If you visit Portland, Oregon you might be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the Unipiper, a unicycling, bagpipe-playing, costume-wearing street performer. He achieved fame for riding around as Darth Vader while playing a rendition of the Imperial March on bagpipes. Patrick Biggs has captured the Unipiper in all his quirky glory, right down to the flames shooting out of the bagpipes. Patrick claims this was a last minute build, but his model looks both well-planned and well-executed.
In some ways this rendered microscale build is simple, but my eye was drawn to its neat little features and techniques. Everything fits so nicely against each mountain segment in this model designed by Aukbricks. Simply put, it’s clean and elegant.
The overhead view doesn’t do it complete justice. I believe the best way to view this build is to watch it as it’s turned. The Technic axle pins make for great crops and the books are lovely rooftops. The trees made from foliage elements are also perfect. While the techniques aren’t entirely new and unique to this build, the cohesive combination is beautiful.
We recently covered another one of Aukbricks’ renders, a holey sports store!
Last year, the LEGO Group launched an Indiegogo crowdsourcing campaign for LEGO Forma. With LEGO Forma sets shipping this year, it was only a matter of time until someone incorporated the skins into a custom LEGO model. Aaron Newman took fish fins and turned them into the wings of a colorful, magical bird. If you didn’t know they were from LEGO Forma, you just might think they were made for this build.
Adding further context to the model, Aaron created a scene in which explorers discover the majestic bird. Looking at the team members, at least one can’t handle all the colors.
When it comes to building classic cars out of LEGO bricks, Volkswagens have remained a popular subject. While there are plenty of great LEGO Beetles and Transporters out there, it’s nice to see something from the 1980s like Brixe63’s VW Golf Cabriolet. One of the challenges in building the Golf is capturing the subtle angles of the body. Brixe63 has managed to pull it off, right down to the tilt of the windshield. The 1×1 tiles placed within clips work well as mirrors, and the silver barbs make for nice door handles.
The builder also made a slick-looking version of the classic VW Beetle. Here, Brixe63 proves as adept at replicating the Beetle’s curves as she is with the subtle angles of the Golf.
She even built a fleet of Beetles, including a convertible and police car. With the top down and a lovely tan and green color scheme, the convertible is my favorite of the three.
When Sony released Guerrilla Games’ Horizon Zero Dawn for Playstation 4 back in 2017, I knew right away it was going to inspire some awesome LEGO creations based on the terrifying dinosaur-like robots which serve as the game’s main focus. Accomplished German builder Marius Herrmann was quick to take the challenge with his spectacular Shell-Walker, Corruptor and Thunderjaw. Once again Marius does not disappoint with his latest addition to the Zero Dawn line up, the Watcher recon unit.
It may be puny compared to other machines in the game, but don’t be fooled. The Watcher can be a ferocious opponent, especially in numbers. Marius brings the Watcher to life with some great techniques and clever parts usage (such as the roller skates used to add a little extra texture to the tail). Those glowing eyes are perfectly creepy, too. Considering Marius’ successful endeavor to build every Titanfall 2 mech, I’m keeping my fingers crossed he’ll bring us even more from the Zero Dawn universe.
The Atari VCS console is one of those objects that instantly trigger an emotional response. Seeing Build Better Bricks’ faithful LEGO model of the gaming system takes me back to my childhood, and I suspect will do the same for many other video game fans. Although much smaller than the original machine – consoles back in the late 70s really were bricks – it embodies the wood-fronted spirit of the console. There’s an eye for detail too, with inverted clip and claws mounted on inset bars to create the iconic flick switches, as well as superbly built joysticks. Before you know it, I’m sure this build will have you pining for a quick round of Combat tanks!
WWI-era aircraft generally don’t receive as much attention from LEGO builders as their modern (or futuristic) descendents. Wesley makes a worthy attempt to redress the balance with this wonderful Fokker Eindecker, an early German fighter plane, one of the most advanced aircraft of its day. The model is nicely put-together, with some great angles in the undercarriage struts, a well-shaped fuselage, and good use of string which always adds a classic vintage aircraft feel. But it’s the photography which really sets this creation apart — the addition of a couple of simple background elements makes for an effective backdrop, and the low camera angle is a great choice. It’s nice to see Wesley yet again present a LEGO aircraft model in something different from the standard three-quarter view high-angle “flying” shot.
Be sure to check out Wesley’s other fantastic WWI aircraft we’ve highlighted.
What’s the only way to make a T-Rex more fearsome? Place him at the controls of a giant Godzilla-esque mechanoid! If you take a close look at the pilot’s cockpit of Simon Liu‘s impressive LEGO technobeast, you’ll spot Rex from Toy Story at the helm. You don’t need to get this little joke to be impressed by this creation and its wrecked-city diorama surroundings, but it’s details and touches of humour like this which elevate the best LEGO models into something special. The texture and mechanical-looking greebles prevent the central robot from just being a big mass of grey (always a danger with a one-colour model), and the ruined buildings are brilliantly done, creating an appropriate sense of urban destruction. The addition of Buzz Lightyear facing down Rex’s new toy, along with a bunch of fleeing claw-machine aliens, adds some welcome splashes of colour amidst the rubble.
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 last week of February 2019.
How many LEGO bricks did it take to create this life-size VW Camper? Read on to find out more.
TBB NEWS & REVIEWS: After all the news from the New York Toy Fair last week, we weren’t expecting three more sets to be announced this week.
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:
Click to read even more LEGO news
Six months ago, we featured an incredibly unique spacecraft by Dwalin Forkbeard, but now he is back with a new installment in the series. This virus-inspired LEGO spaceship called Heavy Transport M11 Phage expands on his previous build both from a technical and design point of view. He’s also given it an even more molecular twist with a double strand of DNA in the cargo compartment, built out of two tipper beds he had lying around trying to find a use for. Most builders, myself included, will surely relate to the feeling of having a unique piece they desperately want to find a use for, and this is a great showcase of how to perfectly integrate them.
The spaceship has some killer colour blocking and oozes with intense technical detail like hoses, gears and pistons. I love the custom sticker saying PHAGE and the extra effort in the presentation, but the best detail is probably everyone’s favourite, the double helix.
Welcome to a sporting goods store that sells itself before you even walk in! The look is inspired by a real store in Japan, but in LEGO it can’t be more gorgeous. What’s even better is that this render, created by Aukbricks, is actually completely buildable, with all the parts existing in their appropriate colors.
But if the outside isn’t beautiful enough, the inside is incredible. The zoom-worthy photos will make you fall in love even more. Every detail is perfectly placed, and essentially covers every bit of minifigure sports equipment LEGO has ever made. Even the brick-built equipment is perfect, from the treadmill to the ping-pong table. And I’m a big fan of the frogs used to create a rock wall on the third floor.
If you love this you should also check out Aukbricks’ Friends kitchen and family house. And for something totally different, she even made a giant minifigure!
At the moment I am building models from the Cold War for a collaboration with my friends at BrickFair Virginia. I already presented my Soviet SS-20 “Saber” about a week ago. That missile platform was seen as a direct threat to Western Europe. Whilst I was buying parts for that, I was already planning to build one of the weapons systems that NATO fielded in Europe: the BGM-109G Gryphon ground-launched cruise missile (GLCM). Or, more precisely, the vehicle used to transport and launch them.
It consisted of a large German-built MAN truck that pulled a semi-trailer with the launcher. This housed up to four cruise missiles in a box that was elevated to an angle of 45 degrees before launch. I built the vehicle to a scale of 1/43, making it roughly 53 studs long. Building its four-tone camouflage scheme (with dark green, dark tan, tan and black) was a challenge, especially on such a small vehicle.