Tag Archives: Sci Fi

Surfer bike pays homage to a pioneer in LEGO racing

As a 90’s kid, I have an unironic love for early 2000’s LEGO products. The classic trendsetters, Star Wars and Harry Potter are well-liked. Others, like Bionicle, may be questionable by some but have their niche following. And then there are Galidor and Jack Stone, which most of the LEGO community looks down on. I love it all since it shaped my childhood and adulthood, and I’m thankful that builders like Djokson feel the same way. His latest creation, Smog Ocean Surfer, looks like just an ordinary, colourful sci-fi bike and rider. It doesn’t have anything to do with the themes I mentioned, right? Maybe a reimagining of Roboriders? Or maybe it’s more obscure…

I hope I wasn’t the only one who recognised the blue and yellow colour scheme with the grey, monster-like, and cute rider. I’m surprised I remembered the long-forgotten Xalax racers… This build is a reimagining of 4567 Surfer, a set from the first wave of LEGO Racers back in 2001. These small Xalax racers were LEGO’s answer to Hotwheels and similar McDonald’s Happy Meal toys with their outlandish nature. With their element and weapon-themed colour schemes, They felt like a non-Technic successor to Roboriders. The pilots were small, goofy chibi monsters were head and shoulders, and the cars had a slammer system to launch them.

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Super fast speeder zips on by

Do you feel a need for speed? Are your competitors feeling hungry? Fix that speed craving and make your rivals eat your dust as you speed along in Oscar Cederwall‘s LEGO skitter vig.

Look at this speeder zip through the desert! It’s always great to see what sort of science fiction vehicles can be created, and this is no different. Using large blue pieces from buildable action figures was a clever idea, as was the decision to do an open cockpit. We’re able to see the figure, giving us a sense of scale with the dust clouds. Which, by the way, is probably my favorite part of this whole creation. I’m seeing how fast the driver is going and what kind of environment he’s in. This definitely shows Oscar’s talent!

And if you look to your left, you can see some very nice part usage

Every LEGO creation tells a story. Sometimes it’s a fairytale with dragons and princesses, and sometimes it’s a more harsh story involving weapons and armed forces. As for the latest brick-built scene by Peter Stella, I guess the story is as clear as it can be. Obviously, the tactical team breaks through the window to take a better look at the laboratory’s fantastic interior design. They must be rushing towards the back-lit sections on the walls, which create a perfectly ominous atmosphere. And I won’t blame them if they decide to steal the design for their own headquarters. But my favorite elements are UFO helmets, but I wonder what happened to the aliens..?

It’s a bird! It’s a drone! It’s 100% real LEGO!

You heard that right. Everything in this SU-N8 “Iridosornis” Reconnaissance Drone by Marius Hermann is made of real, unaltered LEGO. Even the pants (from Scala.) Even those large wings with engines (from Galidor.) And yes, all of those are real, genuine LEGO products that existed. Marius has made a name for himself by mixing these unconventional elements into his sci-fi builds, and he does it so well. Whereas prefabricated elements like the Galidor wings might not fit into a build such as this, it works well here and wouldn’t look as good without it. They provide a good contrast and balance between the smooth blues and the greebly greys.

Despite the angry voices of distant fanatics that gatekeep LEGO to only the brick-built system and minifigures, I find that real creativity is thinking outside the box and using unconventional elements. I have a soft spot for builders who use these weird parts and mix them with “normal” LEGO. Because at the end of the day, if it wasn’t real LEGO, then I wouldn’t be writing about it!

Check out more creations using parts from Galidor and Scala!

Diamonds on the water are falling from the sun

Those are lyrics from a song by Enya that I was listening to when I saw this diamond-shaped spaceship build by Roanoke Handybuck. This build is very fitting to Enya’s music, as both are beautiful, ethereal, and simultaneously dark and light. The spaceship is bright, smooth, with just enough greebling, and is adorned with gold cannons, antennae, and engines. The shaping is definitely alien; not scary and menacing, but rather welcoming and beautiful. With a small yellow frog as the pilot, I doubt this poses a threat. I like to imagine the frog is also listening to Enya inside the cockpit.

The builder packed this small ship full of interesting techniques to give it a unique look. The end connections of croissants form 45º angles with rounded edges, so that the diamond shape of the ship isn’t too sharp. A smooth windscreen that sits flush on top of the ship, and blends well with the smooth surface. The bright ship hovers above a dark maze, which provides a contrast between vehicle and the environment. The end result is truly a work of art. It makes me want to listen to Enya’s music, hoping the spaceship I build will be just as beautiful.

Mechanical knight in shining armour

There is just something about mechs built from LEGO. It’s almost as if recent smooth pieces like tiles, slopes, and curves exist solely for mechs. Alvaro Gunawan uses a seamless combination of common LEGO elements to create XR-1 Vilthuril – an elegant mech with clean armour and very little exposed innards. There are very few studs on this clean, almost minimal build. I love how a transparent green eye and torso window breaks up the bright grey and white colour scheme. What’s more: the detachable back mounted rocket engine doubles as a shield.

A fun fact about this build: this was submitted to us on our brand new Discord server! Head on over there to join the discussion with your fellow readers!

I promise you, one day I’ll take you to Elysium.

Graffiti is commonly found in alleyways, on abandoned buildings and railway cars but you don’t think of it as being scrawled on spacecraft. That’s why it is so neat to see it on Peter Stella’s newest LEGO creation. This is a shuttle from the gritty…or partially gritty Elysium movie from 2013. For those who haven’t seen the film, the citizens of Earth live in squalor, filth, pestilence and turmoil. That’s the gritty part. The non-gritty parts of the movie takes place on Elysium, a beautiful, clean utopian space station orbiting the Earth where the rich and powerful live. The station is technologically advanced, with devices that can cure diseases, reverse aging, and even regenerate body parts. Earth, not so much. The film makes deliberate, heavy-handed socio-political commentary and, as you can imagine, tension ensues. Anyway, in a LEGO world of Star Wars and Harry Potter it’s nice to see someone of Peter’s caliber give Elysium a bit of love. And graffiti.

“Houston, this is Platform 7”

From a galaxy likely not too far away comes a creation from LEGO sci-fi building genius Tim Goddard.

This is incredible. The amount of detail here is off the charts! Just look at those stairwells (yes, the external stairs and the internal yellow stairs), the airlocks, the lines on the landing pad! But that antenna on top, that takes the cake. Clearly, it can send messages all the way from Pluto to Earth.

Also, is that the Death Star as a fuel tank?

You’ve done it again, Mr. Goddard. Keep up the great work!

Outfitted for an expedition

When you’re exploring an alien wilderness, prospecting for valuable materials, you don’t want to get caught underprepared. This LEGO figure, built by the talented Marko Petrušić (Cezium) is suited up and ready. I love how smooth the midsection is, and how solid the whole figure looks. Many aspects of the base, rifle, and body are cool, but what really sells it is that jacket. You can’t help but feel warm just looking at the “fuzzy” fringe made from gears and Minifigure hair.

Marko built this as a birthday present for Buttloaf_Builds and claims to have been inspired by his incredible recreation of the Nigerian trickster, Eshu. But Marko is exceptional in his own right, with several other builds featured on here on The Brothers Brick.

Greebles galore

There are very few LEGO builders whose creations give me the chills, but Bart De Dobbelaer is definitely one of them. Intruder Alert is where we see all of Bart’s photography, editing, and building skills combine into one work of art and the result is haunting… and gorgeous. My eye is immediately drawn to the silhouettes of the unidentified intruders, poised and ready. The walls are decked out with greebles and ominous neon lights have been cast to really set the atmosphere. The ribbed hoses running across the length of the floor, several of which are slightly bent, add to the realism of this scene. According to Bart, we’re looking at his entire light bluish gray collection greebled on the walls of this passageway. The spikes on the armed intruders, the textures on the floor and walls, and the curvature of the entrance all work in harmony.

Got your favorite sci-fi soundtrack playing in your head? Then you’re ready to check out some more of Bart’s creations.

Wake up, time to hide

The tag-team effort of Brickleas and Si-MOCs produced a scene to give science fiction fans a double take. They created a two-tier MOC of an intergalactic manhunt. Topside, a space police officer is in pursuit of an outlaw, meanwhile below, the suspect lurks through the sewer. The collaboration was a standout submission for this September’s Rogue Bricks contest. Teams of two picked either side of a “space gangster” or “space sheriff” to depict their story.

In a strange turn of events, Brickleas and Si-MOCs teamed up at the last minute after their original partners dropped out of the contest because their parts were unfinished. The result worked out with Simon Liu (Si-MOCs) building his version of a Spinner from Blade Runner, and a space police minifigure outfitted in Barbara Gordon‘s ceremonial uniform from The LEGO Batman Movie CMF (Series 1) and the LEGO Star Wars Wedge Antilles helmet. Elias Hübner’s (Brickleas) contribution looks as dark and desolate as any subterranean waterway with an underground tunnel as the escape. Check out a photo of the Si-MOCs’ take on the Spinner below.

Cue the monk music as you wield this LEGO Halo energy sword

It is only fitting to think about the Halo Gregorian chant as I look upon this amazing brick-built Covenant energy sword – a holy weapon wielded by the noble class of the Sangheili species, crafted by Nick Jensen. According to Nick’s specs, the sword is comprised of a whopping six pounds of LEGO bricks and is 41.5″ long. No adhesives such as tape or glue were used – talk about clutch power!

The inner portion of the blade of the energy sword is mostly comprised of clear-colored and light blue 1×2 trans-clear plates and 1×1 round tiles while the outer portion is made of trans-clear bricks and slopes in light blue, clear, and pink.

The handle is crafted out of a menagerie of bricks, tiles, dome-tops, and slopes in mostly blacks and greys with some trans-clear parts. Nick also smartly constructed a couple of stands to display this amazing work. It definitely must feel pretty empowering to hold this sword – even if it is only a model made of bricks. It looks almost exactly as I remember it from the games. The Master Chief’s weapons have got nothing on this beauty.