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.

An eyebrow-raising tachikoma build

Is there a mech concept more versatile in LEGO form than the think tank? So many different variants and possibilities! The latest one to catch our eye is by SPARKART!. It’s got a touch of the Warhammer 40k’s about it, don’t you think? It must be the combination of those big blocky legs and the round dome on top. The leg mechanism looks really interesting as well, incidentally. But whether intentional or not, there’s one thing I can’t unsee. The handlebars above the eye remind me of a single eyebrow, so now all I can think of is a tachikoma wandering around looking mildly surprised at everything…

It shouldn’t be a surprise to see another great robot tank grace our pages, though. Why not have a look at some of the other tachikoma in the TBB archives?

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What awaits the weary traveler within the wintry walls of the Crow’s Nest?

“Halt! Who goes there?” A lonely warrior, his cloak billowing in the frosty air, approaches ZCerberus’s formidable tower known as Crow’s Nest. Along the way, our intrepid LEGO hero passes an assortment of slopes and angles used to evoke snowdrifts and half-buried evergreens. He gazes upon the light bluish great accents on dark bluish gray stone and steps beneath inverted sloped elements used to create dramatic battlements. My favorite part of all, though, has to be the brick-built coat of arms above the door, including upside-down feathered wings. We don’t know what this solitary traveler seeks within those sturdy stone walls, but we know what he’ll find: an impressive display of building techniques that bring this wintry scene to life.

Less than 50 shades of grey

I love it when a LEGO build leans into an aesthetic. This build by Jessica Farrell is done completely in monochrome – like an old timey movie – and displays a crumbling landscape frozen in stone and fossilization. There’s more interesting parts in this build than I can point out, but here are some of the highlights! Sprinkled around the build you’ll see tiny flowers in flat silver. These flowers were only available from the Trolls World Tour 2020 product line, while the arching spine on the upper left is made of parts that ceased production in 2016. There’s vines climbing the ruined pillars, and gears big and small. One thing I know for certain, Charlie Chaplin has to be hiding in there somewhere!

Love is an angel disguised in LEGO

Android, angel, lust… a figure soars on Chima wings, gently carrying their lover across a sea of stars. This evocative scene from Care Creations shows how how much emotion can be constructed out of simple bricks. The composition is incredible. Two grey metal bodies built from System and constraction parts look weightless between those incredible wings above and a finger drawing ripples in the sky below. The one pop of color — a shock of orange braid made from interlaced orange clips — draws the eye to the scene’s subject, an automata conveying a feeling of safety and yearning in the hands of a lover. In the background, an assortment of round tiles on a paper moon add to the tranquility.

With its square composition, the scene could be an album cover, which is appropriate as Care Creations named the work Because the Night, after one of the all-time great love songs.

A tiny tank build as sweet as honey

Miniature tanks are a big part of the scale modelling community, and it’s always nice to see it cross over into the LEGO world. The latest to have a go is Jack Rumley, with this fine rendition of an M3 Stuart ‘Honey’ — an American-built tank in British service in the early years of World War II. The sand-blue and tan paint scheme looks equal parts smart and realistic, reflecting the tank’s service in the North Africa campaign. This particular model has been kitted out with a handful of custom decals and third-party parts to elevate the detail level. But make no mistake, it’s bona fide LEGO doing the heavy lifting. Check out the boomerangs used as wheel rockers!

Karashishi: Guardian of NPU (Nice Parts Usage)

We throw the acronym NPU around a lot here at The Brothers Brick and it usually occurs when we are impressed with the clever and unconventional use of LEGO bricks. I don’t think we have a term yet for when NPU reaches a point in which impressed becomes awestruck, bewildered, or even breathless. That’s kinda how I’m feeling in trying to convey this unprecedented Chinese lion dog by Nathan Don (Woomy World). I can’t get over how radar dishes and teal horns constructed in such a way can covey a fluffy tail. The upper legs consist of shoulder armor pieces and (what I know to be) car fenders. The body utilizes large macaroni bits (or maxaroni as the builder calls them). You’d expect BURPs (Big Ugly Rock Pieces) in a stand likely placed vertically, but when situated sideways, the piece offers up textures that seem like jagged shale.

I’d be remiss not to provide a closeup shot of the face. White croissants and Minifig headbands make up aspects of the guardian’s eyebrows, nose, and muzzle. Gray macaroni bits as well as more aforementioned radar dishes and teal and red tentacles comprise the mane in a similar style to the tail. I can’t even fathom how it all is pieced together internally. It’s either extremely clever NPU or magic and, by this point, I’d believe either scenario equally. Please check out our Woomy World archive to see why we think this builder’s NPU magic reigns supreme.

An elegant spaceship for a more civilized age

You’d be forgiven if you couldn’t quite place where you’ve seen this distinctive vessel before. If you never played the Star Wars: The Old Republic massively multiplayer online roleplaying game or missed the official LEGO Star Wars version of the ship in 2013, you might not even recognize the hammerhead profile of a Defender-class light corvette. But it doesn’t take any familiarity with the source material to look at BobDeQuatre’s impressive model and hear a John Williams track or two in your head. The smooth hull, bold red-and-white color scheme, visible laser cannons, and subtle greebling at the equator are more than enough to evoke that quintessential Star Wars-ness that accompanies all the coolest spaceships.

Grocery getters gone wild

A family station wagon having a wild personality is about as surprising as finding out your mom has a Tinder account. But that is what’s going on here with this newest LEGO creation by Taylor. The builder says they started with some magenta parts and the design flowed from there. There’s a bouncing lowrider stance, a bright, flamboyant paint job, blinged-out rims, and enough gold to sink a pirate ship. This wild ride is a real crowd-pleaser; just like my mom’s Tinder account.

Feel the Force of Jedha’s sacred Temple of the Whills in LEGO

A lot of people are saying that hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster. I get it. I never set foot in an Outer Rim cantina without my trusty DL-44 either. But maybe there’s something to the old stories of wizards and their laser swords. Otherwise, why would the Empire be be so afraid of a backwater moon like Jedha? LEGO builder Ryan McBryde certainly has a soft spot for the “pilgrim moon” of Jedha, home of the Guardians of the Whills, spiritual site for the Jedi, and a source of the kyber crystals used in lightsabers. For the past 8 years, Ryan has been collaborating and iterating on an epic build of Jedha’s Temple of the Guardians of the Whills and the surrounding old city in conjunction with the Star Wars Factions role-playing project. In addition to the incredibly detailed building and interiors, which expands on brief glimpses of the site in the background of Rogue One, Ryan fleshed out the stories of locals and visiting pilgrims who bring the ancient site to life (at least until Grand Moff Tarkin showed up to test his fancy new superlaser).

Ryan’s project isn’t just an incredible accomplishment in LEGO construction, but a testement to the vitality of Star Wars as a collaborate story space.

Come along for a tour of LEGO Jedha’s holiest site!

This Weird LEGO polka face is bright and nerdy

True story, I’ve only seen “Weird Al” Yankovich at a concert once. He wasn’t on stage – it was a They Might Be Giants concert – but even headbanging to another band’s accordian songs, his joy was infectious. Joy really hits on what makes Weird Al such a beloved and enduring figure in the music world. His parody songs, exhuberant polka medlies, wild music videos, and countless cameo appearances are guaranteed to deliver smiles. Builder Moptoptrev captures that joy in his heartfealt LEGO tribute. The long, wavy locks, jutting chin, high cheekbones and kind smile click together in an unmistakeable portrait of the musical legend. The mosaic work captures Yankovich’s style and brings a great mix of color. Moptoptrev pairs the colorful bust with a brick-built version of the artist’s Roland accordian. It’s a lovely portrait of an artist who dares to be stupid with all of his generous and talented heart.

This X-ceptional LEGO scene rides into the Danger Room

As a super team, how do you make sure you’re in top fighting condition to take on anything from giant robots, to genetically engineered dinosaur people, to spineless alien gameshow hosts, to your teacher’s unborn twin? Lots and lots of practice. The X-Men’s Danger Room, here recreated in LEGO by Brickelangelo, is a mix of gymnasium and Star Trek holodeck that uses alien tech to create a full-sensory combat experience. Brickelangelo’s vignette supplements the official roster of X-Men minifigs with a few custom versions from (the big, as our mutant heroes train against Savage Land raptors and ~~Tigertooth~~ Sabertooth. The scene is packed with great details, like the rippling pixel effect as the slick tiled room transitions to holographic wilderness, the X-shaped door, and the signiture smoke poof as Nightcrawler teleports into position. Brickelangelo first shared his Danger Room a month ago but came back with improved photo staging to better appreciate the full model, which we much appreciate. With X-Men ’97 killing it on Disney Plus, Deadpool & Wolverine looking to crush summer box office, and LEGO’s return to the theme, Marvel’s mutants are having a moment. No doubt we’ll see more X-ceptional builds like Brickelangelo’s to add to our growing X-Men collection.

A Traveler’s Tribute to the Golden Temple

Seeing the talent and imagination displayed in models from world-class builders can be a major inspiration for LEGO fans, but where do those builders find their spark? For Danish AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO) Lasse Vestergård, two enduring sources of inspiration are travel and faith. Lasse’s latest creation is a stunning model of the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the holiest site in Sikhism and an architectural marvel. The original building, the sacred pool surrounding it, and the holy texts within date back to the 16th century. Shifting empires and religious conflicts led to multiple waves of destruction and rebuilding, but the site’s significance and grandeur have endured, attracting both pilgrims and world travelers like Lasse. While he was inspired to recreate the temple after a visit in 2019, it took years before Lasse could find enough gold bricks to make that dream a reality. There looks to be nearly 200 golden bananas alone (I guess that qualifies it as a house of worSHIP).

Lasse’s rendition isn’t just noteworthy in its scale, but for its ingenious detail while working within the constraints of white and gold elements. The white flower motif around the side entrances is especially effective. I also very much appreciate seeing so many turbans being used to celebrate a culture not often represented in LEGO.

The Golden Temple is the second holy site from Lasse’s travels to be highlighted on this site, as we were also moved by his LEGO model of the Mir-i-Arab Madrasah in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. Lasse’s galleries feature many more temples and churches from the ancient and modern world and his native Denmark that are definitely worth a look.