Category Archives: LEGO

You’d probably expect a lot of the posts on a LEGO website like The Brothers Brick to be about LEGO, and you’d be right. If you’re browsing this page, you might want to consider narrowing what you’re looking for by checking out categories like “Space” and “Castle.” We’re sure there’s something here that’ll fascinate and amaze you.

Antigravity sentry drone invades the world of Ma.K hard suits

Rarely do we see new mechs and drones in the style of the Ma.K universe. This genre is quite specific and demands some extraordinary thinking and use of common pieces for impressive greebling. Marco Marozzi continues to amaze us with his alien-looking droids, and the way he treats the most useless parts leaves me speechless.

The structure of the drone is not overcomplicated, still there are so many parts that catch your eye. The secret of the Marco’s creations lies in his ability to combine pieces whose shapes complement one another best. For instance, in this drone he uses a bunch of round bricks of various sizes and colors. They all go pretty neatly together with a couple of sharp lines and corners, not to mention a dazzling choice of stickers.

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At my signal, unleash hell

What’s not to love about this giant crossbow siege engine from sanellukovic? We’ve got great landscaping creating a believable patch of terrain, and there are figures and assorted equipment providing a genuine sense of military activity. Then, to top it all, check out the fantastic medieval contraption which genuinely looks like it’s straining at the leash to fling a massive spear at somebody.

You can almost hear the enormous SPOING! this thing would make when fired. I wouldn’t want to be on the other end of this when it was used in anger.

LEGO cones make perfect Spanish roof tiles

I’ve been waiting for more people to utilize o0ger‘s roof building technique since it was posted last December. As o0ger showed us then, when you alternate the direction of stringed one-by-one cones they make a pretty snazzy-looking Spanish tile rooftop. At least one other builder has incorporated o0ger’s technique into a build of their own. And now the technique’s inventor himself has decided to show us how it’s done, with this fantastic harbor scene:

While the cone roof is the standout feature of this build, the entire scene is simply terrific! The harbor itself looks sturdy and lived in, with just the perfect amount of clutter and detail. I also love the dangling water plants.

If you want to incorporate new building techniques into your own builds or share some of your techniques with the LEGO community, I recommend checking out the LEGO Techniques Flickr Group for inspiration.

Tiny F1 cars win the LEGO Grand Prix

Fabulous microscale F1 cars on show from BrickMonkey. Really nice close-up photography makes these models pop on their starting grid, and the use of the silver hub wheels and grille slopes adds some lovely depth of texture. But the killer parts usage? That upside-down handle piece as a rear spoiler. Excellent work.

It’s not grim up North, in fact this village is lovely

Patrick B has created a beautiful village scene, vaguely reminiscent of the architecture of Skyrim. It looks like the perfect place to settle down and raise a little tribe of Nords. There’s a real sense of a living town here, created in no small part by the angled buildings and irregular stone paving. The landscaping provides an interesting base for the model, and the whole thing is nicely broken up with the patches of horticulture — check out the wheat on the right and the little garden on the left.

Patrick has built a number of models in this style recently. I particularly liked this large tavern…

Amazing folding LEGO Himeji castle

LEGO castles are a well-practiced art form at this point, so it takes a lot to impress us here at The Brothers Brick. But this pop-up Himeji Castle has left us dumbfounded! According to Japanese builder talapz, whose pop-up Kinkaku-ji temple and Todai-ji temple we’ve featured previously, it took 15 months to complete and weighs 12.5 kilograms (27.5 pounds).

Amazingly, the pop-up and folding action is done entirely with the friction of LEGO pieces, because no glue was used to keep the bricks together. Even when the castle is folded down to its “storage” mode, it measures in at 70 x 70 x 11.5 cms (27.5 x 27.5 x 4.5 inches).

Issue 20 of Blocks Magazine now available [News]

Issue 20 of Blocks magazine is already in subscribers’ mailboxes and will be in shops May 19th. This month there’s a comprehensive look at the new Speed Champions range, including an exclusive interview with the man behind a real life Audi. Elsewhere, Simon Pickard introduces us to his brand new technique for building mind-bending roads, while Daniel Konstanski finds out what goes into a LEGO racing car.

It’s not all about the wheels this month, however, with a look back at some classic LEGO football sets and reviews of the latest Ninjago and Super Heroes releases. This issue also celebrates the premiere of two new blockbusters, with a pair of whimsical Alice in Wonderland builds and instructions for some superpowered X-Men Mighty Micros.

LEGO samurai blocks the way

Not content with wowing us with his LEGO versions of Discworld characters, Eero Okkonen recently knocked us sideways with this excellent Samurai figure. The helmet armor’s “face” is particularly good, as is that awesome bird device on the chest. Magic stuff — now I want to see an opponent built for an epic shogun showdown.

LEGO Creator Expert 10253 Big Ben officially announced [News]

LEGO’s Sydney Opera House was released in 2013, but now LEGO has finally announced their next Creator Expert model of a famous piece of architecture, that grand icon of England, 10253 Big Ben. It will retail for $249.99 USD, and will be available beginning July 1, just in time for Big Ben’s 137th birthday.

Click to read the full press release

Raise a glass to this LEGO brewery

Rick Bewier has built a fantastic LEGO brewery scene, complete with an old-school dray lorry picking up its next delivery. The truck itself is a nice little model, but what makes the scene for me is the excellent use of color in the building itself, and things like the sliding warehouse doors and the lights.

I work for a brewery “in real life” and so I appreciated the other touches Patrick has added. The roof is obviously pretty cool, but what I particularly liked was the chimney — a spot-on detail for a compelling recreation of a classic redbrick Victorian-era brewery.

Jungle guardian will probably eat you once you’re dead

Check out this fantastic Jungle Guardian Bionicle creation from Victor. I’m not normally much of a fan of Bionicle — I generally prefer my LEGO in the blockier variety. However, this is the sort of build which challenges my notions of what a “proper” LEGO model is made of. I love the sense of character and menace this bad boy carries alongside that sweet mace…

That’s no moon! Expansive fan-built LEGO Death Star play set is a nod to classic Star Wars toys of the 80’s

French builder Eric Druon‘s nostalgia for old toys has been featured here before, with his LEGO versions of such classics as GI Joe and Adventure 2000. This time though he’s really cranked things up a notch with this huge Star Wars themed LEGO play set inspired by the Kenner series of Death Star toys released back in 1982.

In many ways I think this makes for a better play set than LEGO’s official Death Star set, with it’s labyrinthine arrangement of platforms and corridors, and perfect reinterpretation of the Death Star’s interior design. Many memorable scenes from the original Star Wars movie are in there, plus a few easter eggs too. See if you can spot them all!

Like the original system, Eric’s version is comprised of three separate components that can be pushed together to form one giant play space: Battle Station Escape, Battle Station Compactor and Battle Station Throne Room. He’s even provided downloadable instructions on his website, for anyone that wants to recreate all this with their own bricks. You’ll also find lots more closeup photos of the play sets over there too. And for context, here is one of the original toys that Eric was inspired by: