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.

How to build a Grumman E-1 Tracer early warning aircraft from LEGO: Part 3 [Feature]

This article is the third and final installment in a series. Read about the LEGO Grumman E-1 Tracer Part 1 and Part 2 here.

In the last four weeks, I have been building a LEGO scale model of a Grumman E-1 Tracer aircraft. Part 1 described how I planned the build, and part 2 dealt with how I built some of the difficult bits; in this, the third and final part, I explain how I built the last bits, and present the finished model.

For weeks this build seemed to progress really slowly. I know that for some builders September means building huge spaceships. It took me most of this month to build just the radome, the nose, the wings and the engine nacelles. When I started building the fuselage, however, it felt like I had reached the home stretch. All of a sudden things went really quickly. Building the final parts wasn’t necessarily easy, but certainly easier. It was great to see the collection of separate sections come together into something that looked like an aircraft. The anticipation of seeing the end result motivated me. So, here it is.
Continue reading →

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Chugging away the day in a trio of steamers.

We recently featured some terrific turn-of-the-century LEGO steam cars by Krzysztof Pusz. He’s back again, this time with some excellent steampunk vehicles. My absolute favorite is the monowheel, which puts the otherwise bulky Ninjago Airjitzu Flyer propeller blades to excellent use. I love how the internal mechanics are visible within the blades, and the side-mounted periscope solves the problem of “driving blind.” I’m not sure what the significance of the baby bunny is, but I like it.

Krzysztof has supplemented his steampunk universe with two other delightful models, one of which is his plane named the Golden Arrow. Incorporating Bionicle elements into the front end of the body looks appropriate for the subject matter. It also looks like the pilot has a hamster friend….I’m starting to notice a theme here.

Last but not least is the Bulbulator. It’s bulky form almost reminds me of military transport, which is probably why we can’t find any cute animals with this one. The risk is far too great and the antithesis of all that is cute.

The vegetable’s revenge

Angry Carrot is out for vengeance. It looks like Bunny is in a whole heap of trouble in this fun creation by Tyler Clites. The carrot is nicely shaped, and immediately recognisable with its burst of green leaves. Ball and socket Mixel joints give the mutant vegetable’s limbs some good poseability, but it’s the facial expressions which steal the show here. The half-strangled rabbit looks more than a little distressed with its protruding tongue and bulging eyes, and the carrot’s features are perfect — the curve of that eyebrow is the perfect addition to the asymmetrical eyes, creating a tonne of character with just a handful of pieces.

A fabulous frigate full of fantastic features

It really shows when a builder knows their subject, and that is absolutely the case here! According to Luis Peña his 1:200 scale LEGO model of a Type 23 frigate in Chilean Navy service was built with the aim of reproducing as many of its details and equipment as possible. Every aspect of the build, form the various surveillance and control radar to the ship’s 4.5 inch Mark 8 naval gun is a miniature replica of its real world counterpart.

My personal favourite features, though, have to be the microscale Cougar SH32 helicopter perched on its landing pad, and the Sea Wolf anti-air missiles’ vertical launching system, which Luis has built in epic mid-launch.

The One Ring to rule them all – the “spaceship” at Apple Park in LEGO

All devout Apple adherents must make a pilgrimage to the One Ring located at 1 Apple Park Way. In many ways the draw that the one ring had towards Bilbo and Frodo is quite similar to Apple loyalty and magnetic magic of desire when a new iPhone hits the stores. This LEGO model of the Apple Park may look quite simple, but it’s quite a feat in terms of scale and detail. Spencer R made references from early drone videos and whatever he could get his hands on.

See more photos and details of the Apple campus in LEGO

Steam around the block in style

Back in the early days of motor transportation, the internal combustion engine was far from the only option. For one, electric cars were roaming city streets a century before Tesla made it “cool.” There were also plenty of steam-powered options from the likes of Stanley, White, and the aptly named Locomobile. Inspired by this era, Krzysztof Pusz built a pair of princely-looking LEGO steam cars. My personal favorite is this dark green coal-hauling machine. Clear 1×2 plates look surprisingly nice as smoke, and the wood-grain tiles are used to great effect in forming the truck’s tilted bed. Another nice touch is the absence of a steering wheel in favor of a tiller mechanism. A lot of early cars featured tillers, which were levers used for steering.

A second variation on the steam theme is Krzysztof’s appropriately named U.BER. If you were having an Edwardian night on the town and had a bit too much to drink, you’d better call an U.BER! The use of a bladed claw minifigure element for hood louvers is particularly noteworthy and makes for a “steamtastic” job well done.

The lurker in the murky depths

Erstwhile LEGO gearhead guru Lino Martins is mixing it up, bringing us a big vignette of a haunting brackish backwater with a dark secret. This collection of treehouses forms a small bayou village, whose residents are sworn to placate a fearsome beast with blood sacrifices, often in the form of giant alligators lowered into the creature’s tentacled arms by means of a rickety contraption. The smooth dark green bricks make excellent ponds of stale water, with a smooth finish of algae broken only by a few small ripples as the monster’s arms raise.

What with the swamp being infested by an otherworldly horror, it’s best not to disturb that calm water, or indeed get anywhere near more than is absolutely necessary. That, plus the lack of land in the middle of swamp, means the townsfolk of Mangrove Swamp have all the necessities built on raised platforms, from farming to swine raising. Continue reading →

Happy Birthday, Bilbo and Frodo! It’s Hobbit’s Day!

Bilbo and Frodo Baggins were born 78 years apart, but with exactly the same birthday, on the 22nd of September. It is their birthday today and thus they make a mark on our Gregorian calendar – declared as Hobbit Day! And to commemorate the festivities, builder Thorsten Bonsch gifts us with a vignette that’s worthy of a weary hobbit to rest and unwind with a warm and cozy corner of home tucked in a corner of the Shire. Thorston’s clever techniques with 1×1 plates for the arc of the fireplace and a tessellated centrepiece for the floor using an assortment of cheese slopes in a variety of colors, all lit with perfect lighting, makes this a breathtaking and picturesque scene.

Take another look at this Space Police 6986 box art

In the past we’ve covered 1:1 scale reproductions of boardgame boxes, computer monitors, even LEGO’s earliest wooden toys. Some builders have even set up display cases to show off original sets with some basic background mockups. What you’ve probably never seen is a lovingly recreated diorama of original box art made out of LEGO. Builder Renaud Petit has transported us back to 1989 when this Space Police set was originally produced.

Check out the original box art on Brickset:

Although this particular set was outside my age range, I still have nostalgic feelings for the dated old themes’ box art that featured landscaping, sunsets, and laser fields. We’d love to see this as a series: I have some recommendations. Shoot, even the recent 71043 Hogwarts Castle would look fetching with a detailed LEGO backdrop of that beautiful box!

If you have an appetite for more 1:1 scale LEGO models take a look through our tagged archives!

Brilliant, beautiful, Brickatti.

Building a LEGO Bugatti in minifigure scale is a task that could baffle a novice builder. Luckily, Jussi Koskinen is no beginner, as he has managed to artfully capture the delicate curves and lines of the Bugatti Chiron Sport. And not only are those curves artfully captured, they are represented with innovative parts usages as well — for example, the sausages used on the fenders, and red flex tube to accomplish the sweeping lines on the side of the car.

The Bugatti looks just as alluring when viewed from the back as well, where red rubber bands are wrapped around the rear lights, both to provide the lights with a solid color outline and fill in gaps that would otherwise be visible. Couple this excellent build with some beautiful photography and subtle effects, and you’ve got a photo that appears to be right out of Car and Driver magazine.

She’s got it where it counts, kid. I’ve made a lot of special modifications myself.

The newest Star Wars movie, Solo, actually showed that the origins of the Millennium Falcon had her covered in a sleek blue and white paint job. I’d like to think that if you go back a few more years, her factory finish looked a lot like this awesomely LEGO Classic Space redux from BeO Johansson. A classy makeover of the original Ultimate Collector’s Series Millennium Falcon (not the new version we reviewed), the blue and trans-yellow color scheme is packed full of nostalgia, helped with some fun nods to the old space sets from the 70s and 80s, such as the rear wing.

Although this version of the UCS Falcon doesn’t feature an interior (unlike the new version we reviewed), the cockpit, the builder has done some nifty upgrades to the cockpit, outfitting it with period-appropriate telemetry, AKA old-school computer elements. Continue reading →

Star Wars dune buddies

I’d always imagined that a Stormtrooper’s lot was a hard one. Endless patrols beyond the Dune Sea hunting down pesky Rebels; and for what thanks! These LEGO Sandtroopers by LEGO 7 go some way to humanising the Empire’s faceless heavies. Built with dirty and distressed body armour and posed reminiscently of soldiers from real-world conflicts, I absolutely buy into their battle-weary plight. It’s a genuinely touching human tribute to one of Star War’s most recognisable bad guys.