Tag Archives: 1:1 Scale

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

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).

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.

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.

One of these will save your life one day—if you are an M-Tron spaceman

The M-Tron would do anything to protect their magnet production, up to and including using force. And if you ever wondered what they would use, have no fear, for Isaac Snyder has you covered. His life-sized M-Tron blaster is full of great details like laser sights, a working trigger and of course, a magazine attached with magnets! No need to take my word for it, you can watch the video below.

The power of a flower

Gardening always seems like so much hassle, all that watering and weeding. I think I prefer AC Pin‘s LEGO solution: a brick-built flower box which won’t need much maintenance, maybe just the odd bit of dusting. The builder says he was inspired by four different flowers he spotted growing in his neighbourhood. They’re certainly recreated nicely here, with a smart mix of slopes and curves to create petals, and the lovely use of minifig afro wigs for the central carpels of the yellow-petalled blooms.

The daisies are particularly pretty, and make a lovely image on their own…

An exotic bird of a heavenly blue colour

There seems to be a persisting presence of bird builds in the LEGO community, more so than other animals. Now Paul Lee joins the fun with his recreation of a Hyacinth Macaw. It is one of my favourite kinds of parrots personally, but I never expected it to be the bird of choice for nearly anyone else. While the legs are simplistic (still realistic), the facial detail and feather texture more than make up for it.

When things get hot, a master builder knows what to do

I must admit I am quite a fan of the latest creation by Grant Davis. Built for the Iron Builder competition on Flickr, Grant has used the 4x4x13 curved panel seed part to great effect here, blowing everyone away with unique part usage. The fan’s cage made out of pneumatic tube and bars is fantastic, as is the very realistic base. Added on top of that, the builder spices up the scene with a brick-built pen and notebook.

But the best part is that it works! Grants provides us with a hypnotic video of the fan in action.

Build up and break down a LEGO Overwatch Torbjörn’s turret

LEGO gaming builder ZaziNombies adds to his brick built arsenal of Overwatch weapons with defense hero Torbjörn’s level 2 turret and repair hammer. Smooth shaping on the red paneling throughout and gun barrels match the game’s aesthetic well. See an overview of ZaziNombies’s LEGO turret and hammer, as well as a discussion of the build process, in the video below.

A bloom opens, as the storm begins

One of the most prestigious contests in the LEGO community, the Iron Builder challenge, is once again underway. Grant Davis kicks off this round with a serene scene featuring a cute little bee and a lotus flower. The leaves are near perfect, but the flower looks more like Leontopodium alpinum than a lotus. Grant has apropriately titled his creation The Calm Before The Storm, and I cannot wait to see said storm bringing us more amazing creations to see.

A LEGO movie player

Cast your mind back to those pre-digital days and you may remember a time when a movie projector required reels and tape. Carl Merriam decided to build a LEGO version of a vintage 16mm movie projector to keep him company while separated from his beloved camera collection. Carl doesn’t give any specific details but it does look rather like a vintage Bell & Howell Filmo 16mm projector from the 1940s. Carl’s version features a linear actuator to adjust the tilt, working PF pilot light, and a unified chain drive for the reels.

The only issue is that it can’t actually project The LEGO Movie due to incompatible technology.