LEGO Masters 2021: Which team won every challenge
Eight teams of two started on LEGO Masters Australia Season 3 and had to build a range of creative challenges designed to test them both creatively and technically.
Stream every episode of LEGO Masters for free on 9Now.
And no doubt they delivered above and beyond Hamish and Brickman's expectations. But some builds managed to stand out above the rest and won the challenges.
See all of the winning builds from every challenge in 2021 below:
Challenge 1: Stop In Your Tracks
Winning team: Fleur and Sarah
Build name: Geisha Temple
The stunning build's bright colours impressed the judges. Nine
In the Stop In Your Tracks Challenge, teams needed to build a creation that would cause a train to stop, well, in its tracks. Originally Hamish Blake had been uninspired by Sarah and Fleur's idea of creating a Geisha Temple. But once the finished product was delivered, he — and Brickman — were both blown away.
"The colour choice — I'm not sure if you realised just how amazingly contrasted that was against the mountains," Brickman said.
The build also had giant sushi out the front as a subtle nod to a sushi train. It was another element that Brickman loved.
"This is awesome. Great stuff," he said.
Challenge 2: Castles and Cannonballs
Winning team: Owen and Scott
Build name: Wizard's Castle
While the build was impressive, it was how it looked when being smashed that won over Brickman. Nine
In the Castles and Cannonballs challenge, teams were given a time period in which they must then build a castle. Using a ball, Hamish then bowled the castle down, with teams being judged on how epic the smash was when watched back in super slow motion.
Owen and Scott built a Wizard's Castle that held a dark secret.
"The wizard, who has this ominous-looking tower, needs to harvest his powers from somewhere," Owen explained.
"Unbeknownst to the villagers below, he's been unclipping the heads of the local villagers."
The team had also built terrain shaped like a ramp to help the guide the bowling ball upwards into the castle. And guide it did, setting off a stunning display of yellow mini figure heads.
It was enough to see them take the win, and avoid the first elimination challenge of the season.
Challenge 3: Snow Globe
Winning team: David and Gus
Build name: Fox In First Snow
David and Gus' Fox In First Snow build blew Nine
In the Snow Globe challenge, teams could create whatever they wanted, with the aim that it would look beautiful inside a snow globe. This meant factoring in how the snow would move around the globe and add to their build's story.
David and Gus created a stunning fox enjoying its first snow, and the creation blew Brickman away to the point he got emotional.
"You're showing an emotion which in a LEGO model is an incredibly difficult thing to do. I can't believe that this early in LEGO Masters I've seen a piece of art," the judge beamed.
Challenge 4: Fantastic Beasts
Winning team: David and Gus
Build name: Walrus and Flamingo
David and Gus combined a flamingo and a walrus for their build. Nine
in the Fantastic Beasts challenge, Hamish and Brickman spun two wheels with different animal names on them for each team. The teams had to build a LEGO creature with characteristics of the two animals the wheels landed on. David and Gus had to combine a flamingo and a walrus.
When it came time for judging, Brickman was impressed with how the team had captured the key elements of both animals.
"With a flamingo it's about the legs, and the walrus is about the tusks — the two things that are distinguishing feature-wise. You absolutely got those," he praised, before turning his attention to the "engineering" within the creation.
"The single thing I'm most impressed with is that there's a lot of engineering in this LEGO model. It's very difficult to see, however, if you think about the sheer weight of that balancing on one foot. It is awesome."
Challenge 5: Mission to Mars
Winning team: David and Gus
Build name: Fun Arcade
The arcade won over Brickman. Nine
Hamish unveiled an incredible LEGO rocket ship to introduce the Mission to Mars challenge. The teams had to make a LEGO creation on a shelf for a spaceship, choosing what mankind would send to Mars.
"It's all about storytelling in this limited space," Brickman said.
The team created an arcade, complete with a jumping castle, video games and a mechanical bull. Brickman applauded the team's clever use of LEGO within the small space.
"This is such a constrained build. It's all about how well you use LEGO pieces to show off those fine details and I think you've done a great job of it," Brickman said.
Challenge 6: Hero's Quest
Winning team: Michael and Harrison
Build name: Temple of the Tiger
The Temple was an incredible adventure playground. Nine
In the Hero's Quest challenge, a group of heroes were on an adventure through a treasure map which broke apart into six distinctive plates, each with a different theme: Desert, Caribbean, Jungle, Frozen Lands, Mediterranean and Highlands.
Teams were tasked with building the epic scene that has either happened or is happening as the heroes ventured through their assigned area of the treasure map.
Harrison and Michael took on the Jungle theme for their build. The team made a giant Temple of the Tiger, with spear walls, a rickety bridge and tigers hidden around the jungle. Brickman was a big fan of the build, noting how the tiger head was a great focal point that drew him in to explore the build further.
Challenge 7: Cut In Half
Winning team: David and Gus
Build name: Ka-Boom Box
They certainly brought the grey boom box to life in their build. Nine
The Cut In Half challenge was set to test the teams. Each team took one of five items, which had been cut in half, with the task of building the other half out of LEGO in a creative way.
The items were a cash register, boom box, gramophone, chainsaw and telescope.
David and Gus were tasked with building the second half of the boom box, and created a stunning and colourful build.
"It's colourful. It tells a great story. This is the best LEGO model that we have seen on LEGO Masters this year," Brickman praised, later adding that it was a masterpiece.
The team's finished build blew Brickman away. Nine
Challenge 8: Can It Fly?
Winning team: Gabby and Ryan
Build: The Flying Machine
Hamish introduced the Can It Fly? challenge to the teams, explaining how they would be building a model that would levitate when strapped to a giant helium balloon.
This meant it needed to be perfectly weighted in order to hover for 10 seconds without hitting the ground or flying away.
"A loose brick falling off will spell the end of you in this build," Brickman warned.
Gabby and Ryan created a man on a flying machine, complete with motion, with the creation's legs pedalling and the flying device's wings moving up and down.
In the end Gabby and Ryan took the win. They took an advantage into the elimination and finally got rid of their curse from the Brick of Doom.
Brickman was impressed with Gabby and Ryan's concept and execution. Nine
Challenge 9: Go Big or Go Home
Winning team: David and Gus
Build: Charmed Snake
For the Go Big or Go Home challenge, teams had to build a LEGO creation as tall as LEGO Masters Season 1 contestant Kale. For the record, Kale is 168cm tall.
There was only one other rule: no buildings or towers.
David and Gus built a giant cobra snake emerging from a basket, with a mouth that opened and closed.
"This is awesome. I get the feeling looking at it that it belongs in a really tacky tourist attraction somewhere north of Cairo," Brickman said.
Later on when announcing the winner of the build, Brickman gave the creation more praise.
"It's a cool LEGO build. That belongs in a storefront somewhere, even a LEGO storefront, and that's why you're safe today," he said.
Brickman said David and Gus' snake was worthy of being in a LEGO storefront. Nine
Challenge 10: Four Seasons
Winning team: Gabby and Ryan
Build: Winter Train Heist
In Episode 8, Hamish revealed the "mid-season twist" that the four eliminated teams were back to battle it out in a 'Sudden Life' challenge to take two spots back on the show.
In order to earn their place back among the remaining contestants, the eliminated teams had to complete a Four Seasons build. Each team was given a base plate that represented one season, and their challenge was to build a world on that base plate that represented the mood of their season.
Naturally, Brickman was looking for "one clear idea executed brilliantly".
Gabby and Ryan received the winter base plate, and decided to create a Winter Train Heist scene.
"The train is coming out of this tunnel and the avalanche has come down to block their path," Ryan explained of the build.
"There are little hold-ups on the train, a getaway vehicle and more avalanche on its way," Gabby added.
"If we were to look at the sheer volume of LEGO bricks that you've laid down, you were slogging for the first seven hours," Brickman noted, impressed.
Ryan and Gabby with their Four Seasons build. Nine
"These bricks are so coherent together, though I would have loved to see the gang on the top of the train or rappelling down," he added; a small note on an otherwise brilliant build.
Brickman loved this bonus detail in their build. Nine
"We also have a bonus behind the mountain — a prospector tucked away!" he said, applauding the team for their creativity and attention to detail.
As a result, Gabby and Ryan were the first team to win back their places in LEGO Masters.
Challenge 11: 80s Arcade
Winning team: Owen and Scott
Build: Strum King
In the 80s Arcade build, Hamish challenged the teams to create an original arcade game. Every team received an empty console to build in, and the freedom to create their own story, hero, villain and name for their creation.
The build started with a minifig pick that helped the teams choose their theme and help spark a few creative ideas, including a daredevil, '80s rock star and a dragon fighter.
"Today's build is all about composition, multiplied by the difficulty of a great story," Brickman told the contestants before they started 12 hours of building.
Scott and Owen received the rocks tar minifig, making them immediately think about the iconic game Guitar Hero.
So, the boys created their own guitar-themed arcade game: Strum King.
"You become a rock star. You've got to advance the strumming of your guitar, and we have lights that light up indicating the different levels of the game," Owen said of their build.
A closer look at Strum King. Nine
Brickman was incredibly impressed by their creation.
"It's so awesome. If I was looking for an example of teamwork, this is the number one I've seen on this show," he told the boys, lauding their ability to cover both aesthetics as well as the complicated machinery that went into the build.
"You had your mojo today, and it's an absolute treat to get to see it. It's pretty hard to not like the Strum King."
Challenge 12: No Wheels Race
Winning team: Anthony and Jess
In the No Wheels Race challenge, teams were playing for a one-hour head start advantage in the following elimination challenge.
Teams had to build vehicles with the aim to be the fastest in a race. Only there was a twist — the wheels and tires in the Brick Pit were removed.
Brickman also revealed that they would not be judged on aesthetics or storytelling, only technical ability.
Anthony and Jess won the race.
Challenge 13: Dream Home
Winning team: Gabby and Ryan
Build: Ultimate Family Retreat
The elimination challenge was called Dream Home. Teams were asked to build their dream place to live, and would be judged on aesthetics, storytelling and technical ability.
They had 11 hours to complete their build, however with three hours to go Hamish revealed a twist: Teams had to also turn the dream home into a nightmare.
Gabby and Ryan built a stunning retreat home, with their added nightmare being a cascade of small children with loud instruments loaded up on sugar.
"You guys have not gone down the path of a character or a monster or something big and you've needed to find ways to capture our attention. Bright, colourful, pod-type buildings are exactly the way to do that," Brickman praised.
Brickman thought the team had used minifigures "really well" within their build.
"Things like the child peeing in the pool, poor grandma getting tied up — things like that are what makes minifigures so much fun," he said.
"I think this is your best work on LEGO Masters," Brickman said.
Challenge 14: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Winning team: Owen and Scott
Build name: Sanctum Sanctorium from Dr Strange
This week's challenge was to recreate a scene in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the LEGO Masters teams were champing at the bit to get their hands on some special Marvel minifigs.
"Today your challenge is to create an action scene, that one moment where something incredible is happening," Hamish revealed.
Brickman also mentioned that he wanted to see motion in the teams' builds... without any motors or technical components.
"This comes down to the art form of diorama building. You need to show motion and energy, without literal motion and energy," he said.
Having been given the Sanctum Sanctorum from Marvel's Doctor Strange, Scott and Owen created what Hamish described as "almost a still from a movie".
"I think it proved to me that we don't need power functions to be good LEGO builders," Owen said of their build.
And Brickman agreed.
"You delivered. Did you use every brick in the Brick Pit?" he asked, and the boys proudly nodded.
"We often talk about the perils and advantages of translucent LEGO bricks, and you've used it with the portal, but the best part is how you've used it with Dr Strange. That is exactly how it should be used," Brickman told the team, and the room erupted in applause.
Challenge 15: Colour Your World
Winning team: Gabby and Ryan
Build name: Rainbow Paint Truck
In the Colour Your World challenge, teams arrived to find a LEGO home already built in greyscale.
"The four houses on this street are monochrome," Hamish said. "They've lost their colour. Your challenge today is to introduce colour to your world through a story. Something is happening in your build that is creating the colour.
"So we're going to end up with four builds that have a lot of greyscale on them, but a very clear reason why part of them have started to become colourful."
Brickman added that storytelling and aesthetics were the most important parts of the build.
Gabby and Ryan built a rainbow paint truck that had avoided a row of ducks crossing the road and smashed into the nearby house, creating a splash of colour.
"LEGO is inherently funny… it's self-deprecating. Minifigures love to have a joke," Brickman said.
"Silly things happen in LEGO city all the time, and that's exactly what is happening here. This build is funny. It's colourful. It's doing what it needs to do, and when you guys are having fun it comes out in the LEGO.
"But there's one thing that sets it apart from all of the other builds. I think you were incredibly smart with how you didn't build LEGO."
Challenge 16: Out on a Limb and Underground
Winning team: David and Gus
Build name: Tiger In A Tree and Meerkat Burrow
In the Out on a Limb challenge, teams needed to build a creation that stemmed from a tree branch of a giant LEGO tree. The tree was 400kg and was made up of around 85,000 LEGO bricks.
The giant tree took Brickman's team over 520 hours to assemble. Nine
David and Gus built a tiger, which was relaxing on the branch.
"It's almost of a standard of a LEGO Masters finale," Brickman said of the tiger. He was very impressed by their build.
The incredible tiger had a very expressive face. Nine
In a surprise twist, teams were given a second challenge called Underground. They needed to build something underground which related to the story on their tree branch. Teams would be judged on both builds.
David and Gus created a Meerkat Burrow.
"The meerkats were a great idea and it plays perfectly with the story," Brickman said. David and Gus took the win.
The Meerkat Burrow was slightly criticised for the meerkats not having the most expressive faces. Nine
LEGO Masters airs Sundays at 7pm and Mondays and Tuesdays at 7.30pm on Nine and 9now. Stream every episode of LEGO Masters for free on 9Now.