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 Allied liberation of Venlo, 1st March 1945

Maarten W is proving himself the master of the LEGO street scene. We’ve previously featured his Edinburgh’s Royal Mile and desert market creations, but this WWII-inspired diorama is his best yet. It’s a recreation of the moments when Allied forces liberated the Dutch town of Venlo on 1st March 1945.

The damaged buildings are beautifully done, giving a sense of what the townsfolk must have endured as the battle raged around them. Maarten has included numerous small vignettes throughout his diorama, such as the American GIs interacting with the survivors.

The details of the left-hand house are particularly poignant — the remnants of the upper-floor telling a tale of shattered domesticity. And whilst I’m not a “dog person” myself, even I can appreciate the message of hope for the future as one of the townspeople finds his pet amidst the ruins.

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Like a troubled bridge over water

On a bright spring morning, troops from two nearby castles converged at one of the bridges of County Madison. Fat trout could be seen swimming in the creek below, and all agreed that it was a prime spot for fishing. But no one could decide who should make the first cast. As things often went in the era of Castle, violence ensued and blows were traded. By the time the melee was finished, all the fish had been scared away. The moral of the story? Isaac S. makes pretty awesome medieval bridges.

A tall tower stands alone in the woods, looming

Farwin Castle by Brother Steven is one of the most striking pieces of castle architecture I’ve seen recently. This exceptionally tall, spindly tower still manages to capture an elegance of proportions, looking mysterious yet stately. Unlike many contemporary medieval themed builds, Farwin Castle doesn’t employ much of the precariously complex stonework that’s in vogue. Instead, its strength lies in its solid geometry and fascinating dimensions. You have to wonder what purpose this tower serves. The home of a lovesick, ascetic prince? The prison for a lunatic mage? The guard tower on a dangerous border? Whatever it is, we like it.

Brother Steven says this castle is part of a larger collaborative display, where multiple builders created locations from the same world, so don’t miss the fantastic stable from the collection that we already highlighted.

OwlBaby the adorable wandering mercenary

Some builders write lengthy backstories for their LEGO creations, making sure to share with viewers every detail of why their model is the way it is. Other times, the model just speaks for itself, leaving you wanting to know more. Personally, I prefer a bit of mystery. LEGO 7 presents this adorable character who looks like he stepped out of a manga or anime series, though I think the little fellow is entirely original. With an owl-shaped helmet, impish grin, and weapons pointing in every direction, he looks ready to take on the whole world.

The character’s purple eyes are from LEGO Elves sets, and LEGO 7 has provided him with a range of equipment, including a gas mask and sniper rifle.

Let’s celebrate Kenny Baker (1934-2016) with this LEGO R2-D2 retrospective

Kenny Baker, the diminutive actor who played R2-D2 in all Star Wars films except The Force Awakens, died peacefully in his sleep today. The 3′ 8″ actor operated Artoo from inside, sealed up “like a boiled egg.” In addition to R2-D2 Kenny Baker also played Paploo the Ewok in Return of the Jedi as well as key roles in movies like Time Bandits and The Elephant Man. To honor this actor who had such a huge impact on Star Wars, here’s a roundup of some of the best LEGO R2-D2 models we’ve featured here on The Brothers Brick over the years.

One of my favorite LEGO Artoos is this small LEGO R2-D2 by Jeffery Kong.

Click through to see more of the best LEGO R2-D2 models

Chibi-style Rogue One battle scene

Rogue One continues to inspire new Star Wars LEGO creations. Check out this fantastic beach battle scene, lifted from the Rogue One trailer and “chibified” by Boba-1980. The microscale vehicles are really good — I particularly like the versions of the U-Wing and the TIE Strike Fighter.

Aside from the good landscaping and figure posing, there’s a whole ton of action packed into a tight space in this diorama — justifying the builder’s choice to go with an unusual scale for the vehicles. Nice work.

A brand new LEGO brand store

If you’re interested in LEGO, you’ve got to know everything about toy stores in your town or city. But Adeel Zubair knows about toy stores a lot more than any of us; he knew to build the perfect one.

Not only is this an outstanding modular building with an exterior worth being placed in one lane with the legendary Green Grocer, but also a masterpiece of store marketing — just have a look at what is hidden inside!

Here are the lovely wooden duck and the lovely green dragon on the first floor, while the ground floor is all about shelves full of the newest sets. And don’t forget to check out the awesome Pick-A-Brick wall! Many more pictures are in the album on Flickr!

Medieval stable in a classic Castle-style

Isaac S. proves Castle models haven’t all moved into a world of ramshackle angled walls and twee color-schemes. Ignoring the prevailing fashion pays off wonderfully in this excellent little build — there’s great landscaping, a lovely depth of texture in the walls, and even a nice splash of color which manages to look realistic. To top it all, it looks like this model might stay in one piece if you turned it upside down — something you couldn’t say of many of the “wonky-style” Castle builds.

The model looks almost as good from the rear. Check out that smart little stained-glass window…

There are not enough LEGO mammoths in the world

Sadly, World Elephant Day on August 12 is a stark reminder that there are not enough modern elephants in the world, and that we must take action — stop murdering them — if we want to avoid seeing today’s Proboscidea go the way of their Pleistocene predecessors the mammoth and mastodon. Jens Ohrndorf has been building little LEGO animals for the past few months, and his latest batch includes this impossibly adorable woolly mammoth. With just a few pieces, Jens has captured the shagginess and undeniable majesty of this Ice Age creature. The miniature snowcapped mountain and subtle gray background add immeasurably to the presentation.

As with any ecosystem, the mammoth steppe biome would not be complete without other megafauna. I’m not sure Jens intended for this pair of bison to go with the mammoth, but they complement it perfectly.

See more of Jens’ LEGO animals in his album on Flickr.

Star Wars: Rogue One U-Wing in LEGO

So the first full-blown trailer for Rogue One has been out for all of a few hours, but that hasn’t stopped Vaionaut building a cool LEGO version of the new U-Wing ship which looks like it will be ferrying our intrepid heroes across the galaxy.

This sort of thing is why I’m getting pumped-up for Rogue One. I’m looking forward to seeing new ships and vehicles and characters and planets, all for the first time, yet all carrying that unmistakable whiff of Star Wars. However, we’re not featuring this model just because I’m excited — it’s a smart build in and of itself. It captures the lines and colors of this interesting new spaceship design, and features some nice details, particularly around the rear and the engines.

Fly me to the moon, and let me build among the stars

As an anime fan, it is always a pleasure to see a build inspired by one of the most iconic anime of all time, Evangelion. I’ve seen many amazing EVA builds, but as soon as I saw this build by Nobu_Tary, it was no question that he pulled out a perfect Rei Ayanami:

Recreating characters with LEGO bricks can be tricky, but this build has an incredible shape, looks solid, the colors are spot on, and it appears to have great articulation. This would look awesome amongst my anime figure collection!

Don’t let this mecha dragonfly bug you

You would be forgiven for thinking that Big Brother was spying on you if you saw Mitsuru Nikaido’s mech dragonfly whizz past. This is no ordinary insect with its cybernetic appearance and yet the builder has managed to maintain the delicate form of a real dragonfly. I particularly love those dangling legs and the repeating structures within the main body and tail.

If you like mecha insects, you will like this mecha damselfly we previously blogged. Mitsuru’s dragonfly is significantly larger than the damselfly and would definitely require a heavy duty fly swatter.