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

Taking social distancing to the extreme

Some folks are handling this whole social distancing thing better than others. Some dislike it so much that they’ve picketed outside of empty statehouses in large groups with guns and misspelled signs demanding the end to all this safety lockdown hoopla. While you’re mulling over that sound logic, allow me to present a guy who has no problems with social distancing. Harold, the hermit, has lived peacefully atop a rocky island for many years. He’s been doing this for so long, LEGO builder valerius_maximus goes on to say, that the rock supporting his little home has just about eroded away. Soon he’ll have to find another ramshackle hideaway or risk toppling ass-over-tea-kettle into the drink. (As they say in New England.) But for now, the fishing is good, the carrots look like they’re just about ready for harvesting, and Harold has all the friends he needs. Seagulls are friends, right?

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Here’s the skinny on this barber shop

Some people shave their heads and then shed a tear while gazing in the mirror because the option of having cool Johnny Depp hair has long since expired. Allegedly. Shut up, don’t judge. Other people, like Maxim Baybakov have better experiences with haircuts and visit the same barbershop for twenty years. He liked his local barbershop so much he has recreated it in LEGO. He tells us the balcony still haunts him to this day. Why? He doesn’t provide the answer but I can only presume it was an incident that involved a freshly coiffed haircut and someone dumping hot oil or a pot of soup or something. No matter why the balcony haunts him, admittedly, the build techniques are pretty stellar. The inset tan storefront, the roof, and the round window are also quite charming.

It’s not quite instructions, but this shot offers sort of an exploded view that illustrates some of the more clever techniques for this build. With a little time and patience, this balcony can haunt you as well.

Italy-stay home, stay strong

We are living in truly strange and uncertain times. There is a silver lining amid this global pandemic lockdown though. Most nations are reporting cleaner air, cleaner water, and nature sort of healing itself. I, for one, am enjoying hearing more birds and frogs and seeing stars in the night sky for the first time in quite a while. And I don’t know about you but my car is getting a solid four weeks to the gallon! However, First Order Lego also sees a glimmer of hope, as do most of us, in a return back to normalcy.

A plane in the sky is becoming an increasingly rarer sight these days and it looks rather awe-inspiring in this composition. The low-angle view is well-suited here and I really enjoy the colors and textures of these balconies. Italy has been hard hit with the pandemic so this builder was inspired to build balconies with a Mediterranean feel complete with numerous plants. Italy, and the rest of the world, let’s stay home, stay strong and, if we listen to our healthcare officials, we should be back to normalcy in due time.

One of them there Tetrahedral Planetoids we’ve heard so much about

What you’re looking at is one of them there Tetrahedral Planetoids we’ve heard so much about in the sci-fi funny pages. Leave it to Simon Liu to wrap his noggin around a thing most of us can’t even pronounce much less think about. But Simon has one of those creative noggins and a knack to put it to use in LEGO. Math is beautiful, he tells us. I’ll take his word for it as my own mathematical results vary from “that just about makes sense” to…”now what in tarnation were you thinking, boy?” This piece is an exercise in both symmetry and monochromic applications. It was inspired by M.C. Escher who also has one of them creative noggins that can make math look beautiful.

Come quietly or there will be...trouble.

While you’re enjoying mechs, Star Wars, castles, Classic Space or whatever else amuses you here on Brothers Brick, here is a rather cute, rather chibi RoboCop. It was built by John Cheng and acts as a reminder that we should probably rewatch that 80’s gem now that we have a lot more time on our hands. Resistance is futile. I mean seriously, you should rewatch it.

But before you do, here is some other stuff of John’s that we liked.

So tell me, Clarice, have the lambs stopped screaming?

Have you ever had the kind of day where you end up in a muzzle and straightjacket chained to a handcart? Hannibal Lecter certainly has. For those too young to know what this is about, he specializes in the kind of culinary delights that would warrant the aforementioned muzzle and straightjacket. My spot-on Hannibal Lecter impersonations are probably what ended a few relationships in college. Some people just don’t know a good thing when they have it, right? But skcheung730 is clearly a LEGO builder after my own heart…or liver. This clever creation is just brimming with quiet menace. In their Flickr photostream I’ve also spotted a BrickHeadz Ghostface from Scream and Chucky from Child’s Play. Skcheung seems like just the type of builder I’d love to have over for dinner and maybe pick their brains over their great techniques. Whaddaya say, SK? I’ll provide a fine chianti, you just bring your marvelous scrumptious self.

Longing for a better world

This LEGO render by Steven Howard is a stunning sight to behold. The lighting, the dark shadows within the room, the textures, the central figure peering out into the brightly lit exterior are all handled beautifully. Buuuuut the title and the shackle around her ankle clue us in that not all is right with this. Steven tells us that he supports an organization called Rapha International that helps children who are being exploited and trafficked in Cambodia and elsewhere. Obviously, this is a subject close to Steven’s heart and if you’d like to help in some way then visit rapha.org to learn more. He’d also like to encourage other LEGO artists to build or render something that brings light to a cause you believe in and to use the hashtag #buildabetterworldwithlego. Who knows, doing so just might make this world a little better in some way or another.

First study, then rock out!

A builder who goes by the name of DOGOD brick design has a dream. It’s a very specific one. It takes place back in his school days and he is studying at a fast-food restaurant. He listens to rock music and once his studies are done, his electric guitar is right there for when he wants to totally rock out! Apparently DOGOD is also a lion. That sounds like a few dreams I’ve had actually, minus the homework, but totally the rockin’ lion part. I approve of the pink and purple streaks in his mane.

And I thought meetings at work were bad

I saw this LEGO scene by Midwest_Builders and just had to chuckle. A month ago the humor might have been missed but as many of us are now working remotely, we have more virtual meetings. During video conferences, I’ve seen some very relaxed dress and grooming standards on behalf of my co-workers. Hair got frizzier, dye-jobs are fading, bags under eyes got baggier. Week after week I’m watching my co-workers age and, in some cases put on weight, right before my eyes. And that’s not to mention how I must look during video conferences. Miles O’Connor here is trying to hold a Zoom meeting with his associates Jimmy Plate, and Morgan Greebles but weeks of quarantine have made everyone a little crazy. Jimmy is shirtless and chugging a beer while Morgan is having a bit of a tinkle. And while Miles seems the most put-together, his baby has interrupted the meeting riding on the doggy.

Child and dog interruptions are bound to happen with home conferences but let’s hope we can at least keep our shirts on. And for the sake of our sanity, stay the heck out of the bathroom during conference calls. Please.

All is quiet at Springvale

I have just one question for Martijn Valkenburg; how do I sign up for Springvale Watch? I mean, this LEGO diorama has it all; beautiful scenery, peace, and quiet, and a few friends in shiny helmets to talk to. It’s like he tapped into all my good dreams right there. I’m loving the repetitive use of ingots adding texture along the wall and edges of the tower. Curved tiles make for excellent arches over the windows. The use of masonry bricks in the crumbling section at the base of the tower leads me to believe that not all was peaceful at Springvale. But on this clear, beautiful day there is nary a catapult or impending army in sight. For now, the biggest enemy at Springvale just might be allergies.

With great power comes great irresponsibility

Hello, I’m Lino Martins, Brothers Brick Contributor, LEGO car builder, humorist, and occasional responsible adult. Recently I’ve taken on the decidedly irresponsible task of building the famous Hot Wheels Splittin’ Image concept car from 1969. I’ve wanted to do this for a while but fretted at the notion of building yet another car in a common LEGO color. Then LEGO had the fortitude to come out with the new Creator Fiat 500 set in light yellow. From there, I just knew this was going to be my Splittin’ Image! With two copies of this set, I had just enough sunshiny yellow goodness to construct the odd double hull. I also had just enough exhaust pipe pieces to run from the powerful engine all the way back to the rear of the car.

The canopies open to reveal a white 60’s era retro-futuristic interior. Instead of a traditional steering wheel, you get a rather spacey pilot’s yoke because…why not, right? Sometimes we just have to be irresponsible adults and build something as silly and outlandish as this Splittin’ Image. Here’s to building more irresponsible things from all of us in the near future. Cheers!

Classic Space Pirates is a win/win

We love Classic Space. We also love Pirates. So captainsmog has pulled a brilliant maneuver by combining the two beloved LEGO genres and the end result is just as charming as you’d think. I like how it is shaped like a seagoing vessel but functions as a space rover. Those beefy tires can handle any terrain outer space may throw at it. And the skeleton/spaceman as a masthead figure; that’s just cool. It conjures childhood memories of exploring outer space with my Classic Space sets…and also pillaging seaport towns. Captainsmog just might be a builder to watch out for. It seems we were equally smitten by this.