About Benjamin Stenlund

Benjamin started building he was three, when his father gave him a small Futuron set (6810), and has not stopped since then. Castle and space are nearest and dearest to his heart, but other themes occasionally get built, too; there are quite a few super heroes and Star Wars sets in his collection, at least. He builds as Henjin_Quilones on Flickr, and under the same name is the leader of one of the guilds on Eurobrick's Guilds of Historica role building game. When he is not building, he is busy being a stay-at-home dad to three kids and trophy househusband to one wife.

Posts by Benjamin Stenlund

A spirit to bring your lonely soul home

Constraction figures have been a source of contention among LEGO fans for years, starting with the launch of Bionicle in 2000. Are they really LEGO? Are they just a subset of Technic? Or are they something else entirely? Obviously, the correct answer is yes (but to which question?), and they are a gift that keeps on giving with their many unique and surprisingly versatile pieces, not to mention the cult following they acquired among certain parts of the fan community that routinely churn out awesome builds. Builder Patrick Biggs is one such fan, if his photostream is anything to go by. His latest creation blends System, Technic, and Constraction parts together so seamlessly and organically as to lay to rest the earlier questions. It is all LEGO. And speaking of laying to rest, the centaur-like figure, capped by a deer skull, is a spirit that cares for broken, lost, and lonely souls, finally shepherding them home. I’m not sure that this spirit is one that I would like to see were I broken, lost, and alone, but perhaps some people would find it comforting.

There are many great parts usages here, from the torso armor used for the lower abdomen to the Hero Factory blades used as calves on each of the four legs. But far and away the best, and even inspired use, is the shin guards as hooves and lower legs. It looks the part perfectly and almost seems made for the job. I must point out, too, the beautiful color arrangement and work in contrasts; the black body with the white deer skull and the green plants with the red flowers, on top and bottom, make the image pop. Everything is balanced, just right for a spirit to lead your soul home, I suppose. It is beckoning. Will you follow?

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A chicken walker just waiting for Ewoks to crack it like an egg

Despite the vehicles from the Star Wars movies being built time and time again, from endlessly re-hashed official sets to uncountable builds from the LEGO community, sometimes a fan creation comes around that makes you say “Wow.” This Imperial AT-ST by GolPlaysWithLego is one such build, capturing the likeness of the scout walker impeccably. The hips have the wobbly look that is so distinctive of the aptly-nicknamed chicken walker, always sorely lacking in official sets, yet it still seems solidly put together while maintaining excellent proportions — it’s certainly the best I have seen.

See more of this excellent LEGO Star Wars AT-ST

A village with a bit of everything

Oftentimes castle builds focus on the impenetrable keep with its solid grey walls, or else they depict a single building, like an inn or a blacksmith shop. Then there are the occasional massive dioramas that have everything, but also require five tables to display and several vans to haul. In a comfortable middle place, Peter Ilmrud brings us a charming village with enough shops to be believable and a footprint that is reasonable. There is a blacksmith, an armorer, a baker, a cheesemaker, stables, a cooper, and even a mage-astronomer’s tower. Add in some nice trees and architectural details around Wyvernstone Village, and this makes for a fine build that does not even take up all of one table.

See more of Wyvernstone Village here

These tires might not be racing slicks, but the racing is sure slick

Everyone likes to watch a racecar speed around a corner at a break-neck pace, caroming nearly out of control, tires barely maintaining friction with the pavement. Add in a bit of ice and snow to reduce that friction to almost nothing, and the excitement increases. Builder Simon Pickard brings us a rally car in just that situation, seemingly mere seconds from sliding into a drift. I love the composition of the shot, with the beautiful movement implied by the curved road.

While the car is the MINI Cooper from Speed Champions set 75894 (be sure to check out our review), the setting for the vehicle is what sets this apart from the pack. The curvature of the road is the detail that catches the eye above all else, with the excellent tire tracks. Formed from tiles and plates arranged carefully, the path and the posing of the car give it all a profound sense of movement, especially with the 1×1 round plates kicked up by the skidding tires. My only quibble is that the front tires are still straight, when all of my highly technical race knowledge gleaned from watching Cars with my kids tells me that he should be turning left to go right…

I bet she knows how to open doors, too

When LEGO builder chubbybots saw the new Jurassic World set with a dinosaur mech (75938), he felt like the Tyrannosaurus needed an upgrade to even the fight. And what an upgrade it is! From the robotic legs with enormous claws to the extraordinarily long arms (for a T-rex), this dinosaur can now pack a punch as well as take one. The powerful blasters on the back look certain to take down any foe, be they robotic or organic.

The use of many textures in the greebles both lends an air of authenticity and implies that this is a custom suit made at home, rather than a sleek factory-produced exoskeleton. I love the Bionicle armor covers on the knees, and the splash of red at the shoulders gives the otherwise grey and earthy model a bit of zip. Adding Emmet as the pilot, rather than Owen, is a clever nod to both roles played by actor Chris Pratt. Did the T-rex really need the upgrade? I’m not so sure, as I have seen it take down pretty much every other big bad beast on the island.

A border keep to keep the border well-kept

A castle built in the north must be strong enough to survive the icy winters and keep the enemy hordes at bay. Looking at this one by Marco den Besten, we can safely say that the inhabitants will be well-protected from both. Built near the southern border of the icy guild of Mitgardia, where it borders the rival guild of Avalonia, the fortifications are thick and the walls high. Ample crenelations protect those on the walls from any enemies who might aspire to shoot arrows at them from below. Plenty of action fills the scene, with troops marching over a bridge, a farmer bringing produce to market, folks fishing, and even a ship approaching the dock. Are the intentions of the sailors friendly? I don’t know, but axes are drawn.

Marco is famous among LEGO castle builders for his large displays, and perhaps even more famous for his large evergreens made of uncountable spines/vines. The way the towers are set at angles to the walls makes for a visually striking shape, a far cry from the square castles I used to make as a kid. Like this creation? Check out more huge castle dioramas built by Marco den Besten such as a fortified city and a city in the snow.

An impish little tree stump

Sometimes a build comes around that is not large, or highly sophisticated, or deeply symbolic, but instead is just plain whimsically charming. This little tree stump built by Marcel V. and inhabited by several imps is one such build. The lovely arrangement of earth tones strikes the right chord, and nothing is out of place or superfluous. The grass stalks and flowers set a scale for the build that is life-sized, with little four-brick high imps scurrying about causing mischief from their little home. And don’t miss the wood grain of that severed stump!

There are a few nice piece usages to be seen here, like the cupcake cup for a flower and the corn-suit from a collectible minifigure growing beside the little house. I love the little ladders and the window on the roof. It is all captured in a clean visual aesthetic, with impeccably placed pebbles, too. These impish fellows look like they could come straight from the microverse of the Planticore we featured a short while ago.

This incredible LEGO model shows how to keep the ocean colorful and save the reefs

Across the world’s oceans, tiny changes in the water temperature have massive effects on the organisms living there, especially the tiniest. Coral reefs, in particular, show in spectacularly tragic fashion the impact of rising ocean temperatures. When the water gets too warm, the algae that live symbiotically within the cells of coral polyps get expelled violently from the little animals. Though the coral polyps are still alive, they are no longer colorful and bright; they are left a cold, dull white, deprived of the photosynthesis-derived energy from the algae and fully dependent on catching little bits of passing debris in their tentacles. Slowly but surely, the vibrant and rich ecosystem that once thrived around the rocky haven of the coral reef dies away, leaving nothing but coral skeletons. Builder Emil Lidé brings this oceanic phenomenon to life in LEGO form beautifully yet tragically.

Emil presents to us the reef on the one hand in full splendor, with diverse forms of coral and plant life along with little fish hiding in the crevices, wandering crustaceans, and starfish; and on the other hand, the reef bleached white, with skeleton arms appropriately front and center, with no animals or plants still living there. This build will be spending the next year at the LEGO House in Billund, if you can make the trip.

See more of this beautiful creation

Wait, wait, don’t tell me! It’s Mettawa Manor in miniature!

In the state of Illinois, in the town of Mettawa, there is a house called Mettawa Manor. Originally built in 1927, when it was purchased in 1990 by newsman Bill Kurtis and his wife Donna LaPietra, they became just the second owners of the estate, and, in the nearly thirty years since, they have refurbished the place and made the gardens a popular horticultural destination. Another newsman, Peter Sagal, the host of National Public Radio’s popular Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me alongside Mr. Kurtis, commissioned a LEGO build of the manor for his colleague from the talented Dave Kaleta to commemorate the one-year anniversary of his marriage at the house. The resulting model is magnificent!

Building in microscale has its peculiar challenges, where each stud width and plate height equals many feet (or meters outside the USA), but Dave has done a great job of replicating the different angles of the roof lines and various bay windows, together with beautiful landscaping. The use of neck brackets for electrical details on the roof as well as the chairs on the back patio is lovely, and repeated 1×1 tiles on the roof create a perfect illusion of shingle texture. My favorite detail is definitely the entry way, though, with the perfect little door framed by an arch of cheese slopes. Photos of the actual house appear on the builder’s Flickr photostream, and it is as spot-on as one could do in LEGO bricks. What a gift!

What lies beneath the waves?

Every year for the past few summers, right around now talented castle builders start coming out of the woodwork and displaying their creations for the Summer Joust. One such talented castle builder is Carter Witz, who has built the ruins of some ancient civilization on the edge of a tropical island. Unlike most such builds, however, Carter has set most of the building beneath the waves, implying either that the level of the sea has risen or that the level of the land has sunk. Or were the original inhabitants merfolk? Our only clue is that the builder has titled the work “Flooded…”. Whatever the events were that befell the now-ruined tower, it is an impressive build.

Large sections of rocks often get to be tedious, but Carter has kept the rocks looking interesting by varying the pieces and techniques on the way up. Minifigure arms on the submerged trees make for effective branches, and the tan gears look like nice corals. There are even ball joint pieces used as some sort of sponge, perhaps. The nicest detail, though, is the fish hiding in the hole in the tower. They don’t mind at all that the place is flooded.

Father Brown is here to solve any mystery

G. K. Chesterton was a prolific English man of letters from the early 20th century, writing countless articles, editorials, letters, non-fiction books, short stories, novels, and even epic poems. One of his most beloved and recognizable characters is the crime-solving priest, Father Brown. Father Brown could rival the more famous Sherlock Holmes in his ability to unravel any mystery by using his powers of observation and deduction. Brought to life in LEGO form by prolific Finnish man of bricks Eero Okkonen, this Father Brown is modeled after the character as played by Mark Williams on the BBC show. The eyes are hidden behind round glasses, and the shoulders are slightly hunched over. The black cassock, the clerical garb worn by the priest in his exploits, is well done, even including a slight bulge for the rounded belly that the unassuming Father Brown had acquired over the years.

A round wheel well in white makes for a lovely clerical collar, and a tire holds on the hat, allowing for a more natural angle. A Technic connector allows a subtle curve for the chin. The studs on the cassock were inevitable, as covering them would have ruined the otherwise flowing lines of the fabric, and they don’t detract from the final appearance. To distinguish between the studs and the buttons, 1×1 round tiles have been used. The base adds a nice touch, with a small splash of color against all the black, with the vaguely gothic architecture recalling the English countryside where the priest did most of his sleuthing. My favorite detail, however, is the umbrella that the crime-solving cleric carried everywhere he went.

A beautiful bonsai built from bulk-bought bricks

André Pinto‘s build took me by surprise. I said to myself, “That’s a nice LEGO bonsai tree photographed on a nice piece of antique furniture.” Part of that is true; it is a nice LEGO bonsai tree. But part of it is false, too, because a closer look revealed that the table and the rug were also made entirely from LEGO. André says that there are 5,000 pieces in the build, but 85% of them are the limited selection that comes from the Pick-a-Brick walls in LEGO retail stores. The large amounts of somewhat odd pieces comes together for a stunning build.

The sand green telescopes form a lovely border around the edge of the table, and the copious yellow click hinges provide a surprisingly realistic rug texture beneath. The white flowers still attached to the sprue drape elegantly from the branches of the tree. The details that deceived me, however, are the reflective surface of the table with small petals on it, and the finely crafted legs, with cross supports, beneath it. What a clever use of bulk parts!