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.

Living in a desert is no excuse to give up style

While Sarah Beyer‘s Olive Sand House is not what one might imagine when they hear “living in a desert”, it does look both adventurous yet strangely comfortable. Sarah is a master of contemporary architecture in LEGO and has created many unique LEGO houses before. This latest one is not so much unique in an architectural sense, but all the building techniques make it an easy favourite for me.

The Olive Sand House is a treat when it comes to textures. There are grilled sections on the walls and the whole roof has a very satisfying grilled texture to it too. We tend to talk about colour blocking most often in sci-fi creations, but it is very much an important feature of this (admittedly nearly futuristic) building. Another important factor is the landscaping around the house, giving it some context. There are some interestingly used parts as well, most notably BrickHeadz glasses used as fence on the balcony, the same technique that just appeared in the Creator Expert Roller Coaster.

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Ryder’s U-Wing from Star Wars Rebels built with LEGO

One of the things I enjoyed about the last season of Star Wars Rebels was the incorporation of the new canon material introduced in Star Wars: Rogue One, with mentions of Director Krennic, appearances by the Death Troopers, and Ryder’s U-Wing, constructed here in LEGO form. Inthert has done an excellent job depicting the beat up, minimalistic, utilitarian look Ryder’s U-Wing was known for.

A top-down shot allows us to see the greebling on the interior of the front nacelles, giving the ship an exposed look similar to that of the Y-Wing. Close inspection reveals the neat usage of minifigure walkie-talkie elements and old vehicle exhaust pieces as hoses of some sort.

LEGO Donkey Kong is bigger, faster, and stronger too

Logey Bear has quite the talent in capturing expressive characters with unusual parts. His latest, Mario’s classic nemesis Donkey Kong, is excellent, making clever use of tan bananas and Bionicle masks to bring his iconic grin to life in LEGO.

Rose and Jar Jar as BrickHeadz

When it comes to Star Wars fans, we have pretty strong feelings about many of the characters introduced over the years, which is evident in the wide variety of cosplay at comic and popular culture conventions. A few characters have generated serious hate, with Jar Jar Binks widely regarded as the worst Star Wars character ever. While I personally don’t have any issues with Rose Tico from Star Wars: The Last Jedi, it seems some folks place her in the same category.

No matter how you might feel about Rose or Jar Jar, it’s hard to deny that they make great BrickHeadz models. LEGO 7 has successfully interpreted these characters in the style of the BrickHeadz theme, which is not an easy thing for non-human species.

One of my very favorite features that really completes Rose is her stun prod. LEGO 7 has also put together another pair of characters that would make a great BrickHeadz double pack: Sith Apprentice Darth Maul and his nemesis, Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Who shot first?

Was it Greedo, or was it Han? How about Markus Rollbühler? Markus wanted to gear up for the new Solo: A Star Wars Story movie coming out next week by building Solo’s DL-44 Heavy Blaster for a contest hosted by theRogueBricks Flickr group. He has done such a wonderful job recreating this Star Wars that I’m almost convinced he personally presented the gun to the space cowboy himself. I enjoy Markus’ attention to detail, including the textured leather grip. From a distance, it almost looks like the real deal!

Born to build on the bayou

In the U.S., Louisiana is sometimes known as “bayou country” thanks to its marshy, crocodile-laced swamps. Life on the bayou can be rough and tough, as Sebastian Bachórzewski shows us in one of his latest models. By mixing various earthy colors and greens, Sebastian captures the combination of muddy swampland with wild overgrowth. His rustic cabin shows signs of weathering within a harsh environment, and the way the bright green algae meets the dark and murky water is sublimely beautiful.

That armor’s too strong for blasters!

Building a Technic mechanism to make a LEGO model actually move can be daunting for those who mainly build static models, but perhaps this excellent Star Wars kinetic sculpture by Josh DaVid will inspire you (and me) to give it a try.

The model features a circling snowspeeder, and moving legs on the AT-AT, which can be powered by hand or with a Power Functions motor. The builder has done an excellent job compacting and simplifying a seemingly complex mechanism into such a small space. Check out the video below to see the model in action!

Apollo–Soyuz Test Project ushers in a new era of détente

In July 1975, American Astronauts and Soviet Cosmonauts met in low Earth orbit, shook hands, exchanged gifts, and conducted joint scientific experiments as they docked their spacecraft together for over 40 hours. Luis Peña has recreated this historic spaceflight in LEGO, complete with an Astronaut conducted an EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity). Like the designers of the wonderful LEGO Saturn V set, Luis has overcome the inherent challenges of building conical and spherical shapes in LEGO, with the Apollo Command/Service Module in gray and the Soyuz 7K-TM in iconic sand green.

Take a closer look at these amazing LEGO spacecraft

Take time to smell the orchids

I guess there aren’t many orchids in space, but the ones out there would probably look like the StarOrkyD by F@bz. Its floral inspiration with thin, curved surfaces is highly visible, and the spaceship seems to have a bit of a Star Wars’ B-wing fighter look to it.

There is a lot of detail to love here, from obvious things like the bulbous cockpit and nicely flowing curves, but there are some more subtle ones too. Light gray antenna pieces have their tips hidden within the bottom side of a brick to look like very thin tubes. The use of flag pieces at the transition into the large engine makes the shape flow very smoothly.

An exercise in microscale

What I particularly love about building in microscale is that it makes you value every single piece and every spare stud of space. When a tiny 1×2 slope becomes a very huge section of the building’s roof you become very careful with planning your creation. And Marco De Bon‘s tiny quarter is a brilliant example of careful planning and very nice execution. Despite a very limited variety of pieces and colors, this neighbourhood looks both elegant and surprisingly diverse. My favourite part would be those small balconies of the white apartment building; the use ofplate 2 x 4 wedge‘s shape is just stunning.

It’s a K-wing... It’s a Y-wing... It’s a Y-18R Ragnarok Starfighter!

SweStar‘s latest starfighter is so sweet and cool, I don’t not what should I start with — an outstanding cockpit design or amazing textural detailing of the rear part of the ship; it’s just yet another example of the design so perfect, it’s hard to find a single thing to criticise the creation for. The build’s color scheme gives some very nice retro vibes, and I can’t help mentioning the Retro Spaceman as seen in the Series 17 of the Collectible Minifigures. I would love to see this guys piloting the spaceship!

And it would be a crime not to share one more picture of the starfighter showing its very cool shape.

Around the world in 80 studs

These mosaic sculptures by ZiO Chao have so much depth, they’re bordering on bas-relief. We’ve shared ZiO Chao’s landmark sculptures before, and he is back at it again and is ready to take us on a trip around the world with a series of 3D mosaics.

Click to continue touring the world with the rest of the mosaics