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.

Awesome diorama of The Elder Scrolls Online’s city of Orsinium

The great Orc stronghold of Orsinium is a key location in the sprawling world of The Elder Scrolls Online, and there are few to do it more justice as a model than Thorsten Bonsch. Thorsten has previously brought us into Tamriel through his stunning depictions of a Dolmen and Stonefalls (and he’s also shown his diorama-building mastery by creating possibly the coolest Tardis model we’ve seen).

The technique Thorsten employs for cobblestone here — accomplished by using white tiles turned on edge, then filling all the gaps with grey tiles and slopes — has been around for awhile. But rarely is it so expertly done, with minimal gaps and perfect integration into the landscape. Be sure to take a close look at the stonework on the structures, too; it’s a great example of skillfully combining flat planes with textured details.

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Still planning your vacation? Go visit the Riviera!

Inspired by the cover of a book about a South European town, Andrew Tate created this very pearl of Mediterranean architecture. A mixture of European and Oriental elements and colors, a beautifully designed wedding shop and a careful cast of minifigures deserve the highest mark. With some minor changes one could even imagine this diorama as part of LEGO’s modular building series, providing city center residents with a view of the bay and a small yet neat quay.

The not-so-hidden, hidden stairs to Erebor

I vividly remember sitting in the theater watching the second part of The Hobbit and seeing Peter Jackson’s cinematic version of the hidden stairs to Erebor for the first time. His stairs were so much cooler than what I had imagined reading the book and I instantly knew I wanted to build them out of LEGO. It took a couple of years, but I finally got around to it.

What finally motivated me you? The Middle Earth LEGO Olympics on MOCpages! For those of you who haven’t heard of this contest, it’s an annual challenge that puts builders in head-to-head, single-elimination rounds to find an ultimate champion. The first round (the qualifier) runs through April 3rd, so there’s still plenty of time for you to build a Hobbit-themed entry of your own!

Scramble the Rebel fighters from LEGO Echo Base

Markus19840420 continues to impress with his LEGO Star Wars dioramas. Following up his Sullust scene, he presents a slice of Echo Base from The Empire Strikes Back, impressive in both size and detail. The carved snow cave look, hanging lights, maintenance bridges, and runway lights make the whole scene feel authentic. I won’t overlook Mike Psiaki’s X-wing and Larry Lars’s Snowspeeder, both great models recreated by Markus from their respective building guides, with some modifications.

See more photos of Hoth Echo Base on the builder’s Flickr.

Interview with Carl Greatrix, creator of the Caterham 7 LEGO Ideas set

Carl Greatrix‘s Caterham 7 was recently revealed as the next LEGO Ideas set. The announcement was met with almost universal approval, mixed with some surprise that such an obviously adult-oriented and complex model had made it through the review.

The Brothers Brick got in touch with Carl to get some of his thoughts following the announcement…

TBB: So, you’ve got to be delighted about the news. How does it feel to have an official LEGO set coming out?
Carl: I’m obviously super-excited. It means that everyone who wanted one, will now be able to get one. The realization is slowly but surely sinking in — the fact there will be an official LEGO set, available in practically every LEGO shop around the world, it’s quite a humbling thought and feels like a huge achievement.

Click through to read the rest of the interview

Royal Griffin from Witcher 3 is back for revenge in LEGO form

There are many, many monsters in the extremely popular game Witcher 3 — but perhaps no monster sticks in your mind quite like your first monster, the majestic and dangerous Royal Griffin. Builder Charis Stella managed to pull himself free from Witcher’s grasp long enough to design this gorgeous griffin — one that utilizes swords, tails, teeth, and tiles to give this beast both character and a sense of motion. It wouldn’t be too bad a way to go if this beautiful flying Royal Griffin were the one to do you in.

Still though, pretty bad way to go.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian architecture in LEGO: The Dorothy H. Turkel House

We have seen a few Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in microscale among the LEGO Architecture series, but this time we have a minifigure scale representation of a Usonian house. Michele must have worked very hard to create this magnificent diorama. The house itself perfectly matches the original building, and there’s even a party going on! We all love parties here at The Brothers Brick! Make sure you check out close-up photographs as there are endless details. It’s also worth paying attention to the vegetation — each part of the diorama features a different kind of plant.

Her Turkel House album on Flickr gives a good insight on building large models. She has shared the full building process starting from the foundation of the house through final decoration.

Saturn up close and personal with the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft

We are discovering new things about Saturn regularly thanks to the NASA-ESA collaboration, Cassini-Huygens. And thanks to Stefan Schindler, we can view his gorgeous model of the spacecraft whenever we’d like. The model uses a few custom-gold pieces to emulate the craft’s special thermal shielding. The spacecraft is made up of the Cassini orbiter, named for Italian-French astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini, and the Huygens prob, named for Dutch astronomer, mathematician and physicist Christiaan Huygens.

Cassini has contributed to many scientific discoveries and regularly sends back some of the most stunning imagery of Saturn, its rings, and its moons. Its mission started upon launch on October 15, 1997, and is still going strong nearly 20 years later.

Blue Mosque

Blue Mosque has been among the most important landmarks in Istanbul ever since it was built in the 17th century. Turkish builder Artizan skillfully captures the details of the mosque in microscale. The mosque’s many domes and semi-domes are smoothly crafted into LEGO form. The balconies and spires on the minarets are also perfectly represented.

Artizan also built the Hagia Sophia and you can see both buildings side by side on his Flickr stream. Also check out his digital rendering of the Ortaköy Mosque!

Autobiography in LEGO

Dave Kaleta has been using LEGO to illustrate moments in his life, in a series of autobiographical builds. The latest addition is Winter, Harper Avenue:

The scale is somewhat deceiving; it took me a moment to realize just how large these actually are. The sculpting and the amount of life and story present in each one of these is just wonderful.

Stunning LEGO Porsche 962 Le Mans car

Large-scale LEGO car builders never cease to amaze with their dedication to realism. Greg_998 specializes in Porsche racecars, and his Le Mans Porsche 962 is breathtaking. Not simply a plastic shell, the well-sculpted bodywork hides a host of details below, such as a fully detailed engine compartment and a fittingly spartan interior.

Not content with just the 1980s’ 962, Greg has built a several generations of Porsche racing.

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Baltan!

Not surprisingly, the moment you mention a hero like Ultraman, a giant space monster shows up to destroy your nice little cardboard city–it’s just the natural order of things. Filling in said order is the latest creation by nobu_tary: the deadly Alien Baltan. With the powers of flight, laser beam claws, furry looking legs, and presumably the ability to gain more abilities as dictated by the plot, Baltan is sure to give Ultraman a run for his money. At least until the third act requires his loss after an oh-so-close victory.