s designs in our archives.

Built for the fearless adventurer

Spaceship! I will always react that way to any swooshable model starcraft. Builders love to show off their knowledge of the LEGO system by the way they mold and craft the shapes of their starships. In addition, the eye-catching detail, or greeble, they add shows off some of their brick collection as well as their ingenuity in representing the elements of a spaceship. In this wonderful model, Starfighter Intrepid, builder seb71 shows off some of their skill.

Having a history of well-crafted spaceships, seb71 has brought us an eye-catching, sand-green design highlighted with white plates and tiles built cleverly into the wings and body. If you look at the structure of the Intrepid closely, you can see the various orientations the builder used to achieve their desired design. The stickers seb71 used add just the right amount of extra detail. I love the large white slopes in the wings, often used in the Imperial Shuttle sets. They work perfectly with the structure as well as the color-blocking.

Read on to see more views of this fantastic spaceship

Bag Tag Dice Lad

The LEGO Dots line has introduced some fun printed studs and colorful pieces to play around with. This year they introduced bag tag sets with a new cube element. In the past, they’ve had 2×2 stud cubes used in games as the dice, but this newer cube is 3×3 studs, allowing for more detail. Though the beveled, angular edges of the element can provide some challenges to integrating it into a model, builder nobu_tary shows us the character it can lend to a brick-built figure.

This little guy’s colorful head is detailed with tiles and modified studs while the body is built upside down, attaching to the studs on the bottom of the bag tag cube. Simple use of a slope and a curved top stud attached to bricks with studs on the side help give the impression of an arm. The same side-studded bricks are used to attach the Macaroni Technic tubes and 1×2 plates that make up the cute little legs. The angle nobu_tary shot this photo at helps conceal the attachment for the bag tag ring clip, which could either make or break a model because of the asymmetry it adds to the cube element. Nonetheless, creative positioning, as well as color blocking between the figure and the seat help nobu_tary, build an adorable little character that reminds me of the Wood Man from Netflix’s Hilda. Something about the character’s expression just reminds me of the Wood Man bursting in unannounced to peoples’ homes. Maybe this is Dice Lad, a relative of sorts, that appears to moderate board games, whether you like it or not.

Find more of nobu_tary’s builds on Flickr or Instagram (@nobu_tary) or check out some more characters by other builders!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!