Builder Timothy Jones brings to life a large Cockatrice in a majestic pose. I’ve since learnt that a Cockatrice is a fictional and mythical beast. It’s supposed to be different parts of a serpent, dragon and rooster all combined together. This does have certain elements of those, and it’s pretty grand with the wings spread out — I’m especially impressed with how it all holds up given the amount of weight those wings must have.
I’ve been practising the Wingardium Leviosa spell for quite a while now, but it’s not been very effective. Builder hachiroku24 seems to have better success than I’m having. I blame my wand instead of the lack of skill. As a fan of LEGO, I feel the bricks calling and channelling through me, and I believe that it will be the right instrument for me instead of the wooden wands. If any of you are up for a duel with your own brick-built LEGO wand, here are the instructions to get you started.
See the parts list and instructions for building your own Harry Potter wand from LEGO
The flower-laden gardens and open paddy fields that surround Rollon Smith’s Snake Samouraï Temple create a beautifully secluded retreat for the noble Japanese warrior. What I find really appealing about this scene is the way the well-selected decorative details, such as the serpent reliefs and the various printed tiles, are balanced against an obviously tended natural landscape.
Zooming in you find the minifigure inhabitants of the temple caught in the acts of harvesting rice, pruning plants and raking gravel; and it’s this little nod to Zen aesthetic practice that ultimately makes for such a satisfying build.
Luke Skywalker gets roughed up quite a bit in The Empire Strikes Back, first by a giant Yeti-beast and later by his own dad, who cuts off his hand just for mouthing off and refusing to obey! As a result, Luke spends quite a bit of time in Rebel Alliance medical facilities, both on Hoth and aboard the Nebulon-B medical frigate. While LEGO Star Wars fans have clamored for a UCS or even microscale medical frigate for years, LEGO has instead focused twice on the bacta tank treatment scene, most recently with 75203 Hoth Medical Chamber. Available August 1st, this set includes 255 pieces with 3 minifigures and retails for $29.99.
Read our hands-on review of 75203 Hoth Medical Chamber
Overflowing with architectural features, Noel Peterson’s El Templo de Uxmal revels in the crumbling splendour of the ancient Mayan civilisation. As you explore the ruins, you have to marvel at just how many different building techniques have been used: from the rings of brackets used to shape the distinctive holed blocks, to the row of modified bar elements inset to replicate relief carvings. The arrow head portal, made by off-setting cheese wedges, adds a spectacular focal point to the build that I particularly like. Noel’s attention to detail carries on throughout the model, creating weathering effects, age and a real sense of history everywhere you look.
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 July 2018.
TBB NEWS: Harry Potter stole the show this week with the reveal of the massive “microscale” Hogwarts Castle, along with a few winter themed sales to whet your LEGO whistle.
TBB REVIEWS: Are you ready for a brand new wave of sets coming in August? We have your early reviews right here to get you ready.
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:
Check out the other LEGO news of the week
It’s easy to love life-like animal builds (at least for me), but some certainly stand out more than others. This giant rock tortoise by Ralf Langer is one of those builds. The shaping is truly splendid, especially when it comes to the head, and the eyes are also quite expressive. In addition, the engineering to stabilize and support the head and neck had to be pretty tough to master!
According to Ralf, this was sort of an accident. He was going for something else but apparently that something really wanted to be a tortoise instead. I think this birth of art has happened for many of us, and I’m especially grateful for builds like this. Apparently the rest of the tortoise isn’t quite finished, so I have my fingers crossed that there will be more to come soon!
Take the classic lines of a 50s-styled roadster and sprinkle on the magic dust of LEGO’s Classic Space theme. What do you get? This fabulous Jetsons-esque vehicle from billyburg. It’s a glorious mash-up — sleek curves with a retro roofline, aerials, and fins, all decked-out in the immediately-recognisable colour scheme of LEGO’s original sci-fi line. Ingot parts offer a bit of bonnet texture, and the rear fin is an excellent use of a boomerang piece. Cut tubing provides a nice touch of blue detail to the open studs down the sides, and that front grille is beautiful. If our vehicular future looks anything like this, I want it to arrive right now!
We’ve all seen the giant Chinese dragons given life by hidden dancers in their bellies. They’re especially popular in parades surrounding the Chinese New Year. But they aren’t just for fun. These colorful characters are created to honor the beloved creatures of Chinese tradition and culture. Dragons are a symbol of power and luck. They are also said to represent prosperity and strength. This LEGO build, by Vlad Lisin, is a really cool tribute to their beauty.
Vlad has done a great job of bringing the dragon to life with the details of the face. I’m especially fond of the expressive eyes, eyebrows and cheeks.
Mesoamerican temples lend themselves naturally to LEGO, with their blocky shapes and colours that are often abundant in collections, namely grays and greens. There seems to be an influx of Mayan and Aztec temples lately as you might have noticed on The Brothers Brick, and we have the Summer Joust competition to thank for this. One of the creations built for this contest is this one by Andreas Lenander
The first thing that catches our attention is the dark tan ground, a change from the expected greens that are used in similar creations. While I like the contrast that green gives, tan is probably more realistic. The sand and olive green overgrowth on the temple is an interesting colour choice, joined by dark green, which looks almost black in the photo. This darker colour gives a strong impression of wet moss, setting the scene in a particularly dank swamp. Some of the more unique parts usages include the Statue of Liberty headgear used as serpent’s head ornaments and the brown treads used as vines.
One of the most shocking scenes in Star Wars: The Last Jedi occurs on Supreme Leader Snoke’s enormous flagship the Supremacy, when Kylo Ren turns on Snoke and he and Rey join forces to battle the Supreme Leader’s Praetorian Guards. 75216 Snoke’s Throne Room captures this scene as a playset. The set includes 492 pieces with 5 minifigures and retails for $69.99.
Read our hands-on review of 75216 Snoke’s Throne Room from The Last Jedi
We’ve seen a multitude of characters built by YOS Bricks in BrickHeadz form and otherwise, inspired by everything from Disney movies like Wreck it Ralph to Blizzard games. A strange mix indeed, and the collection of Blizzard Brickheadz has been flying under the radar so far. But now, with the addition of the Prime Evil Diablo from Diablo III and his host Leah, it is about time Yos Bricks’ “BlizzHeadz” get some recognition!
YOS Bricks takes the popular theme of Brickheadz to its limits and further with his builds, and the builder has declared that the Diablo figure in particular was the hardest so far. It is very complex while still keeping the basic BrickHeadz look. The ribbed horns are captured really well with the use of hinge bricks and 1×2 plates with door rail. Other characteristics like the iconic forehead and patterns on the demon’s body are also captured perfectly. The addition of Leah in the picture adds a bit of a sad tone to those more familiar with the story.
Click to see more of YOS Bricks’ Diablo characters in Brickheadz style