No Fabulous Fabulandspeeder is complete without a Fabulous Homestead. So we are very grateful that Stewart Cromar continued to fabulize Star Wars sets. Whenever you buy a LEGO Star Wars set and you open up all the bags and spread out all the parts on the table you’ll notice that a lot of the parts are light grey, dark grey, or black. Then there are some pops of colour but those are mostly used in the construction of the vehicle and later covered up with light grey, dark grey, or black bricks. Completely the opposite of the Fabuland theme and therefore it is ever so delightful to see these sets get the Fabuland treatment. Some of the original Fabuland parts work so perfectly that LEGO might have to consider recoloring those parts to light grey, dark grey, or black for future releases of Star Wars sets. For instance the mailbox top works perfectly as an arched rooftop and the refrigerator door looks stunning as a front door to this lovely Tatooine Homestead. So LEGO, please consider bringing back some of those iconic Fabuland pieces.
Posts by Bart Willen
Minidoll parts you just have to have
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I am an absolute fan of LEGO minidoll related themes. And yes, sometimes the sets are a bit too brightly coloured to blend in with your LEGO City. And yes, having minidolls next to minifigures in one creation can look a little bit odd. But the minidoll themes come with such interesting parts and most of them are minifigure compatible. In Hannah’s latest creation she used a couple of minidoll hair and headpieces that work perfectly for fantasy-themed minifigures.
The build itself ain’t too shabby either, it looks massive. But that might just be thanks to a little bit of photoshopping. The best part about the build has to be the gold arched gate door. LEGO has released a prefab gate door but that one simply doesn’t compare next to this brick build design by Hannah.
I’ve been to Venice but it never looked this calm
I visited the city of Venice once and I have to admit, there will always be a special place in my heart for that city. It has it all; beautiful architecture, the docks, the bridges over the canals, romantic restaurants serving great food, and last but not least loads of tourists. At some point during my visit, it was hard to see the beauty of the city because there were so many of them/us.
Legooderso provides help for this ‘problem’ by creating the city of Venice in LEGO. They managed to capture all the key elements of the city minus the tourists. The amount of detail on this build is just amazing. A lot of unconventional parts get used as architectural details. We can discover mudguards, cattle horns and candles. Also the little niche with the chicken statue is a very nice detail. I’m not sure if I ever came across a real chicken shrine in Venice but who knows, I might have missed it due to all the tourists.
Holy oozing eyecatcher, Batman!
Is it an announcement from LEGO for more LEGO DC sets? No. Is it a LEGO ad for a new LEGO DC Game? No. Is it an image produced by the LEGO company? No. It is a fan creation! Sometimes LEGO enthusiasts manage to create something that looks like it comes straight out of a LEGO catalogue. This creation by Pascal Hetzel is one of those creations. We see the Batman logo right in the center of the build. Don’t ask me why or how but somehow it is melting, trapping all of Batman’s villains in the yellow slime oozing out of the logo. I’m especially feeling sorry for poor old Mister Freeze who looks like he picked the shortest straw. This creation is quite big and it is definitely worthy of a little zoom. So make sure to check out all the little details Pascal managed to cram into it. I can only imagine how cool this would look as a display in your LEGO room, or better, in your living room!
Scarlet Witch inspired Alchemist
Sometimes LEGO builders draw inspiration from the strangest places. Tobias Goldschalt’s latest creation was inspired by a single LEGO piece. I am talking about the power blast piece that comes with a lot of the Super Heroes sets. It is used as a liquid boiling over the little pot on the built-in Bunsen burner. The use of the bar with 1×1 round plate as a candle holder is very original too. And have you seen the ribbed brick used as a pile of papers? It actually looks like those pieces were designed to be used for this purpose. The best thing about this creation however has to be the shaggy carpet underneath the table. Or maybe it is an elaborately tiled floor. I’m not sure but I like it!
Sheep and crumbling stone walls
Jan, the Creator is proving once again that LEGO sheep are the new goats. Jan is also proving that they are an absolute pro when it comes to building weathered stone walls, decaying wooden pillars and shingled rooftops that look like pine cone layers. The use of ingots for brickwork and wood carving is a really nice touch. Using different tiles with wood grain makes the stairs and the wood work of the tower look interesting. The wall bethind the foliage deserves some zoomwork so you can fully appreciate the builders work!
Living in the sky with diamonds
Building with LEGO in microscale is something you either like or you don’t. I personally do not navigate towards it but I do really appreciate it when it is done by others. Kitkat1414 is no stranger to building in a small scale. When building in this style, you have to be a lot more creative when it comes to the parts you use. Builders also have to think outside the box when it comes to the construction techniques used to keep their creations together. This specific work by Kitkat1414 contains a lot of minifigure posing stands, although none of them is showing. I also really like the use of swords for the windmill blades. Also noteworthy is the use of the roller skates for door hinges. Last but not least, the Nexo Knights spider transformed into a cobblestone well also deserves a quick mention. Now all I need is a part small enough to pass for a coin to throw into that wishing well.
Smaug the Tremendous taking down Lake-town
To this day it still baffles me that they managed to make three movies out of the book The Hobbit. It’s not a complaint, I do love the movies, but it’s just strange to me. Especially since the book is about a third the length of The Lord of the Rings, which also is three movies long. But let’s not get into that for now. Jaap Bijl drew inspiration from the movie The Hobbit for their latest LEGO creation.
Here we see the dragon Smaug setting flame to Lake-town. The atmosphere Jaap managed to create is amazing. Smaug itself is a miniature and the fire he is breathing is done simple yet really effective with bricks, plates and tiles transitioning from yellow to red. Smaug being dark red makes him feel and look like he is part of the fire he is creating. But what’s interesting is that not a single fire piece was used in this creation, and yet it still looks and feels very much on fire. One thing that also contributes to this great model is the backdrop, which to me hardly even looks like it is edited in. Framing the main scene with a dark brick build archway is a really nice and effective way to set the mood and draw your attention to the center of the picture. However, if you zoom in on the arch you’ll find lots of hidden details in the darkness. Last but not least I would like to note the use of round quarter tile to create those great rooftop shingles.
The Battle of Drumstick Glade
As you know over at The Brothers Brick, we love a good brick build insect. And this LEGO creation by Ted Andes features a lot of them! The ants are completely brick build. They are made out of droid arms, clip claws, t-bars, and bricks with studs on 4 sides. They even have a small gaster made out of tooth plates. We are currently watching a battle between the Blackthorns and the Lavender Leaf ant clans. My bet is the Blackthorns are the black ants and the grey ants are the Lavender Leafs. They are fighting over a half-eaten pheasant leg on the ground. I’ve seen a lot of uses for the curved tapered panel but I’ve never seen it used as a pheasant leg. For the foliage, it looks like Ted dismembered a bunch of LEGO flower bouquets. Which seems like a good cause in this case.
Returning home just in time for the harvest
Forced perspective is always a way to get your LEGO creation to look amazing! Haven’t got the bricks to build a really big mountain for the background that you place at an appropriate distance? Just build a really small one! Caleb Saw did just this and it turned out amazing.
I always like it when a LEGO builder manages to capture movement in their creations. It makes the build less static and, if done right, makes the creation come to life. Caleb however did the complete opposite. He captured a moment in which everything stood still. The moment after the woman dropped her bucket after seeing her lover come home unexpectedly. At first I thought Caleb used Fleur’s head for the surprised face, but it turns out to be Luna’s. Which is a bit softer and quite demure which is perfectly for this scene. You can just sense that time stopped for a brief second. Both characters make eye contact and run towards each other. Caleb did this so well that I didn’t even notice the third person tending the crops.
Finally! A solution to your mini-shooter abundance
The mini shooter/blaster, loved by kids, not so much by adult fans of LEGO. Until now, that is! Jonas Kramm is no stranger when it comes to using unusual parts in their creations. This time, he really hit the nail on the head with their inclusion of the controversial mini-shooter in the roofing of this bell tower. There is, however, more to love about this creation than just the roof, like the gigantic bell that appears to be constructed out of mainly minifigure headgear.
It is also nice to see the new flower stem with thorns appear in fan creations. And I will never look at mudguards the same way as they make for really interesting architectural details. I need this to get integrated in new Hogwarts sets.
Medieval skyscrapers are the way to go
Ever wondered what a castle-themed version of Ninjago City would look like? Wonder no more, and just take a closer look at this creation by Tobias Goldschalt. The buildings are larger than life and the Tudor-style homes look very nicely done. Mixing tan and dark tan parts into the white plastered areas really helps with the weathered look. If you look closer, you’ll notice that almost every roof uses a different technique — from straight tiles to pentagonal tiles, from cheese slopes to curved slopes. Variations like this always help keep you, as a viewer, captivated. Every time your eyes zoom across this creation you’ll notice something new. The stone walls are made with two techniques — in some places, the masonry brick gets used, but in others Tobias uses bricks with studs on the sides covered with tiles.
See more of this gorgeous LEGO Castle creation