Tag Archives: Post-Apoc

DORA and friends explore the post-apocalyptic wastelands

At last year’s Bricks Cascade expo, Martin Hulth shared a post-apoc behemoth on treads cheekily named D.O.R.A. the Explorer (DORA as in Deep Outpost Research and Armament.) This year, with encouragement and collaboration from Mark Cruickshank, Martin returned to Cascade with two new vehicles that expand on this emerging world that rests somewhere between Mad Max and the Mortal Engines. Leading the new pack is BIG BERTHA here. It’s a kid’s dream of a mobile base fused with a monster truck, backed with sophisticated techniques. You might call it a spiritual successor to the Rock Raiders theme. And the use of color, with bold yellow and red paired with muted sand green and blue, is striking.

Explore the wasteland with us and see more of Martin’s epic builds

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Beware of brick Clickers in Boston in LEGO Last of Us tribute

HBO’s The Last of Us just wrapped season 2, but if you’re not ready to let go of a run-down world filled with murderous mushroom zombies, Greg the Gungan has your back. In this towering diorama, Greg returns to the first game/season with Joel and Ellie traversing a crumbling Boston. Greg finds the perfect balance between urban decay and nature taking root, creating a world that is so beautiful that you might risk a cordyceps bite to take it all in. True to the source, the decrepit office building hides many dangers that Greg also built in bricks.

Android freedom fighters lead the charge in a new weekly feature [Minifig Monday]

The Brothers Brick started as a minfig-focused site, so with our 20th anniversary fast approaching, it’s high time we bring back the celebration of custom minifigure creations. A lot has changed in the minifig scene since TBB founder Andrew shared his first fig. Collectible Minifigure lines and ever-expanding licenses have exploded the range of minifig elements and accessories, and social media has led to more channels to share creations and get inspired by the community. Minifig Mondays is a new feature where we choose a theme and showcase recent creations from the custom Minifig community. This week’s theme is Androids – humanoid robots.

Our first figs are a collaboration between Red Impala and Bambus Bricks Customs. These three are members of Onyx Talon, a faction of freedom-fighting androids in a post-apocalyptic future. Ferret the infiltrator, Hare the scout, and Beetle the reconnaissance drone provide intel and overwatch for the team. I love the digitigrade leg designs, especially Hare’s with the hotdog feet. In case you’re wondering where Hare’s eerie face is from, it’s from Star Wars: Solo character Enfys Nest.

Read on for more amazing custom minifigs and microbuilds

In New Hashima, even offshore slums are epic

In the cyberpunk city of New Hashima, the rich live above the fray (as we’ve seen with this incredible tower) while the have-nots are left to eke out a living in the toxic world below. Brick Ready adds to the massive LEGO collaboration with this artificial island made from shipping containers that shows that there’s beauty even in the city’s slums. The builder brings an eye for detail to the towering creation, such as laundry hanging from windows, splintered wood supports, brick-built graffiti, and broken windows. The shipping container homes might not be luxurious but they feel cozier than many of the neon scenes in New Hashima’s more thriving districts. The transmission tower adds scale and a splash of color that makes the island a triumphant addition to the collaboration that grows more wonderful each year.

Fallout boys create Panic! at the vault door

Fallout wrapped its first season on TV, and a Fallout 5 game is still years off, but the post-apocalyptic world of Vault Dwellers and Nuka Cola lives on thanks to fans like Cube Brick who spent 8 months bringing the beloved universe to life in LEGO. The scene depicts a Raider camp built on the doorstep of Vault 27 in the Mojave Wasteland from wood scraps and rusty refuse. Cube Brick’s diorama is packed to the ghouls with incredible details lifted from recent games, while also sporting some innovative techniques to bring the wasteland to life.

Suit up and venture into the Wasteland for a close-up look and more surprises!

A brick-built vision of life in the post-apocalyptic desert

The year is… sometime in the future. The passage of time has long been forgotten by the dust. And if you don’t have your wits about you, you, too, will be forgotten. This is the dystopian vision that Polish LEGO builder Marcin (bigfig2000) brings us. But for all its post-apocalyptic caution, it’s impossible to take your eyes off this huge diorama! It depicts what looks to be an outpost in the desert, an oasis of sorts among the chaos. That isn’t to say there’s no disorder here, though! It’s absolutely jam-packed with details, characters and little stories forming.

Come and see who’s hanging around – if you’re brave enough…

A wasteland blowout by a master of LEGO sci-fi

The future is bright in Bart De Deobbelaer‘s LEGO world, even as the world turns to rust and ruin. And when the time comes to venture into darkness, you needn’t go alone. In his latest epic sci-fi scene, Into the Sunset, Bart reminds us why he’s the LEGO master of sci-fi worldbuilding. Character, composition, color and incredible building technique combine for the perfect shot that suggests a story that extends far beyond the borders of the image. The tunnel itself is a wonder, an almost perfectly circular icositetragon of grey bricks interspersed with orange rust and sand green patina. The smooth surface is pocked with tube stubble and stubborn weeds. Bulbous trans blue minifig heads sprout from the floor as part of the post-apocalyptic ecology. Most striking of all is the lighting, with a backdrop so bright it blows out the edge of the model, creating an illusion of parts floating against a white sky.

Let’s give a special callout to our wasteland wanderer’s unwavering robot friend. Here, in studio lighting, we can better apprecaite the greebles and tubes that keep him scuttling. Even though there’s technically no mouth on this friendly bot, I can’t help but see a big smile. The future is bright indeed.

Five mechs for fighting in the wasteland

Bartosz Sasiński has been busy building LEGO models this 2024. His new line of light-blue mechs are part of a diesel-punk series named “For Fuel!” The hero of this lineup is the sword-wielding M-D1 walker brandishing the golden blade from various Ninjago sets. This build features a number of rarer parts used to great effect: The horns in bright light blue are from 76414 Expecto Patronum, and the gold tubes were only available in two sets from 2021.

Amazing build and massive sword aside, I’d argue the greatest strengths of this walker are two-fold; its outstanding color-scheme, and its party of allied mechs. The medium blue of the armor contrasts with iron brown of the mechanical parts. These fighting vehicles have seen some hard use in unforgiving conditions and the rusty color of the struts and joints reflects that.

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A charming pair of scavengers

If you are stuck in a post-apocalyptic LEGO world scratching out a living recovering unusual salvage from the before-time, there can be no mode of travel more reliable than a beast of burden who can also defend your stash. This duo of ride and rider by Justus M. are ready for anything as they scour the landscape for supplies to trade. Built for the Iron Builder challenge, the golden handcuffs are used 40 times, most noticeably in the feet, and as a woven blanket under the beast’s saddle. One of my favorite details is the gas mask, made with only 6 parts, and that roller skate is the perfect part usage!

A new take on a LEGO house boat

If you ever wondered what you would get if you crossed climate-change, Star Wars, and the legend of Baba Yaga (c’mon, we’ve all been there) then this wandering house on giant robot legs by Mountain Hobbit may just answer your question. The house itself may not be as terrifying as that chicken-legged shack, but it is certainly as visually interesting. There is everything you need in a post-apocalyptic setting where fetid swamps have covered the land, with great mechanical legs that would give an AT-AT a run for its money, a collection of radio dishes, a utility pole, not to mention a steady source of food from fishing. Even the swamp is wonderfully detailed with a variety of green plates, bricks, and slopes, with a few well-placed plants.

A meandering LEGO microscale metropolis

I’m a sucker for pretty much any sci-fi movie. Add in architectural design and I’m in LEGO nerd heaven. Movies like Bladerunner, Elysium, and the Fifth Element combine story and unique perspectives on cities of the future. I recently watched a Korean sci-fi movie called Jun_E, which was set in a post-apocalyptic city built above the flooded remains of a major metropolis and I was inspired to build my own microscale city based on the concept. You can find more of my LEGO creation pictures on Instagram at koffy_kat

I purposely built the waterline above the frame to enhance the feeling of the water barely contained. Starting with all of the ruined buildings, I then built the pillars. I built each block one at a time, but often went back to add more just like the architects of this city would do with no more solid ground to build on.

Read on to see more details about each of the three sections

The nest laid plans often go astray

LEGO builder Tino Poutiainen presents this piece he simply calls “Nest” and now we have more questions than answers. Like what’s with all that battle-mech rubble? Why did this happen? Who are those strange lantern-headed beings? Should I be concerned? Maybe it’s because it just came out and I’ve been watching the hell out of it but I’m getting a strong The Last of Us vibe here. Whatever these beings are doing, you get the sense that nothing has gone right in this world for quite some time. Tino proves nicely that something can be both beautiful and unsettling. This wouldn’t be this builder’s first time dealing with these beings nor would it be his first foray into presenting wild and wonderful alien landscapes. Check out our Tino Poutiainen archives to see what I mean.