Tag Archives: Ships

Voyage out to the lighthouse in LEGO

Like moths to a flame, many LEGO builders are drawn to the fresnel lens glow of lighthouses for inspiration. Hugo Huang answered the foghorn’s siren call and recreated a historic Lighthouse found on a tiny island outside Tsingtao (Qingdao) Harbor. First established by the Germans in 1900, the lighthouse was destroyed and rebuilt by the Japanese 14 years later during the Siege of Tsingtao. If you know Tsingtao as a beer, it was those Germans who founded the brewery there back in 1903, who then sold it to the Japanese post-siege, who in turn transferred ownership to the Chinese after WWII.  Oops, I got stuck in the history rabbit hole. Back to LEGO! The octagonal tower is flanked by residence buildings with red clay rooftops recreated with cheese slopes. Hugo puts a vintage LEGO pirate ship mast to great use as a flagpole. Hugo pairs the building with a lightship, a vessel equipped with a lighthouse-style lantern used when a land-based lighthouse wasn’t an option.

Lighthouse1

If you too want to marry be a LEGO lighthouse keeper and live by the side of a sea, the official Motorized Lighthouse is charming, or you can take Hugo’s approach and bring a bit of history to life in bricks.

A year-long LEGO Castle project documented on YouTube

One of the perks of having friends in the LEGO hobby is being able to see their projects develop over time, transforming from rough sketches and multi-colored foundations to beautiful works of art on their way to a convention. And over the past year, we’ve had the chance to look in on Caleb Schilling‘s process as he developed his Island Castle build over on YouTube. The work was on display at Brickworld Chicago this year, and the completed work is quite a sight to behold! Featuring an array of earth tones, a gorgeous galleon, and an army of conquistador-style minifigures, this scene displays an overwhelming number of interesting techniques bringing it to life. My favorite among them has got to be the design of the large palm trees, relying on 1×1 slopes to create bands of texture running up the bent trunks.

The Island Castle

If you’d like to go back to the start with Caleb, he’s got all 8 videos lined up in an Island Castle playlist over on YouTube for every LEGO Pirates and Castle fan out there.

Warships used to look so much flashier

You know what the problem with military vehicles is these days? It’s all so grey. Or stealth black, sometimes. Or a drab green. Or some – anyway! Point is, they’re not very interesting colours. Back in the day, warships on the high seas sometimes had a fair bit of bling on them. Joe (jnj_bricks) harkens back to these flashier days by throwing some golden LEGO handcuffs at this Man-of-War. Coupled with that dark blue, it looks rather smart. Sure, it’s not very practical – you could see this coming a mile off. But isn’t that for the better, so that we can appreciate this masterful little build?

French Man of War

That’s one way to sharpen your skills as a builder

Builder Justus M. has really put his latest LEGO creation to the sword. Or rather, he’s put the sword to his latest LEGO creation! Quite a lot of swords, in fact. The build is a quaint little tabletop diorama of a junk ship being chased by a sea dragon. The swords are used everywhere: in the detailing for the ship, as part of the dragon’s headdress and on its back, and – most cleverly of all – as the stands. It’s these golden blades used as feet, along with the compass in the middle, that give this build an air of something more than just a cool LEGO build. It looks designed to be on display. Perhaps it would take pride of place on someone’s mantelpiece, in much the same way some real swords do.

The Dragon King

Sail towards the kings and queens of the butterfly collectors

What do you get if you cross the hobbies of LEGO, butterfly collecting, and impossible bottles? It might well look something like this creation by Gayle Spiller. It is inspired by a surrealist painting, although I’m reminded of the Jam, which is paraphrased in the title of this post. It’s a superb execution with some unique solutions for the patterns on the butterfly wings. There are croissants, eyes, sausages, pies, and even guitars in there! The ship itself is beautifully sculpted as well, with the exaggerated curves matching the surrealist tone of the piece.

The Winged Ship

Beware Captain Kraken! No one is safe from his reach

This LEGO pirate ship build from Julius Kanand brings a whole new level of fear to the phrase “beware the kraken”! Captain Kraken and his roving band of Marauding Mollusks aren’t taking guff from anyone. They roam the seas, hunting for unfortunate ships to prey upon. Even those who think there’s a path to escape lose hope and limb to the terrible tentacles of Kraken’s ship. Some say the ship is a living organism, others that it’s just a lot of mechanisms. The truth can be found aboard the ship, but none have returned to speak of it! The skeleton of the ship is based on the Pirates of the Caribbean ship the Silent Mary, but the rest of it is from Julius’s mind.

Pirate Squid

The squid-like shape of the ship is really cool! You’ve got the point of the head with the extension coming off the stern. Then, there’s the bow of the ship where the squid comes to life with big eyes and a bigger maw! Using some technic pieces, the ship’s tentacles reach out and grab the soon-to-be-eaten ships it preys upon. Taking a closer look at the mouth reveals rows and rows of sharp teeth ready to feast! Built in about two months, this ship is mighty impressive. Just, you know, be careful around it or it’ll eat you.

Pirate Squid_Attack

This microscale island looks like the perfect tropical hideaway

Although the main island build looks peaceful enough, there may be many perils along the way to reach it! Koala Yummies has created this wonderful display, featuring a hut on a sandy beach with a ship on one side and a colourful sea monster on the other. There are several noteworthy techniques here, such as the use of bar holder pieces as cannons on the island and the placement of a wide blade on the ship, representing a forward sail. The sea monster has a webbed collar which was featured on one of the Shark Army Generals from The LEGO Ninjago Movie. The azure colour of the ocean creates a pleasing contrast against the darker shades of the models, providing the builds with an eye-catching style.

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You can’t hold this little ship down!

The winds must be really strong on this world as First Order Lego has created a mysterious landscape featuring a small floating ship. The miniature vehicle uses teeth pieces for its sails and a minifigure hand as a bowsprit at the front. Large links of chains descend from the sky which are possibly attached to the anchors of an even larger construction. In the background, the clouds are beautifully formed using a variety of angled slopes and rounded bricks. The lush green forest is made up of spikes representing sharp-looking trees. We’d love to see more from this alluring realm and find out what those chains are connected to.

Setting sail

LEGO Creator 31132 Viking Ship and the Midgard Serpent – An ode to a beloved classic [Review]

Even though the LEGO Vikings line was short-lived, it garnered a fairly decent fanbase. With only eight sets (including chess), the theme was packed with enough exciting elements that they still stand out today. Whether you’re a fan of the line or not, you may have instantly noticed that LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31132 Viking Ship and the Midgard Serpent looks familiar. And you’d be right! There are so many similarities with LEGO Vikings 7018 Viking Ship Challenges the Midgard Serpent, that it can only be a tribute to that iconic 2005 set. Come with us as we take a deep dive into this 1192-piece 3-in-1, which will be available August 1st, retailing for US $119.99 | CAN $149.99 | UK £104.99.

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Click to read the full review.

The tiny mighty Dreadnaught

A builder who goes by the name of Mix the Brix proves you don’t need a shipyard full of LEGO pieces to build an awesome battleship. This tiny model is good enough to show off the superstructure and an impressive array of cannons. I mean, check out those billowing smokestacks! Mix (can I call you Mix?) says this is their first military build and it also seems to be their first time being featured on The Brothers Brick. With wee builds this amazing, we might have to keep an eye out for whatever they may do next.

LEGO HMS Dreadnought