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.

Why buy a new speeder when you can build one?

Does your speeder jerk when accelerating? Or maybe you started noticing that ticking noise coming from the engines after the oil change? I think you should stop by Alexander Blais‘ garage. It’s not the fanciest one, and they might not be accepting credits, but these guys know their trade. Look at all the crates and boxes lying around; some say there is no such spare part they don’t have here in the garage. And forget about silly service droids. You don’t want to trust your lovely speeder to a soulless machine, do you?

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Who you calling’ Shorty?

Sometimes bigger projects get furloughed by a lack of parts and waiting on orders. In the meantime, Isaac W. has whipped up this LEGO Volkswagen T1 Shorty with the parts he had on hand. It reminds me a bit of the zinger custom car phenomenon of the 70’s. What’s neat is the 15-stud long kayak is just slightly longer than this Shorty T1. Cool, right?

Hospitality on hold

LEGO builder Alex Eylar captures the mood of many with his latest creation Lonely Chef. Alex says he’s missing restaurants during the current lockdown, but in this melancholy composition he also manages to communicate the quiet despair felt by many in the hospitality industry. I’ve spent my entire working life in the bar and drinks trade, and right now it feels like I’m watching the whole industry slide off a cliff in slow-motion. On a less gloomy note, this is a wonderful LEGO model — clean lines and a simple colour scheme, nicely-lit, and well-photographed. I’m looking forward to when such creations depict a moment from our history, rather than from our present.

Alien brotherhood is a beautiful thing

If alien life does exist in the universe, it would likely come in forms that we can not even imagine, like this pair of critters taking a break outside their battle tank to stop and smell the methane flowers. This digital scene by Ivan Martynov makes about the best use of the hotdog part that I have seen in quite a while, to attach the crowbar-footed legs to the bulbous underside of this most unearthly “tank”.

LEGO 31109 Creator 3-in-1 Pirate Ship [Review]

One of the beloved classics from LEGO is the Pirates theme. It first saw its debut in 1989 and made waves through the mid-90s capturing the imagination of young ones all over the planet. These days, fans who grew up during the early days of LEGO’s early success pine for a return of the three golden classic themes: Space, Castle, and Pirates. LEGO is well aware of this and instead of an outright re-issue, the inspiration never died, but only revived and modernised to steal the hearts and minds of the newer generation today. One such example is the latest Ideas set, 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay. Now, I believe there’s a good chance the LEGO Creator Pirate Ship will be remembered decades later repeating the very same cycle of nostalgia, albeit in its own special and unique way. The LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31109 Pirate Ship has 1,264 pieces and comes with four minifigures. The set is slated for a June 1 release, but the final price has yet to be revealed, but we will update this review as soon as we can confirm it. Let’s up anchor and set sail for a journey of discovery on how the LEGO Creator Pirate ship fares in today’s context.

Click to read the full review of the Creator Pirate Ship

Where Anakin lost a game of The Floor Is Lava

Here’s a teeny tiny LEGO rendition of Mustafar, lava-drenched mining planet, and the venue for The Big Jedi/Sith Showdown between Obi-Wan Kenobi and his errant apprentice Anakin Skywalker. This microscale Star Wars build by Tino Poutiainen is a cracker, packed full of clever parts usage and smart styling. Hammers and spanners make up many of the distinctive details of the mining facility, and a line of rollerskates adds some interesting textures to the structure’s upper surface. Best of all, a miniscule rendition of an AT-AT Imperial Walker which is the smallest-whilst-still-recognisable design I’ve yet seen. Lovely stuff.

Dinosaurs are pretty retro, when you think about it

At first glance, you’d think this was just a cool LEGO creation of a dinosaur playing a guitar. And you’d be right. But as Pistash could tell you, this is also a bit of retro history in the form of a late 80’s icon. Because this is no mere musical reptile. This is Denver, the Last Dinosaur. He starred in his own animated TV series back in 1989.

Sadly, I never saw the show, but I can comment on this LEGO version. I have to admire the use of curved mudguards in the mouth, in a light-aqua color only seen in a LEGO Friends set from 2013. That same light-aqua fills in the face and the chest, contrasting nicely with the green of the main body. The organic curves of the arms are from arched and curved brick.

I may not know who Denver is, but he still looks like he’d be fun to hang out with.

Electric Boogaloo is Cyberpunk, right?

We’ve featured several of Joss Woodyard (Jayfa)‘s amazing LEGO characters and creatures in the past, but this one is probably my favorite. Cyber-Punk is a super-expressive build that feels like it stepped right out of a comic book. A Toa Okoto head is enhanced with magenta dragon horns and quarter circle tiles for a stylish hairdo. The highly poseable legs are Bionicle beams surrounded by rubber LEGO tires. And there’s a nice bit of detailing on the shoes with an ice skate for laces.

This was built for the preliminary round of Bio-Cup 2020. I can’t wait to see what else comes out of that competition!

Glowing in the deep

For my taste, we don’t see nearly enough horrific LEGO monsters here on the Brothers Brick. That’s why I’m so happy to write about the Luminescent Levviathan by Marko Petrušić. This creepy creature is based around a lot of hard-to-find Bionicle sets from 2007. In particular, it uses unique glow-in-the-dark pieces from Nocturn, Takadox, and Gadunka. These key elements are mixed with armor plating from the same sets to extend the shapes even further. The best bit, though, is that tail. The fins are made from Batmobile wings and an inverted use of glowing spines from the Nocturn set.

From the side, you can better see the build isn’t all black and blue. There’s a bit of brown on the underbelly, giving this an even more natural look. If, you know, nature was really pissed at us. Looking outside, maybe it is. At least this thing appears to be aquatic. If Marko makes a murder hornet version, I might never venture outside again.

Splish Splash

There are a couple of things that I envy about this build by Krzysztof J. First and foremost is that bathtub. Owning a giant claw-footed tub like that is long term goal for me. But, just behind that material greed, is envy of the skill involved in rendering this scene. Creating human-proportioned figures out of LEGO is no easy feat, and there are some great techniques in play here. In particular, I like the Aztec shield earrings and the wedges for hands. The way the balance of the figure is hidden beneath the surface of the 1×2 brick “water” disguises necessary seams and provides just a touch of privacy to an intimate moment.

But back to that tub. I love the gently sloping angles on the sizes, the sturdy construction of the legs, and the attention to detail in the overflow drain and hand-held faucet. Little touches like the alternation between solid and hollow studs in the detailing at the bottom of the basin add just the right touch of realism.

The rest of the scene is also worth investigating. The pump-soap dispenser makes great use of transparent 2×2 brick, and the bath mat feels like it has the right texture. Even the base is pretty sweet, with a nice inlaid tile floor. Next time I try and relax, I only hope I can do so in such nice surroundings.

Microbot squad reports for colorful duty

Only 9 bricks tall but Marco De Bon‘s tiny squad of microbots pack a detailed punch! This colorful trio of bots knows how to make maximum use out of minimal space. Each has a unique assortment of nice LEGO parts usage that exemplifies the saying “good things come in small packages.”

First up is grey microbot mkI using hand armor for its head and a ladder holder for a shield.

Next is the red microbot mkII which has some scuba breathing masks tucked against the chest for some added texture. I guess Marco’s been dipping into their nautical pieces because there are also some frogman’s feet/flippers on either side of the bot’s face and a lifeguard’s rescue float for a codpiece. I love the huge chunky shoulders on this one.

Lastly, we’ve got blue microbot mkIII, who is a little trickier. The bottom of the head is an upside down Nexo shield which stumped me at first. He also has a really neat use of Hero Factory badge for his chest paneling. It’s also got all sorts of munitions for taking out whatever it is microbots encounter.

Those who live in glass houses

You’ve heard of treehouses. Now Aukbricks presents something that is a tree…in a house. This LEGO creation is like a childhood dream, a four-story modern home that surrounds a tree. The inspiration is a concept by A. Masow Architects. Incidentally, this LEGO creation and its real-life counterpart are both renders that don’t exist in real form but AuKbricks tells us he used about 4500 bricks, all of them utilizing real colors and legal connections.

Click here to tour the house