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.

Phone in your One Piece fandom with a LEGO Den Den Mushi

Tired: snail mail. Wired: snail phone. In the crazy pirate world of One Piece (coming soon as official LEGO sets) den den mushi are a species of telepathic snails who function as phones letting Marines and captains communicate across the vast Grand Line. Anime enthusiast and character builder Rokan Cheung imagines what one of these useful critters would look like as a LEGO build, and the results are just as charming and weird as Eiichiro Oda’s original design. Now I just need to know if we’ll see a den den mushi at minifig scale in the upcoming sets.

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DeRa’s LEGO RX-78-2 is Gundam perfection

The RX-78-2 mech from Mobile Suit Gundam is up there with the X-Wing and Optimus Prime as one of the most enduring subjects for LEGO builders. But as we’ve seen with models like this brilliant X-Wing from last year, even if a subject’s been built a thousand times before, new parts, new techniques, and a fresh pair of eyes can still yield exciting takes that improve on perfection. That’s definitely the case with this remarkable mobile suit from DeRa.

As we saw with this ferocious LEGO tiger from last year, one of DeRa’s builder superpowers is a knack for articulation. This Gundam can swap armaments and strike any pose from the classic anime, like the best gunpla model kits.

Click to see more of DeRa’s Gundam masterpiece in action

Neverending childhood trauma recreated in LEGO

There’s something special about ’80s kids’ films: their practical effects, a spirit of adventure, and a willingness to scar audiences for life with nightmare fodder. Perhaps no scene broke so many young hearts as Atreyu losing his horse Artax in the Swamps of Sadness. Jack McKeen recreates this iconic scene from The Neverending Story with a LEGO tribute that has me both awed by the technique and fighting back tears. I’m impressed by the brown tiles transitioning to slopes around the sinking horse; you can almost feel the horse being sucked into the swamp. The base, built from writhing vines and dinosaur tails, is eye-catching. And Jack’s minifig Atreyu couldn’t be more perfect.

The Neverending Story is one of my favorite films, but the book it’s based on is even better. If you haven’t read it yet, it’s a treat at any age. And you can relive Artax’s tragic end, only in the original version he talks as he drowns!

LEGO Creator 3-in-1 set Cute Bunny, I choose you! [Instructions]

We really like LEGO’s Creator 3-in-1 sets; our archives are full of glowing set reviews for this theme. But did you know that, once upon a time, Creator sets featured instructions for as many as 8 or 9 individual models? Flickr-based builder Jan Willem has invoked the spirit of these heady, more-than-3-in-1 days by creating a fourth build for the 31162 Cute Bunny set. In case you don’t recognise it, this is Rowlet, the grass (and, if you ask me, best) starter from the 7th generation of Pokémon games. It sure is cute! Jan has done a great job of recreating its rotund shape, especially considering he only used about three-quarters of the pieces!

If you fancy building your own Rowlet, Jan has made the instructions available for free download over on Rebrickable. But we’re still missing Litten and Poplio… Who fancies having a go at making alt-builds for those two?

This motorized LEGO Boeing 747-8 truly soars

For LEGO builders who create scale models of real-world vehicles, capturing the distinctive shape of an original is a mighty accomplishment. Doing so with minimal seams can challenge the best builders. Nailing both while also integrating motor functions? That’s the mark of a LEGO modeling master. Max Richter’s Boeing 747-8 in Lufthansa livery is one of the most impressive scale model aircraft we’ve ever seen. At 1.5 meters long (nearly 5 feet!) and with a wingspan of 1.35 meters, clocking in at 12,500 pieces for a weight of 11.4 kg (25 lbs), it’s also one of the biggest, dwarfing LEGO Icons Concorde. The motorized landing gear system is a thing of beauty. This build soars.

To fully appreciate Max’s model, I highly recommend watching his video tour. As a bonus challenge, can you find where he uses a droid body, hockey stick, and pirate hook in the build?

Buckle up for more details on Max’s remarkable LEGO aircraft

How much is two oxen in horsepower?

According to Linkedin, the illustrious Bibliarius Zakharius Glockta is a certified adventurer, chronist, scientist, and inquisitor. Left off that resume, he’s also an entrepreneur, green energy innovator, and tiny home enthusiast. LEGO builder Dwalin Forkbeard captures this enigmatic and larger-than-life minifig as he roams the land peddling arcane artifacts from his ox-driven mobile hut. With its wonky angles and wheels akimbo, this rolling cottage is a delightful mash-up of Warhammer and Dr. Seuss. The printed wood tiles evoke Seussian ink, and you can’t tell me Biliarius hasn’t crossed paths with a Onceler.

The wagon hides a few brilliant uses of unusual parts like a turkey tail arch over the window, but the real LEGO miracle is how Dwalin Forkbeard managed to capture this barely-together ramshackle build without it falling apart!

Revisit our Dwalin Forkbeard archive to see why this Ukrainian AFOL has become one of our favorite fantasy builders.

Dominique Boeynaems pulls a-head with LEGO creativity

The Iron Forge competition just concluded its second week-long sprint where twenty builders were tasked with making creations using the ubiquitous LEGO minifig head as the featured “seed part.” So many delightful builds emerged from the prompt, but one builder kept delivering smiles: Dominique Boeynaems. Each of these builds is worthy of sharing on its own, but together they’re an inspiration to builders and a showcase of what makes the Iron Forge such a wonderful part of LEGO fandom.

Leading with Dominique’s final build, this nearly lifesize accordion came together during a 10-hour sprint and incorporates no less than 44 minifig heads for the keys. Vidyo straps work great for the handles. With the competition name and year worked into the instrument, it’s both a wonderful build and the perfect memento.

Dominque’s frog uses three minifig heads – two for the eyes and one for the fly. A car hood makes for a perfect amphibian forehead.

Click to see more of Dominique’s colorful and heady builds

Collaborative LEGO builds lead to the best views

With the powers of eight LEGO builders are combined, some truly spectacular creations can come into being. For instance, the amazing team of jnj_bricks, Eli Willsea, Carter Witz, Joel Tyer, Micah Beideman, Roanoke Handybuck, Davis Brown, and J2_Bricks all came together to show Omar a world worth exploring. There is some phenomenal forced perspective at play, with darling rockwork, bridgework, and tower-work(?) all coming together into something magical. I am just wishing that Omar will take me along on his next voyage.

Itty bitty Big Daddy will leave you in Rapture [Instructions]

It’s been 18 years since gamers first explored the fallen “utopia” of Rapture and we still can’t forget the Big Daddies who haunt its undersea halls. In game, those lumbering living diving suits are the stuff of nightmares, but built at minifig scale by BrickAA, they’re not nearly as scary. Shall we call them “L’il Papas” instead? BrickAA has quite a knack for pint-sized mechs and makes many instructions for their builds freely available, including the instructions for this adorable Big Daddy. What are you waiting for? In the words of Andrew Ryan, “a fan chooses to build.”

Should you prefer your Big Daddies a little… bigger, why not revisit this classic build from Eero Okkonen?

The Kenworth 993 is here to lug your heaviest LEGO models

Originally produced by the Kenworth Truck Company back in the 1980’s, the 993 model translates pretty well into LEGO all thanks to TsungNing Lee. Made to haul the heaviest of equipment, the truck actually doesn’t have room for its 700 hp Cummins V-12 engine in the front. Instead, you can see where it resides behind the driver, represented here by a bit of gray mechanics enclosed in a shell of yellow bricks and tubing.

Is the legendary Carrotana a Hare-tori Hanzo sword?

Over the past two years, Nathan Don (Woomy World) has become one of the most exciting builders around with a talent for color, shaping, and unlocking the potential in every piece from LEGO’s deep history of parts. The builder leaps into the new year with a new character: Tobu, a Japanese-inspired rabbit swordsman. The face is quite expressive, with parts like minifig casts in the lips giving the character a fluffy intensity. The featured part here is definitely the new leaf mold in magenta from Pretty Pink Flower Bouquet, used for Tobu’s ears and for a dynamic ring of leaves around the model, and which anchor the color scheme. As Nathan explains on his blog, parts in retired colors, like the Scala table used for the figure’s base, can unlock new color combinations when mixed with modern elements.

Should you find yourself in Billund, several of Nathan’s characters can now be seen at the LEGO House Masterpiece Gallery.

In New Hashima, even offshore slums are epic

In the cyberpunk city of New Hashima, the rich live above the fray (as we’ve seen with this incredible tower) while the have-nots are left to eke out a living in the toxic world below. Brick Ready adds to the massive LEGO collaboration with this artificial island made from shipping containers that shows that there’s beauty even in the city’s slums. The builder brings an eye for detail to the towering creation, such as laundry hanging from windows, splintered wood supports, brick-built graffiti, and broken windows. The shipping container homes might not be luxurious but they feel cozier than many of the neon scenes in New Hashima’s more thriving districts. The transmission tower adds scale and a splash of color that makes the island a triumphant addition to the collaboration that grows more wonderful each year.