I love a good LEGO diorama every once and a while. The grand market square of Rindael by Ids de Jong features all the things we fancy when it comes to a medieval LEGO creation. We get beautiful Tudor-style buildings, which are exceptionally well done. There are hardly any gaps in the walls and those that happen to be there are intentional. We also get multiple castle factions: Black Falcons, Elves, Cyclopes, Snake folk, and Centaurs. There also happens to be a Faun herding a small flock of goats. Which happens to be another thing that we like to see spruce up a medieval creation. One thing I also always like is well-designed figures and there are a whole lot of those visiting this lovely market. I love seeing how some city, collectible, and licensed-themed parts lend themselves wonderfully to the castle theme as if they were designed to go there. Now if you’ll excuse me, I am going to look for the stall that sells roasted chestnuts.
Category Archives: LEGO
A LEGO ŁM-50 that has the ultimate no-look shot
Were you aware of Znap, a line of LEGO sets from 1999? What about the ŁM-50 overhead loader, a piece of Polish construction equipment from the 1960’s? Well, Maciej Szymański uses the specialized pieces in the former to make the latter. It was essential to get the proper curved track up and over the operator’s head, depositing the contents of the front-loading scoop behind the machine. Based on reference pictures online, the shaping here is spot on, with some great part choices to recreate the loader’s red wheels. The model feels very clean and intentional. And the panel of intricate wires and tubing feels right at home on equipment like this.
But choosing the correct parts for that overhead track is only worthwhile if the model moves, right? Well, this model comes with motorized treads and an operational winch hooked to the front bucket. I really like the design that drops the bucket at the end of the track, completing its over-the-shoulder hook shot. Check out the ŁM-50 in action below!
Majisto’s Tower updated in majestic style
Hot on the heels of the last classic 1990s LEGO Castle revamp we featured, comes John Tooker with this mega re-imagining of 1906 Majisto’s Tower. Released only in North America, the original set featured just 195 pieces. John has used a little more than that to recreate some of the set’s key features in stunning detail! The printed dragon motifs are now brick-built from gold bricks and look great. The brickwork has been given a similar treatment. This might be my favourite bit, as it’s done so well that the original printed wall pieces can be used and blend in seamlessly with the new techniques. These aren’t the only pieces to be re-used, though. The flag, horse’s cowl, and the cart wings all carry over some of the set’s charm without appearing out of place. Same goes for the minifigures. Now that’s some wizardry Majisto would be proud of!
Sand castles don’t last forever, even ones made of the Sands of Time
This LEGO hourglass is something magical with its grains building a castle as time passes. Builder Simon Liu presents this unique hourglass for the Brickscalibur contest. As time moves, so does the construction of the castle. And when it’s complete, time is up. It’s a clever idea to showcase the passage of time and life. Being an hourglass, it represents the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. The build uses a wonderful assortment of tan pieces to give the castle definition. There are even some walls and bits in the top portion of the hourglass from the last sand castle. The build also makes some good use of gold pieces to give the timepiece a gilded elegance. This is a really cool design and idea, and is certainly one of my favorite time-related LEGO builds.
Nevermind the dishes, we have castles to build!
At first glance, I was thinking these dishes are piling up and someone ought to do something about that. But then upon closer inspection of this LEGO creation by Filbrick, I realized someone has brought that beautiful outdoor view into the kitchen sink. The stack of plates makes pretty good towers, and the inverted red cups replicate the tower toppers nicely. The cutting board even makes an excellent drawbridge and the sink itself acts as the moat. I’m also fond of the stove burners to the right and the use of forced perspective is pretty ingenious. If my kitchen window above the sink had a better view than a little ramshackle house of a guy who died last February, I might consider stacking my dishes in such a way. But for now, check out the filbrick archives to see other clever and imaginative LEGO creations.
There are secrets hiding in this library’s collection
There’s nothing like going to the library to discover something new, even if the library is made of LEGO. Jesse van den Oetelaar presents a small window into a magical library chock full of secrets and rarities. Made for this year’s Brickscalibur contest, this build has great textures from top to bottom, with details galore to explore. We see two stories to the building with books and artefacts from floor to ceiling. Let’s take a closer look at some of the details on the second floor and its railing. There’s some nice parts usage with wand elements standing in for the railings filler spokes. The bookcase has colorful tiles for the books filling the shelves, a classic method for full bookcases. I love the use of tan Technic pins for all the candles. Their unique shaping is perfect for such an illuminating portrayal.
Looking to the past for inspiration in the future
Tino Poutiainen has drawn inspiration from the world of racing motorcycles for his latest LEGO creation. He says the all-conquering Honda NSR500 was the inspiration for the bike, and there’s certainly a resemblance. That is to say, it looks awesome!
There’s some very nifty parts use within. The front wheel is held in by a technic disc itself fitted into a basketball hoop, which frankly looks made for this purpose. The minifigure pulley brake lever is cool too. Although the original motorcycle was conceived in the 1980s, Tino has updated it for a slightly more futuristic age, perfectly illustrated by the figure stood next to it. Presumably this is what stylish motorcycle leathers will look like in a few decades’ time. I hope there’s a helmet just out of shot, or in that briefcase. Even the future is no excuse not to be road-safe!
Socks and sandals on the beach? Ridiculous!
Somehow I find the concept of socks and sandals on the beach more unsettling than an anthropomorphic airplane on vacation. That’s the conundrum that Nathan Hake presents with this new LEGO creation titled Arby the A320. I mean, have you tried to rinse sand out of socks? Nathan tells us the build started life as sort of a flying mechanism but this particular plane was way too heavy for the task. With its wings folded over, the aircraft looked to the builder like it was very tired and was having a little rest. So he gave it legs and declared it to be on vacation because everyone needs some time off, even planes. Despite the footwear fashion faux pas, I’m really on board with this. I like the little hat; practicality at its finest! Check out our archives to discover why Nathan Hake is sometimes silly, sometimes fun, but always interesting.
Whipping up a spell to update a beloved set
We’ve all got that favorite LEGO set from childhood that holds a special place, and Gunnbuilding has reimagined one of his in this revamp of the classic Witch’s Windship. Gunnbuilding has updated both the dragon and basket from the original set to great effect. The brick-built dragon maintains everything that made the classic dragon so popular, including the arched neck, the narrow jaw and red wings. I’m particularly fond of the solution to create the Dragon’s yellow neck and stomach using the spoiler piece. Because this is a digital build, Gunnbuilding was able to color the mixel joints for more seamless styling. If only we got these parts in a wider colour palette…
The witch’s basket has also had a pleasing revamp – less a cauldron and more ship-like in design. Increasing the size has allowed further decoration. The Fright Knight shield, courtesy of a recent CMF series, is a welcome addition. And a skeleton figurehead adds a perfect touch of horror.
A picture-perfect LEGO chocolate dessert
Full disclosure: When I started to write this article, I reached for a chocolate stocking-stuffer holiday treat. That’s how good these LEGO desserts by Mikael Montelius looked to me. The execution is simple, yet elegant. Minifig hairpieces make for excellent truffles and the use of brown and tan makes it all seem like delicious chocolate and nougat. The brown ingots giving the appearance of a breakable, sharable chocolate bar is just; chef’s kiss! It’s almost too tempting to break off a piece for real. As it turns out, brown LEGO — especially older brown pieces — are known to be quite brittle. As mouth-watering as this appears to be, I wouldn’t recommend eating LEGO, though — it’s not as satisfying as you’d think. However, what is satisfying is a delicious romp through our LEGO food archives but I recommend grabbing a snack first.
The Brothers Brick LEGO Creation of the Year 2022: Giffen Gardens by Kimberly Giffen [News]
If every LEGO creation is a journey, The Brothers Brick team of editors and contributors have made thousands of them during 2022. From bizarre distant planets to heartwarming personal stories, each build is its own world — yet build with the very same LEGO bricks. And when debating and voting on the most best creation, the most memorable one, our team unanimously found themselves longing for something serene, calm and restful. Among the brilliant eight creations on this year’s shortlist, it is Kimberly Giffen who stole our hearts. Her enchanting Giffen Gardens is The Brothers Brick LEGO Creation of the Year 2022.
Click to see more photos of the LEGO Creation of the Year 2022
TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for December 31, 2022 [News]
In addition to the amazing LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick brings you the best LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the 4th week of December 2022.
TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS This week, we returned to Pandora with 2 reviews of sets from the sequel Avatar: The Way of Water. We got our hands on a gift with purchase inspired by the popular classic space theme Blacktron, and took our first look at the new 501st Clone Trooper battle pack. With the year coming to an end, we featured a few looks back over the year in LEGO, both official products, and fan creations featured on TBB this last year. Watch for more end-of-the-year features coming soon, and if you want even more news and reviews from December, check out last week’s Brick Report.
- [REVIEW] LEGO Star Wars 501st Clone Troopers Battle Pack — Get ready to secure another batch of clones for your own clone army.
- [REVIEW] LEGO 90 Years of Play 40580: Blacktron Cruiser — Classic Space is back in Blacktron
- [REVIEW] LEGO Avatar 75578: Mako Submarine — A sleek submarine from the new Avatar movie.
- [NEWS] Shortlist announced for The Brothers Brick LEGO Creation of the Year 2022 — It was so hard to choose, but we narrowed down our picks for best MOC of the year.
- [REVIEW] LEGO Avatar 75579 – Payakan the Tulkun & Crabsuit — We reviewed another set from the new AVatar film, this time a massive whale and a cool crab sub.
- [FEATURE] The Brothers Brick favorites: Best LEGO products of 2022 — We looked at some studs and duds from the year in LEGO products.
- [REVIEW] DUPLO 30327 My First Duck polybag – A change of pace for the overwhelmed builder in you — Our last review from contributor CJ was super-chill. We’ll miss your clever wit and thorough reviews, Chris!