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.

Wind turbine transport: a trilogy in a few thousand parts

When I built my Lego mega windmill trailer, for carrying a wind turbine nacelle, I did not think this would be the start of a trilogy. However, I subsequently built a truck that carries a rotor hub. At that point, it was pretty much inevitable that I would also build a vehicle carrying one of the blades.

I put this off for more than two years, though, because I did not relish building the blade. The nacelle represents a Vestas V90 wind turbine. By now, this is something of an old clunker, and it is quite small compared to more modern turbines. Nonetheless, its blades are still 44 m long. This makes them 128 studs long at the scale of my other vehicles (1/43). And I happen to like building small details. This is one reason why I enjoy building minifigure-scale trucks so much. By comparison, the blade’s size and its complicated shape would make building it pretty tedious. And it was tedious, indeed. However, the finale to my wind turbine trilogy is one of the most beautiful shapes I have ever built.

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Looks like meat’s back on the menu: 19 custom LEGO orcs [Minifig Monday]

From Tolkien to Warhammer and everything in between, orcs are the biggest, baddest, and often funniest fantasy baddies of any setting they appear in. This week we’ve put together a horrendous horde of LEGO orcs from the custom community. You’ll find more than a few surprises in this one!

A king of cohesion, capt.dark.shark unleashes Commander Kragg the Cleaver. There’s so much to love here, the new(ish) Viking helmet fits so flush with the CMF Orc jaw, while pushing the ears out to make a unique head shape. The oversized olive green arm is actually from Jabba the Hutt, and sticking an axe on the end of a prosthetic is delightfully impractical as it is fiendishly orcish.

Lessor in the orc kingdoms but certainly not in the minifig world, these night goblins from Karp_brick have some excellent black cape layering and subtle diversity in the heads and headwear. We’ve spotted faces from the CMF Goblin, Star Wars Niamoidian and a Ninjago orc.

Older bigfigs are famous for lack of customisation options, but dwalinforkbeard has expertly used black capes to cover a more scifi torso to create something that is right at home in a medieval fantasy setting. Add that to the whimsical mushroom picking vibe and you’ve got a great looking orc dude.

Where there’s a click, there’s a way… to see more orcs! Zug zug.

Mesmerizing miniature Miyazaki models in LEGO

What makes your favorite Miyazaki film? Is it the Adventure of Laputa, the wonder of My Neighbor Totoro, the intricacy of Spirited Away, or the magic of Howl’s Moving Castle? Somehow, builder Tung Man Chun manages to distil the hearts of these films down to 8×8 studs in a series of incredible LEGO vignettes. Each model is anchored by a larger-than-life character, bringing a sense of dynamism to the compact format. Let’s have a look at the full series.

Click to see more of Tung’s incredible Ghibli vignettes

The little space hopper that could

LEGO gave a breath of fresh air to Classic Space with the Space Exploration theme, and Julius Kanand is taking that design sensibility to explore the moons of the outer rim in this clean spaceship. Four occupants fit snuggly between two beautiful engines. I can practically hear the sounds of this ship taking off with the exposed connection arms to the sleek engines. “To the moon!”

Mech-elangelo is ready to party

Long time fans of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles know that it’s Donatello who does machines, but the team’s resident party dude is rocking a mighty machine of his own, courtesy of Bas van Houwelingen. A giant robot suit might not be quite in line with the teachings of the ninja, but the Turtles never really seemed bothered by that kind of thing. Besides, look at all this suit has going for it, from the pizza loaded belt to the giant nunchucks and tonfas. And those trashcan forearms are a detail that it’s easy to imagine someone at Playmates dreaming up in the early nineties.

Speed-limit Champions

Speed cameras have taken over most European metropolitans at this point, but William van Beek may have found the answer: a Mini Cooper may be too short for the cameras to catch a good picture! A wonderful little LEGO vignette, just like other pieces of art, can offer a great commentary for what we see in the world around us.

These chibi builds are Golden

It’s hard to escape the juggernaut that is K-Pop Demon Hunters. The movie just broke another record, holding for its 15th week in Netflix’s Top 10. It’s such a phenomenon, in fact, that I wouldn’t bet against LEGO producing some official sets someday. But, until then, we’ll settle for LegoWyrm’s take on Zoey, Ruma, and Mira. The characters are brought to life in a chibi form that’s a perfect compliment to the film’s tone, with plenty of great technique on display. I love the studs not on top construction of the trio’s eyes. And the way the printed design on Zoey’s pants is brick-built strikes a perfect chord.

This tiny LEGO ship is weathering a big storm

Without wishing to toot my own horn, I’m proud to count being a fluent francophone as one of my diverse skills. That list also includes making mediocre LEGO builds and being able to recite the first 10 digits of Pi off by heart. There’s nothing mediocre about seb71‘s tiny water craft; a build which, despite using only 30 pieces, still conveys a great sense of movement and drama. But it did pose some questions, not least of which was what a ‘coup de tabac‘ is – the title of this piece. As it turns out, despite literally translating to ‘hit of tobacco’, it’s a maritime term for a sudden, violent squall or storm at sea. And with such careful selection of constraction pieces, Seb has really nailed his impression of just that!

Find solace by the bonfire with these amazing LEGO Dark Souls builds

The dark fantasy worlds of FromSoftware’s games have been a huge influence for many AFOLs with their bold character designs, ornate gear, and haunting medieval settings. Builder panc4kez has been creating LEGO models inspired by From’s genre-defining Dark Souls, which perfectly translate the game’s aesthetics into brick form. After months of individual construction, Dark Sun Gwyndolin, The Nameless King, and Dragon Slayer Ornstein appear together in LEGO.

See more of panc4kez game creations after the fold, From Dark Souls to Zelda

A LEGO frog is not just for Frogust

Frogust may have concluded over a month ago, but is that going to stop us from featuring awesome LEGO frog builds? You bet your bottom brick it won’t! This delightful dancing duo comes from BigBrickStan. The one on the right is in colours we’ve become accustomed to seeing in LEGO: green and white, with some orange highlights and big beady eyes. Why change a winning formula, right? But the use of prints on the left is equally eye-catching, in particular the torso. That part was originally a Dreamzzz turtle head! Even these amphibians are turtles all the way down, it seems…

Behold Karak-Mahizrinul, a massive Dwarven Stronghold built in LEGO

Grab your preferred hammer or axe, a pint of ale, and join us on a tour of this Dwarven sanctuary nestled within the Red Mountains. Dwalin Forkbeard brought this imposing mountain fortress to life, and nearly every chamber and foothill of it is bustling with Dwarven activity.

The faces chiseled into the very face of the mountain bear resemblance to many of the characters within, and the sheer amount of gold and stone that is used tastefully throughout this build feels very true to character for these delvers. The water technique here is lovely, and I’m half-tempted to check for a treasure chest behind one of the waterfalls.

Take a sip and join us on the full tour of this Dwarven stronghold!

LEGO x Fashion – a theme in the making?

We’ve seen so much creativity in how minifigs can be customized, from creative use of existing parts, to custom printed minifig torsos, to third-party cloth accessories, to hand-crocheted minifig coats! But for fashionistas, there’s only so much that can be done at minifig scale. Recent buildable figure sets for Wednesday and Wicked offer a new template for creative accessorizing, as seen in this custom couture from Maachi.

Click for more thoughts on LEGO x fashion