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.

If a Porsche is just a bit too ordinary

If you are millionaire and think a Porsche is just a bit too ordinary for you, perhaps the Ruf CTR3 is just the thing you are looking for. Ruf is a German car manufacturer that specialises in building supercars using mostly Porsche parts. Supercar builder/super car builder Firas Abu-Jaber used to be featured on this blog on a regular basis, until real life took over for a bit. However, he has recently resurfaced and, judging from his spectacular version of Ruf’s current model, is back to his old form.

One of the outstanding features of Firas’ models is how every LEGO element seems to fit in place as though it was designed with just that use in mind. On this one, I particularly like the angled door and flared side panel just behind it, to give the car a bit of a coke-bottle shape. It looks completely natural and comparable to a die-cast model.

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.

Hawker Sea Fury roams the skies

Put into service with the RAF in 1947, just after the close of WWII, the Hawker Sea Fury isn’t quite as well known as its older sibling, the Hawker Hurricane, but it went on to see service as a carrier-based fighter in the Korean War. Building good minifig-scale fighter aircraft is a notoriously tricky thing, particularly sculpting a decent looking cockpit. Maelven has done an admirable bit of work here, though, and this plane looks ready for action.

Wacky birds

For about four years I have been living next to a canal inhabited by crested grebes, gulls, coots and ducks and visited regularly by swans, herons and cormorants. The coots, in particular, are immensely funny. They are reluctant flyers that tend to run across the surface of the water, whilst flapping their seemingly too small wings, instead of actually taking to the air. They are also fiercely territorial and are constantly chasing ducks and other coots away. Their shenanigans put a smile to my face every time.

It will come as no surprise then that I also had to smile at the wonderful pelican built by vir-a-cocha. It was built using only twenty pieces, which goes to show that you don’t need an awful lot of parts to build something that has character, as long as two of them are tiles with eyes printed on them.

The penguins from Madagascar, built by Peter Dornbach (dornbi), also make good use of said tiles and, inevitably, also made me smile. You can support these on Lego Ideas. Penguins may all seem indistinguishable, but one of the neat things about this wacky foursome is how Peter managed to make each unique and recognisable.

TBB Chibi Micro Contest Winners!

The TBB Chibi Micro-Fighter Contest wrapped up with a bang with 242 entries. WOW. Nothing micro about that!

Thanks so much for everyone that entered. It was incredible seeing what everyone came with chibi-ing some of our favorite vehicles and LEGO sets.

Our first place winner, and the soon to be recipient of the exclusive Fan Expo Ghost Starship with Kannan Jarrus #460 and full set of Star Wars microfighters: Letranger Absurde (Vitreolum) with his Chibi Serenity:

In Second place, and winner of 4 Star Wars MicroFighter sets: Kyler Wilson and his Chibi Ecto 1:

And lastly Third place, and winner of 2 Star Wars MicroFighter sets: John Kupitz (Phuonom) with his Chibi Earth Defense HQ 1:

We had a hard time choosing from so many that we had to do several rounds of judging to narrow down the eventual winners… And there were so many that we really liked and deserve special mentioning (in no particular order):
Rod Gillies’ Jurassic Park
Letranger Absurde’s Chibi Mutt Cutts (again!)
Bentbricks’s Borg Cube
Jacob Unterreiner Now This is Chibi racing

Thanks again to all the builders and stay tuned for our next contest!

Teslord Chase

Does this look a bit familiar to you? I knew there was something about it when I saw it, like I’ve seen this build before. That’s when I realized Dead Frog inc built a steam punk version of Inferno Interception:

There’s some really great techniques in here and there’s just enough great steampunk conversion while paying tribute to the original source material. And you might notice a few other steampunk builds floating around this month, that’s because when Rod Gillies isn’t off building an amazing steampunk metropolis, he’s running the Agents of the Imperial Crown – Steampunk Competition.

Smaug in Dwarven runes

Smaug! Using some pretty great techniques, Finn Tegotash has recreated the head of everyone’s favorite gold hoarder: Smaug the Magnificent.

I particularly love the use of seats for scales, the horse saddle for the nose and a window for the lower jaw. But what really impressed me was the the Dwarven runes he created using LEGO string:

Spoiler alert! The above translates to the first word in this post.

The Strip of Power

This rendition (yes, it is a render) of the ubiquitous surge protector or “power strip” is spot on. Matt Bace did an awesome job. It looks like you can plug it in and go to work!

UCS Red Five X-Wing improved

Released in 2013, LEGO’s Ultimate Collector Series (UCS) Red Five X-Wing was much better than the original from about fifteen years ago. It is a fantastic set, but a set nonetheless, with all the limitations in terms of construction and parts usage that this entails. The engine nacelles are too small, the fuselage sides aren’t angled properly and while the nose on the model gets narrower towards the front, it should also be tapered when seen from the sides.

As a fan, James Cherry (crash_cramer) does not suffer from the same constrains as the set designers. His UCS X-Wing took him two years of intermittent tinkering, but the result is a massive improvement. “— Red Five standing by.”

Some days, all you need is a swing.

Sometimes the best things are the simple pleasures. Swinging on a swing set is definitely one of those. You get to feel the wind in your hair, and work up the courage to leap off when the swing reaches the perfect height.

Alexander Safarik’s (Malydilnar) brick-built version is ready for anyone who’s willing to come and swing for a while!

Classic cars that should have been

I must be on a car kick today.

These classic little cars are just adorable, well designed, and have so much character. Chris Elliot‘s got quite a few of them in his photostream; I couldn’t pick just one.

So, dear reader, chime in, in the comments: which one is your favorite?

1899 Kastner Stadtauto

1958 Bruegger-Radnor Centaur Taxi

1992 Ace Roadster Concept

Fancy a ride?

This was just too lovely to pass up. I don’t know the make, model, or anything about the bike itself, but I do know that I just love the styling and sculpting that Hirnlego-lego-lego-lego‘s put into this lovely build.

Cleaning up space dust

I love the clean futuristic look of this scene by Wami Delthorn, contrasted with the dreary everyday chore of vacuuming the floor. The subtle textures in the floor and the walls make otherwise boring flat surfaces far more interesting than they have any right to be.