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.

These Irises were made for walkin’, and that’s just what they’ll do.

The walking iris is an interesting plant. When it reproduces, new plantlets form at the top of the flower stalks. This added weight causes the stalks to bend to the ground, where the new plants take root. Repeat that a few times, and you have a flower that “walks” around the garden. This exceptional botanical recreation by James Zhan captures the unique beauty of this plant, and adds in a swanky LEGO base to boot.

Seen close up, you can appreciate the building techniques that have gone into the flowers. There’s some very clever part usage including minifigure ski poles and crowns, as well as a 1×1 plate used as a tiny mosaic to give the petals a splash of color. I also like the varied joints in the greenery, allowing for some very organic curves.

Flowers have always been a popular theme for custom LEGO creations, and we’ve seen some great sets coming directly from LEGO recently, too. What sort of botanical build do you want to try?

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Gnomeo oh Gnomeo wherefore live thou Gnomeo

Patrick Bohn always manages to put really new and really old parts in his creation. This little cute cottage is no exception of this. The older parts are the 4×4 mushroom top (2002) and the barrel in medium blue (2001). The newer parts are the stem with thorns (2021), the quarter round tiles (2017) and the rock claw plate (also 2017). The last part has been used brilliantly to mimic a straw roof. Patricks mixing of old and new elements shows how LEGO keeps evolving but still keeps in touch with their past. Special mentions go out to the cattle horn grass, the curved minifigure stand tree and the brick build wheel barrel.

Crouching golem, hidden puma

Jonas Kramm never stops to amaze me. He always manages to incorporate the weirdest parts in the most original manner. This golem is no exception. I know for sure that this golem would not get past border security because it is smuggling contraband. There is at least one troll (minus the arms) and two pumas hiding in this golem figure. The foliage and little critters attached to the golem’s back add to the likability of this critter. It is also nice to see the 4×4 Belville mushroom top. The entire creation looks mystical and magical.

A race to the Moon? Challenge accepted.

Noblebun is one of the best sci-fi LEGO builders out there, proving that title with his newest creation, the V-X Vera.

“Roaring into the spaceport was the most beautiful ship I’ve ever seen in all my days. With a lean white bow and gleaming engines, she settled down into my docking bay. I thought I was lucky to just catch a glimpse of her, but now she could be mine to care for,” — Rhys Wheelright, chief of maintenance, Colony One.
Continue reading →

LEGO Goes Super Saiyan

Dragon Ball Z is a beloved animated show with many fans across generations, there’s definitely no need for a scouter to check out this LEGO model built by nobu_tary, surely its power level is above 9000. Here we have a figural model of the main protagonist of the series, Goku, in his super Saiyan form. The majority of Goku’s body is fashioned out of orange slopes in a variety of types and sizes, along with tan pieces to flesh out his face and arms. Dark blue bricks and tiles help render Goku’s boots, belt, and t-shirt. The signature spiky golden super Saiyan hair is comprised of slopes and bricks in yellow. A hero factory 1×1 printed round tile is cleverly used here to portray the Kame symbol typically shown on his gi. Nobu_tary also sticks in a couple LEGO dragon wings behind Goku, paying homage to the show’s namesake. Overall it’s always great to see uncommon colors and pieces coming together for an uncommon build – I haven’t seen a ton of models based on Dragon Ball Z.

Mum says it’s my turn to fly the X-wing!

It seems that Star Wars is experiencing a baby fever. We’ve had enough of surprise fathers, sisters, and *tries not to throw up* grandfathers, so I welcome the new and unexpected. Recently a certain cute green gremlin took pop-culture by storm, and replaced Minions as the default for Facebook mom memes. It’s 2021 and I still see the words “chiccy nuggies” and “choccy milk” in the same sentence. But whatever, babies are cute. Andreas Lenander has caught the bug and built a babyfied X-wing and some baby rebels.

All jokes aside, I really like this babyfied idea for being a new unique take on Star Wars. Just a few weeks ago I wrote about a small build by my friend Ross, where baby Greedo confronts baby Han over a bottle of blue milk. And Andreas’s build is really well done. The walls of the Yavin base offer plenty of variety in detail to keep it from becoming bland and boring. Andreas keeps the X-wing as accurate to the source material as he can, despite the small size. It’s a really difficult ship to get right, even in larger sizes. So big applause to Andreas, he won me over with this build, and not because of the babies.

Caught the baby fever? There are some more baby creations to see…
Or had enough of babies? Check out Andreas’s other builds that we’ve featured. No babies in those, I promise!

And boy, have we patented it!

Every year on January 28, we celebrate the day the LEGO brick was born. On that day in 1958, LEGO submitted the world-famous patent for the new brick design. Despite having an iconic meaning for the worldwide community, so far, hardly anyone has tried to recreate the document with plastic bricks! BrickinNick is here to fix the situation with an awesome rendition of one of the patent’s pages. A flat “paper” piece includes all the notes and comments combining both brick-built and printed ones. But the best part, of course, is the 3D bricks in various angles and cross-sections. Nick perfectly captures different drawing styles on the patent documents, like crosshatching, placing plates the other way around. The contrast between the surfaces is spot-on, and I wish a model like this one would be turned into another LEGO House exclusive set.

Not your average farmer’s market

No matter what day of the week it is, it’s always nice to go to the local farmer’s market. Not only are the food and goods top-notch, they also have a nice atmosphere. Not unlike Andrew Tate‘s village grocer, which has a charming house rather than tents and food stalls. No doubt the fruits and vegetables sold outside in crates are locally grown, given the small-town feel of the build. The ground floor has a small convenience shop, and the rest of the house must be where the owners live.

Andrew pays homage to a more famous LEGO grocer, a popular Modular Building set from 2008. The green and tan awning is similarly to the blue and white awning of the LEGO set, and both share the same white Fabuland lamp-posts. Andrew also references LEGO’s Winter Village series with this village grocer’s alpine architecture. It fits right in there, minus the cold and snow. Come to think of it, what’s Winter Village like when it’s not winter?

Surfer bike pays homage to a pioneer in LEGO racing

As a 90’s kid, I have an unironic love for early 2000’s LEGO products. The classic trendsetters, Star Wars and Harry Potter are well-liked. Others, like Bionicle, may be questionable by some but have their niche following. And then there are Galidor and Jack Stone, which most of the LEGO community looks down on. I love it all since it shaped my childhood and adulthood, and I’m thankful that builders like Djokson feel the same way. His latest creation, Smog Ocean Surfer, looks like just an ordinary, colourful sci-fi bike and rider. It doesn’t have anything to do with the themes I mentioned, right? Maybe a reimagining of Roboriders? Or maybe it’s more obscure…

I hope I wasn’t the only one who recognised the blue and yellow colour scheme with the grey, monster-like, and cute rider. I’m surprised I remembered the long-forgotten Xalax racers… This build is a reimagining of 4567 Surfer, a set from the first wave of LEGO Racers back in 2001. These small Xalax racers were LEGO’s answer to Hotwheels and similar McDonald’s Happy Meal toys with their outlandish nature. With their element and weapon-themed colour schemes, They felt like a non-Technic successor to Roboriders. The pilots were small, goofy chibi monsters were head and shoulders, and the cars had a slammer system to launch them.

Some assembly required indeed

I was an avid model kit builder as a teenager and young adult. There’s one hobby that brought my model building days to an abrupt end and that involved the rediscovery of LEGO. Still, it’s neat to see a builder like Kale Frost illustrate the love for my old hobby with pieces from my newer one. The cutting mat, paint tubes, pencils, the Exacto blade, even the plastic parts on the sprue are all built from LEGO. With sanding, gluing, and painting there certainly were a lot of steps involved in building models. I still have a few kits in my art room closet. Perhaps this might inspire me to rediscover the hobby. If not, it at least provided fond memories of building models in the basement while listening to my parents’ Black Sabbath tapes. Yes, I said tapes! And Black Sabbath. And parents.

Spending quarantine in outer space

I think everyone can agree that when lockdown started last year, it was the best time to get out our LEGO bricks and start building. I mean, what better things are there to do? You might as well build something big like a spaceship! That’s what Italian builder Tommaso Ferrarese did, with his aptly named FR2020 Quarantine.

This spaceship consists of over 4000 pieces in Classic Space colours, and is suited for prolonged voyages in the distant reaches of space. The double large windscreen gives the two pilots plenty of social distancing room to spend a long time in isolation. The two massive engines have enough fuel to last… however long lockdown goes for. I certainly wouldn’t mind spending lockdown inside this ship, as long as I have some LEGO pieces to build with!

Check out some more spaceship creations that people built during lockdown!

We come from the land of ice and snow...

Back in 2005, LEGO came up with a stunning Vikings theme that captured our imaginations for years afterwards. I wish they would (ahem) revisit the line again (ahem). Are you listening, LEGO? I wish you’d revisit the Vikings line. (Cough, cough COUGH!) Pardon me, it must have been one of those dry prickles you get sometimes. Anyway, Ivan Martynov takes us back to a simpler time when I had other haircut options and the world seemed full of possibilities. This stunning Vikings-inspired Krakenveiðar creation looks like it would be fun to play with. That’s because it is a reimagining of a prototype of a set that never came to be. He even used the Vikings logo of yore. Care to have your minds blown? Check out the prototype. Care to have your minds blown again? Then check out the other times we totally freaked out over Ivan’s stuff.