About Elspeth De Montes

Elspeth De Montes is Scottish but lives in North Yorkshire with her partner and twins. She is a LEGO Builder not a collector of sets, which in theory should make the hobby less expensive (ahem!) but monochrome collections can be pricey. You can see more of Elspeth's work on her blog or website and Flickr. Elspeth is also a bike lover; mountain bike, fixie, road bike, tri-bike (n+1=number of bikes I need).

Posts by Elspeth De Montes

Flying this ship is as easy as Aurek, Besh, Cresh

Aurebesh is the writing system in Star Wars used to transcribe Galactic Basic, one of the most used languages in the galaxy. It first appeared in the 1983 movie Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, but it was expanded into an alphabet by Stephen Crane of West End Games for gamers to use when playing Star Wars video games. Jake RF has created a starfighter that resembles the letter Enth (shaped like a backwards E and pronounced /Æ/) in the Aurebesh alphabet. There’s a lot of nice textures going on here, and the colour scheme works well to make this a believable Star Wars ship.

Jake RF shared some work-in-progress views and the original concept artwork. It’s not often we are able to get insights into the design process of a model and it is interesting to see.

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A utopian place to call home

Life can be busy and sometimes we need to find a place that allows us to relax and unwind. Rather than search high and low for that special place, Milan Sekiz has built his own sanctuary with LEGO bricks. This tranquil scene is beautiful, with its soothing colour scheme and some very nice natural features in the garden. I love the way the colour combination of the leaves tone in nicely with the sloping roofs of the home in the background.

My own favourite part of the scene is the little stream and the cleverly constructed bridge connecting the stone path. Milan has used different coloured plates under the transparent light blue tiles to give the impression of a textured river bed.

There’s only one minor part of the scene that kicked me from my tranquil, meditative state; the combination of the yellow minifigures and flesh has a jolting effect on my irritable nerve.

The LEGO NINJAGO Movie 70656 Garmadon, Garmadon, Garmadon [Review]

The second wave of The LEGO Ninjago Movie tie-in sets were released on the 1st Dec, and now we are taking a look at of one of the larger sets, 70656 garmadon, Garmadon, GARMADON! Garmadon Shark Mech set was first seen back at SDCC and the movie version featured in the official trailer, safe to say that this set has been eagerly awaited. garmadon, Garmadon, GARMADON! has 830 pieces, six minifigures, rated ages 9-14 and is priced at £79.99 / $79.99 / 79.99€ (which equates to 9.6p / 9.6c / 9.6c per piece).

The Box and what’s inside

The front box art has already been revealed and shows Garmadon Shark Mech moving in on its prey of a hot dog stand with a side of innocent civilians.

The rear of the box shows the opposite of Garmadon Shark Mech about to munch on the hotdog stall or its vendor, with the play features detailed at the bottom. In addition, the size of the final mech model is detailed just in case the model is smaller than expected after seeing The LEGO Ninjago Movie (more on that later).

Sketching Captain Phasma’s best side

Chris McVeigh has built many well-known characters using his brick sketching technique. His latest brick sketch uses layers of curved plates to capture an intimidating portrait of Captain Phasma. The female Captain of the First Order has been crafted using only red, bluish greys and black LEGO parts, yet she is instantly recognisable. As always, Chris has created some lovely angles by layering plates and tiles, giving depth to the build.

If you like this style of building, you will enjoy Chris’ brick sketch self-portrait and brick sketch of Rocket Raccoon from Guardians of the Galaxy. Paddy Blicksplitter also built a portrait of Charlie Chaplin in a similar style.

Time to travel to beautiful cityscapes

If you feel nervous about the future and dread the thought of grey concrete buildings taking over our cities, these beautiful microscale futuristic cityscapes by Jeff Friesen should calm your fears. Each unique scene is beautifully crafted, with buildings, transportation links, water, and features like bridges, parks, and flora. The colour schemes have been well thought-out and there are lots of clever details in each scene despite their diminutive size.

Take a closer look at these microscale cityscapes

Soldiering on amongst the trees of Ardennes in 1945

The Battle of the Bulge was the German’s last offensive of World War II. Although it initially caught Allied forces off guard, especially in the heavily wooded Ardennes region, it proved to be a major disaster for Germany that hastened its inevitable demise. Dunedain98 has build a wintry scene from this battle that depicts American soldiers preparing to attack an StuG III Assault Gun alongside a derelict, battle-damaged home.

A view closer down to the action from minifigure eye-level really shows off the atmosphere with the snow-laden trees and the offensive anticipation in the air. Continue reading →

Hercules’ fourth labour is anything but boaring

In Greek mythology, Hercules was sentenced to serving King Eurystheus for twelve years after killing his family in a fit of god-induced madness. Part of his punishment required Hercules to perform twelve seemingly impossible tasks, and Bob DeQuatre has created the fourth task in LEGO bricks. His snowy creation sets the scene with the large, aggressively dark Erymanthian Boar standing on high and a rather more diminutive looking Hercules facing up to his opponent. The composition is well thought out with the temple subtly built away from the main action on the left. I love the landscaping with rocks, snow and a stream frozen into an icy cascade on the right.

Taking a closer look at the boar also reveals some nice sculpturing to achieve his muscular form. I appreciate the thought that has gone into creating a realistic landscape, notice the ground underneath the tree is devoid of snow thanks to the leafy umbrella of protection above.

The Jacobite Risings took 5 builders 10 months to build using 1 million LEGO bricks

This year’s big build by Brick to the Past is called ‘The Jacobite Risings: The Fight for Britain’s Throne’. The risings took place between 1689 and 1746, mostly in Scotland as supporters of the Stuart dynasty attempted to restore them to the throne. They were effectively Britain’s last civil wars.
The model is around 16 square metres in size, sitting on the equivalent of 105 48 stud baseplates. It has a mountain in its centre that reaches about 1m high. It was built by the Brick to the Past (BTTP) team, Dan Harris, James Pegrum, Simon Pickard, Tim Goddard and Steve Snasdell, and took around 10 months to complete.

See more detailed photos of this massive build and read our interview with Brick to the Past

The LEGO Ninjago Movie Wave 2 sets now available [News]

The LEGO Ninjago Movie wave 2 sets are now available to buy from the LEGO Shop online or at your local LEGO store. Wave 2 includes Garmadon’s Shark Mech, Garmadon’s Volcano Lair, the Quake Mech and a smaller set, Piranha Attack. You can support The Brothers Brick by clicking on the set links to shop at LEGO online, scroll down for links to the LEGO Shop for our UK and Canadian readers.

70656 garmadon, Garmadon, GARMADON!, 830 parts, £79.99 / $79.99

Show me more The LEGO Ninjago Movie Wave 2 sets

A tale of pirates, hidden treasure, English sailors and Spanish conquistadors

Life on the Caribbean island of San Escobar is anything but peaceful. The conquering Spaniards have a strategic fort while some English sailors have just arrived on HMS Falcon in time for afternoon tea. On the other side of the island, a pirate ship approaches looking for hidden treasure! This huge and impressive diorama by Ciamosław Ciamek has everything required to tell a great story; a pirate ship, English sailors, Spanish soldiers, hidden treasure and a monastery full of moonshine-brewing monks. What could possibly go wrong?

A closer look at the monastery shows off its nicely designed red sloping tiled roofs, an impressive dome and the main façade that was inspired by La Estancia Jesuítica Santa Catalina in Argentina.

There are lots more close-up views to enjoy in the builder’s San Escobar album of images.

More 2018 sets revealed with our Nexo Knights, Ninjago, Friends and Disney Princess Round-up

November is a busy time with new sets revealed for 2018 and we have already revealed 2018 sets Technic, Minecraft, City, DC Comics Superheroes, Architecture and Creator Expert themes, as well as some special 60th Anniversary sets. Now we can reveal a further selection of Nexo Knights, Ninjago, Friends and Disney Princess sets, all pictured below. Even if a particular theme does not take your fancy, there are plenty of new parts to spot within some of the sets.

Ninjago has a sub-theme of Sons of Garmadon for 2018, including a headquarters set, a larger temple and the return of hand-held rip-cord powered sets.

70643 Temple of Resurrection

70640 S.O.G. Headquarters

Click to reveal more sets due to be released in 2018

Build your own Blacktron Rectifier to prevent robot turtle supremacy [Instructions]

We all know that Peter Reid’s robot turtles are cute in their unarmed state, but they have been becoming increasingly heavily armed and dangerous. When robot turtles undergo a population explosion and arms race, it is inevitable that other cute robots will suffer. To address this robotic imbalance, Luc Byard has designed the Blacktron Rectifier, a scorpion-like mecha that will help to calm those little turtles into submission.

Luc has kindly provided a parts list and breakdown instructions to build your own Rectifier.

See step-by-step instructions for this adorably terrifying Blacktron Rectifier