Tag Archives: Steampunk

Looking at these LEGO steampunk models, you can almost hear the hiss of steam, the clank of gears, and the whirr of clockwork. The steampunk aesthetic isn’t all wood and brass, so be sure to check out all the colorful models alongside classic steampunk creations from around the world.

Clockwork dragonfly takes a rest

The placing of a LEGO model in a natural environment generally makes for poor photos which ruin the illusion of scale. However, this bejewelled clockwork dragonfly by Duncan Lindbo is the exception to the rule. The parts and colour choices here are perfect, creating a wonderful impression of functional mechanical elements and a smart clockpunk aesthetic. Displaying the dragonfly on a real lily-pad turns out to be a stroke of genius, highlighting the model’s non-biological nature, and perhaps prompting musings amongst more philosophical viewers on the contrast and blurred boundaries between artifice and life.

Jeweled Movement

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Your steampunk stagecoach awaits

Dwalin Forkbeard continues his line of LEGO Steampunk builds and floating vehicles with this odd stagecoach. Gone are the wheels, replaced with a hot-air balloon to keep it afloat — creating a really interesting little build. The simple base serves to make the whole thing more substantive, and there’s some minimal Photoshop trickery to make it look like the coach is flying. I particularly like the use of the gold sprue section as a door handle — most people throw that part away once they’ve snapped the Ninjago shuriken pieces off it!

Steampunk Stagecoach

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

A very handsome hansom

What better way to explore the see the sights of Victorian London than aboard the latest in steam-driven LEGO transportation? This contraption, cobbled together by Revan New, has room for only one passenger, but makes up for its limited capacity with speed. Capable of reaching the dizzying speed of 6 miles per hour, gentlefolk of a nervous disposition are advised to ride with caution.

Steampunk vignette 4: London street.

The model has a nice level of texture and detail, as does the base. The woven basket and streetlamp are relatively simple, but add a sense of place and period. The only bit I’m unconvinced by is the use of a white droid arm as a plume of steam — I think it would look better with round white plates or stacked ice cream pieces. However, that’s a minor nitpick at a smart little steampunk vignette.

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

A motorbike in emerald green is worth two in any other color

French builder Vince Toulouse has invented a Victorian era motorcycle using dark green elements from the legendary 10194 Emerald Night train set. But there is no better way to personalize a model than with a couple of bold touches. This time these are a pair of the biggest Technic shock absorbers, which still cannot drag all the attention from a masterfully devised and executed grill on the front of the bike’s body, made with a dozen golden 1×1 rings.

Motorcycle

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Enter Sandpunk

If “LEGO Sandpunk” wasn’t a thing before, it totally is now thanks to this wonderful desert city scene from sweetsha. Windmills abound amidst the Middle-Eastern architecture, and there’s a nice sense of activity with the bustle of minifigs around market stalls. However, it’s the huge clock that dominates the townscape, creating an eerie collision between mysticism and technology. The whole thing is reminiscent of Stargate, but the transformation of the gate into a clock is a masterstroke, turning this into something all its own.

A city of sand, wind and time

My only niggle with the model is the relatively plain studs-up base, which might have benefited from some added texture — pebbles, boulders, maybe a couple of plants. However, that’s a minor criticism of an otherwise well-built and interesting diorama. Check out this wider view to get the full effect of this creative build (and don’t miss the smart use of hot-air balloon pieces to create the onion dome on the foreground building on the left).

A city of sand, wind and time

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Who winds up the watchmen?

The LEGO watchmen stalk the streets, keeping their eye on a wary citizenry. Dwalin Forkbeard‘s sinister steam-driven sentinel would like to remind you that if you’re behaving in accordance with the law then you have nothing to fear from their oversight. This is great steampunk/clockpunk building. I love the use of the welding mask, the twin-barrel blasters as control sticks, and of course, the design of those fabulous spindly legs. But the highlight of this model for me is the wonderful streetlight.

Colonial Watchman

Dwalin says he took inspiration from the Tallboys of the Dishonered videogame. I recognise this in some of the elements, but I also think this has a nice clanky style all of its own.

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Floating guild for all of your administrative needs

Those who attended Brickslopes in 2015 may recognize this build from K.Kreations. Well, it’s finally been photographed and put online, so the rest of us can enjoy it! This fantastic floating rock plays home to a Guild House, combining some of the builder’s favorite things: castle, steampunk, and rocks. It’s a winning combination. I love the stonework on the side of the building, and the details on the tower are wonderful. There’s a lot going on in this creation, and all of it’s great.

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Steampunk racing contraption

Building for the first time in steampunk style, Robert Heim wanted to create something “wacky and flimsy looking”, but created something rather streamlined instead. This sleek steampunk racing machine features fantastic steam billowing out of the rear mounted boiler vents, and copious amounts of gold Bionicle parts used in interesting ways. The wheel guards are made from Visorak heads, and the front fenders are made from shoulder armor and a couple of ice picks. The nose of the vehicle looks great. I love the wing mirrors, but what sells it for me is the look of sheer delight on the drivers face.

Steam Racer

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

The great Steambug migration has begun

You may have heard of the great migration of the Serengeti wildebeest, who migrate over 1,600 kilometres each year in search of grass and water. Well, the dust is rising over Butcher Paper Canyon, and it’s due to the massive Steambug Migration heading across the land, thanks to  Ted Andes’ imagination and building skills. There are 7 initial species of Steambug present in this migration, but Ted hopes that many more will join by the time the migration reaches BrickWorld later this year.

The Great Steambug Migration - BW17

Let’s get the magnifying glass out and take a closer look at these Steambugs.

See all of these LEGO critters up close

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Huge LEGO steampunk wheel keeps the ship rollin’

In the steampunk realm, vehicles are powered by the Victorian power of choice: industrial steam. Well, with a futuristic spin, of course. This LEGO steampunk galleon by Chris Wright fits the genre perfectly — a huge steam-powered mega-wheel with a central ship that seems to defy gravity. The detailed central minifigure-scale ship remains stationary within the huge outer wheel thanks to a collection of wheels at the points where the two meet. The ship itself is full of great details but the first thing to catch my attention is the size of this thing and colour scheme thanks to those Medium Azure highlights throughout.

Steampunk Mega Wheel

See more of this massive steampunk marvel

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

A dialogue with the Man in the Moon, steampunk master Guy Himber [Interview]

This week we were fortunate enough to track down Guy Himber. Guy has worked extensively in the film industry with credits for special effects, creature mechanics, makeup and more. He is a prolific Steampunk builder and has authored a book on the subject entitled LEGO Steampunk. He runs the Iron Builder LEGO competition and has founded his own company, CrazyBricks, which manufacturers quirky, short-run, custom pieces compatible with LEGO. Let’s dive in and raid his brain!

Guy with Hat

TBB: What can you tell our readers about how you got into building with LEGO?

Guy: Like most folks I grew up playing with LEGO as a kid. Countless were the hours I spent building and rebuilding and sorting and blowing up my favorite plastic bricks. The dark ages kicked in around middle school and I didn’t do much with the bricks until I started using them to do some mechanical prototyping for animatronics in the Film Industry (mainly Technic bricks from my old collection). When my son was old enough I got him his first LEGO set and he took to the bricks like his old man and the two us started building more and more sets and then creating massive environments and Jurassic Parks. The fateful AFOL day arrived via a special trip to BrickCon in Seattle many years ago. That was the Con that got me bit by the LEGO bug again and started me building at a serious level.

Continue reading

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

The Retro-future is bright: a chat with French builder extraordinaire, Vincent Gachod [Interview]

This week we were able to sit down with Vincent Gachod from Toulouse, in the south of France. While balancing his job as the head of video production at a french university and raising two kids, he finds time to create some incredible LEGO builds. Let’s pick his brain and see what we can learn from this master of the brick.
The Mechanic
TBB: How did you get into the LEGO hobby and what inspires you to build?

Vince: I started with LEGO in the mid 70’s with bricks from my brother’s collection. My first set was the 374 Fire Station of 1978. After my “dark age” in the 90’s, I came back to LEGO with my son and his first sets. I’m inspired by lot of influences (movies, animation, videos games, books, magazines, cars, architecture…) but I’m more inspired by the details : a car’s wheel, a plane’s engine or a vintage vacuum cleaner! I often start a MOC from a single detail like a car’s grille or an exhaust pipe. I spend a long time working on details.

Continue reading

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.