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.

Build your own classic pickup truck [Instructions]

If you are like me, building cars and trucks that look like the real thing in LEGO is challenging. I can handle castles and spaceships, but real-world stuff is hard. Fortunately for me, and for you if you are like me, Norton74 is here to help us out, generously sharing instructions and parts for a sweet looking set of wheels. It ain’t sexy, and it ain’t fast, but it looks just right – like it just pulled a trailer full of hay bales down the back roads of Iowa. All it is missing is some rust, but you could add that with some custom stickers or dark orange bits placed in just the right spots.

See the instructions here

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Ringing in the holiday season

When you know what you’re doing, LEGO elements create some very interesting patterns and shapes. Builder Azurekingfisher knows what they’re doing. In mobile sculpture, rings and snowflake-like shapes are created from a complex repetition of plant leaves in a variety of hues. Add Technic rods and connectors to hang them from, and you have an art installation just waiting to happen.

Take a closer look at this wintry LEGO mobile

Remote-controlled Soviet KV-1 and KV-2 heavy tanks roll out in defense of the Motherland [Video]

Polish LEGO builder Sariel is famous for his huge LEGO models that incorporate LEGO Technic and Power Functions elements for working features without sacrificing details or the overall look of the model. His recent MAZ-535 artillery truck was no exception, and it reminded us that we had overlooked his fantastic KV-1 heavy tank and KV-2 heavy artillery tank. I’ve built LEGO KV-1 and KV-2 tanks myself, so I have an appreciation for the challenging angles of these early WW2 Soviet tanks.

Walk softly and carry a huge missile battery

When it comes to war machines designed to handle any terrain, the more legs the better. I mean, look what happened to the AT-STs on the forest moon of Endor, with their two spindly legs. But just because your walking death machine looks like an armored tarantula, doesn’t mean it has to sound like Godzilla stomping through the forest. This behemoth by Nick is sporting rubber feet for maximum stealth, which just might make it even more terrifying.

There are a lot of great part uses worth mentioning, particularly the missile batteries on either side of the head, made from a substantial collection of this roller-skate part, and several mysterious panels with 2 holes that turned out to be this cabinet door. That castle-themed shield is also a nice touch.

Ezekiel saw a wheel

A few years back I was taking measurements for a custom rug that was going to adorn my living room. It wasn’t a perfect rectangle as it needed an angled corner cut out to accommodate the fireplace. It occurred to me then, as I was trying to recall forgotten formulas, that I was using geometry and algebra outside of high school. They warned us to pay attention as we might need this someday. Unlike me, it seems Nathan Proudlove has a firm grasp on all the algebra and geometry the world has to offer as evidenced by this awe-inspiring space station. The inner rim of the hub boasts glass-enclosed habitat modules and green spaces. The spin of the wheel in space would create gravity, keeping the inhabitants within safe and comfortable.

Zooming in and taking a gander at some of the individual modules is the only way to really appreciate what a massive undertaking this must have been. Here is a particularly interesting shot that showcases the complex geometry that helped create the large round structure. Minifig legs in orange offers a clever bit of greebling.

A shot of the central hub shows two smaller craft exiting the space station. Another wheel stacked behind this one would have made a near perfect replica of the space station from 2001: A Space Odyssey. I can just hear Hal’s pompous not-quite-human voice now; “I’m sorry, Lino. Your grasp of geometry and algebra is insufficient. You’ll never figure that rug out.” Can it, Hal!

A roving defender of the land

Whenever LEGO releases a big set, talented builders the world over get inspired to build similar models, but better and more epic. You see it with UCS LEGO Star Wars sets, modular buildings, castles (from Helm’s Deep to Hogwarts), and Batmobiles. It also happens in the LEGO Technic world; LEGO releases a 42110 Land Rover Defender, and out of the woodwork start crawling rugged off-roaders like this one by Manuel Nascimento. Not only did Manuel build an enormous and detailed Defender, but he also built a whole display base to demonstrate its capabilities. You can sleep on a Land Rover? That’s intense (get it? in tents?). But the lights and winch work, and it has a working transmission, too, and could in theory drive. But since it weighs in at 14.33 lbs (6.5 kg) driving it is a bit out of the question. Who cares, though, since looking at it is such a treat.

Custom stickers give this a sleek look, honoring a Camel Trophy competition team as well as the builder. It’s got all the details, too, from the cages and bars to the snorkel. The nets in the rear windows look great, and I love the huge knobby tires. My favorite parts usages are the socket wrenches for the door pulls and the DUPLO shovel mounted over the front right wheel. Droid arms serve beautifully for the hood latches, too. Now, I said this was built in response to the new LEGO Defender; that’s not properly true, since this was originally built back in 2017, but it is still an epic ride.

And if you enjoyed this Land Rover Defender, you might also like a pair of Land Rover Defenders by Peter Carmichael.

The amethyst bonsai

Purple treeze all in the ground. Don’t know if they’re growing up or down. Is it crystal or purple ice? Whatever it is, Duncan Lindbo built a tree that’s nice. Queue Jimi Hendrix guitar solo – Duncan’s magical-looking tree is constructed from transparent purple Bionicle elements, which are lit throughout to give it a sparkly, crystalline appearance. If something could be grown from a shard of the Dark Crystal I’d imagine this would be it!

If you’d like to see more of Duncan’s work in purple, be sure to check out his loathsome worm we featured back in September.

This is why Roswell can’t have nice things

Farmers don’t seem to be the type who like to be messed with, but that doesn’t stop aliens from messing with them pretty much since man has learned to plant green beans. Lokiloki29 builds a micro-scale scene depicting the classic battle between hapless farmers and the alien invaders who are hellbent on doing weird things to their livestock and crops. The gravel road beside the barn is a whole slew of these laid in sideways while the dismembered minifig hands cleverly depicts a cornfield. While small, the tractor is accurately created using just a few parts. I’m pretty sure I saw that exact model on the John Deere website. I’m not sure what this poor farmer did to deserve a close encounter of the probing kind. But to our new alien overlords, I like my beef tenderized and singed with just a touch of pink on the inside.

It’s a swamp out there

The Land Rover Defender has been newly revitalized for 2020 with a complete overhaul of its aesthetics from the ancient-looking offroading beast that it’s been for decades, and LEGO commemorated the launch of the new generation with the Technic set 42110 Land Rover Defender. Early reports show it’s got promising off-road chops (as any Land Rover should), but it remains to be seen what the durability of the new model is. However, it’s obvious what Peter Carmichael thinks given this diorama of the classic model rescuing the newer one.

Peter says he began his concepting for the classic Land Rover design with an existing LEGO design, but ended up changing nearly every part of it in pursuit of greater accuracy. The result is fantastic, with the Defender’s iconic lines showing through from every angle. The sand blue for the new 110 model is a bold choice, given the paucity of elements in that color, but it works well to mimic the available Tasman Blue.

There’s something fishy going on here.

There’s a lot of beauty under the sea. There’s also a lot of creepy looking fish. jarekwally brings us a bit of both in this underwater vignette. Created around two tricycle frames, a bone-white fish swims among a colorful coral reef. I’m not sure you’d want to come face-to-face with whatever breed of fish that is, but the rest of the scene is certainly somewhere I’d like to visit.

This whole build abounds with creative part usage. The fish continues it’s unusual construction with minifigure wings, Mixel eyes, and cattle horns. Each plant in the reef has it’s own clever combination of elements, too. There are multi-colored flower-edged round plates, 2×2 round petal bases, and even purple 2×2 gears.

North Pole or bust!

I love Christmas as much as anyone. In fact, I would wager that I love it more than most people. But I have to admit that my jaw clenches, a tic twinges in my cheek, and my guts churn when I start seeing Christmas merchandise and commercials before Thanksgiving. I once worked at a store where the Holiday displays came out at the beginning of October, and I had to see them almost every day for three months. It was torture. And the Christmas songs played on a loop piped into the stores – don’t even get me started on how much I despise all 3,000,000,000 versions of “Jingle Bell Rock”. That being said, I do appreciate a good LEGO build when I see one, even if it is Santa Claus at the start of November. Kale Frost had the opportunity to build a huge Christmas display for a mall out of LEGO bricks, and the head of the Head Elf is particularly noteworthy.

The bushy white eyebrows make good use of some wings, and the clips are surprisingly effective as eyelashes. I love the clear blue eyes and the jolly face. This Santa looks like he needs some more cookies, though, since that neck is not as, ah, girthy as I would expect. It doesn’t look like he is hiding multiple chins behind that LEGO beard, and he is hardly ruddy. Perhaps this is Santa after some weight loss and exercise, getting swoll in the North Pole Crossfit Gym. Not that it really matters, as long as he leaves me some presents under the tree — the kind that make the proper rattling noise when shaken.

The Gates Await

If you’re going to build a castle, you’re going to have some guarded gates to go with it. That’s exactly what builder JS_Ninjnerd did with this fantastic medieval creation. First off, we need a round of applause for the incredible amount of landscaping this build has. Look at the tiny details in the rocks and grass! The variety of sloping bricks used to achieve such level of attention reflects JS_Ninjnerd’s LEGO building skills. Certainly, no stone was left unturned.

The castle itself is a marvel of plastic engineering. Personally, I can’t stand having gaps in between my walled bricks, but here they’re pulled off perfectly. The distressing on the castle is equally expert. The sand-green bricks add age to the towers, helping establish the narrative that they’ve been guarding the entrance to the kingdom for centuries.

Also age-impressive is the tree on the far left of the display. This tree is shedding its leaves as it enters into the Fall season. I love the colors and how they reflect actual color changes in real trees. The leaves on the ground are a nice touch as well, continuing to bring as much realism as possible into this creation.