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.

Set sail amongst the clouds

It’s a Sky Pirate’s worst nightmare when The Valvalevidan hoves into view. AdNorrel‘s massive steampunk flying vessel is a wonderful LEGO creation — beautifully detailed, and packed with functional-looking elements. The overall shape carries a faint whiff of Jabba’s Sail Barge from Return Of The Jedi, but that’s no bad thing. I love the touches of gold and the striped sails, and those lanterns on the raised rear deck are excellent.

The airship is 80 studs in length, making for a formidable construction project which took 9 months to put together. However, all that space is put to great use with some fabulous details. Here’s a close-up view of the impressive motors which keep the ship moving when the wind drops… Continue reading →

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For the life of every plane, I will keep watch.

A good LEGO creation will be good despite the motive and theme it depicts. Some times though, a build comes up that is both built well and plays on your personal interests. The builder that does that to me most often is Eero Okkonen. If you have been following The Brothers Brick for a while you are probably familiar with Eero’s beautiful character builds of various themes, many of which come from the Magic the Gathering trading card game, just like this particular one.

The build represents an elf planeswalker (basically a glorified mage) important in Magic’s storyline. The character’s likeness is incredibly well captured in LEGO, especially the iconic green markings on her face. The clothing and posing is great as well, with a flowing green cape and a green flame in her hand. You can read more about the build on Eero’s blog, Cyclopic Bricks. The builder is so good at capturing iconic characters that one could call him an Iconic Master…

Batman – Steaming Mad at Criminals

Marvel Comics has their multiverse — alternate realities where the heroes you know are reimagined as something new. DC comics does something similar with their own characters, usually super grim and dark ones resulting from the timeline being broken by something the Flash did. (Really. It’s a trope.) But sometimes these stories can just be bight spots of fun, and if you’re really lucky you’ll get to enjoy one of them in LEGO form. For instance, have a look at this take on Batman and the Batmobile by Breado’s Bricks. Batman always has a ton of resources, so what if he really leaned into the glitz as much as the flying rodent thing? You might end up with the steampunk version we see here. Decked out in gold chrome elements, cape and cowl, and body armor, this Batman may not be stealthy, but he certainly is shiny.

SteamBat brings this sense of style into his ride as well. The BatRod mixes the traditional BatBlack with new and improved BatGold accents. Mag wheel covers and rims echo the highlights in the engine and exhaust. Even more gold adorns the front grill and headlights.

No matter what angle you view this car from, you’re going to be well aware that SteamBats has a lot of cash to spend. Take that, criminals!

An Open Letter to Vader and the Management of the Imperial Forces

Dear Honorable Darth Vader and the Management Team of the Galactic Empire,

You have an almost infinite budget at your disposal to spend on wages and upskilling of personnel and technological innovation. I’m sure you’ve attended the Business Strategies 101 course at our SPOT (Security, Peace, Order, Terror) University and learned that having quality over quantity is paramount towards a calculated win in all battles. The root cause of all losses has been apparent, and we can narrow it down to one thing: bad aiming (be it Stormtroopers, or TIE pilots). At one time, our Stormtroopers had a reputation for being precise enough to pinpoint a Jawa from two sand dunes away. Until we return to this, you will continue to see mockery in all forms like this one built and sculpted in LEGO form by Pasq67 – Tie Fighters tailing Rebel scum piloting X-Wings Starfighters, which are low-tech vehicles that have little automation and only manual firing systems. However, they are always evading, destroying, and killing so many of our innocent troops and soldiers.

The solution? Invest in better targeting systems, and train the troopers to shoot well and not let them graduate unless they have a decent passing rate for marksmanship. My analysis shows that it’s a simple strategy that will save us from countless numbers of sequels, prequels, animated series, and god knows how many more spinoffs down the road. Until then, toy companies like LEGO will continue to build multi-million dollar businesses from allowing people to recreate scenes and games retelling history on our continuous defeats. It’s embarrassing. Do something.

Yours sincerely,
Stormtrooper
(FN-2186)
#NOTATRAITOR

This epic LEGO coal mining shovel is nearly as tall as its builder

If this 1:28.5 scale model of the Marion 5760 Mountaineer stripping shovel doesn’t make your jaw hit the floor, then I suggest you take a closer look. Personally, I am glad that it is equipped with robust power functions to lift mine back up. Beat Felber, also known as Engineering with ABS, has created an absolutely stunning model of this monster of a machine used to scrape off the top layers of earth from seams of coal in Ohio. The Mountaineer was in operation from 1956 until 1979, and considering how massive the LEGO model of it is, I can only imagine how enormous the real thing was. It must have moved a lot of dirt. I almost said “a ton of dirt”, but I’d bet the shovel could lift a lot more than a ton of rock and dirt in every scoop. (It was closer to 60 tons per scoop! – Ed.)

Click here to dig deeper into this build

Ferrari 250 GT has earned its stripes

The Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta SWB was one of the most successful GT racing cars of the early 60s, and even without considering its trophy-winning prowess, was undoubtedly one of the coolest looking. Noah L‘s LEGO version is as classy as its inspiration. The model’s shaping is excellent, nicely capturing the car’s stylish curves. And that central tricolour stripe is just lovely.

In an impressive display of building skill, Noah has crammed in a detailed interior, an engine, and opening doors, bonnet, and boot — no mean feat in such a tight footprint.

An enigmatic maze

Sometimes you don’t need a wide breadth of pieces to build a great LEGO model. You just need a large quantity of a handful of elements. That seems to be the case with this eye-catching maze by Dutch builder Erik Eti Smit. Using a repeating pattern of tan arches, curved slopes, and striking red slopes, Erik has crafted a stunning maze for some hapless dwarves.

Click to see more of the maze and dwarves

Two will battle, only one shall return

Sometimes simplicity tells a great tale — a lone Japanese temple with a wide vast landscape with a battle in the snow, perhaps for the freedom of a prisoner of war. The 3×4 modified tile that comes with as the character stand in the collectible minifigures series, somewhat less commonly found in builds, is put to good use as the roof design for this lovely scene by Brickr. The toribusuma, which is the curved part at the edges of the roof, reminds us of a time when sometimes the only way to bring honour to the family is through “harakiri” sacrificial death.

It’s dangerous to go alone, take this Link sculpture!

Hey! Listen! Builder Vincent Kiew has built a terrific homage to one of the best RPG video games ever made, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Series hero Link (please don’t call him Zelda) has been lovingly recreated here astride his trusty steed (also not named Zelda), ready for an epic adventure in the kingdom of Hyrule.

This is a delightful model that brought a smile to my face as soon as I saw it. Upon closer inspection, I was immediately impressed by the iconic Zelda touches and the creative use of parts. The horse is chock full of building techniques that combine together to create the complicated musculature. The modified 1 x 2 plates with 3 claws make a beautiful mane and the I really like the minifigure crutch as stirrups. The award for best part use, however, must go to the implementation of Samurai helmets as hooves. If it looks like it’s defying gravity, that’s because it is! The horse was originally held up with transparent bricks which were then quickly removed for the photograph, and luckily it all remained intact.

The Link figure captures the character perfectly and his clothes are nicely rendered, with special modifications for riding versus standing. The use of car hoods for the hips of his tunic while riding and unicorn horns for his hair wisps are both great touches. As a Legend of Zelda fan, I really appreciate all the attention to Link’s equipment. The details on The Master Sword and in particular, The Hylian Shield, are beautiful. The builder even goes so far as giving him a tiny Shiekah Slate hooked to his belt with an Elves goblin eye tile to finish it all off. Now you may ask, “But, where is this Zelda we keep hearing about?” to which I shall answer “It’s a secret to everybody.”

Man and dog versus a whole bunch of mutants

The 2007 Will Smith movie I Am Legend is in my top 10 favorite films from the post-apocalyptic genre, and I’ve always wanted this to have a sequel of sorts. This iconic scene built by Patrick B. is full of painstaking work showing the disarray of a weathered city block. Countless number of brown whip minifigure accessories intertwine as tree roots and vines, crawling all over the building facade and road surface. If you haven’t already seen this movie, give it a chance — and even if you’ve caught it on the big screen, do lookout for an alternate ending that was produced with many different scenes that tell a slightly different tale.

A collection of hard-hitting hardsuits.

One of the hallmarks of a great LEGO creation is when the subject stands entirely on its own merit, and the use of plastic parts is so completely integrated that it transcends the medium. When I first saw these LEGO Hardsuits by David Collins in my Flickr feed, my first thought was, “Cool action figures!”, followed by “OMG, that’s LEGO.” Not only are these battling hardsuits very nicely detailed with bright colors and custom stickers, but they are also much larger than they first seem.

Check out David’s colorful hardsuits in more detail

Let’s run away with the circus!

Builder Ian Hoy turns our attention to the center ring with this beautifully built circus scene. Heed the carnival barker in his jaunty top hat as he calls to you — “Step right up folks and stare in awe and amazement at this action-packed quintuple of animal performers, each one with its own special talents on display! Hurry, hurry! Take a peek, you won’t be disappointed!”

Each of the animals in this scene could stand on its own, but the combination of all of them together makes for a truly marvelous show. If I had to pick a favorite, it would have to be the leaping tiger. Hou manages to imbue it with action, movement and just a touch of danger.

The scooter-riding bear is a close second with his whimsical expression. The dog as the carnival barker is a brilliant touch, and the magician’s rabbit also provide a nice dose of humor and expression. Taking center stage is everyone’s favorite big-eared elephant Dumbo, although Hou doesn’t reference him as such in his descriptions of the piece.

Every performer has a level of detail and building creativity that is a joy to look at up close and leaves me wanting to figure out how the builder did it all.

The setting of the scene is equally rich in detail, from the bejeweled stage lights to the speakers and rounded stage. The use of flags on the sides also adds to the festive atmosphere and the font on the word “circus” is particularly impressive and creative. I’m also particularly fond of the use of the backside of the pieces to create the curtained backdrop. Many builders go to great pains to not show the back, but Hou does a terrific job in this case and it all blends together perfectly. As an added bit of humor, in the corner behind the tiger there looks to be a crate full of food, including a cooked turkey, to make sure the performers are well fed and ready to play.

Luckily, the fun doesn’t stop with the front of the model! The back and outside are equally impressive, utilizing a second lettering style and a simple but effective representation of a circus tent.

Like any good traveling spectacular, at the end of the day the whole shebang can be folded up and moved on to the next city, ready to thrill audiences with the greatest show on earth!