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.

Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York in LEGO microscale

If you walk along Front West Street in downtown Toronto, Ontario you will see the impressive Fairmont Royal York Hotel. On June 11, 1929, the hotel officially opened. The Royal York changed names and ownership a few times since its humble beginnings as the Ontario Terrace, which consisted of four brick houses, in 1843. Jeff Van Winden has captured the architectural essence of the hotel in LEGO microscale. The sense of scale is emphasised with the busting street below with adorable little microscale vehicles.

I particular like Jeff’s clever solution to the intricate arched windows on the three main blocks at the front with this upturned minifigure basketball stand. Just be sure to book early if the Royal Family are in town, Queen Elizabeth usually has an entire floor reserved for her and her entourage and occupies the Royal Suite herself.

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The Batman playset you wished LEGO would make

Designer BenFifteenTheChicken puts together the playset that every Batman fan not only needs but deserves. At first glance, the setting of this LEGO creation looks similar to the 76001 The Bat vs. Bane™: Tumbler Chase, but the huge difference is not just that the models have the right bat-colored theme, but also that the builder has upgraded and redesigned each vehicle so that they have the proper look of the machines featured on the big screen.

My favourite bit is actually the miniature Bat-Pod built with minimal elements, but with maximum impact — with a secret feature! It actually is part of the Tumbler, secretly hidden and tucked within the front wheel layout!

And the green-eyed bot forever gazes down

If sci-fi robots are your thing, then Pete Reid is your man. He builds LEGO robots that are so detailed and full of greebles they wouldn’t look out of place in a Boston Dynamics demonstration video. I love his latest creation — the Digital Ombudsman. It’s got a wonderful poise and balance, making great use of lots of different connections and parts you wouldn’t expect. A quick glance reveals pirate hooks, spanners, ingots, ray guns, and handlebars all making their appearance to create the complex mechanical look. On top of all the detail, the robot’s green eye is fantastic.

This was built as part of a feature looking at potential uses for the new bar-and-towball piece over at New Elementary. Check it out here.

And we won’t be mad when worn in bad weather

My Adidas — or more correctly Jimmy Fortel‘s Adidas — the classic Superstar 3-stripe trainer, built in LEGO. The overall shaping here is excellent, with a nice mixture of curved, sloped, and tiled bricks to capture a shape that doesn’t immediately lend itself to brick construction. The best bit? The way Jimmy has used angled sections to create the iconic white stripes. Excellent work.

Jimmy’s on something of an 80s kick at the moment — don’t miss his wonderful LEGO 80s boombox which we covered recently.

Stop by the shop for parts and service done right

I’ve never been in a workshop as clean as this one by ForlornEmpire. I expect to see some oil, spilled coffee, or some sort of mess surrounding that giant engine — can’t say I’d lay below it, either. The scene has a ton of great detail, from the simple and effective fluorescent lights to the tool drawers, which I absolutely love. They look just like they should, at a good scale, and it’s a fantastic use of a bucket handle!

Flies like a space butterfly, stings like a galactic hornet

Space isn’t always dark – sometimes there exists flashes of blue, gray and trans-yellow. ZCerberus has done a fine job capturing those colors with his Neo-Classic Space fighter. You have to love this style of space building, which has seen a significant comeback over the past ten years or so, alongside the Blacktron style of building. The color scheme here is spot on and there’s plenty of little details to enjoy. The converging blue and light bluish-gray lines on the side of the fuselage are a particularly aesthetic touch.

One also has to appreciate the good use of an otherwise awkward and bulky canopy piece (being Neo-Classic Space, a trans-yellow canopy is a must). Overall, this little space fighter looks more than ready to rain destruction on its Blacktron foes.

We’re in the pipe, five by five

First there was Blacktron in 1987, then there was Blacktron II in 1991. Now Luc Byard may have created Blacktron 3.0 with this awesome updated Blacktron landing pad. His ship “Aerial Intruder” sits on the octagonal landing gantry with alien hieroglyphs. Sitting atop four carefully constructed legs on a tidy base with realistic moon surface pocked with brick-built craters.

The whole construction took over a year to complete (6 months for the ship and 7 months for the pad). When you see the level of complexity and details that have gone into this incredible creation you can understand why. Continue reading →

To drink deep and eat of joy, that is life’s truest pleasures

You would be forgiven for mistaking this still life scene by J.B.F. as the real deal. In fact, everything here is LEGO (besides the labels, of course), from the finely crafted hors d’oeuvres to the smooth black platter and bottles of craft beer and red wine.

This was built as a tribute to the builder’s favorite wine shop and bar, the Vinochope in Perpignan, France. The selection of tapas includes olives, cheese and what appears to be papas arrugadas – a delicious Spanish specialty of which I am quite fond. Even in bricks, this spread looks good enough to eat.

LEGO Focke Wulf Ta 152 “Butcher Bird” prepares for action

Master aircraft builder Maelven has built some unique and historically accurate planes, but perhaps none are as eye-catching as his newest build, the Focke Wulf Ta 152 H-1.

Designed by famed aeronautical engineer Kurt Tank, the Ta 152 was a last ditch effort by the Luftwaffe during the closing days of the Third Reich to combat the high-altitude bombers deployed by the Allies. Although only a handful were built the Ta 152 proved itself as a capable interceptor and among the fastest piston-driven fighters of the war. The long nose and superbly sleek design which characterized this butcher bird are created expertly here in LEGO form.

The builder chose to adorn this particular model with the red-orange paint scheme used by Luftwaffe ace Fritz Aufhammer. Legend says Aufhammer adorned his plane in such colors to notify trigger-happy Flak crews that this strange and unfamiliar aircraft was actually on their side. The Ta 152 is seen here in the process of being maintained and refitted. The exposed engine compartment is a nice touch, and along with the other details, really helps to bring this build to life.

The Golden Empress watches over you

While I’m not sure I’d ever pick a golden scorpion as the steed for my guardian angel, I can appreciate the beauty of this character crafted by Sean and Steph Mayo. Sean shares that this lovely creature comes from a online, forum-based LEGO role-playing game over at Eurobricks. The Golden Empress scorpion is a player’s Guardian Angel.

Sentinels unleashed! Enormous LEGO X-Men Sentinel stands over 3 feet tall and lights up

LEGO builder Henry Pinto is such a huge fan of the X-Men that he had all 5 seasons of the animated series playing in loop for inspiration while building this gigantic Sentinel, which stands almost a meter (40 in) in height. The scale of this mighty robot is almost unfathomable until you notice the tiny X-Men minifigures around it.

It took Henry roughly around 3 months of working on it for an hour a day and leveraging the weekends for marathon builds. All in all, Henry estimates it took him 200 hours more or less to get it all done. Henry tells us he’s lost count of the number of elements used to build this monstrosity, but estimates 6000-7000 pieces at least, and weighing 7.5kgs (16.5 lbs).

Click to see more of the incredible Sentinel

Take your rest at this small, stone Gothic chapel

This lovely little chapel comes to us from Lego_fan. Don’t let the small size fool you; there is a lot to love about the build. Many chapels we feature tend to skew more toward the cathedral end of things, so it’s refreshing to see a smaller build that’s so effective.

The main stained glass window stands out for me, with the great texture and use of the Technic pulley piece. The building’s sides avoid the “big grey wall” syndrome easily with tiles, profile bricks, and nice shaping.

The back is equally pretty, continuing the patterns that make this a striking little building. I like the way the lines draw the eye up and really make this little chapel look bigger than it really is.