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

Spacesuit! Spacesuit! SPACESUIT!

Well, okay, strictly-speaking it’s an Exo-Suit, but I’m sure Benny the Spaceman would still love this Neo Classic Space-styled exoskeleton by Devid VII. There’s an obvious nod to the Pete Reid’s original LEGO Ideas Exo-Suit set, but the frame is much tighter and more compact, and the mechanical-looking greebley detailing is altogether different. Normally I’m not a fan of models set against broader backdrops of the same colour, however the photography and image processing here is excellent, using depth of focus to ensure the central model doesn’t get lost. And all that work allows the use of the detailed space hangar backdrop — lovely sci-fi goodness.

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.

Cloud dragon rules the skies

Dragons are the quintessential fantastical creature, common in myths from cultures around the globe, and a muse for artists and sculptors for centuries. LEGO builders are no exception — and here it’s John Cheng who has succumbed to the dragon’s call. This striking dragon bust is lovingly assembled from a well-chosen selection of curved and sloped parts, creating a great impression of musculature beneath scaled skin. Further, the blue and purple colour scheme is bold without being garish, and allows the lightning-flavoured horns on the dragon’s head to really pop from the image. The cloud-styled base of the model works nicely too.

Wet and wild-ly good building

January might not be waterpark weather up here in the chilly northern hemisphere, but simply bricking it aims to bring a splash of fun in the summer sun to your life with this brilliant microscale LEGO creation. The “tanscaping” on display here is beautiful — the tan tile pieces creating a smart colour contrast with the teal waters. But, as with all the best microscale, it’s the little details that make this pop — the use of the recently-reborn “macaroni quarter pipe” pieces to create a spiral flume tube, and the brown 1×2 bow slopes as diving boards are particular highlights. This makes me want to dive into some microscale building of my own.

LEGO lion dances into the New Year

What better way to welcome in 2018 than with a LEGO model of a traditional Japanese shishimai mask, used for a lion dance at New Year? keiichi kamei has built a fantastic bust of the lion mask — the shaping of the face and mane are brilliant, and the restrained colour palette lends the image a real vibrancy. I particularly like the eyebrows and nose, and adding those fan pieces as a pattern on the coat is a lovely touch. But the masterstroke is the slight angle of the head, immediately injecting an air of fun and a sense of character.

Fairy is fair enough

This lovely fairy sculpture by Mike Nieves was apparently a gift for a friend. I hope Mike’s friend appreciates it because it’s truly magical. The figure is beautifully posed, looking like she’s about to touch softly down from the air. The wings are fabulous, and the shaping of the skirt is particularly well-done. When a character is this well put-together I think we can forgive the non-LEGO stand!

Brothers Brick LEGO Builder of the Year 2017 [News]

Every day the team here at The Brothers Brick brings you the best LEGO models from the global community of LEGO builders. Their creations amuse, inspire, and excite us on a daily basis. However, each year there are a handful of builders who take things to new heights, able to turn their hands to a wide variety of building styles, and wow us with their mastery of building techniques and parts.

Brothers Brick is delighted to name Jonas Kramm as our LEGO Builder of the Year 2017.

Jonas has had an astonishing year of building — multiple models, many of them featured here, across a range of building styles, not to mention an excellent performance in Iron Builder (the highest-profile and most stressful LEGO community building competition out there). We’ve loved seeing everything he’s put together during 2017, and we hope you’ll enjoy this retrospective look at his last twelve months…
Click to see some of Jonas’ models from 2017

Brothers Brick LEGO Creation of the Year 2017 [News]

Developing a shortlist of the best LEGO creations of 2017 was a tricky task, but narrowing it down to a single “best creation” proved even worse! However, after much discussion, some arguing, and a few tears, the Brothers Brick is delighted to highlight Jeff Friesen‘s Cityscapes as our LEGO Creation of the Year for 2017.

Jeff’s microscale cityscapes are simply beautiful. They don’t rely on access to a vast collection of LEGO parts, nor on a handful of particularly esoteric or rare pieces. They are great examples of how incredible things can be built from LEGO with “regular” bricks and plates, in common colours.

Although Jeff’s models are fantastical, and undoubtedly evoke a sci-fi feel, they also display an appreciation and understanding of key elements of differing architectural styles. The Miami-Art-Deco-Meets-The-Jetsons styling of the city in the main image above is a mash-up of 30s and 50s futurism, with a dash of what feels like Disney’s Tomorrowland. Whereas the cityscape below offers a different flavour of retro-futuristic architecture — New-York-Meets-Gotham-City with more than a whiff of Steampunk about it. It also showcases Jeff’s attention to detail and sense of fun — don’t miss the little trains in their subway beneath the streets…

We felt these models represented something genuinely exciting and new on the LEGO scene, executed brilliantly, and with a scale and selection of parts that we felt would inspire LEGO builders of all levels. That’s why Jeff Friesen‘s Cityscapes are our LEGO Creation of the Year for 2017.

Throwback castle polishes up nicely

Sometimes the old ones really are the best ones. Eggy Pop says this microscale LEGO castle was originally built back in 2009, but he’s now posted a cleaned-up photo of the creation. The low angle on this photography creates a misleading sense of scale in the image — this model looks much bigger than it really is. The white walls and dark blue roofs of the castle offer a lovely contrast to the surrounding sea. And the technique of placing coloured plates beneath the trans-blue tiles of the sea makes for some welcoming beaches.

Shortlist announced for Brothers Brick LEGO Creation of the Year 2017 [News]

For over a decade the Brothers Brick has been highlighting the best LEGO models, and 2017 has seen some excellent creations. To celebrate 12 months of great building, the Brothers Brick team has looked back over everything we’ve featured and pulled out the best LEGO creations of 2017.

Take a look at the fantastic models we’ve shortlisted, and stay tuned for the announcement of our LEGO Creation of the Year 2017 on New Year’s Eve! And don’t forget to check out the 2016 shortlist, and 2016 LEGO Creation of the Year to see what honourable company this year’s nominations enjoy.

Click to see all of this year’s nominees

Rudolph the brick-nosed reindeer

Love ’em or loathe ’em, the Brickheadz-style seems here to stay. And regardless of your personal take on the blocky building craze, this jolly version of Rudolph is sure to raise a festive smile. Jonas Obermaier has built a cool little model, creating a chibi blocky reindeer. Whilst the facial styling is fun, and I love the antlers, the best bit of this has to be the snow-covered base — those white lever arms and blue flowers create a genuine sense of frosted plants. Brrrr.

Everything is on track for Christmas

This is surely the most festive LEGO model we’ve seen all year — a brilliant gingerbread train, decked in Christmas icing and decorations. Put together by Koen for a competition on the LEGO Rebrick site, this was a worthy winner. The locomotive is an obvious highlight with it’s gleaming iced sections and little pops of candy colour, but my favourite part is the tiny house on the rear carriage — a beautiful confection with cupcakes on the roofline and liquorice detailing. Yum yum.

Hark the LEGO angels sing

What better way to celebrate Christmas than with a beautiful brick-built Nativity scene? Birgitte Jonsgard evokes the spirit of the Renaissance Masters with this creation — a classical arch framing a suitably reverentail depiction of the Madonna and Child, complete with Joseph, Three Kings, and a host of heavenly cherubs. The entire scene is nicely done, but it was Mary’s halo, and the angels in their clouds which particularly caught my eye. Lovely stuff.

About Rod

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!