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.

New Soviet Republic – блоха

A new creation from me, though it’s actually a year old. For some time, I’ve imagined that my Iron Mountain Legion creations needed an enemy. Not just an enemy, but a worth match, beyond the stereotypical post apocalyptic marauders and mutants. My intention was to build something that looked like it belonged in the same world, but with a clearly different design aesthetic. I hope I’ve succeeded, but will let our readers be the judge.

The name means “Flea,” at least if Google translate has steered me right. The shape certainly reminds me of the tiny biting insect, anyway

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The Carolers in the Cold

As much of North America is bracing itself for an extremely cold week (forecasts call for temperatures in the 30s in sunny Florida, even), Matt De Lanoy (Pepa Quin)’s posted this darling scene of carolers out in the blistery cold. I do hope for their sakes the temperatures, if in the single-digits, are at least on the positive side of zero.

Black is the New Black

MakTober is long past but Calin (_Tiler) delivers a fresh helping of fantastic photography with this rendition of the familiar Falke in a glossy black paint scheme. With just the right number of details and a tastefully reserved color palette, this build almost seems more appropriate for a showroom floor than a futuristic battlefield.

Genre fans should be sure to check out Calin’s holiday photo as well, featuring some gorgeously constructed SAFS suits.

V is for V-Wing, Among Other Things

Since 1977, there has been no shortage of Star Fighters being built inspired by various letters of the alphabet. While I don’t find the resemblance to the letter V particularly striking in this ship, I think that may be a good thing. A little subtlety in approaching the lettering system is part of what makes this ship by halfbeak () good. The use of a Christmas tree ornament for a cockpit is very well executed, and blends well with the other organic elements of the build.

“Juggernaut” Anti-Tesla Heavy Hardsuit

I’d like to imagine that Gary (Garry) was repeatedly saying “I’m the Juggernaut” in his best Vinnie Jones voice as he assembled this. I love the use of a bionicle mask for armor on a minifig hardsuit. It looks great, and although this is a virtual MOC, the connection looks legit. If I had any of these masks, I’d be tempted to try it out! The choice of head for the pilot is also a very clever addition, really making use of the eye-slots.

Game of Drones

Forest King (KingBrick) rings in the new year in a big way with his Grizzly Siege Drone. Combining the elegant stride of a Vertical Tank with a menacingly complicated sensor and weapons loadout straight out of a Blomkamp film, this mechanical monstrosity looks well-equipped to tackle any dystopia you care to throw at it.

Forest is also taking this moment to kick off the first annual Droneuary, a month dedicated to our bipedal robot friends both large and small.

Laurel and Hardy’s Tin Lizzy

Happy new year! As some of you may have noticed, we seem to be enjoying a bit of a holiday break at TBB and are not posting much of anything. I spent my holidays with relatives, a few hundred kilometers away from my LEGO.

I wasn’t building, but that didn’t stop me from thinking about what to build. I realised that I could combine two existing ideas into one. In the last few months, I’ve been building a collection of vehicles from movies and TV shows and I’ve been wanting to build a Ford Model T, also known as Tin Lizzie, for several years, but I never got around to actually building one. Fords Model T were used in many different early Hollywood classics, but I mostly associate them with Laurel and Hardy. As a child, I loved their movies.

Classic Kenworth cab over

I am pretty sure that when most of you think about a large American truck, you imagine it being ornately decorated and having a long nose that sticks out in front of the cab. The type of truck with a flat front, known as a cab over, isn’t very common in the United States (with the exception of light trucks used in cities). In the seventies and eighties things were different, however. Many American truck manufacturers used to build cab over trucks, with the Kenworth K100 Aerodyne, represented by this great model by Maciej Drwięga, being a popular type.

Maciej is in the process of revamping many of his builds and this one isn’t brand new, but well worth having a closer look at. It has a detailed chassis and engine. The dark red colour and the striping give it an eighties look and it looks the part of a work truck. It does have the bells and whistles that you’d expect on an American truck, but without being overly flashy. I also like seeing some exposed studs on the top.

LEGO Disney Princess: Cinderella’s Dream Carriage 41053 [Review]

Next up in the Disney Princess line is Cinderella’s Dream Carriage, coming in at $29.99 and 274 pieces. I admit. I was really, really looking forward to this one. I was not disappointed.

The Build
This build took three bags, but only one instruction book. The first bag was the fountain and bench, while bags two and three built the carriage itself.

The fountain and bench are pretty straightforward. The fountain uses four of the new heart jewel pieces.

The carriage was quite fun to build. While not particularly challenging, it does use the parts to shape itself into the round pumpkin-ish shape you’d expect from Cinderella.

The Parts
There are definitely some good things in this: the gold decorative bit, the heart jewels, and the new carriage wheels.

I am happy to report the silver filigree is printed onto the blue slopes.

Overall, I definitely recommend this one. It’s a fun little build, and the majority of the parts are useful bricks and plates, with some nice printed slopes. I am slightly less enthusiastic about the Cinderella mini-doll, as I prefer the Merida mini-doll, but I think overall it doesn’t detract from the set.

LEGO Disney Princess: Merida’s Highland Games 41051 [Review]

LEGO is expanding their Friend’s scale lines with the addition of the Disney Princesses we reported earlier this year. They’ve started popping up in stores, so keep an eye out. We’ll be sure to let you know when they are available online, too.

First up is Merida’s Highland Games. The set retails for $19.99, and comes with 145 pieces. The set features Merida’s home (I think) along with a tree, a little water fall, and a catapult of all things.

The Build
Overall, I can’t say I’m terribly impressed with this set. There were two numbered bags and two small instruction booklets. I am awfully confused as to the purpose of the catapult or why we’re flinging the enchanted cookies about.

The waterfall and tree aren’t terribly impressive, but they at least make sense.

As far as the castle is concerned, I just can’t get behind lavender and tan as a color combination and it detracts for me. The build itself is fairly simplistic.

Also, the only printed things are the cookies, the bears, and Merida herself. Everything else is stickers.

The Parts
I think overall this set has a few good things going for it. Merida herself is pretty fantastic. The bears are simply adorable, and everyone needs little printed cookie tiles.

The extra pieces aren’t terribly exciting save for an extra cookie.

Ultimately, I’d recommend the set if you have someone in your life who is a huge Merida fan, as this is currently the only set she comes in. She and the bears are the only real stand-out parts to this particular set. If you can live without her and the bears, then I’d say you’re safe passing this set.

The Hobbit’s Lake Town as it could have been

I’m sure many of you now have seen The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug–or at have read the book. It offers such rich locations, and I’m glad to see some start to crop up!

Lake Town offered something of a welcome rest for the group heading toward the Lonely Mountain, but of course things never just go the way they’re supposed to for the protagonist of any tale. Fianat has presented Lake Town the way he felt it could have been, and I have to say I really dig his version.

The Miura is a red raging bull

Italian tractor manufacturer Ferruccio Lamborghini was a man not to be messed with. When he complained to Enzo Ferrari (of the eponymous sports-car manufacturer) that the busted clutch on his Ferrari was the same one as he used on his company’s tractors and about poor service, Enzo Ferrari famously snubbed him by telling him that, as a tractor manufacturer, Lamborghini couldn’t know anything about sports cars. Lamborghini set out to prove him wrong, by starting a company to build the best Grand Tourer money could buy. He chose a raging bull as the company’s emblem.
Since then Lamborghini has become famous for its supercars and, according to the guys from Top Gear, is the maddest car company of them all. Senator Chinchilla has built an excellent model of one of the fist ones: the Miura Jota

Unlike Ferrari, Lamborghini doesn’t have a racing history, focusing on road cars. The Miura Jota however, was a development of the road car intended for racing. This explains the particularly unadorned look of the car, when compared to the already very clean design of the ‘normal’ Miura. The car never took part in a race, however. In typical Lamborghini fashion it crashed and then burned to a cinder during a test drive.

Most of the car models we feature are basically detailed sculptures, with perhaps a few functions such as steering or opening doors. I don’t tend to blog pure Technic models. This is not because I don’t appreciate the skill involved in building them, but for me it’s about the aesthetic. I prefer the look of system builds. Senator Chinchilla’s Miura has a beautifully sculpted body, with opening doors and an opening clam-shell engine cover. Underneath the voluptuous curves lurks a Technic chassis with steering, working suspension, gearbox and a transversely mounted engine, like the real car. It combines the best of both worlds.

Thanks to Jack Marquez (Ewok in Disguise) for the suggestion.