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.

The fruits of your LEGO labor

Feeling hungry? Vincent Kiew has created this delicious looking arrangement of fruits. A durian stars as the centre piece, with its spikey texture recreated by using 1×1 wedges placed at different angles. A slice of the fruit is also featured, demonstrating its yellow fleshy insides, squashed between a white border. The durian is complimented by a vibrant orange with translucent pieces representing its inner segments. Standing tall and proud, the watermelon slice is constructed out of angled wedges creating its conical portrayal. The purple fruit is possibly a mangosteen, due to its bulbous white centre portrayed by dome corner pieces. All the fruits have wonderful rounded forms which conveys Kiew’s skills in creating realistic shapes.

Let’s hope this LEGO durian smells better than a real life one, as the fruit is famous for its overwhelming odour. Still feeling peckish? Why not check out some of our other articles on tasty looking meals recreated in LEGO form.

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Nature reclaims elven architecture... As it should!

Elves seem to have a knack of building their dwellings harmonious with nature in most fantasy stories. Whether it is an ethereal treetop palace or a hidden valley lodging (very specific, I know), elven architecture is one with its surroundings. Books and films such as The Lord of the Rings made this trope popular – which isn’t a bad thing. However, builder Daniel Cloward shows us that sometimes this is not the case.

An elven city sits on coastal cliffs, built from the same stones, as shown by light grey LEGO elements. However, it is abandoned and has been overgrown with trees, shrubs, and other vegetation depicted by various green pieces. Only the white tree with lavender foliage remains of the original elf-nature harmony, as it seems to be part of the original city. The bright colours of that tree stand out from the grey and greens of the rest of the build. This small diorama really shows off the story of nature vs man-made (or elf-made) structures falling to ruin.

Interested in more elves and their architecture? We have some more elven creations for you.

That’s no twin suns...

Ah, Tatooine. A wretched hive of scum and villainy and being the centre of the galaxy. Honestly, everything Star Wars seems to take place at this dangerous ripoff of Arrakis from Dune. However, somehow it works. What amuses me is that amongst all the bounty hunters and intergalactic crime cartels, the biggest dangers for two droids is freaking Jawas. Short, hooded, chattery notorious salesmen traveling in a massive brown tank. And this small build by Kosmas Santosak conveys this so well.

There’s just something about the image of a hooded Jawa looming over a stranded C-3PO and R2-D2 that makes me laugh. Perhaps it’s the glowing yellow eyes that’s a parallel to Tatooine’s twin suns that is clever and funny. Or perhaps looking at it I can hear the high-pitched babble of those mischievous scavengers…

Utinni!
Shootogawa!
A beton nya mombay m’bwa!
Nekkel juuvar obwegadada!

Taking a dreamflight

Simplicity is often bold and striking, but in this LEGO aviation scene from Nikita Sukhodolov it also creates a dream-like feel. The little plane and the clouds are relatively simple designs, but the choice to go all-white and contrast against the bright blue backdrop makes for a strong composition. I love the way the monochrome models pull you out of the ordinary and up into that big blue sky. This is a great example of when less can most definitely be more.

Harvesting honey on Epsilon IV

What is the most valuable resource in the deep space? Fuel? Galaxy credits? How about honey? According to this cute vignette by Andreas Lenander, you won’t be able to harvest honey so far from Earth without a cube element from LEGO VIDIYO sets. Indeed, the piece looks awesome inside this hangar with its semi-transparent effect. I know the clutch power of LEGO bricks is great, but I’d better seal the edges with some spare stickers… just in case.

Let your livery do the talking

You may hate stickers, but, oh boy, you should never underestimate them. With his latest vic viper, Huw Gwilliam shows us a masterclass in giving a spaceship a classy outfit. Since it’s a render, I’m happy to see Huw not being limited by the shapes and colors of the livery. It’s amazing how much volume do the stickers add to the build, making it much more complicated than the pieces could on the same scale.

Who said grand stations can’t be cozy?

Spanish LEGO fan-builder Lepralego builds one of the cozies LEGO city corner I’ve seen. And it’s not a flower shop or a family restaurant (which are cozy per se), but a railways station, and a grand one! I adore the way the buildings include all the architectural elements of larger versions while fitting in such a tiny corner. Using rail curves for the station’s roof isn’t new, but it suits the whole build so well. And with all the other excellent piece combinations, I would totally still this diorama for my own LEGO city.

Connection Terminated

I think I was twelve or thirteen when the Digimon Movie came to America. The power of Omnimon’s line as he saves the world from Diaboromon held so much power to me back then. My younger brothers and I were obsessed, watching it countless times during the summers until our parents came home and forced us outside. I honestly still have the WarGreymon poseable figure that I cherished back then. So seeing builder Kekenoji’s brilliant model of the iconic Omnimon, I just had to write about it. After recently watching Digimon Tri, the newest continuation of the Digi-Destined’s story, this character was fresh in my mind, and Kekenoji did a marvelous job modeling this awesome warrior.

The main body is nicely stylized, built with various techniques and upside-down bricks to give the effect of a suit of armor. The chest uses stacked 1×2 plates to achieve the blue stripes. Tires provide body to the core, as well as strength through friction, something Kekenoji makes use of again in the arms and the joints of the legs. The capes that the builder used have a pretty goofy source, coming from a few Zerg’s from the Toy Story line that Kekenoji had.

Continue reading →

“It’s a magical world, Hobbes, ol’ buddy...”

In an era when cable TV and video games were just starting to compete for our attention, the comic strip Calvin & Hobbes inspired a generation of kids to have a renewed appreciation for the wonder of the outdoors and the versatility of cardboard boxes. But the cartoonist, Bill Watterson, was always adamant that his strip never be merchandised in the way comics like Peanuts and Garfield had been. So, outside of a few book collections, readers were left with few options when it came to celebrating their fandom. Thankfully, LEGO is a product that encourages you to build anything your imagination can conceive of. And Simon Liu has taken advantage of that fact to grace us with brick-built versions of Calvin and his feline companion.

This build recreates one of the more famous images of the pair, a shot of them balancing on a log which first appeared in The Calvin and Hobbes Lazy Sunday Book. It’s everything I’d want to see in a hypothetical licensed LEGO set. Not only are the characters perfectly realized, but the attention paid to the wilderness base they stand on has all the hallmarks of Watterson’s art. The soft palette of colors evokes the watercolors that were often used on supplemental book images. And details like the log’s crooked tiling and the small dip in the creek give the environment the same realistic feel that landscapes in the strip were known for. While Watterson may not ever want to see this as a set for sale, I’ve no doubt that seeing the effort that Simon put into honoring his creations would make him smile.

Cut to the head of the armada

For LEGO fans like myself, September is a very special month. Known as SHIPtember to us space nerds, the month presents a challenge for builders to create a giant spaceship at least 100-studs long. Though many take this to mean length, some builders also play with the width and height of thier builds to meet the requirements. Enter builder Oscar Cederwall and his ship, the Claymore. This thin, lanky design features an interior mechanism for mirrored movement of the wings. According to Oscar, also know as o0ger, this allows fleets of these to be stowed on larger vessels. The single stud width of the main body was a design challenge that the builder solved with the two detailed black sections that run the length of the ship. These greebled portions make up a part of the tandem plasma cannons at each end of the body while also holding the structure of the ship together, with some help from the engine. This thin design gives the ship a small profile in firefights making it a formidable foe that cuts through the enemies much like its namesake.

This design is based on a concept by Theo Stylianides and it proved to be a delicate build that even broke apart during the build process. In addition to the black stripes on the side, the wing folding mechanism is held in a Technic structure that also holds the top and bottom together.

This is hands down one of my favorite months, especially as a participant. Seeing SHIPs like Oscar’s always excites and inspires me. The massive vessels that builders pump out during this month are a wonder to behold. Especially when they render it into a space scene and really immerse our imagination.

Excuse me, sir, your television is leaking

When you look at as many LEGO creations every day as we do here at The Brothers Brick, you see a lot of similar models. But sometimes, something comes along that just makes you smile, like this wonderful model by Kale Frost. Not only is this retro TV well-crafted, but the test pattern adds a bit of whimsy. I’m old enough to remember when there were only 4-5 channels to choose from, and you had to walk over to the set and jiggle the antenna a bit now and then to fix the picture. and that first time you turned on the new color set and saw that technicolor pattern, you knew you were in for a treat.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for October 2, 2021

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 final week of September 2021.

TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS Baseplate packaging changes and a Ninjago Seabound review were shared on TBB this week. As new LEGO sets have just been released, stay tuned for more news soon!

[NEWS] LEGO baseplates to get sustainable packaging, new set numbers in 2022 — The move follows LEGO’s prior sustainability announcements and ongoing efforts
[REVIEW] LEGO Ninjago 71750 Lloyd’s Hydro Mech — Chris Doyle takes on another Ninjago-Seabound set review.

OTHER NEWS Our news roundup includes other news from around the world, including a do-it-yourself brick sorting system, another massive donation from the LEGO Foundation, and a set designer video!

DIY LEGO Brick Sorter – I Like to Make Stuff — Check out this homemade brick sorter with nifty features
LEGO Foundation donates $150 million for Covid-affected communities – LEGO Group Twitter — Another charitable donation from the world’s largest toy company for ongoing pandemic relief efforts
LEGO Designer video for 10293 Santa’s Visit – LEGO YouTube Channel — So many features in this year’s Winter Village set as shared by Chris McVeigh and Matt Parsons (and check out our full review here!)