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.

Let the shell games begin!

Iron Builder competitions are one of our favorite sources of delight as we seek out new LEGO creations to highlight and share. These playful competitions highlight some of the most creative builders in the hobby while also showing how much potential is packed into a single eccentric LEGO element. The latest Iron Builder just kicked off between TBB regulars Sandro Quattrini and Gerrit Gottschalk, and the “seed part” is the green Koopa shell with spikes. Sandro fires the first salvo with a majestic green dragon, which uses 34 shells to achieve the snaking, scaly body. The head design is very effective, especially the sculpting around the eyes using minifig arms and frogs for an organic shape.

gGh0st strikes back with an elegant Japanese sword display, using koopa shells for the hilt. There are plenty of other nice touches in the still life scene, like the life buoys on the tsuba blade guard and the perfect curvature of the blade and scabbard. But the best touch of all: gGh0st’s sly nod to Sandro’s build, incorporating the unmistakeable green dragon design into the sword stand. That playful back-and-forth is another reason why Iron Builder competitions are so much fun to spectate.

Sandro keeps the dance going in his follow-up, riffing on the Japanese theme with a beautiful kimono featuring a whopping 87 koopa shells. Mama mia, that’s a lot of koopas! Who knows where the game will go next?

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Jaw-dropping model of Rome took 107,000 LEGO bricks to build!

Rocco Buttliere has been astounding us for years with his massive microscale LEGO creations. Being no stranger to rendering massive landmarks and vast ancient cities in brick form, he has just released a new expansion to his fantastic SPQR diorama of the ancient Roman capital (the right half of the build in the photo below). This new section of the Eternal City – built at 1:650 scale – took over 107,000 bricks and several thousand hours spread over two and a half years to build, but it was well worth the wait! Lets take a tour of some of the ancient landmarks, shall we?

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All that gold, and it’s still not the blingest thing on this Bionicle

Who’s the coolest Water Toa from LEGO’s Bionicle line? Gali, the OG? Nokama, perhaps, who appeared twice as a Toa as well as a humble Matoran? In truth, Mitch Phillips (AKA Gamma Raay)’s unnamed Toa of Water might have them both beat. There’s some serious bling on show here: an enormous gold door makes for a nice shield. The cape is pretty majestic, too. But the biggest party piece is actually the mask. Don’t recognise it? That’s because it’s exceedingly rare – handed out during the 2015 LEGO Inside Tour, only 200 of these transparent-blue ones were ever made! As a result it’s something of a collectors’ item, but it’s refreshing to see it used in a MOC. At the end of the day, it is still just a LEGO piece!

These Star Wars/WWII mashups are just plane awesome

It’s no secret that George Lucas looked to World War II-era dogfights for inspiration when envisioning the space battles of Star Wars, so a mashup of the two in LEGO form simply makes sense. Here, Jordan Fridal elegantly blends the celebrated North American P-51D Mustang with Star Wars‘s X- and E-wings, with pleasing results. The two ships (fittingly nicknamed “Rebel Scum” and “Laser Bait”) look ready to duel German fighter planes or Imperial TIEs, whichever they happen to run across—a testament to both Lucas’s original vision and the skill with which they were executed in brick form.

I can’t stop thinking about this LEGO Roman scene

Qian Yj is no stranger to triumphs, having brought home the trophy in LEGO Masters China. For his latest build, he turns his thoughts to ancient Rome (as men so often do) and presents a glorious temple facade. There is so much to laud about this capital diorama, but the sweet reliefs definitely take the cake. Marble supplicants kneel at the feet of a god in the pediment, flanked by floral designs all in white. The columns are most impressive too, the Corinthian flourish created by arranging teeth in eyelets around gnashing gears. The braziers are a simple yet very effective design. And those statues! Such lovely use of tiles to create lifelike forms at this scale. On the temple base, a gallic touch with croissant garlands.

Qian Yj excels at immersive models that sweep you away to a living past. To see the builder’s LEGO tributes to his native China, check out his photo album, or revisit our other favorite Qian Yj. creations.

Micro Barad-Dûr menaces a tiny middle earth!

If the price tag on the newly announced Lord of the Rings Barad-Dûr LEGO set is making your wallet feel like Viggo Mortensen’s toe, you should check out this micro-scale tower by Joe! From this mini monument to malevolent majesty, you can keep an eye on the hobbits with the DREAMZzz eye tile. With just a few pieces, Joe has captured the evil essence of the dark tower. The two outer towers are captured by a hilt and a plate with a bar, while all the spiky decorative business is made out of a few grills and a gear. I do wonder if Sauron will need a microscope to find the one ring at this scale!

Proud, invincible Hanshin Tiger mech! Go, go, go!

Baseball season is in full swing in Japan and famously passionate fans of the Hanshin Tigers are making noise for their favorite team. Amongst those fans is Sasaki Nobuyuki (Sasapon), two time competitor on early LEGO competition show King of LEGO on TV Tokyo, and member of the OG brickshelf community. Sasapon built this prize-winning mech last year for a “SigFig” mech contest. What is a SigFig? Essentially it’s a minifig avatar that represents you. Sasapon’s SigFig wears his Hanshin Tigers fandom proudly resulting in this delightful tiger-themed mech.

Sasapon leaned into yellow elements with black stripes and the associated construction aesthetic, adding a detachable bulldozer scoop and claw to the mech’s back. The highly-poseable mech is packed with personality and clever parts usage.

レッツゴー　レッツゴーささぽん!

Winning Star Wars: Dark Forces with the Moldy Crow

In a LEGO Star Wars world of Millennium Falcons, it’s nice when someone shows some love for the lesser-known bird-named ship. I say ship and not ships because I simply couldn’t think of any others. Let us know in the comments if there are any. Anyway, Jan Woźnica has built the Moldy Crow from the Star Wars: Dark Forces game and we’re all as happy as a lark in terms of scale and level of detail implemented in this new creation. Jan tells us this craft is a modified HWK-290 courier ship flown by Jan Ors and Kyle Katarn. Also, if you happen to like your gaming more analog than digital, you can also fly the Moldy Crow in the X-Wing Miniatures tabletop game. Check out why we think Jan Woźnica should be our squad leader and also get your fix for all things Star Wars.

Who, who, who lights up the night?

While I enjoy nighttime, it’s nice to have James Zhan’s LEGO owl nightlight for when things go bump in the night. We’ve already ascertained that the hoot noises are coming from a great horned owl who visits our yard from time to time, which makes this build extra special for me. The howling, chittering, yelping, and whooshing noises are still a mystery; could be coyotes, raccoons, or homicidal maniacs. While I try to decipher who or what is making a rustling sound in the eves, go ahead and investigate our James Zhan archives.

These iconic LEGO shoes “just do it” for me

It’s like the old saying goes: “If the shoe fits, build it out of LEGO.” At least, we’re pretty sure that’s the saying. Either way, The Brothers Brick regular Takamichi Irie shows us what the Nike Air Penny 2 would look like in brick form. This isn’t his first foray into footwear, and it shows.

A lot of care went into making the shoe look like, well, a shoe—from the countless curved bricks for shaping to the dinosaur tails that form the tied laces. My favorite detail, however, might be the simplest: the iconic Nike swoosh. When it comes to the award for best use of LEGO bricks to create a famous logo, I’d say it’s a shoe-in.

Miniature magic inspired by Disney Parks.

LEGO mini builds can surprisingly hold a great deal of detail in such a small package. Gregory Coquelz has created a series of mini-builds based on Disney theme park attractions. Here, we see the “Swiss Family Robinson” treehouse. Despite its minimal size, we can still appreciate the arboreal dwelling with its multiple structures, elaborate path, and a water wheel that I’m sure helps the family with everyday activities. As a frequent LEGO builder myself, I wonder if Gregory dealt with any ‘broken branches’ during this build, considering the amount of Dark Brown pieces used in the build. Surely this would look great next to LEGO’s current line of miniature Disney products, especially LEGO 40478: Mini Disney Castle.

A flower with the power to brighten your day

What do LEGO pterodactyl wings, a minfigure butterfly wing, and half an asteroid field have in common? Each of them have been beautifully repurposed to create a LEGO “butterfly flower” by the aptly named nicepartsusage. The aforementioned elements come together to create a model that’s lovelier than the sum of its parts.

The model’s genesis came from a desire to commemorate “You Day”—an unofficial self-care counterpoint to Mother’s Day for those who might struggle to find something to celebrate the latter holiday. No matter what you’re celebrating, however, there’s something about this bright, striking model that’s almost guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.