Tag Archives: umamen

Do you remember loving VF-1 Valkyries?

For anime fans and toy collectors of a certain age, there will never be a vehicle quite as cool as the VF-1 Valkyrie from Macross. The “variable fighter” helped usher in the era of the transforming robot, with this design even getting shoehorned into Transformers as the Autobot Jetfire. Valkyries have long been a popular subject for LEGO builders, but I don’t think I’ve ever encountered one as small as this model from umamen. Even at this scale, it’s fully transformable to all three modes.

MACROSS VF-1 [4/4]

Of course, umamen is no stranger to miniature mecha and character builds. The builder has been innovating with tiny robot builds for over a decade, so it’s great to see them back on TBB!

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.

Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can...

Modelling human proportions and shapes in LEGO can be very challenging, but Umamen does a fantastic job with this brick-built Spiderman figure. The model captures Spiderman’s lean-yet-muscular build we have seen in comics since his creation. I particularly like the use of an actual LEGO spider as the logo on the chest. It just goes to show that sometimes NPU (“nice parts usage”) can mean using a spider as… well… a spider!

LEGO: Spiderman (28cm) [2/8]

And don’t miss the model’s extreme poseability:

LEGO: Spiderman (28cm) [5/8]

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.

Dem dry bones

I wish I’d had one of these guys when I was studying for high school anatomy and physiology! While he may not be one-hundred percent anatomically correct, this marvelous skeleton by umamen comes pretty darn close (actually, I can’t imagine getting much closer with LEGO). He’s got everything that counts including knobby knees, boney phalanges and neck vertebrae, protruding clavicles, a healthy set of lungs, and even a complete digestive tract. And he appears to be extremely poseable. His rib cage even opens for a closer look!

LEGO: Human Skeleton (1/14)

Check out more photos on Flickr.

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.

LEGO “Freewheelin” album cover is as heartwarming as the original

Right at the time when cold winter months are coming, umamen favours us with an incredibly touching and warming brick-built version of the artwork for Bob Dylan’s 2nd album “Freewheelin”. I have no idea how he managed to enliven this handful of pieces, but the way Suze Rotolo’s figure clinges to Bob’s makes my heart melt every single time. The background is something that takes a moment to notice, but contributes to the whole.

LEGO: Bob Dylan "The Freewheelin'"

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.

Waldi the dachshund from the 1972 Munich Olympics

The Olympic Games of 1972 in Munich, Germany were the first to feature a mascot. Waldi the dachshund was designed by graphic designer Otl Aicher, who modeled Waldi after a real-life doxie named Cherie von Birkenhof. Even in this simple but excellent LEGO version of Waldi by umamen, you can see the attributes of resistance, tenacity, and agility.

LEGO: 1972 Munich Olympic mascot WALDI

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.

If music be the food of love, build on...

Every so often we come across LEGO versions of iconic album* covers, although more often than not they’re unconvincingly recreated using mini-figs. So it was refreshing to see umamen take a crack at some fully brick-built ones:


 

Pictured above: Nevermind by Nirvana (1991). One Step Behyond by Madness (1979). London Calling by The Clash (1979).

Album covers represent an absolute gold mine of immediately recognizable material for possible LEGO treatments. If you’re a builder, why not take a crack at some of your favorites – we’d love to see what you can do!

(*Album: How your parents got their music before iTunes)

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.

I find your lack of bricks disturbing

Scruffy-looking son of a nerfherder umamen has been continuing his series of Star Wars themed character builds. But unlike his 8″ tall Chewbacca and Stormtrooper figures, this latest series are a mere 5″ tall – practically action figure sized. So if you showed up a bit late to the stores on Force Friday, maybe you can take a leaf out of his book and craft your own instead! The level of detail, clever part usage, and pose-ability in these is quite amazing…

 
 

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.

Ma.King do with Umamen

Umamen recently posted this MaschinenKrieger-inspired robot. The amount of detail that the builder was able to cram into such a small area is pretty amazing. I also really like the sleek chunkiness, which is key to a Ma.K. build.

LEGO: Ma.K SAFS

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.

Aren’t you a little short for a stormtrooper?

Hot on the heels of his Ultraman build that we blogged last week, umamen brings us this amazing 8″ tall Star Wars stormtrooper figurine. The detailing and devious construction of the helmet alone are enough for me, but apparently this thing is even poseable too (…well, to some extent).

At this point true Star Wars fans can argue about which stormtrooper variation this is, or whether that’s Han or Luke under the helmet. Boring conversation anyway, because here’s a second dose of Star Wars LEGO goodness for you – a Chibi Micro Fighter version of the LAAT from the Clone Wars, by Yxxn. It’s adorable!

Wow, and it isn’t even May 4th yet…

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 gutsy build

We’ve already seen the internal anatomy of a mini-fig, so I guess the innards of a brick-built figure was the next logical step. This version by Flickr member umamen comes complete with articulated joints, flex-tube veins and arteries, and helpfully color-coded organs. Can you name them all?

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.

Two from Uma

Our chief medical officer here on the Brothership has informed me that our stockpile of hemoglobin is critically low, so please welcome newcomer umamen who brings some fresh blood to this venerable blog. We are proudly presenting a pair of Uma’s mecha for your Sunday viewing pleasure, the Gundam RX-78-2 and the MS-06F ZAKU II which were both inspired by the collected works of Pete Corp.

LEGO Gundam RX-78-2

LEGO MS-06F ZAKU II

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.