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.

Though she’s called The Nadir, she looks like the acme

I apologize for my supercilious vocabulary, but Swedish builder o0ger has named his most recent YT Corellian Light Freighter-inspired spacecraft “The Nadir” which, by definition, pretty much means rock-bottom. Either the owner of this ship has very high expectations, or nadir means something else in Swedish, because this ship is quite remarkable, and I don’t see why it wouldn’t be the crown of any space shipping fleet. The integration of the cockpit into the side wing is superb, and there is just the right amount of color throughout.

If you feel inspired by this sublime spacecraft, feel free to check out our contest where you can build the Millennium Falcon herself.

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Piano model is just grand

Who wouldn’t want to sit down at this lovely LEGO piano and pick out a tune? Robert4168/Garmadon has put together a fantastic model — from the spot-on shiny black curves of the shape, through to the instrument’s innards visible beneath the hinged lid. There’s a bunch of nice details which also elevate this creation out of the ordinary — in particular the gold touches on the pedals and the rings used at the feet of both piano and stool. Excellent presentation too — that wooden floor is the perfect setting. It doesn’t distract attention from the main model, but creates a simple surrounding impression of a stage or practice room.

Every man is an island above an azure sea

John Donne wrote that “no man is an island”, but when it comes to LEGO creations, famous poets do not restrict your imagination. Ben Fitzsimmons has turned that saying around with his huge LEGO diorama depicting a multitude of islands each inhabited by wandering travellers. Each unique little island is a place for rest and trade above the expanse of dark azure ocean. This is a beautiful, fantastical build with a touch of steampunk. The islands are all full of creative buildings like the tall lighthouse on the far right, and nice landscaping such as the waterfall spilling back into the ocean and the colourful trees.

A closer look at one part of the diorama shows some of the fun details. I love the propeller-powered pack that one traveller is wearing to cruise between islands, while the use of the ‘hot air balloon part’ as a sail works well at this scale.

Ben’s diorama won the Steampunk category at Brickfair Virginia this year and I imagine the build was even more impressive to see in person.

Kaneda’s motorcycle was smaller than you thought

We’ve seen many LEGO versions of Kaneda’s red motorcycle from Akira, but they’re often larger-scale models like the beauty we saw last year. At the other end of the size spectrum, Grantmasters‘ latest creation is a tiny microscale version of the iconic bike. Grant has used the perfect combination of red pieces for this little masterpiece, although purists may quibble that most of them seem to be balanced atop each other rather than attached. Nice work on the figure too. Overall this passes the “microscale test” — ie. is it immediately recognisable? There’s no doubting that. All together now… “Kaaaannnedaaaa!”

Star Citizen fighter built in LEGO by German citizen

The SHIPtember challenge is in full swing, when LEGO builders around the world look to build large-scale spaceships of at least 100-studs in length. German builder Stephan Niehoff breaks the mold of the more common microscale capital ships with this highly-detailed Gunboat from Star Citizen. The model is minifig scale and very impressive, particularly as it was put together in less than 3 weeks!

The bold colour scheme really stands out, aided with some carefully placed stickers. Yellow lines accent the complex angles well, and the use of different grays allowed Stephan to achieve some nice details. My favourite areas are the nose, with its rich collection of guns and utensils, and the “air intakes”, with the pin connector construction above it.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for September 24, 2017 [News]

In addition to the best LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick also brings you the best of LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the fourth week of September 2017.

TBB STAR WARS NEWS: Our in-depth review of the UCS Millennium Falcon is here and you could even win one by entering our contest! Plus check out a new LEGO Star Wars book written by TBB editors.

Review of LEGO Star Wars 75192 UCS Millennium Falcon — The new UCS Millennium Falcon includes 7,541 pieces with 10 minifigs, and costs USD 799.99. Read about TBB’s reactions building the largest LEGO set ever made.
Ultimate LEGO Star Wars book from DK now available for preorder, authored by TBB editors Chris Malloy and Andrew Becraft — An up-to-date reference that covers the full range of LEGO Star Wars sets and minifigs from the first sets in 1999 to The Force Awakens and Rogue One, the book is due out on October 3, and is available for preorder now.
WIN A UCS MILLENNIUM FALCON! — TBB is hosting a building contest and giving away a UCS Millennium Falcon as well as FOUR elusive Space Slug sets. Get building! The deadline is Oct. 15th.

Read all of this week’s LEGO news after the jump

All sorts of shady activities at the pirate’s harbor

Nothing valuable is safe from the hands of pirates in Mark van der Maarel’s harbor scene. The construction of each building, the movement of the water, and the scene populated with sketchy pirate operations are all well done without making the overall build appear busy.

The close-up of the alley showcases the subtle offsets to achieve the detailed features of the two buildings. The use of minifigure hands as clothespins, both in appearance and suspension of the tiles, is quite clever.

Gorgeous 1957 Harley-Davidson Sportster XL in LEGO has a heart of thunder

With several official LEGO Technic sets over the years (most recently the 42063 BMW R 1200 GS Adventure), LEGO motorcycles are a frequent subject among custom model builders, but none in the last year or two have quite captured my attention like this fantastic 1957 Harley-Davidson Sportster XL built by Taiwanese LEGO fan Maxime Cheng.

Click through to see more details of this beautiful LEGO Harley

While away the time in your cave with a game of Paleolithic ping pong

The Paleolithic era wasn’t just painting mammoths on cave walls and running screaming from saber-toothed tigers and onrushing glaciers. Inspired by the book Barna Hedenhös by Bertil Almqvist, Swedish builder Sarah demonstrates that it was also important to take time for yourself — to relax and have a good time. The wooden table tennis setup with wooden sticks for the net is adorable, though I question where a pair of Cro-Magnon people got metal frying pans for their paddles. I’m betting it was Doctor Who…

Drop feet first onto Requiem with the Master Chief

TRLegosfan shows some love for Halo 4 with a colorful diorama depicting the inner surface of the Shield World of Requiem. The aesthetic of the Forerunner world – tall, angular structures upon artificial landscape overgrown with alien vegetation – is shown beautifully in the bricks.

Let’s go on a wild goose chase! [Video]

Jason and Kristal from JK Brickworks have a knack for making LEGO builds come alive with movement. To celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday recently, they’ve built the Canadian goose! The mother goose is a remote-controlled motorized build with a string to pull along her little goslings. The result is a very realistic family creating havoc at your command!

I don’t want to spoil all the fun in how it’s all put together, but you certainly do want to watch the video feature.

Plunder the wastes from the comfort of the Khagaan landship, built from 25,000 LEGO pieces [Video]

Not all great LEGO spaceships need to be colored variations of “realistic” gray, nor must they be actual ships in space. Master of motorized LEGO builds mahjqa has built a jarringly beautiful planetary exploitation crawler or “landship” named Khagaan, which has two smaller, fully motorized rovers to gather resources and space junk. The main vehicle is 43 inches long (109 cm), weighs 20 pounds (9 kg), and the builder says he used 25,000 LEGO pieces to create it.

It’s not often that we’re fooled into thinking that a LEGO video is a render rather than the real thing — it’s more frequently the other way around — but watch through to the end of mahjqa’s video to see behind-the-scenes footage proving that all but the background and dust are practical effects (the real-live feline interloper proves it).

See more photos of this amazing trio of LEGO vehicles