Teacher and Adult Fan of LEGO Andrew Redfern has spent the last four years recreating 1,200 years of British history in LEGO. What started as a modest MOC project depicting the Kings and Queens of England blossomed into Minifigure Monarchs – 332 pages of LEGO builds and custom minifigures depicting both the royals and the people of Great Britain. Great Brits in little bricks indeed! As the Kickstarter goes live, we chat with Andy about his passion project, which you can back now.

TBB: What came first – your love of history or LEGO?

Andy: My love of LEGO. Loved it as a kid and then came back to it in my late twenties. I’ve always enjoyed history, but it was during lockdown that I decided to really start reading it for pleasure and listening to podcasts daily.

TBB: How did you first come to LEGO as a creative medium? Were you a big builder as a kid, or did you find LEGO as an adult? Do you remember your first set?

Andy: My first Lego set was the 1984 King’s Castle 6080. The year after I got the Black Seas Barracuda Pirate Ship 6285. I returned to LEGO in my twenties because I wanted a creative medium to support my work. I’m a teacher and I started using LEGO to make simple videos. Over time this progressed into making revision guides for Business Studies. I made a series of books called “Business in Bricks” for my students.

TBB: That sounds fascinating. LEGO is famously a part of a lot of STEM initiatives for younger students but it sounds like you teach older students? Could you talk a little bit more about the role of LEGO in the classroom?

Andy: Yes, I’ve used LEGO to engage students age 14 and up. The concept was to use LEGO to create business scenarios and have the minifigures engage with each other in business conversations. LEGO is great for capturing the imagination and can be a route into ideas and concepts that some students might find quite difficult or dry.

TBB: What was the inspiration for creating Minfigure Monarchs? Had you been recreating royals and historical scenes prior to the idea for the book?

Andy: I have always needed a creative outlet. I’ve published books before, so enjoy the publishing process. Combining two of my interests seemed like an obvious choice and that’s when Minifigure Monarchs became a project.

TBB: How did you decide on which scenes to recreate as LEGO dioramas? Were there any scenes from history that you wished you could depict but had to cut for scope or other reasons?

Andy: Some of the ideas for historical scenes have been there for years. Scenes like Henry VIII’s wives, The Black Death, and The Great Exhibition have been penciled in for a long time. I’ve got others I’m looking forward to making, such as a World War I trench. There are lots of things I have had to cut back, simply because they would take too long. The final book will have over 200 images so I have to be realistic, but ensure the scenes are still something people will enjoy and get lost in.

The process can take several months as I do my research and then plan the builds. I basically pick out things I think are
1. important events in history,
2. be fun to build, and
3. will capture people’s imagination.

TBB: We’ve previously spotlighted one creation from another builder that was made for your book. How many collaborators did you work with, and can you share some of the names we might expect to see featured?

Andy: I decided some time ago that the scope of the project was to big for me alone. I’ve been very lucky to connect with some amazing builders and artists who have kindly agreed to be part of this project. They are all credited and thanked within the book. The talents of these builders far outreach my own skills so I’m delighted to have them on-board. In total there are around 10 people from across the globe who are involved. People like Sebastian Wimmer (bascobrixx on Instagram) Wes Van Dell (lego_dpw on instagram), Nick Goodman (goodmanlegocreations on instagram) and James Pegrum (of Brick to the Past fame). I also sent over some of my minifigures on tour to Germany to be captured in the fantastic Blockshire Castle (Dukedom of Blockshire on Instagram). There are more, so please check out the Kickstarter for a full list and credits.

TBB: Creating historically accurate attire and capturing the distinctive likenesses of so many rulers must have been a huge challenge. I notice you use official LEGO parts but also paint, sculpt, and sew with non-LEGO materials. Can you talk a little about your minifig creation process?

Andy: I want the pictures to capture historical people in their full likeness. The growing range of Lego pieces makes this easier, especially to find the right facial expression. The Anglo-saxons were easy as no-one really knows what they looked like. Richard II was the first monarch we actually have a painting of, so from that point on I’ve tried to be as close in likeness as possible. There are some great custom minifigure companies around now. Two UK based ones I love are Minifigsme for cultural icons and United Bricks for military minifigures. Nevertheless, no one yet makes minifigure French bonnets or Tudor outfits, so I have had to make these myself out of cloth, custom prints and putty. It took me about two weeks to complete Henry VIII and his six wives!

TBB: Which historical figure was most challenging to capture in LEGO? Is there a minifig that you’re especially proud of how it turned out?

Andy: I knew Henry VIII had to be done well. He is perhaps the most iconic king. I’m quite pleased how he’s turned out. That’s why he’s in my promo shots and on the spine of the book. I’ve tried to be creative with the medieval heraldry in the book too. I love the Wars of the Roses and wanted to recreate some of the heraldic coats of arms and banners. I contracted Distorted Bricks to make these for me using my designs. I tried to incorporate Lego elements within the banners. The end papers of the book features around 50 customs shields based on medieval heraldry. I keep looking for ways I can produce unique custom items to add a level of detail to the creations.

TBB: Was there a monarch or other historical figure whose life story turned out to be a lot more interesting than you expected going in?

Andy: I’ve learnt a lot along the way and every monarch has turned up something new and interesting I didn’t know. I’ve really enjoyed the Georgians, but I think Henry VII has been the most interesting. He gets overshadowed by the other Tudors and his years in exile are really interesting.

TBB: What do you hope readers will take away from your book?

Andy: I hope people will discover something new about our history by reading the book. I’ve written it in a way to make it easy to just pick it up and jump into any monarch or period in history. Apart from that, I want people to enjoy the images, whether it’s a bit of comedy in the scene, a detail or the emotion from the minifigures, I hope people get drawn in.

TBB: Do you have any final words that you’d like to share with our readers?

Andy: Well, I did this project for me, but I’ve really enjoyed sharing my project on instagram and engaging with the lego and history community. I just want to thank everyone who has followed and given me encouragement along the way since I started this in 2021.

The book is a way to share my passion for history and LEGO. It won’t be on Amazon or in Waterstones, so I hope those who enjoy a bit of history with their LEGO (or is it a bit of LEGOwith their history?) will back the project and get themselves a copy of this limited edition.

Anyone interested can check out the Kickstarer campaign here.

You can also find Minifigure Monarchs on Instagram.