Tag Archives: 1:1 Scale

Lifesize props that will have you asking “Is it LEGO?”

Racing for the best lap times around the block

While today’s kids have rad smartphone-controlled quadrotors to play with, there’s something nostalgic about a simple, old school R/C car. Arran Hearn induces such nostalgia with a LEGO R/C racing buggy and radio transmitter pair. Bright colors, excellent proportions, a clever parts usage for the antenna, and just the right amount of detail in the body and shock absorbers makes Arran’s R/C buggy pop.

The detail on the bulky radio transmitter is incredibly lifelike. A quick glance and one would think it could control the buggy above.

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Get tactical with a LEGO Black Ops II M8A1

Recently, my favorite entry in the Call of Duty franchise — Black Ops II — was added to Xbox One backwards compatibility. I picked up Treyarch Studios’s 2012 vision of combat in 2025 again, and felt inspired to build my favorite rifle in the game: the M8A1, a rifle based on the real H&K XM8.

In addition to being inspired by the design of the gun itself, I was motivated to build by the color scheme. Most of the rifle in game is tan, but its carry handle has a subtle bronze color. I showed this color difference with two LEGO colors: tan, and medium dark flesh. The latter color is fairly limited in parts selection, which made its implementation a fun challenge.

Working features on the LEGO M8A1 include a moving trigger, removable curved magazine, and a sliding ambidextrous charging handle. The tactical rail on the carry handle can attach a LEGO reflex sight that projects a red aiming dot onto a window piece. I show and discuss these functions, as well as a few techniques used to achieve the detail on the weapon, in this four minute video.

See more photos of the M8A1 on my Flickr, or check out other LEGO Black Ops weapons we have featured, such as the PDW-57 SMG and KRM-262 shotgun.

Wearable LEGO Darth Vader helmet

The Force is strong with Lego Admiral and his life size, wearable LEGO Darth Vader helmet. The detailed features of the iconic face mask and breather are captured well with the bricks, as is the smooth paneled shaping of the dome.

See more photos of LEGO Admiral’s helmet on Flickr, and learn a technique for constructing your own LEGO helmet with a Halo ODST helmet breakdown.

Slay the Locust horde with a 5000-piece LEGO Gears of War 4 Lancer

You won’t need biceps the size of watermelons to look tough with this Lancer Assault Rifle from Gears of War 4 built by Alec Doede. His replica of the iconic gaming weapon is incredibly detailed, with accurately constructed sights, grips, and angled paneling. I can hear the aggressive sound of the chainsaw bayonet revving up just looking at it.

A menacing LEGO Technic 1:2 scale T-rex skull

A MOCpages user known simply as Dee:] has made this incredible 1:2 scale recreation of a Tyrannosaurus rex skull, made almost entirely of technic pieces – around 2000 of them. The creation uses many techniques to capture complex anatomical angles with surgical precision, and the thin technic panel pieces mimic the natural look of cranial bones. The only thing that is not 100% accurate (besides the unavoidable pin holes in the panels) is the number of teeth, which the real dinosaur had much more of. The build is approximately 55cm long and 33cm wide, which is a bit less than half the size of the 150cm long original. Or maybe it’s actually a life-sized baby T-rex skull!

Capturing magic in a lantern

Some creations rely on complicated techniques and difficult shapes to impress the viewer, while others make the connection by emotion. The strength of Tinkerbell in a lantern waiting for Peter by Jae Won Lee lies in the expressive posing of Tinkerbell in the center. The lantern’s details reward closer inspection, like the golden decorations or the seams between 1x6x5 window panels to look like wire mesh.

Quarter of a million brick LEGO McLaren 720S goes from zero to ABS in 2000 hours

Founded in the nineteen-sixties by Kiwi racecar designer, driver, engineer, inventor and all-around legend Bruce McLaren, the McLaren company is one of the most successful in Formula One championship history, winning a total of 8 constructors’ world championships and 12 drivers’ world championships. This year, McLaren released their latest car in the Super Series lineup, the gorgeous 720S, and this incredible LEGO replica is the centerpiece of McLaren’s stand at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Built by the team at Bright Bricks, the model comprises a staggering 280,000 bricks and took a team of six builders over 2000 hours.

The real car is powered by a 4.0 twin turbo V8 and can go from 0-60 mph in a mere 2.8 seconds and up to 124 mph in 7.8 seconds, with a top speed of 212 mph! However, the 1:1 scale model arrived at the Goodwood stand a bit more slowly, as festival visitors will help complete the model. They will need to place orange McLaren bricks in designated parts of the car, with the 720S reaching completion at the end of the Festival of Speed.

Duncan Titmarsh, the UK’s only LEGO Certified Professional and part of Bright Bricks, led the 720S build. The LEGO version weighs approximately 200kg more than the actual 720S, coming in at around 1.6 tonnes (1.8 US tons). The build features real wheels and a steel base but is otherwise almost entirely made of LEGO, including the brake pads, windscreen wipers, and windscreen. Some additional details like the badge and license plate have been provided by McLaren to finish the build nicely.

The LEGO 720s will go on tour to other marketing events once it has been finished, so you may get a chance to see it in person.

Statistical data says the Internet is 50% cats

And yet the LEGO side of the Internet seems to have a lower percentage of cats than average – not surprisingly, as the characteristic cat’s head and legs offer a significant challenge for builders and can be done wrong very quickly. The latest builder to pick up the challenge is that Russian jack-o- all-trades Timofey Tkachev.

This time Timofey tries a technique of staggered layered plates to achieve complicated natural curves, which has been used to create LEGO cats before, but what appears to be different here is the intensely detailed face, and that the cat seems to be partially poseable. The playful pose adds a lot to the presentation, as do the LEGO basket and ball (which is an official piece, by the way).

LEGO Bento Box that actually made my stomach growl

This Fried Shrimp Bento Box literally made me hungry just looking at it. ABS chef Moko certainly knows how to make our taste buds tingle. As for me, I only know good food when I see it, but I’m going to give it a go and identify them – you can correct me out if I’m in wrong!

Top Left, clockwise – We have boiled pumpkin and some shiny cherry tomatoes, Next to that is cabbage for our daily intake of healthy greens, followed by the main serving of fried shrimp! At the bottom right corner, we’ve got what looks like a serving of meat, beef perhaps, and some asparagus and tamagoyaki (rolled omelet) and a lovely portion of chuka lidako (seasoned baby octopus). Finally, a healthy portion of Japanese rice topped with an Umeboshi (pickled plum)

If you still don’t hear your tummy growling after that, I suggest you take a closer look at the parts that were used to make ABS plastic so appetizing! I’m just going to call out that Umeboshi made from a minifigure helmet, and the baby octopus tentacles which are made from sausages! What else can you find? In the meantime, please excuse me as I have to head over to my favourite Japanese restaurant now.

Never forget how ideology can destroy our humanity

The Second World War was a great tragedy in our history, but its horrors were not limited to the years 1939 through 1945, with some of its consequencess still lasting decades after the war ended. One such case was the Berlin Wall, which took the lives of hundreds of people seeking a better life on the other side of the wall. In memory of these victims of the East German regime, Collin has built a strong, emotional, and symbolic creation of a dove trapped in barbed wire. While the build is not a masterpiece of complex techniques, its true strength lies in the message.

The builder adds a lot of information in his description, both about the Berlin wall and the build itself, so check it out if you can.

Phwoarrr... Watt a steamy engine this is

Back in the 1770s a revolution was about to take place — not the sort of revolution that relies on weapons — but a steam-powered revolution that drove the masses from the fields to the factories. James Watt was a famous Scottish mechanical engineer and chemist who is most famous for his work designing and perfecting the steam engine, which helped to drive the Industrial Revolution. Nick Barrett has built the Watt Beam engine, complete with the large beam across the top, pistons, flywheel and crank, all made of LEGO bricks. There’s a lot to admire in this model — especially those pistons and the flywheel — but the detail of adding brick-built lettering? Watt a nice touch.

Cosplay as Tracer from Overwatch with her full LEGO arsenal

Back in January 2017, I started probably my most ambitious project yet: a full cosplay of Tracer, the time-jumping mascot of the wildly popular team-based shooter game Overwatch, with LEGO elements. While the full costume is not yet complete, I reached a point in the project worth sharing, just in time for Brickworld Chicago this week. I completed her Pulse Pistols, Pulse Bomb, and Chronal Accelerator, which grants her full in-game set of abilities.

I wrote about the Pulse Pistols in depth back in March, so I will cover the Pulse Bomb and Chronal Accelerator here. The Pulse Bomb, her ultimate ability, consists of two concentric gray circles surrounded by a black triangular trim. The circle held together by click hinges would normally require sixteen segments, but to maintain even angular spacing of the flame orange slopes and black trim, I reduced that to fifteen.

The Chronal Accelerator was the most difficult part of her arsenal to construct. I decided early on in its construction that the support straps would be held together by ball-and-socket joints like those commonly found in the Mixel series, as they are strong connections but also flexible enough for the harness to be worn on different body types.

The whole harness was built front to back. The straps lined up in the front nicely; however, matching the angles they made with the reactor in the back was tricky. Angled Technic liftarms and flexible connection points received the straps in the rear, but still allow for it to be adjustable.

The goggles are also wearable. As tempting as it was, I didn’t want to force the use of a LEGO canopy if it didn’t match the shape of the goggles in the game. Fortunately, the two canopies I used were a close fit. Vision is slightly distorted with the goggles on, but one can see through them.

See more photos of the full arsenal on Flickr, and watch for the demo video to go live on YouTube in the very near future.