Tag Archives: Animals

That’s a lot of bull

2021 is the Year of the Ox, and to help us celebrate, LEGO builders are constructing a breadth of bricky bovines. Pistash challenged himself to use only pearl gold elements, and the result is this mechanical bull that’s actually not very brickish at all. With a mess of bars and ornamentation pieces surrounding a core frame of fence gates, this golden calf is one of the odder creations I’ve seen recently, and I am loving every bit of it.

Check out other LEGO Year of the Ox creations in our archives.

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This build is bananas, and that’s no bull. No, wait, that is a bull.

Forced perspective and clever part usage makes this bullfight from KitKat1414 stand out in a crowded bunch. Get it? Bunch? Because of the LEGO banana seed part from the latest round of Iron Forge? C’mon, work with me here. The bull makes great use of them in the horns, but did you also spot them in the gate in the background? How about in the pile of kicked up sand behind the bull’s hoof? I also like the multicolored 1×1 round plate serving as the crowd in the background. Good stuff.

If bullfights aren’t your thing, you can always check out some other animal related creations and find something that suits you better!

It’s a cat-love-dog world?

In our current apocalyptical-like times, I’m sure most of us could use some feel-good imagery or stories in our lives. Here’s a sweet little LEGO vignette by Sebastian Arts, involving an amicable relationship between natural enemies – a cat and dog.

The main portion of the build is a fractured architectural setting with a post-apocalyptical feel to it. The drab grey color-scheme is made interesting by the sharp forms Sebastian shapes using mostly plates, slopes, tiles, and even blades. Some rounder elements are also incorporated, including 1×1 cylinders, 2×2 ridged cylinders, 1×1 cones, rounded sticks, and my favorite piece here – the technic bearing plate which is utilized in multiples to create a small roof. The focal point of the model is definitely the red 3×3 heart plate with a red 2×2 circular tile suspended over the orange striped cat and grey and white husky dog, all of which add a splash of color within the monochrome built environment. What can I say? This model just warms the heart but is also aesthetically quite pleasing.

You, too, can fill your zoo with over 20 adorable animals!

As someone obsessed with animals and animal builds, I’m pleased to share some exciting news! TBB’s 2020 Creation of the Year builder, Koen Zwanenburg, is providing instructions for his collection of cute and cuddly LEGO critters! These cartoon-ish creations are some of my all-time favorite animal builds. Just look at that walrus’ flippers – genius! The size and style lend themselves perfectly to repeating the techniques with all sorts of characters. And now, you can build them and collect them all yourself.

While you’re here, be sure to check out some of Koen’s other builds! In addition to many other completely different creations, he’s also used this technique for both Super Mario and Christmas characters.

Tweet tweet tweet! Goes the robin

Life size (or near life size) birds have long been a popular subject matter for LEGO creations. While many previous birds have featured some pretty cool parts usage, KitKat1414 uses a pretty innovative technique for this Robin’s face. It’s just one piece, but a red minifigure torso managed to accomplish so many different things.

The first thing that jumps out at you is the arm holes as eyes. The size is just perfect. Second, you’ll see the neck as the bird’s beak. Sure it’s round where a real beak should be conical, but it very clearly represents and communicates that piece of the bird’s anatomy. Finally, the not to be overlooked, subtle design feature the torso lends to this bird is the angle it gives the face. I can’t think of any other single LEGO piece, or even pair of pieces that could accomplish as much as this one, incredibly common, often overlooked element does.

This cow doesn’t fear the reaper, nor do the wind, the sun, or the rain

It’s a tribute to the enduring power of certain images that I cannot hear the word “cowbell” without thinking of Blue Öyster Cult and fevers. And the LEGO minifgure torso looks remarkably like a cowbell, if one ignores the holes where the arms should go; so when I faced the challenge of coming up with creative uses for the part, I just had to build a cow with a cowbell around her neck. The whole time I was building it, I had to resist the idea of scrapping the build and trying to craft a hairy Will Ferrell holding the cowbell instead, and “The Reaper” was playing on repeat in my head. Ever try to build LEGO while dancing around playing air cowbell? It ain’t easy. I snuck in another torso in the barn, and added some of my dad’s old bushes and trees around it for some microscale detail in the background. LEGO is truly a multi-generational toy!

While you’re feeling rustic, here are some more LEGO builds of barns and LEGO farms. And don’t forget to check out the Iron Forge, and even get a few entries in yourself!

A cute little beaver couple

I always say I’m a sucker for cute things, but who doesn’t love adorable woodland creatures? Kyohei Ito showcases his brick-built and BrickHeadz-sized cuties, and I am just loving them.

The two little beavers are mostly fashioned out of different sized reddish-brown slopes along with a few bricks and tiles. Their tails utilize wing pieces that are turned over – this creates the necessary scaly effect. The eyes for these guys are the same 1×1 printed tiles that are in the escape pod vs. dewback microfighters set. My favorite use of parts here has to be the minifigure scuba fins which emulate beavers’ real-life webbed feet and the 1×1 toothed plates which give the little critters their signature buckteeth. Sometimes a person just needs a little cuteness to brighten their day; hopefully, these builds help fill the daily quota.

No bull about it, there’s LEGO here.

Trust me when I tell you, we are already impressed by Takamichi Irie’s LEGO work. But when a builder of his caliber breaks the rules a little (or a lot) we take special notice. 2021 is the Year of the Ox so we were happy to see this rather charming and (ahem) unorthodox creation grace the interwebs. Takamichi tells us it takes inspiration from his grandfather, who was an artist and graphic designer who had unfortunately passed away last September. The horns, tail, and hooves are LEGO pieces but the body is constructed from cut and folded card stock. Some gluing most certainly helped the process along. The end product is reminiscent of the official LEGO Forma sets so perhaps this isn’t as unorthodox as initially thought.

Whether this irks your purist leanings or inspires you to break the LEGO mold a bit, you’ve got to admit this is pretty neat. Check out more of his work in our archives.

Now you’re just being koi!

There’s something just completely tranquil about the sight of koi carp. Location probably has something to do with it because they regularly are featured in serene garden landscapes. Ian Hou does these beautiful fish justice with this new LEGO creation. I can just hear the bubbling water and imagine these graceful koi feeding on fish pellets. The stylistic waves as a stand offer just enough visual cues to make this a truly lovely project. This is a welcome moment of zen to finish out a rather tumultuous year. If this is totally your jam then you should check out some other fish in our archives.

Creature of an enchanted garden

If you find yourself in a magical land, watch where you step. Amongst the alluring, translucent blue flowers hides a curious creature. Exceptional LEGO builder, Patrick Biggs brings this little character to life in a captivating way. An expressive face paired with a dynamic pose and uniquely contrasted foliage demand a second look. You can build a pretty flower or a cute dragon, but telling a story with the two is what makes this build interesting. I’m particularly fond of the parts usage in the head shaping of the dragon, as well as the Bionicle head elements used for the petals.

While you’re here, you can check out a few of Patrick’s other builds, as well as more dragons!

A beetle with a bit of style

Japanese tiger beetles are one of the coolest bugs on the planet. Not only is this epic predator shrouded in a rainbow, but it also sprints the equivalent of a human ultramarathon every day. It’s one of the fastest-running critters out there. I certainly wouldn’t want to mess with those mandibles either. Takamichi Irie is known for his exceptional LEGO beetles, and this is one of his best. The body shape and mosaic-like exoskeleton really make it stand out and come to life.

Takamichi’s unique style involves the use of loads of minifigure hands. You have to wonder how he gets them. Does he have a hundred poor minifigs without hands, or does he get them in bulk? Maybe our past interview with him will shed a little light on his work.

A Christmas icon goes kinetic [Video]

When you think of Christmas songs, chances are one of the top ten that comes to mind is “Little Drummer Boy”. While not everyone in the world celebrates Christmas, I’m sure many of you can appreciate the most recent LEGO kinetic sculpture built by Jason Allemann of the JK Brickworks duo. Before the thing even gets moving, it’s clear that the ox and sheep are adorable.

Once the crank starts turning the magic starts. The little trio are mesmerizing to watch. Builds with timing can seem so complicated on the surface, but as Jason often shows, the inner-workings aren’t all that complicated. Still, it’s hard not to be jealous of how easy he makes it look.

As always, the instructions for this build can be found for free on the JK Brickworks website. This also isn’t the first kinetic holiday model! We’ve featured a flying Santa’s sleigh, Santa’s elves working on toys, and even a robotic cookie decorator.