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.

Gorgeous LEGO models of 3 famous New York skyscrapers use 50,000 pieces, stand 6 feet tall

Builder DeepShen has been toiling away for more than a year to create three incredibly accurate classic art deco skyscrapers out of LEGO bricks. All three are New York landmarks, with the American International Building, the Chrysler Building, and the Empire State Building bringing the amazing legacy of tall buildings to brick form, the last of which tops out at a staggering 6 feet, 3 inches. Together, they use a whopping 50,000 bricks.

DeepShen says that the American International Building is 1/192 scale, and stands 5 feet tall. Like the Empire State Building, it’s made from mostly tan bricks with dark grey roofs, while the building’s famous “snow-clad mountain” top is made of white.

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A small piece of summer can be enough

Depending on where you live, this creation by Dvd might be something you might identify with strongly right now, or instead as a little piece of summer to break up your winter mood. So sit back and, despite its simplicity, take the time to enjoy the little slice of summer – like a real vacation!

I like how few pieces the builder needed to perfectly capture the spirit of summer, with little details like a speedboat dragging an inflated banana, a beach hut that probably houses rentable surf boards or drinks and even a towel and beach seats built at this tiny scale. The best part is undoubtedly the waves though, built into the base with just a little bit of variation in height to simulate them breaking on the sand.

Tiny terrors from outer space

This pair Alien and Predator figures by Grant Masters are only a little larger than minifigure scale, which is remarkably small for such detailed brick-built characters. Even more impressively, though, Grant says that they contain only legal connections–that is, connections you might find in an official LEGO set. There are lots of clever bits, but one of the most amusing has to be Grant’s use of microfigs for the Predator’s legs.

This orca is set to create some killer waves.

When it comes to ocean-dwelling mammals, the majestic black and white killer whale (also known as an orca) is a fan favorite. The killer whale’s beauty is matched by its power, which can be seen when they breach the surface. Both of these characteristics are expertly captured by timofey_tkachev in his model of an orca leaping out of the waves. I am especially impressed by the builder’s ability to use a variety of curved and angular slope elements to capture both skin color patterns and the sleek shape of the whale’s body. The brick-built base with with waves following the whale’s trajectory is also a wonderfully believable touch, plus the builder included instructions for an added bonus.

A bridge back to 19th century China

Taking us back to Qing Dynasty China, ElviN has built a historically accurate version of the iconic Double Dragon Bridge. The diorama is packed with the comings and goings of day-to-day life: there’s a peasant fishing in the Nanpan River; a platoon of soldiers marshals a criminal across the bridge; whilst at the other end a farmer waits to herd his cattle over to the other side.

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Hadouken! This LEGO Ryu from Street Fighter II isn’t taking it easy

Growing up in the 1990s, Street Fighter II was all the rage in arcades and home video game consoles. One of the most iconic characters from the series is Ryu, whose signature special move is the hadouken in which he releases a massive fireball with his bare hands. Thanks to John Cheng, we now have a slick-looking chibi version of Ryu getting ready to unleash his famous attack. John’s representation was instantly recognizable, right down to Ryu’s tattered sleeves (made possible through the use of the 1×2 modified plate with 3 teeth). Moreover, the figure is fully articulated, perfect for recreating Ryu’s wide range of moves.

A mystical treasure awaits those who can find the shrine

You might imagine that the golden crystal in the centre of this scene is the treasure of the shrine, but I believe the true treasures are all the crazy building techniques that Grant Davis has used in his Mountaintop Shrine. From a distance it may look like nothing special and the foliage on the periphery is nothing new, but a closer look will have you looking for your jaw somewhere under your desk (or under a bus seat if you are reading this on a mobile device).

The very composition and colour choices are great for setting up a bright, positive and somewhat cartoony atmosphere, but that is only the first thing to draw your attention. This attention is retained by amazing building techniques I have hinted at in the previous paragraph. Starting with the obvious, the cobblestone wall behind the shrine uses all sorts of round pieces from ends of bars through small ball joints to 2×2 tiles and more to achieve a highly realistic effect. But there are more subtle details too. For instance, you can see that the path leading towards the shrine is not just tiles connected flatly to the base, but is in fact irregular, as if damaged by centuries of disuse. Another subtly irregular thing is the left pillar (built out of frying pans stacked on one another!), which is standing at an angle. One more unique thing and the last I noticed myself is the tree, using the new leaf pieces set in such a way that they make a coherent treetop.

Click if you want to see a behind the scenes video

Oh, oobee doo, I wanna build like you: LEGO Jungle Book

Referencing the 2016 Disney live action version of Rudyard Kipling’s The Junglebook, Jellyeater leads the viewer’s eye into the action in his model through a distinctive stretched vertical design. In the foreground Baloo the bear and Bagheera the panther are tussling energetically with the great ape King Loui’s minions.

However, the real joy in this build is found when you follow the rocky path of Bandar-log back up the steps to the rear relief. From out of the gateway, framed by lovely detailed ruins formed from of all things handcuff elements, pokes the mighty face of King Loui himself, green eyes glowing. It’s the perfect capture of a great cinematic moment!

Build small to win big in Brothers Bricks’ LEGO Harry Potter building competition [News]

To celebrate the biggest LEGO Harry Potter set of all time — 71043 Hogwarts Castle — The Brothers Brick is hosting a “Microscale Magic!” building contest. We want to see your most creative microscale LEGO builds of anything from the Harry Potter universe. Build whatever you like – perhaps your favorite location, creature, character, or classroom. But beware wizardy builders – anything you put together has to be in teeny-tiny microscale!

There are magical prizes to be won, and the builder who is crowned MASTER WIZARD will win the massive new 71043 Hogwarts Castle LEGO set!

Read on to see details of the fabulous prizes and the competition categories…

The Famous Family of Four and quite Fantastic too

BrickHeadz builds work pretty well for all things coherent and familiar, such as consistent uniforms or builds of famous characters. This fantastic family of four by Adam Dodge stands out among the usual BrickHeadz characters because they each have a bit of a unique attribute to show off, from the fiery human torch with his transformation to flames and the Invisible Woman showing off her powers with a partially invisible leg to Dr Reed Richards aka Mr Fantastic flexing his arm.

The unique piece here is the Thing, which breaks away from the typical BrickHeadz template in size and works well with the brick studs exposed. I wanted to call out to Adam that I did notice his slip-in of Captain Salazar’s forehead printed piece, which works quite well on the base as cracks due to the weight of Benjamin Grimm.

Click to see the individual builds up closer

My sensors are not picking up anything. Where do we go now?

My head hurts in a good way while looking at this intriguing build by Sheo. There’s so much to look at more closely to figure out how the flooring tessellation effect was achieved. The walls are an especially enigmatic and puzzling construction with a smooth look that belies its complexity. What also makes this scene great is how the structured hard-edged build, which looks like it came out of a sci-fi world, is also laced with tentacles, and various other organic odds and ends such as claws to add some life to the scene.

The backdrop certainly does steal the limelight, but the seemingly lost droids still deserve a callout for all the interesting parts they use blend in with the theme. See how many unusual elements you can identify in the droids.

This brick-built Final Fantasy character takes it to the “limit break.”

The Final Fantasy video game franchise has been going strong for over thirty years, but of its many incarnations, the 1997 Playstation release of Final Fantasy VII continues to hold a special place in my heart. TBB regular Moko has reignited my nostalgia with a beautiful rendering of the game’s protagonist, Cloud Strife.

What really makes this version of Cloud unique is Moko’s commitment to remaining faithful to the original in-game character design. Like his 32-bit counterpart, brick-built Cloud is a little blocky and rough around the edges but full of brilliant charm. I love that the figure is fully poseable, and Moko did an excellent job of capturing the character’s iconic golden, spiky hair. It would be great to see the game’s other characters recreated in this style.