We love it when a LEGO building looks a little but quirky. This creation by Andrew Tate features a cooperage. Funny thing about this building is that it looks similar to the products that are made there. The round roof was realised by laying tan garage doors over a half round frame creating round roofs. The roof makes the building look like it is actually covered with two half barrels. Talk about a great marketing strategy! They’ve got everything you might need: barrels, tuns, tubs and more.
Posts by Bart Willen
Yellow castle king under attack
We all love a bit of LEGO nostalgia every now and then and this build by Lars Barstad really hits the soft spot. It’s got a nod to the yellow LEGO castle from way back when, and then there is the Black Falcon king for the generations after the yellow castle. The posing of the minifigures is great and the little baby with the helmet on is too cute. The miniature castle is amazingly well done. It looks like the yellow castle but it also looks like a theatre backdrop. Of course the amazingly brick build heavy curtains also really help to set the scene.
A delicious drumstick tower
Ben Spector thought he could hide LEGO turkey drumsticks in the tower roof of this lovely build and get away with it. Well, this is surely not the case because we did notice this clever part usage. But that is not the only smartly used part. We get ice cream scoops used as smoke and cheese slopes representing stained glass windows. Since LEGO will probably never release non-licensed castle sets with skin-toned Minifigures, I always navigate towards creations that do match these criteria. One of the best things about this creation has to be the base of the tower which grows wider and wider until it is wide enough to support a full-blown tower on the first floor. Chapeau!
A lavender dream over turquoise waters
Ralf Langer is a master when it comes to making bulky LEGO creations. He also is very capable of making builds look very delicate and fragile. In this creation it is almost baffling to me that he manages to make this massive tower look light and airy. The hexagon shaped towers are created by sticking hot dogs into 1×1 round plates with holes. Ralf’s builds always look quite part intensive so my guess is that these two towers actually weigh quite a lot. Yet he still managed to make it look like they are just floating in mid air. The window in the middle part of the build looks quite interesting and Ralf himself is quite fond of it, so I hope he ventures further into that style of architecture because I am most curious what he’ll come up with.
The pagoda and the dragon tree
Sometimes little details get lost on big LEGO models. This is not the case for Marius Herrmann’s latest LEGO creation. This one is big! At least 50 bricks high not counting the antenna. We are looking at a model loosely inspired by ‘The Legend of Anchin and Kiyohime’. I am not at all familiar with the story so I’ll just take Marius’ word that it is about unrequited love. After being rejected one of the characters transforms into a dragon to trap the other in a temple. This is beautifully translated to this build where we can see a tree with lavender foliage violently wrap itself around a Pagoda. I love how subtle yet evident the dragon shape is hidden in the tree. If you focus on the temple you’ll lose the dragon. But if you focus on the tree the dragon is most definitely there.
Mushrooms, I spy mushrooms everywhere
LEGO creations by Eann are often inspired by mushrooms. When you browse their photostream, this becomes quite evident. When you take a closer look at this creation, you’ll also notice that mushrooms are somewhat of a theme. There are mushrooms at the base of the building. The minifigures sidekick is a mushroom with a face. Even the build itself looks like the stalk of a mushroom. But maybe that is just the organic shape of the white tower and the fact that it is equipped with a red roof. Maybe it’s me, maybe I am just seeing mushrooms everywhere since autumn is around the corner. Who knows… All I know is that the details on this creation are out of this world and that I need to expand my collection of coral coloured bricks.
Monastery with goats in the shrubbery
Oddly coloured LEGO foliage always catches my eyes. So this creation by Joe hits the sweet spot. Not only is the trees foliage purple and violet, the grass is lime coloured. The path leading towards the monastery is earth orange. So all of the secondary colours are accounted for, which creates a very pleasing aesthetic. You wouldn’t want to roll down these grassy hills, because the high grass is made using lots of sharp katanas. You can see this is not the living-in-poverty type of monastery as they somehow were able to afford a goat.
Peacefull or ominous house on the floating rock
This LEGO creation by Elias Hübner reminds me of all the family trips I went on as a kid. According to my parents, a family holiday was not complete if we hadn’t visited a cave, volcano, mountain, waterfall or lake. Something I’m still grateful for. They opened our eyes to all the beauty nature had to offer. The rockwork on this creation by Elias reminds me of stalactites and stalagmites. Although this little house looks very peaceful at first glance, it does have an ominous vibe. Why is the door wide open and unhinged? Why is there no person in sight? Even the birds appear to be fleeing the scene. What is going on Elias?
As a fellow plant hoarder Poison Ivy will always be my favourite Batman villain
People who collect LEGO tend to collect other things. My boyfriend calls this hoarding. For me it is plants, mid century furniture, vases and pots. It is nice to see Abe Fortier manage to put all these elements into one amazing LEGO creation. We have a green house inspired by the Batman franchise. We get tall glass windows in a white building covered with lush foliage. Propagation stations on teak mid century design furniture and lots of pots and vases housing various plants and flowers. If you look closely enough you might even spot a sprouting Groot somewhere in this creation.
Check Abe’s photostream for more LEGO Batman creations.
Fat Gus for the win
If there is one thing in this world that I love it has to be animal-controlled LEGO mechs, like this one by Midwest Builders. We are presented with a mech featuring a lot of Technic/Bionicle pieces that, for me, are always a tough job to identify. The beefy mech is controlled by the relatively new LEGO squirrels. I do not know why, but apparently they have a feud with the frogs. It appears they are capturing them and keeping them imprisoned in transparent cages that closely resemble acorns. Big Gus is surrounded by a lot of little squirrels on smaller mechs and vehicles which appear to be assisting him with his tasks. All I know is that these squirrels are fully equipped to pillage your birdfeeder.
The future of the Forestmen
I think LEGO should consider bringing the Forestmen theme back (and castle in general, for that matter). Look at this creation by Sylon_tw. It features the classic light grey, black, and blue colour scheme but it is brought up to date. The blue is combined with dark blue to make it look less primary colorish and lend a mottled look. The grey walls feature texture to achieve an overall worn-down look. And the black is just a little bit less dominant than it was in the original theme. There is lush foliage everywhere and cute little forest critters hiding in it. Best thing about this whole castle creation? It is not conflict driven. At least if you presume the archer is just practising for athletic reasons.
The battle of the seven Potholes
Whenever one thinks of LEGO Harry Potter creations, there is quite a lot that comes to mind. Diagon Alley, Gringrotts, Grimmauld Place, Pivet Drive, Hogsmeade and of course Hogwarts. All of them are houses and castles. What does not pop to mind immediately is wild chases through traffic and yet it is that which inspired Alex Lam.
We are looking at a scene from ‘The Battle of the seven Potters’. The members of the Order of the Phoenix are trying to transport Harry from one location to the next. Unfortunately they were ambushed by Death Eaters. In the battle Harry and Hagrid fled on a flying motorcycle. In Alex’s creation we can see Hagrid and Harry trying out all sorts of manoeuvres to get away from the Death Eaters chasing them. Alex quite often adds lighting to his creations which always looks mesmerising. Same goes for this lovely build.