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.

Like a dragonfly skimming the surface of the water, touch on something without going into it deeply

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been fascinated with creepy crawlies, but dragonflies were always a favorite. I love how they’d appear to defy gravity as they hovered above the rippling water. Takamichi Irie has recreated this iconic insect with a ‘handful’ of minifig parts (note all the minifigure hands used as connectors on the wings), some flex tube and a sprinkling of blue and black elements. With some sharp photography and clever use of lighting, it even appears to be hovering; all that is missing is the water.

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Autobots inferior, Soundwave superior!

Soundwave was always one of my favourite Decepticons as he was unusually cool-sounding and had additional tiny transformers stored inside himself in cassette form. One un-glamourous thing was his alternate mode — he turned into a boombox of all things! Your superpower is to blend in to very unique situations! Thankfully, he spent most of his time in ‘bot’ mode. This incredible transformable build by Moko really is quite a feat.

Not only does it morph into the boombox, but it comes complete with Ravage, Rumble, Buzzsaw, and Frenzy.

See all the LEGO Decepticons after the jump!

The fun begins where the pavement ends

I’m certain there’s a bit of the off-road enthusiast in all of us. Who couldn’t possibly enjoy the chance to escape the trappings of urban life and explore the countryside in a rugged 4×4? If it’s something you’ve never thought of before, than you’re sure to develop an interest after seeing this awesome collection of classic 4×4 vehicles by Pixel Fox:

From the Mercedes Unimog and Land Cruiser J70 to the Land Rover Defender and Jeep Cherokee XJ, the builder’s collection has spanned some of the most well-known and capable trail rigs. According to the builder, it all started from inspiration sparked by the wheel fenders included in the LEGO Stunt Truck released earlier this year (you’ll see the part replicated to great effect throughout this series). The mix of LEGO elements and environmental photography combines for a fantastic presentation, though purists are sure to balk. Plus, some of the scenes are just downright awesome, like this one featuring a beautifully-designed Land Rover Defender:

Or the Unimog tree-cutting scene:

Make sure to check out the builder’s Flickr page for the full line up so far and stay tuned as even more are planned.

There is peace in the swamp, though the quiet is Death

I’ve spent a lot of time in the swamps and bayous of the southern United States fishing, hunting, photographing wildlife and generally avoiding venomous snakes and hungry alligators. The bottoms – as we affectionally call them down here – are also one of my favorite sources of inspiration for LEGO building. I recently completed this bayou-related build, my dream house set in the swamps:

Perhaps the scene feels a little lifeless but I purposefully chose not to include minifigs in this creation as I thought they would detract from the overall aesthetics. Using a fog machine and some LED lights I was able to create a creepy though strangely alluring atmosphere in this shot:

A fog machine can be a lot of fun to create mood in a LEGO scene, as can well-placed lighting. For outdoor scenes like this, I find it helpful to shoot outside at dusk with a single artificial light angled above the build to mimic moonlight. A tripod, fresh memory card and a lot of patience are also musts!

Whack some moles at the Iron Arcade

With the latest round of Iron Builder underway, expect to see a flurry of LEGO creations featuring the Friends balloon piece, as we noted a few days ago with the lovely LEGO lotus blossom. Contestant Grant Davis is cranking out something new just about every day — and sometimes more than one new creation a day. One of my favorites so far is this Whack-a-Mole machine. The ill-fated victims of whackage peeking with their single eyes out of their holes are also the tips of the bulbous balloon piece, and I just love their adorable little hats.

Insert a 5.25″ floppy disk and start up WordStar with this retro LEGO desktop

We’re huge fans of Chris McVeigh here at The Brothers Brick, and I’ve enjoyed each of the custom LEGO kits I’ve bought from his online store — custom kits that I can only describe as artisanal LEGO kits, with beautifully printed packaging lovingly arranged in the shipping box with tissue paper. We featured Chris’s LEGO Macintosh desktop last year (which I bought for myself last Christmas and love, love, love!) and his LEGO Amiga 500 last month, and now Chris has posted the final design for his DOS desk kit, which will be available on his website soon.

The desk drawers are fully functional, with a bunch of accessories to make you more productive — or keep you distracted during the workday.

One of the things that makes us love Chris and his designs all the more is that he puts his detailed instructions online for free. Yes, you can buy his kits — complete with custom-printed floppy disks and retro calculator — but you can also download his instructions and build his designs with your own bricks if you want. Be sure to check out our interview with Chris McVeigh as well.

Stand down! The slightest movement may risk you being disintegrated

It’s easy to get over-excited while constructing mecha, since it’s easy to over-greeble details to the point that it becomes too complicated and loses its humanoid look. Khairul Nizam’s build stands out as it has good proportions and great flexibility in poses. That huge rotary canon-like weapon looks like it could do some major harm if someone gets upset. What makes this build stand out is that even thought it’s built in shades of grey and black, you still get a great visual which sometimes can be hard to pull off with a minimal use of colors to separate one section of the build from another.

Mars Defends!

The Near-Future LEGO Starfighter contest is prompting the creation of some lovely realistic-looking space vehicles. This entry from xiei22 is a cracker — all angled shielding, sharp colour blocking, and nice functional touches. Good photo editing too, depicting the ship in its role as a Martian patrol vehicle.

You can see even more of the model’s fine details in this cool schematic image. It’s worth zooming-in for a closer look, especially of the cockpit interior and those chunky-looking railguns…

A very handsome hansom

What better way to explore the see the sights of Victorian London than aboard the latest in steam-driven LEGO transportation? This contraption, cobbled together by Revan New, has room for only one passenger, but makes up for its limited capacity with speed. Capable of reaching the dizzying speed of 6 miles per hour, gentlefolk of a nervous disposition are advised to ride with caution.

The model has a nice level of texture and detail, as does the base. The woven basket and streetlamp are relatively simple, but add a sense of place and period. The only bit I’m unconvinced by is the use of a white droid arm as a plume of steam — I think it would look better with round white plates or stacked ice cream pieces. However, that’s a minor nitpick at a smart little steampunk vignette.

John F. Kennedy’s PT-109 WW2 torpedo boat recreated in LEGO

While the rest of us toil away at day jobs and try to squeeze in a bit of LEGO building in the evenings and weekends, Dan Siskind runs Brickmania full time, continuing to lead his company’s LEGO design team even while he brings on other great designers. Dan’s latest personal design project has been a full-size minifig-scale version of John F. Kennedy’s World War II torpedo boat, PT-109. Dan’s model includes over 4,000 pieces and measures 27 inches (over 68 cm) long, with a crew of thirteen custom-printed minifigures.

See more of JFK’s PT-109 in LEGO

A city of grey, blue and hexagons

The somewhat obscure new hexagonal NEXO Knights piece, appropriately named the “Nexogon”, keeps inspiring people to use it in all manner of creative ways, an effort supported by New Elementary’s Nexagon Festival. Lisqr joins the fun with a very charismatic space-themed microscale city scene. There is much lovable texture throughout the build, but the best thing must be the masterfuly limited colour pallete. Light blue and translucent light blue accent the gray very well, making the creation pleasing to look at, an effect that is enhanced by the photography. Another point of interest is that the “Nexogon” is not the only hexagonal element of the build; the central tower achieves this shape with the use of 1×2 30-degree slope pieces.

Relax at the end of a long day with a visit to Modular Café

Builder Brandon wyc has put together a wonderful LEGO café — a tranquil oasis in the middle of a bustling city scene. The lighting adds to the atmosphere, but what’s most impressive are the details depicting everyday life both inside and outside. The café itself features a kitchen with a bakery, and pretty much everything you need for the business to run all day, including cosy corners for a quiet book read, or a simple dinner date for two. The pedestrian and vehicular traffic around the junction is all nicely-placed, giving the scene a real sense of activity.

Click here to see more details of this impressive model