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.

It’s a Viking life for me

If you’re anything like me, you’ve been playing so much Valheim for the past few months that you’re going around muttering things like “the bees are happy” in your sleep. So naturally, when I saw this LEGO longhouse by Jake Hansen, I immediately thought of the game. Jake doesn’t mention that this was built with Valheim in mind, but it’s a beautifully simple Norse scene regardless. There are lots of great details but I think the best one here might be the wooden doors with handles made of bucket handles.

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TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for June 19, 2021 [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 third week of June 2021.

TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS – This past week we reviewed the LEGO Ideas Typewriter, the adidas Originals Superstar,  a Minions Accessory Pack and the largest set in the Monkie Kid lineup for this season, the Bone Demon.  We get also get an early look at the new LEGO City sub-theme, Stuntz and the 3rd wave of Character Packs for Super Mario.

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Rocco Buttliere builds 1st-century Jerusalem in microscale from 114,000 LEGO bricks

Master LEGO architect Rocco Buttliere is no stranger to recreating massive landmarks in LEGO form. In the past he’s built Mount Rushmore, Vatican City, and even ancient Rome. But now he’s managed to top himself with what may be his largest project to date, a 1:650 scale city of Jerusalem as it appeared in the first century. Consisting of 114,000 pieces, this massive LEGO build is the result of over 500 hours of design time and 400 hours of build time.

First Century Jerusalem - ירושלים של המאה הראשונה - (Second Temple period circa 70 CE)

This is a work you could truly get lost in, so let’s dive right into the details, starting with the Second Temple on Temple Mount in the center of the city.

Click through for a guided tour of some of the city’s highlights

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Cat squadron, standing by!

Sometimes you and your buddies see something nice that you want to build in LEGO. It could be anything, inspiration is all around us. I (Mansur “Waffles” Soeleman) have a close circle of fellow builders that we like to call “vehicle dudes” and “teal squadron.” Consisting of Caleb Ricks, Gubi, Thomas Jenkins, Pande (Malen Garek), Tim Goddard, Tom Loftus (Inthert) and more, we get on a group call on Friday evenings and build. During this time, we discuss things that happen in the world of LEGO, Star Wars, and everything in between. It is during one of these remote group build sessions that we discovered artist Spacegooose and their colourful starfighter drawings.

Cat Squadron - Spacegooose Collab

It was their similarity to Star Wars ships that drew us into building them. Their varying styles and functions have enough similarity to belong to one group, and so our builds became a small collaboration. With blessings from the artist who eagerly awaits their designs in LEGO form, we decided to include our own artistic spin as well as matching the original artwork.

Click for detailed pictures and descriptions of each spaceship

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The old mill at sunset

The lighting in this LEGO creation by Benjamin Stenlund is simply stunning. It looks like the sun is slowly setting (or rising) illuminating only one side of the building. I actually had to look twice to make sure the building wasn’t made of tan and dark tan bricks (note I might be a bit color blind). The spoilers make not only great mill blades but also great roof shingles. The best used part in this creation has to be the plain old jumper plate. They are used to create the insets where the underlying bricks are visible. The effect is simply stunning. It looks like the plastering crumbled down on several spots of the building. Last but not least, can you spot Groot?

The Old Mill

 

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Florian Müller talks about the design process and challenges of LEGO 10282 Adidas Originals Superstar [News]

LEGO 10282 Adidas Originals Superstar was revealed just a few days ago, along with our in-depth review of the set and the announcement of Adidas Originals LEGO Superstar Sneaker. The designer, Florian Müller, talks about how he designed the shoe and the challenges he faced.

Click to watch the Designer Video

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This is the Batman (conversion) we deserve [Instructions]

When the LEGO DC comes 76182 Batman Cowl was first revealed, something felt a little off, well to me at least. Builder Glen Tanner fixed it well and fixed it well with some inspiration from the 40386 Brick Sketches: Batman.

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Get a bird’s-eye view of the LEGO House with Microsoft Flight Simulator’s latest update [News]

The Microsoft Flight Simulator new free update featuring the Nordic region has added details from the home of LEGO in Denmark. The update according to Microsoft includes detailed landscapes, regional architectures and 78 carefully selected points of interest. A treat for LEGO fans, we’re glad that the LEGO House made it into this update.

Click for a video showcasing a flight above the LEGO House

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Living atop the wave-worn coastal rocks

Grant Davis never ceases to inspire with his exceptional LEGO creations. This adorable cottage is far from some craggy shack. The color combos and shape set the stage for visions of a quaint ocean hideaway. But it’s tough to decide if the best details come from the sand blue spoilers used for clapboard siding, or the magnificent rocky outcropping upon which it sits. The seamless transition from the smooth boulder foundation to the building is excellent. One can also appreciate the conical hat used as a barrel lid, and skates used as door handles.

Life On The Rocks

While you’re here you should check out some of Grant’s other work. Also, take a peek at some other excellent cottages and all sorts of landscape techniques.

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Breaking the surface…

It’s such a simple technique, but I’m honestly not sure I’ve ever seen anyone mix dark bluish gray and light bluish gray to produce the illusion of wet and dry stone before. I certainly haven’t seen it done as well as Hubba Blöoba accomplishes it here. The details of this ancient pillar are replicated as perfect mirrors of each other above and below the surface of the water. It makes it easy to imagine how hot to the touch the light bluish gray stone is, after baking in the coastal sunshine. Or how slippery the dark bluish gray stone would prove to be for any treasure hunters exploring these ruins on the search for lost swords or rings of power.

Sunken

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Every piece is awesome!

When the recent Everyone is Awesome set was released celebrating diversity and inclusion, it was a huge moment. While it certainly had its detractors, a large swath of LEGO fans, particularly those in LGBTQIA+ community were thrilled. A set that celebrates Pride Month coming from the largest toy company in the world was quite a statement. The fact that it was created by the openly gay Senior VP of Design at LEGO, Matthew Ashton, made it even more meaningful. Taking the set as inspiration, my husband and LEGO Masters partner Richard and I began a month-long build challenge on Instagram using the hashtag #rainbowbuildchallenge. As of the writing of this article there have been over 500 individual builds focusing on the joyful message the set represents.

For our contribution, we decided to forge some new territory for us: the greebled mosaic. It’s something we’ve wanted to tackle for a while and this seemed the perfect opportunity. It was quite an interesting challenge and pointed to the fact that some colors just don’t have a huge variety of interesting parts. The bright light blue section was quite difficult to complete and oddly, so was brown (at least in our collection). We still managed to fill a 48×48 baseplate with enough objects to provide some interesting texture and a sort of “I spy” game. In keeping with the original messaging of the Everyone is Awesome set, we used the monochrome figures from it, laying head to head around a central focused heart. We imagined them all lying down together, staring at the sky and thinking of a world where everyone feels included and represented.

If you would like to participate in the Rainbow Build Challenge, you can find a post about it on our Instagram page.

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.

LEGO Minions: The Rise of Gru 40511 Kung Fu Training [Review]

LEGO sets usually accompany new movies right before they hit the theaters, but the Minions theme has been the exception, in part due to the pandemic disrupting the film’s normal theater release, having been pushed back all the way to July of 2022. In the meantime, we’ve been getting various LEGO sets since early 2020, and now yet another will be making their way to store shelves. Today we are able to get a first look at 40511: Kung Fu Training (54 pieces). The price is not yet confirmed, but we expect it to retail for US $12.99 | CAN $16.99 | UK £11.99 when it’s available starting July 1.

Even though Minions 2: The Rise of Gru won’t be arriving on the silver screen until Summer 2022,  you can still enjoy all of the dastardly villain fun with LEGO Minions sets. Several have already been released, such as 75546 Minions in Gru’s Lab, 75547 Minion Pilot in Training, and 75550 Minions Kung Fu Battle. This new accessory set adds to the chaos with a young Gru minifigure, the new Belle Bottoms minifigure, and two Minions.

The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

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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.