Builder Quy Chau has done an outstanding job on designing a properly scaled a minifig scale T-47 Airspeeder that puts LEGO’s official models to shame. The best part is that he’s created instructions, making this a great piece for display or even incorporating into a large diorama if you intend to build a scene from Hoth.
Click here to see the instructions
One of the things I really love about the LEGO building community is how LEGO artists can undermine conventions and subvert expectations. We’ve long maintained the viewpoint here at The Brothers Brick that LEGO is indeed art. Art can be fun, art can be funny, art can be uncomfortable, and yes, art can definitely be political — Nobel Prize for Literature winner Toni Morrison says, “All good art is political! There is none that isn’t. And the ones that try hard not to be political are political by saying, ‘We love the status quo.'” So it’s always interesting to see LEGO artists take on unexpected, difficult, and even uncomfortable subjects. And there is nothing more discomfiting than seeing our favorite LEGO BrickHeadz style applied by Swedish LEGO artist O Wingård to two of the most terrible people in human history — General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin and Nazi Führer Adolf Hitler.
But discomfort should provoke thought, and thought should provoke discussion, and discussion can (but doesn’t always) result in progress. If LEGO is art and all good art is political, then good LEGO creations are (by the transitive property of equality) inherently political. If you’re a decent human being, these adorable BrickHeadz should make you deeply uncomfortable. What does that say about art? About the human condition?
The classic real-time strategy game Starcraft II has inspired many LEGO creations over the years, but one of the most impressive has to be this stunning version of the multiplayer map Megaton. Built by David Frank, the map features the home bases for all three factions and measures over 16 square feet. Additionally, David has wired it with lights, giving features like the Khaydarin crystals a realistic glow.
Click to see more of this amazing creation
There has been a wave of custom modular LEGO buildings featured here on The Brothers Brick recently, such as the excellent Guild Hall by O Wingård. But to find a modular building with so much character, and full interior details as well was just too much to pass up. This inventor/mad scientist lab by Filip Olin has a ton of great details, so let’s jump in!
One of my favorite exterior details is the use of skeleton legs — in both black, for the railing, and tan for architectural accents on the wall. No workshop would be complete without pipes, and this model features a number of black and grey pipeworks, including one with sludge pouring on the landscaped ground level.
See more detailed pics after the jump
With this weekend’s release of Pacific Rim: Uprising, the sequel to the 2013 film Pacific Rim, all eyes are on the Jaegers and their fight against the Kaiju. Alex Kobbs of Kooberz Studios has released an all-action LEGO version called Pacific Brick. Featuring a huge Jaeger complete with minifigure pilots and set in a brick-built metropolis, this is the movie to see today.
Click to see the best moments summarised (SPOILERS)
In the ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza, there’s one temple that rises above the rest as a focal point. The temple is called El Castillo, which means “The Castle,” and it was built to honor a Mayan diety called Kukulkan, or “Feathered Serpent.” Today it’s a major tourist attraction in Mexico and the subject of many pieces of art. This build by 1soko can be placed next to the others as a beautiful rendition of the temple.
The lines on the creation are incredibly impressive. If you’ve ever built something with slopes, you know just how hard it can be to get them right. (And this has slopes on slopes!) It almost looks like it could be superimposed on a picture of the real temple! The only thing that could be more detailed would be the serpent heads at the base of the stairs, but it’s understandable at this scale. Actually, it would need to be many times larger to be the scale of the minifigure standing next to it. Of course, the builder was probably using the character as a size comparison. In any case, this creation is simply outstanding!
At a glance, this view of London hardly looks like a LEGO model at all. Even though the scale is tiny, builder Rocco Buttliere has packed it with amazing details. Encompassing the famous landmarks on both sides of the Thames, the giant model features the London Eye, County Hall, Houses of Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. Rocco has long been known as the master of LEGO architectural models, from downtown Chicago to the humble Rosenwald apartments, and even a 12-foot long Golden Gate Bridge, and this new architectural masterpiece easily stands with the best of them.
Click to see more of this stunning model of London
Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines is the first book in a series of novels set in a dystopian future when Earth has been denuded of its resources and cities like London wander the landscape on enormous treads consuming everything in their path. The steampunk novels have inspired numerous LEGO builders over the years, with the Traction City / Crawler Town collaboration displayed at BrickCon among the best. Alexis Dos Santos joins the ranks of the best LEGO crawler builders with this stunning recreation of Salthook, a mining town that appears at the beginning of the first book and features prominently in the trailer for the upcoming Peter Jackson movie.
The treads are fully functional, and Salthook can be steered with a Power Functions remote control. There’s so much detail in this wonderful LEGO creation — let’s take a closer look.
See more photos and a video of Salthook in action
In the city of Portland, Oregon there’s a giant neon sign of a stag jumping over an outline of the state. The historic landmark currently reads, “Portland Oregon” through the middle. It has had a few variations over the years, including, “Made in Oregon.” But one thing always remains the same: that white stag. The sign holds a special place in the hearts of many Oregonians, including mine, and Patrick Biggs’. He’s another builder we’ve featured several times, and the creator of this LEGO version of the iconic Portland stag. Usually Patrick builds posable figures and critters of fiction. This time he went for something a little different to display at the BricksCascade 2018 convention this weekend.
The body of this animal is beautifully shaped, and the white is clean and regal. Also, it can stand alone just as easily as with the full display stand. You don’t even need the backstory to appreciate it! Altogether, it’s one tribute to be proud of.
Unique LEGO creations are great, bringing a new idea or two into the builder community. The latest build by Aaron Newman is one such creation, but the amount of original ideas is just off the charts for a model this size. While we see robot bugs and fully functional transformers every now and again, the whole approach to the concept is completely new with this build. Making the “bug” transform from a translucent egg that then doubles as its wings and the way it was achieved, as well as the bug folding in a logical way within the egg, has many layers of innovativity to it.
The shape of the creature is quite nice, with characteristically bent feet and what appears as a split mandible. There are some neat parts usages like ray guns and goblets used as legs and translucent pyramid pieces that seem perfect for insectoid eyes. I think the most rewarding way to view this creation is trying to understand the way it transforms and consequentialy appreciating the effort put into it.
Leibherr mobile cranes are like buses, two come along at once and you are not sure which to jump in. Thankfully we can admire both of YU KEE LIU‘s builds as these all-terrain mobile cranes are fantastic in both accuracy and build quality. The first build depicts the Liebherr LTM 1350 mobile crane and the model is capable of extending, lifting items and moving them on its rotating axis.
Yu Kee Liu has managed an impressive feat of engineering with his LEGO version as you can see from a view with the crane arm extended.
Click to see an even larger LEGO version of a Liebherr mobile crane
Growing up learning English as a kid was hard enough with 26 letters, Anne Mette V has 3 whole other letters to contend with in the Danish Alphabet which she has carefully created out of LEGO bricks. LEGO ABC contains a series of simple, beautiful vignettes depicting the different letters. With Dragons, Lions, Pandas and Astronauts all contained in childhood like blocks of beautiful colour, there is plenty to look at. I love the little classroom scene in the bottom right-hand corner.
