LEGO raised baseplates–some builders love them and some hate them. Personally I love seeing builders innovatively integrate raised baseplates into their creations and Sebastian Arts does just that with his build of an East Asian-styled temple sitting upon the raised baseplate from the LEGO Knights Kingdom theme dating back to the 2000s.
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Builder Paul has struck cartoon character gold again, this time with his LEGO builds of teenage characters Candace Flynn and Vanessa Doofenshmirtz from Disney Channel’s Phineas and Ferb. Both characters are known for their attempts at “busting” their family members for their crazy antics.
Using a variety of bricks, slopes, and tiles in varying sizes Paul did an excellent job at fashioning these brick-built characters accurately via the SNOT (studs not on top) technique. The most difficult component for these characters to render correctly in bricks would be Vanessa’s more curvy frame as well as the round faces of these particular characters in comparison to the more angular faces of some other characters in the show such as Dr. Doofenshmirtz. I think the tooth shaft in pink which Paul utilizes in order to render Vanessa’s lips is an example of some pretty creative parts usage. What can I say? Paul has done it again, and I as well as many other fans are definitely hoping to see some more brick-built versions of other characters from this beloved television show.
With many ship festivals and sailing events cancelled this year due to the ongoing pandemic, it is nice to be able to get my ship fix in via LEGO. Builder Lennart Cort certainly materializes the fine craftsmanship of a well-built sea vessel into the LEGO medium for viewers to enjoy in his build of the Dannebrog from 1852.
The Dannebrog is a “ship of the line,” which is a type of naval warship that was produced in the 17th century to the mid 19th century. Cort’s micro-scale Dannebrog certainly exhibits the details necessary for a military ship. One example is his utilization of multiple round 1×1 with bar and pin holder pieces as gun ports. The Dannebrog was specifically an armored frigate of the Royal Danish navy – in fact, the word Dannebrog is the given name of the Danish flag, and through this build we can see this connection via Cort’s use of two red streamer flags modified with what looks like white tape to form the white cross on the Danish flag. My favorite part of this build is actually the brick-built sails that Cort expertly executes using white wedge plates and tiles; he really does an excellent job at making brick-built sails look like the real deal. In my opinion, Cort’s brick-built sails are visually more appealing than the ones featured in the new Creator 3-in-1 pirate ship designed by LEGO. As a whole, Cort’s creation certainly is beauty and must look wonderful on display.
“Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated” – if you’ve watched the legendary Disney channel cartoon Phineas and Ferb, in your head you probably heard the little jingle that goes along with this quote. Paul brings the lovable and goofy villain from the show – Dr. Doofenshmirtz to life with his LEGO version of the character.
The white lab coat and black turtle neck – the signature look of Dr. Doofenshmirtz is brick-built using various sized tiles, slopes, and bricks by way of the SNOT (studs not on top) technique. The rest of good ol’ Doof is also composed of bricks and other pieces, my favorite parts usage being Paul’s use of the small claw pieces in black as tiny eyebrows and a couple reddish brown tooth shafts to render some spiky tufts of mad scientist hair. Of course I am a fan of the classic 2×2 round tile eye pieces which work perfectly for Doofenshmirtz’s cartoony face. It is always great to see pop culture subjects rendered in LEGO, and Paul did an excellent job with this character build.
In this rather solemn LEGO mosaic by Jaap Bijl titled “Einstein’s One Great Mistake”; a more serious topic is explored – Albert Einstein and his role in the Manhattan Project. If we’re going to get artsy here, I would even say that the color palette and aesthetic of this build are reminiscent of Picasso’s “Blue Period.”
The 4×4 petaled flower element is back in multiples, this time in an ominous arrangement forming a mushroom cloud – the shape generally synonymous with nuclear explosions. The rest of the scene in the right panel is formed with various sized plates and tiles in dark hues with white 1×1 round bricks and cones creating the stem of the cloud. A portrait of Einstein is presented in the left panel; his face is carved out of various bricks, slopes, and tiles, for the most part utilizing the SNOT (studs not on top) technique. Einstein’s notoriously unruly and spiky hair is rendered by a synergy of the white 4×4 petaled flower pieces and white dinosaur tails. In terms of composition, although this work could be called a mosaic, it differs significantly from the new LEGO Art mosaics which are comprised mostly out of 1×1 studs. For me, Einstein’s hair and the mushroom cloud both being heavily composed of the petaled flower elements represents a kind of mirroring effect, but I could be looking too deep into this. Either way, I think it could be said that this build is genuinely thought-provoking.
The players of the game that settles it all can get a little carried away sometimes. In this cute LEGO vignette by Pedro Sequeira some of our favorite players; rock, paper, and scissors are brought to life in three dimensions and we can see the consequences of such rough play!
Each player – rock, paper, and scissors are made up of some pretty standard small elements such as slopes, tiles, and small bricks. The faces on the objects and their expressions are what make this scene both adorable and hilarious. The rock and paper characters feature woodoo balls with eye prints, while printed round 1×1 tiles with mischievous squinting eyes decorate the face of scissors. A stream of tears on poor cut-up paper’s face is cleverly rendered with a couple translucent clear dragon’s fire elements. I enjoy the lines on the paper created with grey plates to give it that loose-leaf paper aesthetic. Maybe rock can talk some sense into scissors while poor paper heals its wounds from battle. Sequeira does mention that this brick-built vignette is based off of an illustration which can be viewed here.
The ruinous landscape – a popular pictorial theme is recreated in the LEGO medium here in this beautiful vignette by Jaap Bijl. Of course, LEGO is great for construction, but even more so LEGO can provide builders with an opportunity to be forces of deconstruction and deterioration – creators of ruin. This sublime energy is perfectly captured in Bijl’s build.
The main part of this built scene is arguably the decaying classical temple. The triangular roof at the top – the pediment is depicted as half existent and utilizes the 4×4 petaled flower piece and some white wing pieces as ornament. The broken columns are built using 2×2 round profile bricks. Perhaps my favorite mini-build here is the broken statue which is made out of a pair of white minifigure legs with some random elements piled on top. The statue on the left looks rather intact but creatively uses the 4×4 petaled flower once again, this time as a shield. Bijl generously applies a variety of LEGO plant elements to give viewers a sense of natural reclamation. I really appreciate how Bijl builds the ruins in such a way that they appear to be sinking into a swamp of green tiles. No ruinous destination is complete without some tourists taking in the sights, and we can see here some minifigures making their way across the swamp in a brick-built boat ready for adventure.
Builder Nikita Sukhodolov refers to this great monolithic LEGO masterpiece as “The Decaying Hive.” Personally, I don’t see a sense of decay here, probably because I cannot look past its brutalist brilliance. In this build Nikita demonstrates how LEGO and boxy modern architecture are the perfect pairing.
The two main towers of this building feature some great tiling as well as excellent use of 1×1 slope pieces (AKA cheese slopes) in grey and translucent black to create an intricate window design. While the housing units with their carved out of concrete appearance are uniform in their shape; Nikita utilizes translucent clear bricks, 1×2 palisade bricks, as well as 1×2 profile bricks to give each unit a slight variation. The palisade bricks appear as blinds, while some minifigure inhabitants prefer shutters which are created by the profile bricks. There are some splashes of color to liven up the structure such as the pink potted plant and green umbrella on the top of the building as well as the landscape scene which the main build sits upon. Overall I think it’s safe to say that the rigid geometric look of brutalist architecture is clearly well translated into LEGO and Nikita makes this translation look easy with his expert use of some pretty common elements.
There is just something about this mustachioed fellow’s gaze that is utterly captivating. Perhaps it’s the twinkle of 17th century worldly knowledge in his eyes, or it’s the amazing part usage that went into the face detailing as well as the costume of this LEGO bust built by Grant Davis.
The eyebrows of this piece are each cleverly composed of two reddish brown claw pieces, while the mustache is ingeniously constructed of two tail pieces with technic pin endings clipped to a reddish brown minifigure epaulette. Perhaps the main focal point of this build is the elegant white “ruff” or millstone collar made out of 4×4 flower pieces with rounded petals and 4×2 wedge elements. The studs on the wedges add some texture to the notably ruffled piece of neckwear. It is hard to pick my favorite use of parts here, I also quite enjoy the hat and its use of rounded-bottom 2x2s. Davis’s bust is both cleverly fashioned and true to its subject – the renaissance nobleman in its depiction.
With new iterations of the Xbox and PlayStation announced for release at the end of this year and the LEGO Nintendo Entertainment System already on store shelves, 2020 is shaping up to be quite the year for gaming console hype. Jaap Bijl encases this momentum in his LEGO Xbox build.
Bijl’s rendition of this fun-machine visually pops with its complementary black and pink color scheme. The 4×4 flower with petals element is expertly used as both lettering and the D-pad on the controller. Additional detailing on the controller is done with 1×1 half-circle tiles used for buttons and round-bottom 2x2s for joysticks. The machine as a whole is expertly brick-built using pretty standard build techniques. Great timing on Bijl’s part for such subject matter as video game imagery seems to be pretty popular with the brand this year, a build like this would look great displayed with the aforementioned NES or even with some of this year’s gamer inspired Ninjago sets.
Hide your droids! Hide your ship! Or else the crew of this massive LEGO Sandcrawler built by Walter Whiteside will scrap and sell them in exchange for breakfast, maybe a nice mudhorn egg. As always, it is great to see a mashup between Star Wars and LEGO’s Classic Space theme. This time rather than a flying vehicle we have a brilliant blue Sandcrawler, but given its classic space look, I could see this mobile fortress making its way across a sandy and cratered moon.
We’ve all been there. Maybe you’re on lunch break at your office where you don’t usually build LEGO. Or maybe you are like me and your brick separators can be in any one out of a number of tin boxes. Luckily Allyson Gail shows us how we can prepare for such disasters in her build – a twist on the old classic “break glass in case of emergency”.
The composition of this build is quite simple – mostly red LEGO bricks and some tiling at the top with large clear translucent windows to create the glass portion. Gail even includes a much needed brick-built hammer hanging off of a long chain element – to break the glass of course. Inside is the coveted original bluish-grey brick separator, the preferred separator of some builders and all the more reason why it should be tucked away safely for emergency use only! Thanks to Gail’s inspirational model, now you too can be prepared for a potential brick separating emergency.