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.

Armor up for your holiday shopping

We all know that shopping for that perfect gift can be a real nightmare. Sure, shopping online has made things a lot nicer. But sometimes you still have to go out into the crowds and fight hand-to-hand for those discounted LEGO sets that you a loved one really wants. It can be hazardous, particularly if someone else tries to shove you out of the way. So why not take some precautions? For example, you could don the wearable Roman Centurion armor that Amado Canlas Pinlac created.
Built from an interlocking mesh of ball-jointed plates, it’s the rich colors and decoration that really make this a stand-out piece of art. Dark red 2×2 tiles resonate well with a myriad of gold elements. There are plant stems, rounded tiles, and even carriage wheels.

Repeated blocks of curved slopes feature heavily on the shoulders and back. Golden window lattices and minifigure weapons help define geometric patterns on the rear as well.

Okay, maybe this isn’t something that would be super-practical to wear while fighting for bargains. But I bet if you did, it would be a huge distraction to the other shoppers. And while they’re asking “how long did it take you to make that?” you can make off with all the best sets. Victory is assured!

You can read our interview with Amado here.

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A bridge too far

The most important part of an Imperial Star Destroyer is the bridge. Thus, any LEGO build of it deserves incredible detail, which is exactly what JS_Ninjnerd has done here.

This highly-detailed model includes the essentials for what we’ve seen in the Star Wars movies. Triangular windows and the crew pits are immediately eye-catching, but upon closer inspection you can see the computer panels, angled sloped pieces, and color consistency that give this build a clean, smooth Imperial look.

Another aspect that I like is the amount of Imperial personnel in the display: nine crew members and officers, three stormtroopers and Lord Vader. Any scene featuring the might and technological prowess of the Empire would need to include figures like these.

Rudolf the hot rod brings toys and oatmeal to all the children of the world

With a bit more than a week left until Christmas, Santa will need to up his game if he wants to deliver toys to all the good children of the world (except, of course, those who don’t have Santa in their holiday traditions). Thankfully Ian Ying has a solution with this extra blingy Rudolf Hot Rod. It has all the horsepower (or deer-power) needed to get the job done and there is enough custom and official LEGO pieces in shiny chrome to make any hot rod enthusiast’s heart go pitter-patter. The red-nosed deer skull hood ornament offers a clue as to what became of Rudolf. Good riddance, I say! I just wish it had more trunk space. I don’t know about you but the list of toys I want is quite long and I’ve been such a good boy this year…at least on the books anyway. Also it seems this Santa bears a striking resemblance to this Wilford guy.

A tale of Persian Tomcats

The last of the US Navy’s Tomcat fighters — the plane of Top Gun fame — made its final flight more than a decade ago. However, Tomcats continue to soldier on in one other military: the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force. Given its strained relation with the US, it may seem strange for Iran to have some of these iconic jets, but it is due to a quirk of history. Prior to the 1979 Islamic revolution, Mohammad Reza Shah ruled Iran. His rule became increasingly autocratic over time, but he was pro-Western and eager to modernize his country and its military. Iran was also a useful buffer between the Soviet Union and the other oil-rich states surrounding the Persian Gulf, so the US was willing to sell the Shah 80 Tomcats, as well as hundreds of long-range AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air missiles. My latest LEGO model represents one of these Persian Tomcats.

After the 1979 revolution, relations between the US and Iran soured. Subsequently, the US suspended weapons and spare parts deliveries. The serviceability of the Iranian Tomcat fleet dwindled, but their Tomcats had some successes in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. Details are murky, but according to Iranian F-14 Tomcat Units in Combat by Tom Cooper and Farzad Bishop, the Iranian planes shot down dozens of Iraqi fighter aircraft. Forty years later, thanks to illicit parts acquisitions and reverse-engineering, some survivors are still flying, and I finally built one.
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I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore

I love books. In fact, I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany. Ok, perhaps I was just imagining the mahogany, but I do have lots of books, and some are leather-bound. I don’t own an e-reader of any kind, and hope never to do so, because the magic of holding a book, especially hardcover, is irreplaceable. People give me strange looks when I pick up a used book at a store and give it a sniff and say, “Ah, that’s a proper year 1900 binding…a good vintage.” Builder Lego_nuts must have a soft spot for books, too, because this build evokes the magic of literacy, the opening of portals to adventure. Dorothy looks worried, unsure if she should continue on with the story, but the Cowardly Lion and the Tin Man are encouraging her to journey to the next page. Will she go on? Like, seriously, isn’t there a movie version she can watch instead?

The build is beautifully executed, utilizing a clever camera angle to capture the scene on the right-hand page. The foliage and warm lighting from the doorway are stunningly inviting, drawing the viewer deeper into the moment. The left-hand scene is lovely, too, in a bas-relief kind of way, though far fancier than the house that Dorothy is described as living in (if you don’t believe me, read the text on the pages in the picture). I am impressed by the photography and setup that went into this one, making me want to swing from that rope and journey on with my fellow adventurers.

This is the LEGO Baby Yoda you’ve been looking for

Baby Yoda has been taking the internet by storm since its oh-so-cute appearance in Disney’s new Star Wars show The Mandalorian, and LEGO builders are getting in on the game too. In fact, we’ve already featured not one but two versions of the green alien infant by Miro Dudas and hachiroku24, and both even have instructions for you to build your own. However, this latest digital version by L-DI-EGO is a much larger scale and is captures the adorably large eyes and trusting expression better than ever. The as-yet-unnamed little guy comes complete with big expressive ears and a voluminous robe made of dark tan, with exposed studs for texturing.

And before you ask, no, the builder has not provided instructions for this guy. You’ll just have to reverse engineer it all on your own, but here’s a hint: the lower lip and forehead are made of shoulder armor bits.

The grind of updating the Ground Machine

The MRGM 3 Multi Role Ground Machine by builder Marco Marozzi is a complex example of mechanical evolution. While the initial version felt sleek and light, this third generation is a much beefier model. Some core elements remain the same; a Bionicle Rahkshi back cover forms the spine, and Knights Kingdom armor protects the arms and legs. But you can see the shine of a new model in the shins and lower body. There, the armor has been updated to have a much more textured feel. And that giant gun is also a brand new accessory.

We’ve featured several of Marco’s other mechs in the past, and I’m confident we’ll see even more in the future. I’m looking forward to seeing what the Mark 4 has in store for us…

What happened to the reindeer?

Santa Claus, despite his media persona and the products he is implied to endorse, is not the consumerist type. Sure, he brings presents on Christmas to children, but not the max-out-the-credit-cards-and-refinance-the-house pile of presents that parents are somehow expected to provide. He lives a life of humble solitude, somewhere up in the frozen north (though not the North Pole; what responsible person would build a house on seasonally variant ice?), where he prepares for his annual journey of beneficence. At least, that is what this build by Andrea Lattanzio (Norton74) seems to imply. A delightful cabin, similar to Walden but much redder, rests in a peaceful snow-covered clearing, with deep snow on the roof and a sled ready to go (even though the sled is pulled by huskies, rather than reindeer).

The most impressive part of the display might be the collection of parts used to create the snow-covered foliage, from levers and megaphones to minifig hands and everything else white. However, I love the cannon as a chimney — topped by pots, even more. Unicorn horns make for lovely icicles on the eaves (if only they were available in transparent colors!). My one quibble is that the woodpile looks far too sparse to make it through the winter in conditions like that. Santa will freeze to death. Unless he isn’t watching out for the polar bear lurking behind the cabin, in which case he’ll be devoured before freezing. And before bringing me LEGO for my stocking.

Eye don’t know about this one.

(With apologies to Prince)

I was dreamin’ when I wrote this, so forgive me if it goes astray. When I saw this MOC I could have sworn it was judgment day. The guy was all golden, there was LEGO lightning everywhere. Transparent yellow radar dishes, you know Matt Goldberg really cared.

Um.

Something something……Tonight we’re gonna party with the creepy Eye?

Okay, so maybe the lyrics don’t exactly scan, but being just a little off-kilter seems very appropriate for a review of this creation. The Eye is a mysterious figure that really grabs your attention. A skillful mix of Bionicle, Hero Factory, and System parts combine in way that meshes well, while at the same time feeling like things don’t exactly align correctly for this reality.

Matt built this as a Secret Santa gift. You have to hope the recipient was impressed. Maybe a little frightened. Maybe a bit of both.

Skull Island, when is the soonest I can move in?

I was a kid in the ’70s and ’80s with above average drawing skills but typically childish tastes in what I liked to draw. With the Hardy Boys, Johnny Quest and Treasure Island well within my wheelhouse of influence, it was a sure bet that many of my childhood drawings included some kind of skull island. Whether it be a Dino-Skull Island, Rhino-Skull Island or Bat-Skull island, I was totally into it and would imagine a whole slew of baddies who inhabited these remote, exotic islands hellbent on ruling the world. You probably wouldn’t be surprised to learn that…not much has changed in my adulthood; my art still boasts similar themes from childhood, including a skull island lair or another from time to time. This is why I was so thrilled to find a kindred spirit in Bob DeQuarte.

In one fell swoop, this builder rekindled so many childhood dreams and sparked, let’s be frank, more than a few recent ones. For this, I am thankful for builders like Bob. Anyway, I just wanted to say my piece about this awesome island. I hope you can all be as thrilled about it as I am. Just in case we’re tracking on a similar wavelength, here is another time Bob opened a magic door into childhood dreams.

Easy? YOU try squeezing out a polyp minion!

Roll call at The Brothers Brick Headquarters goes a little something like this: Alright ladies and gents, we have lots of great LEGO creations to cover today. We have a Star Wars one, who wants it? Ohh, I’ll take it! OK good, we have an elaborate castle, anyone? Yes, I’ll take it. OK, you got it. We have a Christmas one, very important this time of year, who wants it? Me! Alright, next we have…uh…giant mech caterpillar thingy oozing slime out its butt….OH! OH! Pick me! Pick me! For the love of God, PICK MEEEE! -Fine, Lino take it, you weirdo!

YES! (*ahem*) This digital model by Ivan Martynov checks all the boxes of things I’d totally be into: unconventional color scheme, nice parts usage, an organic shape…and it’s a mutant alien beast probably hellbent on interplanetary domination. What’s not to love, really? Here’s another time I was totally enthralled by our alien overlords.

As an alternative, you could build this ‘Stang

When the official LEGO 10265 Ford Mustang set was released a while back, it received high praise as being one of the best LEGO cars ever produced. The strong lines of the classic muscle car translated well into brick form. But what about the more modern Mustangs, which, though they do hearken back to some of the angular aesthetics of the muscle car heyday, are more curvy and seductive? Well, builder Firas Abu-Jaber took it upon himself to create an updated version of the set, and the resultant Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 looks amazing!

More amazing than the way it looks, though, is the fact that this is made with only the parts contained in set 10265; no outside parts were used, other than the different wheels (though the wheels from the set fit fine, they just don’t match the styling of contemporary cars, so you could make it without updated rims if you wanted to). That means, if you have that set at home, you could build this one, too. The scales are slightly different, with the set being roughly 1:13 and this being about 1:15, but that’s a small difference when it looks this slick. Despite this being a “B model” from the original set, I’d give this an A+.

Do you love this car? Check out a Bugatti and a Ferrari by the same builder.

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