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.

Here we are now, entertain us

Leave it to me to move into an area a decade after its peak. Had I have moved to the Seattle area sooner, I could have witnessed firsthand the Grunge wave that killed hair metal. Bummer. LEGO builder Julius von Brunk is surely a fan of Grunge as evidenced by his latest build featuring bobble-headed rock gods from Nirvana. On the left, we have the tall bassist Krist Novoselic. On drums, we have the shirtless and ever-prolific Dave Grohl and finally, we have the legendary frontman Kurt Cobain with his left-handed Fender guitar. Julius tells us that when LEGO came out with the Fender Stratocaster set they held a contest in which the winner could win a real guitar. He didn’t have the entire band finished by the contest deadline but had entered Kurt Cobain’s figure. Julius goes on to say that, despite not having the cigarette featured, his entry was rejected due to using “inappropriate materials”. We’re not sure if this means the use of illegal build techniques or LEGO’s overall dissatisfaction with the Grunge scene. Well, you’re a winner in our eyes, Julius! Here’s the proof.

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The Star Wars starfighter everyone’s clamoring for.

As soon as we saw Din Djarin replace his Razorcrest with a modded N1 Starfighter, we knew an official LEGO model couldn’t be far behind. But some of us, like Markus Aspacher, weren’t content to wait. Markus is no stranger to building old spaceships, and his version of the ship captures the piecemeal nature of the engines excellently. And Markus has done some excellent shaping in the astromech-port-turned-Grogu-seat. The tapered curved slopes do a wonderful job of translating the curves of the ship while still sealing the main cockpit off from the vacuum of space (something that I’m not sure gets achieved on the official set). It should be noted that this isn’t the first N1 we’ve covered, Mandolorian or otherwise. Dig into the history of N1 starfighter builds right here.

A miner bit of peril

LEGO builder Bart De Dobbelaer has a particular style, and that style is full dioramas set in science fiction spaces. Thankfully for us, Bart’s very, very good at it. This latest diorama takes place on an unnamed asteroid, though it reminds me a bit of Hoxxes IV’s radioactive zone from Deep Rock Galactic. But whatever the location, it’s not going to be around long enough for it to matter, as it’s currently in the process of disintegrating, spurting great jets of yellowish flame from a fissure, which is lit from below. The mining rigs with their dark blue highlights all have a jagged aesthetic bristling with antennas.

This LEGO crane machine is a clear winner.

Builder alego alego has constructed an ode to my childhood nemesis – the crane machine. Billed as a game of skill, these nefarious scam contraptions have parted many a quarter from my hands. The main focus of the build is obviously the repurposing of the Vidiyo box element, but it’s all the little details that bring back the painful memories of so many futile win attempts. The coin slot and return, the arrows indicating which direction the joysticks go, the opening where the lucky few can retrieve their prize. And the repurposing of a minifigure whisk as the claw element deserves a chef’s kiss. Now, does anybody have change for a five? I’m gonna get me one of those rubber ducks.

A pair of roving rovers running rampant

February is one of my favorite LEGO months, Because it comes before Marhikoma, and for Febrovery, when builders from around the world create rovers inspired by the classic space car. This pair of rovers by Isaac Snyder are a perfect blend of nostalgia and modern sci-fi, with smooth large wheels and an open cargo bay, the big rover reminds me of the ground vehicle from the Mass Effect video game franchise, and while I know this only shows how old I am, a bit of the classic arcade game Moon Patrol. The smaller one looks like it rolled over the hill from the lunar lander from NASA. My only question is, will the small one fit on the cargo bed. Judging by the hinged tailgate, I’m guessing it does.

Let’s get ready to robot rumble!

JastaBrick invites us to watch this exciting mech battle. The blue robot is reminiscent of a stegosaurus, with its back plates and bladed tail. Angled handle pieces are featured in the arms and tail of this machine, allowing for twisted poses in the limbs. As for the red combatant, its main weapons are a buzz saw on one hand and a flamethrower on the other. Pin holder pieces form the wheels for the treads, ready to hold the robot steady as it blocks the swings of its opponent. But who will win? Will the blue bot be burned to a crisp or is the red bot about to be sliced in half?

Your favourite condiments as speeders

BetaNotus has constructed these rather random speeders. Based on the sauces of barbecue and honey mustard, both vehicles have an open semicircle design at the front, with engines or exhausts protruding from the sides. Sandwiched in between the large quarter circles, tail pieces create the textured details on the inner sections of the machines. The handles are actually built around sausage pieces, which keeps the curved design consistent throughout the models. It does make you wonder what other condiments would look like as flying speeders…

Take a dive into this vibrant underwater world

LEGO Masters winners, Steven Erickson and Mark Erickson, have created this fascinating aquatic display. We have had a look at the golden speeders before, which fit in perfectly with this diorama. Bursting with colour, the build features a variety of characters and sea life, surrounding a grand-looking throne room. The use of flexible green tubes as seagrass is one clever technique and makes a great addition to the collection of sea vegetation. Minifigure legs represent the curl at the end of the seahorse’s tail and one of the jellyfish even uses hero blast pieces as its tentacles.

Sowing seeds for the season

As February rounds to an end, many of us gardeners in the northern hemisphere are looking fondly at the melting snow in our yards. Builder brickdesigned reminds us of the future fruits of our green thumbs’ labor with these Farmers Market-themed builds. These clever, quaint designs are delicate reproductions of the crates and canopies common amongst weekly markets. Each has its own distinct character with creative coloration, prints, and usefully minifigure accessories. The produce stand is full of fruits and veggies held in their own clever little bins. The angle on that canopy is deceptively simple, just like the crates.

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Chad Rhino vs Flaccus Legionnaires

History lessons and LEGO make better partners than the passive fan may realize. Builder Hunter Erickson, for instance, connects to bygone eras with brick-built displays of notable moments in the past. Throughout his work, Hunter has used LEGO to cover some of the more interesting moments from recorded history. All the while, he has utilized some great techniques to achieve realistic scenery, machinery, and animals. Here we have a wonderful example of color blocking from the darker base to the light brush and muted colors of the grass. The scene’s realism even goes as far as to create a shadow over the soldiers due to the dense canopy of the spindly tree they all huddle under. The rhinoceros is actually a design from Builder Stefan that we covered way back in 2010. Hunter certainly resurrected the design for good reason.

In this build, Hunter captures a potential moment from the Flaccus Expedition of 50 A.D. through the Sahara desert and most likely coming to an end around Lake Chad. The Legionnaires venturing into Africa with Septimius Flaccus had most likely only ever encountered or seen the creatures around them in gladiator battles. Being this close to something like this Rhinoceros had to be more terrifying then than it would be today. At least for some local-yokel Romans.

This spindly snow mech is tougher than it looks

One of the trademarks of a great mech is the creative use of a certain part. In this case, it’s about a Bionicle-inspired build by Johann Dakitsch, and the part is the gently curving balloon segment, which puts this model head and shoulders above the competition. Get it? Yeah, I’m a dad. And speaking of Bionicle, this model was built as part of a challenge to build Bionicle without the use of the specific parts common with that theme. Johann did a fantastic job creating the signature look using more traditional parts.

Great Scott! Look at this hover board!

I am still mad that hoverboards aren’t real (despite Justin Anderson telling me in the 4th grade that his Uncle totally bought one when he went to Japan) so this build by LEGO builder Alex Jones is the next best thing. The actual construction of the board has nearly movie-perfect lines and looks great in classic neon pink. I am a sucker for good LEGO-tile lettering and Jones nails the “Hover Board” text. The build also stokes my 80’s kid feels with a perfect recreation of Nike MAGs (no note from the builder as to how many gigawatts the light kit takes). Jones notes that he is publishing the instructions “soon” but without access to a time machine, I can’t give you a specific date.