Yearly Archives: 2022

When you want to build a Castle, but you only have pieces in white

Castles and knights are cool, but they are not the only ones who need impressive fortresses. What about grenadiers? These guys know a thing about pretty fortified buildings. Ayrlego and Evancelt Lego combine their love for historical-era creations to collaborate on a couple of sweet-looking military buildings. First, Arylego recreated the grenadiers’ parades outside their barracks in the Corlander settlement of Queenston. And it’s the massive corner tower that reminded me of the classic LEGO castles! In white, it looks stunning, bringing us to a very different place and era (compared to fantasy).

Meanwhile, Evancelt Lego goes with a different layout for his armory but sticks to the distinctive architectural style of the barracks. It took me a moment to notice a totally unique design for trees: they fit so well, I nearly left them unnoticed. And, of course, the combination of various shades of yellow and orange on the walls is so good. The weathering effects bring these builds to a whole new level.

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‘Tis the spirit of the season

Leaves turning into vibrant reds, yellows, and oranges in the Fall are beautiful in real life and in LEGO. This build from Patrick Biggs showcases the annual changing of the leaves in a big way! There’s the forest itself, with all those little star and flower pieces spreading out across the base of the scene. However, the center of the build is the great stag standing tall over the forest. The giant spirit of Autumn is beautifully sculpted, once again showing off Patrick’s abilities to craft lovely creatures out of LEGO. The spirit looks over the world, paying no mind to the human-made church in the foreground of the forest. It’s a beautiful reminder that Nature doesn’t care what the latest invention of Humanity is. Nature will carry on as it always has, and how lucky we are to be witness to the splendor of our planet!

Magnificent Magnate from EVE Online

Although the idea of games like EVE Online is appealing to me, I don’t think I’d ever have the time or patience to commit to exploring all its features. Thankfully I can live vicariously through builders like Eugene Levin to enjoy some incredible ship design. He has added this Sarum Magnate to the epic Revelation we featured a few days ago. The Magnate shares some common design features with its big sister ship, including that awesome dark red and gold colour scheme. Where they differ is in the shaping. This smaller craft is almost all curves, but Eugene has nailed the shaping, thanks to some judicious choices of wedges and curved slopes. I just can’t stop staring at it!

Babba Yaga’s Cottage in a convenient snack size

One of the most fun mythical homes has to be the cottage of Babba Yaga. A rickety old shack perched on giant chicken legs…what’s not to love? Corvus Auriac has created a digital build of this Slavic landmark in microscale that’s rife with great part usage. From the Wolverine claws for chicken feet, to the One Ring providing edging to the attic window, to the Ninjago serpent as a plume of smoke, there are fun details everywhere you look. I’m also fond of the minifigure epaulette tree, a technique we’ve seen in some of Covus’ other works. And, as a nice perk for a digital build – all of these parts exist in the real world, too.

Our archives have you covered if you’re looking for more LEGO-folklore, including a minifigure scale version of Babba Yaga’s cottage. Go take a look!

I’m Lupin’ you in on some wisdom.

This great character build of Lupin III by Rokan Cheung is titled 自分で決めなきゃ明日は開かれねぇんだぜ, which Google tells me translates to “If you don’t decide by yourself, tomorrow won’t open.” (This YouTube clip shows the delivery of the line, I think.) Pretty profound. And in addition we can admire the great LEGO design work and part usage at play. This is not a tiny build – the 1×2 gold ingot used as a tie bar gives a sense of scale. The graceful shaping of the hands and limbs are echoed by the clean lines of the couch. The character’s expression is also pretty clever, with a friction ram bar creating the perfect smirk.

Be sure to check our archives for more great manga and anime themed builds!

Not too windy for you back there, is it?

Way back in the day, automobiles offered some additional capacity by adding a folding seat into the rear of the car. These were called “Rumble seats”…or, perhaps more descriptively, “Mother-in-law Seats”. K P showcases the downsides of outdoor seating with a brick-built wonder straight from the 1930’s. There are great building touches like the sleek hard top roof and ample headlights, but it’s their use of a minifigure “action stand” to show the effects of too much wind in the hair that really makes this one stand out to me. Good thing that umbrella is still closed, or we’d be in for a real Mary Poppins moment.

If this moment from the past appeals to you, check out our archives for more antique roadster goodness.

A percussive performance in pinks and purples

LEGO builder Milan Sekiz is strutting their stuff on this overly-colorful dance floor. And each piece of this build feels right at home in this boogie-filled alien world. The speakers have a cartoonish quality, emphasized by the floating music notes surrounding them. The array of otherworldly refreshments to the left is ready to reinvigorate any worn-down dancer, with the spilled drink added as a great touch. Even the small table on the right feels right at home with its star-shaped flowers and bubbly curves at its base. But the highlight has got to be the character construction that’s absolutely out of this world. Ms. Purple’s medusa-like hair is groovy, and the gold accents and lavender heels really set her outfit off. And take note of the dynamite DJ in the back with their noodle-y arms on the ones and twos. Overall, this build is throwing some serious Creator set vibes, and I love it!

An botanical from eastern Asia that can’t be beat!

As someone who is constantly striving for natural shapes in my LEGO constructions, I’ve definitely taken notice of the techniques employed by James Zhan in their beautiful orchid plant. The simple yet elegant yellow and brown stripes on the flower’s petals are perfect here. And I’m in love with the use of this constraction armor part for the interior of the bloom. Following the lime stems down, we see some delicate leaf construction thanks to clips, bars, and curved slopes in green. Even further down, the cleisostoma paniculatum is held in a gorgeous black planter adorned with six large LEGO studs. I especially like the natural effect of the olive green roots partially covered by the “potting soil” made of 1×1 round plates.

And if you want to see more builders we’ve featured showing off their green thumbs, you can find them here.

These monochrome robots are monumental

When I think about unique LEGO creations, I usually picture them in vibrant colors, considering just how many colors LEGO elements come in these days. But like fine art and photography, sometimes using a more limited palette, or choosing to go black and white can introduce interesting design constraints. Builder Mitsuru Nikaido is known for creating stunning mechanical models of animals from around the world, both past and present. but with this recent series, they are taking their LEGO creations into the future.

These two robot companions are full of interesting details like the two different sizes of ski sleds used for the feet, and the revolver used for the digits of the tall skinny fellow. But I think my favorite detail is the top half of the light gray turntable used for the shoulders, hips, and knees. There is another great robot in the series, which looks like it could be the next model from Boston Dynamics, but is surprisingly less creepy.

It’s gourds galore in this festive fall scene.

Tommy Frost has constructed an homage to one of the best parts of Halloween: the selection of the pumpkin! A truly frightening jack-o-lantern needs the perfect base, and every fall the local pumpkin patch is the place to select the squash that you’ll sacrifice for your front porch. Tommy’s LEGO pumpkin patch has all the hallmarks of the season – hay bales, people in costume, a scarecrow, and even some lovely fall foliage. Now let’s get these pumpkins home, pour some apple cider, and get out the biggest knife in the kitchen…

EVE Online’s Sarum Revelation brickified with LEGO

Building a 100+ stud long LEGO SHIP (Significantly Huge Investment in Parts) in no small feat. Building one that is a highly accurate recreation of a preexisting design? Well that’s exactly what Eugene Levin did with this beautiful model of the Sarum Revelation from EVE online. The attention to detail is superb and he even managed to sneak his own icon onto the hull. Check out more photos below and his Flickr page for comparison shots with the original in game ship!

There’s a Significantly Huge Investment in Pictures below

LEGO Marvel reveals 4,000-piece 76210 Iron Man Hulkbuster from the Avengers Infinity Saga [News]

Today LEGO has revealed the latest top-tier set from the Marvel Infinity Saga theme with 76210 Iron Man Hulkbuster. This massive model of Tony Stark’s indestructible mech stands 20.5 in. ( 52 cm) tall and contains 4,049 pieces. 76105 The Hulkbuster: Ultron Edition came out in 2019 as a near-minifigure scale model, but this version is a significantly larger scale, though in the vein of many large display models from themes like Marvel and Star Wars, it includes a minifigure of Tony Stark that can be displayed along with the info placard. Tony can also be slotted into the gigantic mech. The Hulkbuster will retail for US $549.99 | CAN $699.99 | UK £474.99 when it’s available starting Nov. 4 for LEGO VIP members. General availability will follow on Nov. 9.

Click to see more of the Hulkbuster