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.

Weather or not you like this mech, it’s great

When looking for hyper-realistic mechs with great part usage, you know you can count on Marco Marozzi to provide the goods. The Marine N3 Mech feels even more realistic than usual, too, with that great weathering. But don’t discount the minifigure rebreather accessory in the helmet, the snowshoes in the feet, and those decidedly old-school Throwbot visors as shoulder pads. Marco is sometimes known for bending LEGO “purist” rules and incorporating parts from “other leading brick brands”, and I think I see a few of them here, too. But once again, I can’t complain because the end result is just so sweet.

Continue reading →

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.

Headdress of an Aztec king

The famous Aztec ruler Montezuma was fierce and massively successful at expanding his empire by conquering opponents – until he wasn’t. After reigning for over 17 years, he was killed during the Spanish conquest. His purported headdress (likely not actually his) was stolen by Hernán Cortés and currently sits in an Austrian museum. It and the slightly less flamboyant headdresses of Maya and Aztec warriors are now a big part of popular culture. They’ve even been regularly depicted in LEGO, both officially (recent and old), and through custom models like this one, by John Snyder.

Of course, what makes this build so cool is not necessarily the history of the subject matter. What makes it awesome is the excellent use of parts. The green feather elements are naturally perfect, but can you see how they’re attached? The use of green cable clips is genius! Other things to look for are the alternating modified plates for the feathers in the back, hands for accents, and the interesting use of a Technic differential gear for the pedestal.

As you likely know, John is a prolific builder, and we’ve featured his work many times. I’m sure we can expect more great things very soon. And while you wait, check out some other Aztec-Inspired builds.

Paying homage to the Ninjago Legacy

LEGO has come up with a series of tenth anniversary Ninjago Legacy sets and we’re all pretty thrilled, by golly. Here at The Brothers Brick we’ve done extensive review after review for these sets and it would seem Ninjago fever isn’t going away anytime soon. A builder who goes by the name of Woomy World has done a neat thing, though. They managed to pay homage to the Ninjago Legacy without flooding the build with Minifigures or spinners. This is a reimagining of the Oni and the Dragon, creatures that inhabit the first realm and play a central role in the lineage of the Green Ninja.

Each is quite impressive on its own. Here is the ferocious dragon sculpture with its many golden blades used as wings.

Followed by the fearsome Oni sculpture in black and trans-purple.

While the identity of this builder is a mystery, they have been on our radar at least a couple of times now. With build techniques and parts usage this good, we’ll surely be on the lookout for whatever else they may do in the future.

That’s a big cat, in small form

Building great-looking LEGO cars at minifigure scale is always a challenge, but it’s made at least a little easier by choosing a vehicle with fairly straight lines. Of course, that doesn’t mean that builder Jonathan Elliott has been slacking off with this 1968 Mercury Cougar, as there are tons of great details here. One of the best is the side mirrors, made with grey lever bases stuck onto 1×2 panels. Plus we can’t overlook the fact that Jonathan attempted the whole thing in teal, which, while it’s seeing a recent resurgance in official sets, is still a very limiting color.

A blue cottage to stave off those COVID blues

In many parts of the world, if you’ve been following COVID safety protocols correctly, you may be itching to get out of the house right about now. Thankfully there is such a thing as contact-free check-in and this cottage may have the cure for what ails us. Is it called cabin fever when you want to leave the house to stay in a cabin? Whatever it’s called, Andrea Lattanzio’s stunning blue LEGO cottage is a sight for sore eyes. The round door and windows, the woodpile under the eave, and the weathered ramshackle texture make this a cottage I’d love to stay at for a weekend or even a month. The fall leaves, the skylights, the birdhouse, and even the mushrooms out front make for a picturesque vacation setting.

I can even forgive the skunk for paying a visit. They don’t spray when you treat them with respect and I’m willing to respect the skunk and all the other woodland creatures for a stay in this cottage. Andrea was The Brothers Brick Builder of the Year in 2019 for good reason. Check out our archives to see what else Andrea Lattanzio has been up to.

Woman Yelling at a Cat, but in LEGO

Is it really even a meme until TBB alumn Iain Heath has immortalized in LEGO form? I think there’s a strong case to be made that it’s not. And so, another meme enters the hallowed company as the poor cat being yelled at by Taylor Armstrong and Kyle Richards from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills gets the brick makeover. Now you can express your feelings of helpless confusion as a cat being yelled at for absolutely no reason whatsoever, but in LEGO!

An intimidating armada responds to an alien invasion

If you are planning to respond to a garbled distress call involving aliens of unknown intent, it is wise to bring as much firepower as possible, as spaceship builder Ryan Olsen knows full well. Building a fleet that is recognizable as being part of a larger faction comes down to using certain design elements that can be repeated at different sizes to fit the design of ships with unique purposes, and Ryan pulls this off beautifully. Take the very back of each ship, which includes a blue stripe in the middle of a larger white stripe.

Repetition is another key building technique, and you can see several examples of a simple curved shape, or part, like the ski part used in several ships, and even re-created in brick form for the larger ship. In this close-up of one of the ships, you can also see how a simple part like the dark gray storage container (used as a thruster cowl), can add just the right amount of texture and visual interest.

Prepare to defend Helm’s Deep!

Embedded into the base of a mountain, Helm’s Deep was the castle retreat of last resort for the people of Rohan as told in The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien. Builder Patrick B. shares his micro rendition of the fabled fortress.

Known as the Hornburg for its sounding horn at the top of the castle’s spire, Helm’s Deep is every castle junkie’s favorite location. Patrick spares no expense in detailing the tiniest features in his tiny version of the castle. From the wooden palisades over the main gate to the curved ramp leading up to it. The small culvert is there, as are the windows of the main keep. Building everything within a black frame is a nice display touch as well. Helm Hammerhand himself would be proud of this magnificent tribute to the Rohirrim fortress that bears his name.

A flower is worth a thousand bricks

LEGO may have released an official Flower Bouquet set now, but that doesn’t mean they’ve got a monopoly on great-looking life-sized flowers made out of plastic bricks. This beautiful orchid by James Zhan shows that there are a lot more possibilities waiting to be explored. This one comes in a lovely 2×2 brick vase (something the official set lacked) and isn’t just cut flowers but instead the whole orchid plant. Look closely and you’ll even spot some bamboo stakes that help hold the flowers aloft. And my favorite detail is the succulent planted at the base, a common accompaniment to potted orchids.

Ice cold shenanigans at the Gotham Museum

We’ve seen several very impressive Batcaves over the years but poor Mr. Freeze has been largely thus far given the cold shoulder. Until now. Brothers Brick alumni Tim Lydy invests several months and an ungodly amount of LEGO bricks, both stock and custom, to give Mr. Freeze a fitting lair complete with about seventy individual LED lights. The exterior of the museum is quite impressive with its textured brickwork and massive Spartan statues flanking central Greek-style columns. The icy ornamentation along the top and the frozen tail to the right offers just a glimpse of what’s inside. Let’s take a tour, shall we?

Continue reading →

The icy halls of the frozen north

If there’s one word that encapsulates Jeff Friesen‘s LEGO models more than any other for me, it’s “clean.” His builds always seem to have every single piece precisely where it ought to be. And his latest one looks like it’s from a picture book of the ideal Viking winter world (unlike hellish purgatory of Valheim that’s all the rage right now). This microscale creation doesn’t have any obviously new or even unusually innovative techniques, and yet it’s absolutely splendid from the snowcapped peaks to the tiny longships. The village spreading across the slopes with their tiny mounds of snow on top, and the two giant waterwheels give this settlement a fairytale aspect that I can’t get enough of.

Jeff was the winner of The Brothers Brick 2017 Creation of the Year and it’s well worth checking out the other builds we featured in our archives: Jeff Friesen LEGO creations.

A black and white ride for the Red Planet

Here’s a fun fact: while here, on Earth, we often design our vehicles to merge with the environment, on Mars, the more attention your rover gets, the better. And since the planet is red, even black and white will do. Cole Blaq knows how to make a rover remarkable with an unusual cockpit structure while keeping the rest basic. It has just the right amount of detailing, with neat headlights in the front and very suitable stickers in the back. And why would you need more when your rover has rims like these?