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.

Here’s the skinny on this barber shop

Some people shave their heads and then shed a tear while gazing in the mirror because the option of having cool Johnny Depp hair has long since expired. Allegedly. Shut up, don’t judge. Other people, like Maxim Baybakov have better experiences with haircuts and visit the same barbershop for twenty years. He liked his local barbershop so much he has recreated it in LEGO. He tells us the balcony still haunts him to this day. Why? He doesn’t provide the answer but I can only presume it was an incident that involved a freshly coiffed haircut and someone dumping hot oil or a pot of soup or something. No matter why the balcony haunts him, admittedly, the build techniques are pretty stellar. The inset tan storefront, the roof, and the round window are also quite charming.

It’s not quite instructions, but this shot offers sort of an exploded view that illustrates some of the more clever techniques for this build. With a little time and patience, this balcony can haunt you as well.

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It ain’t much but it’s a couple of tractors

Designing scaled farming machinery is, in equal measure, fun and challenge. It’s all about sketching a neat chassis, adding just the right amount of grills and pipes to the engine’s exterior, and, of course, building a piece of farming equipment to attache to a tractor. Vladimir Drozd nailed all of these in his splendid designs. It is their clean yet very realistic exteriors that instantly caught my eye. With just a handful of curved slopes, Vladimir managed to create simple models without overloading them with way too complicated building solutions.

It’s so easy to spoil a great creation with an unsuitable exterior element, but I applaud the author’s decision to complete the red tractor with a couple of road signs.

If you can dream it, you can build it

I’m a die-hard Disney fan. Walt is one of my creative heroes — a constant source of inspiration — and the theme parks at DisneyWorld are some of my favourite places. The current lockdown situation has seen us have to cancel a family trip to Florida, and whilst there are obviously much more serious problems in the world than a missed holiday, I’ve been feeling a bit down about it. I decided to cheer myself up by attempting to recreate some Disney magic with LEGO bricks. Three years ago, I enjoyed putting together a microscale LEGO version of Cinderella’s Castle, so I decided to set myself the challenge of creating some other iconic theme park sights. In addition to a rebuild of the Magic Kingdom’s centrepiece castle, I took a crack at Spaceship Earth at Epcot, and the Chinese Theatre at Hollywood Studios. We’ll see where my microscale tour of central Florida takes me next, but I feel Animal Kingdom and Typhoon Lagoon beckoning…

Millennium Falcon concept smuggles its way into our hearts

Based off of Star Wars: The Art of Solo Andrew Miller’s slick Millenium Falcon variant zooms straight out of hyperspace and into LEGO. I have to admit I’m a huge sucker for concept art, and I hold a special affinity for any bit of Star Wars-that-could-have-been.

This black-and-grey version has very few similarities to the white-and-blue edition we got in Solo: A Star Wars Story (and as the Kessel Run Falcon LEGO set.) The small black winglets on either side of the hull are interesting, and I especially like the souped up engine cowling and much longer prow. The builder even worked in an removable escape pod not unlike what we got in the movie. I suppose explaining how this Falcon became the piece of junk we all originally met in A New Hope would have been just a tad more difficult.

Check out the art this is based on:

A leg-endary burger

One of the first things I’m going to do when the lockdown comes to an end is head out for a decent burger. This LEGO model by Joe has got me in the mood for fast food. It was initially the “wooden” table which caught my eye in this creation — a nice combination of colours and parts evoking the feel of a cracked piece of timber. However, a closer look revealed something else notable — a plethora of minifigure leg parts used throughout the model. The burger patty, the lettuce, some of the fries, and the straw — all made with minifigure legs. Not sure leg meat is the best source of protein for a burger, but hey, if it tastes good, I’m in.

Magnificent Minas Tirith in Microscale

Minas Tirith, the White City, capital of Gondor, is one of the most recognizable locations from the Lord of the Rings series. From its many levels to the distinctive knife-edged stone dividing the city into two halves, and the massive rock face it was carved from. While it may be easy to recognize, it is not so easy to build, and Mountain Hobbit has done a masterful job of bringing this iconic city to life in microscale.

One of my favorite features is the gently curving outer wall, which features random studs, and an assortment of plates and tiles with some great offsets to give the wall a truly weathered look. The many subtly tinted slopes for roofs are a nice touch.

A castle so moving it’ll have you howling

Okay, let me start with a confession: I’ve never watched a Studio Ghibli film. I know, I know, that makes me a bad person. Someday I hope to reform my ways. But before you throw your rotten eggs and moldering cabbages at me, let me show you a cool build that is inspired by one of the movies, Howl’s Moving Castle. Built by First Order Lego for both the Style it Up contest and the Iron Forge, it is a sight to behold. The complicated details are lovingly depicted here, from the houses embedded in the sides to the many, many complicated-looking mechanical apparatuses on the back. Is that a rat as smoke? Yes, it is. And beards and hair, too. There are too many other fabulous parts usages in this thing for me to list, so be sure to zoom in on it yourself, but if you notice that there are lots of minifigure legs and hips about, that’s because it is the seed part for the Iron Forge, the open-to-all-comers qualifying competition for the Iron Builder. Maybe this entry will “walk away” with the coveted prize. Ha. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some movies to go watch <ducks a rotten cabbage>.

Are you a better person than me and love Studio Ghibli? Console yourself for my ignorance and look through this Spirited Away series of builds, or a Princess Mononoke or My Neighbor Totoro figure. Just please stop throwing those rotten tomatoes at me!

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

Come along and sing the song and join the jamboree! Mickey Mouse may have already celebrated his 90th birthday (Steamboat Willie premiered in November 1928) but there’s always time for LEGO cake.

Mickey and his birthday cake were sculpted by Californian Bill Vollbrecht, a former Master Model Builder and LEGOLAND park designer who clearly still has the magic touch, as Mickey exhibits all the character and detail known the world over, down to the buttons on his pants and shape of his eyes. There’s even a really neat and appropriate inky splotch base.

Bill also shared with us that the cake was imagined as one Goofy might have baked for Micky in Toontown: lopsided, multicolored and with candles askew.

Want to have your own Mickey adventures? Read our reviews of the Disney Train and Station and Steamboat Willie, both featuring Mickey minifigures and for sale now. If minifigs are too small, get instructions or inspiration from Build Better Bricks or Alanboar Cheung!

Let Aladdin take you on a magic carpet ride

It’s a whole new world of LEGO building when MSIndustries uses the plastic bricks to create this spectacular Aladdin model. I will admit to being a hardcore Disney fan so of course, my scrolling stopped upon seeing this image. I was immediately drawn to the nicely rendered characters and that wonderfully fluid magic carpet that seems to float in the air by magic.

The characters are full of life and interesting parts usage. The construction of Aladdin’s turban and Jasmine’s hair is particularly well done as well as their outfits. The Genie’s expression and pose are perfect and really give him a lot of personality. But for once, Genie isn’t the center of attention here. Its’ the magic carpet’s turn to shine. The patterning is beautiful and the undulation in its’ form is achieved using a combination of 10 x 10 LEGO nets, round 2×2 plates and bars. And that floating look? It’s not Photoshop trickery but in fact a practical effect.

Check out the magic that helps keep the carpet afloat

Frightful floaters are fluent in fear

When it comes to things that inspire nightmares, balloons don’t usually make the list, unless there’s a murderous clown attached to them. This wonderfully crafted balloon cart by #1 Nomad may not have the scariest balloons you ever saw, but they are definitely one of the most unusual.

The inside-out tires make amazing eyes. And those teeth! I love the random yellow fangs mixed in. Oh, and let’s not forget to mention… is that a person in that cage? Maybe I need to reevaluate this scary balloon list. At least the builder didn’t include the balloon vendor.

LEGO Metroid: My past is not a memory, it’s a force at my back

Samus Aran is one of Nintendo’s most iconic characters through a decades-long successful series of Metroid platformers and first-person shooters. Thanks to Spanish builder L-Di-Ego, the famed female bounty hunter’s personal spacecraft has made the jump to digital LEGO and has never looked better.

I’m so impressed with how loaded the ship is–this thing is absolutely packed with play features. The ship is ready to take on the dreaded Space Pirates with firing projectiles, adjustable engine intakes, a removable canopy allowing access to the spacious cockpit plus room for the Metroid containment pod, and my favorite, a functioning loading lift for the Samus Aran minifigure.

If you’re feeling nostalgic we’ve shared a couple of excellent takes on Samus in the past from builders like Eero Okkenen and Logey Bear.

Who says paintings have to be 2D?

Up next from TBB Auctionhouse, we have this magnificent piece, “Canvas Warrior”, ABS on canvas, by the brilliant artist Markus Rollbühler, circa 2020. Bidding will start at $1M. Do I hear one? You, with the itchy nose. Please note the American Western style, with the Native American astride a horse, riding out of the picturesque Rocky Mountains. Do I hear two? Ah, you, scratching your eyebrow. Note the rippling pectorals, made from a LEGO minifigure torso. This could be the cover of the latest Nora Roberts novel. Do I see a hand for three? You there, lady with the cough, yes. Three million. This is a fine example of stereotypical Wild West art, folks. There’s buckskin fringe, a rifle, even some scrub bushes. Four million, from you, Mr. Itchy Nose. Wonderful. Five? Do I hear five? The impressionistic landscape even includes some plesiosaur flippers. And that horse! It will leap out and impress all your guests? Five! Yes, you on your smartphone. Five million! Going once, going twice, sold!