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.

Been spendin’ most their lives living’ in a Theives’ Paradise

Renowned LEGO builder Bart De Dobbelear tells us that “The golden city ruins of Kadena were renowned for their loot and riches.” Oooh! It’s ours for the taking, then. Look at all that beautiful gold! Book my flight, I’m calling in sick! But then he goes on to say; “Many thieves tried their luck, but only a handful escaped the clutches of the city’s guardians.” Wait, guardians? I knew there would be a catch! Cancel that flight. I am not sure if the crazy-haired crab-robots or the two thuggish-looking fellows are the thieves or guardians. Perhaps the guardians are unseen and they’re even bigger and hideous-er than what is pictured here. Either way, I want no part of it. My sense of adventure ends right at making cheap and awkward intros but it really goes no further than that. I’ll just be happy with the pay TBB gives us. Wait, they pay us, right? Don’t they? It’s hard to keep track when everything is direct deposit these days.

While I work that out with TBB’s Human Resources Department, you can check out why Bart De Dobbelear is in a league of his own when it comes to creating fabulous textures and far-out alien worlds. Wait, do we have a Human Resources Department?

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An X-wing of a different scale

How many different ways can you build a LEGO X-wing? It’s one of the most iconic ships for Star Wars, and builders have been trying their hand at it over and over, and some of these LEGO X-wings are quite spectacular. But most of them are minifigure scale, so what if you tried a different scale? That’s what Pascal has done, with this slightly smaller and lightly chibi-ized version. He first built it back in 2016, but recently returned to update it a bit, and the result is just lovely. Rather than being the perfect scale model of an X-wing, it looks like a perfect recreation of a toy X-wing, the sort of thing I’d have spent hours swooshing about as a kid making “pew-pew” noises.

Things are going swimmingly for this golden fish

This LEGO creation looks like something straight out of a steampunk world. Mihai Marius Mihu has built this intricately detailed mechanical fish, using a wide variation of parts. Wing and blade pieces represent fins, while there are all sorts of parts used across the body; branches, armour modules, claws and snakes. Around the eye, a tyre encompasses the pupil, represented by a crystal globe. The blue wing sections provide an excellent contrast to the golden colour scheme. It’s a fantastic build as you’re guaranteed to spot new clever details every time you look at it.

Horsing around under the sea with this LEGO seahorse

I have nothing but respect for any LEGO builder who participates in any Iron Builder challenge, the fan-driven challenge where a single seed piece is used in inspiring ways. The latest example is this build by -LittleJohn, where the seed part is the wind-up key in dark orange. Not only does it work perfectly as the wobbly bits along the seahorse’s back, but it also makes up the long kelp strings, held together by Minifig hands.

No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die.

This fun LEGO creation by Fedde Barendrecht reminds me why I love James Bond movies. There’s always a certain formula to it involving an eccentric baddie with a sweet lair and a massive ego. Instead of just covertly shooting Mr.Bond any maybe ending the series twenty-some-odd movies ago, they possess a flair for theatrics. Usually, they strap the suave not-so-secret agent to some buzzsaw-crotch contraption while methodically telling him in full detail how he’s going to die. This gives 007 plenty of time to not only escape the predicament but also have a martini and a romp in the sack with some pretty lass or another. Total classic Bond stuff! If you like this, then check out how Fedde Barendrecht tickles our funny bones as well as makes us a bit concerned for his well-being on occasion. Also James Bond stuff!

Iris escorts solving pirate problems

When it comes to me and LEGO, no one could doubt that I love spaceships, especially micro-scale ones like this. Full of miniaturized details, this carrier is a creation of Flickr builder Sunder_59. Various building techniques allow for an engaging structure throughout the ship. Lattice pillars in grey make up the central core of the cargo area in the middle of this Iris-class Ersatz escort carrier. Delightful micro-scale fighters sit attached, waiting to be deployed to defend from pirate attacks in the Outer Worlds. These Iris class ships were created for this purpose but weren’t built for full-on combat scenarios. In fact, this style of ship was originally a simple cargo ship until the pirate issues increased. After some power-ups, this class of ship was issued out to deter or intercept attacks. Just check out those fighters. Their different styles and clever but simple designs really suit the scale.

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A post-apocalyptic meat buffet

Some visions of the apocalypse involve dark, war-torn cities, some take place in barren deserts, while others speak of…some kind of Squid Game, somehow. This LEGO diorama by Insomnia Builds features a society of people who live in cabins on the ocean’s surface. At a quick distant glance, we see a collection of neat little cabins and even floating gardens. Aside from needing urgent roof repair, the denizens here seem quite content to live within their floating society. But with water comes scary tentacle monsters and that is precisely what they’re dealing with here. This piece bears the uncanny title of Meat Buffet and the apparently sleep-deprived builder serves up the caption of “I’m sure someone will eat meat today”. The thing is, we’re not sure if he means the people of this watery town or the tentacle monster. From the looks of things, it’ll probably be both!

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Small first step for man

Space is not my theme. There I’ve said it. But this little LEGO space build by Dan Ko is so cute that I can not not write about it. The LEGO baby got released in 2016 and redesigned in 2017. The little baby is displayed in the center of this lovely build but it is not the highlight of this creation for me. The use of the Vidiyo handle strapV is what sets this creation apart in my honest opinion. Sure the use of the toy winder key as treads is quite ingenious. I am, however, always amazed when a builder manages to use a LEGO part that is not directly compatible with the system bricks. It goes along great with the 6×6 dish with handlebars to create a round cabin for the little space rover. Making the cabin almost completely see-through sounds like an amazing plan when you want to discover your surroundings.

Studio Ghibli fans will love this incredible build from Howl’s Moving Castle

This amazing LEGO model perfectly captures the mismatched style of the mechanical castle from the anime film Howl’s Moving Castle. In the film, the castle walks on spindly legs, spluttering and puffing out smoke as it goes along, as indicated by the clouds of smoke rising from the various chimneys. You can tell that the model’s creator, Marcin Otręba, has carefully studied the original design as all the strange contraptions protruding out of the castle have been faithfully recreated in this small scale. In order to portray the circular brickwork under the domed turrets, rounded 1×2 plates have been angled to form ringlike patterns.

See more of this incredible model, including the interior

Paul puts the Funko in LEGO

If you’re ever in Everett, Washington be sure not to miss the Funko Headquarters Store. It’s like a museum of fun and pop culture. While I am not into Funko Pops per se, I still bring out-of-town friends there on occasion to see the sights and even I couldn’t resist buying a Godzilla boardgame and a Jiangshi hopping ghost figure. There’s likely something there for everyone. Paul Hetherington is a major Funko Funatic so he built the Funko Headquarters Store in LEGO. He has accurately portrayed the outside of the building with their retro Funko sign as well as their secondary sign stating that they are “purveyors of pop culture”.

Just like the actual building, the real feast for the senses lies within. Here Paul has accurately recreated the MARVEL room complete with Hulkbuster Ironman, the Hulk, and even the Green Goblin, Spider-Man, and Deadpool. It’s neat to see so many minifigues shopping for their favorite Pops. Paul has integrated several Funko Mystery Minis to emulate the large-scale POP characters both in and outside the building. But before you LEGO purists have a conniption fit about it, if you’re an adult fan of LEGO, chances are you might have a few other toys lying around too. So why not integrate them? There’s plenty of custom sticker work here to upset the purists as well. The last time we upset LEGO purists we received a record number of complaints from folks with AOL email addresses. Fun!

Another amazing section of the store that is also a treat for the senses is the fabulously retro Pop Factory. Here you can create any Funko Pop you want. Why you could even Funko Pop-ify your own curmudgeonly mug complete with a 90’s-era-heavy-metal-guy goatee, steely gaze, and devil-may-care attitude. But I definitely didn’t think about doing that so don’t get that idea in your head!

The Funko Headquarters Store also has a Harry Potter room, Star Wars room…OK, I won’t spoil it all for you but definitely go there sometime to see for yourselves. But before you do, check out why Paul Hetherington is among our favorite LEGO artists.

Locked up in Tower #7

Continuing his series of architecture inspired designs, builder F@bz adds this futuristic tower. Suitable for a scene from a superhero movie, the multiple levels are created with the clever use of Minifigure handcuff pieces. Layered on top of each other and overlapping between levels around the structure, the cuffs are nestled as close together as they can. This repetition leads to a satisfying result, especially when contrasted with the colorful, picturesque landscape of the base. The well-manicured hedges and trees line either side of a pink and gold road leading right up to the ground floor of the tower.

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I love putting the gin in gingerbread

There are a few things that really get me in the Christmas mood. One of them is a LEGO gingerbread house. Over the years, LEGO has produced more specialized LEGO parts, and they often come in white. It never stops to amaze me to see how fans use these pieces in their gingerbread houses. This however is not the case for John Snyder. They have been getting creative with the toy winder key for a seed part challenge. If this build is completely symmetrical, which gingerbread houses often are, more than 50 winder keys are used in this build. But it’s not just the use of the winder keys that is very creative. The inclusion of the old window is very nice and makes it look like there is no physical door; it’s just outlines piped on with icing. The house comes with candy canes, gifts, pine trees covered in snow, and lollipops that use a dish that to me at first was unfamiliar. At first, I thought it was from a Belville fairy set, but it turns out to be a Friends part.

Check out more LEGO gingerbread houses here.