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.

The Future: 1972

The average person now carries more computing power in their pocket than what it took to put the Apollo 11 astronauts on the moon. However, Johan Alexanderson takes us back to a time when ties were wide, comb-overs were a thing, ashtrays were piled high with cigarette butts, and data was stored on reel-to-reel. This is the kind of vintage computer room my dad worked at in the 70s. A vehicle door makes an excellent spool of continuous feed computer paper. The green screen, the big cabinets, the data reels, even the color aesthetic and the utilitarian swivel chair all seem clunky and outdated to us, but at the time it all went together like swingers and fondue.

It should come as no surprise that Johan is a computer programmer who also seems quite inspired by a retro aesthetic. This wouldn’t be the first time he had delighted us with computing nostalgia. Check out this free-to-play “Classic Space Adventure” LEGO-inspired computer game he created utilizing over 400 pages of programming.

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Enormous medieval town offers a gateway to the desert

LEGO Castle displays tend to focus on the Western European medieval era, with great grey fortifications set amid green forests, featuring knights engaged in combat, with perhaps the odd siege engine chucking rocks. How refreshing to see this huge collaborative display by thirteen members of SwissLug which breaks with tradition on two fronts: first, by depicting a city in the Levant (the lands of the Eastern Mediterranean), and second, by showing off the peaceful, multicultural side of life (probably right before the Crusaders show up and make a nuisance of themselves!)

Click here to enjoy the pictures of the diorama…

Feeling cute. Might growl later-idk

I’m more than one-hundred articles into this gig and I’m still finding things to go absolutely gaga over. My case in point, these adorable animals as rendered by Instagram user Legotruman. It is so hard to pick a favorite so we’ve constructed a composite image showcasing most of the animal renders here. My heart melts when I look at each of these portraits, which totally wreaks havoc on my hard-edged, devil-may-care image, let me tell you.

Click here to watch a grown man gush like a kindergartner

This Mustang is ready to run with the horses

Not much screams “American” like a big-engined, gas-guzzling, machismo-granting muscle car. The throaty roar of the tailpipes, the peeling tires, racing down a secluded stretch of road away from the cops…ahh, for the halcyon days of my youth, playing with my Hotwheels cars. A while back, LEGO Ideas hosted a contest to build a poster for the Ford Mustang to celebrate the release of the large Creator Expert Mustang set, and aido k submitted a digital entry, but wanted to make a ‘Stang in real bricks, too. The challenges were real, since making an 8-stud wide car with a battery box inside for the working lights is not easy. But the finished product looks great, clad in the classic white with blue stripes.

I love the angled windscreen to get a steeper look than the piece provides. A subtle variation in how far down the tiles on the side are pressed creates a delightful little scoop in the side door, and the roller skate makes a brilliant door handle. The fastback slope is smoothly done, too, integrating nicely with the rest of the car. The lights make this machine one of the coolest cars I have seen, with their warm glow enhancing the photos and the presentation. Now who wants to go burn some rubber and show those Camaros and Challengers who is boss?

All the Blacktron spiders come out for Halloween

Halloween in space must be terrifying with these giant mechanical spiders crawling all over the place. I always knew Blacktron was the outlaw faction of LEGO space, but creepy spider mechs just might take it to a whole new level. Builder ZCerberus has carefully woven a design that’s spindly in all the right places, while still looking satisfyingly armored and menacing. And that trans-yellow X-pod canister for the cockpit is just the perfect touch.

Build your very own Iron Man Mark 1 in Chibi style

Everyone can (almost) be Tony Stark with the right instructions, and here’s your (pretend) chance to be an Avenger! Hachiroku24’s cute chibi version of the Mark 1 from the movie that kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe is adorable in every single way. And it’s complete with the added missile launcher and the flame thrower. I’ve gotta love how the negative space is created with the cheese slopes bring the character’s eyes to life. Well? What are you waiting for? Go burn some bad guys already!

Click to see the video build instructions

The new Chevrolet Corvette C8 is really a very pretty car, even in LEGO

I have got to admit something quite shallow. I’m ashamed to say, but when it comes to cars, I judge the book by its cover. I only care what it looks like on the outside; I can’t figure out how many pistons or spark plugs it requires to blast off from 0 to 100km/h. Nor do I care! What I do know, however, is how difficult it is to capture the essence of beautiful curves and do justice to the real Chevrolet Corvette C8 using only hard-edged plastic bricks! The top trophy goes to Lasse Deleuran for even attempting this feat. And what I like about car builds like this one is how the windscreens are built using regular non-trans clear pieces. And though it’s not exactly new, I always love the Round 1×1 Quarter tiles used in many builds to smooth out the rough edges.

Click to see more of the Corvette C8

Rendering the Peregrine invisible

Anyone who’s seen The LEGO Movie knows LEGO is a highly sophisticated interlocking brick system. But it’s more than that, and sometimes we LEGO fans have a tendency to get caught up in what is and isn’t allowable when playing with our favorite plastic toys. Then along comes someone like Stijn van der Laan to shake up our expectations with a brilliant model like this that defies the normal bounds of what’s appropriate to do with LEGO. Stijn has transformed his excellent Peregrine drone model that we covered a few years ago by giving it a camouflage paint job.

Stijn actually recreated the design first using all red elements. Then he gave it a base coat of grey, and then carefully masked and airbrushed the modern camouflage design onto the model, as if it were a traditional cut-and-glue model kit. The result is fantastic, highlighting the striking design of the drone even more than Stijn’s original color scheme.

Now, you’re not likely to find me airbrushing my own LEGO creations anytime soon, but I admire the craft that goes into designing this, and it’s good to have our minds expanded a bit from time to time on just what is possible with this brick system we all use.

Build castle classic again

Many older fans of LEGO might long for the days of yore, before we had fancy things like minifigures and molded animals. Grantmasters liked those good old days when we had to build our own horses. After all, the first LEGO horse wasn’t introduced until 1984, years after the first castle sets with brick-built horses. With his latest creation, Grant took it a step further and built his own people too!

The use of some pretty basic elements give his Crusaders a sturdily armoured look. And though he’s rejected newfangled molds for people and animals, he’s adeptly sculpted a horse with the use of new elements, such as the curved slopes, quarter round tiles, and my current favouite use of the power blast piece, giving the horse’s head just the right shape.

The stairs actually move in this incredible LEGO model of Hogwarts

One of the magical aspects of Harry Potter and especially Hogwarts Castle is that ordinarily static things move. Pictures that in my house just hang there, with the people and things in them remaining frozen in time, always the same, in a wizarding house would be full of moving and talking, and even sentient, figures. And while we do have moving staircases in the Muggle world (we call them escalators), they don’t typically abruptly change their destinations; not so in Hogwarts, not so. The trouble is, we have not seen a single good moving staircase or moving picture in any official Harry Potter set. Fortunately for us, Jonas Kramm has filled the void with a brilliant build depicting both. There are innumerable gilt frames filled with magical chaps and dames, plus one of those moving staircases that so befuddled a young Potter and his pals in their early days of school. The moving functions are elegantly integrated and perfectly executed.

See the stairs and pictures move below

Twas the night before Halloween

Builder architectlego has amazing skills in creating ethereal LEGO scenes with great photography, lighting and photo magic touchups. This Halloween themed build is one more that does not disappoint.

Halloween around the corner… elixirs brewed in advance for peak potency,
Luring the young and innocent.. with all things sweet and savory,
Isn’t it obvious? …stay away outsiders,
Dead giveaway! …cracked windows and spiders,
Complete in costume with a crooked pointy hat,
No witchery wicked ways are complete without the companion cat.

Me: I’m totally gonna rock this campaign! Also me: Rolls a 1

I am intrigued by tabletop gaming, but nobody invites me to their game nights as I have a reputation for rolling up my sleeves, grabbing the D20, then diving right in and ruining the entire campaign for everyone. But that doesn’t stop me from being fascinated by these brick-built Ram Rider miniatures, though. With a name like War Scape, it’s safe to assume this builder knows a thing or two about board games. Built around LEGO cows and featuring a few custom bits and four Tauntaun horns each, he tells us these nimble goats are the perfect light cavalry to carry their dwarven riders into battle along mountaintops and northern crags.

With my luck, I would find a way to have my character fall off the mountain and land right into enemy doo-doo. Still these would look amazing on any battle game board. Next game night, be sure to grab a few friends because there is nothing more depressing and humiliating than when your mom walks in on your one-handed solo campaign.