The last of the US Navy’s Tomcat fighters — the plane of Top Gun fame — made its final flight more than a decade ago. However, Tomcats continue to soldier on in one other military: the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force. Given its strained relation with the US, it may seem strange for Iran to have some of these iconic jets, but it is due to a quirk of history. Prior to the 1979 Islamic revolution, Mohammad Reza Shah ruled Iran. His rule became increasingly autocratic over time, but he was pro-Western and eager to modernize his country and its military. Iran was also a useful buffer between the Soviet Union and the other oil-rich states surrounding the Persian Gulf, so the US was willing to sell the Shah 80 Tomcats, as well as hundreds of long-range AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air missiles. My latest LEGO model represents one of these Persian...

In addition to the amazing LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick brings you the best of LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the second week of December 2019. TBB NEWS & REVIEWS: LEGO Creator Expert 10270 Bookshop – new modular building for 2020 – We brought you an in-depth review of the recently announced new modular from the Creator Expert series, the bookstore and townhome.LEGO reveals 8 new Marvel sets from Avengers and Spider-Man – We gave you a first look at the lates round of Marvel sets.First look at the 40385 LEGO Trophy – The next time you feel like rewarding yourself, you can build your own trophy and be a winner. MORE TBB NEWS: Contest Winners – Build a Vintage car to cruise the streets of LEGO® Modular Buildings Contest – LEGO fans built some winning cars to...

I love books. In fact, I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany. Ok, perhaps I was just imagining the mahogany, but I do have lots of books, and some are leather-bound. I don’t own an e-reader of any kind, and hope never to do so, because the magic of holding a book, especially hardcover, is irreplaceable. People give me strange looks when I pick up a used book at a store and give it a sniff and say, “Ah, that’s a proper year 1900 binding…a good vintage.” Builder Lego_nuts must have a soft spot for books, too, because this build evokes the magic of literacy, the opening of portals to adventure. Dorothy looks worried, unsure if she should continue on with the story, but the Cowardly Lion and the Tin Man are encouraging her to journey to the next page. Will she go on? Like, seriously,...

Baby Yoda has been taking the internet by storm since its oh-so-cute appearance in Disney’s new Star Wars show The Mandalorian, and LEGO builders are getting in on the game too. In fact, we’ve already featured not one but two versions of the green alien infant by Miro Dudas and hachiroku24, and both even have instructions for you to build your own. However, this latest digital version by L-DI-EGO is a much larger scale and is captures the adorably large eyes and trusting expression better than ever. The as-yet-unnamed little guy comes complete with big expressive ears and a voluminous robe made of dark tan, with exposed studs for texturing. And before you ask, no, the builder has not provided instructions for this guy. You’ll just have to reverse engineer it all on your own, but here’s a hint: the lower lip and forehead are made of shoulder armor bits. The...

Welcome to Day 14 of our LEGO Advent Calendar countdown. Each day, we’ll reveal the four mini-builds from the LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Friends, and LEGO City 2019 advent calendars along with commentary from The Brothers Brick team. If you’re opening one (or more) of these advent calendars along with us, we’ve made sure the pictures and commentary on each day’s models will be behind a jump so we don’t accidentally ruin the surprise. What pint-size surprises will be in Day 14’s prizes? For Day 14, we have Hermione Granger from Harry Potter and a Tank Droid from Star Wars. Dave: Wow! A third exclusive torso in the Harry Potter advent. LEGO is knocking it out of the park, this time with a Gryffindor scarf a buttoned robe that could work on any number of students. 10 points to Gryffindor! For Star Wars we have a Corporate Alliance Tank...

Welcome to Day 3 of our LEGO Advent Calendar countdown. Each day, we’ll reveal the four mini-builds from the LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Friends, and LEGO City 2019 advent calendars along with commentary from The Brothers Brick team. If you’re opening one (or more) of these advent calendars along with us, we’ve made sure the pictures and commentary on each day’s models will be behind a jump so we don’t accidentally ruin the surprise. What will we see on day three? For Day 3, we have a pair of snowy trees from Harry Potter and a First Order Stormtrooper from Star Wars. Dave: These tiny Christmas trees are so simple and effective, and two is certainly better than one! I love the brown travis bricks too–sooo infinitely usable. And it looks like this poor First Order Stormtrooper finally escaped the battle from 75225 Elite Praetorian Guard Battle Pack where...

LEGO element 2417, the 6×5 plant leaf, is a part that lends itself well to multiple uses. Many go the traditional route and use it as part of a tree. Sometimes it winds up as part of an alien creature. My favorite uses, though, are when a builder takes a bunch of them and creates complex patterns. Azurekingfisher is a builder who has shown great skill in this area before. But today, they take that skill-set and apply it at an entirely new level. In White Bird the geometric shapes have been joined with sculptural elements to create a bird that is simply stunning. The bird’s body has some nice part usage as well, bringing in textures from parts like open-stud 1×1 round plates for the eyes, and a turntable base on the chest. The touch of gold from the tooth plates as claws adds just a touch of opulence to...

Versatile as LEGO bricks are, sometimes there are pieces that are just…challenging…to work with. There are common but annoying parts like big ugly rock pieces. There are wacky things like a rare Duplo stand from a short-lived licensed theme. Whatever the case, it takes a special kind of builder to take these elements and see them in new ways. A kind of part mastery. Some might even say….Jedi mastery. For example, LEGO builder Logan W. has taken the normally single-purpose Bionicle Midak Skyblaster cannon and incorporated it into an impressive replica of Darth Vader’s iconic lightsaber. The cannon forms the emitter shroud, while the hilt is made from strips of black tile connected to octagonal bar frames and a Technic racing wheel rim. Logan was inspired by a Two-Piece-Only lightsaber created by The Igzer. The two pieces in use there are the aforementioned Midak Skyblaster cannon and a bit of Bionicle...

Welcome to Day 2 of our LEGO Advent Calendar countdown. Each day, we’ll reveal the four mini-builds from the LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Friends, and LEGO City 2019 advent calendars along with commentary from The Brothers Brick team. If you’re opening one (or more) of these advent calendars along with us, we’ve made sure the pictures and commentary on each day’s models will be behind a jump so we don’t accidentally ruin the surprise. The anticipation is killing us! For Day 2, we have the Hogwarts Express from Harry Potter and Kylo Ren’s Shuttle from Star Wars. Dave: This is what the LEGO advent calendars should aspire to be: two fantastic micro-models that are instantly recognizable. The Hogwarts Express train is spot on and could be a mini version of 75955. The red 1×1 curved top element has only ever been used in 41379 Heartlake City Restaurant (side note:...

Inspired by the book Walden; or Life in the Woods, Andrea Lattanzio escapes from the fast food restaurants and gas stations (and futuristic rovers!) of the modern world into the wilds through his latest build. I wonder if Thoreau, the main character of the aforementioned book, would choose LEGO as his outlet instead of escaping to the wild if he had lived in modern time? The diorama captures everything a self-sufficient cabin in the woods would have (including a bit of the woods). The textures and little imperfections on the cabin capture the hand-crafted appearance very well, most notably the tiles on the roof pressed down only half way and the window with a half-plate offset in its top and bottom halves. The pine trees are done quite well, with leaf elements placed at convincing angles on the central axis. The use of the old tree stump piece adds a lot...