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.

LEGO Ideas turns fifteen and they celebrate in style

LEGO Ideas is sort of a crowd-sourced concept in which fans can have their idea turned into a set if it reaches the requisite 10,000 votes and other criteria. They’re running a 15th Anniversary concept and ImaginaryFarmer answers the call of duty in style with this Ideas Tree. As it grows, it spawns as many good ideas as the program itself. 15 is carved into the tree’s bark just in case you missed the whole anniversary point. Comprising a bit over 20,000 pieces, it isn’t likely this concept would become a set (if that was indeed the point of the contest) but we can’t deny how startlingly cool this creation is. The Idea Gnomes at it’s base take care of the tree and harvest its good ideas; which, I’m pretty sure, scientifically explains the Ideas process. Do you know what the first LEGO Ideas set was? It was the Shinkai 6500 Japanese submersible back when LEGO Ideas was called LEGO Cuusoo.

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Being bad is all about looking good

If you’re going to be a baddie, you need to look the part. Steve Marsh’s take on evil spacecraft is an exercise in just that. The colour scheme is a big part of the bad guy brand, and Classic Space villains Blacktron has got that nailed. Stealth black, with pops of yellow and translucent red highlighting all the dangerous bits as a show of strength. But a good livery (bad livery? Good but bad… You know what I mean. Anyway) will fall flat if it’s not used right. Luckily, this Mohawk spacecraft looks positively furious. Pointy wings, big guns at the front, even bigger engines at the back. You don’t even need to do anything particularly nefarious in it, flying this around will have everyone quaking in their moon-boots at the mere sight of it!

A build with heart, in more ways than one

We see all sorts of annual building challenges organised by the LEGO community, but right now there’s one being run by the LEGO Group themselves: the #BuildtoGive campaign. The task is to build a heart, tag it with the hashtag, and a LEGO set will be donated to children in need. It can be a simple build with bricks, or it can be as complex as this one by Maxx Davidson! Master Model Builder Maxx has gone to pains to create an anatomically correct human heart. You’ve got the arteries, and, uh… The ventricles, and… Who am I kidding, I’m no cardiologist. Still, I can tell it’s a stunning model for a good cause!

A LEGO creation of a great “scale”

When I think of LEGO’s Bionicle line, I think of the heroes defending Mata Nui from the Bohrok, not participating in their respective recreational hobbies. And yet here we find Toa Pehi scaling the face of a cliff in this creation by Deus Otiosus. This wonderful build marries together so many different styles: the character creation concepts making up Pehi, the multifaceted rock wall creating a shell of slopes and curves, the gradient of blue plates and bricks forming the mosaic of a sky, and the forced perspective technique employed for the forest below our climber. Each of these schools of LEGO building exist in harmony here, combining to make a truly stupendous work of art! Next up, will we see Toa Gali crocheting a sweater or Toa Lewa rocking out at karaoke?

This Capital Airship is a capital idea

Builder Jesse Gros seems to be the LEGO Steampunk King of the World. And why not? I mean, just take a nice long, steamy gawk at all those Victorian Steampunk details. I like the organic-looking feelers up top, the rear-facing mechanical doodads and the gear-encircled portal window that somewhat resembles a giant eye. I have no clue what any of it does but I am enamored nonetheless. Along with plenty of gold filagree, it is understood that Steampunk may contain copious amounts of brown, but this model instead employs black and dark green for a refreshing change from the norm.

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This gingerbread house requires some real dough…

Stilly Bricks has paid tribute to my favorite holiday tradition: crafting miniature houses out of cookies. But this particular house isn’t quite so miniature. Rather, it’s a luxurious candy-covered manor suitable for the upper crust of gingerbread society. The use of staggered teeth plates gives the impression of realistically runny icing, while the use of star and heart pieces perfectly replicates those hard candies that seem to exist only in gingerbread architecture. And I can practically taste the peppermint railing on the porch.

30+ builders come together to create epic LEGO diorama of ancient Greece

You may have noticed a few LEGO creations featured here recently with a bit of a Greek flavour to them. It’s no coincidence that these photos popped up in our feeds within a few weeks of each other, as you’ll know if you attended Bricking Bavaria. There, you will have seen RogueBricks‘ enormous (and I must stress, it really is HUGE) ancient Greek collaborative display come together. Having seen a few bits and pieces here and there, we have finally been treated to a photo of the whole glorious thing. And isn’t it magnificent?!

The logistical side of this is almost as impressive as the build itself. Co-ordinating this must have been a serious undertaking! Over 30 builders made contributions to the diorama. Among others, we featured builds by BrickiboT, Justus M., and Martin Gebert, but this spread gives you an idea of what everyone brought to the table. It’s hard to cover everyone here, but I encourage you to check out every one of these creators’ photostreams! You’ll find everything from everyday life to the mythology of Greek epics. At the show itself, there were placards to provide some context and education to visitors, taking home some top prizes in the process, so it’s not merely something to be looked at!

Read up on a classic fairy tale

The aptly named Larsvader has discovered the formula for LEGO success with this brilliant creation emerging from the pages of a large book. It depicts the story of Rumpelstiltskin. As the Grimm fairytale goes, the little gnome, situated in the lower left by the campfire, strikes a deal with a beautiful young maiden citing that he can spin straw into gold in exchange for her first born child. She’s rather receptive to the gold part of the deal as it has made her a very rich queen but decides to renege once she bears her first child. She tries to reason with the weird, oddly-named gnome and he strikes up a counter offer; if she can guess his name within three days, she may keep her child. All seems at a loss for the queen until someone overhears a premature celebration of the gnome thus learning his name and delivering that info to the queen. It’s a tale that bears a powerful message, that being; rich people are better people and if you’re short and ugly, you’re gonna get the shaft. Or something. I don’t really know what the fairy tale is about. Still, there’s no denying the amazing layout that Larsvader created here. Here’s to hoping we see more from this builder soon.

NERF makes slaughtering your enemies fun! Wait, that came out all wrong.

It’s no surprise that on a website dedicated to LEGO, we’re all about fun toys. Take, for example, this new NERF Raider CS-35 built by Joey Klusnik. It checks all the boxes that make it cool; bright colors, thick silhouette and the promise of a raucous good time. It’s not really war if the tactical assault strike in the living room against your little brother and his goofball friends involves spongy, relatively safe projectiles, right? We had so much fun with our NERF guns right up until mom ordered us to shut the hell up for once and take it outside for christsakes. We did, and in the aftermath of the Great Bowling Ball-Trampoline Disaster of 1986, it was decided unanimously that staying indoors and playing with our NERF guns was safer. Sometimes kids just know better.

A festive Muppet mosaic made of LEGO

If you’re a 90’s kid like me, then The Muppet Christmas Carol was a likely staple of the holidays during your childhood. And builder Josh Parkinson has channeled all the energy of that 1992 classic into this beautiful wintertime LEGO mosaic of Kermit the Frog. I love the shifting shades of green, red, and brown on the main figure, creating pockets of shadow and depth using quarter tiles. And the feather pieces used in Kermit’s scarf are a great touch of texture. But the best part usage in the build has got to be the inventive lighting of the streetlamp, putting a 4×4 dish from the Starry Night set to work.

Be sure to check out the rest of Josh’s tributes to the Muppets and more in our archives.

This LEGO tower evokes mad scientists, crazy experiments, and, er, video games

One of the great things about art (and yes, LEGO building is an art form!) is that people can draw on their own experiences and environments to find new meaning in a creation. Illia Zubashev came up with an in-depth backstory to this teetering tower. Apparently it’s the abode of a maverick scientist and inventor, which should come as no surprise – I mean, just look at it! As interesting as the description is, though, I didn’t register any of that when I first saw this. What popped into my head was the video game Sable. It’s completely unrelated, but it just has the same sort of vibe. So sorry I didn’t heed your fascinating description, Illia. At least I can appreciate what a good build this is!

Honey, I Shrunk the Grayskull

When I was 4 years-old, my Castle Grayskull playset felt gigantic in my hands, but when I found it packed away in the garage in my teens, I was surprised by how small it felt. Grantmasters has triggered that memory with a miniscule Grayskull so small that the in-scale Battle Cat and Panthor are mostly just a collection of minifigure hands. But the hands aren’t the only creatively used minifigure parts. A ring of minifigure legs make up the top of the tallest tower, and the castle’s namesake skull is making use of some arms. It’s some NPU that totally has the power.