I won’t tell you what came to Matt Goldberg‘s mind first: this tiny adorable crab in white or the way to use a snail shell piece from Belville. The way the shell fits this crab is amazing; I particularly love the piece’s asymmetrical shape, which gives the crab a uniquely natural feel. While the crab itself isn’t extraordinary, I guess it’s more than enough for this build. Clean and neat, I wouldn’t ever agree to take it apart!
When building LEGO models I’ve always struggled to effectively combine Bionicle and regular System bricks, so I’m in awe of those builders who regularly do so and make it appear effortless. I’m sure this brilliant model by Patrick Biggs was anything but — it bears the hallmarks of a painstaking attention to detail in the shaping and placing of every piece. The crab alone is a smart piece of building, but the addition of a fantastical castle as the hermit’s home is a well-built stroke of genius. The colour contrasts are excellent too, popping against that grey-blue backdrop. Lovely stuff.
For me, The Muppet Show was the perfect in-between show for those in-between years. It wasn’t quite a cartoon, and it wasn’t quite as boring as those serious shows the grownups watched. It came on in the evening, so you felt just a little bit grownup watching it without going into Murder, She Wrote territory. A LEGO builder who goes by the name j-p-30 his us right in the between childhood and adulthood feels with these three clever busts of some of our favorite Muppet friends. We have poor Beaker, whose scientific experiments tend to end in fiery calamity. Gonzo was the weird bendy-nosed Muppet Show pianist, and the less said about Animal’s outrageous antics, the better. All together, you’ve got the makings of a trio that could make us giggle even if Trapper John M.D. was totally your jam. Well done, Mr. j-p-30!
![[MOC] Muppet Show Favourites](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51383435524_ed2be05ac9_b.jpg)
I have to be honest, I’m pretty jealous I hadn’t thought of this myself. Whenever I go to a comic-con, I always spend a bit of time ogling over the booths with lighted, layered-paper shadowboxes. How did I never think to make one with LEGO?! Well, it looks like filbrick beat me to it! First up is a shadowbox classic: a stag in the woods. I love that the builder chose to go with this color gradient. It does appear that he may have been inspired by the work of talented LEGO artist Grantmasters to complete the top portion of the stag itself.
Next up is an astronaut floating in space. The colors and shapes are both awesome and trippy at the same time! The extra window on the side is a cool touch too. While both builds are renders, and I’m not sure if real-life replicas in these specific colors would be possible, they sure are fascinating!
I’m going to have to test this concept out with some of my own designs! How about you? What images would you create?
Not your thing? That’s okay – we have tons of other art builds for you to check out! We also have all sorts of cool builds by Grantmasters that you won’t want to miss!
As you may already know, cicadas are the loudest insect on the planet. When they “sing” together (more like radio static, clicking, and rattling) they are one of the most deafening animals in the world in general. Pretty cool for such a small creature! But what would a giant mecha cicada, like this LEGO one by Mitsuru Nikaido, sound like? I’m guessing a helicopter mixed with a chainsaw. But enough about that. Just look at this awesome build!
It’s all sorts of awesome in terms of techniques and body shaping. The segmentation is excellent, and I’m particularly fond of the batarang shields on the abdomen. The eyes, wings, and legs are spot-on too!
Fun fact: cicadas are basically living musical instruments (even if we don’t think of it the same way). Yep, that’s right! They use muscles in their sides to squeeze and accordion “ribs” surrounding two membranes known as tymbals to create different chirps. And their abdomens are hollow so that they can amplify those sounds. Why? That’s how they find a lady-friend! Ahhh, the song of love.
Another fun fact: Mitsuru Nikaido is the epic master of mecha animals. You’re not going to want to miss some of his other incredible works of art. My favorite might be the mecha snail!
Did you know that real lone wolves (the four-legged kind) are actually essential for wolf survival? The ones who choose to go their own way as a juvenile do so to find new territory and start their own pack. They are brave and resourceful and keep the genes strong by preventing inbreeding. This LEGO wolf by Mike Nieves is strong in more ways than one. Its stoic, determined expression makes way for solid body-shaping techniques and overall structure. From nose to tail, shoulder to paw, the body-in-motion pose is on-point.
While you’re here, take a look at a couple more of Mike’s builds, as well as tons of other animal-related LEGO creations.
I’m always impressed when a builder manages to make LEGO models completely smooth. Going stud-less can be hard, and even harder when dealing with organic shapes. This bottlenose dolphin built by Ken Ito (暁工房) may show just a few studs, but the body shaping is superb! The arch of the back end and tail are particularly well-executed.
It seems as though this builder has a knack and a penchant for these kinds of creations. Marine life is just a snippet of what he can do. Stick around to see more like this!
The fantastic mechanical creatures of Mitsuru Nikaido have long fascinated me. As I was emerging from the dark ages of my LEGO obsession, the robotic structures of Mitsuru’s models opened my eyes to just what was possible within the LEGO system. While each creature is a dead ringer for their biological inspirations, they also stand separately from them. Their form and selective color-blocking create eye-catching robotic designs. Mitsuru mostly sticks to a light or dark bluish grey contrasting with white and a pop of bright light orange. This simple palette gives a builder plenty of parts to play with though and Mitsuru certainly takes advantage of his options. Let’s take a moment to check out his latest models of a Water bear and a Snail.
The smooth body of this little LEGO scarlet macaw, built by Nikita Filatov, contrasts perfectly with the texture of the branch she sits on. Speaking of which, the organic texturing and overall structure/shaping are nicely done in both pieces. The core of the branch has to be pretty strong to support the bird! The only thing missing is a few more tail feathers, but soon this youngster will be taking flight!
We’ve got what you need if you’re interested in seeing more builds of colorful birds! And if you’re looking for a menagerie, we have a whole zoo’s worth of awesome animal builds too!
There’s nothing that can replace a real, cuddly feline friend, but this adorable life-size LEGO cat by Felix Jaensch is a pretty good contender, at least as far as the realm of inanimate objects goes. While the majority of the build employs the classic studs-up style using mostly basic bricks that’s familiar to LEGOLAND visitors the world over, the result is excellent shaping of the cat’s smooth curves. The grey tuxedo coloring also adds a lot of interest to the build, breaking up the shape. Plus, I’m just a sucker for life-size builds. I’d totally have this in my office—wouldn’t you?
This colorful LEGO sculpture by Shannon Sproule is a pretty darn accurate recreation of a northern cassowary. It checks all the boxes in terms of color, shaping, and even size. In real life, this bird is mostly black aside from the head and it lives in New Guinea, northeast Australia, and surrounding islands. But one of the most notable things about it is that it’s giant and formidable. Its size and weight are comparable to the emu, although the emus have nothing on these guys when it comes to battle. Cassowaries are considered one of the most dangerous birds in the world.
These birds are actually pretty shy and try to avoid humans, but if threatened, they’re not afraid to attack. They can kick like a kangaroo and their dinosaur-like feet have terrifying raptor-esque claws. In particular, one toe has a straight spike that can get as long as a human hand. Yikes!
One of my favorite parts of this build is how well it’s photographed. Sometimes the right lighting can really make a build, and in this case the bird comes to life with that little bit of shine on the radar dish that is used for the eye. While you’re here, check out TBB’s other articles featuring animals. Shannon’s sci-fi/space builds have also been featured on our site.
The summer wave of LEGO sets are turning out to be a big hit, including this round of Creator 3-in-1’s. So far we’ve covered two others in the series, and now we turn our attention to the most colorful of the bunch, LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31122 Fish Tank. The set contains 352 pieces and features not only instructions to build a fish tank, but also those for an art easel with macaw painting and a treasure chest with accessories. It was just launched on June 1st in Europe and will be available August 1st in North America priced at US $29.99 | CAN $39.99 | UK £24.99. Join us as we take a deeper dive into this bright, playful kit.
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.