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.

This Conviction Crusader will show its enemies who’s boss

“Constructed around a massive particle cannon and also equipped with ion guns and anti-fighter turrets, these destroyers decisively end space fleet battles with overwhelming force.” Victor K‘s description of his Conviction Crusader lets us know how menacing the ship is, but the description stops short of describing how cool the ship looks. There’s no “up” anywhere, with plates and bricks being stacked in all directions. The bulky, angular engines face one way, while the main lines of the hull are perpendicular. The result is a craft that looks right at home in space, where “up” and “down” are mere suggestions.

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Crash Bandicoot goes bananas for LEGO!

Sonic and Mario have shown that LEGO and video game mascots are a perfect match. While Sony Playstation doesn’t have a definitive mascot, there was a time when Crash Bandicoot nearly took the honors. DW_Builds pays tribute to the dashing hero with a model so apeeling it could only have been created for the New Elementary “Mind that Banana” contest. The builder takes advantage of the new banana colors found in the Botanicals Chrysanthemum set for Crash’s wild hair and comically gaping mouth. Jumbo macaroni tubes make up Crash’s curved torso and loping legs, while minifig arms serve as expressive eyebrows. These days Crash is more of a retro mascot than a vital part of gaming culture. Still, given the success of gaming IP in cinemas lately, maybe Sony will try and bring him into the live-action world with actor Timothée Chalamet providing mocap and Jack Black phoning it in as Dr. Neo Cortex.

Hoo-HOO wants a wise winter friend?

This year, when not expanding on the epic Middle Eastern fantasy land of Mophet or setting sail with the Black Falcons, Andreas Lenander has had birds on the brain. Just in time for winter, the Swedish builder shares his third whimsically designed LEGO bird: this snowy owl. Like Andreas’ fall owl, this one incorporates foliage and tail elements into the plumage, but this time it’s the eyes that fascinate from a ring of Unikitty tails. In a year that’s seen so many amazing owl builds, Andreas still finds ways to innovate!

Draconis Scyphozoa – a jellyfish-inspired dragon

LEGO phenom Joss Ivanwood has been building a dragon every month in 2024; Year of the Dragon in case you’re wondering why. It turns out, eleven months into the year, this jellyfish-inspired dragon marks the first instance of creative block. It’s quite understandable, trying to design a dragon based on a jellyfish; I imagine there were several iterations of this magnificent beast, several head-scratching moments and maybe sleepless nights. But the end result is probably my favorite of the entire line. I mean, look at those tendrils made from legions of clips and that arching transparent bell. It’s proof that something can be deadly and beautiful all at the same time. Joss tells us that while he’s aware that jellyfish don’t have brains, he couldn’t resist including the new brain creature piece from the Mindflayer D&D minifigure. That’s a smart use for that brain piece!

LEGO Steampunk “Swallow” takes to the skies!

“L’hirondelle,” a mighty LEGO creation by Gus (aka Faëbricks), is the fastest vessel in the Royal Navy. Its name is French for “The Swallow,” a bird known for its ability to feed mid-flight, so what better name for an airship in search of prey? Mighty wind turbines and a streamlined hull (love the hidden rowboats giving it the curved shape) work with the elongated balloon to keep the airship aloft and stalking the skies. Its crew are hard at work, having repurposed Fremen stillsuit masks as breathing apparatuses in the thin air. I also love the cannon on the gear swivel, ready to unleash hell in any lateral direction. There’s also that wicked-looking blade at the prow, ready to poke holes in anybody who comes too close. All in all, it’s not an airship I’d want to mess with.

This Star Wars Ewok Village can topple an empire

Back in 2013 LEGO produced the 10236 Ewok Village and at the time it was the first large Star Wars set that wasn’t a spaceship. It was a popular set, likely the pinnacle of Star Wars playsets at the time. Now, eleven years later, Simulterious takes inspiration from that pivotal set but doesn’t stop there; he also borrows some design cues from The Kenner Playset from 1983. If many of our readers are like me, this should hit several nostalgic sweet spots simultaneously. Or should I say…simulteriously? Whether your favorite inspiration was the 2013 LEGO set, the 1983 Kenner playset or neither because you can’t wrap your head around the concept of cute cannibalistic care bears toppling an entire galactic empire, then you have to at least admire the the amazing build techniques on display here.

Tell the Vic Viper where it hurts

If you don’t like needles, then you’d better hide from this LEGO Vic Viper by Maxx Davidson! This shark-nosed spaceship can make you comfortably numb with whatever is in those giant syringes, while the stethoscope radar can hear you at extreme range. Much like Bionicle before it, this whole build is inspired by pills, so Maxx gave it a classic red and white color scheme and even made the wings out of foil packets! Maxx is a great builder, so if you want to see more of his found-object builds, check out his archive here!

A very hungry LEGO caterpillar

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is one of the most enduring and beloved works of childrens’ literature thanks to the distinctive style of creator Eric Carle. 55 years after eating its way through readers’ hearts, the Hungry Caterpillar is back in LEGO form courtesy of another distinctive artist, Pan Noda. A character build like this is a departure from the uncanny architecture and liminal spaces we’ve come to expect from the builder, but there’s something about the Hungry Caterpillar that makes it feel at home in Pan’s pantheon. Maybe it’s those haunting eyes of life preservers atop Scala foam? Or the dozens of cherries that turn eerily to fur along the caterpillar’s back. Or the existential question of whether a hole in a book is part of the book or the absence of book. In any case, it’s a brilliant build. Were it not for the apple leaf in the foreground, it would be easy to overlook that it’s a LEGO model all!

“You’ve always been the caretaker, Mr. Torrence”

A thing that Alex Eylar does really well with his LEGO creations is set a mood. Sometimes, often actually, that mood can be deeply unsettling. You don’t need to read the title to know this is an iconic scene from Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. Here we see an already deranged and inebriated Jack Torrence taking family advice from a ghostly Delbert Grady. The advice in question was chilling and unwholesome, even for 1980 standards; and let’s just say nothing went well for anybody. It turns out this wasn’t the only deeply unsettling bathroom scene in the movie. Alex, if you go on to build the nightmare fuel that was the green bathroom, I’m pretty sure I’ll be damaged goods forever.

Stained glass in Shanghai

The last time builder Hugo Huang shared an architectural build, it sent me down a research rabbit hole of light boats, German brewers, and Chinese occupation. Once again, Hugo uses LEGO to recreate a historic sight that’s too obscure for the travelogues but reveals a fascinating history. The Catholic Country Church, lovingly recreated in brick yellow and sand green by Hugo, was designed by architect László Hudec and completed in 1925. Hudec was a Hungarian who served in WWI, was captured by Russians and imprisoned in Siberia, jumped a train, and escaped to Shanghai where he joined an American architectural firm before starting his own practice. In the following decades, he designed many landmark buildings in the city, including several churches.

Hugo’s LEGO version is a fitting tribute with wonderful stained glass windows made of transparent cheese slopes, and incredible domes made of sand green aloe vera points from the succulent collection. I love it when a LEGO creation introduces me to new building techniques as well as fascinating facts about our world!

What we build in the shadows...

Great castle architecture always grabs my attention. I’m continually amazed when builders find new techniques for medieval roofing, brickwork, or half-timbering in LEGO. Gabriel Midgley has quickly become a favorite castle builder and the Procession of the Vampire Lord shows why. Just look at that doorway. Forming arches from partially connected 2×1 plates is nothing new, but the three nested archways here with a half-stud offset is epic. The color gradient on the half-timbered top, using a mix of profile bricks on their sides, is gorgeous – especially when paired with the red and blue windows. Cheese slopes allow smooth curves for the tower side. And as with all of Gabriel’s builds, excellent landscaping, thoughtfully composed minifigs, and custom lighting turn a great architectural build into immersive world-building. This is truly a castle build you can sink your teeth into!

High score: nostalgia achievement unlocked!

As someone who grew up in days of yore, David Zambito‘s “Time Out” arcade is a feast of nostalgia, one that conjures up phantom smells of mediocre pizza and pubescent excitement. I don’t even know where to begin. Look at that radical retro carpet, cleverly rendered with a bunch of multicolored SNOT cheese wedges and plates (probably sticky with the residue of countless spilled drinks). The games are instantly recognizable. Counterclockwise from the left, I see Dance Dance Revolution, Pac-Man, that claw thingy that always deceives you into thinking you can actually pick up a stuffed animal, air hockey, Skee-Ball, and pinball (with little cow horns as the ball flippers!). The assortment of prizes is just as great, with the top-shelf prizes including some Wolverine claws and a Ninja Turtle shell. The good stuff always seemed to go for approximately 5,000,000 tickets each, so if you want those claws you’d best start gaming.