Tag Archives: Jayfa

LEGO Catbus from My Neighbour Totoro puts a massive grin on our faces!

If you’ve been following Joss Ivanwood over on Instagram, you’ll know he’s been hard at work building a bus out of LEGO. That might sound a bit odd – Joss is better known for making fantastic creatures than vehicles, as our archives will attest. But it all becomes clear once you realise it’s the famous Catbus, from Studio Ghibli favourite My Neighbour Totoro! It’s been several months in the making, and now it’s debuted, we can see what a magnificent creation it is. We’ve even got the movie’s other protagonists too!

I absolutely love Totoro; it’s probably my favourite Ghibli film. So indulge me, and let’s take a closer look at Joss’ cracking Catbus!

All aboard…

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The final dragon from The Year of the Dragon

In the waning hours of 2024, Joss Ivanwood presented his final LEGO dragon for his Year of the Dragon project and it’s a doozy of a deer. Draconis Cervus takes inspiration from fallow and sika deer with their reddish nougat-colored fur and white underbellies. Joss tells us that the furry parts he has been using in this series are quickly becoming his favorite pieces but he takes particular pride with how the eyes turned out, which makes use of a Technic tow-ball inserted into a gray Mixel socket. What a lovely and satisfying end to an equally satisfying project! I look forward to whatever Joss will be doing in 2025. In the meantime, be sure to check out our Joss Ivanwood archives to discover highlights from the Year of the Dragon project and even older offerings from previous years.

Draconis Scyphozoa – a jellyfish-inspired dragon

LEGO phenom Joss Ivanwood has been building a dragon every month in 2024; Year of the Dragon in case you’re wondering why. It turns out, eleven months into the year, this jellyfish-inspired dragon marks the first instance of creative block. It’s quite understandable, trying to design a dragon based on a jellyfish; I imagine there were several iterations of this magnificent beast, several head-scratching moments and maybe sleepless nights. But the end result is probably my favorite of the entire line. I mean, look at those tendrils made from legions of clips and that arching transparent bell. It’s proof that something can be deadly and beautiful all at the same time. Joss tells us that while he’s aware that jellyfish don’t have brains, he couldn’t resist including the new brain creature piece from the Mindflayer D&D minifigure. That’s a smart use for that brain piece!

We adore Jayfa’s smashing pumpkin dragon in LEGO

Usually, a ripe pumpkin invites you to carve its flesh to make a Jack-o-Lantern, but Joss Ivanwood‘s pumpkin creation needs no help in creating a scary face and it looks poised to carve you up if you get too close! Draconis Cucurbita is the 10th entry in Joss’ Year of the Dragon series of monthly LEGO builds and it’s one of his best. Big macaroni tubes are the star elements here, supplying the ribbed pumpkin bodies – a wonderful technique, with bananas filling in the gaps – and the snaking neck and legs. The long vine-like tail is especially effective at evoking a pumpkin patch. With only two dragons left in the project, we can’t wait to see where Joss will draw inspiration from next!

A fun guy with a passion for woodland adventure

Sometimes those bright red toadstools appear out of nowhere and you’re like, what otherworldly thing is this? Maybe LEGO creature builder extraordinaire Joss Ivanwood feels the same way when he discovers a toadstool. He’s been building a dragon a month for a long while now and September’s offering is called Draconis Amanita and is inspired by the fly agaric mushroom (Amanita muscaria). He tells us he’s always been fascinated by the way so many mushrooms grow from fallen trees, giving them new life. So, he fathomed it would be a cool idea to make the whole dragon as a group of mushrooms growing out of the same log. I bet this dragon’s mycelium network is off the hook! It’s probably the root of all awesomeness! I’ll just let myself out and go spore some bad jokes somewhere else.

Dragon meets Mantis Shrimp

The term “shrimp” doesn’t typically evoke an image of a fearsome creature, but what if you combined the obscure and dangerous Peacock Mantis Shrimp with a Dragon? Lego builder, and imaginative creator, Joss Ivanwood, who takes pride in designing and building “dragons, robots, monsters, and more,” has merged the otherworldly mantis shrimp with a dragon. The use of bright colors, combined with what can only be assumed is an expert-level application of LEGO Technic joints, transforms a fish’s nightmare into a vibrant and imaginative reality.

Draconis Wisteria is a garden-variety dragon with a twist

As we cross the halfway point of 2024, Joss Ivanwood (jayfa_mocs) continues his Year of the Dragon LEGO celebration with his sixth offering: Draconis Wisteria. June’s dragon is a tribute to the flowering wisteria vine. The idea first came to Joss at the start of the year, but it took until now for the vision to fully come together and the results truly soar. Joss excels at organic shaping in his builds, especially when liberated by the chaotic outgrowths of roots and vines, as he demonstrated with his orchid-inspired Demogorgon. The model masterfully incorporates a lot of snaking brown parts that you would expect with the theme, and a few parts you might not, like a hairpiece for upper maw, and golden One Ring eyes. This dragon is such a perfect execution of a concept that just feels right. I can imagine the majestic beast nesting on a pergola, draping its wings to create a lavender canopy and perfectly camouflaging itself in plain sight.

With six months remaining, I can’t wait to see what other imaginative spins on the dragon Joss has in store for LEGO fans.

This LEGO dragon may fit in the palm of your hand

One thing we learned from How to Train Your Dragon is that dragons do indeed come in many shapes and sizes, as evident in this dragon by Joss Woodyard, inspired by a toad which reminds me of the rock-eating Gronckle, especially with those tiny wings. Lots of long curved parts used as tails and claws are here used to sculpt the dragon’s large mouth and tongue. The small eye tiles commonly found in nightmare creatures from the LEGO Dreamzzz theme make perfect reptile eyes, while the transparent wing element makes a great dragonfly wing on this dragon’s lunch.

LEGO Creation of the Week (#15): Godzilla by Jayfa

Every week readers of the The Brothers Brick Telegram channel choose the Creation of the Week: one project that impressed all of us the most. Wonder what absolute domination looks like? Ask Joss Woodyard since his Gozilla just got more than half of all votes during the last Creation of the Week voting!

Meanwhile, the new vote is already on! Join our Telegram channel to follow all the best LEGO creations, latest news, and, of course, vote for your favorites. See you there!

All hail Godzilla, King of the Monsters

Is there anyone out there who thinks a giant sea-dwelling lizard monster isn’t cool? No? Good. How about one made of LEGO? An even more resounding no? Excellent! In which case, take a look at this epic Godzilla by Joss Woodyard. Godzilla has many incarnations, and this one is based on its appearance in the Monsterverse films. The texturing is simply incredible. Joss makes great use of the stepped bow slope and a variety of textured rock pieces for the monster’s rough skin. Worth paying careful attention to, though, are the ridges up the spine. This is a mish-mash of curved and straight slopes and tiles; simple parts, but used to devastating effect to complete Godzilla’s menacing form.

Godzilla might be the King of the Monsters, but we’ve featured plenty of his subjects in our monster archives.

Ogle this Oogway

Ozzie Joss Woodyard / Jayfa is ringing in the new year with the venerated sage kung fu master Oogway from the Kung Fu Panda film and TV franchise. Joss’ usual knack for character work shines brightly here as he recreates the tranquil master of the Jade Palace. This guy looks like he could teach a clumsy panda a thing or two! I love the use of the dragon wing cloth as Oogway’s tunic, and well-placed studs on the exposed sand green skin evoke the textured tortoise legs of the original character model from the movie.

Like what you see? There’s more Kung Fu Panda action to be found in our archives with this sculpted scene from the movie and excellent recreations of Masters Tigress and Crane.

A monstrous mole makes mischief

Joss Woodyard puts a mammalian twist on kaiju with Molethra. No mere garden pest, this giant beast has risen up from the subterranean depths to wreck untold havoc. Joss has done an amazing job of layering the stylized wing pieces to create a furry texture. And the damaged microscale city street does a perfect job of conveying the monster’s massive size.