It’s rare that LEGO sets are directly affected by the tragedies that happen in the real world. But just as the first photos were turning up online of a new LEGO Architecture set depicting the Las Vegas skyline, a gunman opened fire on October 1st, 2017, firing down onto a packed concert venue from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel casino. The gunman murdered 58 people, injuring hundreds of others. In light of this tragedy, LEGO never officially unveiled the Las Vegas set, originally scheduled to be released alongside 21039 Shanghai in January 2018. LEGO has finally revealed the redesigned (and re-numbered) set, 21047 Las Vegas on Amazon.fr. The French Amazon website doesn’t list a price or part count, but we expect it to be in the same range as Shanghai (597 pieces for $59.99) and New York City (598 pieces for $59.99). We’ll update you as we learn...

Builder Cindy Su reminisces about the past with a Taiwanese postman built in BrickHeadz form that’s pretty detailed and cute.  These days, the postal services have moved on to motorbikes and cars, but you can still find them on bicycles out in the countryside.  A specially crafted green bicycle with the capability to have the LEGO character mounted is the icing on the cake. Cindy uses a specially modified part for the fork of the bicycles. See if you can spot another nice part usage – find the frog in the build! The post Bicycle made for a Brickheadz appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Edwinder

Builder Timothy Jones brings to life a large Cockatrice in a majestic pose. I’ve since learnt that a Cockatrice is a fictional and mythical beast. It’s supposed to be different parts of a serpent, dragon and rooster all combined together. This does have certain elements of those, and it’s pretty grand with the wings spread out — I’m especially impressed with how it all holds up given the amount of weight those wings must have. The post Gaze of a magnificient Cocaktrice appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Edwinder

I’ve been practising the Wingardium Leviosa spell for quite a while now, but it’s not been very effective. Builder hachiroku24 seems to have better success than I’m having. I blame my wand instead of the lack of skill. As a fan of LEGO, I feel the bricks calling and channelling through me, and I believe that it will be the right instrument for me instead of the wooden wands. If any of you are up for a duel with your own brick-built LEGO wand, here are the instructions to get you started. Parts required are as follows: You can watch the build instructions video here: The post Channel your wizardry or witchcraft through a brick-forged wand [Instructions] appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Edwinder

Flying ships are certainly not uncommon among LEGO builds, going back to the heyday of LEGO steampunk and floating rocks eight or ten years ago. Mark Erickson has incorporated large LEGO boat hull pieces into a rather amazing flagship for his fictional Vermillion Empire. Mark’s ship uses custom-printed sails cut to standard LEGO size, but the most impressive part of the ship is all the gold detail, both surrounding the cannon ports and at the prow of the ship, where a mighty ram is ready to impale enemy ships. The post Fear the broadside of the mighty airship Bellonatus appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Andrew

In this enigmatic piece, builder why.not? creates a heart from the negative space formed in a wall of black bricks. Acting like a window it draws our attention towards the red and white quadrants behind. Two opposing figures face off across the coloured fields, separated by rugged chains. As a builder myself, I find the use of the imperfect connections between elements to create glowing cracks particularly effective. As we’ve seen before, why.not? is careful not to give too much away, leaving the work untitled, but this shouldn’t stop us pondering the turmoil of the heart it passionately expresses. The post Getting to the heart of the matter appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: David Smith

The Japanese Shinto-Buddhist gods of wind and storms have an eternal rivalry for control of the skies. Fūjin is the god of wind, and carries an enormous bag of air to blow, while Raijin beats drums to make thunder and lightning. LEGO 7 has captured the look of these well-known deities perfectly in LEGO, complete with bolts of lightning emanating from the cloud that Raijin is floating on. Although Fūjin is typically depicted with red hair, the white hair that both characters share ties them together wonderfully, while both gods sport distinct armor around their waists in silver and gold. This pair of fearsome spirits would fit in perfectly guarding the Kaminarimon “Thunder Gate” at Senso-ji in Tokyo. The post Battle for the sky between Fujin and Raijin! appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Andrew

Daniel Church must love airships. The latest addition to his oeuvre, The Odyssey from Super Mario Odyssey, is the result of a well-documented 3-month building and planning process. It is also a result of Daniel’s exploration of the form over the past nine years—not least of which is the Fortnite Battle Bus we recently highlighted. There are many subtle details to admire in this build: the slight flare of the upper panels, the use of nearly 50 LEGO rubber bands for ribbing, the Zamor sphere used as a globe, and so many elegant curves. The post A super airship Odyssey appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: David Pickett

There’s something indefinable about this alien sheriff by Patrick Biggs that I can’t help but love. He wears the classic old-west sheriff attire–a long black coat with a dark gray waistcoat beneath–but it’s the small details that really bring this character to life, such as the spurs on the sheriff’s boots, his thumb poised on the hammer of his six-shooter, and the excellent sideburns constructed with light gray feathered wings, just to name a few. However, I think my favorite part about the build may be the simple use of a Friends star piece as the sheriff’s badge; in other words, using a star as… well… a star, showing that sometimes the perfect part is indeed out there, you just need to find it. The post A sheriff from another world, and I don’t mean the American old west appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Peter

Brothers Brick regular Alanboar explores the link between LEGO art and science in his latest Butterfly Mimicry creation; his exquisite case of mounted butterfly specimens being made in honour of pioneering naturalist Henry Walter Bates. The concept of Batesian mimicry argues that harmless species, such as these butterflies, evolve the markings of poisonous animals avoided by predators. Tracing the subtle differences in pattern across these beautiful LEGO butterflies, each created from a limited set of elements, reminds me of our understanding of the malleability of genetic code and the way Bates’ work foreshadowed these discoveries. The post Butterfly mimicry: the marriage of LEGO art and scientific ideas appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: David Smith