Yearly Archives: 2022

One clean looking Western scene

Hardly any studded surfaces are visible in this eye-catching model created by Eli Willsea. Instead, a variety of slope and curved pieces are mainly used, forming a staggered appearance of rocks. There is also a wonderful colour gradient in the rocks, as the light sand tone develops into a warm orange. The slight angle given to the side supports of the mine entrances assists in making the scene look even more realistic. The main characters appear to be in quite the dilemma, as they attempt to swing to safety while being pursued by some fearsome bandits.

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You must go to the Dagobah Swamp and find Majisto, the wizard who instructed me

A long time ago, in a LEGO theme far, far away…. NikiFilik gives us a wonderful mashup of Star Wars and LEGO Castles in this cute vignette! Luke Skywalker crashes his knightly cart in the Dagobah swamps where lives Majisto the wizard. Majisto, much like Yoda, finds Luke to be lacking in confidence and belief in the Force–ahem, pardon–Magic of the land. Majisto must raise the cart from the murky waters lest it be claimed for all time. The bright colors in use here lend a cute and fairytale-like feel to the overall scene. The lovely sculpting of the grass and water also helps with this lively feeling, showing that Star Wars pairs nicely with other fairytale themes! I also love the door, with the different layers standing out. And shoutout to the horse watching over Luke’s shoulder–I can only assume its name is Artoo after that spunky little Astromech droid we all love.

This Hades bust from Disney’s Hercules goes the distance!

Inaccuracies aside, I absolutely adore the Greek mythology/gospel mashup that is Disney’s Hercules! And NS Brick Designs wows us with this LEGO bust of Hades, the movie’s big baddie. The use of slopes here is excellent, giving the character an appropriate gaunt look. And the god’s fiery hair is an exquisite mess of transparent orange. I love the use of the molded skull piece as the clip on his toga – a great touch often overlooked on the character. And finishing it up with the beautiful pop of yellow from the immortal’s brilliant eyes, I can almost hear James Woods’s voice screaming at me about wearing Herc’s merchandise.

Mail delivery flying with style

A lot of planes have pleasing lines for the eye, and this plane from Slick_Brick is no exception! In fact, it might even look better made of LEGO than IRL. The plane is based on the de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver aircraft, and succeeds in its homage. There’s not a single hiccup in the lines of the aircraft. The whole vehicle is built with great care and an eye for detail. Brick built mountains rise in the background, giving the scene its setting and scale. And the lakeside pier speaks to further stories. Maybe the bottles and fish hint at a living of trading fish and syrup. Of course, there might be a sci-fi story waiting with that eye the dog is watching…

A day in the life of a lovely forest village

Stories lurk around every corner of this LEGO forest village from builder Hanwasyellowfirst. To the residents, this is just another beautiful day. The buildings and homes orbit around the central rocky spire, one to each level. First, there’s the pleasant two story home with a tree and birdhouse beside it. I really like the use of the slopes on the roofing to form those alternating waves. I also like the use of the white snake piece for the stylized chimney smoke! The second building rests on a terrace where the fisherman waits for a bit on the line. The grey plate across the roof speaks to a history with weathering. The home has stood for some time. The final building stands atop the rocky spire, quite literally towering over the rest of the village. Its resident watches as a traveler below is warmly greeted and welcomed. No doubt the traveler will explore the many details to admire in this village.

A spaceship in the mech-ing

Imagining what kind of cool new ships can be added to the classic LEGO Space theme is always fun. This spaceship from Shiu makes for an awesome addition to those imaginings! The shaping of the ship has a lot of fun lines and angles to catch the eye. There’s some excellent greebling going on throughout, including the evergreen minifig roller skate. Personally, I appreciate the texture the jet engine insert provides to the laser cannons. Another fine detail is the pilot’s harness. Usually builds don’t have the room for something like that. Now, something you might be wondering is why so much bulk in the wings? There could no doubt be a variety of answers to that question, but for this build the answer is transformational!

The star-fighter converts into a mech-fighter! The wings split into the arms and legs of a stylish, and spacefaring, mech. The nose of the ship swings down to allow for forward clearance, something it can do after the beast of a blaster is in the mech’s grip. Usually a space explorer has to leave their ship to adventure planet-side, but not with this ship! The whole thing can help scout out new locations and set up base camps. Truly an all-in-one spaceship.

Mistborn: Scouting Keep Venture

Fantasy books have long given inspiration to LEGO builders like Eli Willsea. This time the source comes one of my personal favorite authors, Brandon Sanderson and his Mistborn trilogy. Eli has perfectly captured the high class ballroom of the Venture mansion, with absolutely gorgeous window frames, and the main protagonist, Vin, skulking about in the mists above. This build was completed within 24 hours for day 5 of RebelLUG’s Vignweek competition. The prompt of the way was to only use the original 7 colors that LEGO bricks were available in. Aside from minifigures, you will only find parts in black, white, light grey, red, blue, yellow, or green within this build.

Horse saddle roof castle

LEGO has released quite some specific horse saddles. We have them for regular LEGO horses, Belville horses, Scala horses and of course Friends horses. Kit Nugent used the latter to adorn their castle with a rather creative roofing. The entire castle is to die for. I have no idea how most of the parts are attached but I don’t care, it is amazing. I don’t think I’ll look at horse saddles the same way ever again. I might even start hoarding them to create my own horse saddle roof castle.

Beachy fun at the Sidewalk Cafe

LEGO Paradisa was one of the first attempts of LEGO to cater to girls and for its time really was groundbreaking. It brought us new colours, female figures and overall a beachy fun vibe. It is nice to see that up to this day the theme still inspires people. Eli Willsea hit the nail on the head with this creation. We get a remake of the 6402 Sidewalk Cafe. There are a lot of architectural details with columns, laced fences and croissants used to highlight the arches. Best part about this build has to be the plant trellis. It starts with flex tubing and minifigure hands on the side of the build. The horizontal trellis is made with bars with claws and hands and I have no idea how it is held together but I love it!

The bear necessities of life will come to you

Sometimes, when the hustle and bustle of city life wears you down, and you can’t bear the stress any longer, a trip to the great outdoors can be the perfect remedy. This scene by LEGO 7 with a father bear and his cub enjoying a camping and fishing trip tells a wonderful story. The jeep is packed with supplies, including a camp stove, lantern, fishing gear, and even a couple of folding chairs.

Oh, and in case you were wondering if they fit inside the vehicle like I was… they do! The stickers on the vehicle are a nice touch, and seeing junior looking out the back passenger window at the wild world going by is super-cute.

One stylish looking character with great uses of LEGO cloth pieces

This regal character, created by Eero Okkonen, has an awesome aesthetic. Several cloth pieces from the Volkswagen T2 Camper Van set, are included in this build, mainly the orange roof section (used for the turban) and the curtains (representing frills at the shoulders). The dark red and brown colours of the outfit contrast nicely against the vivid white at the gloves and legs. The top of the boots feature Belville saddle pieces which creates realistic looking textures. Eero has a wonderful talent for constructing fascinating characters with this model being another prime example of his inventive techniques.

A pocket-sized tower for a grand hairy tale

This towering tribute to Tangled, built for Vignweek, comes from the brilliant Robert4168/Garmadon. The tower and the shrouding valley around it are immediately recognizable and full of lovely details. A leftover green sprue wraps around the tower’s midsection to act as reaching vines. Minifig syringes stand in for the spire’s peaks. And a purple minifig arm represents the central spire. Most important of all, a pearl gold minifig prybar hangs off the tower as Rapunzel’s golden hair. Let’s not forget to acknowledge the excellent landscape sculpting. There are wonderful slope usages from the walls of the valley down to the floor. The greenery helps bring some life and contrast to the vignette. I feel particularly drawn to the tree beside the tower with how the leaves form an amazing canopy.