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.

Insane in the mainframe

Regular readers may have concluded long ago that The Brothers Brick are just a bunch of old farts who are obsessed with Miami Vice, Ataris, and Hammer pants. And you’d be right. So I’m gonna worsen that stereotype and take you back to an even older, fartier era when men were men and computers were, well, absolutely enormous:

LegoJalex‘s recreation of a vintage NCR Century Series mainframe reminds us of an era when computers had to be kept in specially cooled rooms, and one IBM executive famously predicted “there is a world market for maybe five computers”. Extra points (and a tube of Prep H) to anyone that can correctly identify any of the components represented in the scene above!

And to round off our little 70’s nostalgia trip, here’s a BONUS ITEM from the same builder: an adorable microscale version of the classic LEGO set 381 Police Headquarters. Ah, it’s like my 5th birthday all over again!

 

…can you dig it?

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No vacancy

Halhi 141 drew inspiration from Luke Watkins Hutchinson and his medieval building guide to make this beautifully brackish inn. Had I just seen the photo I’d thought the creation was made by the castle master himself.

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The Art of Architecture

As we’ve ruminated here before, microscale design is no mean feat. Capturing the essential details while keeping the scale compact takes a great deal of talent, and some of the most difficult features to achieve at any scale are brick-built domes. Rolli (Moriartus on flickr) has excelled at this with his miniature replica of the great Baroque sandstone edifice Frauenkirche in Dresden, Germany. The real church finished reconstruction in 2005 after being destroyed by bombing during WWII.

Frauenkirche Dresden - Architecture Scale

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Flashlight, flashlight, FLASHLIGHT!

(…ok, ok, that’s the last time I’ll use that joke in my post titles, I promise!)

So at first glance this may just look like a couple of 70’s era space figs in a particularly greebly version of the classic LL928 Galaxy Explorer set. But take a closer look…

That’s right, those are GIANT mini-figs and one HUGE spaceship! Well actually they are LEGO spaceman LED flashlights and this crazy scene is brought to you by our very own Simon Liu, who was given the flashlights as gifts and figured this was the most logical thing to do with them.

Of course, the blue spaceman has been magically transformed into Benny from The LEGO Movie. And with the addition of Simon’s giant Unikitty, the scene now makes total sense… It’s obviously from the sequel, and this is our hero’s plan to deal with the giant monsters from Planet Duplo!

I was fortunate enough to drool all over marvel this at Brickworld Chicago a few weeks back, where Simon’s creation won the award for BEST SPACESHIP. Congratulations, Brother Si-MOCs! All that bribery and blackmail clearly paid off.

There’ll be no living with him now… :-)

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I don’t get it

Whether it’s the demise of small nursery rhyme characters or even the occasional case of poultricide, British builder Barney Main has always had a flair for creating darkly humorous LEGO scenes that read like cartoon panels (often with fully brick-built backgrounds). So who better to interpret that classic animal-centric cartoon series The Far Side in LEGO than Barney?

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Watch out, this Scorpion can fly

Sci-Fi fighter planes are a common Lego creation, and it’s always nice to find one that’s a little different than the norm. That’s why this creation by Alexander (Malydilnar) caught my eye. Alexander has shirked flat, featureless sleekness of so many aircraft for an awesomely utilitarian look. This plane is packed with functional looking details and surface texture, while the various compound angles draw the eye around the MOC.

Scorpion

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Lego Ideas Ghostbusters Ecto-1 Review

Generally, I am not particularly interested in sets and LEGO CUUSOO/ LEGO Ideas does not do much for me personally, but I have to admit that I was stoked when I found out that the Ghostbusters Ecto-1 by Brent Waller passed the design review and that LEGO were going to turn it into a set. I’ve been a big fan of the movie ever since I first saw it as a child. It is imminently quotable and still funny, thirty years after it was released and the car is a moviestar in its own right.

Lego ECTO-1 review

I think that the earlier Cuusoo Back to the Future DeLorean looked a bit disappointing compared to the design originally submitted to CUUSOO. Pictures of the Ecto-1 set looked pretty good, however, and I was eager to have a look at the model in real life. Last week, while on a trip, I came across the set in a toy store in Germany (for €49.90 ) and decided to buy it.

The Vehicle
The real car used for the movie was a customised 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor ambulance conversion. The 59 Cadillac is an icon of excess, known for its enormous aircraft-inspired tailfins and its ornate front, with a lot of chrome and double headlights.

Front left view

Brent’s original represented this look quite well and, as his own comparison picture shows, not much was lost when his design (on the left) was turned into the set (on the right). The car in the set is a bit less smooth, but it is also a bit smaller. This is a good thing in my book, but more about that later. Ecto-1 is a popular subject and a lot of builders have built their own examples. On most, including Brent’s original, the windscreen is too steep. On the set, however, the angle is just about spot on, but it does look a bit too tall. I built my own larger scale version last year and spent a lot of time poring over photographs of details of all the equipment and lights mounted on the roof. The set’s version is impressively faithful to the original.

Lego ECTO-1 review

The roof of the model can be easily removed, revealing an interior large enough to seat three of the figures (in tandem) and one or two proton packs in the back. The sides of the body are mostly built using SNOT techniques, which keeps the tailfins nicely thin. The side windows are angled slightly, using a clever technique involving clips and bars. The set designers have done an excellent job.

Continue reading

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Xiphos – a sword in space

Better known for his mechs, Kyle (BermudaFreze) showed up to BrickWorld this this impressive SHIP. Though it’s not the first time Kyle has built a SHIP, his previous one took home best Space Ship at BW2010, and had possibly one of the best Swoosh/PEW PEW PEW pictures taken.

Xiphos

While some may argue that the forward guns are a bit of a cheat to hit the arbitrary 100 stud threshold for a SHIP (Seriously Huge Investment in Parts), I don’t think anyone can argue how great this build is. From the nicely placed cheese wedge built caution stripes, to the fantastic forward slopped angles, to the colour stripes this thing is gorgeous. And don’t forget the light up engines:

Thruster Glow

This was definitely one of my favorite space builds from BrickWorld, and was one that I constantly told people to go see … unfortunately it was set up beside among Kurt Vinnedge‘s builds, and I mistakenly attributed the SHIP to him … sorry! This is a good reminder to fill out your MOC cards! So people will know who built what (and be eligible for awards).

SPACESHIP!

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Friday Night Fights – Micro Castles

Welcome back fight fans, to Sin City Nevada, USA for another round of Friday Night Fights! After a two week Brickworld hiatus, we’re back in a tiny way! After seeing all the great mega builds, we’re going micro … Let’s go to the tale of the tape.

In the green corner we have Kristi (customBRICKS) with the very classic 4 tower castle:
Once Upon A Time....

In the white corner we have Barton Thinks with Helms Deep:
Micro Middle-Earth: Helm's Deep

As usual, constant reader, you are tasked with deciding who’s the cheesier builder by way of comment. On the last edition of Friday Night Fights, Say Cheese, It’s a 3-3 tie – which is appropriate as there was some mischief posting and both builds were actually Grant’s – opps! Tune in next week for another action packed edition of Friday Night Fights!

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Couch Potatoes: Saving the world, one snack at a time!

Here’s a fiendishly clever little concept from Angus MacLane, the guy that made character building more accessible by dreaming up CubeDudes. And like CubeDudes, I suspect this pattern is destined to be widely imitated – with or without the couches. Each vignette features a brick-built superhero or screen character kicking back after a long day’s superheroing (…or in some cases, chestbursting).

 
 
 

Angus hopes to continue the series over the coming months, with even more examples of superhuman relaxation. And if Destro’s demeanor is any indication, I suspect the villains will turn out to be having a worse day than the heroes!

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Racecar, racecar, RACECAR!

Some say that he’s terrified of ducks. And that he cannot understand the concept of Tuesday. All that members of the Brickish Association know is he’s called Carl Greatrix, avid locomotive builder and model designer for official LEGO videogames. And apparently a massive petrolhead judging by his rendition of the Caterham Super 7:

Carl’s choice of vehicle seems somehow fitting, given that Caterhams are kit cars. Yes, in Britain there are maniacs who like to order their cars in bits and build them at home! In fact, those cheeky chappies over at Top Gear even built one as a speed challenge.

All the exterior details and styling are perfectly captured here, as you might expect if you’ve seen any of Carl’s trains:

But the real treat (for me at least) is the inclusion of interior details such as the dashboard and engine:

Probably one of the most accurate car builds I’ve ever seen. Kinda makes you wish the LEGO Creator car sets looked like this, doesn’t it? Maybe Carl needs to show this off to some of his counterparts over the water!

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Bender: Bite my shiny LEGO ass.

Good news everyone!
Adrian Drake (BrickFrenzy) is back with another MEGA awesome build for Brickworld this year. This time, it’s a life-sized Bender from Futurama:
Bender

At 6 feet tall (including antenna) and built with approximately 20,000 pieces – it may surprise you that this build only took about Adrian a month to build. I think this was the single most photographed build at Brickworld, and earned Adrian the Judge’s Choice Award and nomination for Best Mega Creation.

Of course no life sized bender would be complete without a functional chest cavity (featuring one of Brickworld’s finest traditional drinks).

Bender's opening torso

As a huge Futurama fan, I couldn’t help but get caught up in life-sized-Bender Fever, and decided to build Nixon’s head (minus jar) to put on Bender’s body (ARROOOOO!).

Richard Nixon in a Bender Suit

Oh and Adrian totally trusted me enough to let me put on Bender’s Head.

A special thanks to Adam Myers for letting me build Nixon from his collection in Chicago, and for loaning out Nixon head to Adrian to display at BrickFair VA.

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.