Near-future police vehicles have a high standard to live up to. Sid Mead’s classic design for the Blade Runner Police Spinner remains a heavy influence on LEGO Cyberpunk builders. This police gyro-car by Angka Utama reminds me of a cross between the spinner and Kaneda’s bike from Akira — and that’s meant as a compliment. I love the simple lines and sharp colours on display here, and those chunky tyres would surely keep any responding officer glued to the mean streets.
Posts by Rod
Take it to the bridge
Who’s that trip-trapping over my LEGO bridge? Well, according to Andreas Lenander, it’s the King and his Knights — one of whom has taken a tumble into the stream. The hapless swimmer injects some fun detail into the scene, but the undoubted highlight must be the arches on the bridge — fashioned from partly-connected 1×2 plates.
Bet he won’t reprimand his daughter
Every LEGO builder knows it’s better down where it’s wetter, but LEGO 7 takes it into uncharted depths of building skill with his rendition of King Triton and Princess Ariel. The Little Mermaid herself is immediately recognisable, but it’s the modeling of the Trident-wielding monarch which grabs all the attention in a fabulous combination of System and Hero Factory parts. That beard! That crown! Great stuff, but the best bit is the use of hot air balloon pieces for the tail. Genuinely inspired.
Super-Duper Duplo Mech
Who’s the King of the Toybox? Well, I think we can answer that now. nobu-tary‘s latest LEGO mechanoid/hardsuit creation is a typically beefy beast, but tricked-out in an atypical colour scheme, accented with the use of Duplo bricks. I like the air of comic menace this thing is lugging around.
Don’t miss the rear view, with the Collectible Minifigure retro-style rocket put to excellent use as a jetpack — a perfect fit for the overall aesthetic.
Whilst I love the model, can we maybe see LEGO mechs adopting a different pose? That whole “chin down, hips forward” stance thing is becoming something of a trope — the cyberpunk equivalent of steampunk’s brown.
LEGO Space: ICE Titan – exclusive free download and interview
The Brothers Brick enjoyed LEGO Space: Building The Future — the book of wonderful sci-fi creations from rockstar Space builders Tim Goddard and Peter Reid. When the guys got in touch to say they’d penned and illustrated a new tale set in the LEGO Space universe, we got very excited. Even more so when they asked if we’d like to host the tale as exclusive downloadable content for our readers.
Click here to download a free PDF copy of LEGO Space: ICE Titan.
We picked up with the guys to find out more about the creation of this new chapter in the LEGO Space saga…
Click to read our interview with some of the creative team
If in doubt, use a plumber’s screwdriver
My father always referred to a hammer as a “plumber’s screwdriver”, which is maybe a little unfair on professional pipe-botherers. However, it’s the first thing I thought of when I saw Anton Sundström‘s LEGO Mario sculpture. Everyone’s favourite dungaree-clad videogame hero is wielding a rather fetching hammer here, in a re-creation of his look from Paper Mario.
Although limited in its joints, the model has excellent pose-ability to match the videogame original. Check out this classic “jumping for a coin” action…
The Brothers Brick 2017 Readers’ Survey – last chance!
It’s your last chance to complete our readers’ survey for 2017 and tell us what you think about The Brothers Brick. You could win a 75105 Millennium Falcon LEGO set!
Thanks to the thousands of you who’ve already filled in the survey. We’re delighted how many of you have taken the time to give us your opinions. If you haven’t done it yet, the deadline is midnight tonight. It shouldn’t take you more than 5 minutes to complete and it’ll help us build you a better TBB. Click here to take the survey.
The survey is open until Tuesday, 20th June. Image courtesy of Todd Wilder.
The survey may only be completed once per participant. The free Millennium Falcon set will be awarded to a survey respondent picked at random after the survey closes. The prizewinner must be over the age of 18. An email address is required to enter the prize draw. The email address will only be used to contact the prizewinner to arrange delivery. All email addresses will be deleted once delivery is arranged. In the event of the initial prizewinner not responding to contact within 3 days, a new prizewinner will be picked at random. TBB reserves the right to substitute some form of voucher of similar value in the event of shipping proving ridiculously expensive.
Gentlemen, start your fusion engines
Here at Brothers-Brick, we’re suckers for a bit of well-executed LEGO cyberpunk. Following up on his peculiar spindly mechanoid, F@bz brings us this futuristic motorcycle which wouldn’t look out of place amidst the neon of Ghost In The Shell or Akira. The scale allows the builder to add plenty of detail, and the level of texture is enhanced further with the occasional sticker. The whole package comes wrapped in a wonderful eye-popping colour scheme. I don’t know if this thing is really fusion-powered, but I’d love to take it for a spin down the neo-Tokyo highway regardless.
Phenomenal cosmic powers, itty-bitty living space
It’s the return of Jafar, depicted in LEGO by cid hsiao. The wicked vizier, here in his evil genie form, is immediately recognisable — no mean feat when you consider the model’s scale and the mix of System bricks and Bionicle-style parts used to create the features. I love the sense of escaping energy as the genie bursts from his imprisonment within the lamp — nice use of the big flame parts, and ice cream scoop pieces for smoke.
Clockwork dragonfly takes a rest
The placing of a LEGO model in a natural environment generally makes for poor photos which ruin the illusion of scale. However, this bejewelled clockwork dragonfly by Duncan Lindbo is the exception to the rule. The parts and colour choices here are perfect, creating a wonderful impression of functional mechanical elements and a smart clockpunk aesthetic. Displaying the dragonfly on a real lily-pad turns out to be a stroke of genius, highlighting the model’s non-biological nature, and perhaps prompting musings amongst more philosophical viewers on the contrast and blurred boundaries between artifice and life.
There grows another rubber tree plant
Microscale LEGO building can be a real showcase for imaginative parts usage. The technique used for the trees and hedges in this delightful little park by Josephine Monterosso is fantastic: twisted rubber bands. This clever idea provides a genuine organic feel — something hard to achieve with bricks at this scale — and adds a level of detail which makes the scene look much bigger than it really is. Brilliant building.
Gangsters beware, the cops are coming
When LEGO gangsters cause mayhem in your town, you need to call in Dario Minisini‘s police flying squad in their vintage car! The shaping on this model is great — I particularly like the curve at the base of the rear bodywork — and the use of skis as front mudguards is inspired. I can almost hear the throaty old-school klaxon’s wail as this beauty skids around the corners of Old Chicago.
This vehicle wouldn’t look out of place in the vintage street scene Dario put together last year…