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.

Pirating takes you to all kinds of places

Builder Deus Otiosus gives us a wonderful island scene of LEGO buccaneers. Pirates make off with a chest full of treasure, heading across the beach to their waiting ship just off the island. It’s a pretty usual day for a band of exploring pirates, and these pirates navigate all the dangers with experience. The build itself is something to behold! The trees are well done with some flexibility for that leaning and swaying of palms. I like the sculpting on those ancient statues on the beach hearkening to LEGO minifigs. The whole ancient ruin is so well crafted there’s a sense of history about it. And of course the pirate ship is just amazing with those curving greens and flex-tubing for the rolled up sails. Overall this is a spectacular pirating build with plenty to explore for curious pirates and adventurers.

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

This ship leaves us feeling flat but in a good way

In the aftermath of SHIPtember, it is actually refreshing to see a few littler LEGO ships in our midst. Here’s one that David Roberts simply calls A Flat Ship but its striking color scheme and interesting shape leave us feeling anything but flat. It has just the right amount of oomph to make it interesting. David has a surprisingly profound thing to say about ships; “Many LEGO spaceships are just abstract sculptures, that happen to have a cockpit and engines added to make them more accessible!” That certainly is a neat way of putting it.

Walk the wave, if you dare

Marion Weintraut flexes some architectural might and probably more than a few LEGO bricks with this stunning Ruyi Bridge. I’m in awe of its intricate waving construct; a feat that doesn’t look easy. It’s a delicate and beautiful structure that would look handsome as a display at any architectural firm. I would probably be too frightened to traverse such a dizzying structure had it have been real. Well, I should hang on tight and have a sick bag at the ready because, as it turns out, it is!

A trio of Star Wars TIE Fighters to tie you over

Man, I love good LEGO builds in an alternate scale! Here we see a trio of TIE Fighters built by Tim Goddard. They’re not quite microscale, but probably what we’d call closer to Midi-scale. Tim calls it Trophy Scale which would be great to receive such a trophy. The Darth Vader TIE Advanced X1 and its regular TIE escorts are handsome on their stands and showcase just about as much detail as their bigger UCS counterparts.

Tim tells us he has been thinking about building the entire Death Star trench run in this scale, which would still be massive and jaw-droppingly impressive if he pulls it off. In the meantime, just tie yourselves over with a couple of the good guy ships, an X-Wing and A-Wing. Now don’t get cocky! Actually, we prefer when you do get cocky. It usually makes for good LEGO creations and amusing subject matter to write about.

An elevated excavator.

Charlie Jones has given construction equipment a futuristic upgrade with this digital build of a quadrupedal excavator. While the main arm looks to be largely stationary, there’s no doubt we’d still have tons of fun making this mech stomp around the sandbox. In the hierarchy of toy vehicles, tank treads beat wheels, but robot legs beat tank treads any day of the week.

This build has real teeth – but not where you’d expect them

There are some who will argue that Bionicle is the greatest thing LEGO ever did. I certainly had a few in my childhood, but I would counter that one of LEGO’s best ideas of the early 21st century was the portable X-pod line. If you can’t decide, then do like Ben and combine the two into a seriously cool warrior. It was all inspired by a realisation that many of the Technic panels in this year’s 42134 Monster Truck Megalodon are the same medium blue as the X-pod covers in 4339 Aqua Pod from 2005, which coincidentally had a shark as its main model. Sharks, therefore, are a common theme in this model – from the teeth on the torso to the tails coming off each leg. Even its name, Hybodus, is an ancient prehistoric shark. So naturally, the shoulder-mounted missile pods would make it fit right in with the underwater Toa Mahri line from 2007!

You can’t contain this much awesome

Just as on the ocean today, in the far future, surely the most common sort of large spaceship will be the container ship. This magnificent LEGO vessel by Perry β is a take on what that could look like. Just as now, it seems that intermodal containers are the go-to box for sending your goods across the galaxy, and in my opinion, they’re really the star of this show, even though they’re just simple 1×2-stud boxes in a multitude of colors. The ship itself is fantastic too, with a nice mix of smooth surfaces and intricate details.

Icon see what you did there: these LEGO versions of Elvis, Freddie, and Michael Jackson are amazing!

When it comes to iconic rock stars, there are few as easily recognizable Elvis, Freddie Mercury, and Michael Jackson. And now, talented builder Dan Ko has taken those memorable personas and transformed them into miniature LEGO statues. These tiny titans combine instant name-recognition with very clever part usage. For example, check out the ingots forming Elvis’ sideburns, the yellow handlebars in Freddie’s jacket, and the white croissants as Mike’s arms – clever stuff!

If you’re interested in building your own set of these, instructions will be available for purchase starting October 15th as part of 2022’s Creations for Charity drive. But while you wait, be sure to check out our archives for more musical goodness!

A small bridge with some big thinking behind it

Any good engineer will tell you that scale models are a great way to test out grand ideas in a safer and cheaper environment. For some LEGO builders, though, scale models are just an excuse to flex your engineering muscles. This bridge by Clemens Schneider is a great little microscale build in its own right. It’s an attractive design with some nifty microscale vehicles, including what appears to be a police chase! What I am most impressed by however is the engineering behind it, which was meticulously planned out.

The valley and the gentle curve of the bridge are already accomplished by bending rows of bricks, exploiting the tolerances that are built in to LEGO bricks. But those flex tubes aren’t just for show! They actually work as a real cable-stayed bridge would. The schematic below shows some of Clemens’ thinking for this clever little build. The outer pair of cables are tensioned together with string (yes, it’s LEGO string), and the tension which can be adjusted to slightly alter the shape of the bridge. The green links have metal train axles in them (still LEGO!), the friction of which further helps to support the bridge. I’m seriously impressed by the thought that went into this!

A 1:1 build worth a closer look.

This pair of brilliant binoculars by Tom de Kesel takes standard tires and treads and gives them new life. The treads obviously form the neck strap, but it turns out that rubber tires turned inside out produce perfect lens casings. One remaining tire does duty as the focus wheel to add the finishing touch to this perfectly rendered prop replica.

A demon that’s ready to go clubbing

No, this isn’t a LEGO version of Admiral Ackbar dressed up for Halloween. It’s Ug’thozeth, an enforcer demon by brick builder extraordinaire Bart De Dobbelaer. I love the shaping of the squid-like head, and excellent color choice of pale yellow-green for the barbs protruding from its beak and eyes. Its armor is fierce and sharp, full of picks and points galore. Subtle details like the net piece as chainmail drive home just how well equipped our brute here is. But the most befitting aspect of its kit has got to be the enormous mace it wields with both claws. A symphony of black Technic textures, the club is as intricate as it is deadly – a weapon perfectly-suited for this diabolic ruffian!

There seems to be a wolf at the door.

Drawing inspiration from author Xavier Liras and illustrator Alexander Shatohin, builder Andrea Lattanzio shares a tense moment as the Guardian of the Abyss lowers himself into the jaws of the mythical wolf, Fenrir. There are great details throughout this immersive LEGO scene, as well as some innovative building techniques. I particularly like the shaping of the olive-green fir tree, the use of cloth elements for roof patches, and the use of a minifigure accessory molding sprue for the doorknob. The wolf emerging from the mists is also worth a close look, with a yellow gear-shift base for an eye and a maw full of pointy teeth.

We’ve featured several great building-centric scenes from Andrea in the past. Why not check them out?