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.

OK, Jack – let’s get this baby off the ground

It was only a matter of time before the space baby from Series 24 of the Collectible Minifigure line cropped up in a LEGO creation. Albert Lee is first through the gate with this cute lunar outpost. It’s a classic example of classic space, but the slightly odd scale brings its own challenges for parts choice. What parts might have passed for tiny greebled details before now have to be used more judiciously. Ditto for the signature yellow canopies. The ones used here may have been too small for some minifigure scale ships, even the control tower viewport. But with the babies, they suddenly become huge windows into space. Fascinating! I’m sure this won’t be the last we see of these babies, and it’s certainly not the first time seeing their civilian counterparts either. Perhaps we should make baby-scale its own thing!

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The only British cars that don’t rust are those made from LEGO

If you say ‘family saloon made in 1960s Britain’, chances are the car in question is not a very good one, even by the standards of the time. But if you say ‘LEGO car made by Chris Elliott‘, it’s almost a dead cert that it’s a bona fide classic. While they were by no means perfect, there is a certain charm about cars of this vintage, which Chris has captured wonderfully. The front grille – a custom-chromed Wolverine claw – is immediately recognisable as a hallmark of Wolseley cars, and indeed Chris says the Wolseley 1500 was the main source of inspiration. There’s a hint of Ford Cortina in there too, and maybe even something sporty like a Triumph TR4. The shaping is great, and along with the chrome parts really helps to sell this as a typical late-20th-century British classic. The only inauthentic thing is the build quality. It’s far too high for this to have come out of a Leyland or BMC factory!

The hippest holiday builds we’ve ever seen.

We’ve often praised Dan Ko for his inventive parts usage, but these two Christmas ornaments might just take the cake…or fruitcake, as it were. Starting with a set of legless minifigure hips as faces, Dan has crafted Santa and the traditional Christmas Nutcracker as ornaments suitable for hanging on any LEGO fan’s tree.

Santa’s got minifigure parts working overtime, as a single leg fills in for his beard. And I’m particularly impressed with the small space Dan was able to leave in the Nutcracker to denote his chompers. Make sure to check out more of our coverage of Dan’s impressive builds right here.

Something’s fishy about this holiday scene…

At first glance, this North Pole build by ForlonEmpire is as heartwarming as it is well constructed. A young penguin interrupts Santa’s fishing expedition to offer him a present. Santa himself is teeming with great parts usage, from the big-fig arms getting an upgrade as Santa’s upper arms, to the pair of bucket handles doing double-duty as his belt buckle. And the semi-circle tiles as bows are inspired. But the more you think about it, the more sinister this scene becomes. Why is there a sled full of presents in this remote location? The answer is obvious. Santa has laid-off his elf work force because penguin labor is so much cheaper. This penguin isn’t giving Santa a gift. He’s made the gift in exchange for a fish. Santa’s cornered the market on herring and if the penguins don’t work, they starve! Merry Christmas!

After a long night, Santa deserves a break!

Nothing beats a good sit in your favorite chair after a long shift at work. And in this yuletide LEGO build by Koen Zwanenburg, we see the man of the hour, Saint Nicholas himself, taking a break after his most logistically-challenging night of the year. And boy, does he deliver (Koen, that is) when it comes to the use of curved slopes. They’re adeptly used to shape Santa’s beard, boots, and belly, not to mention the dark red seat he sits in. The exposed studs to represent the white fur on the outfit is truly a gift, as is the gold filigree along the edges of the armchair. But my favorite bit has got to be the cute little bows on the packages. I’ve struggled this season to create ribbon in this blocky medium for my own builds, yet Koen achieves it so easily here with wedge plates, cheese slopes, and tiles. And with that, I should probably check and see if the big guy left anything under the tree for me. Fingers crossed it’s a LEGO Minecraft set. Have a very Merry Christmas!

Here’s the scoop on this wintry scene...

The latest LEGO creation by builder Evancelt‘s depicts a wintry scene with an impressive castle towering above the nearby village. The castle, with its yellow colour scheme, is reminiscent of the classic LEGO Yellow Castle, but what impresses me with this castle is that the walls are made from a digger bucket! In micro builds like this, I’m always impressed when parts you wouldn’t expect should work really do work so well!

But it’s not just a great castle on display here. Surrounding the castle is a beautiful wintry scene complete with snow-covered forests, using various horn pieces, and a small village which utilises the printed plate from the latest CMF series, but my favourite piece of detail in this scene? The snowy mounds made from white croissant pieces!

Now, all this talk of winter leaves me needing to find an open fire to warm up…

Venice and not a trolley case in sight – Barthezz Brick’s 250,000 brick LEGO tribute to Assassin’s Creed

Sometimes you stumble across a LEGO fan creation that you’d just love to see in the brick. This creation by Barthezz Brick is a good example of that. Each and every building in this creation could be featured on TBB. We generally wait until a builder has finished their work in progress before highlighting the finished build, but at some point I couldn’t control myself and wrote an article about a couple of detail shots that Barthezz posted. But finally, it’s done!

See lots more details from this amazing LEGO recreation of Venice

Forget the window display, THIS is the Louis Vuitton / LEGO mashup we need!

While I’m certainly not familiar with Louis Vuitton’s line of products, I adore the life-size recreation of household objects in LEGO. And qian yj once again hits it out of the park with this highly-detailed makeup case. Each piece in this kit is expertly crafted to match the original, be it an eyeliner pencil or palette of blush. And the case itself is a work of art, checkered in white and light gray bricks with medium nougat along the edges. The use of the 1×2 jumper plate to add some texture to the leather trim is a pro move. And the detailing on the clasps, both for the main case and the interior tan box, is unbelievably impressive! If I squint, it’s hard to tell that this isn’t the real thing.

And if all of the above wasn’t impressive enough, the fully-detailed interior of the case is designed to hold all the displayed contents. It even has the reverse side of the main clasp visible, showing the attachments where the buckle is fastened to the “fabric” of the outer box. For me, that’s what sets a great part apart from a good build: when a model still remains accurate to its subject, regardless of how it’s viewed. LEGO and LV, if you two want to start working together, it’s time to take some notes!

I always frigate what this ship is called...

Chances are you immediately recognize this ship built by Rubblemaker. Odds are equally good you don’t know its name. “EF76 Nebulon-B Escort Frigate” doesn’t stick in the mind like “X-Wing” or “Death Star,” but it has appeared in tons of Star Wars media over the years. It even served as the headquarters of the Rebel Alliance for a time. Rubblemaker’s midi-scale recreation of the ship is a fitting tribute to this often-overlooked piece of sci-fi history. Clocking in at 81cm long, 42cm high, and made from over 2500 pieces, this is actually Rubblemaker’s second attempt at the ship, and possibly the most accurate version ever built.

Beautifully greebled and full of clever angles and elegant slopes, the ship looks amazing photoshopped against the cosmos, but you might want to take in an unedited view to really appreciate all the work that went into the build. Note the in-scale Millennium Falcon docked along the ship’s spine. “Millennium Falcon.” Now that’s a name that stays with you!

A small-scale crane for mammoth tasks

A fair few of the Dutch builders that I occasionally hang out with are very much into building heavy-duty trucks and construction equipment, such as cranes or mining excavators. And they tend to like to build them BIG. I’ve dabbled a bit in the genre, but I’ve always been somewhat the odd one out in our little group, mainly building smaller models. And I’ve gone progressively smaller: in recent years more and more of my models are scaled for minifigures. I rarely have the time or patience to build really big things. I am also running out of space to display large models.

If you take a big crane and build it to a small scale, you still end up with a fairly substantial model, though. Case in point: my Liebherr LTM-1350 mobile crane, as operated by the Dutch company Mammoet (Mammoth). Despite its relatively small scale, there is just enough room for some functionality. For instance, the crane’s outriggers and boom can extend and it has working steering on five of its six axles. When fully extended, its boom reaches a height of close to a metre (about three feet). Furthermore, cranes like this may be mobile, but they do require a fleet of support vehicles. This includes a separate truck to carry its counter-weights. The crane’s crew also tends to have a small “pool car” to drive around. If the crane is in transit, an escort van usually accompanies the convoy. The small scale meant I could build all of them.

When I have too much holiday eggnog I get Krampus

Sure I love Christmas as much as anyone else. But sometimes you want a more traditional holiday and show up with a birch rod, scare the bejesus out of misbehaving kids, and stuff them in a wicker basket. Who’s with me on this? Am I right? Anyone? No? Anyway, I’m sure renowned LEGO builder Corvus Auriac knows what I mean as evidenced by this creepy Krampus figure of Alpine folklore. I like the crazed eyes, the snow globe in his hand, and the serpent peeking from beneath his robe. What’s in the bag, Krampus? It’s probably best not to ask too many questions but the teddy bear and the red stains tell me someone won’t be getting that Peppa Pig toy train they wanted. The builder says that this is a render but can be achieved using real LEGO bricks. If your sentiments veer on the dark side, (you know who you are) then check out our Corvus Auriac archives.

Peaceful snowy campfire

I like how LEGO is a vessel for one’s creativity. You can escape into a world designed by your own imagination. Sometimes, however, it is also nice to just go with the seasons. This creation by Louis of Nutwood matches my current surroundings quite well. Although the Netherlands is not covered in snow, it sure is really cold. Louis created a snowy landscape complete with snow covered pine trees and a minifigure trying to keep warm near a cosy campfire. Although the base of this build consists of mostly dark grey and white pieces, there is a thin line of dark tan between the both of them. This small detail makes the scene look more realistic. You can almost hear the fire crackle and the wind rustle through the trees. After seeing this peaceful scene I am ready for a white winter myself.