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 most compact Game Boy yet!

Over the course of 20+ years, Nintendo released a number of Game Boy models – but none as tiny as this. Pending the release of the official LEGO Game Boy set, builder mc tung shared his micro Game Boy that puts the original Game Boy Micro to shame. It’s an impressive feat at this scale, though I doubt any of us who were around for the original Game Boy are playing anything on a screen this small these days.

You can see a breakdown of the micro building techniques used here (and build your own!) by following the tutorial on YouTube. The technic axle D-pad is especially inspired!

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Stained glass from cheese slopes? Yes, please.

There’s something magical about creating stained glass in LEGO with transparent colors. We see many techniques for creating patterns in “glass,” but one of the most reliable is using a 1x2x3 window frame to hold 8 cheese slopes. GothGirlBricks uses this technique and adds a beautiful spin by including black slopes as negative space to create a picture in the glass.

Each window pane pairs two complementary colors for a gradient. Blue and purple transition to purple and pink, into pink and red. The completed mosaic art suggests a tree at sunset.

A work-in-progress shot shows the artist’s process, using transparent slopes to hold the black mosaic image in place while she figures out the gradient. So much lovely cheese!

Making magic with mind-bending custom minfigs [Minifig Monday]

Last week’s grab bag installment of Minifig Monday was a lot of fun, but today we return to themed roundups. Specifically, we’re looking at wizards and warlocks and their sorcerous kindred – but the real magic is in the creative use of parts to push the boundaries of minifig creation!

We start this magical Monday collection with a character who is barely a wizard at all – Rincewind from the Discworld novels. As created by legendary minifig photographer Jez Rider, Rincewind is accompanied by The Luggage and a definitely-not-stolen sheep.

Custom minifigs represent! This incredible Wicked duo from LEGO Masters winner Ian Summers (bricktacular_builds) is currently in the LEGO House Masterpiece Gallery, and might be the smallest build to get that honor. The parts usage is mind-blowing, especially the backwards arms, Glinda’s teapot body, and a beard for Elphaba’s broom. I had the chance to speak with Ian at LEGO House and he’s a fan of Minifig Monday and the creations shared here.

Backwards arms? Redbirch ups the ante with legs for arms! The builder has only shared 11 MOCs so far, but they’ve already made Minifig Monday twice with some of the most innovative parts usage we’ve seen. Look at those extended legs, made by slotting a minifig hand into the leg hole. The handlebar shoulder armor is great too.

Let’s make some more minifig magic after the fold

One of LEGO fandom’s biggest collabs gets shrunk with New Microshima

Since its debut at Brickworld Chicago in 2023, the New Hashima collab has gone viral, spawning new incarnations at LEGO events around the world. (You can learn more about its origins here.) Builder Toltomeja provided cubes (the modular format from which the city is built) at Bricking Bavaria in 2023 and 2024. Now Toltomeja fuses the cyberpunk city with their talent for microscale with this stunning tribute to the 2024 iteration. At 64×64 studs, it’s quite massive for “micro,” but that’s what it took to showcase the contributions of more than 50 builders.

For reference, here is the full-sized model in all of its glory:

Click to explore more of New Microshima

Take a sec to admire this tech

We all love the brick-built greebles that decorate an intricate sci-fi model. But, sometimes it’s just as enjoyable to see how a builder incorporates some of LEGO’s pieces that feature pre-existing sculpted detail. Case in point, this bounty hunter droid by Toni A, which uses Technic and Bionicle parts to such perfection that you’d be forgiven for not knowing it was made from LEGO at all. Pre-sculpted piping, rivets, and pistons blend together in perfect harmony. And it’s easy to imagine those eyes shining at you from the darkened corridor of your disabled spaceship, as this robot closes in for the kill.

How do you say ‘brilliant build’ in Spanish?

One of my favorite places to eat is a nearby Spanish restaurant that serves things tapas style – that is to say, small plates that are full of complex and interesting flavors. And “tapas” might be the perfect way to describe this tiny build of a hillside in Spain by seb71. It’s definitely not very large, but it’s full of creative and complex parts use that I want to spend plenty of time savoring.

Initiate hunny defense systems

When Winnie the Pooh and his friends entered the public domain, some people jumped at the chance to reimagine the property as a low budget horror film. But Psyro TtunTomato has taken it in the other direction with this Pooh Bear mech worthy of a big budget blockbuster.

The intricate curves of this massive robot perfectly blend a high-tech aesthetic with Pooh’s trademark huggable stuffed frame. I just hope Pooh washes his hands before he hops in the pilot seat. Honey residue on the control panel probably doesn’t help much in combat.

Brilliant brick beagles are barking bad to the bone

Creating a compelling LEGO model with just 30 bricks is tougher than it sounds. Gregory Coquelz is a wiz at making every brick count. There’s so much personality packed into these micro-build dogs hawking black-market bones. Their faces come courtesy of Dots, but it’s the ears and the black bands for eyes/sunglasses that make them come alive.

Gregory has been on a roll with cartoony characters of late, including this M-rated tribute that hopefully won’t get the builder cancelled.

Take a tour around the Galaxy with these incredible Star Wars location builds

With the largest LEGO Star Wars playset soon hitting shelves (and wallets), we thought it would be a prime opportunity to review some of the best location builds from around the MOC galaxy. The Star Wars community is no stranger to incredible landscapes and structures, and these are some of the best that the Holonet has to offer. Whether you’re a Republic loyalist, a Rebel freedom-fighter, or sympathetic to The Resistance, there’s something here for everyone to enjoy.

Where better to start than where it all began? Our first stop is Naboo, where interstellar_bricks shows off a stunning recreation of the Duel of the Fates. The giant beam pillars here are as imposing as they are in The Phantom Menace, making this a perfect location for a Hero Showdown match in Star Wars Battlefront II.

Where to next? Engage the hyperdrive and let’s find out!

The “sword saint” Miyamoto Musashi in LEGO

Ever since LEGO transported the Castle theme to medieval Japan in the ’90s, samurai have inspired countless LEGO builds. artist_davs pays tribute to perhaps the most famous samurai of all, Miyamoto Musashi, in an incredible LEGO vignette that looks more like a museum diorama than a model built from bricks. Musashi, the famous duelist and philosopher, is uses a minifig head and a cloth-covered brick-built body for realistic proportions.

Musashi’s armor is as impressive as the man himself, incorporating cloth and string. The tatami floor, made from profile bricks laid on their side, is artfully raised a half tile above the floor. If you’re wondering where the kanji scroll comes from, it’s a sticker from the Hanzo vs Genji set and reads “Dragon Head, Snake Tail.” I don’t think that comes from the Book of Five Rings, but it makes sense that Musashi would display it as he was famously fond of playing Overwatch.

Heavy haul the American way

Everything is bigger in the United States. Well, maybe not everything, but American vehicles certainly tend to be rather large. Case in point: my Peterbilt heavy haul.

I have been building minifigure scale heavy haulage vehicles for a couple of years now. They are vehicles carrying loads too large or heavy to be carried by a regular truck. Two examples are my modular truck carrying a transformer and a specialised windmill transporter. So far, all of them were European. For my next project, I wanted something different, though. I wanted an American truck.

Click here to see more of these monstrous machines

A grand finale: The Hollow Knight

In a surprise follow-up to his Bugs of Hallownest series (see our summary here), creature builder extraordinaire Joss Ivanwood (jayfa_mocs) presents the final boss of the original Hollow Knight entry. We’re once again captivated by how well he was able to capture this character, which is also perfectly to scale with the other buggy builds. Joss shared a few unique parts easter eggs, including using fabric wing membranes from the Harry Potter thestral and a rare neon orange Bionicle mask tucked within. He also teased the potential for Silksong characters in the future, and we can’t wait to see what he builds next.