About Andrew Becraft (TBB Editor-in-Chief)

Andrew Becraft is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Brothers Brick. He's been building with LEGO for more than 40 years, and writing about LEGO here on TBB since 2005. He's also the co-author, together with TBB Senior Editor Chris Malloy, of the DK book Ultimate LEGO Star Wars. Andrew is an active member of the online LEGO community, as well as his local LEGO users group, SEALUG. Andrew is also a regular attendee of BrickCon, where he organizes a collaborative display for readers of The Brothes Brick nearly every year. You can check out Andrew's own LEGO creations on Flickr. Read Andrew's non-LEGO writing on his personal blog, Andrew-Becraft.com. Andrew lives in Seattle with his wife and dogs, and by day leads software design and planning teams.

Posts by Andrew Becraft (TBB Editor-in-Chief)

1970’s era Scania LBS 141

We’ve featured numerous Scania trucks over the years, including a British Stobart lorry, 142 wrecker, LT146 dump truck, and more. As ubiquitous on European roads as Peterbilts are in North America, Scania trucks continue to be a popular subject for LEGO builders. Dennis Bosman, whose dump truck I just linked to, has posted a gorgeous LBS 141 from the 70’s, with a clean white color scheme and fantastic details on both the cab and chassis. One of our European readers or contributors will have to explain what the deal is with the terrified puppets strapped to the roof rack…

EDIT: Well-informed readers across the Atlantic from the author have pointed out that the red minifig represents the popular mascot “Tiels Flipje,” while the white minifig is the iconic Michelin Man.

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LEGO Ideas 21307 Caterham Seven 620R [Review]

Back in March, LEGO announced that the next LEGO Ideas set would be 21307 Caterham Seven 620R, designed by Carl Greatrix. Just released this month, we’re pleased to bring our readers a full hands-on review.

This is quite a lovely set with some great parts — both brand new molds and recolored existing parts. Read our full review, but we think you’ll like this set as much as we do.

Click through to read the full review of the LEGO Caterham Seven

ASW-G-08 Gundam Barbatos Lupus

LEGO mecha builder Caleb L. has celebrated the new season of Mobile Suit Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans by posting this lanky Gundam with a big sword and curvy horns.

The mecha is fully poseable, prepared to whack all comers with the aforementioned big giant sword.

I’m always fascinated by the underlying frames that LEGO mecha builders design as the skeletons for their big stompy robots. Caleb’s frame uses lots of clip connections with pneumatic T’s, and a ton of studs-out bricks (“Travis” bricks, headlight bricks, and so on) to affix the mecha’s skin.

At home in space on a spinning Stanford torus

The Stanford torus was a design concept for a permanent space habitat for 10,000 residents proposed at Stanford University during the summer of 1975. Though not the only idea for a ring-shaped space station that would provide gravity to inhabitants, it’s one of the designs that received significant research from NASA. MSP! has created a microscale LEGO version, complete with buildings and landscaping on the ring’s interior. Mounted on an unobtrusive stand, this would look fantastic on any astronaut’s desk.

The EGHJORT shambles toward your doom

The Maschinen Krieger “Ma.Ktober” build challenge continues, with this rather terrifying entry by LEGOLIZE IT MAN. A monstrosity of the builder’s own design, the “EGHJORT” is presumably a powered suit like the rest in the Ma.K universe, and LEGOLIZE IT has captured the unique design aesthetic of that universe perfectly, with the domed face shield and canisters sticking out every which way. Even without a single visible weapon, this is not a fellow I would want to meet in any alley, poorly lit or otherwise.

As always, I’m particularly impressed with the builder’s excellent presentation — multiple views, blocks of text, and graphical elements that direct the eye toward the LEGO model itself.

The D9 Dragonfly Hoverdrone is locked on target

For the past six months or so, Taylor Walker has been working on a series of LEGO models in his own “Space Defense Force” theme. His latest creation is this excellent hoverdrone, which looks like a bulked up dragonfly (thus the name, I guess), complete with big buggy eyes and a long tail.

In case you missed them, his earlier Space Defense Force creations are well worth a look in Taylor’s Flickr album. His S27 Buzzard starfighter clearly shares a design aesthetic with the Dragonfly, but has a unique design of its own, with swept-forward wings and larger blocks of dark gray.

Han Solo & Chewbacca’s massive Erevana in UCS-scale LEGO

In The Force Awakens, a massive ship suddenly looms over the Millennium Falcon as Rey pilots the venerable freighter away from Jakku. The enormous ship swallows the Falcon whole. It’s not until a few moments later that we realize just who was piloting the Baleen-class heavy freighter dubbed Erevana. I’ve wanted to see a LEGO Erevana ever since I saw The Force Awakens, and nearly a year later Forgotten Days has granted my wish. This LEGO Erevana is massive enough to swallow a LEGO Millennium Falcon — though a microscale one to be sure. The non-repetitive cargo containers behind the main hangar bay section add nice blocks of color and texture to an otherwise “boring” cargo freighter.

You can see a full time-lapse of the build in this video:

A fine day out with the family on Troth Prime

It’s not often we get to see the family life of the explorers and scientists who populate the world of Neo-Classic Space. This little scene by Sad Brick makes me very happy, though, with a couple and their little blue and green children. There’s even a robot dog, who’s managed to uncover an alien bone of some sort. As enamored as I am with the scene overall, the speeder in the background is excellent — particularly the steps on the side that make it easier for those space-tots to clamber aboard. And with a truly massive bank of engines, I expect the vehicle to blast across the alien landscape at quite a quick clip.

Not all of Sad Brick’s NCS scenes are as peaceful. A tragic friendly fire incident is about to occur in this scene featuring some excellent vehicles.

UNSC Orion-class battleship

I’m not sure whether or not this ship by Gilcelio Chagas fits in the Halo universe, but what I do know is that it’s awesome. The blue and yellow stripes are lovely, evoking Neo-Classic Space more than Halo. And the adorable little microships look like they’d fit perfectly in the hangar.

Many large-scale LEGO spaceships use a complex Technic framework on the inside, so it’s noteworthy that Gilcelio has built his ship around a fairly straightforward core of plates and bricks, proving that you don’t always need the most complex techniques to achieve an outstanding result.

Liberté, égalité, fraternité

Just a couple weeks ago, we featured some lovely minifig artwork that recreated Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam by Ki Young Lee. The builder has been hard at work, though, and I love his latest. With some great minifig choices and deft Photoshopping, we have Eugène Delacroix’s iconic 1830 painting “Liberty Leading the People.”

While my own preferences lean toward revolution over devotion, Ki Young Lee’s recreation of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” is no less excellent — though not brick-building the architectural background elements does seem like a lost opportunity. I do like Simon the Zealot’s neck beard.

Build 21307 Caterham Seven from just the parts in 10252 VW Beetle

The new LEGO Ideas set 21307 Caterham Seven 620R just hit store shelves, but not everybody has their own copy yet (we do, so look for our review shortly). In a remarkable feat, Gerald Cacas has used only — yes ONLY! — the pieces in 10252 Volkswagen Beetle to build a remarkably accurate Caterham.

See more photos of the LEGO VW Beetle Caterham Seven

This penguin packs a punch

The Maschinen Krieger (Ma.K) themed Ma.Ktoberfest continues with this great entry from Marco Marozzi. The orange and tan give this mecha an industrial flair, but I wouldn’t want to be caught by its left hook.

The backhoe piece as the mech’s head is a particularly ingenious parts usage, complemented by excellent sticker application throughout.

About Andrew Becraft (TBB Editor-in-Chief)

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