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.

There must have been something strange in the tea

My first thought upon seeing this LEGO build by Revan New was that it looked inspired by something from Alice in Wonderland, with a teapot on someone’s head like they had just finished a cup with the March Hare and Mad Hatter. But then I read the description the builder gave, and it turns out to be inspired by a different story, Over the Garden Wall. Of course, I have never heard of that show, uncultured swine that I am, but I did just read the Wikipedia entry on it, and it does sound a bit like the Alice stories. It involves a trip through a magical forest that may or may not be part of a delusional state, so on face value my first thought was close enough.

The bluebird, named Beatrice, is lovingly depicted in bricks, with especial attention paid to the shaping of the feathers on the wings. Mixel eyes give great expressions to the characters, though in the tall one (Wirt) the pupils look too small and in the short, teapot-wearing one (Greg) they look too large. I suspect that has something to do with the characters rather than the builder, however. The forest is great, with excellent shaping on the trees, nicely dense undergrowth, and large fungi. All it is missing is a frog.

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Cursed be the island rich with spoils

The Pirates LEGO theme is one of the most cherished of all time. It makes sense that even though it is long-retired, fans continue to build fantastic tributes to their epic crusades. Letranger Absurde is one such builder, and has delighted us with this pirate hideout. The shipwreck, complete with cannon, broken mast, and shredded sails, is excellent. I’m also fond of the helmet on a frogs back to make a turtle.

If you’re a fan of pirates, check out our Pirates archives! And if you like Letranger’s style, take a look at these exceptional builds!

A meme has fallen into art in LEGO City!

We have featured artistic builds by the enigmatic builder why.not? on the Brothers Brick before. Her builds tend to focus on horror and mystery with an emotional sub-theme. The latest one mostly falls into these categories, but… A man has fallen into the river in LEGO City! Now I know it might be a coincidence, but this meme is huge right now. If this is a commentary on how powerless and alone a single person feels in the city, it makes for a great art piece. But if this is a full-effort build dedicated to a LEGO meme, I respect it too. Because memes are the purest form of contemporary art.

The build is presented to be open to interpretation and is in its essence a full LEGO scene of a minifig falling off a bridge. The focus seems to be on the aforementioned bridge, as it is the only element that is not monochromatic. The forced perspective is achieved with different scales of buildings, a small bridge in the background and a tapering curved river bank. I like the cold colours used that evoke a depressing and suffocating city atmosphere, but I wonder if it would not look better with a vivid coloured minifig, directing the attention immediately to itself.

LEGO Masters Tyler and Amy see the world through the Imagiscope

This is becoming a thing for us. Tyler Clites and his wife Amy are contestants on LEGO Masters; they build a mini version of their real-life challenge entry and post it around the same time every week. We, in turn, use it to remind you to watch LEGO Masters on FOX Wednesdays at 9pm. They get kudos, we get job security and the world turns. You can discover much of that turning world with this entry. Last week’s challenge was a doozie, they cut real objects in half (like a clock or a guitar) and the contestants had to build imaginative creations using the half-cut item. Tyler and Amy chose the half-telescope and from it spawned the Imagiscope where pirates plunder and rockets soar.

Be sure to check out our extensive LEGO Masters coverage and tune in again tonight to see what hijinks Tyler, Amy, and the other contestants are up to.

Built like an Egyptian goddess

Meet Amunna, Eero Okkonen’s latest elegant LEGO figure. I’m continually flabbergasted with the apparent ease with which he brings these characters to life. This time we have an Egyptian-inspired woman loaded with expert parts usage. Bo Peep’s cane to decorate the legs? Check. A surfboard and treasure map printed tile on the staff? Yep! And what about a little coral flare, treasure chest pouch, and colorful wing skirt? You got it! Dying to know what’s on her bust? It’s a printed radiator element that was only found with this print in one set: 7411 Tygurah’s Roar. (The open area above the curves is carefully hidden by her hair.) Throughout, an appealing color palette abounds, and from head to foot, this is one cool chick.

If you’re craving more, take a look at all of Eero’s builds that we’ve covered by visiting our archive!

In Space no one can hear you mourn

Recently the world lost Jens Nygaard, a key LEGO innovator. While most news outlets were focused on Jens’ work as the creator of the LEGO minfigure, he was responsible for so much more. For example, did you know he was the creator of the classic Space theme? Builder Chris Yu did, and the Nygaard memorial fleet is their tribute to Jens’ genius. It’s said that grief is just love with nowhere to go. But sometimes we can take that love, listen to the inspiration it brings, and create something new.

This microscale collection of ships are decked out in the theme’s traditional blue and yellow colors. There’s a variety of cruisers, a fun robot, suitably chunky rocket, and even a micro-tribute to the theme’s astronaut minifgures.

Chris won our 2019 LEGO Creation of the Year Award with another Classic Space masterpiece. It’s safe to say this is a tribute to a theme close to his heart.

Building “Pursuit of Flight” is still attainable [Instructions]

Nearly a year ago, we featured this exceptional kinetic sculpture by Jason Allemann. The “Pursuit of Flight” later went on to become a finalist in the recent LEGO Ideas review round. A week ago, LEGO announced which projects made it into the next production run, and unfortunately, Jason’s “Pursuit of Flight” was not one of those projects. But do not despair! He has made the full instructions available to anyone who is dying to build this wonderful piece of art.

For those big Star Wars fan out there, you can try your hand at a trench run variation of the original model.

As you may know, this is not the first time that Jason (also known as JK Brickworks) has been a LEGO Ideas finalist. He has actually previously won the coveted opportunity to have his build become an official set… twice. He’s responsible for 21305 Maze and 21315 Pop-Up Book (the latter in collaboration with Grant Davis).

If you’re going into space, you may as well do it in style

A new LEGO spaceship from Nick Trotta is always worthy of note, and Firebreak, his latest, is an absolute belter. The shaping is a beautiful collection of angles and curves, making clever use of tiles and a bewildering array of sideways-building techniques to keep the lines smooth. But it’s the color scheme and the ingenious striping which grab the attention — look at the white highlight outline on the asymmetric engine intake, a fantastic piece of LEGO engineering. The angled snub nose is also great, adding a touch of malevolence by invoking attack helicopter styling. Finally, the use of black and chrome for the functional-looking greebles is inspired — a nice change of pace from the “standard” LEGO spaceship greebles in light or dark grey. This is one of the best LEGO spacecraft we’ve seen for a while. I’d recommend zooming in for a closer look at all the quality building involved in its creation.

Look who’s laughing now

Look who’s laughing now… It’s Shenzi, Banzai, and the cackling Ed — the trio of villainous hyenas from Disney’s 1994 animated classic The Lion King, created in LEGO bricks by Timofey Tkachev. The sculpting here is excellent — each beast well-posed, and their different faces captured perfectly through a variety of building techniques and parts. The key to success lies in the choice of scale — these shady characters are surprisingly large, giving Timofey space to nail all the details. And while simple, the surrounding landscaping enhances the presentation of the central figures, suggesting the bleak elephant’s graveyard, which surely stretches to the horizons around them.

The Lion King‘s characterization of these hyenas received a mixed reception back in 1994, with some critics accusing Disney of racist caricature in the voice acting and dialogue. Disney never acknowledged any of this criticism, but Scar’s hyena lieutenants were quietly rewritten, and mostly renamed, in the 2019 live-action remake. Whatever you might think of the original movie’s depiction of this trio, it doesn’t affect the quality of the LEGO building on display here.

I wonder who that boy is?

As a concept, Batman has some issues. In today’s world, a billionaire who gets his jollies from beating up the economically disadvantaged is…not a great look. Luckily there are some brighter aspects to his mythos to help balance things out. Robin became his kid sidekick back in 1940, and his bright costume and cheerful quips brought a little light to the Dark Knight. Oh, sure, you could point out that this was just adding “child endangerment” into the mix, but I’m trying very hard to be upbeat about things today. John Moffatt, at least, gives me a real reason to smile with this LEGO recreation of the Boy Wonder in Miniland scale.

Sure, some of these connections may not be 100% purist, but the Robin character has always been one to break the rules, at least a little bit. Headlight bricks are used for Robin’s shoulders, and also provide an interesting connection point for the not-quite-attached 1×2 tiles that create the angled shape for the gloves. I also like the cape, made out of click-hinge plates.

Is this just a start of a heroic run of Miniland figures like John’s Avatar collection back in 2015? Only time will tell. But I hope so.

LEGO T-47 Snowspeeder swooshes into action

One of the most recognizable ships from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, the versatile, low altitude speeder manufactured by Incom Corporation proved effective in the battle of Hoth, despite being ill-suited for cold environments. It looks like Massimiliano Sibilia may have taken low-altitude a little too seriously in this microscale model, which features the iconic wedge-shaped speeder skimming over the surface of Hoth.

The model captures the clunky aesthetic very well, and the harpoon and grill on the rear are particularly great details on this small scale.

The Mandalorian can bring you in hot or bring you in cold

Even months after its release on Disney+, The Mandalorian continues to be an inspiration for amazing LEGO creations. My new favourite is this diorama by CTR Bartosz. This scene from Chapter 1 of the series is packed with details that help tell the story. First, there are the characters: the Mandalorian and his bounty, the Kubaz waiting to call them a speeder, and the remains of a Quarren, cut in half by the door. Then there are the little things, like the tracker, the Quarren, or the dark red pieces representing his guts.

Take a closer look at this LEGO scene inspired by the Mandalorian