Tag Archives: Kyle Keller

The one flower missing from the LEGO Botanical Collection

With all the tiny plants, bouquets, and succulents available in the LEGO Botanical Collection, I thought it was important to bring the brick-built flower back to its roots, pun intended. And with only 162 pieces, we can enjoy all the upscaled glory of my take on a trio of the original LEGO flower from 1977 sitting on a tri-stem piece from that same year. This is going to find a great home on my desk alongside my similarly-scaled creations. Now off to get the parts for white and red versions of the build…

The Botanical Collection

A LEGO build on-theme for the present holiday

Trying to recreate fabric using LEGO bricks has always been a difficult feat for me. So many ideas have been left on the backburner because I couldn’t figure out how to work out a cape on a character build. But when it came to making a bow, as in the bundle of ribbon topping a present, I knew there had to be a better way to achieve the look without resorting to specialized pieces with a reduction in scale or simple curved slopes with no volume. Last year, I cracked the code on the bow of my dreams. But it wasn’t until this Christmas season that I was able to fully realize my vision of a perfect present. It’s helped quite a bit to have increased availability of the 2×2 inverted curved slope, plus enough time to engineer a box with a half-plate of “ribbon” running down each side.

Present 2.0

From everyone here at The Brothers Brick, we hope you have a merry and safe Christmas with plenty of LEGO sets under the tree!

A message from a thankful editor

For me, an American in Washington state, today marks Thanksgiving, a day built around good food and counting one’s blessings. I’ve crossed the first off my list with this lovely LEGO turkey, complete with a pair of golden brown drumplates. And normally I would spend the rest of the article gushing about the techniques I used, how I was inspired, or what I plan to use it for. Maybe I’d even make a joke – something about carving it with a brick separator, no doubt.

But instead, I’d much rather focus on the second point I listed above: giving thanks. Five months ago, I took on a heaping helping of responsibility at The Brothers Brick, and I’m so incredibly grateful for the team here and all the help and patience they’ve given me as I’ve adjusted to my new role. I have the honor to work alongside some truly inspiring people, and my admiration of their collective writing ability, IT know-how, graphic design skill, and LEGO artistry knows no bounds! And thank you too, dear reader, for clicking on the link, for reading our posts, for commenting and enjoying this wonderful hobby with us. TBB exists to serve the LEGO fan community with news, reviews, and a spotlight on the best creations we can find. And we would be nowhere without our readership!

Watch your fingies while handling this LEGO D&D chest mimic

It seems that we’ve seen a veritable dragon’s hoard of Dungeons and Dragons-themed builds lately, thanks in large part to the challenge on LEGO Ideas celebrating the 50th anniversary of the game. And I guess it’s time I toss one of my own onto the pile: this ferocious chest mimic. It’s mouth is brimming with treasure, including a necklace, ring, gold ingot, and lots of coins (2×2 round tile) and gems (1×2 transparent brick). These goodies are on display thanks to a false bottom built into the mimic’s mouth, upon which it’s tongue rests. If I had to pick a specific design piece that I was most proud of here, I would say it’s the use of exposed studs along the lid to emulate rivets in the dark gray metal. When faced with the challenge of using brackets to form the arch of the lid, I decided to lean into it and use the design byproduct to my advantage.

Mimic Chest - Lego Ideas D&D Challenge

It’s funny to think that this build started out as a generic treasure chest construction, complete with lighting to highlight the gems inside. And while those lights haven’t made it to this final version, the original frame remains largely intact. However, from this initial version through the handful of shows where the chest mimic has been on display, the model has broken on me three times. That’s not just into pieces, but countless fractured LEGO plates! I guess that’s the cost of working with so much reddish brown and not being overly careful when packing. The first major break was when prepping for the picture below. I dropped the chest’s lid on the concrete of my back patio and was forced to delay the photo shoot until the next night while I made repairs.

Treasure Chest (Night)

One tough roll of paper towels

There are few things in this world I enjoy more than a terrible pun. So when I, Kyle Keller, had the idea to build the ideal “Bounty” hunter, I just couldn’t help myself! For those outside the U.S. and Canada, I recognize that this joke is entirely reliant on a brand name of paper towels you may be unfamiliar with. But after some research, I’m sure you’ll agree this is the roll-for-hire you need in your kitchen. The origin of this build was actually inspired by a wonderful Bossk mech featured on the site previously. Don’t ask me how I got from Star Wars to paper towel-based humor, though…

The Bounty Hunter