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.

Star Wars vehicles with a few twists

I am not quite old enough to have seen the first Star Wars movie in the cinema and remember it, have yet to see the latest instalment and, if I had to choose would prefer Star Trek (before J.J. Abrams ruined it), but I too jump on a bandwagon every once in a while. I’ve had a Landspeeder in my collection of movie vehicles for more than a year now and last weekend decided to add a Speeder Bike.

Star Wars vehicles and figures

“Where are the twists?” you may wonder. Well, Andrew has been virtually twisting my arm to blog them, to show that the contributors to this blog are builders (and to avoid an embarrassing repeat of the “Optimus Prime fiasco” when everybody and his uncle got around to blogging one of my models before I did). The more interesting twist, however, is their scale. At a first glance you could be forgiven for thinking that these are not that much different from LEGO’s own sets and, in terms of size, they indeed aren’t. Yet, I build my vehicles to a scale of 1/22, which is intended for brick-built figures roughly twice the size of minifigs. I particularly enjoyed building the Scout Trooper for the Speeder Bike. Looking into the specs and pictures of the props taken on the set, it turns out that they really are quite small; a Landspeeder should not be the size of Ecto-1, but more that of Mr. Bean’s Mini and a Scout Trooper on a Speeder Bike really should look like somebody riding a legless horse.

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LEGO skating penguin sculpture

Jason and Kristal from JK Brickworks continue to pump out amazing mechanical inventions created using LEGO. When last we featured them it was with Jason’s holiday cookie decorating robot, but today’s creation comes from Kristal and is a delightful little skating penguin.

The heart of the moving sculpture is a Trammel of Archimedes, a mechanism that traces out an ellipse. This is usually used to make “useless machines” such as the mischevious black box that JK Brickworks created a few years ago.

Full instructions for your own Happy Feet are available right here.

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Raider Power Armor fit for a minifig survivor

When it comes to customizing LEGO minifigures, Minh Pham is one of my favorites. I enjoy the contrast of his highly detailed armor pieces with a clean minifigure face. His latest is the Raider Power Armor set new to the Fallout series in Fallout 4, and he sculpted and painted the haphazard Raider look rather well at this scale.

Lego Fallout Raider Power Armor

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

2015 LEGO Star Wars & LEGO Friends Advent Calendars (Day 20)

75097 LEGO Star Wars Advent CalendarOnly 5 days until Christmas, which means we’re 20 days into TBB’s virtual LEGO Advent Calendar, with only a few more LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Friends mini-kits and minifigs left to unveil.

We’ll be unveiling the mini-kits or minifigs from each Advent Calendar around this time every day, and we won’t ruin the surprise — you’ll need to click through to reveal the LEGO behind the tiny doors.

Click to see the Day 20 mini-kits!

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Stunning scale model of F-4 Phantom II made of 6,000 LEGO bricks

James Cherry has posted images of his beautiful F-4J Phantom II which I highlighted as my “Best In Show” in the roundup of BRICK2015 in London.

F4J Side

The model is 1.2m long, contains around 6,000 pieces, and took James nearly 5 months to design and build. But beyond the impressive scale and the lovely custom stickering, it’s the smooth curves and the shaping of the various sections which make this creation stand out for me. I also really like the handful of studs left exposed, creating a feel of riveted panels around the intakes.

F4J Nose

James managed to squeeze no less than 5 Power Functions motors inside the model, allowing the rudder and various flaps to be operated using a remote control. It was very cool to see these features “in the brick” in London last weekend, and I wasn’t alone in thinking it was a highlight of the show. Carl Greatrix – one of the best LEGO plane modelers around – spent ages examining this creation and pronounced it “Bloody good”. High praise indeed.

I’d heartily recommend a visit to James’ Flickr photostream to check out all the details of this amazing model in the close-up images, as well as photos of his beautiful custom-chrome P-51 Mustang model.

Lego P-51 D 2

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Disney Princesses as microscale Christmas ornaments

Every year Markus Rollbühler creates some new LEGO Christmas decorations for the tree,  and he shared this year’s collection of Disney Princesses in microscale.

Disney Princess Christmas Ornaments

From left to right:

  • Leia and R2-D2
  • Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian (from The Little Mermaid)
  • Snow White and a deer
  • Tiana and Naveen (from The Princess and the Frog)
  • Elsa and Anna (from Frozen)

The details are fantastic at this scale, making the characters easily recognisable. I love Flounder and Sebastian, created using simple 1×1  tiles or plates with clips and 1×1 plates.  Another favourite is R2-D2 who is simply a 1×1 Technic brick resting on a silver 1×1 round plate, two white minifig hands and a blue-based lever – inspired use of parts!

Thanks to Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012, Princess Leia can be officially described as a Disney Princess too…

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

The many Star Wars faces of Unikitty

Unikitty is one of my favorite characters from The LEGO Movie, but I don’t know that I love all the line-ups of Unikitty variations I’m constantly running across. But this one is different. tankm has built nineteen different Unikitties as characters from the entire Star Wars saga.

tkm-Uni-KittySW-01b

Here are my three favorites, conveniently in a single picture — Unikitty Chewie, Unikitty Han Solo, and Unikitty Han Solo in carbonite.

tkm-Uni-KittySW-09

I also like Luke & Leia’s parents — the expression on Unikitty Queen Amidala’s face is priceless.

tkm-Uni-KittySW-06

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

2015 LEGO Star Wars & LEGO Friends Advent Calendars (Days 18 & 19)

41102 LEGO Friends Advent CalendarI was so focused on the new Star Wars movie yesterday (have you heard? there’s a new Star Wars movie out!) that I totally forgot to post yesterday’s installment of our virtual LEGO Advent Calendar series, so here’s Day 18 & 19 together.

We’ll be unveiling the mini-kits or minifigs from each Advent Calendar around this time every day, and we won’t ruin the surprise — you’ll need to click through to reveal the LEGO behind the tiny doors.

Click to see the Day 18 & 19 mini-kits!

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

A heap of scrap, assembled to perfection

If you’ve never tried building with someone else’s LEGO collection, I highly recommend it. Everyone organizes their collection a little differently. As a result, you’ll often see strange parts being stored together and inspiration will strike. Or, more likely, you’ll be unable to locate some of your go-to “comfort” pieces and be forced to try something new. Also, it’s just plain fun to build alongside your friends!

I’m not sure if Nooroyd learned any new tricks when he built this scene with his friend Andreas’ LEGO collection, but the result is stunning! The ramshackle building feels very organic and the cluttered composition draws the eye in several directions at once without being completely overwhelming. I particularly love the use of fabric, string, and tubing.

brief

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Darth Vader’s lightsaber with brick-built blade

Lightsaber handles are a popular subject in LEGO, but it’s very rare to see a fully brick-built blade. This LEGO lightsaber by Cole Edmonson has all the details a LEGO lightsaber needs, but he goes one step farther by making the brick-built blade strong enough to swing around.

LEGO Darth Vader's Lightsaber (1:1)

Watch the lightsaber in action in this video Cole made. Interestingly, he built the red lightsaber with a white core, which works beautifully when in motion.

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

The NYC skyline comes to life with LEGO Architecture 21028 New York City [Review]

I’ve traveled to New York City five times in the last two years for work, and it has quickly become one of my favorite cities in the world. I’ve spent most of my time indoors in museums, but I’ve also admired the city’s wonderful architecture — the pinnacle of human art and engineering. LEGO recently sent us a copy of the forthcoming LEGO Architecture set 21028 New York City.

LEGO Architecture 21028 New York City review

SPOILER! There are a variety of very tall buildings in New York City. Oh, sorry, I’ve gotten so used to writing LEGO set reviews about The Force Awakens that it’s hard to break the habit.

Click through to read the full review!

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

BRICK 2015 – London LEGO show roundup [News]

Last weekend saw thousands of LEGO fans descend upon London’s Docklands to visit BRICK 2015, the UK’s largest LEGO show, now in its second year. The Brothers Brick were there, and here’s a roundup of some of the coolest models we saw.

Builders from across the UK and Europe brought some amazing displays, including a number of models previously featured here. The enormous Hadrian’s Wall layout, the stunning recreation of Her Majesty’s Theatre, and Lasse Vestergard’s little gem History of the World. It was a genuine pleasure to see these all “in the brick”.

But onto other things, like the Brick Abyss from a trio of Swiss builders. A huge magical steampunk island archipelago with motorised elements, lighting, and smoke machines, the Abyss display was mobbed by kids and adults alike for the entire weekend…

Abyss

More great models from the show after the jump

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.