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.

Duck duck robot

What do you do if your robot walker develops a waddle? Make it a feature rather than a bug, of course! At least, that’s what I like to think happened in the backstory for Moko‘s latest LEGO creation. This Mecha-Duck is a delight, nicely-built with some cool mechanical details, but also invested with a brilliant sense of fun and character. I’m pleased to see that, like its inspiration, the walker is also amphibious — there’s a little red propeller sitting at the rear, allowing for effective transportation on water too.

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.

A day of winter fishing in the solace of frozen silence

A prolific LEGO builder who’s graced our pages before, Ted Andes has presented a creation I resonate with at the moment, Winter. I’m typing this from Victoria, Australia, where the frosts and bleak days have been many. This beautiful vignette, a small capture of a snowy morning on the edge of a siheyuan. I can almost feel the stillness in the air.

Andes’ parts use is always exceptional, though not just in obscure part usage. His harness on basic parts to get the maximum effect is outstanding. The bare tree is made from roughly thirteen different pieces, twisted into some outstanding, gnarled forms. See if you can spot them all — can you see any I’ve missed? The river and its edging is also another highlight for me. The 4L trans-light blue bars surrounding some fish is a nice touch, giving the impression of icy cold, rushing water. Having the land predominantly in two colours has also worked elegantly, while the simple touches of trans-clear near the edge of the river have brought it closer to the reality of the camping trips I’ve taken in winter.

Yup. That’s one fully Assembled Avenger

By now the ending of Avengers: Endgame has been well and truly revealed to the world through Disney’s own marketing. The fact that Captain America can wield Thor’s hammer is common knowledge. Regardless of how you feel about that sort of spoiler, you are sure to find joy in Sam Beattie‘s recreation of the iconic moment in LEGO. Sam has enhanced the build with a few custom stickers, but even without them, there’s no question of what you’re looking at. (LEGO has released a large scale figure of Cap in the past – 2012’s Buildable Hero Captain America (Set 4597). I think it’s fair to say that the look there is…somewhat less accurate than’s Sam’s.

Some of the fun details from the build are the use of a gold ingot for Cap’s belt buckle and the whip used to shape Mjolnir’s strap. I also like how the support beams in the rubble work well at this larger scale. Standing atop that rocky and flame-strewn battlefield, Cap looks ready to kick some serious butt. And speaking of butt, here’s a rear view of the build showcasing “America’s ass.”

Set sail amongst the clouds

It’s a Sky Pirate’s worst nightmare when The Valvalevidan hoves into view. AdNorrel‘s massive steampunk flying vessel is a wonderful LEGO creation — beautifully detailed, and packed with functional-looking elements. The overall shape carries a faint whiff of Jabba’s Sail Barge from Return Of The Jedi, but that’s no bad thing. I love the touches of gold and the striped sails, and those lanterns on the raised rear deck are excellent.

The airship is 80 studs in length, making for a formidable construction project which took 9 months to put together. However, all that space is put to great use with some fabulous details. Here’s a close-up view of the impressive motors which keep the ship moving when the wind drops… Continue reading →

For the life of every plane, I will keep watch.

A good LEGO creation will be good despite the motive and theme it depicts. Some times though, a build comes up that is both built well and plays on your personal interests. The builder that does that to me most often is Eero Okkonen. If you have been following The Brothers Brick for a while you are probably familiar with Eero’s beautiful character builds of various themes, many of which come from the Magic the Gathering trading card game, just like this particular one.

The build represents an elf planeswalker (basically a glorified mage) important in Magic’s storyline. The character’s likeness is incredibly well captured in LEGO, especially the iconic green markings on her face. The clothing and posing is great as well, with a flowing green cape and a green flame in her hand. You can read more about the build on Eero’s blog, Cyclopic Bricks. The builder is so good at capturing iconic characters that one could call him an Iconic Master…

Batman – Steaming Mad at Criminals

Marvel Comics has their multiverse — alternate realities where the heroes you know are reimagined as something new. DC comics does something similar with their own characters, usually super grim and dark ones resulting from the timeline being broken by something the Flash did. (Really. It’s a trope.) But sometimes these stories can just be bight spots of fun, and if you’re really lucky you’ll get to enjoy one of them in LEGO form. For instance, have a look at this take on Batman and the Batmobile by Breado’s Bricks. Batman always has a ton of resources, so what if he really leaned into the glitz as much as the flying rodent thing? You might end up with the steampunk version we see here. Decked out in gold chrome elements, cape and cowl, and body armor, this Batman may not be stealthy, but he certainly is shiny.

SteamBat brings this sense of style into his ride as well. The BatRod mixes the traditional BatBlack with new and improved BatGold accents. Mag wheel covers and rims echo the highlights in the engine and exhaust. Even more gold adorns the front grill and headlights.

No matter what angle you view this car from, you’re going to be well aware that SteamBats has a lot of cash to spend. Take that, criminals!

An Open Letter to Vader and the Management of the Imperial Forces

Dear Honorable Darth Vader and the Management Team of the Galactic Empire,

You have an almost infinite budget at your disposal to spend on wages and upskilling of personnel and technological innovation. I’m sure you’ve attended the Business Strategies 101 course at our SPOT (Security, Peace, Order, Terror) University and learned that having quality over quantity is paramount towards a calculated win in all battles. The root cause of all losses has been apparent, and we can narrow it down to one thing: bad aiming (be it Stormtroopers, or TIE pilots). At one time, our Stormtroopers had a reputation for being precise enough to pinpoint a Jawa from two sand dunes away. Until we return to this, you will continue to see mockery in all forms like this one built and sculpted in LEGO form by Pasq67 – Tie Fighters tailing Rebel scum piloting X-Wings Starfighters, which are low-tech vehicles that have little automation and only manual firing systems. However, they are always evading, destroying, and killing so many of our innocent troops and soldiers.

The solution? Invest in better targeting systems, and train the troopers to shoot well and not let them graduate unless they have a decent passing rate for marksmanship. My analysis shows that it’s a simple strategy that will save us from countless numbers of sequels, prequels, animated series, and god knows how many more spinoffs down the road. Until then, toy companies like LEGO will continue to build multi-million dollar businesses from allowing people to recreate scenes and games retelling history on our continuous defeats. It’s embarrassing. Do something.

Yours sincerely,
Stormtrooper
(FN-2186)
#NOTATRAITOR

Instructions for LEGO San Diego Comic Con 2019 Exclusives now available [News]

LEGO has released the build instructions for the 3 Sets that were released at San Diego Comic-Con. If you were not one of the lucky ones that got them at the event, here’s a great way to enjoy them if you’re a builder and would just want to enjoy these for display in your collection.

Click to reveal the download links

This epic LEGO coal mining shovel is nearly as tall as its builder

If this 1:28.5 scale model of the Marion 5760 Mountaineer stripping shovel doesn’t make your jaw hit the floor, then I suggest you take a closer look. Personally, I am glad that it is equipped with robust power functions to lift mine back up. Beat Felber, also known as Engineering with ABS, has created an absolutely stunning model of this monster of a machine used to scrape off the top layers of earth from seams of coal in Ohio. The Mountaineer was in operation from 1956 until 1979, and considering how massive the LEGO model of it is, I can only imagine how enormous the real thing was. It must have moved a lot of dirt. I almost said “a ton of dirt”, but I’d bet the shovel could lift a lot more than a ton of rock and dirt in every scoop. (It was closer to 60 tons per scoop! – Ed.)

Click here to dig deeper into this build

Ferrari 250 GT has earned its stripes

The Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta SWB was one of the most successful GT racing cars of the early 60s, and even without considering its trophy-winning prowess, was undoubtedly one of the coolest looking. Noah L‘s LEGO version is as classy as its inspiration. The model’s shaping is excellent, nicely capturing the car’s stylish curves. And that central tricolour stripe is just lovely.

In an impressive display of building skill, Noah has crammed in a detailed interior, an engine, and opening doors, bonnet, and boot — no mean feat in such a tight footprint.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for July 28, 2019 [News]

In addition to the amazing LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick brings you the best of LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the fourth week of July 2019.

LEGO Masters is coming to the U.S. and looking for contestants. Have you got what it takes? Keep reading this week’s Brick Report for a closer look.

TBB NEWS, REVIEWS AND INSTRUCTIONS: This week was all about a treehouse with an announcement and a review. Plus, learn to make your own Golden Snitch!

LEGO reveals 21318 Ideas Treehouse, featuring 3,000 pieces and foliage for 2 seasons – Follow the changing of the seasons with the new LEGO Ideas Treehouse.
LEGO Ideas 21318 Treehouse unleashes your childhood dreams [Review] – We take an inside look at the largest LEGO Ideas set to date. Check out our hands-on review!
Build your very own Golden Snitch [Instructions] – Builder hachiroku24 shows us how to craft the elusive Golden Snitch!
TBB’s Stranger Things building contest is flipping things upside down – There are just two and a half weeks left to build your best Stranger Things creation for a chance to win an amazing prize. Read about all the details in the article.

Continue reading →

An enigmatic maze

Sometimes you don’t need a wide breadth of pieces to build a great LEGO model. You just need a large quantity of a handful of elements. That seems to be the case with this eye-catching maze by Dutch builder Erik Eti Smit. Using a repeating pattern of tan arches, curved slopes, and striking red slopes, Erik has crafted a stunning maze for some hapless dwarves.

Click to see more of the maze and dwarves