About Iain

Iain Heath is an avid builder specializing in the "Bricks of Character" style, which he helped define. He has been using LEGO to parody popular culture since 2007, when he created the now infamous Stephen Hawking model. He is a SeaLUG member and regular theme coordinator at BrickCon. For five years he also ran a blog called The Living Brick, that showcased the best character-based LEGO creations from around the world. You can find his irreverent body of work on Flickr.

Posts by Iain

TBB cover photo: September 2016

Kids in the Northern hemisphere are now finally starting to drift back to school, but it’s been a glorious summer of crazy outdoor fun, thanks almost entirely to the cultural phenomemon that is Pokemon GO. We’ve seen some really great LEGO builds inspired by this game, and this latest one by Hong Kong based builder Alanboar Cheung does not disappoint.

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Painfully transparent

As my two teens head off to high school today for the start of another school year, I’m pretty certain one of the things they won’t see in their laptop / smart board / PowerPoint saturated academic environment is an “overhead projector”. And in case any of you are scratching your heads wondering what that is, how it worked, or what “transparencies” might be, Jeffrey Kong of Artisan Bricks has kindly created a miniature version of one using LEGO to give you a rough idea…

Presented without comment or explanation and leaving Chris McVeigh wishing he’d thought of this first!

In space, no-one can hear you nom nom nom

David Roberts came up with this very unusual design for a LEGO mining spacecraft with an equally unusual back story. The Platinum Asteroid Collector – Manned Auxiliary Node (more commonly referred to by it’s crew as the PAC-MAN) funnels asteroids into a mouth-like scoop at the front, and is painted bright yellow to increase visibility so that laser operators on the mothership would not blast it to pieces.

In this alternative view below, the hatch of the top is open and a drone can be seen examining a small asteroid in search of precious minerals. Apparently a computer game was later created that featured likenesses of these ships. Although to be honest, it doesn’t ring any bells.

LEGO Star Wars: Build Your Own Adventure [Review]

Last summer, British publisher DK added to its extensive collection of LEGO books with the Build Your Own Adventure series, starting with a pair of Ninjago and Friends themed adventures. This summer, the series continues with two new volumes that explore the themes of City and Star Wars.

LEGO Star Wars: Build Your Own Adventure is an 80-page hard cover book that comes with an exclusive 73 piece LEGO set and minifgure. It follows the exploits of Rebel pilot Zin Evalon as he journeys through familiar locations from the Star Wars universe, on a mission to recover a set of lost data cubes.

Following the established BYOA format, the book’s pictoral story is spread over several chapters, each covering a different location including Hoth, Tatooine, and Endor. The environments and vehicles in the story are illustrated using over 50 ‘inspirational’ LEGO models that were the work of fan builder (and Brothers Brick editor) Rod Gilles.

Read the rest of the review

It is necessary to incarcerate the entire population

As Pokemon Go fever continues to grip the planet, we will try to stop running in small circles and peer above our phones from time to time, to bring you the best new Pokemon-themed LEGO creations. And our catch of the day features Aerodactyl, Chatot and Snorlax (yes!) by Chilean builder Sergio Rojas:

Oh, and if you explore Sergio’s Flickr stream, you might just stumble upon a few additional monsters!

The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant compared to the power of the Force

As an entry in the current MOC Olympics building contest, Boba-1980 recreated this memorable moment from Star wars: A New Hope, in which audiences were first introduced to the “force choke”. And while Admiral Motti’s lack of faith certainly was disturbing, I think Darth Vader’s attempt to kill a coworker during a business meeting could be considered marginally more disturbing (but totally relatable).

“No, no, no... THIS one goes THERE, THAT one goes THERE!”

Thomas Flament created this detail-packed 32×32 stud slice of life aboard the Millenium Falcon that perfectly captures the look, feel and clutter of the ship’s interior, as well as including a suitably greebly section of outer hull and even a mini-Falcon on top!

There’s a nice sense of depth here with both the circular corridor receding into the background and the below-deck maintenance area (with Chewy hard at work). The clever part usage to create the curved sofa is also a nice touch.

TBB cover photo: August 2016

Summer is a time for fun and games! But when the weather won’t cooperate (as sometimes happens up here in Seattle) then the fun has to move indoors – whether that involves playing video games, or building LEGO scenes from video games as Gabe Umland has done here with this recreation of Super Mario 3D World:

Want to see your own LEGO creation featured across TBB social media for a month? Then read the submission guidelines and send us your photo today.

On your marks, get set...

…go! With the 2016 Olympics just around the corner, this LEGO sculpture inspired by legendary sprinter Usain Bolt is perfectly timed. It was created by Joe Perez, and you can read more about this build in an upcoming issue of Bricks Culture magazine. The anatomy of the figure is convincing, and a sense of motion is perfectly conveyed perfectly in this piece. The color scheme also evokes the style of ancient Greek pottery that often portrayed competitors in action at the classical version of these games.

Classic sci-fi movie Silent Running brought to life with LEGO

Before his work on more widely-known sci-fi movies such as Bladerunnner and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, legendary visual effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull directed the 1972 sci-fi movie Silent Running, a beautifully written, performed and photographed tale of one man’s fight to preserve the last remnants of Earth nature.

In creating a LEGO version of the Valley Forge (the ship where the movie’s action takes place) Cornish builder Louie Tommo clearly felt that only a larger scale would do it justice. The result is this very accurate digitally designed LEGO version that perfectly captures the ship’s functional looking design complete with its distinctive cluster of domed forest habitats.

Even though the movie has plenty of action and some first class visual effects for the era, the characters of astronaut Freeman Lowell and his robot companions Huey, Louie and Dewey are central to the story. So it’s a nice touch that Louie has created LEGO versions of them as well, and even portrayed them at work on the outer hull of the spacecraft.

Back in the Red

Hang in there Red Dwarf fans, only a couple more months before Series 11 airs! In the meantime, feast your eyes on this totally spot-on Red Dwarf custom LEGO play set designed by Bob Turner. The dance-ready Series 8 version of Blue Midget shuttlecraft is definitely the star of the show here, but it’s the smaller details that really make this scene a real fan-pleaser:

Of note are the brick-built scutter, the inclusion of the Holly Hop Drive from Series 2, and most importantly a set of custom Red Dwarf minifigs. Each one is accurate and immediately recognizable. And in addition to the main crew, Bob has even included minifig versions of popular alternate characters Duane Dibbley and Ace Rimmer.

Smoke me a kipper, I’ll be back for breakfast!

Past his prime

Let’s face it, sometimes we like to root for the bad guy. Or bad robot — as envisioned by Joe Perez in this scene featuring an amazingly accurate and fully posable LEGO version of transformer Nemesis Prime.

Amusingly, Joe recently bought a Nemesis Prime action figure and was surprised how similar his version ended up in terms of detail and scale. And of course like the toy, his version also transforms!