This Santa’s workshop by Boise Bro is where the real magic happens. In addition to the ornately adorned exterior, there is a fully detailed interior that you can see by visiting the gallery on MOCpages.
Category Archives: Models
A chip off the old block
Being a plastic toy, LEGO doesn’t really lend itself to recreating metallic objects – unless you have the skills to do so. Two builders with more than enough to pull it off are Jimmy Fortel and Legonardo Davidy, both of which have created something that – if you don’t look too closely – could easily be mistaken for anything but LEGO.
First up is this soldering scene by Jimmy Fortel. There’s a little bit of cheating here as the green baseplate forming the PCB is faced down, so nothing is actually connected to it. But when it looks this convincing, who cares?
In contrast, this microchip by Legonardo Davidy is a little more “legal” but just as good.
2015 LEGO Star Wars & LEGO Friends Advent Calendars (Day 7)
We continue TBB’s virtual LEGO Advent Calendar on Day 7 with more mini-kits from LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Friends.
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 7 mini-kits!
The Doctor, the Alien, and the Crossover
For myself, the wonder of being a licensed theme builder is the fact that everything I create is not only something new, but never before possible. With the release of the LEGO Doctor Who set we finally have official minifigures of our favorite Doctors, and it’s now possible to build our own adventures for the famous time traveler.

Not only that, but with LEGO we can create cranium-exploding crossovers. So while the epic sight of the 11th Doctor marveling over the appearance of a Xenomorph may never happen on TV, it can surely happen in LEGO. And we’re all the better for it – well, until the Alien starts attacking that is.

Deck the halls with builds of holly
While LEGO always offers a great selection of seasonal goodies (such as the Star Wars advent calendar and Winter toy shop) there are some choice holiday items to be had from other sources too, such as Chris McVeigh‘s extensive line of holiday ornament kits. New in Chris’s line-up for this Hanukwanzmas are these super-cute miniaturized versions of his popular arcade machines:

In addition to ornaments that we’ve featured here in previous years, Chris has also introduced some other new items for 2015, including a gingerbread tree (completing his gingerbread trio) and the new and improved Trident XL, shown below. As always, Chris offers online building guides for all of his products, in case you prefer to roll your own.


Think with your feet...and run!
TBB has encountered a new species of alien thanks to Jake RFÂ and they seem to come well equipped with breathing apparatuses, radios, weapons and leg pouches filled with…well, let’s just say that I don’t think it’s snacks and a can of soda…
Jake has maximised poseability by using Mixel ‘ball and socket’ components for the main body joints (shoulder, elbow, hip, knee). The Aliens’ feet are created using Star Wars Battle Droid heads and torsos. Their hands use the Battle Droid torso and arms while their head also utilise the droid’s head and torso. The side view shows the strange functionality of using droid heads to form feet — I bet they can scale walls better than Spiderman! I love the added breathing apparatus attached to the “mouth” area: it is clear that these aliens are not from our World.
Maybe they come in peace…
Venetian architecture in a patchwork style
Root Canal by Lab Synth is a marvelous and thorough design down to the last detail. One can find such an architectural experiment chaotic, but I’d call it extravagant. In the description of his work Lab shared that he had started with that massive golden window, and I can clearly imagine how the whole diorama was growing section by section until such a bizzare interpretation of a Venetian canal was born.
2015 LEGO Star Wars & LEGO Friends Advent Calendars (Day 6)
Didn’t manage to get yourself a copy of this year’s LEGO Advent Calendars? We’ve got you covered with our virtual LEGO Advent Calendar series. Today’s installment, Day 6, brings us more new mini-kits from LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Friends.
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 6 mini-kits!
Monstrously good space dinosaurs
Following on from Clinton’s recent post on the Mecha-Dinosaur, here’s some more Classic Space Dinosaur goodness in the form of David Alexander Smith‘s latest creation. The SpaceOSaurus-REX nails the nostalgic look with its spot-on color scheme and detailing. I’m loving the trans-yellow canopy and the radar antenna tail in particular.
This impressive beastie is just the latest in David’s series of space dinosaurs. I’d recommend you check out this excellent TrispaceOTops, along with a rather fetching SpaceODactyl.
It’s great when one of the classic LEGO themes is treated like this – inspiration rather than a slavish ruleset to follow. I really enjoy seeing the immediately identifiable and evocative Classic Space colors applied to imaginative creations beyond spaceships and moonbases. I cannot wait to see these models “in the brick” at BRICK2015 in London later this week.
Firebreak Specialist’s flamethrower, the Purifier, in LEGO
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 didn’t grab my interest as much as Halo 5 and Fallout 4 recently, but that doesn’t prevent this 3-foot, 1,200-piece Purifier replica by YouTuber ZaziNombies from being awesome. ZaziNombies takes his presentation style a step further by adding real fire (though it is not fired by pulling the LEGO trigger). Watch his demonstration with real flamethrowing in this two minute video, but please don’t try this at home!
A space scene worth seeing
This microscale spaceship by Emperor Lugdonious has a nice chunky retro feel to it. However, it was the composition of the photography which really caught my attention. The red and grey starship floats in the darkness of space, holding station above a distant blue planet as a shuttle craft prepares to dock.
The whole thing reminds me of classic sci-fi TV from the 70s and 80s – in a good way. The color choices are smart, and there’s a real sense of depth and scale. But overall I think it’s the tiny shuttle which makes the scene. I can’t help creating stories in my head when I look at it: Who’s on board the shuttle? Where did they come from? Where are they going?
There’s enough detail here to create a sense of reality, of activity both within and beyond the still image. For me, the prompting of these kinds of thoughts is the mark of a good model. I like this a lot.
2015 LEGO Star Wars & LEGO Friends Advent Calendars (Day 5)
We pick up our virtual LEGO Advent Calendar on Day 5 with more mini-kits from LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Friends.
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 5 mini-kits!