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.

Stobart Scanias rule the roads of Britain

In the last few days I have written blog posts about the latest creations by Dutch truck builders (Nanko Klein Paste’s DAF and Dennis Glaasker’s Scania), but now it’s my own turn.

Since about two years, I’ve been building a collection of British vehicles to display at shows. In the summer of last year, I travelled from Portsmouth to York in the company of a group of British LEGO-building friends, going to a LEGO-show. Along the way we discussed my plans for building more British vehicles. During the five-hour drive we saw at least two dozen trucks operated by the Stobart Group. This company was founded by ‘Steady’ Eddie Stobart and operates more than 2000 trucks, mostly Scanias. They are ubiquitous in Britain and instantly recognizable. It was obvious that, if I was going to build a truck for my collection, it had to be a Stobart truck (or lorry, as my friends insist on calling it).

It took me a while though. One of the things that make these trucks/lorries so recognizable is their rather funky-looking colour scheme and even though the graphics on the real vehicles are done with stickers, I wanted to build them out bricks. This was complicated, obviously, but the end result does give a decent impression of what it looks like on the real Scania.

In little more than a week, the 2013 Great Western LEGO Show will take place in Swindon in the UK. My collection of British vehicles will be on display there, including this truck, as well as my B-52 model.

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Classic Dutch DAF

Hot on the heels of fellow Dutch truck builder Dennis Glaasker, Nanko Klein Paste (nkle) has also built a new truck. Unlike Dennis’ trucks, it’s not all shiny and full of chrome, however. It’s a much more utilitarian-looking Dutch DAF 2300 truck from the early eighties.

There is much to like though, such as the construction of the radiator with a small edge around it, the SNOT construction on the side of the cab and front bumper and the detailed chassis, engine bay and working tilt cab. Growing up, I used to regularly see trucks like this and I absolutely love it.

Cool Scandinavian Scania

Many European truck lovers have a soft spot for the Scania brand. In some ways its reputation in Europe is comparable to that of a brand such as Kenworth in the US; they’re driven by proper truckers rather than by mere truck drivers. They are also popular among customizers, and Scandinavian custom trucks stand out, with lots of chrome and airbrush artwork. Truck builder extraordinaire Dennis Glaasker (bricksonwheels) has recreated this typical Scandinavian custom look in his latest Scania model.

This behemoth is more than 1.5m (5 ft.) long and remote controlled with Power Functions. The spectacular airbrush artwork, with a Pirates of the Caribbean theme, was made with a custom sticker and Dennis uses non-standard chromed pieces, with a very cool result.

Last Man Standing

The 1930’s Ford Model A comes to life in the talented hands of Calin (_Tiler) who also seem to know a thing or two about photography. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a predominantly black model look so crisp and clear. This inspiration for this outstanding model is twofold: the 1996 Bruce-Willis action flick “Last Man Standing” which is basically a remake of 1964’s “A Fistful of Dollars” with a 1930’s makeover and a highly anticipated diorama by TBB favorite Thorsten Bonsch (Xenomurphy. If this car is any indication of the upcoming project, it could be one for the ages.

I can’t stop looking at this car…even the BrickArmz aftermarket pistol is perfect for the scene and doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb like they usually do.

Dordrecht Water Tower

Erwin te Kortschot (buildingmaster1966) returns to the Brothership on back-to-back Saturdays with this vision in brown that was actually constructed sometime last year but only recently posted to Flickr. The castle-like water tower from the Netherlands was designed by architect J.A. van der Kloes and was completed in 1882. If you find yourself passing through Villa Augustus and in need of rest, the building is still in service as a hotel. You can find more information on the Dordrecht Water Tower here, with some great photos and a history of the region.

Factory Friday

Normally I wouldn’t bring up a work related topic with the weekend upon us, but Lee Young (edguy20) has created a pair of brilliant factories that demand your attention. The builder is decidedly tight-lipped about his work, but some models need no description or tedious back-story. The only thing I find lacking is a little bit of action…where are the minifigs?

Edguy is a power metal band from Fulda, Germany but I doubt they have any connection to this second factory. The builder seems to have named it after his screen-name.

Grab your time-card and punch out, it’s Miller time.

A daring aviator and his plane

From French builder 74louloute comes this amazing diorama of 1930s aviator Henri Guillaumet, a mail pilot in South America who crashed in the Andes and lived to tell the tale. The scene here is brilliant, and the builder is the first I’ve seen to use tiles and the new inverted tiles together to make a super thin smooth wing, and it works marvelously.

It’s always Christmas somewhere

Just to get you in the mood for Christmas, uh, four months early, flickr user LoctiteGirl presents this lovely winter wonderland. The bare trees look like something straight off a classic Christmas card, and I love the forced-perspective castle in the background.

Plastic glory

Patrick Bosman has long been one of my favourite town LEGO builders. His dedication to period accuracy, and detailed street life put him well into my top five. This shot of his ever evolving Amsterdam diorama summarises everything I like about Patrick’s work. Between the action, the details and the technical skill he presents a snapshot of real life in plastic glory.

Architectural double-shot

It’s time once again for a Saturday exploration into the always fascinating world of architecture. Both of today’s selections are from TBB neophyte Erwin te Kortschot (buildingmaster 1966), who has a very small but high quality stable of models on Flickr. We begin today’s ruminations with an 1898 Art Nouveau structure and National Heritage Site from Rotterdam, Netherlands called the “Witte Huis“. Designed by architect Willem Molenbroek, it is considered the first high-rise of Europe.

Don’t blink, because our tour ends as quickly as it began in Oxford, England, with the Radcliffe Camera designed by James Gibbs in the English Palladian style in 1749 to house the Radcliffe Science Library.

If you’re a fan of the genre don’t miss Erwin’s outstanding Aloha Tower from Honolulu Harbor in Hawaii.

すげえ！かっこいい！

The title of this post was stolen from a comment by FateHeart on this fascinating model and photo by 62778grenouille, and I couldn’t agree more. The Japanese text roughly translates, to “dude! cool!” which is exactly the way I feel about this model: enthusiastic but also sort of dumbfounded into an uncommunicative state…which isn’t too useful when blogging.

Some of the translation programs I checked had the text reading “dude! What’s up!”, which also works within the context of this post and my feeling about this model. Welcome to the weekend (週末へようこそ。).

Take the train to Costa del Sol, you’ll be glad you did.

Adrian Marciniak CyberPacket makes his first appearance on the brothership with this outstanding train layout that just about everything a viewer could ask for, from the curving mountain to the steep hill to the chicken-joint down on the dock. When I look at the photos my eye is constantly drawn towards the leaning houses; they are such a refreshing break from the boilerplate Cafe-Corner style buildings that usually inhabit train-centric dioramas. I think it is a safe bet to expect great things from Mr. Marciniak down the road. If you’re a fan of little vignettes that make a diorama of this scale really work, be sure and check out the full set on Flickr that features some fine photography.