Category Archives: Building Techniques

Not sure what SNOT is? Want to learn innovative new ways to create awesome LEGO models of your own? Peruse our posts about LEGO building techniques to pick up tricks & tips from the best.

Please stay off the freeway

The Arvo Brothers have struck again with another incredibly beautiful and photo-realistic model. This time, it’s a scooter inspired by the totally retro Vespa P200. The P200 was imported to the US in the late 70s and early 80s, a time when steep angles and blocky designs were common — making this an ideal subject for LEGO modeling. The taillight design chosen here is an exact match to the original ride, executed perfectly in brick. I really like the scale of this model, with larger parts used for broader strokes, leaving smaller parts to fill in the details. If you wish you could build like this, fret not: the builders have promised a PDF of instructions is forthcoming.

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The Palace of the Sultan

This magnificent palace of a sultan looks splendid in microscale, a size not often used for the inspiring architecture of the near east. Marcel V. puts those gold ice-cream swirls to great use atop the minarets, and tiny crowns adorn the other towers.

Rusty rail truck gets the job done

There’s a real art in depicting decay and dilapidation in LEGO. The solid colors and straight lines of our favourite construction system tend not to lend themselves well to such subjects. But Maciej Drwiega has nailed it with this rusting rail truck. Smart color combinations and a clever sideways construction technique have created a convincing impression of battered and bruised metal.

Whilst I’m not really a train guy, I’d heartily recommend a visit to Maciej’s photostream, where you’ll find excellent photos of more lovely railway models and layouts. I particularly like the images shot with tilt-shift.

The art of masking out a good building solution

LEGO Bionicle pieces are among the most hard-to-use parts, but it doesn’t mean they’re useless. They usually end up as table scraps after another huge project, so you definitely need a fresh look to find an application for them — just like Dead Frog inc. did. Bionicle masks are a vast range of pieces available in dozens of colors, and thanks to their curvy shapes they fit amazingly well as armoured parts of mechs.

Meanwhile Olga Rodionova takes advantage of the complex coloring of mask pieces to give a pair of Protector Masks of Ice a second life as incredibly beautiful insect wings. This is the best illustration of the idea that the more useless the piece seems to be, the more amazing it looks when used properly.

3D golden-tail piranha

Actually, I have no idea what kind of fish this toothed-beastie is supposed to be. Regardless, this 3D mosaic by anries shop is offishally awesome. Those golden wings make great fish fins and the way Anries made colorful scales out of 1 x 1 round plates is stunning. My favorite detail is that poor worm made from two different types of LEGO snakes. It really looks like one piece suspended in water. Perhaps Anries’ next build will feature this fish mounted on the proud fisherman’s wall. Unless, of course, our fishy friend gets away with a full belly.

A lineup of well-known Simpsons characters

The characters from America’s longest running animated series The Simpsons have been immortalised by LEGO already with two series of collectible minifigures. Now SuckMyBrick has brought them to life once more in brick-built form. Naturally, the main Simpson family members are all here along with a few key characters from the show such as Mr. Burns, Krusty the Clown and Groundskeeper Willie. The 1×1 round eye tile and the larger 2×2 round eye tile equivalent are perfect for the cartoon features depicted in the tv series.

You can see close up views of each individual character on SuckMyBrick’s The Simpson’s album. Brick-built characters from The Simpsons have also been featured before on The Brothers Brick, as you can see in previous posts like The Simpsons made from LEGO bricks.

Instructions for Laputa: Castle in the Sky LEGO music box now available [Instructions]

Korean builder Hwang Byeong Jun has released step-by-step instructions for the amazing Laputa: Castle in the Sky music box that we featured last month, complete with details on how to integrate the music box into your LEGO build.

You can see each step in the instructions in the builder’s photoset on Flickr, and you can download a PDF as well.

Adam Savage’s One Day Build of Jason Allemann’s Sysiphus Kinetic Sculpture [Video]

We here at The Brothers Brick are long-standing fans of Jason Allemann and his beautiful works. Previously, we’ve featured many of his builds: his Mosaic Printer, robotic Cookie Decorator, and, of course, his beautiful Labyrinth ball maze, released as a LEGO Ideas set this year.

One of my favorites, though, is his kinetic sculpture of Sisyphus and his eternal struggle pushing the boulder. Turns out we aren’t the only big fans of this work of art. Adam Savage of Mythbusters and Tested fame saw a video of Jason’s sculpture, and contacted Jason, getting custom instructions and the parts necessary to duplicate the build.

In the video below, watch Adam Savage and Norman Chan build the sculpture, experiencing all the highs and lows and joys of building a large creation (including not being able to find that ONE part!)

How to make your own 14k solid gold LEGO Star Wars Han Solo [Video]

Fans of LEGO come from all walks of life, including jewelers—and what happens when a LEGO fan wants to encase a Han Solo minifigure in carbonite? Well, we haven’t yet figured out how carbonite works, so S.E. Needham jewelers teamed up with youtube channel JerryRigEverything to find out if 14k gold will do instead. Han Solo might actually be worth more than Collectible Minifigures Series 10’s Mr. Gold now.

LEGO Koenigsegg CCX is striking and insanely detailed

The Koenigsegg CCX first debuted in 2006 featuring an insane top speed of 245mph, and would set you back around $700,000 USD. But it’s also been named one of the ten most beautiful cars of all time. The Koenigsegg’s gorgeous curved lines are incredibly difficult to render from rectangular bricks, but builder Gerald Cacas has done a great job here. Perhaps more impressively though, he’s filled it to the brim with detail, and even made the doors, engine lid, and hood functional. The engine compartment looks so real you almost can’t believe it’s LEGO, let alone at such a small scale, and the interior is equally astounding. Check out all the pictures after the jump.

Click to see more pictures of the Koenigsegg CCX

Modular boats: The new word in shipbuilding

When building vessels with LEGO, you either go big or stick to regular boat hull parts. But this time FiliusRucilo presents something brand new — a modular ship.

Behind this simple exterior hides a three-part structure plus a detachable deckhouse. This concept, introduced in modular buildings, provides huge opportunities for customization of each part. In the description, the builder suggests removing the middle part to fit the ship into small dioramas. In the same way the ship can be extended to become a long barge.

What happens when LEGO bricks encounter a hydraulic press? [Video]

Putting random objects into hydraulic presses just to see what happens is something of a craze online right now, so it was only a matter of time until our beloved bricks met someone brash enough to try to squeeze the life out of them. Here we see what happens when a LEGO minifig, a 2×4 brick, and eventually a full LEGO set are put under tremendous pressure. I think this is how LEGO Iron Builders are made.

If you’re squeamish about seeing LEGO bricks transformed into new shapes, look away now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo1g4oz6I94

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