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

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.

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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.

Robo Maid 2031 cleans up so you don’t have to

You know that guilty feeling you get when others are working hard while you’re doing jack nothing? It’s a guilt so deep you have to take your goofing off elsewhere lest someone ask you to get off your lazy keister and help. Do you know what I mean? No? Am I the only one? Anyway, Cecilie Fritzvold has built a LEGO robot maid programmed to clean up your crap so you don’t have to. You don’t even have to hide the fact that you’re surfing the net for hilarious youtube videos when this awesome bot toils away because apparently they have no feelings. According to youtube research I did just now you can even kick robots and they won’t even feel it. I’m pretty sure that will never backfire so give it a try next time you see a robot. That plant, feather duster and coffee table are all super fabulous! So are Cecilie’s other builds in our archives.

From the depths we will arise anew

From time to time we like to check in with an enigmatic LEGO builder who calls herself why.not?. Sometimes her subject matter is dark. Sometimes it’s real dark. But in every case she has us intrigued. Her latest offering is untitled. They’re all untitled. I mean, it’s not like she forgets to name them, she actually types in “untitled” for every creation she does. But this time we have what appears to be a beautiful, brightly lit angel emerging from an underground place. Black city buildings flank her on either side, even the ground is black. She uses red lighting to not only create patterns on the buildings but to denote the readable words “out” and perhaps “dream”. Could this represent our artist emerging from a dark funk? Is this a new chapter in her life or is it a phase? Either way, we remain to be intrigued. And why not?

Chemistry 101: I’m blinding me with science!

High school chemistry class sometimes had its appeal. A great experiment can have a whole class oohing and aahing over various liquids changing color, shattering objects, and sometimes even blowing stuff up. A failed experiment can lead to a would-be chemist losing eyebrows. Unless, of course, the loss of eyebrows was the intent of the experiment, then that would be considered a success. But either way, eye protection is a good idea. Thankfully, LEGO builder Jonas Kramm included eye protection with this build as well as a Bunsen burner and a test tube containing a chemical that may or may not singe off your eyebrows if treated improperly. The whole shebang (or she-BANG!) consists of only 101 LEGO pieces, making Chemistry 101 an inevitable part of this title. The rest was a line from Mystery Science Theater 3000. I don’t know about you, but I’m having a good reaction to this experiment. Here are the other times we were favorable to Jonas’ stuff.

Na-na na-na na-na na-na na-na na-na na-na na-na Batman!

Batman wasn’t always the dark, grunting, brooding anti-hero we’ve come to know. In the ’60s the Adam West-era Batman was wholesome, a bit sillier, and definitely into go-go dancing. Along with all that campiness came the most iconic Batmobile of all time and Alex “Orion Pax” Jones does it justice in LEGO. Not only was it the most iconic Batmobile ever, but one of the most iconic cars ever. Period. The original was designed by George Barris and was based on the 1955 Lincoln Futura. Even more than a decade later the mid-century Lincoln was futuristic beyond compare and thus a perfect basis for the ’66 Batmobile. Alex has a knack for hitting us right in the nostalgic feels. He cranks out pop culture icons like no one else as evidenced by this previous spotlight feature here on Brothers Brick. If you lack talent and imagination, LEGO recently released the ’66 Batmobile set. Still, I prefer Alex’s version though.

Whether they be official LEGO sets or creations from other builders, check out several other Batmobiles in our archives.

Whisk us away to the world of Malay

Sometimes a builder waits years for just the right LEGO pieces and colors to come out. That’s exactly what Vincent Kiew did in planning this lovely Kampung House. It took a while for LEGO to produce just the right pieces in dark brown and reddish-brown. The colors are alternated nicely here to replicate the indigenous craftsmanship used in these traditional dwellings. The stilts, shutters, even the intricate roof are all spot on. The chickens, the cat, the cow, even the cart full of vegetables help convey a feeling of relaxation and tranquility. I imagine the home would offer a cool reprise from the Malaysian heat. Vincent tells us this creation was based on a particular village house on Penang island. He also states that being a city-dweller growing up in Kuala Lumpur, he has not had the chance to stay in a Kampung House but his wife had when she was a child. She shared stories of her childhood with him as he worked on this project.

This photo gives us a better glimpse of Vincent’s attention to detail. I’m loving the shutters, woodpile, as well as chickens languishing in the shade.

Vincent closes out his write-up with a question; “does this creation remind you of your sweet childhood, too?” I imagine for our readers from the Malay Peninsula it might. As I was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, it doesn’t. In order to envision my childhood, you’d have to imagine cramped three-story walk-up apartments and simple Shaker-style New England homes. But still, we deeply appreciate you sharing your architectural sentiments from your part of the world.