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.

Final Iron Builder challenge of 2025 pits defender Miscellanabuilds against challenger CRCT Productions

The Iron Builder competition, finishing its seventh season, pairs two LEGO artists in a battle of builds featuring a “seed part” that must be highlighted in each build. In this round, returning champion Eann “Miscellanabuilds” McCurdy (who previously reigned supreme against Geneva Durand) takes on challenger Drew “CRCT Productions” Cazenave-Tapie with the seed part of flower bell in light blue.

Eann opens with a magical scene of a witch’s home in the woods. “Mrs. Cheeseman’s Sanctuary” is built into a beautiful grey trunk topped with pink and white leaves and peppered with toadstools on hot dog stems with caps using the seed part. Another flower bell is used for the sanctuary’s lamp, for a total of 5 uses.

Drew starts strong with the microscale blue bell monastery. The seed part is used three times – for the titular bell and, cleverly, for the fountains in the plaza. The build is perfectly scaled around the bell. I’m also smitten by the wanderful windows in the monastery.

Be sure to follow both builders or the Iron Builder page to follow the builds as they come. We’ll be back with the results next month!

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6,000 LEGO bricks. 4 years of building. 3 months of coding. One seriously cool life-size Halo rifle

One thing that’s easy to forget about the protagonists and antagonists: they are big. Master Chief is just over 7 foot tall in his armour, whereas Elites can reach 8’6″ according to Halopedia. Enter Bryce Dempsey with a reminder in LEGO form. A big reminder! This shock rifle has been built according to its appearance in the latest series instalment, Halo Infinite. It’s been a proper labour of love, too: four years in the making, with 6,000 pieces adding up to a replica as accurate as it is heavy. 20lbs, apparently!

It’s not just a screen-accurate replica, though. Bryce has managed to pack in a bunch of working features, perhaps most impressively incorporating LEGO Mindstorms into the moving panels from the weapon’s overheating animation. There’s some pretty clever engineering behind it, not least of which is the code in the EV3 module. It only took, oh, you know, THREE MONTHS to write?! Be sure to check out Bryce’s excellent video talking about the trials and tribulations behind this epic replica!

Takuya Fukugawa’s chilly pixel penguins warm the heart

When Takuya Fukugawa first started building pixel art models in LEGO, he took inspiration from video games, often with stunning results. More recently, the builder has been turning to nature as muse. Last year, it was a blue whale that took our breath away. The builder’s latest features an Emperor penguin and chick.

The build is actually a remake of the artist’s previous take on the subject, swapping “realistic” colors for impressionist ones. It’s a beautiful evolution of style that shows how much vitality there is in pixel art as an aesthetic. The wider range of colors have an emotive quality – a warmth that captures the truth of the moment.

Later this month, “Pixel sculptor” Takuya is receiving his first public exhibition in Tokyo at the America Bashi Gallery.

Re-mastering a LEGO Star Wars masterpiece

There’s just something about big LEGO Venator Star Destroyers (and not just their official kit). They’ve been a popular vehicle for Star Wars builders, and if you look through our archives, you’ll find an excellent midi-scale Venator by FlyInSpaceMOCs. Ah, yes, the Negotiator… Hard to believe that was more than three years ago. A builder can come a long way in that time, and to illustrate that point FlyInSpace elected to return to this Clone Wars staple vessel. Except this time, it’s twice as big!

Step this way to see more of this enormous LEGO Star Wars build

Taiwan’s top builders team up for endangered animal LEGO tributes

At Taipei’s LEGO Sunkids flagship store, three familiar builders debuted amazing new MOCs as part of an exhibit about threatened and endangered animal species in Taiwan.

Hsinwei Chi presents this adorable Leopard Cat, the only wild cat living on Taiwan. As adorable as this frisky feline is, the species is only a distant cousin to the house cat and it cannot be domesticated. The builder does a phenomenal job with the cat’s complex markings, but it’s the playful posing that makes this a work of truly rare talent.

James Zhan captured the scaly beauty of the exotic pangolin, which despite its armored appearance is more closely related to a bear than an armadillo. The builder makes good use of various curved slopes in dark orange to create the pinecone-like scaly hide. We were previously enamored by the builder’s elegant Spoonbill.

Finally, Ian Hou swims in with Lutra Lutra – the Eurasian river otter. Hunted to near extinction on Taiwan for their fur, the species is at the center of ongoing efforts to bring back from the brink. Ian’s LEGO version captures the otter’s appeal with its stocky tube body and smiling face. The floppy fish is an excellent touch. The builder has created many incredible animal builds over the years, which you can see in our Ian Hou archives.

Incidentally, these talented builders are impacted by the troubling news that Bricklink is ending service to 35 countries, which includes Taiwan.

We were dragon our feet on this Vic Viper

We just did a big breakdown on the history of NoVVember, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t still some Vic Vipers worthy of our attention to cover. Take this Ninjago themed ship from seb71. The dragon heads used to make the trademark front prongs work in large part thanks to plenty of organic curves in the hull and rear of the craft. And the red wings give the perfect pop of color to the golden spaceship. Another great example of how vast the Vic Viper variety is.

The best desserts have layers

Face it, whether it’s a multi-tiered cake, a slice of tiramisu, or something as simple as an Oreo cookie, nothing makes a sweet treat more craveable than layers of complimentary flavor. And Andreas Leander has a knack for crafting MOCs with a multiple tier element. Putting all that together results in the most delicious looking tiny kingdom we’ve ever seen. Those cookies seem to hover like magic as the delectable chocolate falls stream down from the peppermint castle. Someone get me a spoon and a glass of milk. I’m going in!

No bones about it, this dragon is impressive

Thimdur T has a self-described passion for LEGO and dragons. Take a look at their portfolio, and you’ll see dozens of brick-built winged beasts in all shapes and sizes. So, we can’t imagine anyone better to give us a lesson on dragon anatomy. Behold the skeletal form of the Griefbringer. Now, Griefbringer is a dragon from the Ninjago canon who was once represented in an official set (71721), but Thimdur’s take is leaner, meaner, and cleaner.

This museum worthy creation is a sturdy, fully articulated example of what lies beneath the scales and muscles of your typical flying lizards. Although, I guess your typical dragons don’t have a magic green orb in their rib cage animating them.

1 eye, 6 arms, and an eternity of imprisonment

Deep underground, a strange visitor from the sky is being held captive. This is Osdonn the Eternal, who is being slowly bled by his prisoners in strange rituals. But Osdonn’s chains are about to come loose (in fact, they’re push button operated) and he’ll rise up in anger, deploy his massive horns and take his revenge…

This is the story crafted by Mattia Careddu in a wonderful build that blends storytelling, creature creation, and play functions. The image of the chained Osdonn would be a solid enough build. The pillars and the base that hold Osdonn give a perfect sense of place and scale, and Osdonn himself is a marvel of clever technique. But when you factor in Osdonn’s horns and the chains popping free, it becomes something I don’t just want to admire from afar. I want it in my hands. I want to make monster noises and gobble up the villagers. In short, I want to play with it.

Robot romantics

What is more romantic than an offering of plant matter? Clearly this robot suitor from Kelly Bartlett is well versed in human courtship rituals. Maybe you or I would have picked the purple flowers and left the dirty roots in the ground, but it’s the thought that counts. Kelly’s bots are a delight a wordless LEGO comic with big heart.

Hellboy will always look this good

Ron Perlman’s take on big red is one of the great on-screen superheroes – Hellboy fits him like a glove. But in comics, Hellboy’s form is a lot more malleable under the pen of creator Mike Mignola, who brings an expressionist approach to the hero. Sometimes he’s a hulking beast, other times he’s downright willowy, as in this haunting MOC from builder Jin Chen. Jin faithfully captures Mignola’s dramatic pose and Hellboy’s chiseled body. Excellent photography uses shadows to fill in detail, in Mignola fashion.

Jin had applied his LEGO artistry to Hellboy before with this smiling bust of the big guy.

Give thanks for the ultimate dessert: Baja Blast Pie!

Today is Thanksgiving in the United States, probably the biggest day of the year for pie consumption. Pumpkin and Pecan might be traditional flavors of the fall, but this year Taco Bell really captured the spirit of 2025 with a bold new pie flavor: Baja Blast! Sadly, the pie was only available at the start of the month, so no making a run for the border to save your family dinner. Let’s give thanks to Eli Willsea (via his Morlorn Empire side account) for capturing this memeable moment in LEGO. This is the build that teal bricks were made for! (Or is it the build that Mark Stafford foresaw and tried to kill?)