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: June 2016

This month’s cover photo is an instantly recognizable piece of German television nostalgia, recreated in LEGO by TBB regular Jonas. It’s the late Peter Lustig’s modified cabin home from the 80’s kids TV show Löwenzahn.

Want to see your own LEGO creation featured across TBB social media for a month? Then acquaint yourself with the submission GUIDELINES and submit your photo today.

Keep up with the Brothers Brick by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter or Pinterest. And for occasional extra goodies, follow us on Flickr or subscribe to us on YouTube.

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Escape from Jakku recreated in LEGO

The Millennium Falcon’s dog fight through the bowels of a wrecked Star Destroyer is one of the more memorable action scenes from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Korean builder Taekyu Lee wanted to capture the scene in LEGO but didn’t know where to start – until he saw a small interpretation of the scene built by Simon Pickard for Blocks magazine. That was all the inspiration he needed to construct this mammoth version:

Let’s make Captain America great again

Unless you’ve been living under a rock this week – or just aren’t that interested in the Marvel superhero universe – you’ll no doubt have witnessed all the unnecessary media drama over the shocking plot twist revealed in the latest Captain America comic book series. Even though it’s common knowledge at this point, I won’t even repeat it here, seeing how spoiler sensitive we’ve all become!

But I will report that builder Taylor Walker claims he had absolutely no foreknowledge of this news when he originally built this rather impressive (and strangely modified) life-size version of Captain America’s iconic shield. Courtesy of Flickr user Sir Glub, here is Taylor’s shield on display recently at BrickCan 2016 in Vancouver, alongside the LEGO Mjolnir that he co-built with his brother Brandon:

And here is a closer look at that amazing pattern work, from the builder himself:

Love is a many splendored thing... Love lifts us up where we belong... All you need is love!

While it will probably evoke fond memories of a certain musical movie extravaganza that turns 15 this month, this spectacular recreation of Paris’ famous Moulin Rouge music hall by
domino39 brickpirate is pretty faithful to the original building — except for a few deliberately placed incongruities! Check out the close-up shots below to see if you can spot such anomalies as a Nineteenth century Ghostbuster and hoverboard rider, to name but a few. Then marvel at all of the fine details in this diorama, from the worn down street cobbles to the many examples of brick-built signage (including some rather cleverly put-together neon lights). C’est incroyable!

Click here to see more photos

Steam dream machines

This collection of stylish personal conveyances are Norwegian builder Lego Fjotten‘s first (and apparently accidental) foray into the work of LEGO Steampunk, but I think it’s fair to say he’s off to a good start. While each vehicle sports a very unique design, note the way the builder re-uses certain design elements to make them feel like they are part of a set. Also the coloring and detail on the display bases nicely accentuates the models, and even hints at some kind of desert setting. My favorite of the bunch has to be the “high wheeler” with it’s very cleverly constructed mono-wheel.

Bitten by the building bug

I will confess that in middle school I was obsessed with insects, kept many varieties of them, and wanted to be an entomologist when I grew up. Yet now I absolutely can’t stand bugs at all! Funny how things change. Anyway, back in those days I really wanted to create anatomically correct 3D models of my favorite bugs in art class, but somehow never managed to figure out how. So these two recent brick-built insect creations were a very satisfying discovery. If the parts had been available back then, I would probably have just gone down this route myself!

Ant by BricksRaven

Grasshopper by Mr Unknown

Issue 20 of Blocks Magazine now available [News]

Issue 20 of Blocks magazine is already in subscribers’ mailboxes and will be in shops May 19th. This month there’s a comprehensive look at the new Speed Champions range, including an exclusive interview with the man behind a real life Audi. Elsewhere, Simon Pickard introduces us to his brand new technique for building mind-bending roads, while Daniel Konstanski finds out what goes into a LEGO racing car.

It’s not all about the wheels this month, however, with a look back at some classic LEGO football sets and reviews of the latest Ninjago and Super Heroes releases. This issue also celebrates the premiere of two new blockbusters, with a pair of whimsical Alice in Wonderland builds and instructions for some superpowered X-Men Mighty Micros.

That’s no moon! Expansive fan-built LEGO Death Star play set is a nod to classic Star Wars toys of the 80’s

French builder Eric Druon‘s nostalgia for old toys has been featured here before, with his LEGO versions of such classics as GI Joe and Adventure 2000. This time though he’s really cranked things up a notch with this huge Star Wars themed LEGO play set inspired by the Kenner series of Death Star toys released back in 1982.

In many ways I think this makes for a better play set than LEGO’s official Death Star set, with it’s labyrinthine arrangement of platforms and corridors, and perfect reinterpretation of the Death Star’s interior design. Many memorable scenes from the original Star Wars movie are in there, plus a few easter eggs too. See if you can spot them all!

Like the original system, Eric’s version is comprised of three separate components that can be pushed together to form one giant play space: Battle Station Escape, Battle Station Compactor and Battle Station Throne Room. He’s even provided downloadable instructions on his website, for anyone that wants to recreate all this with their own bricks. You’ll also find lots more closeup photos of the play sets over there too. And for context, here is one of the original toys that Eric was inspired by:

“Pigs... In... SPAAAAAACE!”

And now Pigs in Space starring the ever handsome Link Hogwash, the illustrious first mate Miss Piggy, and scientist Dr Jullius Strangepork. Our story begins when German builder Andreas Weissenburg follows up his LEGO versions of muppets The Electric Mayhem, Waldorf and Statler, and the Swedish Chef with this fully built-out set of the USS Swinetrek and its incompetent crew. Andreas has even recreated the cheap viewscreen ‘effect’ featuring the mysterious space villain Dearth Nadir.

Peace, LEGO, Unity and Respect

Nostalgic for the “gabber” electronic dance music scene of 1990’s Netherlands, Dutch builder Chris van Vliet built this amazing three-dimensional LEGO recreation the Masters of Hardcore logo (a record label and series of EDM festivals). The sculpture – which resembles the giant goat skull that used to grace the stage at these events – is comprised almost entirely of LEGO bricks kept from that era, and has even been beautifully black-lit.

Chris also gives us a couple of extra treats in the form of detailed work in progress photos showing how the entire creation came together, and a short video of two brick-built gabber fans in action! And not satisfied with recreating just one gabber-era logo, Chris even produced this sculpture of the Thunderdome “Thunder Wizzard” logo, which when you compare it to the original is clearly spot on!

May the force be with you, always, but especially at bed time

Taking the old notion of Star Wars themed bed sheets up a notch, tanKM has used LEGO to imagine every young boy’s dream – a completely Star Wars themed bedroom complete with X-Wing loft bed, X-Wing cockpit computer area, and a plethora of Star Wars toys and dress-up items. Check out the full album for a closer look.

For driving Miss Daisy?

Now that LEGO has released a series of Disney collectible minifigures, I predict we’ll soon be seeing them featured in a lot of fan LEGO builds inspired by scenes from Disney cartoons. To get the ball rolling, here’s a great version of Donald Duck’s trademark car by Per Martinson:

Check our the builder’s album to enjoy more angles and situations involving Donald and his unreliable conveyance. It really is a stellar little build and even if LEGO were ever put out an official version of this car, I really couldn’t imagine it beating this!