As an artist, I love a good graphic and bold logo. My close-enough namesake Gino Lohse has built a Jurassic Park logo in LEGO (say that ten times fast!) but with a twist. The dino (strangley not pronounced like Gino or Lino) is chasing down some people who are also in dark silhuette. I love the bold black against red; and the yellow outline is a fabulous touch. Gino makes this look simple but a round logo can’t be easy. One question though; is it wrong that I’m rooting for the T-Rex? While you’re mulling that over check out our Jurassic Park archives to see all the coolest dino-related sets and fan-made creations in the interwebs. The post Chasing shadows at Jurassic Park appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Lino

LEGO builder Pan Noda has a stellar record when it comes to color use. Not too long ago, I raved about this monotonal marvel that spilled forth from their mind. And while this creation goes a bit more subterranean than their previous work, it’s still a powerful bit of art composed of cobbled walls, hanging vines, and still water. Even though the palette here only uses four colors of brick (light gray, green, tan, and transparent light blue), their brilliant use of light transforms the scene into a symphony of shades. The uneven textures on the walls create pockets of shadow and reflective surfaces that bring the whole thing to life! Plus, it’s giving me the sudden urge to hunt for jungle temples in Minecraft…. The post A ruin in four LEGO colors appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Kyle Keller

While it’s no longer available on the site, 75354 Coruscant Guard Gunship made a brief appearance on LEGO’s Shop-at-Home website earlier this morning. Clone Wars fans have been eating well recently, yet the Republic Gunship had only been recently available as a UCS set. However, that’s been changed as of today. Consisting of 1,083 pieces, the craft is in the unusual colour scheme of the Coruscant Guard, which featured in a handful of episodes in season six of the Clone Wars – as did most of the minifigures included, among them Padmé Amidala and Clone Commander Fox. Together with the Ahsoka sets unveiled at SDCC, this set will be available starting from the 1st of September. While pricing in some regions is still unconfirmed, the price according to LEGO.com was US $139.99 | CAN $179.99 | UK £TBD. 75354 Coruscant Guard Gunship | 1,083 pieces | Available September 1st | US...

I’m not going to pretend that I’m an expert on the How to Train Your Dragon-verse. Nor am I able to say that I’ve ever seen one of the movies in the series. But I do know LEGO, and I know a great collaboration when I see one. Builders Josh (lego_monkey), Nick (gecko_builds), and Charlie (choopyjups) have come together to tell the tale of Toothless and Hiccup in this delightful three-part team-up. First we have Fury of the Skies by Josh, showcasing quite the bit of landscaping skill. Smooth rocks lead up to a cliffside shack with a roof of triangular signs. The turquoise door is a beautiful touch. Fir trees large and small dot the scene, and in the foreground is a Viking statue in keeping with the Dreamworks animation style. But Toothless is my favorite bit here, frozen in midair with such a domineering pose, looking down on Hiccup...

When I first moved to the West Coast, I learned about the joys of a charcuterie board. It can be impromptu, served with an array of cheese, crackers, meats, bread, and fruits. Extra awesome kudos points are added if there is also wine involved. This pretty much became my all-time favorite meal and I wondered how I was deprived of this classy goodness for like thirty years. That’s why I was particularly thrilled to see this yummy LEGO cheese platter buit by Cecilie Fritzvold. The grapes look especially tasty. I’ve learned just now that writing a TBB article for such a delicious-looking creation while also on an empty stomach is a bit counterproductive. Time to raid the fridge! While I do that, please check out other mouth-watering food creations by other builders with a pinache for culinary delights. The post Charcuterie is like Lunchables for grownups appeared first on The Brothers...

While I may be a LEGO-building Washingtonian now, there was a time when I lived in northern Indiana, South Bend for those playing the home game. And during my four years there, I made plenty of trips to Chicago and its suburbs. One memorable adventure was attending Brickworld in 2013 (my first LEGO convention). But another was the first big post-graduation meet-up with friends from college to see the sights downtown, including the infamous Navy Pier. So, yes, at one time I was one of those 1×1 round tiles in Jonah Schultz’s microscale build, probably one of the lime green ones. The design here is spot-on, with a better translation to microscale than I thought possible. The half-plate stripe just under the warehouse’s roof is spectacular, as is the use of claws and horns to give the appearance of waves on Lake Michigan. But the bit that’s got my jaw on...

Fresh from its appearance at the Christchurch Brick Show in New Zealand earlier this month, this LEGO-made island-bound tower by Nathan Hake is simply astounding! Created over the better part of seven months, this mammoth medieval masterpiece sprawls out over a pair of islands and includes several noteworthy features like a shipwreck, black dragon, stone bridge, abandoned docks, magical portal, and a detailed tower interior. Details like the underside of its overhang and the tendrils of smoke rising out of its chimney stand out brilliantly on the tower. While more experienced builders will marvel at Nathan’s stud reversal on the rocks of the big island halfway up the side. Building at this scale, such techniques can become unwieldy, but it’s handled here quite adeptly. While you’ll have to check out Nathan’s Flickr page to see all the details and angles (and some pictures from the public show), I do want to...

Usually I don’t build space-themed models, but my latest two models are exceptions. Then again, they aren’t exactly your everyday space builds, representing real-world spaceplanes developed for the US military. The first is the X-20 Dyna-Soar (for “dynamic soarer”). This was an ambitious program to build a reusable manned spaceplane. It started within weeks of the Soviet Union’s first Sputnik launch. It never came to fruition, though. A few years later, with the first prototype already under construction, escalating costs and an unclear mission resulted in its cancellation. The second is the much more recent and successful X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle. This is an unmanned reusable spaceplane currently in service with the US Space Force. So far, two vehicles have flown six missions. The latest was the longest, with almost 909 days spent in orbit. Its official role is to demonstrate reusable space technologies. However, there has been speculation that it...

Character master Oliver Becker has crafted this charming scene of a shepherd and his flock (of, er, one sheep). Now this might sound odd, but I’m actually glad there’s only one sheep here. Not because I’m ovinophobic, but because if I started counting sheep, I’d surely fall asleep and miss the rest of this great build! The sheep is very good, chewing away on the grass, with its spindly legs. (Well it’s chewing with its mouth, but you know what I mean.) And any build that uses X-pod covers is a good one in my book. But the shepherd is where the whimsy really comes into this scene. He’s a great caricature, using inverted arch pieces twice – in his boots and for his face. He’s quite rotund though. Maybe that’s where the rest of his flock went… The post Don’t fall asleep looking at this build – you’ll feel rather...

Ever wondered how LEGO’s nano-figs are made? Caleb Schilling has given us a sneak peek at their production line mid-manufacture. Bet you thought it was all ABS and injection-moulding, eh? Think again! Now I’m no expert, but I believe that inside this machine, there are tiny little gremlins (smaller even than nano-figs) armed with tridents, who carve these pieces out of coloured plastic. These tools of theirs are wonderfully versatile. You can see two of them sticking out the side, which when pulled presumably give the gremlins a poke, so they know which shift to be on. Some older ones also seem to have been re-purposed for the conveyor belt. How resourceful! It’s a wonder such production methods aren’t used elsewhere, really. (Hm? What do you mean, I’ve failed the trial period for TBB’s production expert…?) The post How it’s made: nano-fig special appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal...