Tag Archives: Constraction

This Mech means business

There are MOC builders, and then there are Mech builders and their knowledge of crafting exquisite robots from the humble LEGO brick is worth praising often. Here, delights with his latest offering. Blending system bricks with constraction figures isn’t always a straight forward task but Mohamed often does so with ease. I love the colour palette of this Mech with the Sand Blue pieces serving as armour, overlaying the various greys of the mechanical parts. They perfectly compliment each other here with the trans pink pieces adding suggestion that this fella isn’t afraid to defend itself. My favourite detail has to be the Bionicle mask serving as chest armour, and whilst we’re calling that out, the use of the armour piece from the Jango Fett buildable figure adds the suggestion that this mech means business too.

Tachyon Thrasher

 

“I’m a simple man making his way through the galaxy. Like my father before me.”

When LEGO came out with the Constraction buildable figures some builders loved them, and some didn’t. They’re certainly cool for what they are but some builders had difficulty using them with their other LEGO sets or finding multiple uses for say, Rey’s head. Pierthviv, on the other hand, is clearly not one of those builders. They’ve had no trouble using the Constraction Boba Fett head for…um…exactly what you’d expect. But still, the similarity ends there because the brick-built body is nothing short (or tall) of amazing. The chest armor, shoulder plates, utility belt, and even his feet are pieced together with unparalleled detail. While I may be one of those dunces scratching my head over how to integrate my Darth Vader chest plate for something other than a Darth Vader chest plate, check out our Constraction archives to see how it’s all done by other more imaginative builders.

Boba Fett

Nothing left in the tank

After a very long work week, I can totally sympathize with this lethargic LEGO bot by Kevin H. (optimus-convoy). The scene here is excellent: a lanky robot finds itself with an overwhelming case of ennui while sitting atop a battery box. The slack-jawed expression on this robo’s face is perfect as it absent-mindedly stares at the flower at its feet, trying to find the energy to stand up and resume its tasks. And while the figure here is quite spindly, Kevin still manages to incorporate some excellent parts usage. The best of the bunch has got to be the upside-down Constraction head on its chest taken from the Star Wars Praetorian Guard figure. And I have to applaud the daring choice of bare axles for the weary automaton’s limbs. That wiry, malnourished look, even on a mechanical man, absolutely exudes exhaustion!

Oh, I'm Tired

The Force is strong with this dragon Jedi warrior

While the Empire tends to shun non-human species, the Jedi embrace all beings with a connection to the Force. Although taking children from their families at a young age and indoctrinating them sounds like something the First Order would do. At any rate, this female dragon Jedi by B&W Bricks is a fantastic LEGO model, with dynamic limbs and a graceful pose, this warrior looks like she could give a Trandoshan slaver a sound beat-down.

LEGO Female Dragon Jedi Moc  [female build body MOC Examples]

Harbinger of spring beckons forth flowers of LEGO

Now, I know we’ve already seen a lot of builds on here from Patrick Biggs. But you have to admit, the guy has definitely mastered the antlered LEGO beast. And his most recent, the Spirit of Spring, is no exception. As in his past work, Patrick displays his prowess with tooth and tail pieces in shaping this fauna of choice. They’re used everywhere: in the face, torso, feet, legs, and antlers. But I’m especially impressed by his use of this very awkward tail part for shaping the Spirit’s tail. I’ve never seen such flow with such a clunky piece! Now if you’ll excuse me, I feel the urge to step outside and into the sun.

The Arrival of Spring

This winter fox is one very cool character

With the approach of winter in the Pacific Northwest, I could easily imagine something like this winter fox emerging from the trees, but then I do have a pretty active imagination. When Woomy World was looking for the perfect part to use for the vixen’s ears, I could not imagine a better, more unusual part to use than the bottom jaw of a dinosaur or dragon. But that’s not the only tasty part usage. Check out the eyebrows, made from white croissants.

Boreal Vixen

Bulked-up Benny

When The LEGO Movie debuted in 2014, the world was introduced to Benny, a Classic LEGO Spaceman with an enthusiastic love of spaceships. In 2019, The LEGO Movie 2 gave Benny an apocalyptic upgrade which found him sporting a clawed robot arm and carrying a toolbox. Now, builder Chris Yee has upgraded Benny yet again, translating Benny’s apocalyptic minifigure look into a larger Bionicle/Hero Factory style figure. I particularly love the Classic Space logo recreated with a pearl gold conical hat and a red minifigure hand and rubber bands. I’m forced to wonder if there’s a spaceship spaceship spaceship! in all the galaxy that’s capable of containing this much awesome.

Spaceman Bienny

The world wasn’t ready for a robot with a Keytar

You may see a slew of exciting LEGO builds here on The Brothers Brick or around the interwebs having to do with Riot Fleas. What is a riot flea? We’re not quite sure. But this particular one built by Patrick Biggs has a New Wave 80’s vibe with his punk hairdo and keytar. He can surely play Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Frankenstein by Edgar Winter, or pretty much every Devo song ever. Patrick might be having the best week ever as we featured another one of his builds very recently. Check it out here as well as many of his other awesome builds in our archives. Other riot fleas have caught the attention of some of my colleagues so stay tuned to see more.

RRRRRRRRIOTFLEA 016

Wander deep into the woods to find something magical

If you’ve been reading the Brothers Bricks for a few years, no doubt you’ll recognize the distinct style of LEGO characters created by Patrick Biggs. I always tend to come across them online in the same way: I’m browsing some social media platform and this fantastic LEGO model scrolls onto my screen. I think to myself, “this is amazing, who built it?” And then I read the caption and realize “Of course, it’s Patrick!”

The Branching Elk

While I’m sure he agonizes over parts selection and placement, his models have an effortless look to them; the organic feel makes me believe they naturally grew, rather than being pieced together by an intelligent designer. With this Elk, there are so many things to love about how it’s sculpted, but my favourite is the legs. The 1×1 round plates stuck in the sides of the technic connectors – while not an uncommon technique – perfectly imitates how joints are thicker than other parts of the leg. And the armor plates on the front of the hooves so perfectly represents that layer of overhanging thick fur, really bringing this woodland creature to life. I’ve long been a fan of Patrick’s work as a LEGO artist and his ability to adeptly mix system and Bionicle elements, and this is one sculpture, in particular, I’d love to find a place for on my mantle.

The Bug Knight won’t let the bedbugs bite. Or maybe he will.

Sometimes you just really get a kick out of something. Maybe it’s the big black radar dishes for eyes, or maybe it’s a clever use of balloon segment parts, but I just love this LEGO Bug Knight built by Nathan Hake. He tells us the Hollow Knight game loosely inspires this. Having never played, I’ll just have to take his word for it. That doesn’t stop me from loving it, though. I’m attracted to it like a moth to a flame, which, now that I think about it will likely end in the same result; singed proboscis. This might be the best thing I’ve seen all day, and I’ve seen someone try to gas up a Tesla!

Bug knight

It’s like a hermit crab but way scarier

A hermit crab moves into an empty seashell (and occasionally manmade discarded debris) and uses it to protect itself. This new LEGO creation by Andrew Steele is a Protoweapon XV-2 “WYRM”. It’s a worm-based organism that uses the empty husks and remains as protection and binds itself together using a sticky glue.

Protoweapon XV-2 "WYRM" A worm based organism that uses the empty husks and remains as protection and binds itself together using a sticky glue.

Andrew is quite good at making LEGO seem lifelike and organic. Check out his archives. I can assure you, you will not be disappointed. But before you do, take a closer look at this WYRM and try to sleep well tonight.

Protoweapon XV-2 "WYRM" A worm based organism that uses the empty husks and remains as protection and binds itself together using a sticky glue.

Constraction faction, why the detraction?

I’ve got to be honest, I never liked constraction figures from LEGO. Personally, I thought Bionicle was lame and more than a little cheesy, the Knights Kingdom, Ben 10, superheroes, and Legends of Chima big figures even worse, and the Star Wars ones at best mildly interesting. Better than Galidor, certainly, but not by much. I was a System builder, period. Perhaps my position is evolving, however, or else I just love great LEGO building when I see it, because this character from Matt Goldberg is amazing. The color blocking is on-point, with bold, crisp red contrasting with the grey, and that gold visor just pops. The whole head is just perfect, in fact. Add in some superhero power bursts, and you have a dynamic sci-fi hero ready to save me from my anti-constractionist bigotry.

Trooper Harpaxus