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.

If biting doesn’t work, this shark can transform into a mech!

Moko amazes us again with another incredible transformable mech build. The shark mode is the first form, which has a smooth-looking texture across its body; perfect for gliding through the water. The metallic teeth in the mouth suggest that this model is ready to chomp down on its enemies. The sections for the robotic form are so tightly packed away that you might forget there is actually a mech hidden within.

If the shark mode is not causing enough damage, the machine can transform into its formidable mech mode. There are a few surprising details within this mode; the first is that the previous form divides at the mouth, with the split sections becoming part of the shoulders. Another intriguing detail is that the arms are portrayed by horse saddle pieces from the Belville sets. The gun is reminiscent of weapons used in mecha shows, even down to the pink scope.

Moko has a created a build that looks fantastic in both of its modes. The transformation is fascinating and can be viewed in the video below. Parts are stretched out, lower sections are twisted and turned, all resulting in a smooth and clever conversion process between the modes.

Check out more of our articles, relating to transformable models, here.

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PoweredUp record player with brick-built melodies

If there’s one thing people in my life know about me, it’s my love of LEGO. I’ve probably bored enough of them out of their mind at this point to recognize when their eyes begin to glaze over as they start thinking of their groceries. So when something like this comes along and even non-LEGO fanatics are fascinated by it, I relish the moment. This model surely deserves attention, but it’s one you have to hear to appreciate. A stroke of ingenuity led builder Peter Zieske to create this adorable, azure record player that actually works.

The music notes adorning the sides are clever decorations made possible by the Trolls line. A brick-built speaker and knob on the front complete the pleasing clamshell design which opens up to reveal the needle and the turntable.

Let’s take a peek under the record and see how the magic is made. Thanks to a Boost Color sensor and an app, Peter was able to elevate this from imitation to working model. The sensor reads the different colored circular tiles under the brick-built record and communicates with the app to play different tones. I imagine Peter was pretty excited to get this working so the Ode to Joy is quite an appropriate first song.

Packed away inside the beautiful body of this model, in addition to the color sensor, is a motor for the turntable and a Powered UP hub to control it all. The technology fits nicely inside the frame, especially when you consider that this isn’t a full-sized record player.

This is an impressive build that suggests the possibilities that LEGO provides us. I can’t help but imagine how many songs could be made with this or what a few more color sensors and a bigger turntable could do. Models like this can go beyond the lines of diehard LEGO fans to music fans and record collectors. Builder Peter Zieske should put on his favorite record, sit back, and savor this accomplishment.

Like a bridge over troubled waters

One thing better than a model by a super-skilled LEGO builder is a model by two super skilled LEGO builders. Joe (jnj_bricks) and Brick Ninja teamed up to create the Temple of the Rising Sun, a moment of battle captured for RebelLUG’s Kingdoms at War II contest. Brick Ninja handled the foreground’s battle scene, fortress, and bridge. Joe created the temple and background landscapes. The cool thing to me is how integrated both builds are. The repeated motifs of circular gold rings, wall textures, vegetation style, and red accents unify the two creations into a seamless whole.

Brick Ninja’s fortress is alive with interesting shapes and creative part usage in the torches. The bridge is elegant and action-packed. And be sure to spend some time zooming in on the background to appreciate the great forced perspective building from Joe. And when you’ve soaked up all you can from this image, go look in our archives for more great temple builds!

A starfish among the stars

LEGO builder Cagerrin wasn’t planning on participating in SHIPtember, but a late-night bolt of inspiration couldn’t be ignored. And so the Aposemate Sidputante of the Nth Coterie was born.

After a year spent mostly designing seafaring vessels, it’s no wonder that Cagerrin’s inspiration for this interstellar digital build is rooted in the ocean. While there’s no doubt that this behemoth is a product of a technologically advanced intelligence, there are plenty of details that give it an almost organic quality. I particularly like the way the alternating pattern of bars and magic wands create realistic spines on the sides of each arm.

This sun-dappled battle is pretty brutal

Sun Tzu said, “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” However, if you absolutely have to engage in combat, then why not take a leaf out of LEGO builder Simulterious‘ book and deploy a band of fearsome samurai armed with a cartload of rockets? This is a great little battle scene — soldiers scrapping over control of a pagoda-styled tower whilst gunpowder-driven projectiles fly all over the place. The walls of the building are nicely textured, creating a weathered effect and a sense of age, and the surrounding landscaping is well done with the rockwork suggesting a craggy hilltop in a wider forest. But it’s the photography and lighting which elevates this model into something special. I don’t know if this battle is taking place at sunrise or sunset, but the low hazy sun makes for a very pretty skirmish indeed.

Recreating the Rubensstrasse with LEGO

Anyone who has ever been in the process of remodelling a house has experienced the point where you just want it to be finished. For my home renovation, that moment came about one month ago. Although we are nowhere near finished, seeing this awesome LEGO creation by Aukbricks makes me look forward to having a finished home myself. Don’t let this sleek design fool you, as this creation is made on quite a large scale. Each floor is about 11 bricks high. For reference, the lamp post element used for the street lights is 7 bricks high, which is quite tall for a LEGO piece. But here it looks quite tiny compared to this wonderful build. Aukbricks has such an amazing eye for details, with every house having its own garden, curtains and plants in the windowsill. The design is based on the Rubensstrasse 11 to 19 in Düsseldorf, Germany, which gives you all the opportunity to look these buildings up online just to see what an amazing job Aukbricks did on representing them in the brick.

The loneliness of the long-distance rover

Simple, striking, and evocative — Jan Woznica‘s tiny LEGO space scene is a genuine thing of beauty. I love everything about this, from the “studs as tracks” left in the cute rollerskate rover’s wake, to the twin crescent moons hanging above. But my favourite part has to be the wonderful retro colourways in that stylised sunset — it’s like something from a poster for a 70s sci-fi movie.

All stings considered (A second look at the Hornet Queen)

It seems like just yesterday that we featured the Hornet Queen by Moko. Turns out she is more than just an imposing figure with amazing hair…the Queen’s armor and weapons detach and combine to an equally cool looking hornet! Those great Bionicle wings are a key feature, but my favorite touch has to be the transparent green minifigure helmet accessory used for the eyes. Super creepy looking! You can check out how things combine after the jump, too.

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This LEGO warship is the pride of the seas

What’s the worst thing a pirate can see on the horizon? LEGO builder Elephant-Knight displays his answer, the mighty HMS Redoubtable. Flying the colors of the LEGO version of the Royal Navy, the HMS Redoubtable is a 112-gun warship capable of eliminating any pirate vessel on the seven seas. This model has beautiful sails and incredible hull curvature. I love the use of both blue and yellow to draw your eyes to the guns better. I think the part of the ship that took the longest to build must have been all of the rope riggings on the sails. I honestly don’t have the patience to do all of that.

Click to see more of the HMS Redoubtable

Two-tone spaceship is one nice model

If you only take a look at one big grey LEGO spaceship today then it should be this one — put together by F@bz. Big grey spaceships are often… (how can I put this politely?) …maybe a little dull? But this one is a cracker, primarily down to those large patterned areas on the spaceship’s front section. They’re built using 1×4 shooter parts, whose split colours and diagonal details make for some interesting shapes amidst the “alien language meets corrupted bitmap” feel of the futuristic decoration.

Whilst the camo-style patterns up front might capture the initial attention, there’s further good use of shooter parts around the craft’s bridge area. It’s Technic shooters this time, providing a nice bit of texture along the ship’s sides to complement all that lovely greebling up top…

Space battleship inspired by US Navy ships is on-target

Some spaceship builders take their inspiration from science fiction movies or video games, while others use real-world inspiration, like NASA. But some of the most interesting sources, in my opinion, are naval vessels. Maybe it’s because I remember watching Starblazers (Space Battleship Yamato) when I was twelve. Battleships, fighter jets, and submarines in space? Count me in. From the looks of this amazing space destroyer, Ryan Olsen agrees. His original SHIP (built for SHIPtember) looks like a combination of a submarine and a battleship, with a symmetrical central fuselage bristling with an array of railguns, cannons, missile launchers, and even a few Modulex parts, is full of great details. One detail I love are several hardpoints or small docking ports along the center of each side where smaller ships could dock.

Another naval inspiration is the complex bridge and conning tower, which is covered in sensors, targeting scanners, and communication relays.

A fun fact about Ryan’s SHIP building process is that he often starts his models in a digital format using only parts that exist in real life, in currently available colors for added authenticity, and to explore many details quickly in order to perfect his designs. With his digital design complete, he created a fun info-graphic to point out the many points of interest on his space battleship.

Architecture worth traveling light years for.

The Antechamber. An otherworldly room on the edge of space and time. In this LEGO build by Disty, two intergalactic travelers have come face-to-face for the first time. Will they be friends or foes? Will they enlighten each other about the secrets of the cosmos? Or are they just going to spend as much time admiring those pillars as I have?

It’s probably that last one.

The builder has found an exceptional use for a part that most people might discard as too specialized and has turned no less than 32 Bionicle arms into the framework of a wondrous piece of architecture. The result is a build that’s equal parts “sci-fi epic” and “art museum atrium.” It’s taken five years to get the design exactly right, and the final results are definitely worth it. The colors of the room pair perfectly with the printing on the globe positioned in the center of the room, and the dark purple on the Metroid Prime-inspired alien gives the whole scene a perfect pop.