About Rod

Rod likes building stuff, particularly steampunk and microscale. He's built for a number of the Dorling Kindersley LEGO books, including LEGO Play and the Awesome Ideas book. When he's not building, he writes, and has published a trilogy of old-fashioned adventure stories. To pay the bills he works in innovation and marketing for one of the world's biggest brewers, inventing new beers and ciders. This is clearly the best job in the world.

Posts by Rod

Waves are stacking up

LEGO Pirates have been sailing the seas for nearly 30 years. We’ve seen any number of impressive pirate vessel creations in that time, but only a handful where the sea itself has taken a starring role in the presentation of the model. Jerome Kloou‘s pirate ship is a good example of the genre — an attractive colour scheme, smart cloth sails, stacked barrels used for the masts, and an impressive array of minifigures making up the scurvy crew. But the main attraction here is surely the rolling swell of the sea — fashioned from innumerable stacks of transparent blue 1×1 round pieces. Whilst this must have been a nightmare to put together, the effect is undoubtedly worth it — providing a visually striking and dynamic base for the model.

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A rather grand Central Station

Here’s a suitably imposing railway station, styled to fit with the LEGO modular buildings range. bricksandtiles has done an excellent job with this model, capturing a grand European feel with the broad steps and the impressively-ornate tan brickwork. The flowing curves and domes of the roof are particularly well done, capping off the impressive height of the building in style.

See more photos of this elegant architectural creation

That’s no crescent moon

A blend of agility and speed unmatched across the Twelve Worlds — well, at least that’s what Jeremy Williams says of his latest LEGO starfighter: the Xylian Interceptor. The overall shaping of this spaceship is wonderful, and the crystal-clear photography allows you to appreciate all the building techniques that went into it — don’t miss the complex arrangement of hinges, slopes, and curves that form the tips of the crescent body. I love the way the cockpit spheres are clamped in place, managing to look both realistic and futuristic at the same time. Jeremy’s trademark greeble skills are on display all over this model, particularly in the junction between cockpit and crescent, and the engine housing. Put a well-built model together with a strikingly simply colour scheme and smart presentation, and you’ve got a great little LEGO sci-fi creation.

Spend a little time in the office

One of the great joys of LEGO is when you see a piece used in a brilliant new way. That’s exactly what Victor has done here in this tiny microscale office interior. Yes, the 80s-look geometric floor design uses a bunch of those new diagonal 1×1 tile parts, and the lamp and wall pictures are smartly-done, but it’s the chairs you should be looking at: two minifigure mohawk hairpieces — upside-down and balanced on round 1x1s. Brilliant.

Distinctive fortress rises from the rocks

We’ve seen our fair share of massive LEGO castles. The effort put into these creations is always impressive, but here’s one whose styling makes it stand out from the rest. Amenk Sachio has created a beautifully distinctive fortress whose appeal goes way beyond simply being big. Soaring towers, buttresses and bridges, balconies and balustrades — this stunning castle has it all. The surrounding landscaping is suitably epic, with the odd burst of plant life and tumbling waterfalls to break up the rockwork. Things might have benefitted from a bit of action, but even without any minifigures to bring the scene to life, this is an amazing LEGO creation.

This close-up view of the main door gives a nice look at the level of intricate detailing which has gone into the model despite its massive scale. I love the sand green steps, and the unusual crest above the entranceway. The use of numerous pearl gold pieces as highlights is just the most noticeable element in those wonderful walls. Don’t miss the clever use of arches and angled bricks amidst all that grey, creating a rich depth of texture despite the limited colour palette…

Dispatch rider’s dream ride

When it comes to channeling a chunky 50s-retro vibe in LEGO bricks, nobody does it better than Martin Redfern. His latest creation is a brilliantly beefy-looking dispatch bike, complete with twin seats, leather pannier bags, a chunky engine, and wonderfully-curved fuel tank and mudguard. The large scale employed allows Martin to use the golden angel’s wing as a logo down the side of the fuel tank — a nice touch of detail.

As an added treat, Martin has put together an “Afrika Korps” version, complete with side-car and machine gun. Great stuff.

Indiana Jones and the brick-built tank of brilliance

It’s one of the most famous action scenes in cinema — Indiana Jones taking on a fearsome tank, armed with little more than a rock. This unforgettable moment in Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade is recreated brilliantly in LEGO by Joshua Brooks. The tank is wonderfully detailed, bedecked with equipment and cargo, and features nicely-sculpted gun sponsons. Also, don’t miss the added touch of brick-built clouds of dust kicked up at the rear of the tracks…

As Joshua puts it: “SPOILER ALERT — rock beats cannon”…

Swoosh it – swoosh it real good

“Swooshable” is one of the finest compliments that can be paid to a LEGO aircraft or spacecraft model. Does it make you want to lift it up and swoosh it around the room whilst making engine noises? This cracking air racer from Red Spacecat could serve as some sort of dictionary definition of the term. The smooth lines, the rear-mounted contra-rotating prop, the colour blocking and stickers — all magic.

Couple all that with a folding undercarriage and a touch of Octan sponsorship, and you’ve got an absolute belter of a little LEGO plane…

A beautiful killer

The Orca is the largest of the dolphin family, one of the planet’s top predators, and a majestic sight. Ken Ito has put together an excellent LEGO model of one of these amazing creatures breaching the surface. The model is nicely shaped, particularly those fins, and I like the restrained use of a custom sticker for the white facial marking. The upsurge of water around the orca’s flanks is well done, as is the spattering of white and trans-clear pieces — it creates a sense of movement, and of the rest of the creature’s bulk just beneath the surface. I’d love to have this oceanic treat on my desk at work.

Hulkbusting out and I’m breaking ground

Hot on the heels of a LEGO Brickheadz-styled Back To The Future DeLorean, we get another “vehicle” for the blocky figures — a chunky chibi Hulkbuster Armour designed to fit Brickheadz Iron Man. This digital creation by ORION_brick is nicely done, with suitably beefy proportions and LEGO’s own Iron Man nestling comfortably inside.

We don’t feature a lot of digital renders on the Brothers Brick, generally preferring our LEGO models to be constructed in actual bricks. However, this is a cool idea and, unlike many digital creations, it doesn’t employ too many non-existent part/colour combinations.

Field of LEGO dreams

Here’s a pretty LEGO view — a daisy-strewn meadow with a brick-built backdrop. Hans Demol built this mosaic for a display with his local LEGO group. Mosaics are not usually my favourite kind of LEGO building, but the addition of the strip at the front with the daisies elevated this into something more interesting than a simple rendition of a pixelated image. It would be even better if some of the varied green shades in the backdrop’s “grass” had continued forward over the base, but that’s nitpicking at an otherwise lovely design.

Roadz? Where we’re going, we don’t need roadz

Every now and again, a LEGO model appears which could herald the beginning of a new building fad. jp_velociraptor‘s Brickheadz-styled Back To The Future De Lorean is one of those. Built to accommodate the chunky proportions of the official Brickheadz versions of Doc Brown and Marty McFly, it’s a chibi delight — immediately recognisable to fans, but skewed to fit perfectly with the blocky aesthetic. So come on Brickheadz fans — now we want to see a Batmobile or some Star Wars vehicles rendered in this style.

And don’t miss this rear view which shows those gull-wing doors in action, along with a good look at all the wonderful greebly detailing around the back-end — including a perfect little Mr. Fusion!