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.

Building prehistoric creatures with Bright Bricks

Building with LEGO professionally may sound like a dream job to many of us. Recently, whilst I was in the UK for Brighton Modelworld I caught up with Ed Diment (Lego Monster), who gave up his job as a management consultant more than two years ago to partner up with Duncan Titchmarsh, who is the UK’s sole Lego Certified Professional. Together they run Bright Bricks.

We talked about being a professional LEGO-builder and discussed their latest event. From the 26th of February to the 27th of April, the Milestones Museum in Basingstoke (UK) hosts the Lost World Zoo. Bright Bricks and various members of the UK’s LEGO community that were drawn in for this, built dozens of models of prehistoric creatures and plants, that are now on display in the museum. They were finishing the models for this during my visit and I lent a hand working on a 4 meter tall model of a Moa, which is an extinct New Zealand walking bird. They also built a massive sabre tooth tiger, which I photographed in the company workshop.

Two more smaller examples are the ammonite by Tim Goddard (Rogue Bantha and a sabre toothed squirrel, built by Joe Perez (Mortalswordsman).

Visitors to the museum can also take part in activities, such as building a life-size woolly mammoth out of LEGO bricks. Yes, you did read that right: life-size. These guys like to do things big.

The company has been steadily growing. It currently employs about a dozen people working full-time, as well as several more on a temporary basis. The growth has meant having to move several times, because space in the workshop kept running out. They’re now based in a large unit on an industrial estate in Hampshire. Even though this is probably larger than all their previous workshops combined, the number of people, the large builds and the vast numbers of parts that they have in stock means that it can still be pretty difficult to move around in. The growth has also come with an increased amount of red tape. For instance, UK law requires a company of a given size to have an environmental policy and a health and safety policy, that includes having to find out how much heat is produced by a vast quantity of LEGO going up in flames. Ed probably spends more time on this and on dealing with clients and the media than he does on building. He still builds a lot, though, and with a seemingly endless supply of bricks. According to Ed, his current job is not as much fun as building AFOL models all day, but it is still definitely more fun than a regular job. Having spent a day putting more bricks together than I normally do in about a month, I can believe him (although I was still happy to go back to my day job).

If you’re in the South of the UK, I highly recommend that go check out the Lost World Zoo.

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Friday Night Fights – Micro GARC

Welcome back fight fans, to Sin City Nevada for another round of Friday Night Fights! Tonight we’re off to the races with the Mico Galactic Asteroid Rally Circuit (GARC). Let’s go to the tale of the tape.

In the orange corner sporting #3 we have speed racer Halfbeak with:

In the red corner, the Micro GARC that started it all Jacob Unterreiner’s (4estFeller) #7 speeder:

As usual, constant reader, you are tasked with deciding the outcome of this bout by way of comment. On the last edition of Friday Night Fights, Blue Mixles Match, It was another 8-8 tie! Tune in next week for another action packed edition of Friday Night Fights!

So it goes.

Generally speaking, I don’t consider most Lego builds ‘art’. Most of the time, builders just want to make a cool castle or spaceship or whatever. When someone wants to convey a message through a build, it’s all too often done in a heavyhanded manner.

Not so with this scene by Brian Rinker (Âtin). The construction and technique is all top-notch, but it’s the understated framing here that transcends the medium.

Military Proliferation

There have been a whole ton of awesome armored vehicles getting posted lately. I’ve always had a fondness for APCs and these beefy 8-wheelers don’t disappoint.

First up by Quogg is this nicely rendered duo. Digital building makes it easier to swap around configurations and he puts it to good effect here, as well as with his other builds.

Tyler Clites has been an unrelenting MOCing machine lately, and while he doesn’t often turn his talents to modern military the results are always fantastic.

Last but certainly not least is military trendsetter Andrew Somers. Andrew has been continuously and carefully refining a stable of military vehicles, and while the changes may be subtle each new iteration has been better than the last.

Digging deep

Many of you may know Arjan Oudekotte (Konajra) as a LEGO shipbuilder. However, when he started posting his models on-line a few years ago, he mainly built large diggers. I know he is working on several new ships, but he has now gone back to his roots and built this impressive Caterpillar 7495 rope shovel. These machines are used for open-pit mining

It is power functions remote controlled, like most of his diggers, and while the size of this thing may suggest otherwise, it’s actually minifig scale.

Simpsons collectible minifigs revealed

LEGO has posted images of the upcoming Simpsons collectible minifigs on Facebook. They will be available in May, and the lineup includes Chief Wiggum, Scratchy, Ralph Wiggum, Nelson Muntz, Marge Simpson, Milhouse, Maggie Simpson, Lisa Simpson, Krusty the Clown, Itchy, Homer Simpson, Grampa, Ned Flanders, Mr. Burns, Bart Simpson and Apu Nahasapeemapetilon.

Milwaukee Art Museum rendered in Lego

Korean Lego fan Yo-Sub Joo made this beautiful render of the Milwaukee Art Museum using countless digital bricks. The model is so massive that from a distance you can’t tell it’s supposed to be Lego. Check out more pictures on MOCpages.

Gomikoma will eat your garbage, and your car

Galaktek brings us a whimsical creation that looks like it would be right at home in The Lego Movie. It looks completely ridiculous and over the top for garbage collection, which is part of what makes it so great. Watch out for those dumpster claws!

Spring Time in Tuscany

You know those snapshots that just bring you to a time in your life? Where you remember the defining moments, those poignant memories that make you smile. For me, this particular MOC reminds me of the first time I saw fireflies, in Tuscany, amid the vineyards. They were the only light along the path.

Carson Hart‘s rendition of an Italian Tuscan villa captures the bright colors and classic look, while forced perspective in the background shows off the rolling hills of vineyards. I imagine the other part of this villa may or may not include a winery that filled that bottle on the table.

Lego Star Wars Corporate Alliance Tank Droid 75015 [Review]

The Lego Star Wars Corporate Alliance Tank Droid was released in August 2013 and contains 295 pieces. It retails for $19.99 and is available on Amazon. Below is a brief video review and my remarks regarding the set.

The tank droid is a decent Star Wars set. It contains 60 tread pieces, which is the best way to get them other than Bricklink. Jango Fett is the only unique minifig in this set. Unlike the previous version of LEGO’s tank droid that retails for $25, the new version costs less and includes more parts. The only drawback is the lack of printed dish part, but an unprinted piece will provide more options for building. This is a good pickup especially when it is on sale.

Lego Star Wars Homing Spider Droid 75016 [Review]

The Lego Star Wars Homing Spider Droid was released in August 2013 and contains 295 pieces. It retails for $29.99 and is available on Amazon. Below is a brief video review and my remarks regarding the set.

There’s not much to be said about this model and it’s a very straightforward build. There’s only one unique minifigure, Stass Allie, and 3 are generic figures for army-building. The droid itself has flimsy legs as shown in the video and needs to be repositioned each time you pick it up. The head rotates, and that’s the most prominent play feature. Unfortunately there aren’t a lot of interesting parts to make up for its other deficits. Overall, this is a filler in an army of battle droids.

鰹屋 Katsuyakoma

Thanks to : Volume X :, I’ll be thinking of blue Monday in a positive light from here on out. This think tank looks very cool, with great details and shaping throughout. The builder has made especially good use of xpod lids and cement mixer drums. The sticker usage is also superb, adding just the right touches of detail.