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 gelatinous wonder from space

We may sound like broken records here at The Brothers Brick every year when SHIPtember rolls around, but I really do believe that spaceships people build are getting more and more imaginative. Inthert‘s contribution to this year’s event is a prime example of that.

The spaceship looks almost alive, like a mix between a jellyfish, a mushroom and pure mechanical evil. Shapes are nothing LEGO bricks naturally support, but the builder has managed not only to make the dome at the front look good but also to make it open, with a beautiful mechanical interior. General consensus for conservative spaceship colour schemes suggests fewer colours used, carefully separated by clean lines, but somehow Inthert has managed to make his build look great even with multiple grays, black, brown, gold and green used in very intense combinations. The secret here is that each colour has a strongly defined role and makes sense in the build. As far as details go I could not even begin to cover all the ingenious little parts, but my favourite by far is the central section, where mechanical tentacles can be seen through transparent panels.

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TBB Cover Photo for October 2018: Enjoy the high life in the skies!

We at TBB always take pleasure in seeing builders take their creations to new heights. Here we have Marcel V. execute on that quite literally, with these structures dubbed “Giap-Towers,” where minifigures and their humble abodes float amongst the clouds. After featuring this floating steampunk cityscape just a few days ago, we loved their simplistic charm and have chosen this to be TBB’s cover photo for October 2018.

Want to see your own LEGO creation featured across TBB social media for a month? Then read the submission guidelines and send us your photo today. Photos that do not meet the submission guidelines will not be considered, and will be removed from the group.

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A taxi worth hailing

We’ve featured Martin Redfern‘s impressive retro-styled vehicles previously, notably this 50s Police Cruiser, and more recently a cool LEGO dispatch bike. This curvy taxi makes an excellent addition to the fleet — a delicious yellow and black colour scheme complete with checkerboard stripe, beautiful chrome trimmings, and all executed in Martin’s trademark chunky aesthetic.

The model features opening doors and trunk, a detailed interior, and an engine lurking beneath the bonnet. As well as including all this, the builder has gone to the trouble of putting together an appropriately atmospheric poster for his taxi service. I don’t care what price he’s charging, I’m a willing passenger on this ride.

The LEGO Star Wars GR-75 Transport is away

Adding to an impressive line-up of spacecraft for SHIPtember 2018 is Anders Horvath with his LEGO replica of a GR-75 Medium Transport from The Empire Strikes Back. Choosing to build a Star Wars spacecraft so iconic and recognizable is challenging, but Anders nailed it with excellent contrast between the cargo containers, central greebling, and relatively slick hull panels. Best yet, it’s even got an interior.

The layered elliptic paneling of the hull is built beautifully. The original seen on screen is segmented unevenly, and this is reflected well in the LEGO rendition. The layering of tiles create the divisions between panels and suggests curvature down the length. Continue reading →

Maintenance mech may move minifig materials

It’s a delight to be in a position where we can watch certain builds (and builders) evolve over time and improve on past designs. Today’s example is from Devid VII who has tinkered with his LEGO Ideas Exo Suit-inspired mini mech.

This “maintenance mode” rendition follows Mini Exo-Suit 1 which Devid unveiled back in January. You can compare the variants by checking out our previous coverage of Mini Exo Suit 1, but I also want to zoom in on a couple of points specifically to show how the model has been refined and upgraded over the earlier model. Many studs have been covered up generally across the model, but the chest has seen the most refinement. Take a look at versions 1 and 2 here:

You could say it’s splitting hairs, but I appreciate that even a piece or two can make a difference in the final appearance of a model.

A spellbinding tour of Dumbledore’s office

“It was a large and beautiful circular room, full of funny little noises. A number of curious silver instruments stood on spindle-legged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke.” That’s how J. K. Rowling’s described Dumbledore’s cluttered office, and it’s the sort of evocative prose that gets the LEGO builder’s creative juices flowing. Jonas Kramm certainly seems inspired, creating this amazing model for TBB’s Microscale Magic contest. It’s a detail-perfect build: there’s the sorting hat on its shelf, and there’s a tellurium that cleverly utilises a microphone element, and over here a magnificent orb represented by a Bionicle Zamor. The crowning accomplishment has to be Fawkes the Phoenix, whose feathers are inspirationally shaped from plume and mechanical claw pieces to great effect.

This LEGO model was built as an entry for TBB’s Microscale Magic contest. Coverage on TBB of an entry will not be taken into consideration during judging, and will have no effect on its ability to win, either positively or negatively.

The spindly threads of humanity among the stars

Hard science fiction spaceships often conform to a few venerable aesthetics, key among them a predominance of NASA-like white. However, in LEGO builder halfbeak‘s timeline, a group of disgruntled astronauts have broken ties with NASA and formed their own space agency, so it makes sense they’ve inverted the usual colors. This marvelously gangly spacecraft is powered by antimatter, which it captures in huge nets.

It’s rare that a spaceship can rival a sailing ship for rigging, but the wiry electromagnetic nets surrounding the vessel are a truly fantastic bit of LEGO engineering, painstakingly pieced together with string and a variety of thin LEGO elements, such as fishing rods. The repetitious use of LEGO radar dishes throughout the craft brings a unifying motif, and they make for an especially interesting texture along the ribbed twin prongs on the front.

Star Striker, for when the flying gets rough

LEGO fans are frequently inspired to give life to Star Wars-inspired builds, but even though builder Shawn Snyder may not have had Star Wars front of mind when building this slick ship, we’d like to think it could have happened in an alternate timeline. The robust, industrial design paired with the classic windscreen makes it look a bit like an Incom T-47 that’s been seriously souped up to give it a buffed up, mean and rugged look suited for spaceflight. Of course, it’s different some pretty significant ways, but the color theme certainly strikes a familiar chord with last years 75144 UCS Snowspeeder. There’s no sign of obvious canons but I’m pretty sure there’s some heavy weaponry hidden inside just waiting to take the next AT-AT down, or whatever their equivalent is in the universe where this ship exists.

If you like this, check out some true Star Wars-inspired ships that look like they could have been lifted off the pages of a galaxy far far away.

A true whale of a spaceship

Called the Celestial Barracuda, this marine-inspired vessel by LEGO designer Niek Van Slagmaat (most recently of 21311 Voltron fame) is one of the more uniquely designed spaceSHIPs of recent memory. Traversing the inky deeps of space and reality as an interdimensional transport ship, the ship takes the form of a sinuous fish. Niek expertly strikes a balance between placing tiles for a smooth exterior and strategically leaving studs exposed to create a textured, weathered hull. He’s also used a sprinkling of dark tan among the orange bricks, highlighting where the orange paint has peeled over eons of space travel.

The ship’s fish-like features aren’t just for show, though, as they serve a more utilitarian purpose in supporting the small fleet of nimble craft that surrounds it like pilot fish. Continue reading →

Tinker around with this tantalizingly tiny T

In continuous production from 1909 through 1929, the Ford Model T became an automotive industry leader in the U.S. and abroad. Even LEGO’s founding father, Ole Kirk Christiansen, reportedly owned a Model T and used it to transport wooden toys to market. Building a LEGO Model T in minifigure scale can be challenging, in part because of the body’s large number of curves and angular details. These issues have been expertly overcome by builder mmurray, whose 1920 Ford pickup is one of the best renditions of the T that I have seen. The builder makes clever use of the wheelchair wheel elements, which look at home on an early automobile and allow it to be built in such a small scale.

The Model T was available in a wide variety of body styles and, in the spirit of Henry Ford, mmurray has also built a roadster version. I can’t stop drooling over the level of detail in this tiny car. The running boards are simple yet tight, and the thin windshield helps sell the front end. However, it is mmurray’s ability to capture so many subtle angles in such a small model that makes his 1920 Ford feel authentic.

If these bite-sized Ford’s were to roll off the assembly line, I would be the first in line to buy one!

This shiny LEGO Mercedes Benz W196 is ready to win the race

The Mercedes Benz W196 was built for the Formula 1 circuit in 1954, and famously carried a very simple livery of silver paint with big red and white numeral badges. A tiny car with the narrow, bulbous body of yesteryear’s racecars, the W196 is a difficult car to capture in LEGO at any scale, let alone minifigure scale. And yet that’s exactly what Pixeljunkie has done, and boy does it look great. Featuring a very large percentage of LEGO’s metallic silver pallette (plus some custom chromed wheels), this remarkable little car looks ready to win the world championship one more time.

Big on character, small on parts

It’s amazing how a builder like R197 can take a simple LEGO brick and find a character in it. The way he uses a boombox element for eyes, and bent knees formed from technic braces, can conjure up the poise and gait of an arthritic robot.

See more adorably tiny robots.