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.

Rocco Buttliere builds 1st-century Jerusalem in microscale from 114,000 LEGO bricks

Master LEGO architect Rocco Buttliere is no stranger to recreating massive landmarks in LEGO form. In the past he’s built Mount Rushmore, Vatican City, and even ancient Rome. But now he’s managed to top himself with what may be his largest project to date, a 1:650 scale city of Jerusalem as it appeared in the first century. Consisting of 114,000 pieces, this massive LEGO build is the result of over 500 hours of design time and 400 hours of build time.

This is a work you could truly get lost in, so let’s dive right into the details, starting with the Second Temple on Temple Mount in the center of the city.

Click through for a guided tour of some of the city’s highlights

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Cat squadron, standing by!

Sometimes you and your buddies see something nice that you want to build in LEGO. It could be anything, inspiration is all around us. I (Mansur “Waffles” Soeleman) have a close circle of fellow builders that we like to call “vehicle dudes” and “teal squadron.” Consisting of Caleb Ricks, Gubi, Thomas Jenkins, Pande (Malen Garek), Tim Goddard, Tom Loftus (Inthert) and more, we get on a group call on Friday evenings and build. During this time, we discuss things that happen in the world of LEGO, Star Wars, and everything in between. It is during one of these remote group build sessions that we discovered artist Spacegooose and their colourful starfighter drawings.

It was their similarity to Star Wars ships that drew us into building them. Their varying styles and functions have enough similarity to belong to one group, and so our builds became a small collaboration. With blessings from the artist who eagerly awaits their designs in LEGO form, we decided to include our own artistic spin as well as matching the original artwork.

Click for detailed pictures and descriptions of each spaceship

The old mill at sunset

The lighting in this LEGO creation by Benjamin Stenlund is simply stunning. It looks like the sun is slowly setting (or rising) illuminating only one side of the building. I actually had to look twice to make sure the building wasn’t made of tan and dark tan bricks (note I might be a bit color blind). The spoilers make not only great mill blades but also great roof shingles. The best used part in this creation has to be the plain old jumper plate. They are used to create the insets where the underlying bricks are visible. The effect is simply stunning. It looks like the plastering crumbled down on several spots of the building. Last but not least, can you spot Groot?

This is the Batman (conversion) we deserve [Instructions]

When the LEGO DC comes 76182 Batman Cowl was first revealed, something felt a little off, well to me at least. Builder Glen Tanner fixed it well and fixed it well with some inspiration from the 40386 Brick Sketches: Batman.

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Living atop the wave-worn coastal rocks

Grant Davis never ceases to inspire with his exceptional LEGO creations. This adorable cottage is far from some craggy shack. The color combos and shape set the stage for visions of a quaint ocean hideaway. But it’s tough to decide if the best details come from the sand blue spoilers used for clapboard siding, or the magnificent rocky outcropping upon which it sits. The seamless transition from the smooth boulder foundation to the building is excellent. One can also appreciate the conical hat used as a barrel lid, and skates used as door handles.

While you’re here you should check out some of Grant’s other work. Also, take a peek at some other excellent cottages and all sorts of landscape techniques.

Breaking the surface…

It’s such a simple technique, but I’m honestly not sure I’ve ever seen anyone mix dark bluish gray and light bluish gray to produce the illusion of wet and dry stone before. I certainly haven’t seen it done as well as Hubba Blöoba accomplishes it here. The details of this ancient pillar are replicated as perfect mirrors of each other above and below the surface of the water. It makes it easy to imagine how hot to the touch the light bluish gray stone is, after baking in the coastal sunshine. Or how slippery the dark bluish gray stone would prove to be for any treasure hunters exploring these ruins on the search for lost swords or rings of power.

Every piece is awesome!

When the recent Everyone is Awesome set was released celebrating diversity and inclusion, it was a huge moment. While it certainly had its detractors, a large swath of LEGO fans, particularly those in LGBTQIA+ community were thrilled. A set that celebrates Pride Month coming from the largest toy company in the world was quite a statement. The fact that it was created by the openly gay Senior VP of Design at LEGO, Matthew Ashton, made it even more meaningful. Taking the set as inspiration, my husband and LEGO Masters partner Richard and I began a month-long build challenge on Instagram using the hashtag #rainbowbuildchallenge. As of the writing of this article there have been over 500 individual builds focusing on the joyful message the set represents.

For our contribution, we decided to forge some new territory for us: the greebled mosaic. It’s something we’ve wanted to tackle for a while and this seemed the perfect opportunity. It was quite an interesting challenge and pointed to the fact that some colors just don’t have a huge variety of interesting parts. The bright light blue section was quite difficult to complete and oddly, so was brown (at least in our collection). We still managed to fill a 48×48 baseplate with enough objects to provide some interesting texture and a sort of “I spy” game. In keeping with the original messaging of the Everyone is Awesome set, we used the monochrome figures from it, laying head to head around a central focused heart. We imagined them all lying down together, staring at the sky and thinking of a world where everyone feels included and represented.

If you would like to participate in the Rainbow Build Challenge, you can find a post about it on our Instagram page.

This amazing LEGO comic book cover shows both Spider-Man and Venom

When I was a kid I was a sucker for toys, t-shirts, candy or books with a lenticular printing. Lenticular printing is a technology in which lenticular lenses are used to produce printed images with an illusion of depth, or the ability to change or move as the image is viewed from different angles. Back in the 90’s it was everywhere! Okay Yaramanoglu used a whole lot of LEGO cheese slopes in their latest creation to achieve this effect.

From one side we can see everyone’s favorite neighborhood hero, Spider-Man. But shift it a bit and his nemesis Venom is pictured. This pairing of good vs evil makes a perfect subject to use the lenticular technique on. And best yet, the build is not made to look like a framed picture or a poster, but rather it’s built to look like an actual comic book, complete with binding, book cover, differently colored pages on the inside and a barcode on the cover.

The Blue Beetle Brigade

Grant Davis must know I am partial to a good brick-built insect. It is my dream to one day have framed Entomology display made entirely out of LEGO bricks. Now all I have to do is convince my partner that this is suitable decoration for a living room. These wonderful bugs by Grant might help me convince him. The body of the beetle is build using the vehicle spoiler for the antennas Grant used minifigure whips. There is an interesting mixture of brown parts used in the making of the branch. The flower on the branch must be some sort of parasitic plant species because it looks like it is not part of the branch itself. The eggs used for flowers petals is a very lovely touch and the presentation of this creation is simply sublime.

This little light of mine... is locking on target

I’ve been following Goth Bricks 2000 for some time, and the LEGO mechs they create are nothing short of stunning, both in size and in posture. Recently they started to add lights into their mech models, and the effect is fantastic, adding the perfect touch of menace to take these mechanical monsters to the next level. This latest pair look like they could put the hurt on just about any foe.

“You must realise, you are doomed.”

The title is a quote, recited by our favourite coughing cyborg from Star Wars. This brilliant LEGO build by Marcin Otreba captures the essence of General Grievous’ grim looking form. The skull-like features of the helmet are well defined and detailed while still staying true to the thin alien style of the head. But the best part has to be the piercing eyes of the model. Created simply by a tooth plate over a gold circular piece, this technique captures the animalistic nature in Grievous’ eyes. The use of dark red as flesh around the eyes suggests that there might be something even worse under this menacing mask.

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Every dinosaur is awesome!

Ever since the new Everyone is Awesome LEGO set celebrating Pride was revealed, there have been a number of LEGO creations hitting the internet inspired by this very colorful set. As a fan of BrickHeadz and the Jurassic World set featuring the aptly named “blue”, I had to jump on this rainbow of velociraptors by Kristel, a wonderful line-up that celebrates dinosaurs everywhere in all their colors.