Posts by David Alexander Smith

War of the ‘micro’ worlds

Although Sad Brick’s War of the Worlds diorama occupies a tiny base plate, it still packs in some serious detail and a sense of scale completely at odds with its diminutive size. It’s one of the perpetual ironies of LEGO building, that working small creates some of the best representations of physically huge vistas.

A few rotated and misaligned transparent cheese slopes become a broiling ocean, unbelievably hot dog sausages are reimagined as the suspension arches on the Golden Gate Bridge – a design adapted from builder Li Li’s brick-topper badge for Bricks by the Bay 2017 – and a minidoll syringe doubles as ~~a submarine periscope~~ Alcatraz Island’s watchtower. Setting the scene for one of the littlest, and best, brick-built aliens I’ve seen, to cause havoc in.

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.

The conflict of Horus and Set

Talented character builder Leonid An taps into the primal iconography of ancient Egypt in his LEGO depiction of the gods Set and Horus. Set, the dark god of storms, disorder and violence is suitably built from black elements, utilising a row of ball joints to covey a muscular body; modified bricks added to the side of his face neatly imply the tapering of a jackal-like snout.

Horus, the sky god, meanwhile displays a leaner torso made from bowed bricks, and a craftily sculpted falcon head, formed from a variety of unexpected parts.

Built together, the two bring to life the epic myth told in the famous Chester Beatty Papyrus; of the contest between Set and Horus to determine the rightful king of Egypt.

The flying Scotsman rides again: Jackie Stewart’s Matra MS80 01

1969 was a glory year for Jackie Stewart, dominating the F1 Championship in his Matra MS80 01; and it is the spirit of this golden age of motor racing that builder Luca Rusconi recreates in his version of the classic car. Luca is known for his detail perfect LEGO renditions of the sport’s most iconic cars, here capturing the distinctive ‘Coke bottle’ shape of the Matra with a range of perfectly aligned curved bricks. An array of smaller LEGO elements treats the Ford’s Cosworth DFV engine similarly. There’s no doubt that Luca’s interpretation of the Matra is as stylish and emblematic as the car it pays homage to.

Shanty Town: Designing a disordered way of living

Creating anything that appears haphazard and undesigned with LEGO bricks is never easy, which makes #1 Nomad’s Shanty Town all the more impressive. A tottering tower of makeshift units and containers, where each segment is crafted according to a unique aesthetic: one flying the livery of LEGO Classic Space theme, with its blue frame and yellow arrow prints, the next offering a nod to the Octan colour scheme. Nomad demonstrates his skill by orchestrating this chaos, from the precise way the detritus is scattered around the creation’s base, to the lines of snaking cables and satellite dishes that clad the building. The result is something essentially disorganised, visually fascinating and ultimately beautiful.

Behold the baroque beauty of this LEGO church

This baroque Church, created by builder Jellyeater, achieves the illusive feat of capturing an authentic sense of place. Numerous building techniques have been used to accurately capture the proportions, angles and curves of the baroque style, with the elegant dome being a stand out feature. However, when a creator gets me excited about the gradients of grey in a slate roof, I know I’m looking at something special.

This theme of exquisite detail is continued in the form of various modified plates, bricks and tiles used in the off-set courtyard tower; hinting at age, wear and centuries of repair. The oak doors, made from turntable bases layered over black bricks, completes the historical effect.

Boba Fett: The last bounty hunter

You can tell that Nathaniel is a fan of Star Wars just by looking at the way he has lovingly upgraded the recent Boba Fett buildable figure set. Everyone’s favourite Mandalorian looks noticeably filled-out with new anatomical details added in the form of cleverly integrated brick built thighs. A number of other neat touches to his armour provide detail and a samurai twist. I suspect Nathaniel knows his Star Wars lore, specifically George Lucas’s debt to Akira Kurosawa’s epic The Seven Samurai, referencing the connection in the theming of his creation. I have to agree, that the bounty hunter reimagined as samurai warrior, banners flying, Katana in hand, striding across a flower-laden Shogun era meadow, looks amazing.

Dagon the Great Leviathan strikes a pose!

If you are going to build a giant bubble gum-coloured leviathan, you absolutely want to showcase its serpentine movement. This was builder Jayfa’s intention when designing this mythical beast, which is its second iteration in a quest for greater poseability. Abandoning Bionicle connections for more traditional LEGO bricks and ratchet joints he has created a more substantial looking, fully posable monster that twists and turns without additional support. Add to this some neat part use in the form of the threaded bricks to create its flexed tail, and conical Ninjago hats to suggest cheeks for its maw, and you have a perfectly realised beast.

Now that is just showing off!

Atmospheric recreation of Lady Proxima’s lair from Solo: A Star Wars Story

Builder Nooroyd demonstrates an exquisite cinematic approach in their take on Han Solo’s meeting with Lady Proxima from Disney’s Solo: A Star Wars Story. The creation’s photography captures the film’s beautiful blue-tinted realization of the planet Corellia, so well in fact, that on first inspection you might be fooled into thinking it a piece of lost concept art. However, look closer and you begin to see fantastic LEGO details like the fanned brick built entrance to the tunnel to the left of the picture, or the cleverly selected brick separator and Technic steering rack elements on the back wall.

Petuna the candy-crushing pixie

Cute and deadly: Djokson’s Petunia the Pummeler Pixie ticks both boxes. This little creation reveals some inspirational part usage, particularly in the way it reimagines the old banded cones, often used as wind socks in LEGO airport sets, as the pixie’s striped stockings. Piling on more kawaii details in the form of a sweet LEGO Friends bow on her top and a Clikits heart in her pigtails completes the wonderfully destructive candy aesthetic.