Category Archives: LEGO

You’d probably expect a lot of the posts on a LEGO blog 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.

Stressed? Have a cup of tea

Builder Eero Okkonen is no stranger to The Brothers Brick. His large-scale figures are something of a legend around here, often featuring warriors, wizards, and sci-fi women. Today, he brings us a samurai warrior, joined by a maiko, or apprentice geisha sharing tea. He beautifully captures both the modest down-turned visage of the maiko and the tired pride of the old warrior. What makes this build unusual for Eero is that the stunning figures are set in a lush landscape, which features a blooming garden complete with Zen Buddhist shrines and a reflection pool.

Tea ceremony in Japanese garden

I love the way he has used the texture of the undersides of 1×2 plates for the samurai’s armor, along with the decorative flowers stuck to them. The elbow brick in light bluish grey is used to good effect in both the facial hair of the samurai and the three legged shrine in the corner. You also don’t want to miss the golden chainsaw blade used as a hair ornament on the maiko! The whole scene is so tranquil that I wish I could go there and take part. Now where did I put my tea cup?

Tea ceremony in Japanese garden

Your lightsabers will make a fine addition to my collection

Each installment in the Star Wars cinematic saga has introduced new villains for audiences to obsess over, from Darth Vader’s first rasping breath in A New Hope to Darth Maul’s devil-like countenance in The Phantom Menace. Revenge of the Sith was no exception, although General Grievous first appeared in the 2004 animated series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Dissatisfied with the official 75112 General Grievous LEGO set, Marcin Otreba has built a stunningly detailed model of the wheezy cyborg commander of the Separatists’ droid army with some truly inspired designs.

General Grievous Lego replica

By far, my favorite features are the arms which, like his on-screen counterpart, can separate into two slender but no less nimble and deadly appendages. I also love the translucent body cavity housing his vital organs. You’ll also want to take a closer look at the fingers, which are built using B-1 battle droid heads, of course.

This voodoo panther is no bonehead. Or is it?

The LEGO Bionicle line may have ended in 2016, but that hasn’t stopped fans from expanding on the theme. Case in point: Alex Mertens brings us a sleek version of the Rahi beast Muaka, inspired by a deep cut of Bionicle lore. I’m a fan of the smooth curves that give this model a sense of feline grace. The splash of color from the orange hose and lime green claws adds visual interest against the blue of the Hero Factory armor and Bionicle shoulder armor plating.

Voodoo Panther

Speaking of that armor, we recently featured another re-imagining of Muaka that kept the yellow highlights from the Muaka & Kane-Ra set from 2001. Alex has gone one step further, taking the blue color from a Bone-Heads of Voodoo Island prototype that likely lead to Muaka! This early prototype can be seen in Christian Faber’s demo footage.

Chugging around the bend

I have a soft spot for collaborative LEGO train displays because they played a fundamental role in inspiring me to “build outside the box.” Because of this, I couldn’t help but smile when I saw Steffen Rau’s layout module. I love the curves of the track, mountainside tunnels, and wooded landscaping. It feels like a wonderful place to explore, especially with dozens of minifigures enjoying various camping activities.

Turning loop module 1

See more images of this carefully crafted train layout

A countryside cottage to call home

17th Century Europe was a period rife with change, from feudal powers to the birthing stages of parliament. It also brought with it a decline in houses constructed of wood, giving way to stone and brick-built abodes. Benjamin Calvetti has replicated this style with stunning class, and his English Cottage is jam-packed with lovely details. The continuity in stone work, from the bordering fence line to the walls of the cottage, speak more of the local quarry than they do of a random handful of LEGO bricks.

English Cottage (main)

See more pictures of this quaint cottage, including a fully furnished interior!

Another shrimp for the barbie

The Penaeus monodon, otherwise known as the Tiger Prawn, is native to the Indo-Pacific region. It’s also cultivated for food consumption all over the world. Jason Cichon has done an excellent job at bringing these LEGO marine crustacea to life….Well, one of them at least. Seafood connoisseurs will recognise the orange prawn on the bottom, largely due to their understanding of what they look like after having been cooked.

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His mix of modified plates and 2×1 Wedge’s in the abdomen creates smooth articulation within the build. This combination allows the pleura to sit snugly against each other. A flexible spike minifig weapon has been used for the rostrum while, further down, the leg assemblies have been topped off with small red horns. In the end, the part that brings this model into the realm of realism is the flexible hose with connection ends as the antenna. The colours employed throughout are so incredibly fitting, I’m sure Jason stood around a barbeque in the summer quite a few times.

LEGO 75936 Jurassic Park: T. rex Rampage designer video [Video]

Earlier this week LEGO pulled the wraps off the biggest Jurassic World set yet, a throwback to the 1993 classic movie that started the franchise, 75936 Jurassic Park: T. rex Rampage. Today LEGO is giving fans an inside look at the set with a video interview with Mark Stafford, the set’s designer.

With a whopping 3,120 pieces, the set includes the largest dinosaur LEGO’s ever created. The set will retail for US $249.99 | CAN $299.99 | UK £219.99 beginning June 19th for LEGO VIPs, with general availability beginning July 1st.

Watch the full video below, and look out for our full review of this set soon.

Go under the sea with the Royal Navy Octonaut

The year is 1859, and the British Navy is looking for Atlantis! Builder Paddy Bricksplitter has captured this historic moment of discovery in a detail-rich LEGO scene. Based on the columns and statue, our diver may have indeed found Atlantis. Let’s hope he’s also enjoying the rest of the view while he’s down there.

Royal Navy Octonaut

The Octonaut delivers a solid steampunk aesthetic without resorting to unnecessary embellishments. The tubing along the suit’s arms suggests a very real-world pneumatic solution for grip-strength at the ocean floor. Providing a nice contrast to the gold and brown, black rubber tires do double duty as weights and gaskets.

As cool as the diver is, the real highlight of this build for me is the innovative part usage on the sea floor. Not content with just the LEGO-standard fish and crab, Paddy has brought in Friends Accessories, Technic gears, a street-sweeper brush, and at least three types of minifigure hair. LEGO food items also feature prominently, with cupcakes galore, upward pointing carrots and lime ice cream scoops. And just look at that jellyfish!

Twice the spacey fun

Two ideas immediately came to me when in 2017 LEGO released 75176 Resistance Transport Pod, and guess what–builder Veynom has gone and realised both. Designers of vehicles for the Star Wars universe have always embraced the potential of asymmetric form, the transport pod being a case in point. However, there’s a niggling part of my brain that wants to fix things, balance out the shuttle with a second pod. Imagine it looking something like the Twin-Pod Cloud Car–wait you don’t have to because Veynom’s built it for us.

Then there is that second idea. If you were at all interested in the joys of vintage space LEGO, the set’s trans yellow canopy would have been an instant trigger. You’ve guessed it, Veynom’s gone and built a Classic Space version of the Resistance Twin-Pod too.

Tiny oil spill is anything but crude

It might seem odd to describe a LEGO model displaying an environmental catastrophe as cute, but it feels like a fitting tag for Koala Yummies‘ microscale oil rig. The oil spill effect is suitably sinister, with thick black crude oozing out over the water, but it’s the rig itself which catches the eye. This model is packed with detail — don’t miss the helipad, the crane, the dangling orange lifeboats, and my favourite touch, the use of 1×2 grille tiles for the tiny windows in the accommodation block.

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Even better, there’s a supply tender ship to go with the teeny-tiny oil rig. It too is perfectly proportioned, and nicely detailed for its diminutive size…

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Stop! Hammer Time!

Hammerhead sharks (Sphyrnidaeare) are found worldwide in warmer waters along coastlines and continental shelves. They are aggressive hunters who feed on smaller fish, octopuses, rays, squid, crustaceans and even other sharks. However, this particular hammerhead shark, rendered by Dallen Powell, would rather help you install new cabinets in your kitchen or build a deck out back. He’s the type of shark that knows which nails work best with joist hangers and which ones are best for baseboard molding. With this shark, it is always hammer time. The expression on his toothy face says that he gets the pun too. You should nail down the rest of Dallen’s content as he is no stranger to pun-filled renders. Now, who has that one song stuck their head? You know the one. Sing it with me. “Y’all gonna make me lose my mind, up in here, up in here!”

Hammerhead Shark

Industrial salvage vessel has been through hell and back

When it comes to building grimy-looking industrial salvage spaceships inspired by Weiland-Yutani, the company from the Alien franchise, I can think of nothing better than to re-use elements from previous spaceship models. Frequently featured builder Shannon Sproule demonstrates this salvage technique beautifully, along with some post-production effects, to create a working ship that has clearly seen a lot of action. One of my favorite details is the use of similar circular elements and tiles along the side. Large slopes and pipes sticking out on all sides, and very few well-placed studs complete the look.

Commercial salvage vessel USS Imprimata