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.

Baseball bat building built from bricks!

We’ve got a LEGO build here from Jonah Schultz and I gotta say he’s knocked it out of the park! His microscale skyscraper is all about bats that were only available in a minifigure pack from 2018. The minifigure bats make up most of the outer structure of the skyscraper, but did you notice that the power-line poles are bats as well? The sneakiest use of the bat is for that tiny tanker truck. The building isn’t the only heavy hitter; That whole road network below the building is brick-built. The dashed lines between the lanes are made from brackets embedded deeper into the road. Back to the building, did you notice how those bats make a diamond shape? Can’t be an accident when this build is a home run!

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Luminous and ominous; the Numinous Isle!

When LEGO builders collaborate, great things are bound to happen. Micah Beideman, Eli Willsea, and Grant Davis have gotten together to build the mystical breakwater called the Numinous Isle. Let’s talk gold! At the very top of this build, you’ll find a few gold 4×4 wedges. Those pearl gold pieces were only available in two sets from 2013. Behind the gold sais and interlocked gold bar clips is the grand dome of the build. That dome is one half of the Star Wars planet Bespin from a set released in 2012. Take a look further down at that grey arch. Did you know that macaroni pieces fit into a large arch so neatly? I sure didn’t! Even lower down, there’s a pair of fins from an A-Wing masquerading as part of a wall. Check out that fountain too. It looks like the ingots fit just perfectly into that specific wheel. All of that beautiful building only takes us to the shoreline. What other secrets are hidden beneath the waves?

Classic Legoland Castle is back in yellow

Even if most LEGO builders are too young to have played with Legoland Castle when it was released in 1978, the vintage set with its iconic yellow brick walls holds legendary status among fans. Many have paid tribute to the set with homages and re-imaginings over the years and now Olle Moquist is the latest builder to catch the yellow castle nostalgia bug. Olle strikes an appealing balance between tradition and innovation while using no black, white, or grey elements in the building itself. The parapets atop large arches are straight from the original, while the central keep is reinterpreted with modern techniques and a more historically accurate design. The cross-shaped windows framed by minifig legs, nanofigure statuary, and purple banner fringed by capes are especially nice touches. For extra vintage flair, Olle digitally composites the castle into a backdrop reminiscent of LEGO adverts of the era.

Touring the contryside on the back of a LEGO golem has its ups and downs

While there are certainly smoother ways to travel from point A to point B, they won’t be nearly as memorable as riding on the back of this stone golem by filbrick. Bonus points for being able to stay in your hotel room as you travel. The simple eyes and slightly open mouth give this golem a very friendly look, although I expect a bit of collateral damage may be unavoidable given the size of those feet. A fun part at the center of the chest is the leg from the infamous Astromech Chopper from Star Wars Rebels.

Hats off to this microscale Neuschwanstein Castle

This wonderfully detailed model of the famous Neuschwanstein castle in southern Germany by Geneva Durand is packed with nice part usage for sure, from the many different sizes of cone-shaped elements forming the tower roofs to the gears and teacups for the towers themselves. But one of my favorite details would have to be the many non-tree elements used to surround the castle with nature. Archer hats, ranger hoods, and the bottom jaw of a dinosaur are among the many cleverly used parts.

Raise a toast to the Golden Hall of the Rohirrim in LEGO

Of all the locations brought to life in The Lord of the Rings, Meduseld, the Golden Hall of the Horse Lords, is one of the most beloved. Isaiah Kepner recreates the building’s interior as Theoden toasts the victorious dead after the Battle of Helm’s Deep. The centerpiece here is the golden knotwork made from cleverly mixed tubes, window lattices, and other golden elements, framed by printed rune tiles. Isaiah meticulously matches the architectural details seen only in glimpses in the extended cut of Return of the King, including a perfect use of the stickered banners from Helm’s Deep and Isengard. Horses are integrated into the build with their heads used for wooden figureheads atop the columns, but I like to think that the Rohirrim actually have balconies where their horses can observe the festivities from above.

Join this Bedouin and his mount on their journey

We’re gonna go out on a limb and guess that this detailed creation by DW_Mocs is going to be the best LEGO camel you’ve seen all day. A close inspection of the hardy desert beast (created for the Middle East category of the Summer Joust 2024 building competition) reveals an insane level of intricacy in the parts used to get the shape right. Just look at the head, for instance—those are pith helmets for eyelids, with minifig arms and standard crash helmets forming the snout. The old Bedouin sitting atop the camel isn’t exactly a slouch in the parts department, either. His white beard is a magnificent assortment of wings and feathered plumes. The pipe with the curling smoke features a gold scorpion at the end. One sun-baked finger even sports a gold ring. There’s a story behind that pipe and ring, for sure. It makes you wonder what journeys these two have faced together, and where their path leads next.

Pixelated whale is a symphony of light and LEGO

LEGO artist Takuya Fukugawauku is a master of 3D models in the pixel art style. What makes his builds truly special is how he uses color to simulate video game lighting, which combined with studio lighting of the bricks, make his models positively glow. Like ray tracing you can touch. Until now, most of FukuTaku’s work has focused on video game tributes, like his Dragonlord, which wowed us with its searing heat. For his latest masterpiece, FukuTaku turns to the natural world with a pixel whale that honors the colors of the sea with a cool and tranquil glow.

Dive in to see the White Whale from every angle!

This Smash Bros Castle is built brick by brick!

With far more precision and detail than the button-mashing playstyles common in the game, T.E. Brickworks has brought us the ultimate Super Smash Bros. LEGO build! Four fighters battle it out on the Castle Siege stage from Fire Emblem. Brickworks has taken the opportunity to depict this scene mid-fight, with Richter, the Ice Climbers, Kazuya, and Banjo & Kazooie battling for fun and for glory! There’s a lot going on here, but we’ve got plenty of excellent close-up shots below.

Let’s take a closer look at that brickwork from the brickworks!

A Robo-Driller digging up Rock Raiders nostalgia.

Custom builds like NikiFilik’s Robo-Driller, an homage to the short-lived LEGO Rock Raiders theme (1999-2000), are easily recognized by their use of iconic grays, teal, and brown, evoking nostalgia in older LEGO enthusiasts. Based on set 4940 The Granite Grinder, Niki uses updated parts and techniques to enhance the original model with posable arms, a brick-built driver cage, and an overall stance that better resembles a two-legged mech. While beautifully bridging nostalgia and innovation, we’re quite perplexed by the presence of the bright green slug. I don’t remember that part of Rock Raiders….

Swashbuckling and derring-do aplenty in this LEGO adventure

It’s been a rough day for the merchant Steve. He’s just onshore to make a buck or two; unfortunately, he arrived at this idyllic Caribbean harbor town just in time for it to fall victim to enemy attack. Now he must join forces with the pirates of Captain Redbeard if he wants to get out before things get really rough. That’s the tale told in LEGO by Nicholas Goodman in this thrilling scene called “Escape from the Imperial Trading Post.” The thing is, I probably didn’t need to give you all that backstory. The build itself tells the story wonderfully, with a scene that feels ripped from a blockbuster movie: the pairs of combatants locked in desperate combat, the whitecapped waves crashing against the rocks, the palm trees swaying in the breeze. The cliffs have a natural, rugged look to them, and the fort’s whitewashed walls have just the right amount of weathering. Let’s hope Steve makes it to his ship okay; those cliffs look a little dicey.

The movie Hellraiser is always a model of pain and pleasure

In each Iron Builder competition, two world-class LEGO builders go head-to-head creating models that highlight the assigned “seed part.” The summer 2024 match-up between Maxx Davidson and Jonah Shultz, featuring the baseball bat in metallic silver, has skewed decidedly wholesome, with cute animals, milkshakes, and cozy crafting themes. For his ninth entry, Maxx captures the twisted truth that fuels this venerable contest: pain and pleasure. The agony of being chained to making models at incredible speed without getting repetitive, and the ecstasy of finding the perfect use for that devilish seed part. Pinhead, Clive Barker’s horror icon, proves the perfect canvass for no less than 40 of those metallic bats. The sculpting of Pinhead’s pale-white face is top-notch. Now that Maxx has solved the Cenobite puzzle, he must be feeling pretty good right about now.