About Lino

Lino is an artist, humorist, and occasional responsible adult. He is the co-founder of a challenge-based LEGO car club called LUGNuts which boasts over 1100 members worldwide. He proposed automotive building challenges every month for ten years (120 challenges!) which he and the other members built accordingly. LUGNuts has retired its challenges on its 10th anniversary but still remains a cornerstone for LEGO automotive builders. Between his artistic work and LEGO builds, Lino has been published in several books, including Beautiful LEGO, Beautiful LEGO: Dark, and Beautiful LEGO: Wild. He lives in Washington with his girlfriend and dogs.

Posts by Lino

No job too big for the Technic Rexx

LEGO Technic builder Kirill Mazurov has graced us with a vehicle so amazing it deserves a second, third and fourth look. Kirill seems to be a builder of very few words. There are no descriptions with his photos. However, he has posted a video on YouTube that does all the talking for him. This model certainly has all the working functions you’d expect from a Technic model this size. It boasts an impressive fifteen motors and twenty huge tires!

For once I’m also going to be a writer of very few words and let the video do the talking. Give it a looksy. It does not disappoint!

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The rare and majestic shoebill mech

I’ve been fascinated by the shoebill lately. I mean, that’s not unusual, I’ve always had a love for animals both odd and familiar but there has been an uptick in my shoebill YouTube searches lately. They’re such weird and majestic creatures who seem to know things beyond our understanding. Do you agree? I guess you just need to see the same YouTube videos I’ve been watching to know what I mean. So with that said, you can imagine my delight to see that Mitsuru Nikaido has built a lovely LEGO shoebill mech. Of course he has! With his distinct style and love for animals, he has consistently been among my favorite builders. Here’s why.

Turning a classic Porsche into a modern marvel

Recently LEGO has come out with the 10295 Porsche 911 Turbo & 911 Targa set. Most builders would buy the set and display it on their shelf as is. But Firas Abu-Jaber isn’t like most builders. Not by a long shot! He has used the same parts exclusively from that set and built the stunning new 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo S. It features functional elements including working steering connected to the steering wheel, opening doors, hood and engine cover, and many other amazing details we’ve come to expect from Firas.

Here is another image detailing the many working features of this model.

I’ve initially thought I’d give the set a pass for its “boring” white color but one builder had me rethinking that strategy by using the parts on a sleek futuristic Porsche and now Firas has me reconsidering as well. Even our reviewer liked it. What do you think of the set? While you’re mulling that over, check out why Firas is the automotive LEGO master.

Somewhere under the sea, somewhere waiting for me

I’m thinking of adorning my home with aquarium decor even though I don’t have any fish. I mean, think about it; tikis, skulls, mermaids, pirate ships. It’s pretty much the decor I already have minus the DayGlo paint. Or better yet, I can move all my stuff into this awesome LEGO Coral Castle by Jake Hansen. With bright coral, various lifeforms, and seaweed made of flex tubes there is a lot to love here. But my favorite detail is the fish made from beehives. I mean, come on, that’s just brilliant! Jake is competing in Iron Builder and, as brilliant as the beehive fish are, that is not even the seed part. This one is. He tells us twenty-four were used in this undersea diorama. This Iron Builder competition is just firing up so I get a feeling we’ll be seeing plenty more great builds from Jake soon.

Dr. l.0 Bot Omni III and Specimen 34

Have you ever been in a place or a situation in which you have no idea what is happening but love it anyway? That’s pretty much how I’m feeling about this new LEGO creation by
Blake Lapadula. The title of this piece is called Dr. l.0 Bot Omni III & Specimen 34, which offers no help in deciphering its meaning. The long arms, the derpy skull, the power drill, the bubble canisters, even the little bot leaves me puzzled. But boy do I love it all! There is just so much charm and character here. The skeleton minifigures made into hands are just brilliant. This isn’t the first time we’ve been totally smitten by something Blake has done. You know what to do.

Juggernaut’s Rampage; two words you don’t want to hear together

Juggernaut and rampage are two words in the English language you don’t want to hear together and yet here we are. This particular Juggernaut is in reference to the X-Men baddy whose schtick is using his bullet-shaped head as a battering ram. For some reason when I try the same thing the results are less than optimal. Here we see Wolverine either trying to stop him or going for a ride on the massive belligerent brawler’s back. Either way, this portion of the X-Mansion is surely about to turn into rubble. This fun X-Men LEGO diorama is brought to you by The Brothers Brick alumni Tim Lydy. I really like Juggernaut’s running stance and Wolverine’s leap lines created with clear flex tubes are a nifty touch. It appears as if Wolverine was tasked with mowing the lawn just as the big bruiser came barreling through.

The future of Porsche according to one builder

Ever wonder what Porsche will be doing in the year 2049? Well, it turns out GolPlaysWithLego (don’t we all?) has the answers you seek. At least this creation uses Porsche parts anyway. I was going to give the new 10295 Porsche 911 Turbo & 911 Targa set a hard pass for its boring white color (I know, silly me!) but these complex curves may have me rethinking that strategy. Sleek and futuristic seems to be this builder’s thing. Check out what I mean in our archives.

The world wasn’t ready for a robot with a Keytar

You may see a slew of exciting LEGO builds here on The Brothers Brick or around the interwebs having to do with Riot Fleas. What is a riot flea? We’re not quite sure. But this particular one built by Patrick Biggs has a New Wave 80’s vibe with his punk hairdo and keytar. He can surely play Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Frankenstein by Edgar Winter, or pretty much every Devo song ever. Patrick might be having the best week ever as we featured another one of his builds very recently. Check it out here as well as many of his other awesome builds in our archives. Other riot fleas have caught the attention of some of my colleagues so stay tuned to see more.

This Star Wars Royal Guard TIE Interceptor has us seeing red

While we realize May the Fourth was yesterday it’s hard to contain so much Star Wars awesomeness in one day. Take, for example, this stunning LEGO Royal Guard TIE Interceptor by Jarek Książczyk. The complex shaping, the build techniques, even the breathtaking photography are all several notches above standard. The Emperor would approve.

As if the striking red Royal Guard Interceptor wasn’t enough, here is a shot of some other TIE Fighters he’s been working on and perfecting lately. Here we have an updated TIE Fighter, a color variant for Iden Versio (I had to look that one up), the aforementioned Royal Guard Fighter, and a new TIE Interceptor.

He is a Star Wars spaceship aficionado as evidenced by this Razor Crest, and this Y-Wing. If you’re still craving all things Star Wars check out our archive of news and other fabulous creations from a galaxy far far away.

The Medieval Speed Shop for all your horse and wagon needs

Any car enthusiast knows that the Speed Shop can be a vital place to give your car that extra bit of oomph. Sometimes just a little more horsepower or even flashier rims will do it. Even a new air freshener can turn your ride from a zero to a hero. (Thanks, Vanilla Ice!) But LEGO builder Stephan Gofers has your solution for when you had a need for speed back in the horse and carriage days. This Medieval Speed Shop has everything we look for in a great LEGO creation. It has neat colors, nice parts usage, awesome build techniques, and also goats. Did I mention before that goats equal the formula for success here at Brothers Brick? I’m pretty sure I did. This isn’t the first time Stephan tickled our fancy. Check him out in our archives.

A peacekeeping mech that makes us smile

Usually when we show you a mech we go on to talk about the guns and other armament the mech has. But today we have a LEGO creation by Abraham Calderon called S.M.I.L.E. which stands for Strategic Machine Intelligence Loaded Exosuit. While well-built mechs can often make us smile it is a rare occasion when a mech smiles back. But here we are. Abraham tells us this is an AI assisted piloted mech designed for peacekeeping operations. Being former military myself I know that “peacekeeping operations” can sometimes be a euphemism for “lots of guns”. Funny how that works out! Still, I like to presume that this is a cuddly, fun-loving mech who just wants to hang out and maybe have some pizza. If you care to hang out for awhile, check out some of these other awesome mechs we’ve featured lately.

Here be alligators along the Shipwreck Island!

Ahoy mateys! LEGO builder Markus Aspacher has a little something that definitely hits us in the nostalgic feels. It is a remake of the official 6296 Shipwreck Island set from 1996. Like the set, it’s a shipwreck turned island complete with a small raft, pirate mast sail and alligator. But this modernized version utilizes newer pieces, cool build techniques, and a fancy-pants base that looks like a desolate location in the Caribbean. There’s a neat mix of solid-colored and transparent pieces that convey areas of depth and shallows in the water. It is way more engaging than the blue baseplate that the original set came with. This is not the first time this builder has wowed us with his swell build techniques. It turns out that awesome dioramas is kinda Markus’ thing.