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.

The turquoise roofs of Grim Hollow

I wouldn’t be surprised if by some algorithm Luke Watkins (Derfel Cadarn) turned out to be the hottest castle builder at the moment. I’m indeed talking about looks, the looks of his MOCs that is. Always finding new ways to build, Luke in his latest MOC shows that even turquoise can belong to a castle creation. I was initially baffled by this, but the more I look at it the more I’m beginning to fall in love.

My enjoyment of the colors on this build reminded me of the waterfall house by Rocko that I liked for the same reason.

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.

Rayguns on the moon

The only thing I can fault Shannon Sproule (Shannon Ocean) for lately is his tardiness. Had he built all his wonderful new toys before Brickvention I could have seen them all in ABS. I guess his amazing photos suffice.

The Secret LEGO World of Arriety

It’s no secret that Iain Heath (Ochre Jelly) and I share a LEGO Ghibli passion, so I was pleased but not surprised that he celebrated the release of The Secret World of Arriety (written by Hayao Miyazaki, based on the classic children’s book The Borrowers) with a lovely Miniland Arriety.

Check out Iain’s write-up about the build (with a bonus micro-review of the movie) over on The Living Brick.

Flashing Friends

You can get your mind out of the gutter now. With a little help from his girlfriend, Nathaniel Brill (Shuppiluliumas) has taken LEGO Friends and given it a Flash Gordon remake. Yea-ahhhh! She’ll save every one of us.

Buildings instructions for Martin Latta’s ARC-170 starfighter

If you enjoyed Martin Latta’s ARC-170 starfighter, you can now build your own thanks to the instructions posted by the builder. It’s rare that a builder takes the time to make instructions for models and shares them with the public. Even if you don’t plan on reconstructing the model, it can still be rewarding to peruse the building techniques used on a great model.

The best Technic arm...hands down.

Max Shepherd, a biomedical engineering major, doesn’t normally build with LEGO but when he does, it is really awesome. This fully articulated technic arm is quite incredible. I’m really impressed at how well it mimics the range and motion of a human arm and hand.

I also found this quote rather interesting.

I started following some Lego blogs, and realized that with the new stuff out (power functions, linear actuators, more connectors), there was a real opportunity to do something new.

It would be cool to know which blogs he has been following. I know we don’t highlight as much Technic, Power Functions and Mindstorms items as we should, but the blogs that do cover such things are quite good.

Read the entire story here.

‘Like’ these cars

It’s always nice to be ~~introduced~~reintroduced to a ~~new~~ (see comments) LEGO builder with an unusual technical style. Malte Dorowski builds, for the most part, miniland(ish)-scaled cars with beautiful rounded forms. And he does them well. It’s hard to be annoyed at link spamming on our Facebook page when it looks this good.

Sorry Son, Daddy Needs Your Bricks

I wonder if this diorama by Karwick stirs up memories for any of our readers. It depicts an AFOL father who’s decided to take over his children’s Lego collection, and start building. I’ll take the tied up children as a bit of poetic license.

The story aside, this diorama is packed full of well-built details. A few of note are the radiator under the shelf on the right side, the wall light above the bed, with cord leading to an outlet, and the clever floor.

Eric Mickle’s Halo Warship Almaden

This microscale destroyer by Eric Mickle hails from the Halo universe. With lots of smooth faces and angles, Eric has done a great job at capturing the complicated angular hull shape of the original.

Rod Gillies’ Steampunk Submarine Boat

This transatlantic steamer sails deep under the oceans, unlike the more sedate ocean-liners of old. The Atlantica is Rod Gillies’ (aka 2 Much Caffeine) take on a dimension oft overlooked by steampunk fans in their enthusiasm for dirigibles and floating rocks. Taking some design hints from Captain Nemo’s famous Nautilus in Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the Atlantica has a charming shape and quite clever parts usages.

New Custom Parts Roundup [News]

We recently have received news about a number of new custom items so it seemed appropriate to cover them together.

First off, I was sent a package of some new items from Brick-Warriors. The new items are high quality and fit well, as did the last batch that we reviewed. The new items represent a fun cross-section of genres. Naturally I’m a big fan of the Medieval/Fantasy pieces, but the modern weapons are very nicely done too. Check out the set in my photostream for more pictures.

Secondly, Brickarms has released four new variants of the M-16. While I haven’t had a chance to see them in person yet, I have to say that the M110 is my favorite. But they all look good and Brickarms quality has always been high. I was also remiss in reporting the awesome Castle prototypes that Will announced at BrickCon back in October. You can check those out in my photostream as well. They are incredible and I only hope that they become production pieces at some point.

Lastly, there have been some new items over at Brickforge that slipped in under our radar. Their Shock Trooper armor is now available in Dark Tan and Azure Blue (with Alien Defense Unit logos). The Shock Trooper helmets, Tactical Vests and Tactical Helmets are available in those colors as well. Pretty cool stuff!

5th Installment of Blast from the Past Lego Commercials [News]

Advance just released their latest classic LEGO commercials! Town fans get twice the love this time, with two commercials, and the third features Belville. Each of them has their points of interest but my favorite this time is the one for the City Precinct. Gotta love controversy!

LEGO SYSTEM 1993 City Central Precinct

This was shot in Los Angeles and features a storyline that generated a lot of Grand Theft Auto-type controversy. It features a thief called Max who steals a car and is pursued through the city by police. In the end he escapes and we see the police precinct set from above. There were no CGI effects here – everything was built from scratch.

LEGO SYSTEM Belville 1994

Belville was an early attempt from LEGO to move into the girls’ market and is still available today. This spot is a somewhat surreal girls’ fantasy universe with lots of horses and mum and dad are still perfect sweethearts. The only time you see a boy is when the girl pushes him out of the picture.

LEGO SYSTEM TOWN 1998

This was done before we had 3D graphics so we used 2D animation. The spot features two ‘live’ animated figures while the rest are static mini-figs. At 00:10 and 00:16 we see the chopper in the air without any hands holding it – something that wouldn’t be legal today.