Tag Archives: Airplane

LEGO Ninjago Legacy 71736 Boulder Blaster [Review]

Ninjago Legacy – home of updated and reimagined hits from the 10 year(!) history of the Ninjago theme.  We conclude our tour of the January 2021 wave of sets with the Ninjago Legacy 71736 Boulder Blaster. Available now from the LEGO Shop Online for US $39.99 | CAN $49.99 | UK £34.99, this set 449 piece set takes us back Season 4. Will the four minifigures and improved jet end our reviews on a high note? Maybe, maybe not. Read on and see if you agree with our conclusions!

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Click to read the full hands-on review

In case of a lack of bullets, just use birds instead!

This just has to be one of the ‘silliest’ scene’s from Indiana Jones and the Lost Crusade and General Tilney managed to capture it quite perfectly in LEGO. The best thing about this photo is that everything is made from LEGO bricks, even the sky! Partway through the film, Indiana Jones and his father Henry are trying to escape from enemy airplanes. There is a lot of bombing involved and at one point, they get cornered on a beach full of birds. Father Henry charges the flock of seagulls while flapping his umbrella. This startles the seagulls and they take off into the airplane which causes it to crash. Henry mumbles a Charlemagne quote, which might actually not be a Charlemagne quote and the scene ends. That is some classic Indiana Jones right there!

I suddenly remembered my Charlemange...

With this giant LEGO Northrop XB-35, “Winging it” takes on a whole new meaning

When you’re looking at a LEGO creation from someone who’s Flickr handle is “BigPlanes,” you’d expect to see something massive and aeronautical. And, sure enough, this LEGO Northrop XB-35 Flying Wing by Jack Carleson checks those boxes. If you’re looking for information about the technology behind the real XB-35, I’d suggest a trip to Wikipedia. But here at the Brothers Brick, we’re more taken by the excellent building techniques of this model. A masterful combination of SNOT building and Technic wizardry makes this not only a beautiful model but a functional one as well. This huge aircraft has motorized engines, a retractable undercarriage, and even a detailed interior including bomb bays.

LEGO Northrop XB-35 Flying Wing MOC

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This epic Eurofighter Typhoon will blow you away

As a kid, I built a lot of model airplanes. I loved gluing them together and painting them, but never liked applying the decals. I read books about military airplanes, too, and played with tiny toy planes. I loved airplanes, at least ones that carried missiles and guns. I’m going out on a limb here, but I would hazard a guess that James Cherry loved airplanes, too, and still does. Why would I guess that? Because he has built an amazing Eurofighter Typhoon airplane out of LEGO bricks. Measuring up at over a meter in length and 73cm across at the wingtips (it’s a European plane, so we have to use metric), this is one beast of a creation, too. The whole thing is tiled an oh-so-smooth, with a custom canopy and nose cone, since The LEGO Group does not manufacture anything close to these specs.

Lego Eurofighter Typhoon Side Full

Click here to see details of this fabulous fighter jet

All quiet on the Western Front

Ah, airplanes. What would we do without them? They make travel over long distances easy and affordable to everyone, which is great, and they make spreading contagion across the world lightning fast, too, which is not so great. Gone are the days when we had to wait for the rats in the hold of the ship to spread the pestilence! But military airplanes, deadly in ways non-viral, have a strong nostalgia attached to them for many people, from history buffs to kids who like to zoom things around and make machine gun noises while spitting on everything. Wesley has made a LEGO model of a RAF SE5a, a delightful WWI-era biplane, complete with said machine gun. The shaping is fantastic, especially on the fuselage, and I love the cheese-slope chocks under the wheels. The under-construction aerodrome gives depth to the image, especially when combined with the minifigures and the green “grass”; it’s a simple addition but brings it from a plain ol’ airplane to an immersive scene.

Building “Pursuit of Flight” is still attainable [Instructions]

Nearly a year ago, we featured this exceptional kinetic sculpture by Jason Allemann. The “Pursuit of Flight” later went on to become a finalist in the recent LEGO Ideas review round. A week ago, LEGO announced which projects made it into the next production run, and unfortunately, Jason’s “Pursuit of Flight” was not one of those projects. But do not despair! He has made the full instructions available to anyone who is dying to build this wonderful piece of art.

Pursuit of Flight Instructions

For those big Star Wars fan out there, you can try your hand at a trench run variation of the original model.

As you may know, this is not the first time that Jason (also known as JK Brickworks) has been a LEGO Ideas finalist. He has actually previously won the coveted opportunity to have his build become an official set… twice. He’s responsible for 21305 Maze and 21315 Pop-Up Book (the latter in collaboration with Grant Davis).

Join the flight of the Concorde with this beautiful 5-foot long LEGO model

Builder Jack Carleson astounds us again with his spot-on LEGO plane models. This time it’s the British Airways Concorde. I’m actually old enough to remember when the Concorde made its first flight around the globe in a shocking 29 hours all the way back in 1986. It was a huge deal at the time and people often commented on its supersonic speed and crooked nose. Carleson (aka Big Planes) captures the unusual design and sleek wingspan of the Concorde perfectly. The finished model is an impressive 5 feet long and consists of over 6,000 pieces.

LEGO British Airways Concorde MOC

Of course, it features the Concorde’s iconic droop nose, which pivots down for better pilot visibility during takeoffs and landings. Continue reading →

The Douglas DC-3C has the quintessential airplane shape

Maybe it’s because this retro shape was so commonly illustrated in children’s books but, when I was a child learning to draw, I’d put pencil (or crayon) to paper and all my airplanes turned out pretty much like this. Without even knowing its name, I seemed aware that this is what the quintessential airplane should look like. Luis Peña not only provides  me its name — Douglas DC-3C — but a stunning 1:40 scale LEGO model, which is much harder to build than to draw. A trip to the National Aeronautical and Space Museum in Santiago, Chile inspired this model. He tells us that LAN Chile bought several of these craft in 1946 after they were originally used as cargo planes during World War II, then refurbished them for a second life as passenger planes.

Douglas DC-3C 1:40 Scale LEGO Model

This particular model measures 73 cm (28.74 in.) wide and 49 cm (19.29 in.) long. To Luis this represents an important part of Chilean aviation history and, in my childhood mind anyway, the most perfectly quintessential airplane shape. This is clearly not the first time we’ve been delighted by his work.

With a full interior, this 6ft long LEGO model of Air Force One looks fit for a President

We’ve featured LEGO aircraft models by Jack Carleson before, but his latest model of Air Force One completely dwarfs them. This stunning model is a whopping six feet long and has a wingspan of five-and-a-half feet.

The aircraft is a modified version of the classic Boeing 747 airliner, used as the US President’s personal aircraft. Its official designation is VC-25A, but “Air Force One” is its popular name. It is the radio call sign whenever the President is on board. Whatever you may think of its current occupant, this model of his aircraft simply oozes class.

Jack’s model isn’t just pretty from the outside. It has a full interior, including the President’s stateroom and meeting room, and also a galley, an operating theatre and space for Secret Service agents and the White House press corps that accompany the President on his trips. It also has working folding stairs, for direct access to the aircraft’s lower deck. Whether the model also features an escape pod, as depicted in the 1997 movie Air Force One, is, of course, classified.

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The Great War takes to the skies

This beast of a bomber is ready to spread its message of triumphant destruction among all those who oppose it. I love this digital dieselpunk design by Cagerrin, which is one of her many alternative history creations. The white and dark blue color scheme give the impression that this aircraft isn’t trying to hide. Its gold trim and eagle wings tell a tale of majesty, a symbol of the empire it flies for.

Walküre W.IVb

As far as aircraft made out of bricks go, this model is extremely well built. The wings are so smooth, with minimal studs exposed to give it a truly wooden appearance. Breaking from the vintage airplane norm, the engines utilize reverse propellers, pushing the lumbering bomber through the sky instead of pulling it along. The windows of the bomb bay is also another testament to Cagerrin’s sharp attention to detail. Even the barrels of the gun turrets have a World War I machine gun vibe.

A trio of big Boeing planes by BigPlanes

Sometimes a builder’s chosen name fits perfectly with what they like to build. My case in point, these three big Boeing 7-series passenger jets built by someone who goes by the name of…well, BigPlanes. On the far left we have a Lufthansa 737-500. Next to it in the center is a now bygone Pan Am 707-120. Finally, on the far right is my favorite, a Southwest Airlines 727-200. So far this builder has stayed true to his name but may have to change it to “Big-Planes-And-Also-Some-Other-Stuff” if he chooses to diversivy.

LEGO Boeing Narrow body sisters 707, 727 and 737

Here is a photo of the Pan-Am 707 with three minifigs to help appreciate just how big these big planes actually are.

LEGO Boeing Narrow body sisters 707, 727 and 737

Classic flight plan hanging around

If you love LEGO flying vehicles, chances are that you may have come across the models of Maelven. His ability to switch between slick renditions of Star Wars vehicles and classic planes is beautiful. It always makes me wonder what he’s going to come out with next. His Blind Man’s Bluff Hangar is full of fine elemental compositions. The plane by itself looks great, with one wing folded up and step ladder at the ready.

Blind Man's Bluff Hangar

This is a new rendition of Maelven’s previous Hawler Sea Fury T.20, a LEGO plane he has been refining since 2012. Accompanying it are a host of other fine details, from his beasty Ratrod to the stripped fuselage and workshop fixtures. However, my eyes kept being drawn towards the top of this superb diorama to take in the roof trusses of this classic hanger. A seamless combination of Technic connectors, liftarms and Technic bricks achieving a specific form such as this always makes me happy. Between the truss and the rigid hose conduit, this fantastic scene is well-framed.