Tag Archives: Town

Towns in the world of LEGO have everything cities in the real world do — police stations, fire engines, trains, hairdressers and veterinarians. Check out all the beautiful buildings and vehicles we’ve featured here on The Brothers Brick.

Two generations of Dutch DAF trucks

Apart from a few manufacturers of exotic sports cars and an assembly plant for Minis, the Netherlands don’t have much of a car-building industry. Things are different when it comes to trucks, however, with the Eindhoven-based truck builder DAF being market leader in several European countries. Dutchman Nanko Klein Paste has built several DAFs in the last few years. His latest is a classic T 2400 DO, which represents an early attempt by DAF at building a truck for the international market.

Versions of this truck were in production until 1975 and when I was a child they were still a fairly common sight on Dutch roads. The characteristic sloped front of the cab is particularly well captured. This classic model is flanked by a modern XF105, in the livery of the heavy lifting company Mammoet (Mammoth), which makes for a particularly nice comparison between the two generations.

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Hit the Bricks at the University of Colorado

Imagine Rigney, and eight other members of CoWLUG, have built a commissioned layout of the University of Colorado’s campus. This building, called “Old Main”, is simply gorgeous. I especially love the detailing over the windows and around the front door. Check out this news article about the layout and see more pics at the CoWLUG site.

New LEGO Creator Set 10246 Detective’s Office Unveiled [News]

LEGO has announced the newest addition to their Creator line: 10246 Detective’s Office. The new set clocks in at 2,262 pieces, with a US price tag of $159.99. It hits shelves in January 2015. You can read the press release after the cut.

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Architecture: Curving away from the norm

Traditional architecture with right angles and straight walls are commonplace in LEGO cities, since the brick naturally lends itself to that style. Less common are modern buildings with curving walls, but flickr user lisqr manages quite well here with the clever implementation of curved train tracks to set the structure for this wavy edifice.

Magma City: A town with a lava problem

South Korean professional LEGO building quartet Olive Seon are known for their massive city dioramas. This latest city is having the disturbing problem of being built above a river of lava. The airtanker in the middle of dumping water is a terrific image, and adds a huge amount of dynamism to this diorama, and I always appreciate that the builders include a lot of below-ground details.

LEGO Train Montage

It isn’t often that we see such excellent video of a collaborative train layout and it certainly helps that there are some really lovely trains in there too. Hats off to Michael Gale for a job well done!

The video is on Flickr as well, if you prefer that or want to leave a comment there.

Edit (JW): This is not actually a collaborative layout. Michael built the whole thing. Most impressive!

Triumph Scrambler Motorcycle

It’s been awhile seen we seen a bike here, so I was thrilled when Stephan Jonsson built this wonderful motorcycle:

The Triumph Scrambler is combination of off road dirt bike and cruiser, with the beefed up suspensions and tyres. The build is accurate to the source material and is recreated fantastically with bricks. I loved how he’s able to shape body of the motorcycle, while adding just the right amount of details in the engine block. But what really impressed me is that the shell and seat can be removed to reveal the sweet underbody:

Toronto Streetcars, where the streets have names.

Today we take a little history lesson in the streetcars of Toronto. Calum Tsang and Derek Raycraft have recreated all three streetcars that have been used by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC):

From left to right: the new LRV (2013), PCC (1936) and what I grew up loving: CLRV (1977).
Which one do you like best?

Best part? You can see this up close at the Toronto (Sherway) LEGO Brand Retail store all of November.

But this isn’t the first time this dynamic duo has worked together, last time was on a slightly larger scale when Calum built a Boeing 777 and Derek built an Airbus A380 … in minifig scale… plus the airport to go with it:

View the sights of Disneyland in style

Jordan Schwartz (Sir Nadroj) is back to his usual capers of Disney-themed models with this Disneyland Omnibus. I particularly like the incorporation of the large curved staircase at the rear, which is a notoriously annoying piece to incorporate well into a complex model, but looks great here.

On-Set with “Appetite Lost”

Context isn’t necessary to enjoy this beautifully photographed creation. According to builder Nathan Wells, this is the set for a brickfilm currently in production. Frankly, with as lovely as this still looks, I can’t wait to see the finished product.

Fuel up and head to the wilds

This vignette by Brick Vader uses bold techniques to create an intricate scene. I’m not sure if the garage will collapse if I lay a finger on it, but it looks good in the photo.

The LEGO Neighborhood Book [Review]

No Starch Press, known as the purveyors of many LEGO books written by LEGO fans, recently sent me a copy of their latest book exploring our favorite hobby, The LEGO Neighborhood Book. Written by brothers Brian and Jason Lyles, it explores the City Modular standard through pre-built creations, architectural techniques, and model instructions. The 204-page book is 8″x8″ with a high-quality soft cover, and the glossy pages with great color representation we’ve come to expect from books about LEGO.

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