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.

Bedlam in the sahn

Builder Ted Andes brings us this scene full of middle-eastern style architecture and serpentine intrigue. A group of warriors battles it out with the forces of evil in the form of a snake-bodied wizard that we only see from the back. I love the way it lets your imagination fill in what might be behind that hooded cloak.

The whole courtyard is full of touches that evoke a feeling of the Middle East. The sand green and white tiled floor is beautifully done and complimented nicely by the sand green tiles with blue and yellow flowers on the wall to represent the elaborate tile work. The impressively large door made from palisades bricks is quite a presence and the use of keys as handles is very clever. The column treatment is elegant with its combination of square, round and palisades bricks as well as an earthy color palette that brings a cohesiveness to the whole scene.

But, it’s the decorated central column that really steals the show. The octagonal fountain at the base is a pleasing shape that draws your attention and mimics the angles of the tiled floor. The use of upside-down gold lamps for faucets gives is a nice touch and the gold scarab finishes this portion off nicely. The central column leads to a cluster of shin guards at the top that blossom into balloon parts topped with a bush to create a beautiful architectural palm tree. The addition of Aladdin off to the side, mopping up with a wry smile, is terrific and leaves us wondering if perhaps he was in on this evil plan the entire time.

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Have you had enough water today?

Dehydration is serious business. It can cause headaches, fatigue, blurred vision, brain fog, dizzy spells, seizures, bladder stones-or even cause you to totally become a sun-bleached desert skeleton like this poor animal here. While the condition is unfortunate, the execution of this piece presented by Toa Aparu is totally awesome. Nearly equal measures of Bionicle and system parts meld together to create a neat cattle skull and the sandy terrain is an excellent touch. The whole composition acts as a stark reminder to always make sure you drink plenty of water, dear readers. Also a daily dose of The Brothers Brick couldn’t hurt either.

This catfish will shake your world

In Japanese mythology, the giant catfish Namazu lives in the mud under the islands of Japan. When this creature thrashes, violent earthquakes result. Not a good thing, but that hasn’t stopped Japan from embracing Namazu as a mascot of sorts for earthquakes. Catfish are a common image on earthquake-related signs, and even appear on the Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) logo. And, as you might expect from a monster-turned-mascot, sometimes those catfish images are just adorable. Case in point: [Jack Frost] has built a LEGO version of Namazu that will melt your heart, even as it shakes your world.

There are a lot of fun aspects to this build. Although a couple of studs can be spotted, the majority of the body is sculpted in smooth black elements including Hero Factory armor. Meanwhile, the flame colors in the Legend of Chima energy effects used as fins invoke the destructive aspects of earthquakes. But the large and expressive eyes and charming smile somehow try and make that seem like not a big deal.

Somehow, though, I think we should probably just be terrified.

Can a volcano be a character?

There are certain LEGO building systems that are tailored to different themes and motives. Technic is most suitable for mechanization, System tends to be best for buildings, vehicles, landscapes and similar motives. Bionicle (character & creature building system, or Constraction, or whatever you may call it) was obviously intended to be used to build characters and creatures and not volcanoes! But LEGO fans love to use parts in unique ways and chubbybots‘ latest build is a prime example.

The build mostly consists of armor shells, probably connected on their intended limb pieces (or possibly in a different way, but we can not really see the inner structure). There are a few trans-neon orange chains for thinner lava flows and some round plates and bricks as smoke. But that is it. Such simple techniques were used in a unique way with a good sense of shape and topped off with good photography, resulting in a very memorable creation.

From the depths of space, something wicked this way comes

Back in 2017, Maelven teased the LEGO community with First Contact: The Drone. This small, intricate build fit in nicely with Maelven’s other vehicular creations, but would remain an enigma for years. Was it a spaceship? A creature? A bit of both?

Fast forward to 2019, and the reveal of First Contact: Ktulu Awaken! We finally learn where the drone came from, but we’re left with even more questions than answers. Described as a “scary alien thingy” all we know for sure is that it’s huge. Clocking in at just under 100 studs, this monster of the space lanes appears to be part squid, part Reaper from Mass Effect, part battleship, and maybe even a little electric guitar thrown in for good measure. Whatever its true nature, it contains some really excellent building techniques and part usage.

Red Technic panels provide the suggestion of mandibles, while the rest of the red hull sweeps back in well-constructed curves. Touches of white detailing in the body echo the biologic greebling, tying the whole build together. The use of a tan dome for the central “eye” also works really well (if that is an eye). The underside has a very organic feel, with the repetition of Bionicle feet and other tan elements giving a very lobster-esque vibe.

Whatever the true nature of Ktulu ultimately is, there’s no denying it’s an awesome creation.

This old-timey racer has moxie, see!

Builder Joe Maruschak has got something to put a smile on your gigglemug, something to really blow your wig over. Everyone from wisenheimers to anklebiters can appreciate the swagger of this vintage race car with its inline 4 engine and old square pistons. You’d have to spend a bit of happy cabbage to get these macaroni pieces in black. And my favorite bit, a pond hopper as a hood ornament, is a gas. Be sure to peep this moving picture to see and hear the ratta-tat-tat of the engine. A hayburner like this is sure to take the egg at the racetrack. Now if you’ll pardon me, I got to twenty-three skidoo and see a man about a dog.

Swoosh in space in style

I love spaceships. I might not be Benny the 1980-Something Space Guy, but I was born in the 1980s and my name is Benjamin. I used to build spaceships all the time from my modest LEGO collection, mostly small, single-seat fighters. This spaceship, built by seb71, hits all the things I love about spaceships. It has elegant lines, attractive curves, a coherent color scheme, enough greebly texture to be believable, and massive propulsion units; it looks perfect for picking up and swooshing around while making engine vrooms and blaster pew-pews and running around the living room. I mean, everyone does that with a spaceship when they are done building it, right?

In addition, it has great striping, lovely integration of sloped bricks and different angles, and the single-seat cockpit that brings me back. Of course, this is way bigger and way better than anything I built as a kid. While smaller elements give satisfying greebles, like the gear rack and the macaroni tube, the real star of the show is the hot air balloon piece as a reactor cover. It works perfectly. I love that the reactor is still visible underneath the housing, too. The twin-pronged fuselage gives the ship a distinct Vic Viper feel, making me hope that we’ll see more from seb71 around NoVVember.

It’s the little things that cause the biggest problems

When running a Super Star Destroyer it is often easy to overlook the smaller nuisances that could cause potential turmoil. Trip hazard in compartment 4412 on deck 206, that one toilet that won’t flush by the aft galley, that doohickey shaped like a cowboy hat that keeps buzzing for some reason; all can spell tragedy when left unchecked. The imposing sight of the Star Dreadnought Executor alone was enough to frighten an entire star system into submission, so it was easy to dismiss a lone one-man rebel A-Wing as a laughable insignificant detail. Ben Cossy recreates the scene in Return of the Jedi when one such laughable insignificant detail crashed into the Executor’s command bridge, thus sending the flagship hurtling into the Death Star II. (The first also destroyed by small, laughable rebel spacecraft.)

He calls it “Arvel Crynyd’s Sacrifice” and excellent details abound, including making use of spring shooter darts and antenna as part of the explosive effect. Meanwhile, a myriad of minifig headpieces create texture for the black smoke. The minifig officers run like the dickens as the hapless crew members do…whatever it is they do with those switches and knobs. Crynyd was posthumously awarded the New Republic Medal of Bravery for turning the battle tides in the rebel’s favor, and we can’t help but root for the underdog. If you too like the notion that the little guy can take down a vast oppressive empire, you should check out this previously featured instrument of death that was ultimately crushed by “teddy bears.”

This Fred Flintstone portrait is a Yabba-Dabba-Doozie!

Builder SuckMyBrick is perhaps best known for his pop culture LEGO models, but he has reached a new level with this spot-on portrait of Fred Flintstone. The Flintstones premiered in 1960 as the first ever prime time animated series. Almost 50 years later, Fred, Wilma, Barney and Betty are still a part of our pop culture landscape, so much so that The LEGO Group produced the Flintstone’s iconic house as LEGO Ideas Set 21316 back in March.

When building with LEGO, it can be quite difficult to achieve the lines and curves required to make a portrait, and there is often a certain amount of abstraction that needs to take place. SuckMyBrick does an astounding job here with his utilization of the 3rd dimension, angles and curves. He also makes great use of studs up, studs out and even sideways building to achieve this look. I am particularly impressed by the builder’s ability to create this very sleek style with no studs showing. From a distance you might not even know this was made with LEGO bricks. The third dimension is expertly used to not only create Fred’s facial features, but to also give the impression that his is reaching out of the edge of the frame. It’s a positively perfect portrait of the patriarch of everyone’s favorite modern stone-age family!

Diamonds and gold are a mech’s best friend

The expansion of transparent clear elements over the past decade has allowed for some intricate builds like this glittering mech by Moko, named the MF-10 Diamond Empress. While the frame of the mech is black, it is clad in transparent clear armor formed from tiles, slopes, dishes, windshields, and more. The Diamond Empress lives up to its name with a few parts in rare non-production colors, such as the 2×2 round tile in trans clear. Aside from the build itself, my favorite aspect of this model is perhaps the use of trans clear 12x2x5 tails for the skirting. Meanwhile, chrome gold and transparent red accents provide additional visual interest.

See more of this opulent mech

It’s not faster than you need, it’s just faster than you’re used to

The Muscle Car of the Future — that’s how Blake Foster describes his latest LEGO creation. It’s a perfect fit for this beefy beast of a speeder. This thing looks like it’s bursting with engine power, and along with the lovely colour blocking, it’s bristling with functional-looking greebles. Check out the fins on those intakes up front, and the wonderful curved piping which creates a common design element across both the front and back sections visually tying the whole model together.

Even better, Blake’s speeder appears to run on fuel provided by everyone’s favourite mega-corporation, Octan…

You won’t get Grant out of Montana, he’s a digger

Since Jurassic Park roared onto cinema screens in 1993, many LEGO builders have recreated their favourite scenes. We’ve lost count of the number of T-Rex vs Ford Explorer dioramas we’ve seen, and many of the other action sequences have received their own brick-built tributes. However, Jonas Kramm has chosen to revisit one of the calmer moments near the film’s beginning — a dinosaur excavation in the Montana Badlands. Jonas has captured the scene perfectly — Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler are brushing away at the exposed Velociraptor fossil, surrounded by piles of gear. The dinosaur fossil is nicely put together, but the assorted equipment rewards closer inspection. I particularly like the rendition of the red “shotgun holder” — fired into the ground to generate a sonar image on the computer screen. (A screen which Jonas has thoughtfully shaded from the Montana sun, just like in the movie!)