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.

Wake the kids and the neighbors, it’s the Red Screaming Face Bug!

LEGO phenom Daniel Olvera tells us that he and his fiancé enjoy wild and creepy taxidermied bugs in shadow boxes. Having a small taxedermied bug collection myself, my antennae perked up when I saw this Lohita Grandis. It is also known as the Red Screaming Face Bug due to its, well, red screaming face pattern. Insects and other animals with a large false face do this sort of thing to scare off predators and, while I fancy myself as top of the food chain, I’m pretty sure my face would be screaming if I saw this out in the wild. It’s one of those things that’s best viewed within the protective confines of a shadow box rather than crawling in your tent at night.

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This micro Maul is a miniature masterpiece

Way back in 2001, LEGO released set 10018, a nearly 2000 piece bust of Star Wars baddie Darth Maul. While that set was definitely impressive, it was mostly just bricks and plates stacked together to sculpt an almost pixelated version of the Sith Lord. To demonstrate just how far LEGO construction has come since then, Byldan has constructed a microscale Maul that’s cleaner and smoother and made with about ten percent of the pieces. Maul’s trademark black and red visage is rendered here with a clever combination of minifigure body parts and utensils. Some of the construction may not be entirely legal, but no one expects the Sith to follow the rules.

A delicious take on LEGO landscapes

With the latest scenic build by The Creators Child, I think it’s time we establish some ground rules for just how appetizing a LEGO creation is allowed to be. Because just look at those layers! The blend of natural tones feels almost illegal in terms of the official LEGO color palette. And yet all the pieces are genuine. When it comes to composition, the scene benefits massively from the beautifully planned beach. Scaled-down debris and splashes are spot-on, and of course, no modern LEGO shoreline would be complete without a strip of wet sand. This coastal scene was built for the Summer Joust contest. Be sure to check out our round-up of the 2025 winners!

Orion Pax makes us fall in love with the Undersea World again with Jacques Cousteau’s Calypso in LEGO

From the 1960s to the early 80s, the aquatic expeditions of Jacques Cousteau brought the deep sea into millions of homes. I fell under the Frenchman’s ocean spell watching reruns on public television as a kid, and a big part of that enchantment was thanks to the aptly named Calypso, the British minesweeper boat adapted for scientific use. Fellow 80s kid turned LEGO legend Alex “Orion Pax” Jones also fell in love with Cousteau’s undersea world and decades after trying to build the Calypso as a child, he returns with a masterful LEGO rendition built at 1/50 scale.

Alex includes a functioning version of the crane used to lift the Denise mini-sub, as well as a midi-scale helicopter on the rear deck landing pad.

See more of the Calypso and Orion Pax’s other creations after the jump

Three little birds, but not the Bob Marley variety

They say good things come in threes. That’s certainly true in the gaming sphere; look closely and you’ll see things pop up in threes all the time, from boss phases to collectible trinkets. And, as Cecilie Fritzvold‘s LEGO birds remind us, the world of Pokémon is no different! There are plenty of legendary or mythical ‘mons that make up a trio. Heck, for a time, the games themselves came in sets of three: Diamond-Pearl-Platinum, Gold-Silver-Crystal, etc. Cecilie is taking us back to the Red-Blue-Yellow era, though, and indeed we’re starting with red!

The three legendary birds didn’t have any bearing on the names of the games they appeared in – it’s purely coincidence that they’re the same colour. (And anyway, pedants will be aware that the original Japanese releases were Red and Green, not Red and Blue.) Moltres, the fire bird, is of course red. It follows that the icy Articuno is therefore mostly blue. Check out that awesome use of a vintage LEGO watch strap for the tail!

I’m sure some of you will be shouting at the screen that the games weren’t originally a trio; Pokemon Yellow only came along two years later. But it completes the set nicely, and means I can keep the tenuous link going with the coolest of the three birds: Zapdos. According to Cecilie, you shouldn’t touch this one. Not because it has the Static hidden ability (as of the 6th Generation of games) – it’s quite fragile apparently. But no less pretty a build for it!

Documenting LEGO Middle Earth with a photographer’s eye

Of all the partnerships in the LEGO library, none is more cinematic than the Lord of the Rings. While sets like Rivendell are rapturous enough just sitting on a shelf, with amazing lighting and post-production, LEGO Lord of the Rings MOCs can transport you right to Middle-earth. Valenque is a builder and photographer who blends official sets, custom landscaping, and VFX to create immersive scenes from Tolkien’s books and the films they inspired. The builder’s latest borrows a Hungarian Horntail to recreate an epic meeting from the posthumously published Children of Hurin. The minifig of Túrin is supplemented with a digital dragon crest on the helm to match Alan Lee’s illustration.

Valenque has previously captured scenes from the Hobbit and Rings trilogies, like this scene of Gandalf igniting pinecones to ward off goblins on the slopes of the Misty Mountains.

Click to see more of Valenque’s amazing scenes from Middle Earth

Look past the spook, and you’ll see some terrifyingly good LEGO techniques

The thing about finding great LEGO creations to share on the internet is that sometimes, you do see some really disturbing things. And no, I’m not talking about the price tags in stores. In this instance, it’s Oliver Barrell‘s entry into the Summer Joust building contest. It gives me, frankly, the heebiest of jeebies. I guess that’s rather the point, to be fair. But it does risk distracting me from some rather neat building techniques, be they the forced-perspective house in the back, or the ingenious use of a 1×2 current-carrying brick. Am I grateful I’ve seen this LEGO build? I suppose I have to be. I don’t want that… Thing coming after me if I admit I’m not!

A precarious castle high above the sea

When building microscale LEGO creations, you have to look at common parts a little differently to discover new and interesting uses, like this castle by Geneva Durand perched high above the sea on a rocky cliff. They use a small, rounded element with a hollow stud on one side as the perfect base for turrets mounted to the sides of the tall gray walls. Another part that caught my attention was the white minifigure forks inserted tine-down between grill elements. And several tooth parts attched sideways make perfect arched windows.

LEGO Pirates Imperial Armada sets sail again with a new MOC flagship, the Ocean’s Crown

LEGO’s Pirate theme may be dormant, but 2025 is shaping up to be the biggest pirate year ever, thanks to One Piece, minifigs, and more. It’s only fitting that we’re seeing some incredible pirate themed MOCs set sail of late, perhaps none so majestic as the Ocean’s Crown – the latest creation from Vietnamese AFOL and Masterpiece Gallery alum Khang Huynh in collaboration with Kỷ Duy Phong.

Inspired by Imperial Flagship 10210, Khang’s creation is fully a meter long and 80cm tall, making it properly minifig-scale without compromise.

The duo had previously made their mark on the lawless side of the age of piracy with the “Kraken Shadowy,” a highly-detailed spin on a Black Seas Barracuda’s foundation sailing across a breathtaking brick sea. You can read our coverage from 2023 here.

Batten down the hatches and brace for more pics of the majestic Ocean’s Crown after the jump

LEGO astronaut beholds space oddities

When astronauts in orbit turn away from the pale blue dot of home to gaze upon the vastness of space, there’s not a lot of color for the naked eye to see. But travel far enough or use the right lenses or tune to the right spectrums, and space is full of brilliant displays, perhaps like the one captured here in LEGO by Katja (Palixa and the Bricks). Is the astronaut witnessing the birth of stars in a molecular cloud? Or is is it some new form of life here to make first contact? Katja is a creator who builds in every manner of style, from modulars to mosaics. I love how this Astronaut scene blends mosaics with her talent for expressive characters.

The Astronaut echoes a build that Katja shared last year of a similarly stylized diver. It’s great to see her returning to past successes, like she did recently with more vacationing fruit to join last year’s bumper crop.

Nature reclaims all as Vignette Week comes to a close [Feature]

Bricks down! After seven grueling days of non-stop building, RebelLUG’s Vignweek 2025 has come to an end. The first five challenges gave builders just 24 hours to create a LEGO vignette around the daily theme, but for the final challenge, builders could take 48 hours. This time the theme was “Reclaimed by Nature,” which is the perfect excuse to pull out those bins of leaf parts and create something beautiful. As the Vignette builders break out their brick separators, let’s take a stroll through an overgrown LEGO world with some of our favorites of the day.

FS Leinad participated in all six builds, but his final creation is my favorite. The orangutan is a great design (per the builder, “RIP 3-in-1 Forest Animals) but it’s those vultures that have stolen my heart… and pick it apart with those brilliant hook beaks.

ILB Creations completed 5 challenges and also ends on a high note. I love the larger scale and the light blue mortar between crumbling bricks.

Forage for more vignettes that nature has reclaimed

A golden LEGO field is ready for harvest

Today’s moment of peace and tranquility comes from the Golden Vallé vignette by Rémy (Rilbist). By Rémy’s own description, this family has lived in peace for quite a while at their windmill. I won’t ask Rémy how many plant stems were used, but they provide the most amazing texture for the field of wheat to frame this windmill.

By adding varied height in the vignette, Rémy creates a natural flow to the field while also hiding the base of build itself, leaving the viewer with the texture of the dried wheat field.

This spectacular model came in second place in its category in the Summer Joust. For a full list of winners, catch up with our Summer Joust 2025 roundup.