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.

Rusty rat rod ready to rumble

Are six-stud-wide LEGO cars considered historical vehicles yet? Builder Isaac Wilder. may find it hard to step away from this style but his execution definitely sets him apart from older Speed Champion sets. What the builder gives up in space for minifigures, he makes up in shaping and scale. Fantastic building techniques balanced through nice parts usage gives us a greebly, exposed engine suitable for such a reinvention of a hot rod. Its worn-down, rusty body is an aesthetic choice classifying it as a “rat rod” which is meant to show off the builder’s personality through the worn-down, rusty parts. The nicely executed transition to five-studs wide near the engine also helps give the hoses (used as the exhaust) a nice angle away from the body.

Rusty

The main thing I’m unsure of is the tires. There aren’t many examples of actual white-walled LEGO tires so most builders usually make their own by wedging parts together or pairing white wheels with black tires. Though it’s possible 1saac made his own, or that I couldn’t find these exact parts while writing, it is also possible these are from a diecast model that just happened to have tires that fit around the silver discs. Even if it isn’t a “purest” model, this is still quite a satisfying example of proper six-stud LEGO cars.

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Agra Sunstriker, Beat Wizard

Back at it again with another fantastic figure, Builder Eero Okkonen makes use of some interesting parts from Monkie Kid’s new Galactic Explorer. After watching the Moon Knight finale, this seems like an ancient Egyptian hero in the modern era. Just imagine him strutting up to a bad guy, dropping that boom box, hitting play, and kicking butt in step with the power of the gods.

Agra Sunstriker

Drop the beat

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Frigid bridges and cold, old stone

Winter may have passed, but its scenes still provide a tranquil allure. This small model by Eli Willsea is a delightfully cartoonish landscape of such a pleasant, icy kingdom. Aqua slopes and curves are built studs not on top, aside from the few exposed to secure the tiny trees and little huts. Using unicorn horns in sand green for different sizes or types of trees is a great method at this scale, but my favorite are the bridges. The mold for wands includes two of the pieces attached to a non-System piece for structural stability. Eli was smart here, wedging unattached wands into the gaps in the wand molds to create small wooden bridges connecting the islands. It might not be “legal” but it certainly suits the scene. Of course, the most complex element is the focal point, the Cold Castle itself. While the nearby huts sport maroon roofs, the castle is capped by dark azure. The stone spires of the structure seem to make use of inverted building techniques to secure the lightsaber hilts. Those create pressure to hold the forks of the bucket handle wedged above the inverted, rounded gold tile used as the castle gate.

The Cold Castle

This miniature scene is yet another example of the subtle skills that builders like Eli Willsea make use of for their models. It’s one thing to know how to operate within the System but another entirely to know how to break the rules. It starts as a simple suggestion, an experiment in limits, and becomes a signature that builders can rely on to set them apart.

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LEGO Horizon 76989 Tallneck – “Looks just like Rost described it.” [Review]

Originally a Playstation exclusive but now also available for PC, Horizon Zero Dawn was a groundbreaking game with a visionary plot. This 2017 role-playing game was a foray into the unfamiliar for the developer, Guerilla Games. A title like this was a massive change from their usual fare and some within the company saw its development as a huge risk. Though the plot and gameplay went through plenty of changes before it was released, the Tallneck was an early mainstay amongst the creature designs. Before the game even hit the shelves, fans were excited about the concept art featuring this peaceful, iconic giant. The giraffe-like mechanical beast soon became a recognizable symbol of the game that now extends into its sequel, Horizon Forbidden West, currently available exclusively for the Playstation 4 and 5, and fan-built LEGO models of it have been quite popular. The release of this new installment was a perfect reason to make official the relationship between Guerilla Games, LEGO, and their mutual fans. Enter the Horizon 76989 Tallneck. This 1,222-piece set will be available worldwide on May 1st from the LEGO Shop Online for US $79.99 | CAN $99.99 | UK £69.99. It comes with one Aloy minifigure, a small Watcher, and the towering Tallneck on a display base featuring scenery elements of the game. If that interests you, turn on your Focus and let’s get ready to Override this big guy correctly.

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.


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Grab the bug spray!

It’s been a few months since builder Oscar Cederwall gifted us with one of his LEGO creations. Everyone deserves a break and this winter has been particularly worthy, however his latest creation reminds us that summer is on its way with a vengeance. Thankfully the swarms of flies we’ll be dealing with won’t be quite as formidable as this Wisp Scout Tank. As usual, Oscar shows off his detailing skills with the greebly legs of this flying menace. The interesting wings are swords from the Exo Force Sky Guardian Mech from back in 2007. Though it might be the oddest piece amongst the build, the literal standouts are the bright blue Modulex pieces featured in the turrets. The contrast was both a design choice and a color limitation since, as Oscar puts it, “Modulex colors are a bit odd because they mostly don’t match any other LEGO System colors.” Thankfully they make for great accents on some already intricate turrets.

Wisp Scout Tank

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The Iron Starhopper

Certain parts show up a lot throughout the year thanks to LEGO fans’ tendency to challenge each other’s ingenuity, such as the recurring Iron Builder challenge. For his third model using the red hexagonal windscreen part, builder Jake Hansen went for a space angle. This multifaceted spacecraft might not hold much by way of cargo but it can certainly get you from Planet A to Planet B in good time.

Fe Starhopper

Ships like these are intricate puzzles that show off the nontraditional or unexpected ways that builders find to fit pieces together. Triangular clip plates in the nose snuggly fit in the area between the red windscreens while grey domes of reducing size fill the space behind. The light blue ski poles in the front, along with the other uses of the color by the engines or along each side of the body, perfectly compliments and contrasts the red of the windscreen. Stacks of minifigure skates in grey are built into each arm of the body, providing an industrial texture that works really well in this ship. This swift little starhopper is just another example of Jake’s prodigious skill.

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Father, son, and House of LEGO

It may not be Gucci but it’s still got plenty of style and class. This fashionable bag built by Chi Hsin Wei is full of style in a fan-favorite color. Sandgreen is a perfect choice for the majority of the bag, while gold clamps and buckles are accented by bars of red and black. The builder shows off some customization using bag tags, Dots bracelets, and a bandana. I’m not sure if that cloth is “legal” but it certainly compliments the bag well. Real-world objects turned into LEGO models have become a popular selling point for our favorite brick manufacturer. From shoes to guitars, they’ve been taking the “Rebuild the World” motto pretty literally. Here, the builder did an awesome job addressing the shaping and accenting details of the bag, producing a luxurious style product with character and elegance.

Lego Fashion Bag

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Afrofuturistic sustainability is on the rise

Bright green foliage permeates this dynamic scene, cascading down to the produce stands set up in the square below a vibrant, sustainable stack of apartments. Builder Abe Fortier built this slice of life from an Afrofuturistic city that could fit anywhere in the world. Inspired by different elements of African architecture tied in with environmentally friendly urban planning, these apartments have a spark of individuality that lifts them above the greyscale of the typical city scene. Ladders and stairs provide access to the apartments (though I hope there’s an elevator somewhere, otherwise moving in would be a major pain). Couriers and cleaning drones stick to the street while the residents gather for groceries, enjoy the sights of the city from their balcony, or maybe even get some exercise on the rooftops. There is a lot to notice in this build but the most stand-out portion is the brick-built portrait featured on the wall. The sideways building techniques that Abe used to “paint” this picture are no easy feat, yet he managed to make quite the work of art all around.

The Hills || Futuristic Sustainable Apartment Complex

I’d love to see the rest of this city, or more like it, but hopefully, as time goes on we’ll get to see more real-world examples of the intersection between technology and the African Diaspora. Afrofuturism shouldn’t be treated like “another genre” but as a peek into what our world could one day become with a more equitable and equal society.

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Brotherhood lost or Anakin’s inferno?

Two peers, brothers in spirit, pitched against each other above the flowing, roiling lava of a devastated planet. This climactic battle is full of intense moments between these iconic characters, such as the one captured here in diorama form by TheCreatorr. Moments before Obi-wan defeats Anakin, they balanced atop shielded platforms and hovering droids battling for their fates. The lava swelling below them is brilliantly built with various gradients while black patches of burnt materials rise to the top.

Duel on Mustafar Diorama MOC

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Non-toxic but still inedible

Deep in the forest, far from the beaten tracks, a colony of fungi fruits from the remains of an old tree. Builder Paulo Loro brought new life to some old table scrap mushrooms by integrating them into this natural display. Fungi can be difficult to identify so its hard to say if these are based on enoki, shiitake, or something else—I’m no mycologist. All I can say is there’s a certain magic to the twists and turns the mushrooms make. Tail pieces are used to represent the stalks of the fruiting bodies while dish pieces represent the different stages of caps. The most mature of the species use the rock elements with eggshells underneath as gills.

The Mushroom Tree 04

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The miraculous and magical Casita Madrigal

Can’t seem to get enough of Disney’s Encanto? Neither can we! The official LEGO Encanto set is lovely but it is just not big enough to satisfy my Encanto cravings. This is where Martin Harris comes in. Martin is no stranger when it comes to building big. A lot of his creations are on quite a large scale. Same goes for the Casita Madrigal. It took Martin 4.5 weeks of building, which considering the size, sounds like quite a lot of work. Martin didn’t spend any of that time counting pieces. Considering that each roof shingle is a bread loaf tile, the piece count has to be quite high.

Encanto movie Casita build

Casita Madrigal is covered in lovely detail. From the lush foliage to the vibrant colours. Martin even designed a different window frame for each of the sub parts of the house. That’s what I call dedication. This build really deserves to be zoomed in on. There are loads of lovely details that you would miss otherwise. There is a flock of toucans nesting on a balcony. An amazing brick built door complete with door knocker. Waving shutters and cracks in the walls. Martin even managed to incorporate a light-up brick to make sure the miracle candle in the window is burning at all times.

Want to read more about the creations by Martin Harris we featured? Just click here.

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Jazz up your Porsche

The treasure trove of parts in the 10295 Porsche 911 set have made their way into the capable hands of yet another builder. This Transformer by Adrian Drake resurrects a generation one star of the series, Jazz. Originally a Martini Porsche 935 Turbo, this version still shares some of the same body designs as many of the iconic original toys sought after by collectors today. The Porsche’s front end makes up most of his torso while the doors swing out from the back like wings or down with the rest of the body to form the legs and feet. Making a functioning Transformer with LEGO is no easy feat but Adrian sure did well here.

Jazz 00

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