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.

Building forts in the clouds has never been so productive

Floating islands are a popular motive in LEGO, most often coupled with steampunk or similar themes. Andrew JN goes just a little bit back in (alternate) time with this colonial themed floating rock. The scene represents a heavily guarded prison fort and a flying ship. While the ship does not look especially like a floating one, it is unique enough that it does not look out of place in the sky. The prison actually looks so nice, it makes me want to commit some heinous acts of piracy in the skies.

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Move over Saturn V, meet the Jupiter V

We are now fully entrenched in October, but SHIPtember is still with us with this late entry by Tim Schwalfenberg. Living away from his home (and his LEGO collection), but still wanting to participate, Tim was convinced by a friend to construct an alt-build of the LEGO Saturn V and voila we have the Jupiter V. Making good use of printed elements Tim has created a sleek molded body using most of the Apollo launch vehicle, even using the stand as a kind of outrigger for a necessary splash of colour. Combine all this with some fancy editing skills and the Jupiter V looks quite capable of boldly going to a galaxy far, far away.

Oh, how the tables have turned!

There are millions of galaxies far, far away. And while some of them include droids and wookiees playing holochess with holographic alien pieces, others may hide, well, hideous aliens playing the same game making small figures of wookiees attack defenseless protocol droids. This epic diorama by Brickwright is utterly remarkable in so many ways. Besides its brilliant idea, the aliens themselves are very decent copies of the models from the movie, not to mention an extremely spacious and detailed interior of the Millennium Falcon.

Oh, and don’t forget to check out Brickwright’s Flickr gallery to see what other aliens are aboard of the famous freighter!

LEGO Ideas 21312 Women of NASA unveiled [News]

Back in February, we shared the news that LEGO Ideas chose Maia Weinstock’s Women of NASA project as one of their newest additions to the LEGO family. Today, LEGO is unveiling 21312 Women of NASA, available November 1. The primarily minifigure set has 231 pieces, and will retail for $24.99 USD.

The model, similar to LEGO Ideas 21110 Research Institute, includes four minifigures based on real-life NASA pioneers: astronomer and educator Nancy Grace Roman; computer scientist and entrepreneur Margaret Hamilton; astronaut, physicist, and entrepreneur Sally Ride; and astronaut, physician, and engineer Mae Jemison.

21312 Women of NASA also includes three mini-builds illustrating three areas of science including programming software for the space program, a model of the Hubble Space Telescope and a mini Space Shuttle Challenger with three removable rocket stages

More photos and info about 21312 Women of NASA after the jump

What does the millennium fox say?

With the release of the new Star Wars 75192 UCS Millennium Falcon it seems like everyone just lost their minds and interstellar space is now cluttered up with countless falcons. Miro Dudas makes a good point: why falcons and not a fox? Fox makes just as much sense as a falcon in intergalactic travel! So, why would you fly a piece of garbage when you can choose this fluffy orange beast?

Mankind’s gift to the seas from which life arose

It’s easy for LEGO builders to focus on the happy, shiny world of little plastic people surrounded by fake plastic trees, but builder Emil Lidé doesn’t shy away from making a powerful statement with his latest LEGO creation. Did you know that every piece of plastic ever produced (yes, including all the ABS that LEGO is made from) will continue to exist indefinitely in the environment? That there is a floating patch of trash in the middle of the Pacific Ocean hundreds of thousands of square kilometers in size? Emil uses LEGO as a medium to remind us of the impact that our modern lives have on the planet we live on.

As much as I love the message that Emil’s creation conveys, it’s also an excellent LEGO build on its own merits. The tranquil beach scene above the water contrasts harshly with the waste beneath the waves, from the usual tires and barrels to bicycles and even a washing machine.

I’ll take that Falcon with a splash of bricks

Most people may not think so, but LEGO builders really are artists in their own right. The medium that they choose to express themselves in is simply tiny bricks instead of the traditional tools of oil and canvas that we see more often. The traditional approach of interlocking these bricks is the expected aspect of it, but a more unusual approach is the loose placement of bricks, such as this spread by city son.

This design is a breath of fresh air to the overdose that the Millennium Falcon is getting recently due to the largest set ever being released by the folks over at Billund (plus a couple of major contests inspired by the venerable freighter). What stands out with this piece of art is the colorful, celebratory effect showcasing the Falcon in flight. It almost looks like a splash of rainbow paint in pop-art style.

Drive with reckless abandon in the LEGO Technic Halo Warthog

YouTuber Nico71 presents a LEGO Technic model of the iconic Warthog light recon vehicle from the Halo games. With working quad-wheel steering, RC controlled driving, rotating machine gun turret barrels, and suspension, his Hog truly is beauty and the beast. Watch these and many more impressive functions in the video below.

Nico’s Warthog is discussed in detail, with building instructions, on his blog.

Have I seen this spaceship somewhere before?

YT-1740 is designed to be a fast and agile light freighter, only half the size of the Millennium Falcon and shaped like an arrowhead. Builder ZiO Chao has supplied her with three powerful engines and two pairs of long-range antenna on its sides. The builder points out that you may recognise features from other ships in the Star Wars franchise: The Defender-class light corvette from the Old Republic era, the Ghost from Rebels, and also Kylo Ren’s command shuttle from Episode VII. The red string pattern is a nod to Homeworld, and the shape of engine comes from the battleship of Gundam.

The detailed minifigure-scale interior has everything you could wish for — a medical room in case of inter-galactic mishaps, a meeting table for planning those all important missions and a crew resting area for a cold beer and a laugh about the latest crisis. The builder has put a handy label on the locations so that we don’t get lost finding the way to the bathroom at night.

F is for friends who do stuff together

While many lament the fact that LEGO no longer holds the SpongeBob SquarePants licence, it does open the door for builders to make up the difference. George Panteleon has done just that with a rather unusual build. Not only has the tiny character of Plankton been blown up into a much larger build, but there’s something strange going on if you zoom in.

Yes this Plankton is made up of 143 smaller Planktons, those being the official printed 1X1 cylinder bricks. There’s also good use of the Yavin 4 pieces from the Star Wars planet set.

Creations for Charity 2017 sale starts now [News]

The annual Creations for Charity sale has just started, and from now until the end of November you can buy a custom Lego creation to raise money to provide Lego sets for underprivileged children. Visit creationsforcharity.org to learn more about the organization and find out how you can donate a creation.

Take a look at some of the items for sale this year and keep in mind that new creations will be added regularly until the end of the fundraiser on November 30th.

The future of details is now

There are times when a LEGO creation is futuristic because it is a spaceship, robot or another sci-fi element. There are other times, when the build itself is futuristic in its construction techniques and concepts. This spaceship by Nick Trotta is one of the cases when these two aspects intersect. LEGO creations keep evolving and advancing with time and this one is at the cutting edge for sure.

From complicated angles to unique solutions for round shapes, there is a lot to see on this little spacecraft. The best and most progressive parts, though, are the technical details like hoses and gears, carefully enclosed by surrounding panels. So many different colours would not look good in most cases, but Nick has balanced them into a pleasing colour scheme.

For more inquiring readers, the builder has a video showcasing his creation in detail.