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.

LEGO mosaic of Hokusai’s “The Great Wave off Kanagawa”

When Iain blogged Alanboar Cheung‘s timely sculpture of Alan Rickman earlier today, I was reminded that I’d also been intending to highlight his excellent LEGO mosaic of 19th-century Japanese woodblock artist Hokusai’s famous print of “The Great Wave off Kanagawa.” For several years when I lived in Yokohama, I had a similarly distant but much less dramatic view of Mount Fuji, which I particularly enjoyed during the winter when the mountain’s peak was capped with snow. Alanboar’s mosaic uses a “studs up” technique, stacking LEGO plates rather than attaching them “studs out” on a baseplate.

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Bark, bark, bark!

In November, we blogged Dennis Qiu‘s terrifying mecha beasts and his fierce Chinese lion. Now, give it up for the mythical hound of Hades, Cerberus. This pup comes equipped with one very muscular body and three mouthfuls of razor-sharp chompers. Check out how Dennis sculpted vicious snarls on each dog’s face, cleverly exposing blood-red gums. And those flexible barbs make perfect Doberman-like ears. I like to imagine that whenever Cerberus isn’t busy guarding the gates of Hell, he’s either curled up by the fire or begging his master for treats.

Point of no return

Nick Runia’s Bridge of Lost Souls is exactly what you get when you can’t decide on the final design of your brick-built medieval tower; you just build both of them! This diorama, on the one hand, is a massive tower with sturdy walls buried in verdure. On the other hand, it’s a gloomy evil tower surrounded by inanimate rocks.

But what really deserves attention is the bridge itself. It might not be that noticiable considering huge towers on the both sides, but it is the point of smooth transition between good and evil. And the way warm sandy colors flow into cold ones is truly great. Finally, let me point to astounding roofing of knight’s tower and leave you tete-a-tete with the author’s photostream.

Talent is an accident of genes, and a responsibility

…not the catchphrase of Dr. Lazarus, Hans Gruber, the Sheriff of Nottingham or Severus Snape, but words spoken by the singular actor with the nasal tone and sardonic expression who portrayed all of them over the course of his stellar 25 year movie career. Beloved British actor Alan Rickman passed away today at the age of 69 (strangely mirroring the very recent passing of British music icon David Bowie). Hong Kong builder Alanboar Cheung whipped together this quick tribute to one of the more recent – and arguably most popular – of Rickman’s characters, the complicated Professor of Potions from the Harry Potter film series.

Lean green army machine

I recently picked up Wolfenstein: The New Order in the Steam Winter Sale — partly because it was very cheap, and mostly because it promised cool alternate history robots. While the game didn’t win me over, the promise of robots was fulfilled and now I’m seeking more vaguely German machines. Djordje delivers with this “Höllenhund”. My favourite part use here must be the single armour part angled in such a way to create a dome helmet, and the red eyes peeking out below.

A gallery of the model is available on Brickshelf.

The nightly visitor you didn’t want: Crimson Peak’s Lady Sharp

Guillermo del Toro’s latest film, Crimson Peak, is hauntingly beautiful and more than a bit freaky. The movie is awash in bold contrasting tones of black, white, and red, and none moreso than the palpably creepy specter of Lady Sharp. Tyler Halliwell’s terrific bust stays true to the apparition’s viscerally gruesome crimson visage.

For John

Art in all its forms is a means of expression, be that joy, sadness, humour, grief, love. In the LEGO community it is not surprising that we turn to our bricks as a method of processing and dealing with emotions. This touching build by Chris Maddison is his tribute to a friend who sadly passed away too young. Sometimes it is best to just let a build speak for itself.

For those of us who choose to build with small plastic bricks, the actual act of carefully placing bricks together becomes therapeutic.

The final creation often expresses far more than words could ever say.

CHIPS – Central Headquarters Imperial Pursuit Squad

In a rather unexpected conceptual mashup, SPARKART! has titled his pair of Imperial Scout Troopers on Endor “CHIPS,” or the “Central Headquarters Imperial Pursuit Squad.” Actual minifigs are wildly out of proportion, so their massive heads are put to good use in these large-scale figures astride nicely detailed scout speeders.

SPARKART!’s Star Wars twist on the American TV show that aired from 1977-1983 (the same years during which the Original Trilogy was released) is Imperial propaganda, of course, with a rather amusing backstory:

CHIPS followed reel-life troopers Larwil Jonbak (TB-1337) and Eriest Frapon (TB-1983) through several tours of duty throughout the Empire and Outer Rim territories. The series ended with a cliff-hanger; On the forest moon of Endor, the troopers were captured by the Rebellion. As vile terrorist human Rebels looked on and laughed, our heroes were readied to be cooked alive by the Ewoks…

This four-armed mech is too good

kenny_yan‘s mechs are both superbly built and instantly recognizable, and this newest one looks to be the best yet. With four arms and an aggressive stance, this build pulls off a lot of complex angles as well as having great articulation thanks to the small Mixel joints. There’s not much more to say here other than to check the builder’s photostream to drink in all the detail; this one’s really worth the time.

Click to see more angles

Slayn & Korpil A/SF-02 B-wing assault starfighter

Our friends over at FBTB are hosting a “Star Wars Evolved” contest inspired by the upgraded T-70 X-wings in The Force Awakens. The premise of the contest asks the question, “What would other Star Wars vehicles look like 30 years later?” xiei22 answers the question for the B-wing with this chunky blue and white beauty.

I’m a sucker for schematics, so here’s a nice graphic explaining the enhancements. The original B-wing packed the punch of a capital ship, so the extra guns and rotating turrets are a particularly lethal upgrade.

(The builder doesn’t specify the model number for his B-wing, but I’ve taken the liberty of incrementing it, just like the Incom T-65 X-wing became the T-70.)

When I was your age ‘streaming media’ was called books...

Meet Ol’ Barney, an opinionated, grumpy old man created by Centuri. His fingers are gnarled, his bones ache when it rains, those teeth have done a lifetime of chomping and you’re going to need to speak up boy!

Ol’ Barney has some fun parts use by Centuri. Some of the ones I spotted are the white croissants for his eyebrows, tan hair for his ears, a gold ingot belt buckle and what could better be better than ‘knobbly knees’ made of Technic connectors.

Now go and do something useful…when I was your age we didn’t just sit around playing with kiddie toys…

Alien Project by The Arvo Brothers [Review]

The Arvo Brothers (Ramon & Amador Alfaro Marcilla) have recently released their second book called Alien Project. It costs €26 + shipping and can be purchased via the Arvo Brothers website. The main bulk of the book contains detailed instructions for building their fantastic Alien figure and its base. There are also chapters explaining the inspiration behind the project and a rare insight into the development of a model of this calibre. Below is my review of the book.

Click here to read the full review