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

Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream

There are plenty of neat Batman LEGO dioramas to go around. For some reason, there’s a bit less love for Marvel’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. But Instagram user Hachiroku92 changes all that with this decidedly amazing diorama featuring Spider-Man and Sandman duking it out the only way blockbuster heroes and villains can; with lots of collateral damage. Let’s just say the company insurance paperwork for that cement mixer is going to be a sticky pickle. The scene comes to life with convoluted action and stunning photography. Sandman’s amorphous form and giant hand is nothing short of dreamy. Maybe you can construct your own Spider-Man diorama using the parts from the new Spider-Man sets. And before you comment that the old-fogey title was a missed opportunity to cite a more contemporary Metallica tune, I already had Enter Sandman stuck in my head for like a week and now it’s stuck in yours. So…you’re welcome, I guess.

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From one American legend to another

After a lukewarm reception when the LEGO Aston Martin DB5 came out, we were all pretty thrilled when the same LEGO designer debuted the 10265 Ford Mustang. With versatile styling and a striking color scheme, it was a nearly flawless set that depicts a classic American icon. LEGO automotive builder Firas Abu-Jaber takes the very same pieces from that set and converts it into another symbol of American ingenuity, the Ford F-150 Raptor Supercab. He even gives it a custom stars-and-stripes Ford logo across the grille. Like all of Firas’ work, this model has opening doors and a fully detailed engine. Firas by now is a LEGO automotive legend. Here’s why.

A line of Econolines (and A-100’s)

In the mid-fifties Volkswagen imported their microbus into the US and Americans were immediately smitten. The forward-cab shape offered practicality, utilitarianism, and unbridled fun in one fell swoop, and Ford, Dodge, and GMC quickly took notice. Clearly, this phenomenon has not been lost on LEGO builder Chris Vesque as he presents a series of five 60’s era Ford Econolines (teardrop headlights) and Dodge A-100’s (round headlights). He starts us off with a stock Ford Econoline pickup. This configuration offers a full 7 1/2 feet of loading capacity.

I can assure you the next four get wilder from here so… Continue reading →

The Yamaha XT550; when you love wind in your hair and dirt in your teeth

I never had a dirtbike as a kid or as an adult. I’m too prone to cracking my noggin, I guess. George Panteleon shows us what life is like for the less accident-prone among us with this amazing and detailed LEGO Yamaha XT550. George tells us this model was constructed with 460 parts and it is 31cm long and 18cm high. I would feel safer with this LEGO version over the real thing but only just slightly. With my luck, I’d still find a way to bust my fool head while building this. Somehow LEGO accidents are plentiful in this household. You should see the broken nail I’ve endured while building this.

I’ll fix your (Little Red) Wagon

LEGO car builder Tim Henderson tells us that awhile ago he had built a version of the Little Red Wagon. It must have been met with very little fanfare because our archives don’t even reveal a blip. But now he has reworked the old build using newer parts and techniques and not only is this iconic 1964 Dodge A100 wheelie-stander on our radars but you’re digging it now too. That’s the power of The Brothers Brick. We find cool stuff. We share it with you. You get excited. Shampoo, rinse, repeat. After rinsing off there you might want to check out a few other vehicles we went totally gaga for.

Top Secret: Roswell 1947

Aliens get a bad rap, don’t they? They’re scary, mysterious, and they’re the bane of midwestern farmers and cattle everywhere. They’re also seemingly responsible for a slew of uncanny and sometimes hilarious crop circles and plus they’ve got that whole probing thing which some folks have mixed feelings about. Andreas Lenander calls this LEGO diorama Roswell 1947. The depiction of the UFO scorching the earth does nothing to squelch the alien’s reputation but it is admittedly cool. The large saucer dishes go way back to the X-Pod line from ’04-’05. The light brick built into the landscape gives this piece that extra helping of awesomesauce. You may (ahem) probe deeper into our archives to see just how fascinated we are with Andreas’ stuff and aliens in general.

The Photon Chaser pays tribute to LEGO legends

You may have heard us throw around the term Vic Viper before. For those not in the know, the name was taken from a ship in the Gradius video game series and it describes a spacecraft that has two forward-sweeping wings that widen toward the rear, a centralized cockpit, and a central fin. The LEGO building trend was pioneered by adult builder Nate Neilson who had tragically passed away in 2010. A full ten years later many prominent builders still honor Nate’s tradition by building Vic Vipers usually in November…or NoVVember. Blake Foster is no stranger to our archives but surprisingly this is his first Vic Viper. It’s called the Photon Chaser High-Performance Tactical Viper…or PCHPTV. OK, I made up the acronym, and admittedly Photon Chaser is far better. While this may be Blake’s first rodeo with a Vic Viper he’s brought his usual A-game and stellar build techniques.

Care to stay awhile? Check out our extensive Vic Viper archives from a slew of some of the world’s most talented builders.

The Bug Knight won’t let the bedbugs bite. Or maybe he will.

Sometimes you just really get a kick out of something. Maybe it’s the big black radar dishes for eyes, or maybe it’s a clever use of balloon segment parts, but I just love this LEGO Bug Knight built by Nathan Hake. He tells us the Hollow Knight game loosely inspires this. Having never played, I’ll just have to take his word for it. That doesn’t stop me from loving it, though. I’m attracted to it like a moth to a flame, which, now that I think about it will likely end in the same result; singed proboscis. This might be the best thing I’ve seen all day, and I’ve seen someone try to gas up a Tesla!

“Don’t ever ask me about my LEGO, Kay”

Some things are just better left unanswered. A LEGO builder who goes by the dubious name of KitKat1414 presents this intriguing piece called “Don’t ever ask me about my LEGO, Kay”. So we posted it without asking. I mean we’d ask first but the title pretty much advises against it. But we still have questions. Like what the heck is going on here? Are they roughening somebody up? And who is Kay? All these questions and the unique “mailslot” composition has me thoroughly intrigued. It’s like reading a good mystery. So as per the title, we won’t ask anything but we’ll surely keep an eye out for what this builder might do next.

A lady and her hot rod

As a car nut, nothing makes my heart go pitter-patter more than a sweet custom hot rod. That’s why when I saw Sara Nelson’s LEGO classic custom Ford I paid extra-special attention, with the heart pittering and whatnot. With its removed fenders, lowered stance, ’34 Ford grille, and bold black and red color scheme, this is your quintessential car show favorite. Sara cites the work of Brothers Brick regular Letranger Absurde as her inspiration for the character and, now that she mentions it, I can see the influence there. There isn’t an archive to refer you to so this means Sara is new to our radar but someone we will certainly be on the lookout for in the future. In the meantime, buckle in and check out the archive of vehicles from other amazing builders.

SO MUCH WINNING!!!!!!!

Here in the US, we are quite used to being the best at everything. Our job numbers look tremendous and our COVID numbers are tops in the world, way higher than Canada’s. With this much winning sometimes a fella just wants to shout it from the mountain tops (or another carefully chosen location). This is why we were moved to tears when Brothers Brick alumni Iain Heath created a LEGO version of one of our proudest moments. (No, seriously, I checked in with the other staff here at The Brothers Brick and we’re all pretty much in tears at the state of our winning.) It depicts our beloved presidential attorney and star of Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm bringing his -we’ll never give up, can-do attitude- to the Four Seasons in Philadelphia. Not the posh downtown hotel but rather The Four Seasons Total Landscaping establishment conveniently located between a crematorium and a sex shop. You know the place.

To be clear, this is not a real LEGO set. However, I’m certain we can use our power and influence to phone up LEGO or Rupert Murdoch or somebody to create a reality more in line with our own wants and needs. Iain is a true American patriot! But somehow he has a funny accent, like the kind you hear on one of those stuffier news stations. Maybe he was born while on vacation or something? Anyway, whether before, after, or during his tenure here at Brothers Brick, Iain is no stranger to our archives. He’s also quite used to getting his LEGO art out there and becoming a viral sensation. If it hasn’t happened already, I’m sure this newest piece will be covered on…wait for it…ALL THE NETWORKS! We’re thrilled with the amount of winning we’re doing around here. How about you?

Here’s a boat for you, a beauty too!

It has been nearly a year since LEGO Masters: USA announced their teams and it’s nice to check in from time to time on how some of the contestants are doing. Aaron Newman clearly has seafaring vessels on the brain with this stunning research vessel. He tells us that it’s over 20″ (50cm) long, and features three levels of accessible interior details. He goes into greater detail about this build on his blog. We’ve been smitten with his work before. Give it a looksy.