Tag Archives: Creatures

Creepy crawly or fuzzy & fluffly (yes, that’s possible in LEGO), we love our LEGO animals. Check them out here, and fall in love yourself.

Pampered Panda

When you think about pandas, what characteristics come to mind? Cute, cuddly, fuzzy, playful, sleepy, chubby? If they could talk, what do think they would say? Seeing as they spend most of their waking hours eating, I’d say it’d involve food. And if a panda was able to operate a phone, he/she would almost certainly order vegetarian takeout ASAP. Ian Hou must feel the same because he built this adorable snacking panda out of LEGO for the world to enjoy. How could you not love that big round belly, sweet face, and adorable bow tie?

Click to see more builds by Ian (AKA DOGOD Brick Design).

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Glowing in the deep

For my taste, we don’t see nearly enough horrific LEGO monsters here on the Brothers Brick. That’s why I’m so happy to write about the Luminescent Levviathan by Marko Petrušić. This creepy creature is based around a lot of hard-to-find Bionicle sets from 2007. In particular, it uses unique glow-in-the-dark pieces from Nocturn, Takadox, and Gadunka. These key elements are mixed with armor plating from the same sets to extend the shapes even further. The best bit, though, is that tail. The fins are made from Batmobile wings and an inverted use of glowing spines from the Nocturn set.

From the side, you can better see the build isn’t all black and blue. There’s a bit of brown on the underbelly, giving this an even more natural look. If, you know, nature was really pissed at us. Looking outside, maybe it is. At least this thing appears to be aquatic. If Marko makes a murder hornet version, I might never venture outside again.

A mother’s loving touch

When I was younger, my mom gave me a framed poster of a mother giraffe with her lips pressed against the head of her newborn calf. The title read, “The First Kiss” and while it always meant a lot to me, it means even more now that she has passed away. Needless to say, this lovely LEGO sculpture by Joe Perez has a special place in my heart. And as a model, it is very well done. I’m constantly saying organic shapes are not easy, and the body of a giraffe has to be one of the hardest. I love their positioning, the clips for the mother’s mane, and the brooms for both their tails.

If you’re interested in seeing more of Joe’s lovely builds, take a look at his majestic stag. Or perhaps you’ll find these beautiful birds of prey inspiring. And maybe if you want to get wacky, check out his prehistoric squirrel in this previous exhibition. (While not his, the sabre tooth cat is my favorite contribution.)

Leave it to the beaver

I grew up in the state of Oregon, USA, where the beaver is our state animal. I also attended Oregon State University, where Benny the Beaver is our school mascot. So I guess I have a bias for these buck-toothed builders. When I saw this cute little guy, built by Miro Dudas, I had to write about it. Now, it’s not just because this animal is significant for me; it’s nicely done. The aspen tree looks great and using legs for paws gives it organic character. The most clever part: using leg hips for teeth!

Miro does a great job with LEGO wildlife, like this quiet fox, a curious bear cub, and a gorgeous stag.

The early bird gets the worm

In the northern United States, at least, one of the first signs of spring is when the robins return. It is a day much beloved, a turning point when the cold and snow is gone and flowers are about to bloom. Of course, in many places the robins never actually leave, and snow never really comes, so it is less exciting, but I know as a kid growing up in Minnesota I loved to see that first robin. So, since it is spring where I live, and needing an idea for a contest entry, I (Benjamin Stenlund) built a robin coming back to the newly-hatched chicks in her nest. I am quite pleased with how it turned out, with the adult bird poised in mid-air with her flight feathers extended, feet ready to grasp the edge of the nest; and I think the nest itself turned out well, too.

The adult robin was fun to make, even if it is awful fiddling with those wings; they stay together just fine unless you jostle them, but moving the model from my building table to my photography station required some rebuilding. A round plate with bar built into her tail fits into a dinosaur neck twig to hold her in the air, just off the nest. The hardest part was the face and trying different solutions for the beak; I wanted to be able to put a worm in her mouth, but it would not look right with the parts I had, so I left it out and just used the spike. Lots of flex tubing went into the nest, but it was worth it for the un-LEGOy, organic shape of it. And when I ran out of flex tube, I used oars and blunderbusses and a variety of spikes and whips. To maximize the spring feeling, I added some flowers; perhaps cherry blossoms, maybe apple, or whatever pink flower you like to see on trees! I know it makes me want to get out of the basement where I build and go take a walk, at least.

Like bird builds? Here’s a sparrow and an owl for your viewing pleasure.

Surrealism and LEGO are a match made in elephants

The mustachioed surrealist artist Salvador Dali inspired this stunningly spindly pachydermal presentation from Dutch builder Jaap Bijl. This was an entry for Innovalug’s ongoing Style It Up! LEGO building contest. This category restricted creations to maintaining 4 studs’ worth of contact with the display surface. Dali’s “Les Elephants” features just the sort of delicately balanced build many of us actively try to avoid. Thanks to the plethora of newer curved slope pieces over the last few years the Daliphant’s shape is well represented, and I’d almost wager it took longer to get the thing to safely stand in place than it did to build.

Need more LEGO Dali in your life? We’ve featured a few creations in the past, including Lin Kei’s own “Les Elephants” take which earned him a spot in the LEGO House’s Masterpiece Gallery.

Nowhere left to hide

Some of the best LEGO builds are the ones that move without moving, and like a picture, say a thousand words. This monochrome scene by Duncan Lindbo is one that says it all. A giant, insect-like robot, loaded with guns aimed at a sliver of concrete brick wall? I’d say we know how this one turns out, but maybe we’ll give that little guy a chance. He’s obviously doing something right if he survived this long…Then again, somehow that curious head tilt makes the mech look kinda cute. Maybe we’ve got it all wrong! Maybe it just wants to play! But either way, with the bullet holes on the ground, and the crater in that wall… Yeah, my money’s on the bug.

This creation wouldn’t be the same if it was in full color. There’s just something about monochrome. Click this link if you want to see a few more single-color builds.

The delicate, dappled wings of spring

In the northern hemisphere, spring is underway. It might not feel that way for some, as snow is still falling in parts, but it is indeed springtime. And what says springtime better than a butterfly? Maybe flowers, but flowers need pollinators like butterflies, and so the two go hand in hand. Or proboscis in nectar pit, as the case may be. So when the Style it Up contest gave the prompt to build something with LEGO that is perfectly symmetrical across a line, I (Benjamin Stenlund) eventually settled on a Monarch butterfly, one of the most recognizable insects in North America. Ok, I admit, my wife told me to make a butterfly.

The challenge, of course, is trying to replicate the complicated patterns on the wings, with their many angles and colors, all while using a mostly rectangular system of interlocking bricks. I found that the old fingered hinges were better than the newer clip hinges, as they are flat, so I was thankful to have my childhood LEGO laying about. An even greater challenge than the building was photographing it without glare, as the flat surfaces reflected everything. But the end result, in my not-so-humble opinion, is delicately beautiful.

Another day at the market of tomorrow

Even though we don’t have hovercars yet, we can still imagine a world where scenes like this one, by lokiloki29, of a farmer taking his wares to market in a floating carriage, pulled by a robot horse, are as common as rain. Tha bot-horse has some great details, like the subtle angle of the head, and the multi-jointed legs look almost insect-like. The carriage is the perfect blend of sci-fi and historic, with that brown railing and reigns for the bot.

Big ‘wig

One of the most prolific LEGO bug builders, Takamichi Irie, has presented us with another of his crawly critters. Now, even though I work with animals for a living and don’t mind the creatures that typically freak out other people, earwigs are not my favorite. There’s just something about how fast, erratic, and alien they are. And even though those pincers can’t really hurt a human, I’d rather not give them the chance.

Fun fact: earwigs do not crawl in your ears at night to lay their eggs; that’s just a myth. Their name is actually derived from the fact that their teeny tiny wings are shaped like human ears. YES, wings. It is extremely rare, but they can indeed fly. Nope, nope, double nope.

You can read our interview with Takamichi to learn more about how he builds his various creatures (not just bugs) and other epic creations.

Paint it black

Many people seem to have more time on their hands recently, with much of normal life disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. And as a result, contests are popping up out of the woodwork to give LEGO builders some inspiration, whether it’s Reverse Engineering or Alphabet Starfighters. Included in that is one called Style It Up, where the rules dictate color choices and style rather than content. Since the first week’s challenge is to build something with only one color, jnj_bricks went straight to black. As in black panther. Now, if you have ever tried to photograph LEGO, you know it can be a challenge to get the lighting right. When your build is black, it gets about a billion times harder because it reflects everything. Yet this cat is perfectly captured mid-step, standing out against the black foliage.

A lot has gone into the panther, with teeny tiny parts giving it an organic shape. I see flippers, a mohawk, and a cap, to name a few. But minifig arms and gobs of horns for the grass add further details, and the scene as a whole is both dynamic and vibrant, despite being monochrome.

Feel inspired? There is still time to hop over and get some entries in.

The strength of family

Early last year, I wrote an article about a pair of LEGO meerkats and mentioned the species’ vigilance and protectiveness. And it’s true, these little guys are one of the most family-oriented animals in the world. It’s the job of every member to take a fearless rotation as babysitter or sentry, and when there’s danger they act as one “mob” to defend themselves. Quite impressive! When I saw this build by Felix Jaensch, I swore I had seen it before. But maybe that’s just because he’s such an incredible artist of lifelike LEGO art.

While these guys are certainly impressive, I wouldn’t even say this is his best build. We’ve featured many more, including a rabbit, macaque, red panda, hamster, kestrel, and blue and gold macaw.