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.

This spook-tastic skeleton is ready for Halloween

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.

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A place to escape from those pesky humans

I remember being super excited when Hotel Transylvania was announced in 2011. Not only due to its quirky theme or creepy characters. Director Genndy Tartakovsky announced that its potential success could also revive his old series, Samurai Jack. Well, Jack came back. Three movies and an animated series later, it’s clear this story was a big hit. Just in time for this Halloween, Mehdi Rustamov built a dollhouse-style playset inspired by this spooky series. This cute and creepy set is brimming with characters and features the main entrance hall, Dracula and Mavi’s rooms, and Quasimodo’s kitchen. Please don’t bother the vacationing creatures as we take a look around, all right?

Click here for a full tour…

Tudor-style buildings with plumbing

I am quite a fan of old cities. Old cities offer a little bit of everything. They have skyscrapers and office buildings but often also Tudor-style buildings reminding us of simpler times. These Tudor-style buildings are often located near the city square or the city centre or what used to be the centre of the city. Quite often these buildings had to be modernised at a given point because they didn’t have central heating and electricity in the period they were built. Sometimes these features are added very respectfully, and it is not noticeable from the outside that these features were added on in a later stage.

Sometimes, however, these features are just slapped on the building with complete disregard of how it looks. Although I prefer the first option, I’ve grown fond of the second one too. Either way, it reminds us of our past and it shows how our demands for housing changed over the years. This build by Pieter Dennison is a perfect example of a building having to evolve in order to meet the inhabitants wishes. Pieter made a lovey Tudor-style house, complete with a stone staircase leading up to the building. Bars and slope tiles have been used to create some lovely details and even windows. Dark tan and olive-green work together wonderfully for the plaster. It looks like the building has passed the test of time. The addition of rain pipes however takes it from a medieval theme right to something more now. It gives the house a bit of a steampunk-ish vibe that we all love.

“This Captain America mosaic is super, soldier.”

It makes sense that when LEGO launched their new Art theme, they’d start their Marvel offerings off with Iron Man, the hero who gave birth to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. At least, he birthed it from a movie release date perspective. But Steven Wayne Howard hasn’t forgotten that the real first Avenger was Captain America. This tribute to Steve Rogers was created by fusing the pieces from Iron Man and Sith mosaics (with a handful of extra 1×1 red plates thrown in). So, it should be no problem to recreate yourself if you have both of those sets on hand. And if you’re looking for a great spot to hang it, I suggest the wall on your left.

This LEGO Ikea showroom might require an allen wrench to recreate.

Iron Builder competitor Brickleas has taken the challenge to the land of Norsemen and ready-to-assemble furniture. This time the seed part has been used to create a chair, some decorative lighting fixtures, and a hood over the stove. But Brickleas didn’t stop at creating a cozy home scene. This build goes the extra mile by zooming out a few feet to reveal that we’re in the showroom of an Ikea. The arrow on the floor guiding shoppers and the black rigging hanging above the fake walls is sure to inspire flashbacks in anyone who has tried to navigate the labyrinthine superstore. “Why do I have to follow these arrows through the whole complex? I’m just trying to buy an affordable shelf for my UCS Batmobile!” Sorry, got a little lost in memories there…

Please tell me Umbridge isn’t invited

In the years since the Harry Potter books and movies were released, we’ve seen plenty of fan contributions to the Wizarding World. From “Potter Puppet Pals” to “A Very Potter Sequel”, wanna-be wizards and witches have sought to pay tribute in their own ways. LEGO’s celebration of the 20th anniversary of the movies has brought lots of fun new sets and the fans have responded in kind. This playful, life-sized version of an educational decree board from the Order of the Phoenix was built by twin brothers Diego and David Escalona. The beautifully built frame with padlock sits next to wonderfully crafted candles, a clever hammer, and a few large nails for that extra little bit of detail.

The frame achieves a lot of great angles, making it thoroughly realistic. The brothers keep with that realism, smoothly sculpting the handle and the head of the hammer with just the right angles in the right places. The dripping wax from the candles built up around the base and the Bionicle blades behind the flame pieces are both delightful details. The wee spider crawling across the frame is absolutely adorable, by the way. Mostly because it’s fake, otherwise, no thank you. Diego and David do well modeling some text and design elements within the proclamation from bricks, while others they included within the render with a playful message.

Considering the season, I think these brothers may have made some great props for a Filch costume. Other than that, these would look perfect with the Hogwarts Icons set, something I hope LEGO expands on in general.

This massive castle display is incredibly detailed

Created by Ben Pitchford, this LEGO model is a beautiful diorama of a medieval castle by the ocean, overlooking a quaint village and a forest hideout. The castle rests upon a cliff which is made up of a variety of sloped bricks with plants pieces wedged between the gaps in the rocks. Several waterfalls flow over the cliff faces into the colourful ocean below. There are even some hidden features underneath the castle such as mysterious caves, a dungeon and a blacksmith.

The castle has a dominating presence created by its sheer height and elaborate layers. The textured surfaces of the castle are produced through a mixture of bricks being stacked up normally and bricks placed sideways. A few of the entrance ways lead to detailed throne rooms, perfectly suited for the royalty of the castle.

A stony path to the castle leads down to a gate with a village surrounding it. The roofing details of the buildings provides a great sense of slabs stacked together. Villagers are shown to be selling an assortment of vegetables and meats, while a cart, full of supplies, heads towards the castle gate.

But the residents of the village should beware as the hamlet is overshadowed by a forest people base. Platforms are built into trees with precarious wooden bridges connecting the platforms. On the forest floor there is a training ground with targets and a blazing central fire. The intentions of the forest people seems unclear, although there are a few of them hiding and sneaking around, close to the castle.

There is also a video of the display where Ben shows some of the intricate details and hidden features of the build. The castle is hooked up with a lighting system, used to simulate flickering firelight in the dungeon and throne rooms. A water wheel is also shown to have a battery powered mechanism allowing it to spin.

Check out more articles relating to fantastic castle builds, here.

A robot built with robot parts, how fitting

When you are looking for the perfect part for your next LEGO robot, look no further than these parts from the LEGO Mindstorms NXT theme. Motors and sensors make the perfect robotic details in this somewhat creepy bot by alex_ mocs that would give the Terminator a run for its money. The spines on its back also remind me of something from the game Horizon Zero Dawn. But if I had to choose my favorite part use, it would be the long bendy neck made from radar dishes

When the world is going to pieces, build your own doomsday bunker

Do you sometimes feel like the world is going to pieces? Like we’re building to the apocalypse that will be the downfall of civilization as we know it? If so, maybe you should try building your own desert bunker, just like the guy in this LEGO creation by hachiroku92. This cross-sectional vignette lets us get a good look at how this prepper will ride out the collapse beneath the desert sands. And as far as doomsday bunkers go, it’s pretty nice. There’s a sturdy reinforced access point, plenty of provisions, and even a nice sitting area. I’m less clear on what the voids above the bunker are, though, but maybe I’m not up on my doomsday prep.

And I wasn’t actually kidding about building your own doomsday bunker. While it’s not quite a parts list and instructions, Hachiroku92 has made a build video if you want to follow along at home.

LEGO Transformers get a “toon-up” with Omega Supreme

Way back in the mid-2000s, Hasbro launched a show and corresponding toy line known as “Transformers: Animated.” The title was no doubt a reference to the fact that Michael Bay was working to bring the Transformers franchise to live-action movies for the first time, and the corresponding Animated show was setting itself up to be everything the Bay franchise wasn’t: hand-drawn, on TV, well written, and over too soon. Hasbro managed to produce the majority of the main Animated cast in toy form so that fans of the series could continue to revisit this era of the franchise long after the show was canceled. But there was one major character that escaped our grasp and was never given a proper figure. Thankfully, Alan Yap has come to our rescue by delivering this LEGO rendition of Animated’s Omega Supreme.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Transformer without transforming, and Alan has us covered. Continue reading →

A lovely scene at the seashore

When you are feeling stressed out, where do you go to unwind and re-connect with nature? Maybe someplace like this tropical beach by Brickleas, built for an Iron Builder contest using the white radar dish piece, used quite skillfully as steps, a sign, and shades to block the sun on the roof. And in case you missed it, the seagulls as well. One of my favorite features, aside from the shack, is the sand and surf, using slopes and bricks in shades of tan, including dark tan for the sand at the water’s edge.

Morning at the Museum

True story; I had a chance to work after hours at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle. I was contracted to paint display backdrops for a Mars exhibit. It was late at night, long after the patrons and staff had gone home and a security guard and I were the only two people there. I can say with confidence that a museum at night is a strange and eerie place. Some lights are on, others are off and incidentally, they leave the animatronic dinosaurs turned on so they were moving and roaring throughout the night. This LEGO creation called Morning at the Museum by Alex Eylar reminds me of that experience. To be clear, the skeleton T-Rex is from this set but the environment Alex has built for it and the lighting makes this a stellar creation indeed. Alex is quite good at setting a mood in LEGO. Check out what I mean in our archives.