About Bre Burns

After living in the LEGO mecca of Seattle for 9 years, Bre is now home in her native state of Oregon. She briefly worked for the LEGO Group as a Brick Specialist before she left to pursue her career in Zoology, and LEGO remains a huge part of her life. She and her partner Jessie are active members of SEALUG, SPSLUG, FabuLUG and SquatchLUG, and enjoy building creations big and small that span across many themes. Their build handle is Renegade Bricks. Both are also members of the Event Team for BrickCon, and Bre has previously been the Theme Coordinator for Technic/Mindstorms.

Posts by Bre Burns

A medieval hero’s welcome

There’s nothing like coming home to your family after a long journey. Perhaps in this case, a long quest or crusade. You know that feeling you have when you see your house after having been gone a while? This scene of a warrior being welcomed by his family, built by Tom Breugelman, is reminiscent of that feeling.

Of course, the real hero of this build is that cottage. The angles and rockwork are superbly done. The architecture immediately catches the eye. And all of the colors throughout the scene come together perfectly, but especially in the cottage. Now, if you’re looking for something similar, how about a house with many faces?

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A distinguished wizard of the eighth level

If you’re familiar with the Discworld novels, you likely know exactly who this is: Archchancellor of the Unseen University, Mustrum Ridcully. I must admit, I am not familiar with the books, but if you’re like me, that doesn’t lessen my enjoyment. This bust, created by the exceptional builder Eero Okkonen is gorgeous. The lines and features of people are hard enough to capture in drawings or clay, let alone LEGO bricks. Take a guess how he built those scowling lips. Genius!

We feature Eero’s incredible (and prolific) work often. Just take a look at his Slimefoot or an archer inspired by Lyndis from Fire Emblem.

Around and around, the seasons come and go

In some ways this rendered microscale build is simple, but my eye was drawn to its neat little features and techniques. Everything fits so nicely against each mountain segment in this model designed by Aukbricks. Simply put, it’s clean and elegant.

The overhead view doesn’t do it complete justice. I believe the best way to view this build is to watch it as it’s turned. The Technic axle pins make for great crops and the books are lovely rooftops. The trees made from foliage elements are also perfect. While the techniques aren’t entirely new and unique to this build, the cohesive combination is beautiful.

We recently covered another one of Aukbricks’ renders, a holey sports store!

Holey moly this is one cool sports shop!

Welcome to a sporting goods store that sells itself before you even walk in! The look is inspired by a real store in Japan, but in LEGO it can’t be more gorgeous. What’s even better is that this render, created by Aukbricks, is actually completely buildable, with all the parts existing in their appropriate colors.

But if the outside isn’t beautiful enough, the inside is incredible. The zoom-worthy photos will make you fall in love even more. Every detail is perfectly placed, and essentially covers every bit of minifigure sports equipment LEGO has ever made. Even the brick-built equipment is perfect, from the treadmill to the ping-pong table. And I’m a big fan of the frogs used to create a rock wall on the third floor.

If you love this you should also check out Aukbricks’ Friends kitchen and family house. And for something totally different, she even made a giant minifigure!

Beware of Snowmaggedon!

Last week it snowed a fair amount in the Pacific Northwest. Here in Seattle, citizens were all but losing their minds, stockpiling food and survival supplies, and fearful of leaving their homes. As someone who comes from a place that sees a lot of snow, it’s a little funny. But now serious snow is hitting states all across the country. This terrified LEGO snowman, built by Joseph Grysban, may not be built for this purpose, but it’s the perfect mascot for Snowmaggedon.

Other than the look on his face, the best part of this build is that he’s motorized and runs away from the snowballs! A pair of Power Functions L motors and a battery box are perfectly hidden inside his body. Additionally, the snowballs don’t just drag behind; instead, they roll around their center.

Snowpocalypse jokes aside, we realize that these storms have been very serious and scary for thousands of people. We hope those of you who have been affected are safe and we wish you a swift return to normalcy. Hopefully you were at least able to get a good amount of building done while stuck indoors!

Nothing says adventure like this rig

I’m not super familiar with car models. All I know is that I love anything that looks like a Jeep. And this sand blue SUV is my kind of fun. The rig, loaded with supplies, is the work of Koala Yummies, and it has me itching for an adventure!

I really like the body shape, which is smooth and cohesive from front to back. All the bits really work together to create a fun addition to any outdoorsy scene.

If you like this build, be sure to also check out Koala Yummies’ mini Ecto 1!

The great Arctic wanderer

Do you ever wonder what a polar bear thinks as he or she travels hundreds of miles, alone, across the vast ice? Other than, “I can smell a seal about 14km away,” there has to be something they daydream about. Doesn’t this tiny LEGO version of the half-ton carnivore, built by Chi Hsin Wei (LEGO 7), look like he has a lot on his mind?

My favorite parts are the tiles in clips for ears and the car hoods on his sides. This build is great, but it’s only one of many incredible creations by LEGO 7, our 2018 Builder of the Year. This talented artist builds just about everything!

Best two out of three?

I’ve always wondered who came up with the idea that paper beats rock in “Rock, Paper, Scissors.” According to Adam Dodge it must be a fixed match, and I’d have to agree! Especially when it comes to Big Ugly Rock Pieces (BURPS); they’re practically indestructible! How does Paper have a chance? Apparently he’s a “danger between the sheets,” as Adam says.

Of course, we all know what the result would be if Scissors stepped into the ring with Paper. The winner of that bout is pretty cut and dry… Puns aside, this clever build is pretty hilarious. I just wish I had thought of it first!

Adam is a witty guy, but he’s also an exceptional builder. For example, check out his rainbow landscape or his Dr. Who chess set.

A classic crew of BrickHeadz, off to see the Wizard

I have to be honest, I’m not exactly sure what the latest craze with The Wizard of Oz is all about, with the characters even showing up in The LEGO Movie 2 and its latest minifigure line! Nevertheless, I do have to agree that the film is one of the greatest classics of all time. A couple of cool LEGO builders must certainly also agree, because Kendall Brown and Scott Moore have created renders of the cast in expert BrickHeadz fashion.

Click to journey down the yellow brick road!

Taking tilt to the next level [Video]

If you don’t know already, I’m a little obsessed with pinball. I’m also a little obsessed with mechanical LEGO builds, kinetic sculptures, and automaton. So naturally, I was overly excited when I saw that one of my favorite builders, Teun de Wijs, has married a couple of my favorite things together! This legendary pinball game turned LEGO automaton is incredible.

The way Teun uses gearing and switches to make the lights blink and the pot-bellied man tilt the machine makes me jealous at his ingenuity. I do have to say that the hip thrusting is a little intense though…

If you like this build, you’ll love Teun’s other magical LEGO creations. They are a step above anything else I’ve seen! Also, if you like pinball and haven’t checked out my own 100% LEGO machine, Benny’s Spaceship Adventure, you should take a look!

Just the LEGO tree you were looking for

When it comes to fun landscape techniques, Emil Lidé has you covered. This tree made out of slopes is whimsical and creative. For me, it’s a little mesmerizing. It almost looks like it has been turned into 3D fractals!

But this is just a small sample of Emil’s handiwork. He’s not only an expert at building unique flora, he is gracious enough to create instructions on how to build them. His free instructions for both the trunk and canopy of this tree are on his personal website fullplatebuilds.com. You can also check out our article about one of his part experimentations, or another featuring multiple techniques in a single build.

A LEGO kitchen fit for a cookbook cover

Is it harder to build something purely from scratch, or based off of something already in existence? Having done both myself, I honestly can’t decide. Sometimes making LEGO resemble life-size objects is really tough. But it doesn’t seem to have been much of a challenge for Timofey Tkachev! This beautiful LEGO kitchen is based off a real one that is virtually identical. Of course, the real one does not include a human-sized penguin and a few other hidden gems.

Timofey is an incredible artist. We’ve featured many of his builds, but one of my favorites is the terrifying and thought-provoking representation of our oil consumption. Another, much lighter favorite, is his adorable and clever cockatoo. You can also learn more about him by reading more in our interview with him.