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.

Architecture in black and white

Experienced LEGO builder Ralph Langer is back with another stunningly elegant creation of mysterious architecture. Like Lavender Dream from last year, this build features an otherworldly white structure with a striking presentation. The huge black cobblestones make me wonder if this is located on some ancient lava flow, while I can’t decide if the building itself is more Narnia or Elder Scrolls, though Ralph’s description indicates that it’s some form of Victorian fantasy. Either way, we can all agree that it’s beautiful.

White victorian

The Assault on Kobaria isn’t an assault on our senses.

In a LEGO Star Wars universe of Endor, Andor and lovable robots, Stuart N takes us off-off-off world to a lesser-known location with this diorama called The Assault on Kobaria. Kobaria, as we all know, is from that one…thing we really, really like. It features that one guy we love and the other guy, too. And let’s not overlook that one hover-tank-spaceship-y thingie that I’m definitely not drawing a blank on—so don’t get that idea in your heads! Kobaria is home to the Kobarian swamp dogs so that certainly clears everything up. OK, you got me. Look, maybe I’m not as well-versed in the Star Wars expanded universe as I can be but even Wookieepedia wasn’t much help here so you can’t blame a guy for trying. Still, I know a cool LEGO creation when I see one and this is pretty cool. So either show me up on your extensive knowledge of Kobaria in the comments or take a deep dive into our Star Wars archives, whichever floats your hovertank.

Assault on Kobaria

A fairy and a hedgehog walk into a bar

Sometimes something looks familiar and you just can’t understand why it does. This happened to me when I came across ‘Hedgehog and Elf’ by James Zhan. I knew that little hedgehog looked familiar but I wasn’t sure from where. As a primary school teacher, you get exposed to a lot of children’s literature. So that could be the source. It sure looks like it could have walked straight out of a fairy tale. I still couldn’t pinpoint it. After googling ‘hedgehog’ and ‘Pokemon’ I must conclude that it looks familiar because it reminds me of the Pokemon Shaymin. And to be honest, that one looks like it is straight out of a fairy tale.

Hedgehog and Elf

Use LEGO flora to build LEGO fauna

I’ll just come out and say the LEGO Botanicals line is the best line to come out in recent history. Each is a refreshing and visually compelling break from the norm and that’s a flowery hill I’m willing to die on. I’ll even fight you freaks who think otherwise. Wow, that escalated fast! Anyway, Ian Hou probably knows what I mean as evidenced by this lovely owl. It repurposes several flowers from at least two copies of the new Wildflower Bouquet set. In the wings, I’m also seeing leaves from the Bird of Paradise set and I’d wager much of the brown tree branch comes from the Bonsai Tree from 2020. Not in the mood to get into fisticuffs over it? Yeah, neither am I. So instead let’s leisurely peruse through our Ian Hou archives to see the decidedly tranquil stuff he likes to build.

Flowery owl

There are pirates aplenty amid these LEGO islands made from 800,000 bricks

You know you’re in for a seriously large LEGO creation when four great builders (Joshua Morris, Rod Fiford, Gavin Rich, and Handoko Setyawan) put their heads together on a pirate scene. And with the Cerulean Straits clocking in at a fully-detailed nine square meters, they did not disappoint! All 144 baseplates of brick were on display recently at Brickvention in Melbourne, Australia. I’ll do my best to cover as much of the 800,000 bricks as I can….

P1010456

Click here to discover the treasures buried within this build!

Dig this Imperial base carved from alien stone

Jonas has crafted an original Imperial headquarters that speaks directly to my inner child. See, when I was a kid, there was absolutely nothing cooler to me than a base built into a huge chunk of rock. Whether it was Cobra Commander’s latest hideout, Boulder Hill, or the Autobots’ ship crashed into the side of a volcano – if you combined a high-tech headquarters with a massive hunk of rock, I was all in! And now to add Star Wars into the mix? It’s too great. This smooth metal space headquarters, with its curved edges, blends brilliantly into the hard, studded angles of the nearby alien landscape. It suggests we’re just seeing a single piece of the puzzle and there’s a whole cliffside that stretches on beyond the frame. It’s exactly the kind of place I always wanted to work. Instead, I have a home office in a duplex in SoCal. Which is kinda cool, I guess. Anyway, check out more of Jonas’s work blending nature with Imperial tech in our archives.

Entrance

This mighty Komatsu with 250-ton trailer can move your whole LEGO collection with ease

People who design and build massive, powerful, yet very accurate LEGO trucks are unlike any of us, ordinary minifigure collectors. Look at Beat Felber. I bet he doesn’t even bother purchasing any LEGO wheels smaller than enormous 84mm’s that his newest Komatsu HD785-5 runs on. And it’s not even truck’s best feature.

Komatsu HD785-5 with 250 ton TowHaul Trailer

Click here for a closer look

An ambulance vehicle worth all the wait

The original LEGO 600 Ambulance set was realised back in 1971. And even though its remake by Jonathan Elliot arrived more than 50 years later, it’s exactly on time. I’m so much in love with all the tiled surfaces of the new ambulance; it just looks right with original windshield placement, and smooth white mudguards add so much to the car’s retro vibe.

Ambulance classic remake

Comparing the new design to the original one is also so much fun. Jonathan turned the old printed 1×4 brick with the grill and the headlights pattern into a fully detailed front section. Still, he did such a good job preserving the original character of the car: squared headlights are perfect for the case. And now I start thinking, are Castle and Classic Space the only LEGO themes good enough to be remade today, huh?

Revamping mummies

LEGO Adventurers was my absolute favourite theme as a kid. Especially the desert theme. Seeing the Jungle Explorer Collectable Minifigure got my hopes up for the theme to be renewed. This might also explain my soft spot for LEGO Adventurer fan creations. This build by Kevin Wanner really hits the soft spot. We get very well put together fleshy minifigure renditions of all the familiar faces. Two very well designed vehicles. However the absolute highlight of this creation has to be the beautiful palm trees. There are dark tan eggshells used to create the trunk of the palm tree. The crown of the tree uses dark tan, green and bright green plant leaves to indicate the lifespan of a palm tree leaf. It looks stunning!

Desert Expedition REVAMP

Do you have a green thumb, or is that just paint on your finger?

Thanks to recent sets like The Starry Night and the Botanical Collection, decorating your home with LEGO is beginning to feel down right classy. Chi Hsin Wei has upped the ante by combining the two in this brick-built recreation of one of Van Gogh’s sunflower studies. While the background of this “painting” stays true to the feel of Van Gogh’s brushwork, the flowers feel freshly picked. The result is a beautiful study of contrasting build styles that works harmoniously as a single piece. Now that’s art!

Van Gogh's Sunflowers

I feel the (tiny) need for (itty-bitty) speed

Greyson is writing checks that LEGO alone can’t cash. This tiny F-14 Tomcat gets a little help from the BrickArms monopods so that, even at this scale, the wings can sweep out, just like the full-grown counterpart. If you ask me, non-purism is a small price to pay for functional wings at this scale. But if you’re the kind of builder who prizes brand loyalty, check out some of Greyson’s other microscale aircraft in our archives.

Teensy-Weensy Tomcat

This snowy inn takes medieval construction to new heights

In this frozen wilds scene, Jake Hansen (Mountain Hobbit) has brilliantly captured the feel of a rough and snowy wilderness. The fatigue of that poor traveler comes right through in this image, thanks in part to the steep stone stairs with the snow collecting in their cervices. Thankfully, the traveler has reached a warm and inviting inn and can now claim a well-earned night’s rest. But, were I the traveler, I might take one lap around the inn and enjoy its shades of blue, and the intricate roof awnings. There’s always time to appreciate good craftsmanship. Besides, if you just climbed 1000 feet, what could a lap around the inn hurt?

The Inn on the Mountain Pass