Tag Archives: Building Techniques

How to build a vintage Tatra 148 LEGO fire truck [Instructions]

Sometimes the simplest of LEGO creations can be the most lovely. Talented Technic builder František Hajdekr, whose working LEGO chainsaw we featured earlier this year, recently posted an adorable vintage fire truck based on a Czech Tatra 148 from the 70’s. What I love about this is that the builder has incorporated actual vintage LEGO tires from the 70’s into his modern creation.

František quickly followed that up with step-by-step instructions, which you can watch in this video (with complete parts breakdown as well: part 1 & part 2).

If you like 6×6 Tatra fire trucks, check out my LEGO Wildland Ultra XT (with instructions).

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Build your own LEGO Oliver Twist the pug dog [Instructions]

Even though The Brothers Brick’s official mascot is some type of strepsirrhine primate, our unofficial mascots have always been my pugs, first the late, great Mr. Pugsly and now Oliver Twist. TBB’s own Elspeth De Montes created a LEGO version of little Ollie for our recent calendar contest, and she has just posted simple instructions for you to build your own LEGO pug.

Dale Horvath’s RV from The Walking Dead in LEGO [Instructions]

While Dale may not get to enjoy his retirement driving around the country with his wife in an RV, we can all enjoy this great LEGO rendition of his iconic vehicle from the first two seasons of The Walking Dead, built by hachiroku24. The builder has included numerous key details, including all the gear Dale needs on his roof to keep watch over the survivors’ camp. I particularly like the rolled up awning.

If you want to build your own LEGO version of Dale’s RV, the builder has provided step-by-step instructions in the following video.

How to construct the Avalonian Countryside trees [Instructions]

Sometimes it is easy to see how a builder created a particular LEGO build, while at other times a build requires a bit of breakdown and perhaps even a tutorial if there are ‘hidden’ techniques. Last week we blogged this fantastic microscale LEGO countryside diorama from Full Plate, with beautiful fall foliage and crops ready for harvest.

The builder, Emil Lidé, has responded to questions about the creation of his trees with this fantastic tutorial to help you create your own. First, he starts with a layout of the parts required for the green trees.

Next, Emil shows how the trunk is built using a six-pronged flower stem to ‘hang’ the main foliage. The foliage in this example uses a mix of 1×2 plates and 2×2 round plates.

Continue reading →

The unholy craft from beyond

When Cthulhu and his legions come, will they be piloting spacecraft from another dimension? If so, perhaps they’ll look a bit like this tentacled ship by BobDeQuatre. The organic shape is perfectly attuned to warp your mind to insanity until you cry “Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn!” And once you’re fully assimilated, perhaps you’ll want to create your own using the LEGO Digital Designer file Bob freely provides on his website.

Build your own miniature Songbird from BioShock Infinite [Instructions]

Following up a 1:1 scale Sky-Hook and an incredible minifig scale Songbird diorama, Imagine Rigney is back with another build from the universe of BioShock Infinite. This time around it’s an itty bitty Songbird that you can build from a handful of pieces, and there’s full instructions to make one yourself.

By the way, BioShock Infinite is a brilliant game and one of my all-time favourites. It’s relatively cheap now, so if you haven’t tried it yet, pick it up and give it a go.

Instructions for Laputa: Castle in the Sky LEGO music box now available [Instructions]

Korean builder Hwang Byeong Jun has released step-by-step instructions for the amazing Laputa: Castle in the Sky music box that we featured last month, complete with details on how to integrate the music box into your LEGO build.

You can see each step in the instructions in the builder’s photoset on Flickr, and you can download a PDF as well.

Birds from Bricks book by Thomas Poulsom available for preorder [News]

Thomas Poulsom, the fan builder behind the LEGO Ideas Birds set has just announced the upcoming release of his new book, Birds from Bricks. Tom is a bird and wildlife enthusiast, so it is no surprise that his new book follows on from the 3 lovely bird models in the Ideas set. The book has detailed step-by-step instructions for 15 more bird models, with colour photos and information about each species.

Birds from Bricks: Amazing LEGO Designs That Take Flight is currently available to pre-order from both Amazon US and Amazon UK (with free UK shipping) and a release date of 15 April 2016 in the UK, and April 1st in the US.

Build your won Ghostbusters HQ firehouse with instructions from Ecto-1 designer Brent Waller [Instructions]

Even though Brent Waller‘s LEGO Ghostbusters Ecto-1 set was recently approved as the latest official CUUSOO set, you might be among those disappointed that the beautifully rendered Firehouse in Brent’s original CUUSOO project wasn’t also approved.

But fear not! Brent has just released the step-by-step instructions for the Ghostbusters HQ in LEGO Digital Designer (LDD) format.

You can download Brent’s instructions from his Eurobricks post.

D.I.Y. Sunday

If your creative well has run dry, TBB is here to help with a couple of projects to fill the hours before the factory whistle blows on Monday…or Tuesday if you live here in the States.

First up is the deceptively challenging How to build a K.E.W.B. by Jacob Unterreiner (4estFeller). The video is easy to follow, doesn’t require a Zhangian collection to build and it even has cool music that will make you feel like you’re in a hip clothing store. The only drawback is that Jacob doesn’t show you how to make his elegant stand to display your K.E.W.B., but we’ll let it slide.

For the advanced builder with LDD experience and a penchant for Sci-Fi, Chief Executive Overlord, Tanuki Corp. and wezra have you covered with a free instructional download of Red Spacecat’s USS Saratoga. I can assure you, constant reader, that the instructions are far easier to follow than my description.

To those of you who take the plunge, good luck! I have no doubt that the builders featured here would be happy to answer questions from you via Flickr if you get stuck. If you have your own D.I.Y. project to share with the readers, leave them in the comments.

New and upcoming LEGO books for Jul-Oct 2013

It seems like there are new books about LEGO coming out constantly, both from famously “LEGO-friendly” publishing houses like No Starch Press and from many other publishers.

We haven’t been able to feature or review all of them, so here’s a quick roundup of the many LEGO books published so far in 2013, along with links to pre-order a number of future books.

The Big Unofficial Lego Builder’s Book: Build Your Own City by Joachim Klang and Oliver Albrecht
Brick City: Global Icons to Make from LEGO by Warren Elsmore
LEGO Minifigures: Character Encyclopedia from DK, with an exclusive toy soldier minifig
The BrickGun Book: Build the World’s Most Realistic LEGO Handguns by Jeff Boen
Brick by Brick: How LEGO Rewrote the Rules of Innovation and Conquered the Global Toy Industry by David Robertson with Bill Breen
Lego: Build Your Own Vehicles by Joachim Klang
The LEGO Build-It Book, Vol. 1: Amazing Vehicles by Nathanaël Kuipers and Mattia Zamboni, due out July 29
Beautiful LEGO by Mike Doyle, due out September 10
The LEGO Adventure Book, Vol. 2: Spaceships, Pirates, Dragons & More! by Megan Rothrock, due out September 22
The LEGO Build-It Book, Vol. 2: More Amazing Vehicles by Nathanaël Kuipers and Mattia Zamboni, due out September 22
LEGO Galaxy: Build Your Own Universe by Joe Klang, Oliver Albrecht, and Lutz Uhlmann, due out October 16
LEGO Space: Building the Future by Peter Reid and Tim Goddard, due out October 22

I’m particularly excited about LEGO Space by perennial TBB favorites Pete Reid and Tim Goddard. Though we don’t have too many details about what’s inside, the cover alone hints at Neo-Classic Space greatness.

LEGOberry 3.141592635

Many years (a decade?) ago a LEGO computer case did the rounds of the internet[1]. Sadly I can’t find any pictures of it, but I can assure you that Jim Devona’s (anoved) LEGO Rasberry pi case is at least 100 times smaller. And if you want one yourself, Jim has kindly put up instructions for it.

[1] There have been many since, but this particular one was the first I was aware of that found widespread fame on the internet. It was not pretty :)