Posts by Chris Roberts

Tree of the dragon

Bonsai has been done in LEGO before but this wonderful take by Isaac Wilder gives it new life with this stunning dragon shape! At first glance this could just be another bonsai tree but closer inspection reveals it’s true nature. Isaac uses some fantastic techniques to create the dragon head shaping like the use of the rubber band to hold various bars to keep the organic design. And the simple transparent green stud blends in well while still serving as the eye. The base is the same as the official bonsai set so this will look right at home on any fantasy bookshelf!

Dracaena Marginata (Dragon Tree)

EVE Online’s Sarum Revelation brickified with LEGO

Building a 100+ stud long LEGO SHIP (Significantly Huge Investment in Parts) in no small feat. Building one that is a highly accurate recreation of a preexisting design? Well that’s exactly what Eugene Levin did with this beautiful model of the Sarum Revelation from EVE online. The attention to detail is superb and he even managed to sneak his own icon onto the hull. Check out more photos below and his Flickr page for comparison shots with the original in game ship!

In-game model comparison

There’s a Significantly Huge Investment in Pictures below

Dutch shipping never looked so good!

Right off the bat, I’ll admit that this LEGO 1965 DAF 1800 built by p.vanderloo makes me very happy. My day job is for DAF’s parent company so I absolutely love seeing these trucks produced in LEGO! Make sure to check out the extra images below to see this truck compared with the real live version!

DAF 1800

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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.

Mistborn: Scouting Keep Venture

King of the Builders

The premier LEGO competition Iron Builder is back! Kit Nugent starts the round strong with this wonderful king of the jungle. This round’s seed part is the Friends Horse Saddle in dark azure which Kit used 38 times here. The side of the saddle works beautifully as the very Aztec-styled half circles. The white throne has some fantastic part use as well, including white claws and teacups. Lush greenery and the blurred foreground give this a fantastic sense of depth. Stay tuned for more Iron Builder coverage to come!

"Now I'm the King of the Builders ...

The house of dreams

Dream houses can come in all shapes and sizes and this LEGO house by Lysander Chau is particularly beautiful! This digital render, though not quite possible given current elements, is well designed and uses some great digital-only capabilities like much of the lighting inside and out. The wooden latticework on the outer walls gives great depth and ties in well with the front door and decking. Geometric house architecture has always been a favorite of mine and this does a great job bridging the gap between ultra-modern angles and everyday comforts. Lysander uses printed tiles from various sources including wooden planks, solar panels, and many more. Would you want to live in this house? Check out all of the images here including a full interior!

LEGO Dream House 1

The future of freight

We might be facing shipping delays here but Stijn van der Laan shows us what the future of high class shipping can look like. This LEGO interplanetary freighter is absolutely stunning and the modular cargo load pairs perfectly. The simple white and grey colors with orange highlights contrasts nicely with the bright cargo and worker vessel. The subtle shaping adds some great texture and depth to the fairly simple overall shaping of the freighter. This is an absolute masterclass of microspace.

Interplanetary freighter

Click here for more details on the cargo!

21st century man

Just on the border of your waking mind, there lies another time, where darkness and light are one. This LEGO computer figure by Sandro Quattrini fits right into 1981 sci-fi. He’s probably got an IQ of 1001. This build is so full of great techniques and part usages and the poses it’s capable of achieving are wonderful! Some of the more interesting techniques used are the handcuffs used to replicate laces on the boots and the dots line bracelet used here as a belt. The star of the show would have to be the amazing zippered jacket using an ice skate as the zipper pull and roller skates for each side. The classic-styled computer head is phenomenal and really provides a ton of character and life to this build.

21st Century Man

Check out more facial expressions and poses below!

God Save the Queen – A Night at the Opera

Is this the real life? Or is this just fantasy? Nick Jensen brings us a fantastic LEGO album cover for Queen’s A Night at the Opera. This album is in Good Company with the other Queen builds Nick has done in the past and would make Freddie proud! The flex tubing script makes me feel like dancing in the rain. The details achieved in such a small space is superb. Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see the detail on the great lions, fiery crab, and majestic swan as the centerpiece here. I can honestly say that this album is the Love of My Life and Nick, I think You’re My Best Friend. You can find me Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon listening to Death on Two Legs now! Any way the wind blows…

LEGO Queen — A Night At The Opera

Medieval technical masterpiece

What would have happened if a medieval city grew as dense as modern cities? Ralf Langer builds us a picture of what it might have been like with this set of wonderful LEGO medieval buildings. Now I will confess up front that I’m not much of a medieval buff so I’m sure I would butcher any attempt to discuss the historical accuracy of these buildings. That said, what I do know is building techniques. And this is full of them! One of my favorites is the use of brown tread links to create the wooden supports slotting in between the curved white slopes of the walls. The rock work on the lower walls in superb as well, Ralf does a great job creating fairly random structure that gives great depth. Great stuff here, and it’s worth checking this out in greater detail!

The city - spreading like a desease

Bending time and space!

This LEGO spaceship is bending space itself! Or maybe that is just the brick bending technique that David Roberts used on this fantastic curvy racer. These massive engines look great with their colorful markings and smooth shaping. Brick bending is a difficult technique to work with at such a small scale and David pulled it off beautifully. I can imagine an entire racing series with this catamaran-styled ship full of high-speed action and incredible maneuverability. Always nice to see an uncommon technique used to great effect! If you want to check out what else can be achieved with brick bending take a look at the creations of Jeff Sanders, the brick bending specialist.

Skimmer 3

Welcome back to the 60’s

Don’t block the TV my show’s about to start! Cecilie Fritzvold brings us this wonderful LEGO living room set straight out of the 1960’s. This would be amazing on its own but what makes it even more special is that it’s a direct recreation of the 1965 LEGO set 022-2 Doll Furniture. Even the table lamp, floor lamp, and flower pot jumped from the original set to this remastered version! The composition is simple yet cozy. Makes me want to relax and laugh along to a new episode of The Carol Burnett Show! You know, when missing it meant it was lost forever? I love the added touch of the vintage camera-style photo to really solidify the era in question.

60s furniture