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 cracks are showing along Route 66

As you cruise past this old diner located somewhere along Route 66 in your souped-up hot rod, it is clear that all is not well. I don’t know what has led to the scene in this diorama by Austrian builder Sanel Lukovic, but it seems that the derelict diner was abandoned in a hurry; that’s never a good thing!

The details that highlight the sense of abandonment are my favourite part of this diorama. Intricate features abound, such as the diner stool that has been knocked over, the broken window with a view inside, the can of coke that has fallen out of the rubbish bin, the broken, exposed fluorescent light tubes and the graffiti on the wall.

At first I thought the cracked road was due to an earlier earthquake but that doesn’t explain the whole story. Sanel tells me that far more sinister reasons are probably to blame…

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2015 LEGO Star Wars & LEGO Friends Advent Calendars (Day 16)

Thousands of you out there are reading our virtual LEGO Advent Calendar series, but it’s Day 16 now and I’m getting bored, so I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

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 16 mini-kits!

The perfect beach house retreat

If you caught the winter blues, then retreat to this cozy sunlit beach home by Michaela Clites (Littlehaulic) and you’ll feel warm in no time. Wander through each room and try to catch all the ocean-themed details and decorations. You can see close ups of the house on the builder’s Flickr gallery.

LEGO great ball contraption 2D printer

Of all the LEGO great ball contraptions I’ve seen, this is the first that can spell out a message. Leave it to the great mind of mahjqa to come up with a Mindstorm-powered device to arrange the balls in a pattern to form letters across a conveyor belt.

NEXO Knights prototypes & development from LEGO designer Mark Stafford

Mark Stafford, a current LEGO designer on the new NEXO Knights theme, brought some 3D-printed prototypes and development parts to BRICK 2015 in London last weekend. NEXO Knights is the newest LEGO theme to be launched and is an eagerly anticipated Fantasy Castle theme with a sprinkling of Steampunk in the mix.

Mark brought set 70315 Clay’s Rumble Blade with him, but even more interestingly, he brought some 3D-printed prototypes and a series of development figures & parts to show the design process in more detail. The concept and final builds for Clay’s Rumble Blade show the significant changes that occur as the design progresses.

Click to see the rest of the prototypes!

The venerable Incom X-wing gets an upgrade

With decades between the events in Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, it stands to reason that the Rebellion’s primary starfighter would be tweaked and upgraded. The X-wings in the Original Trilogy were model T-65s built by Incom Corporation. The sleeker, narrower X-wings of The Force Awakens — with scissoring S-foils — are apparently T-70 models. Peter C. has captured the sloping nose of the new X-wings with this microscale version, which uses various “illegal” techniques to achieve the shape, like the cockpit’s tile pressed across two levels of plates, helmet visors for engine cowlings, and a rubber band for the blue stripe.

Naturally, the X-wing has a Resistance pilot.

2015 LEGO Star Wars & LEGO Friends Advent Calendars (Day 15)

Does anybody read these intros? This is the 15th one I’ve written for TBB’s virtual LEGO Advent Calendar, and I’m running out of different things to say.

Click to see the Day 15 mini-kits!

Virtually probing and roving

I typically shy away from LEGO rendering. Having unlimited access to every piece ever made, in every color, can be overwhelming and often leads to rather ostentatious builds. But Sunder_59 demonstrates with just a handful of virtual pieces (and an impressive level of self-restraint) that renders can be quite dramatic. Sunder_59’s sparse use of fictitious pieces and muted color palette makes for two very pleasing space-themed vignettes.

As a side note, that wonderful light aqua base under the rover is meant to represent Minmus, the smallest moon of Kerbin, from the Kerbal Space Program game.

Poultry-inspired space theme is clucking eggs-cellent

Between designing new Ideas sets, turning your favourite dudes into cubes, and helping make movies, Angus MacLane has been working on his very own classic space theme. So what sensible topic did he use as inspiration for his ‘tron? Well chickens, of course! The theme is called “BokBokTron” and Angus has created quite a few awesome models already:

BokBokTron Box

BokBokTron Thigh Fighter (…ten points for the pun, Angus)

BokBokTron Meggatron (…does not transform into giant chicken gun, unfortunately)

And Angus isn’t the only one building to the BokBokTron theme. Chris Maddison was recently inspired to have a go too…

BokBokTron CHX Nugget

We’re hoping to see more chicken creations from other builders soon. After all, isn’t it just a cracking good idea?

2015 LEGO Star Wars & LEGO Friends Advent Calendars (Day 14)

We’re two weeks into our virtual LEGO Advent Calendar series. Here we go with the LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Friends mini-kits from Day 14.

Click to see the Day 14 mini-kits!

Droid Wars: The GONK Awakens

You probably don’t need to be a particularly die-hard Star Wars fan to recognize this LEGO creation by Ethan Marak as being GONK, a cute shambling droid that appeared in the original 1977 Star Wars movie A New Hope. And while the planet is going crazy over the shiny new spherical droid BB-8 from The Force Awakens, some of you no doubt still hold a place in your heart for GONK. Which is why you’ll be happy to know that GONK appears in the new movie! (oh crap, erm… spoiler alert?)

Don’t believe me? Well now you have a choice: Take a peek at the not-very-spoilery photographic evidence, or spend the entire movie trying to spot it yourself!

When made out of LEGO you are, look as good, you will not

Serbian builder Djordje really is one of the best in the game when it comes to capturing characters in LEGO, as this model of Yoda demonstrates. From the ears made of green Kraata, to the upper lip recreated with a single flipper, to (my favourite) the entirety of his robes made with two technic lift arms. It’s. Just. So. Clever.