About Luka

Luka is a Slovenian LEGO builder and a member of Kocke Klub. He is most well known for building dragons, but does not shy away from other themes when time is right. In the community he goes by Deus "Big D." Otiosus (D. stands for "Destiny") and has been around for quite a few years. He is one of those builders who went through their life without a dark age. Besides LEGO he is a biology student that wastes a lot of time in the local forest or in interesting urban areas. MOC Pages Flickr Bricksafe Youtube

Posts by Luka

These two Bionicles are not identical

This is one of my creations that has been waiting for a few months to be uploaded, for many irrelevant reasons. I think this one takes a bit of insight to be appreciated fully. While my build (on the left) is a servicable mechanical build on its own, its true strengths can only be appreciated if compared to the original LEGO Bionicle 8532 Onua set on the right, as this is a piece-by-piece LEGO System recreation of the classic first generation Toa Onua set. My version is completely unstable and unplayable, but visually comes close enough to the official version that it passes my personal quality standard.

This was a somewhat quick build, but I was so inspired by the idea that it completely took over my life for a few days. It strikes me that Bionicle (or as the cool kids call it these days, “bonkle”) is quite similar to classic space in a way – while classic space is the most popular nostalgic theme for many older LEGO fans, Bionicle is the go-to nostalgia trip for ones growing up in the early 2000s, which makes it surprising how rare reproductions are. There are few even in the actual Bionicle building genre, but besides my build, I have only seen one other example of systemized Toa, but even that was just the builder taking his own spin on the concept.

Now, I have indeed built Toa Onua (because this one is the easiest to build due to wide selection of parts in both of his primary colours, black and very dark grey), and I see myself being able to build Toa Kopaka, but for any other ones my selection of parts just can not do. So here is a challenge to any builder brave enough and equipped for it: I would love to see more of the first generation Bionicle characters (or later ones?) made out of system parts!

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At the end of the iron road

Some classic LEGO themes are wildly popular, but somehow feel underrepresented by custom LEGO models, such as LEGO Pirates and Wild West. At least for the latter we have a new build to enjoy in this frontier train station by Marcel V. With its unique roof and prominent clock, the build looks almost steampunk, but there are no fictional elements to be found.

There are a lot of interesting bits to see here. The semi-circular section’s construction is quite impressive, as is the roof itself. The railroad tracks look very good, done with a technique I am seeing more and more in fan creations. And as a cherry on top, Marcel has sprinkled the creation with all sorts of clutter, from sacks and guns to the local wildlife — all of which breathes life into the scene.

Hail to Mother Kali who burns the world another time

Love it or hate it, you can not deny that the second Indiana Jones film, The Temple of Doom, is memorable. I immediately recognized this scene by W. Navarre and I’m sure most of you did too.

The gruesome scene of a human sacrifice’s heart being ripped out is recreated nearly to perfection with cultists, statues, and rocky walls, but most importantly a fiery pit that appears seething hot – an effect achieved not by clever lighting tricks, but by building the “light” onto the lit-up wall itself. As expected of this builder, the diorama is packed full of experimental building techniques, and there is a lot to learn by inspecting Navarre’s work closely.

A menacing LEGO Technic 1:2 scale T-rex skull

A MOCpages user known simply as Dee:] has made this incredible 1:2 scale recreation of a Tyrannosaurus rex skull, made almost entirely of technic pieces – around 2000 of them. The creation uses many techniques to capture complex anatomical angles with surgical precision, and the thin technic panel pieces mimic the natural look of cranial bones. The only thing that is not 100% accurate (besides the unavoidable pin holes in the panels) is the number of teeth, which the real dinosaur had much more of. The build is approximately 55cm long and 33cm wide, which is a bit less than half the size of the 150cm long original. Or maybe it’s actually a life-sized baby T-rex skull!

The day elves drew elven blood

It is understandable that the Lord of the Rings trilogy inspires more LEGO creations than its expanded lore collected in the Silmarillion, since the latter reads more like a textbook than a series of stories. But it is refreshing to see creations inspired by it nevertheless, even if the hand of builders has to be forced by contests such as the Middle Earth LEGO Olympics on MOCpages. This scene of the kinslaying at Alqualondë by John Snyder is one such refreshment, and it was indeed built for the aforementioned contest.

The builder has accompanied the build with a very informative description of the event, which I encourage more curious readers to explore.
The diorama features many interesting techniques and ideas, with high quality rocks and unique overgrowth. Coupling that with elegant architecture and a gorgeous Elven ship, John has brought a slice of elven history to life.

Capturing magic in a lantern

Some creations rely on complicated techniques and difficult shapes to impress the viewer, while others make the connection by emotion. The strength of Tinkerbell in a lantern waiting for Peter by Jae Won Lee lies in the expressive posing of Tinkerbell in the center. The lantern’s details reward closer inspection, like the golden decorations or the seams between 1x6x5 window panels to look like wire mesh.

Time to bust some pesky revolutionaries

As a clarification, I should mention that this is not a bust of a revolutionary, but of one who busts revolutionaries: Inspector Javert from the musical Les Miserables. The builder, W. Navarre, has been making Les Miserables-themed LEGO creations since the start of this year, with this bust being one of the best so far, and the first that was not a minifig-scaled vignette or diorama.

The build is quite experimental, with many complicated techniques to achieve all sorts of shapes and textures, as is expected of Mr. Navarre. This does come at a cost, because experimental means some things work and others do not. So it is that the hat and the collar work really well, just as the mouth and sideburns, but the head seems to me to be somewhat short and the nose a bit too blocky.

10,000 bricks bring forth a monstrous black dragon

We do not feature Bionicle and similar creations on The Brothers Brick very often, but when we do, you can be sure they will be the absolute best of the best. Such is this enormous dragon built by Yeonghun Joe. The builder loves dragons, and it shows: Two months of daily building to bring this monstrosity to life. The end result is almost a meter-long and over half-a-meter-tall, 10,000-piece masterpiece that has more going for it than just its size.

The dragon has great dynamic shaping and an intense texture throughout, achieved with elements like wing pieces, armor parts, and shields. To a critical viewer, the wings may look too skeletal, but I am glad Yeonghun did not use cloth pieces here, as it might actually diminish the effect — and a brick-built solution would definetely be too heavy. As for the head, I am pleasantly surprised; when I advise people on dragon building tecniques, I tell them not to make teeth as they more often than not look bad, but in this case and at this scale they look just as they should. Creations made of Bionicle (and related themes’) pieces are usually poseable, so I wonder – is it so with Yeonghun’s dragon as well?

A knight needs to drill every day to stay in top condition

There was a (perhaps deservedly?) forgotten LEGO Castle theme from the early 2000s called Knight’s Kingdom with large figures, which introduced many specialized parts that appear to be hard to use other than for their apparently intended purpouse. You would expect me to reveal a surprisingly innovative use of such elements in the newest creation by Russian LEGO builder Red, but the real surprise is how elegantly the builder used the said pieces simply for their intended purpose, which is often a risky move among highly critical LEGO builders. On the other hand, there are many imaginative techniques throughout the build, which reward a viewer inspecting it closely. The best part, however, must be the figure’s menacing general shape, which gives a strong impression of a very muscular man in impenetrable armor, and yet keeping a strange sense of elegance – a perfect combination for a knight.

Vivid pink is the fastest colour there is

Mecha are a very popular subject among LEGO builders, but even after all these years, there are still very unique ones that pop up every now and then, most often due to new exotic pieces being released. Such is the case with this sleek racing mecha called the Running Flamingo, built by Bob DeQuatre, utilizing the relatively new balloon building pieces as armour plating.

The build is an interesting balance of elegance and bulk, which the builder weaves into a cohesive whole. All the technical details are so realistic (as far as science fiction goes) that I can almost hear the pistons sliding and gears turning.

Rural beauty in the shape of a lumber mill

Following up his creation of a decaying wall, Jonathan Svenning brings us a medieval sawmill in a beautiful natural setting. The style is quite different from the previous build, with the fewer textures and a larger piece of scenery, and there is a lot to look at throughout the build. The main building utilizes many colours to mix into a realistic weathered texture.

What sells it for me though, is the landscaping. Jonathan has used a unique technique of angled plates for meandering water, as well as some interesting solutions for trees, particularly the sand green ones in front of the buildings.

It takes a spacecraft of titanic proportions to explore the Ice Titan

There is something special about LEGO’s retro space themes that makes people revisit them time and time again, and it’s probably nostalgia. One of the more popular themes is surely Ice Planet 2002 with its iconic blue-white-black and translucent orange colour scheme, and Tim Goddard has built an excellent microscale spaceship based on the 6973 Deep Freeze Defender, which he’s named Zycon V. It’s also tied closely to a collaborative story recently featured on The Brothers Brick: LEGO Space: ICE Titan.

The spaceship itself has nice shapes and a good balance of details and clean surfaces, as well as following the original’s colour scheme. Though I would have loved to see a bit more translucent orange included, and the curves may not fit into a 90’s inspired creation very well, those are minor points on an otherwise amazing build.