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.

I must become more beautiful!

What has Brothers Brick alumni Nannan Zhang been up to lately? Well, apparently he’s been watching this Youtube video and had been inspired to build a LEGO version of the NieR Automata opera singer boss Simone. Knowing nothing of the subject matter, I clicked on the video and was immediately intrigued. Simone is a machine so obsessed with beauty that she cannibalizes other androids and adorns herself with their corpses. (There’s probably a good joke in there somewhere about putting lotion in the basket but damned if I can figure it out!) She has two corpses hanging off her collar assembly and several more linked hand-in-hand around her waist. This effect, Nannan tells us, is achieved using a product from Crazy Bricks which is the only non-LEGO aftermarket feature on this model. The tattered dress is made up of several copies of Lord Vladek’s cape. A video game monster boss obsessed with beauty; now that is terrifying!

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Get ready for a maximum meltdown

As a teacher, I am blessed with the company of large groups of children, happily building with LEGO. But all is not always quiet on the western front. One misplaced brick can cause a meltdown of epic proportions. If you’ve ever been a witness to one of these tantrums, then Eli Willsea‘s latest LEGO build will seem very familiar and might trigger a meltdown of your own! Built for MOC Wars 2020 on Flickr, this scene is perfectly suited for the “I’m melting” category in which it is entered.

I love a model with a story, especially one you can get with one look at the image. This tells a whole story in one frame like any good comic. The construction (or destruction as it were) of the little girl character is masterful. The expression on the face and the arms outstretched in rage tell you everything you need to know about her current mental state. Her angry eyebrows made with guns and with minifigure claws standing in for a furrowed brow is a terrific use of parts. The streaming tears and the simple arch shape for a mouth add to the emotion of the character. The melted body and dress have a great organic feeling to them expressed in curves and round tiles.

The scene is completed with a picket fence, a nicely rendered fire hydrant and a sideways built sidewalk complete with sewer drain that looks about to swallow the girl up as she slowly melts onto the pavement.

If you’re going to build something goofy, go all in.

Pretty much every time Batman gets a new movie, he gets a new Batmobile. From the 1960’s family-friendly two-seater to the 2000’s militaristic Tumbler, there’s a version for just about every taste. And if you can’t find what you want on the big screen, you can always turn to LEGO builders to give you an alternate take you probably wouldn’t find elsewhere. And if that search fails you, then you can look to LEGO builders like Chris Doyle (that’s me by the way) to take things to a purely ludicrous level.

Click to see how ludicrous!

The toys that made us loopy

Builder Joe Klang is once again creating realistic LEGO models and this time he has his sights on the classic Etch-A-Sketch toy. My own foray into the Etch-A-Sketch arts was short-lived as I found it frustrating. I could draw, that was no problem, but applying my skill to the screen yielded nothing more complex than a wobbly smiley face. To add further insult to my own deflated ego, there are people who are quite good at it. I’m not sure how Joe fares as an Etch-A-Sketch artist but as a LEGO builder, he is top-notch. The complex lettering both on the red frame and old-school LEGO logo on the screen is a testament to his amazing abilities. We were all equally enamoured with his recent and realistic LEGO camera and Atari 2600.

Just another thing to give you the heebie-jeebies

How’s your day going? Nevermind, don’t answer that because it’s about to become a bit more creepy-crawly thanks to this LEGO centipede from Mitsuru Nikaido. “Regular” centipedes are creepy enough, but this one is a mech because apparently this is what the world needs now. I kid because I am as fascinated by real-life centipedes as I am this mecha one, but with that said, I still don’t want either one turning up in my sock drawer. Perhaps it can find a home in a very distant mecha woodpile somewhere. Be sure to also check out Mitsuru’s other awesome mechs.

But before you go, this photo demonstrates that this mecha centipede is just as flexible as the real thing. Sleep tight, readers. Sleep tight.

LEGO Masters: Tyler and Amy reach for the sky

I was really iffy on the whole LEGO Masters thing at first. Mostly this was fueled by a stubborn reaction to every single one of my friends and coworkers asking if I had heard about “that new LEGO show,” mixed with a just a touch of envy at not being on the show myself. After getting caught up on the episodes, though, I have different opinions. First, I now think it’s a really entertaining bit of fun. Second, I thank my lucky stars that I wasn’t a contestant. I would have washed out in the first fifteen minutes in weepy humiliation. Instead, I get to enjoy some amazing builds by actual masters of the craft like Amy and Tyler Clites. Last week, the challenge was mega city builds, and Amy and Tyler were up for it. Their building featured an interesting spiral of triangular levels, each housing a different City sub-theme.

After each episode airs, Tyler shares a cool micro-scale version of their larger creation. This week’s scaled-down build has the same twists as the original, including the “twist” of an attack by a fire-breathing monster.

Leaving LEGO Masters: An interview with the fourth team to leave [Feature]

LEGO Masters has aired its fifth episode last week where contestants built a mega city with a twist. The Brothers Brick had the opportunity to sit down with them and talk about their experience, the broader LEGO community, and if they ever went through a “dark age.”

In our interview, the team talks about which challenge they wished they could have done and how future teams can learn from failure. If you haven’t yet watched the episode, be warned that there will be spoilers!

Read our interview with these eliminated LEGO Masters contestants

LEGO partners with Nintendo to create LEGO Super Mario theme [News]

Teased on the LEGO Twitter account and Facebook page today, a brand new LEGO licensed theme developed in partnership with Nintendo is coming soon. It looks like one of the most famous video game characters, Super Mario is about to get his own lineup of LEGO building sets. The teaser doesn’t reveal much but gives a hint on what Mario minifigure will look like.

Click here to watch the teaser…

Plastic never looked so tasty

Over the years, LEGO has shipped its little plastic pieces in many unconventionally shaped packaging, as any Bionicle fan well knows. When the newly released LEGO Dots arrived in stores in a multi-compartment tray with a clear lid, it was bound to show up in a model sometime. And that time is now, as nobu_tary has built this delicious bento box filled with colorful and tasty looking morsels.

Terminally pretty

Hot on the heels of a 1930s downtown street scene, LEGO builder Andrew Tate has now put together this fabulously retro airport arrivals hall. The tiled and patterned floor is a key element in lending this a smooth and shiny look, and the colors create something of a 70s vibe, but the other details are also spot-on. I like the little luggage carousel, but don’t miss the shop with its postcard rack and extensive selection of LEGO newspapers, the information desk and its pigeonhole wall, and most importantly, the well-signposted toilets. Throughout the model, there’s excellent used of official LEGO stickers and printed tiles, which add interest and detail without contributing too much visual clutter. The best bit of all? The map on the wall — fantastic use of quarter-tiles to make for a stylized yet immediately recognizable Mercator projection depiction of the world.

Float into the sunset

Some LEGO models create a sense of adventure, some an uneasy feeling of impending doom. Others, like this beauty by Eli Willsea, invoke a calm meditative state, and a wistful desire to lose oneself in the depths of the creation. The twin hot air balloons bob over a dramatic seascape, overlooked by a doubtless-expensive Frank Lloyd Wright style clifftop home, but the star of this show is the brick-built sunset — striking colours, combining to create a glorious sundown moment.

Seaside fort has every angle covered

The nature of our favourite modelling medium sees many creations which sit on a “grid” of perpendicular lines. Sometimes all a great LEGO model needs to do is break free of those right-angled rules. That’s exactly what Kai/Geneva has done with this neat little Imperial Fort. It’s a small model, but it’s packed with good technique and interesting lines. Check out the angled bastion walls of the fort’s base and its rounded turret. When you combine that shaping with the weathering effects on the main building, the subtle waves breaking up the expanse of water, and the smart use of brick separators for the roof, you’ve got a lovely little seaside scene.