“M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!” Thanks to Shawn Snyder, one of Walt Disney’s most beloved cartoon characters comes to life in LEGO-form. LEGO Mickey is instantly recognizable, right down to his red trousers and white gloves. In particular, I was impressed by Shawn’s use of a wide variety of angles to form the shape of Mickey’s head and facial features. Finishing off the build is an elegant black and gold base which would make this model a perfect fit for Disney Store shelves!
The enormous, elephant-like oliphaunts (also known as Mûmakil to their Haradrim riders) wowed the hobbits Sam and Frodo as they made their way through Ithilien. Impressive as they may have been in the books and movies, this LEGO sculpture by Marcin Otreba adds movement to his bricks and brings the creature to life.
This microscale LEGO rendition of Istanbul’s most famous landmark has been masterfully created by George Panteleon. The tan and dark tan elements blend seamlessly together to create the sweeping curves and rounded roofs of the 1,500-year-old building. The huge dome, which encloses a ceiling height of 182 feet, is created from the planet hemisphere element for Bespin. George has rigged the interior with lights, allowing the model to glow warmly, and added a lovely wood base. It all comes together as a wonderful display piece.
In addition to the amazing LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick brings you the best of LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the third week of October 2018.
TBB NEWS & FEATURES: The latest LEGO Ideas set has been revealed (and we reviewed it), plus the Microscale Magic contest winners revealed!
TBB REVIEWS & INSTRUCTIONS: Just announced and already reviewed: We’ve got the pop-up book “Once Upon a Brick” set, plus a review of Overwatch’s Omnic Bastion!
Technic LEGO has so many real world applications, something Alexis Dos Santos’s angle poise lamp proves brilliantly. It’s an idea which the Technic frame structure realises so well, with the holed beams giving the feel of a high-end designer product. As an adult LEGO fan it’s something I could absolutely see on my desk at work. I just have to hope that Alexis has chosen a suitably low heat bulb and that his bright idea doesn’t end up as a puddle of plastic.
One of the joys of writing for the Brothers Brick is seeing how LEGO builders make clever use of the parts in their collection. Emil Lidé has been experimenting with parts in unconventional ways, including using dark green minifig plumes for grass. The plumes are affixed to the 1×1 round tile with bar and pin holder, which allows them to be tilted in multiple directions. This in turn gives the grass a random but natural-looking pattern. As someone who loves LEGO landscaping, it would be exciting to see this technique used on a larger scale!
Building dinosaurs is undeniably awesome. Even more awesome is taking it a step further and making them move. This eye-catching Allosaurus is the work of Cornbuilder, who we featured back in March with his incredible giant black dragon. (At the time, his username was mrxsto99) His latest carnivore creation isn’t a major departure, although instead of lighting effects, this time the creature walks!
The movement of the lumbering giant is actually made possible through a reverse engineering and tweaking of Jason Allemann’s iconic Sisyphus kinetic sculpture. The mechanism runs off a single LEGO Power Functions M-motor and battery pack.
Back in May we covered some other dinosaurs that could not only walk, but also swing their tale and bend their necks to eat. Read more about the evolution of those creations here.
There are a few LEGO Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts deals on Amazon right now that are a steal if you haven’t already got them. Here’s your chance to grab them before they’re gone.
Straight from a storybook, this little build by Lubeee is simple yet adorable. Titled, “Micro Fable” it gives us a window into another world, and I must say it looks nice under that glass. You can’t help but admire the tiny dueling dragons as they soar above the castle and forest below. I’d love to see this continue as a series of small fable vignettes!
Borderlands 2 is a first-person action role-playing game and the most popular title from 2K Games, selling over 13 million copies. It’s no wonder that there are hardcore fans like Sam Beattie who can’t resist bringing them to life as LEGO character models.
(Left to Right) Axton, Gaige, Krieg, Claptrap, Maya, Salvador, and Zer0
It’s not often we get to peek inside a builder’s mind to learn their development process, so hopefully some of you will be inspired by the amount of toil and sweat to get to the end product. Every journey begins with a spark, and Sam tells The Brothers Brick that this group of heroes has been in idea form for many years. What triggered him to finally get building was when BrickCon was nearing — just 6 weeks before the event earlier this month, to be exact.
Learn more about these Borderlands characters built from LEGO
Our recent collaborative display at BrickCon 2018 in Seattle was an outstanding success, generating an amazing response from both the convention attendees and the public. What started as an idea back in February of this year to expand on the official city set for my son, who is a big Ninjago fan, turned into one of the most popular displays at BrickCon, judging by the crowds leaning into the stanchions, and the tremendously positive feedback we received throughout the 4-day convention. Our collaboration enjoyed the participation of over 30 people, comprising a few of our staff and a lot of awesome readers, and together we displayed nearly 60 custom blocks for Ninjago City, plus numerous sections of waterway.
A couple of really high quality LEGO car models rolled across our monitors this week so I thought we’d take the opportunity to feature both models, hailing from very different economic classes but from a pair of equally talented creators. On the affordable-by-the-common-man end of the spectrum, we have hachiroku24‘s Toyota Prius model topping out around USD$24,000. And he’s provided a handy parts guide and instructional video.
Breaking the bank at the other end of the scale is Jonathan Elliot‘s high class USD$400,000 Lamborghini Aventador.
I genuinely appreciate when iconic shapes are accomplished with creative parts use, and both these cars fit that qualification. Both builders are masters of their craft, consistently perfecting minifig scale automobiles. My absolute favorite new(er) piece use here is the front bumper of the start white Aventador achieved with mirrored Wedge 2×1 with stud notch Left and Right. It’s such a distinctive shape at such a small scale. The utilitarian grey Prius’ curved frame is brought about with flex cable and the Bar Holder with Handle
And if you like these cars as much as we do, make sure to check out hachiroku’s chill, easy-to-follow VW Bus building instructions from last week and Jonathan’s trio of classic cars shared earlier this summer.
