If anyone is suited to a LEGO caricature, it’s Groucho Marx. Paddy Bricksplitter has given us a wonderful portrait of the comedy legend, and there is absolutely no doubt who is staring at you from from the frame. The bushy eyebrows and curly hair are instantly recognizable, and the cigar is perfect.
As fantastical as many of the LEGO Castle creations we feature here on The Brothers Brick are, it’s actually not very often that we see a fantastical creature wreaking havoc among the people and structures that comprise most of these medieval scenes. Wookieewarrior remedies that situation with a monstrous worm emerging from the earth to rip through a round tower. The worm itself has lots of great details in black, but the yellow minifig hands stand out (literally) as wonderful spines. The tower includes lovely details as well, including reused LEGO sprues from three-leaved plants as vines. Potted flowers add a spot of color against the gray tower, and the rounded landscaping of the base is excellent as well.
Be sure to click through to the photo and zoom in for more details, including the priceless expression on the hapless farmer’s face.
The dark primeval swamps of a fantasy world are always a place to be on your guard. They may be silent, too silent perhaps, but the heavy air laden with motes belies the danger of Tirrell Brown‘s bog. This great little vignette has some amazing fen flora made of classic LEGO bushes turned upside down and capped with 4×4 domes. The glowing Galaxy Squad alien eggs add to the mystery and otherworldliness of this everglade.
“Elaborate” and “enchanting.” As simply as that, these two words define Japanese culture for me. Surprisingly, this pair of words perfectly suits these two LEGO creations below.
Andrew JN charms us with this tiny diorama. It is hardly bigger than a medium Creator set, but take your time to choose what exactly you’re going to behold first: an astonishing roof, some charming usage of color in trees or river water calmly flowing by.
Gzu Bricks presents us another tiny vignette featuring one of the giant bonshō bells. I especially love that both creations are of the same concept — Japanese architecture surrounded by Japanese flora — but look how different building techniques are! Gzu Bricks’ build might look a little simpler, but I can’t imagine anything that could make it more complete.
Back in 2007 we blogged an awesome LEGO creation by the Arvo Brothers which featured a chestburster emerging from some unlucky person, in a recreation of a scene from the classic Sci-Fi horror film Alien. Well not only have the Arvo Brothers now updated their build with a base and some new parts to improve the design, but they have also finally published instructions!
The updated version has a white base similar to the base created for their recent Alien Project and changes to the teeth and nose area. The blood pool also has some fantastic sinewy arterial red parts that add to the horror and seem more anatomically realistic.
The seeping blood spilling from the larger pool, through the base and onto the floor, is undoubtedly my favourite part. I hope this doesn’t reflect any morbid tendencies I may have! Building instructions are available by contacting the Arvo Brothers via email arvo@arvobrothers.com and should be on their website soon.
Sculpting an organic shape in LEGO is tricky. Nathaniel has pulled this off spectacularly with King Bowser, who is offering you a blue shell. I don’t think I’d trust Bowser with that, but that’s just me. This build is just lovely: that expression! The big hands with claws! The hair and shell!
A great LEGO build isn’t always about the best part usage, or the most amazing technique; sometimes, it comes down to great presentation.
These builds from Anders Löfgren are a great example of presentation and lighting and how it just makes the photo. I didn’t realize this was LEGO, at first. I thought it was just a lovely picture of a doorway with a play on light and dark. The build is simple, and the photograph does an excellent job of tricking you into seeing something other than LEGO.
Recently Heikki Mattila has been building scenes depicting cool-looking interiors, like the LEGO spa we covered a few weeks ago. This latest diorama wouldn’t look out of place in an IKEA catalog — a smart, modern living space, all geometric lines and stark colors. The clock is a nice touch, and I like the tree in its stylish pot, but what makes this image pop for me is the splash of red provided by the sofa cushions. This is a great example of what happens when a nice model combines with decent photography and an eye for a smart color scheme — great stuff.
Michał Kaźmierczak is one of many LEGO builders taking part in this year’s SHIPtember, a contest where the rules are simple: one month; one SHIP; one hundred or more studs in size. The term S.H.I.P. stands for Seriously Huge Investment in Parts, and Michał’s creation is an impressive 202 stud long ship named Sword. In addition to some stickers, Sword features windows added using ultraviolet paint to help create the beautiful lighting effect in the image below:
The detailed underside of Sword is full of delicious greebles that contrast with the smooth lines of the main hull:
A side view allows for a greater appreciation of this 170cm long LEGO creation. The blue stern area really stands out and makes for some eye-catching contrast to the grey hull. As with all ships, regardless of size, one key aspect is the SWOOSH factor. And I think this one has more of a SCHWING!
Fifteen years ago today, the United States was attacked: one plane crashed in Pennsylvania, one plane was crashed into the Pentagon, and two planes attacked the World Trade Center in New York City. The attacks took nearly 3,000 lives and forever changed the identify of a nation and the course of the world.
Rocco Buttliere gives us this beautiful LEGO build of One World Trade Center and the 9/11 Memorial, which are situated on the site where the Twin Towers once stood. We invite you to reflect on how the world has changed in the last 15 years and take a moment of silence today in remembrance.
It may be less than two weeks ago since I blogged a build by Maksymilian Majchrzak ( [MAKS] ), but it seems he very much likes the same sort of things I do and he builds them well. Case in point: his latest crane.
For those of you who are crane geeks, this is a Liebherr LTM 1350-6.1 in the colours of Mammoet (Mammoth) — a famous company from the Netherlands that specialises in heavy lifting and heavy haulage. This behemoth is built to my favourite scale of 1/22, which makes it roughly 100 studs long in road-going configuration.
The model is very detailed and has numerous working features such as steering, a telescopic boom that can be raised and lowered (which does involve inserting an extra part to lengthen the hydraulic ram), side supports that extend and retract, and he has included a brick-built figure. If there were a checklist of things I like, he has ticked almost all of the boxes.
Grant Davis has built this spectacular little microscale castle. Like most LEGO microscale creations, it’s awash in terrific creativity, with lots of unusual pieces used in new ways, and the finished product belies its complexity. Fortunately for all of us curious viewers, Grant made a short video that shows some of the techniques he employed as he walks us through the disassembly of the model.
