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.

Explore an astronomer’s tower that’s out of this world!

Sergeant Chipmunk is back with another one of his beautifully textured, fantastically displayed LEGO scenes. Some past creations from Sergeant Chipmunk featured here on the Brothers Brick include Hailstone Point, Securing the Seas and my personal favorite is the western-themed From Sunrise to Sunset!

I have some puzzling thoughts about this picturesque little scene. The titular astronomer has clearly landed already. The boat is tied up, but not unpacked. There are even freshly caught fish and a roaring fire with a pot of fruit boiling away. The telescope is propped up and ready to go. But where’s the astronomer? All of Chipmunk’s other models star minifigures in key roles. Not this time. The easiest answer might be that the astronomer is inside the tower. Or are they underwater spearfishing for more to eat? Did they become the parrot atop the roof? Have they fallen off the bridge with no one to save them? Maybe the intrepid astronomer spotted aliens through the telescope and they arrived to whisk him/her away! Share your theory in the comments!

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In a few hours it’s gonna burst through your ribcage, and you’re gonna die. Any questions?

As a prize for the Space Jam contest he’s currently hosting on Flickr, Micah Beideman has built an excellent chestburster from the various Alien movies. While the Arvo Bros’ chestburster remains one of the best large-scale versions, this one might be my new favorite tiny version. Micah has used a minimum of parts with wise parts selection to capture the slithering organic shape of the nasty creature. The tan Technic gear for the creature’s teeth is particularly well-placed.

In space, no one can hear you drill.

If intergalactic asteroid mining sounds like an interesting prospect, Scott Wilhelm’s LEGO microscale New Bedlam Mining Hub delivers the goods. According to the builder, the mining colony of New Bedlam earned its name for the lawlessness and chaotic growth that comes with rapid development. Scott’s city fits the part, with foreboding dark towers covering the asteroid’s surface. Thanks to an extensive use of black and trans-neon colored elements, the colony also has all the grittiness of a red-light district in the stars.

To the moon, with steam!

I’m not quite sure how the mechanics of a steam-based industry work on the moon, or how exactly a lighter-than-air vehicle like a zeppelin would float above an airless surface, but Dwalin Forkbeard certainly makes such a fantastical idea believable with this steampunk city on the moon.

See more details of this steampunk city on the moon

Wait Wait...Don’t tell me!

Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! is a weekly radio game show series on NPR. Questions typically revolve around the news with a lighthearted take. When Dave Kaleta attended a taping of the show, he brought with him LEGO versions of the host, announcer, and celebrity panelists. After the show, he presented a model to each of them. Dave has done a great job capturing the spirit of the series, with Peter Segal’s head tilted toward the panelists as if he’s asking a question. At the same time, Roxanne appears to be doing a happy dance after giving the right answer, while Paula seems to lament hers was wrong. Dave’s figures are well-built, with cute headsets made of 14 mm tires and string with end studs. The panelists even have their complimentary water bottles. Well played!

A fairwell from Mr. Narwhal

Christmas may be over, but Buddy the elf is the kind of guy you want to hang out with all year round! This BrickHeadz rendering by Kendall Brown (headzsets) isn’t quite possible in real life with available part colors, but it sure is cute! Buddy’s pal, Mr. Narwhal, comes to the surface at the beginning of the movie to wish him luck in finding his real father. He’s a pretty adorable character, and looks fabulous in LEGO form.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for January 13, 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 second week of January 2019.

TBB NEWS & REVIEWS: 2019 is off to a great start with new LEGO Star Wars sets and the finale our our helicopter building series.

Review of LEGO Star Wars 75229 Death Star Escape – The Death Star Escape is an iconic scene from Star Wars: A New Hope. Does this LEGO playset meet the mark? Get your grappling hooks ready and swing right in to find out.
Review of LEGO Star Wars 75235 X-Wing Starfighter Trench Run – We take a look at the debut of the X-Wing from the new 4+ range of series catering to a younger audience. Does it need to be in your complete Star Wars collection?
FEATURE: How to build a Pave Low helicopter with LEGO: Part 3 – In the final installment of his three-part series, TBB’s Builder in Residence Ralph unveils his completed LEGO Pave Low helicopter. We can finally “get to the choppa!”

OTHER NEWS: There were quite a few other interesting LEGO news articles from around the web this week. Here are the best of the rest:

Giant LEGO Ninjago City created by 30 people, YouTube – Beyond the Brick’s Joshua Hanlon talks with Daniel Fortine about the LEGO Ninjago City collaboration organized by The Brothers Brick at BrickCon 2018.
Meet the biggest LEGO experts and super-builders in the world, SyFy – TBB’s Editor in Chief Andrew Becraft tells us about his LEGO journey in this SyFy podcast, from being a kid playing on his bedroom floor to author and master builder and LEGO fan community member.
Madame Tussauds-owner Merlin to build Legoland Park in South Korea – CNA Lifestyle –Madame Tussauds-owner Merlin Entertainments has entered into a partnership agreement to build a Legoland theme park in South Korea by 2022.
Meet the world’s fastest LEGO Bughatti Chiron, YouTube – Donut Media souped up the LEGO Technic Bugatti Chiron to go faster than the real thing (accounting for scale).

Crack it open and see that beauty lies within

I grew up in central Oregon, USA, the “thunderegg” capitol of the world. As a kid, an ultimate prize in treasure hunting was finding baseball-sized rocks that reveal beautiful crystals when broken in half. Unfortunately, giant Amethyst geodes aren’t found in Oregon. They’re not found in the Netherlands either, but that didn’t stop Koen Zwanenburg from building this exquisite replica from LEGO.

Standing almost two feet tall and containing over 7300 perfectly placed pieces, this must have been a real feat! That’s especially considering trans-purple parts are hard to come by. The unique building technique combined with those lovely curves makes for a work of art!

A picture is worth a thousand bricks

Back in 2013 Tyler Clites contributed a fantastic tutorial to the Brothers Brick on how to photograph your LEGO creations; and his latest creation proves once again that not only is he one of the LEGO community’s most talented builders, he’s also a master at presenting his work. Of course the featured spaceship has all the hallmarks you’d expect from Tyler: nice piece usage throughout, wonderfully shaped engines, and appealing splashes of colour for detail. However, as he notes, he wanted more for this craft than a shot of it flying through space. With a repurposed rock base, and the creation of some creepy bug aliens, we now have a story to be told. Hunkered down for repairs in the middle of nowhere, the ship’s auto turrets save the day. Mix in ace lighting effects and a swirling mist, courtesy of a vape pen, and you have what I have previously written about, the perfect marriage between LEGO and photography.

Using height to dodge danger in sight

When LEGO launched the Islanders line in 1994, it made for an interesting addition to LEGO Pirates. In carrying on the legacy of this cherished theme, LEGO fan website Eurobricks has created a fictional pirate-themed universe. The lost city of Myzectlan, in particular, is reminiscent of the Islanders. Eurobricks’ “Daily Life in Myzectlan” collaborative building challenge has inspired some excellent models, such as this lush and lively jungle scene by Stefan G. With a big cat on the prowl, two Myzec travelers bide their time by hiding out in a miraforma. In the Myzec world, miraforma are used to hide from predators on the jungle floor. They also make for good lookout posts.

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Set sail on a tiny sea of nostalgia

The original wave of LEGO Pirates sets from 1989 have a special place in my heart. They are some of the earliest LEGO sets I remember, so this microscale scene by Corvus Auriac fills me with a warm glow. These miniature renditions of the classic sets Eldorado Fortress, Caribbean Clipper, and Black Seas Barracuda are notable not only for the way they evoke memories of my childhood, but also for some great building techniques.

My absolute favorite detail is the use of red flippers as the cannon bases. I learned of the existence of this modified 1×2 plate with three claws / rock fingers piece when inspecting the details of the miniature “ramp and pit” baseplate. The 1×2 curved wedge slopes also work great on the sails of the ships.

Want more retro goodness from Corvus Auriac? Don’t miss the re-imagined Guarded Inn we recently featured.

This classic video game enemy is even less threatening when made of LEGO

The folks at Build Better Bricks have continued their series of LEGO designs based on Super Mario characters with this adorable Goomba. This build looks pretty simple at first glance, but there are some clever techniques used to create the simple shapes of the classic video game foe. The eyebrows were the first thing to catch my attention, the key piece attaching them to the body seems to be the relatively new bar 1L with 1×1 round plate with hollow stud. I’m not sure how they achieved the half-stud offset for the mouth, but I guess I could buy the instructions if I really wanted to find out.

This Goomba would look perfect alongside the Mario, Luigi, and Bowser models by Build Better Bricks we previously featured.