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.

The village and its gatehouse

Gatehouses are quite a popular theme in LEGO castle builds, but this port village gatehouse by Titus Verelst still manages to bring something new to the table, surrounding the gatehouse with a village suspended on logs. It makes a nice composition with the rooftops and curved path, adding just enough minifig action to bring the scene to life, despite the bleak colour scheme. I do wish the builder had added water around the village, or at least used some clever digital tricks or blue paper as a stand in.

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Mechas come and go, but Mazinger Z stands the test of time

It’s quite amazing to pause and appreciate that Mazinger Z was first introduced to the world almost 45 years ago, and it still stands the test of time, finding relevance to fans even today, and mecha master Kelvin Low brings us a great Mazinger Z. One cool thing to note is that this design is a rebuild of a previous version that employed a central frame from the Hero Factory system, and now Kevin’s overhauled it to a regular brick-based build. What difference does that make? Building with the classic system elements gives a cleaner look that matches the anime, but at the cost of building to a smaller footprint as it becomes heavier with regular bricks.

Many unikitties were sacrificed for Marilyn

At one tail per Unikitty, many Unikitties had to be sacrificed for this Brickheadz to come to life. The effort paid off for Krzysztof J as the effect it provides for Marilyn’s curly headlocks is almost ideal. A few other stylistic standouts include the infamous mole, which is ingeniously made with the negative space of a 1×1 brick with a single knob, and the clever use of minifigure hairpieces that make up the upper section of the corset.

Keep an eye out for black, white and dark red in the sky above

After a long break, German builder Sylon-tw is back into his assembly hall proving that his futuristic airplanes are still dominating LEGO skies. Instead of the dieselpunk go-to colors of grey, dark blue, bright red, or reddish brown, Thomas goes for bold black on the body and elegant decorations of white and dark red stripes. Combined with short droid bodies, the dinosaur flippers work perfectly as propeller blades. And in a nice change from convention, the aircraft has a fetching female pilot.

Only some secrets are well-kept on Coruscant.

The beautiful XB-5 Speeder looks like it could appear on the cover of a copy of “What’s my Speeder?” magazine in any doctor’s waiting room in Coruscant. At first glance, it almost looks like a beautiful render, but rest assured Ordo (Fabian B.) has sculpted this Narglatch AirTech-produced speeder out of genuine ABS. A bit bulkier and heavier than a racing model, it is meant for folks wanting a bit more comfort while flying across the city-planet’s skyline. The fantastic azure blues accent the dark grey well. With seats made from Batha-leather, controls designed by the finest artists of Naboo and state of the art holographic displays – this high-class speeder must be worth a small fortune.

Love is what makes a house a home ...but a fully furnished one helps too!

If this is home, I’m sure it’s always going to be where I’m going to spend most of my time. A three-storey modular with a single color tone of tan bricks, but with excellent build features bring out the best in this grand looking architectural build. The beauty of this home does not end there, as builder Vincent Kiew invites you to explore the heart of what makes a building a home. While most modular builds may feature the external facade, I have a soft spot for builds that take the extra effort to imagine what life would have been like for a minifigure family.

Click to see more of the inside of the home

The knight’s triumphant return

Summer is a wonderful time of no obligations and worries for a school-age young adult such as myself. The past two years it has also meant entering the Summer Joust contest, which has just concluded. Last year I went small and built a microscale castle being attacked by a dragon, but with the addition of the “Immersive LEGO Scene” category this year (possibly my favorite type of LEGO creation) I knew I had give it a go. My first idea was to build a knight returning from battle, like we see in so many medieval movies and books, so I went with it, and this was the result:

Click through to see a behind the scenes shot (no pun intended)

Statistical data says the Internet is 50% cats

And yet the LEGO side of the Internet seems to have a lower percentage of cats than average – not surprisingly, as the characteristic cat’s head and legs offer a significant challenge for builders and can be done wrong very quickly. The latest builder to pick up the challenge is that Russian jack-o- all-trades Timofey Tkachev.

This time Timofey tries a technique of staggered layered plates to achieve complicated natural curves, which has been used to create LEGO cats before, but what appears to be different here is the intensely detailed face, and that the cat seems to be partially poseable. The playful pose adds a lot to the presentation, as do the LEGO basket and ball (which is an official piece, by the way).

Officer responding, really quickly

Near-future police vehicles have a high standard to live up to. Sid Mead’s classic design for the Blade Runner Police Spinner remains a heavy influence on LEGO Cyberpunk builders. This police gyro-car by Angka Utama reminds me of a cross between the spinner and Kaneda’s bike from Akira — and that’s meant as a compliment. I love the simple lines and sharp colours on display here, and those chunky tyres would surely keep any responding officer glued to the mean streets.

Give me a call when you want to start taking things a little more seriously

“Here’s my card…” French builder Jimmy Fortel built a stylish LEGO take on The Joker as portrayed by the late Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight. I can just see the insanity in that face. One of my favorite details is the use of red wedge plates on his smile; the texture from the stud cutouts is perfect.

TBB cover photo: July 2017

Our cover photo for July is one for the petrol heads. André Pinto has crafted a convertible Alfa Romeo Spider in perfect detail using stylish dark red …apparently to the same scale as LEGO’s Ferrari F40 set judging by those wheels. Check out the full album to see some of it’s working features.

Want to see your own LEGO creation featured across TBB social media for a month? Then read the submission guidelines and send us your photo today.

Keep up with the Brothers Brick by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter or Pinterest. And for occasional extra goodies, follow us on Flickr or subscribe to us on YouTube.

My imagination is a monastery and I am its monk

Here is another beautiful build made for the Guilds of Historica by the always amazing John Snyder. His Katoren Monastery was built “just for fun to mess around with the dark blue / white color scheme”. The rock formation is very organic and the flora accents it beautifully. I love the angled cobbled path, patchwork rock walls, and the staging and design of the minifigs.

As well as another angle of the build showcasing the wonderful interiors and cheese slope mosaic walls, John has also included a little back story: “Located on the Eastern outskirts of Katoren, this monastery survived the Kaliphlin civil war better than most. A natural spring was the reason for the monastery’s location, and the spring continues to provide fresh water for all the inhabitants, as well as make the surrounding area very lush compared to much of the Kaliphlin landscape.”