Posts by Jake Forbes (TBB Managing Editor)

Dominique Boeynaems pulls a-head with LEGO creativity

The Iron Forge competition just concluded its second week-long sprint where twenty builders were tasked with making creations using the ubiquitous LEGO minifig head as the featured “seed part.” So many delightful builds emerged from the prompt, but one builder kept delivering smiles: Dominique Boeynaems. Each of these builds is worthy of sharing on its own, but together they’re an inspiration to builders and a showcase of what makes the Iron Forge such a wonderful part of LEGO fandom.

Leading with Dominique’s final build, this nearly lifesize accordion came together during a 10-hour sprint and incorporates no less than 44 minifig heads for the keys. Vidyo straps work great for the handles. With the competition name and year worked into the instrument, it’s both a wonderful build and the perfect memento.

Dominque’s frog uses three minifig heads – two for the eyes and one for the fly. A car hood makes for a perfect amphibian forehead.

Click to see more of Dominique’s colorful and heady builds

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Itty bitty Big Daddy will leave you in Rapture [Instructions]

It’s been 18 years since gamers first explored the fallen “utopia” of Rapture and we still can’t forget the Big Daddies who haunt its undersea halls. In game, those lumbering living diving suits are the stuff of nightmares, but built at minifig scale by BrickAA, they’re not nearly as scary. Shall we call them “L’il Papas” instead? BrickAA has quite a knack for pint-sized mechs and makes many instructions for their builds freely available, including the instructions for this adorable Big Daddy. What are you waiting for? In the words of Andrew Ryan, “a fan chooses to build.”

Should you prefer your Big Daddies a little… bigger, why not revisit this classic build from Eero Okkonen?

Is the legendary Carrotana a Hare-tori Hanzo sword?

Over the past two years, Nathan Don (Woomy World) has become one of the most exciting builders around with a talent for color, shaping, and unlocking the potential in every piece from LEGO’s deep history of parts. The builder leaps into the new year with a new character: Tobu, a Japanese-inspired rabbit swordsman. The face is quite expressive, with parts like minifig casts in the lips giving the character a fluffy intensity. The featured part here is definitely the new leaf mold in magenta from Pretty Pink Flower Bouquet, used for Tobu’s ears and for a dynamic ring of leaves around the model, and which anchor the color scheme. As Nathan explains on his blog, parts in retired colors, like the Scala table used for the figure’s base, can unlock new color combinations when mixed with modern elements.

Should you find yourself in Billund, several of Nathan’s characters can now be seen at the LEGO House Masterpiece Gallery.

In New Hashima, even offshore slums are epic

In the cyberpunk city of New Hashima, the rich live above the fray (as we’ve seen with this incredible tower) while the have-nots are left to eke out a living in the toxic world below. Brick Ready adds to the massive LEGO collaboration with this artificial island made from shipping containers that shows that there’s beauty even in the city’s slums. The builder brings an eye for detail to the towering creation, such as laundry hanging from windows, splintered wood supports, brick-built graffiti, and broken windows. The shipping container homes might not be luxurious but they feel cozier than many of the neon scenes in New Hashima’s more thriving districts. The transmission tower adds scale and a splash of color that makes the island a triumphant addition to the collaboration that grows more wonderful each year.

How to give your microscale architecture a leg up [Building Technique]

Sometimes a “sketch” of a bigger LEGO project can turn into stunning work in its own right. That’s certainly the case with Roanoke Handybuck‘s towering pirate village, where using stilts in place of terrain creates negative space that heightens the fantastical architecture of arches and overhangs, accentuating the surreal beauty. Maybe the results can inspire you to find a hidden masterpiece in your own unfinsihed LEGO projects.

Do go chasing waterfalls with Jeff Works

Jeff Friesen has been delighting LEGO fans with his microscale cityscapes for years, maintaining a clean isometric look that looks rendered but is very much real bricks. For his first build of 2025, Jeff erects a gilded city of waterfalls and aqueducts that could have been pulled straight from the beautiful Monument Valley mobile games. Like all of Jeff’s cityscapes, it’s an immersive experience that rewards peeking around every arch as you imagine life in this fantastic place.

If you’re curious about Jeff’s process and inspirations, our interview with the prolific builder is a great place to start.

What’s that? A LEGO wat!

Aside from a handful of Raya and the Last Dragon sets, LEGO has never explored traditional South-East Asian architecture in official sets, which is a shame, as you can see from this minifig-scale Thai wat built by Brigitte Jonsgard. Brigitte perfectly captures the steep, tiered roof with ornate chofa jutting out like horns. Snaking dragons along the stairs welcome guests into the temple. Birgitte shares a video of the full buddhist complex, with wat and stupa, over on flickr.

Birgitte has a talent for ornate houses of worship. This stave church from her native Norway is one of the most striking LEGO churches I’ve ever seen.

Making mech heads in LEGO with Moko [Building Techniques]

When it comes to building LEGO mechs, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone with as much experience and expertise as Moko. The Japanese builder has been posting and sharing robotic creations with us for 20 years, going back to 2005 and this sad little Gundam! Moko’s latest big project, this incredible combining Mechazord, was one of our most popular articles of 2024. Today Moko is sharing techniques for building mech heads like these.

Follow along as Moko guides you through the advanced techniques used to build heads like these from simple parts you probably already have in your collection.

For more mech head tutorials, check out Moko’s previous video with four different styles.

The worm turns- terror, beauty, and reincarnation in LEGO

The twisting mass of teeth and bone called Yamikamikusari is the incarnation of a portable shrine that governs reincarnation. This incredible LEGO model also represents a reincarnation of sorts for its creator, Pan Noda, a builder of immense talent and steady reinvention. Pan seems to have found a new muse in the shape of the DUPLO ball tube, featured here in red and used in two other amazing builds late last year. It’s such an un-LEGO piece, curved and studless, defying connection to a bigger build. But Pan manages to tame the tubes, finding the perfect way to nest rings of 2×1 round plates inside to turn an innocent preschool toy into a nightmarish maw. Pan’s shrine construction is also beautiful, incorporating chains, nets, and Modulex elements to create a structure that seems carved from wood, not built of blocks.

With such talent and imagination, it’s no wonder Pan Noda made our shortlist for Builder of the Year.

This Week in LEGO Bricks – It’s Medieval Madness! [Feature]

With the Brickscalibur submissions window closing, this week saw a surge in amazing medieval builds being shared, while Iron Forge challengers were challenged to get their head in the game. All this and more news from around the LEGOverse gets summed up with style by our friend ABrickDreamer!

Salem’s most haunted house in LEGO

Did someone say spooky LEGO haunted house? Where are those Hidden Side kids when you need them? Builder Jeff Chapman is back with another stunning recreation of a Salem landmark shrouded in ghost stories. This time it’s the Joshua Ward house, built in 1784 in the brick federal style. What makes it noteworthy is less the architecture (which is lovely with all that dark red!) but it’s haunted legacy, as the mansion was built on the site where a zealous sheriff had his home and makeshift witch prison during the infamous witch trials.

As we’ve come to expect from Jeff, the presentation is impeccable, with the building resting on a dynamic patch of terrain littered with fall leaves from that amazing tree. The climbing vines are especially effective, incorporating snakes and claws amongst the leaves. While the brick red walls are uniform in color, Jeff packs in detail, from the great keystone arches over the windows to the added weathering on the chimneys. Jeff guides you through the build process and tells the full haunted history on his always-entertaining Spooky Brixx channel.

How to elevate your minifig presentation [Building Techniques]

For accomplished sci-fi LEGO builder Jarek Książczyk, minifigures were always an afterthought, but a double dose of D&D in the form of Balder’s Gate 3 and the excellent Collectible Minifigures led Jarek on a building spree that puts character first. From a 4×4 stud building surface, Jarek’s bases amplify each figure’s character and class with a hero prop, a bit of terrain or a splash of color (or maybe some viscera, if they’re really into Bhaal). Whether the characters remain on a shelf or play out adventures on the tabletop, simple stands like Jarek’s can raise your minifig game.