LEGO builder Chris Perron has delivered precisely what the world needs now. That being four Ice Planet mechs piloted by penguins that take inspiration by Dungeons and Dragons roles. Do I need to repeat that? Four Ice Planet mechs. Piloted by penguins. Inspired by D&D. What part of that don’t you understand? Our first offering totally rocks out on an icy guitar.
Sometimes one good idea spawns another. My case in point, this LEGO Halo ring world built by Ralf Langer. It is chock full of great tricky techniques to build this ring and I could get lost in all the details and the landmasses. We’d be impressed enough if this occurred as a creative anomoly but in the very capable hands of Ralf this is not the case. Back in June we featured a seascape on a curved horizon. In March of 2020 we see Ralf employing the same techniques with a scene from Fallout that made the social media cover image for that month. Both, it would seem, were mere practice runs for this stunning Halo ring. If you have a hankering for all things Halo you may want to click the little blue link. And be sure not to miss another builder’s prior Halo ring world featured way back in 2012.
LEGO builder Ayrlego has stunned us with this incredible Venitian-style vintage building and dock.
What’s not to like about this build? The windows caught my eyes first, as their simple design carries so much implied detail. It’s impressive that Ayrlego was able to replicate the window design not once, not twice, but seven times. Harder to spot is the stair railing, which is made up of cheese slopes and eyeglass pieces. So simple, yet the paired brick choice is flawless for how well it works here. I love the pattern of the rounded and square tiles scattered throughout the build as well.
Ayrlego has been featured on The Brother’s Brick several times before. Check out his builds here.
When you design a mechanical marvel to do your heavy lifting, you might as well make it modular, so you can re-configure it to manage the heavy loads in whatever form they take. The Configurable Utility Bot Ecosystem, or CUBE, by Simon Liu is one of a squad of cube-shaped bots that have fully interchangeable legs, arms, and utility tools. The crane looks like it could handle almost any load.
In case you are hungry for more, here’s the mech from all sides. And if you look closely, you’ll see the pilot is not a mere human, but an adorable three-eyed alien. Who better to operate the claw?
Don’t miss the other CUBE bots from Simon Liu!
I don’t know that I have a favorite LEGO piece of all time, but my top five would have to include the long, faceted windscreen that debuted in 1989’s Space theme offerings. Something about that wedge’s multiple sloped angles inspired so many of my childhood builds. I used it to build cockpits, magical jewels, the jaws of various monsters…but I hadn’t given it much thought in the last decade or two. So I was delighted when I spotted the White Tiger Star Fighter by jnj_bricks. One of my favorite pieces had been given new life.
By twisting two of the windscreens sideways and building over the resulting bottom half, the White Tiger employs the existing slope angles to create a new cockpit shape that blends perfectly with the more modern pieces that make up the majority of the ship. It’s got me wanting to dig through my old bricks to see what inspiration might strike.
Ninjago has done a lot of settings over its decade-long run, but for me, by far the coolest wave was the Skybound storyline from 2016, which was basically a Ninjago mashup of steampunk and pirates. It’s the LEGO theme we never not from Disney’s Treasure Planet. So this fan redux of some of the sets by Markus Ronge just ticks all the right boxes for me. Markus has taken the already-fantastic idea from Ninjago of sky pirates and turned the dial up to eleven, with slightly more “realistic” designs (you can call a flying pirate ship realistic, right?). The color scheme is on point with the browns and oranges, and check out that bone dragon figurehead on the revised Misfortune’s Keep. I reviewed the original 70605 Misfortune’s Keep back in 2016, and as cool as I thought that set was, this would have blown me away.
But what really blows me away about Markus’ model is that it’s not just a redux of the Skybound sets, but it’s also a mashup with the LEGO Ideas 21322 Barracuda Bay Pirates set, another set I loved. The Misfortune’s Keep ship breaks down into a sky pirates wrecked base!
And let’s not overlook the splendidly simple yet beautifully stylized way Markus has chosen to display the models, with a simple graphic and brick-built stands.
One of the most gratifying parts of watching Spider-Man: Far From Home was how the movie depicted Mysterio’s illusions. I was a huge fan of the villain from the comics. And in the comics, Mysterio is certainly able to fool his enemies, sure. But his illusions so often went beyond just ordinary subterfuge. When a comic artist was allowed to really run wild with Mysterio, Spider-Man could find himself caught in a dreamlike, swirling mass of images. A place where up and down have no meaning and nothing is ever what it seems. That the movie was able to recreate — and justify — that same kind of illusion power was awesome. That’s why I’m so keen on this LEGO-based take on Mysterio’s power by builder Daniel Huang.
The recreation of the scene where — two-year-old spoiler alert — Spider-Man is confronted by a zombie Tony Stark is powerful on its own. The way the graveyard bends as if it’s crumbling around our hero gives the diorama a perfect sense of drama and motion. But to then have the moment watched over by two different Mysterios at varying scales is some top-tier comic illustration awesomeness. The duel use of trans-bright green Hero Factory joints as Mysterio’s energy signature and supports to hold up the giant brick-built villain is especially clever.
Is there pumpkin spice latte in space? This autumnal cargo freighter by Finn Roberts might serve it in its onboard kitchen. This ship looks like it belongs in Star Wars, but is a breath of fresh air from the usual greys with its bright yellow colours, inspired by troop carrier concept art for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story combined with the real-life Canadair water bomber. Yet a bit of grey greebly nitty-gritty still remains amongst the bright hull – a characteristic of the well-worn starships flown by smugglers, bounty hunters, and other characters of the galactic underworld. I particularly like the addition of yellowish-orange paneling to imply a weathered hull, indicative of a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…
Finn is no stranger to designing custom ships that fit so well in the Star Wars universe. Building digitally gives him an unlimited parts palette and allows him to build as big and complex as he wishes. His imagination is his limit, and it works so well. I compare him to a concept artist with pens and brushes rather than model makers who work with readymade materials.
And this isn’t the first time we’ve featured Finn’s wonderful concept builds – check out his creations here!
You don’t need to be claustrophobic to dislike elevators: they are poky, boring, and often painfully slow. But it doesn’t stop there. Depending on where you are going, an elevator ride can be much more unbearable. Look at this industrial-grade platform built by shiu. Although this diorama isn’t very tall, the combination of smooth panels creates a perfect impression of a facility buried hundreds of feet beneath the ground. And take a close look at the minifigures — I love how they tell a piece of the story unfolding there. Any ideas what happened… or is about to happen?
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and sometimes one LEGO creation inspires another, like this neat fleet of cargo transports inspired by the Baserunner by Alvaro Gunawan. While the original was a simple flatbed, this new version by BetaNotus adds a new paint job, a covered cargo area with removable cargo, and a folding radio antenna. The additional section flows very nicely with three front sections. I just hope that container isn’t too dangerous. The pilot doesn’t look too concerned.
For comparison, here is the original inspiration, with a very smooth-looking transmission to help navigate rough terrain to deliver your cargo on time.
I am quite confident when it comes to my LEGO part identifying. Quite confident until I stumble across another wonderful creation by Bart de Dobbelaer. Lego produced quite a few themes that are compatible with the system but are not minifigure scale or use standard bricks. No LEGO theme is off limit for Bart. We are looking at the ruins of a once magnificent civilization that is now reclaimed by nature.
The aerial roots of the trees look like they are gathering water and storing it in transparent sacks but that’s just my interpretation. These parts come from the LEGO clikits line.The boat in this creation uses a Ben 10 torso which works perfectly for a futuristic floating vessel. Or is it just a piece of floating scrap metal? Whatever it is, it works perfectly. I like how you can identify the piece because of its reflection. And reflection is what makes this creation go from big to massive. The use of dark orange bricks to represent rust and decay works perfectly as a complementary colour with the blue lighting. The cute blue critters with their yellow eyes also match the surroundings perfectly.
It is a dark and stormy night as you walk up the path to an old rickety house. The windows are boarded up; moss caresses the structure’s brickwork, and tiles are missing from the roof. Apprehensively, you approach the decrepit front door and knock. Silence. Suddenly, there is a noise of scampering feet from the other side of the door. You back away quickly. What could it be? Some deranged beast? A terrifying monster? The door is flung open and instead you are greeted by the ever so friendly Mr Skeleton, created by Zio Chao!
This is a wonderful build of a skeleton with adorable proportions. The large eye holes provide the model with a charming sense of character. The nose, or where a nose should be, is created by an arched window and a plate with a bar piece. The teeth appear to be made of 1×1 hollow studs placed over a flexible bar piece that portrays the skeleton’s cheerful grin.
From all of us at The Brothers Brick, we hope you have a safe and fun Halloween! Also, why not check out some of our other articles, relating to Halloween, to get you in the mood for this spooky day.