Category Archives: Models

This is what we’re all about. We scour the web for the best custom LEGO models to share with you. From castles and spaceships to planes, trains, and automobiles, you’ll find the best LEGO creations from builders all over the world right here on The Brothers Brick.

Get up-close and personal with this these Blacktron bruisers

Conventional wisdom would suggest that when you’re engaged in a dog fight in space, you want to keep your distance and let your laser guns do your enemy in. But Steve Marsh isn’t worried about convention. He’s begun a series of Blacktron ships that are built for combat, without using guns. The first is the SnubBuzzard, a brutal-looking battering ram of a ship that busts through its targets with ease.

The second is the Buzzsaw and, well, I probably don’t need to tell you how it attacks. It can be a challenge to bring new life to old concepts, and the idea of weaponless combat ships is an inspired approach. The resulting ships look swooshable and exactly like something I would have eaten up as a child. And, the best part is, when Blacktron reduces a Space Police cruiser to bits, you get to rebuilt it!

Are you a fan of Seve “Rubblemaker” Marsh’s distinctive spaceship designs? We’ll be back in a few days with an in-depth interview with this LEGO Space legend.

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This LEGO microscale city is guarded by the power of arts and crafts

Among many other things, Athena is the patron Greek goddess of handicrafts. That makes Loic Gilbert‘s microscale LEGO statue the perfect tribute to her! It would be a fine figure taken on its own; add some colour and you have a flesh-and-blood Athena. But with that monochrome palette, and in the context of a well-crafted microscale settlement, it becomes absolutely massive! She’s a good choice of guardian too, seeing as one of her other patronages is warfare. Do gods and goddesses get to choose their patronages? Those two make an odd mix on the face of it. Maybe after a long day of warmongering, sitting down with some knitting or a LEGO set is the perfect way to unwind. Seeing as Athena is also the goddess of wisdom, I won’t question it.

Hawkins, are you ready to rock?

We’re still a few days away from the premiere of Stranger Things season 5, but it seems like the WSQK van is already everywhere. I’ve seen it on t-shirts, in toy aisles, it has an upcoming Transformers Crossover figure…and most impressively it’s the subject of a new build by Alex Jones. While we haven’t seen the mobile radio station in action on TV, yet, there’s already plenty of merch out there to judge by. So, it’s safe to say that Alex has delivered a stunning take. Not only is this model packed with plenty of playset-style features, like opening doors, but Alex recreated the van’s wild paint job almost entirely through bricks. Even the eagle shaped lightning bolts on the side.

Even more impressive? He built it twice, and gave it a dark and dreary redeco for scenes in the Upside Down.

Color us impressed by this Middle Eastern medieval library masterpiece

When you think of medieval LEGO builds, you probably picture a lot of grey bricks (or yellow, if you’re feeling extra nostalgic). In this spectacular scene from German builder Marcel Veit, there’s nary a grey brick to be found. Instead, we’re treated to carpets, mosaics, and bookshelves popping with rich colors. The build was created for the Arabian Knights category in this year’s Brickscalibur competition, but with all those hues, it’s clear Marcel also has his eyes on the “Cerulean Count” prize – a bonus award for builders who get creative with color.

While Marcel has collaborated on RogueBricks projects, it’s been a full year since he’s shared a personal MOC, making this immersive build all the more exciting. Marcel is a builder whose clean designs, ingenious use of elements, and command with color have influenced many other builders. And while Middle Eastern settings have become more common in the Castle community, Marcel was an early advocate of exploring that setting in MOCs.

What I love about Marcel’s builds, and especially this one, is how dense with detail they are. Furniture, potted plants, lamps, and fixtures are both innovative and cohesive. The raised mosaic carpet looks so plush. Like a good book, I want to curl up and lose myself in Marcel’s world.

Aren’t you a little short for a Mûmakil?

War elephants were a staple of combat in North Africa, but what makes them legendary in the battle against the Romans is Hannibal’s march across the Alps. Builder Tylar pays tribute in LEGO to Hannibal’s last standing elephant, Surus, at the battle of the Trebia. Cloaked in red with a howda on its back, Surus might look a little small by Oliphaunt standards, but he is surprisingly close to scale for the now-extinct North African elephants used by the Carthaginians. Tylar completes the scene with wintery terrain on the Trebia banks and a fun mix of historical minifigs, including some Roman soldiers with wolf hoods.

A six-wide Alfa Romeo with a storied history

Car fans know that the love of an Alfa can haunt you, and Sam Andreas knows they can haunt LEGO fans too. Sam had to put this build aside before coming back to get it right. This specific iteration of the Alfa GTV 2000 comes with the storied history of a pristine car that fell off a flat-bed tow truck, only to be redeemed as an off-road vehicle, then totaled on an infamous video. Cars, whether in metal or LEGO, can break our hearts – or lift them!

She sees the flowers and she wants them painted black

The LEGO Botanicals sets have offered a steady source of bright colors and inspired plenty of builders to arrange their own bright bouquets. For Taylor (@bricksandchaos), whose builds explore “elegant unease,” flowers became a way to express feelings ranging from elation to anxiety. Her blooms don’t blossom – they writhe. Taylor’s monochrome flower series riffs on Botanicals designs using all black parts, supplemented with spines and tentacles that fuse beauty with seething unrest.

Taylor’s latest MOCs add red eyes to each flower and hand-like prongs at the end of the tendrils to chilling effect. Do these roses stop to smell the humans?

More of Taylor’s flower series follows

An alabaster fortress on the brick sea

Alex (bryckland) leaves no part wasted as this fortress protects the coast. Built for the French Feodalis roleplay campaign, every part selection by Alex is a joy. From a door handle to a ballista, from mushrooms to window bars, every piece has been placed with intention. And don’t miss the color selection either from top to bottom. The fortress’s dome gives a beautiful flair of faded copper, while the base shows its wear against the battering waves.

Alex also uses an approach for a classic castle feature that I had not seen before. Using the newer Brick 1×3 Half Arch back-to-back, Alex tops the fortress with great crenelation (word of the day!).

Take a break from winter’s chill with this sunny summer palace in LEGO

LEGO castles, both official sets and fan creations, tend to focus on medieval fortresses, but most of the royal palaces still standing in Europe are built around gardens, not garrisons. Palaces like this one from Swedish builder Mikael Norling. While the builder doesn’t list a specific inspiration, the design, with the mix of light nougat and white, captures the aesthetics of 17th and 18th-century palaces inspired by the grandeur of Versailles. The Baroque touches use boomerangs, forks, ferns, flowers, and more to provide texture and detail.

Take a tour of the palace gardens after the break

This foe is beyond any of you. Run!

Mitch Phillips is back at it again with another incredible beast build: this time the Flame of Udûn itself. The Balrog is arguably the most popular creature in The Lord of the Rings films (and likely set to appear again in the upcoming season of Rings of Power), and this monstrous build does it justice. Of course, it wouldn’t be a MitchBuilds build without some great part usage.

The impressively massive wings are comprised of a plethora of plastic glider wings from the old Ninja and Adventurers sets, there are translucent orange Hero Factory torsos hiding in the flames atop its back, and you might find more than one color of hot dog featured throughout the build. This is a Balrog build poised to strike fear into even the bravest of the Fellowship.

As always, you can check out the full assembly of Mitch’s Balrog build on YouTube:

Team Rocket, bricking off at the speed of light

There’s been plenty of chatter about which Pokémon will make the cut for the first waves of LEGO sets, but there hasn’t been enough talk about the true MVPs of the franchise: Team Rocket! Korean AFOL nunsseugae brings the trouble and makes it double with brick-built versions of James and Jess and their most dangerous Pokémon partners – Meowth and Wobbuffet. The builder has created dozens of Pokémon over the years, but this foray into villainous trainers is my favorite of nunsseugae’s creations so far. The hair and posing are perfect, and of course, James has his rose.

Of course, for all their bluster, James and Jessie aren’t truly wicked. Evil has a face in the Pokémon world, and nunsseugae has built that too!

Vicious TIE Viper is ready to SHMUP some Rebel scum

In these parts, NoVVember always has two Vs in celebration of the Vic Viper starfighter and the memory of builder who inspired the tradition. Builder WyndGekko shows that the tradition is also held in a galaxy far, far away with this fresh upgrade to her 2022 TIE Viper design. The ship bears all the necessary traits of a Vic Viper – the twin prings, single dorsal fin, and rear lateral wings – while also looking like a design that might have been heisted from the Seinar Test Facility, alongside the TIE Avenger. Viper traits aside, it’s one of the best custom TIEs I’ve ever seen, especially for the color-blocking on the struts and the subtle greebling.

Feeling nostalgic for NoVVember? Check out our extensive Vic Viper archives.