Okay, so maybe it’s not a bass – it’s a European perch. But I couldn’t help using the alliteration there. This LEGO recreation of the perch, built by Jannis Mavrostomos, has some nice body-shaping and a good use of parts. But it’s really what’s on the inside (or flipside) that makes this build unique!
Click to see what the other side looks like!
Every time I see builds like this my mind goes wild with ideas for Dungeons and Dragons-themed sets. Though the LEGO Group may never make that dream come true for me, at least I can cherish the ideas of builders like Hugo Rouschop. This Orc Watchtower is perched precariously around a giant bird skull upon a nicely sculpted, spire-like rock structure. We all know scaffolding and bones are essential components to orc architecture, as well as chains and hanging cages with, of course, more bones. Add a net and some ladders and you have a place any orc would be proud to work in.
This angle makes the giant bird skull much more obvious. The bony beak rises above the roof while the eyes lay just below the platform. That roof technique is achieved with a net wedged between tiles and plates above and slide shoes below. Attachment points on the support beams keep the roof in place while the rest of the structure naturally curves.
Hugo certainly has a knack for orc builds. He has a good eye for fantasy and his builds are imaginative and playful. Now that I’ve got orcs on the brain, I’m going to go catch up on Critical Role for the rest of the night. Thanks for that, Hugo. Really.
Out of all the Disney movies, I think Alice in Wonderland is the one that has inspired LEGO builders the most. The wonderful world created by Lewis Carroll lends itself perfectly to be reimagined with LEGO. Gayle Spiller created the scene where Alice follows the white rabbit down the rabbit hole. Even though the scene takes place in the real world we already get a sneak peek of some of the things Wonderland has to offer. There are a lot of little critters around the rabbit hole. The presence of mushrooms also is a bode for things yet to come. Using frogs for foliage is all the rage as of recently so why not try it in autumn colours. If LEGO can pass frogs for cherry blossom then why not use them for autumn leaves. I am really wishing Gayle turns this into a series of creations because she tackled the first chapter so magnificently that I want more!
When you get right down to it, Halloween is all about the mystery of what lies inside other people’s houses. Sometimes it’s investigating what is causing the strange events connected to that spooky house on the hill. Sometimes it’s just a question of finding out which house on the block is handing out the best candy. Thomas Gion and his partner have built an ode to both situations with these seasonal microscale vignettes.
It’s up to us to go investigate, click here!
TBB alumn Simon Liu definitely knows the drill, as this nifty LEGO bot shows. In a striking yellow and dark blue industrial color scheme, this bot looks like what I always hoped LEGO’s various mining themes would be (first Rock Raiders in 1999, then Power Miners a decade later). It does sport that huge chrome drill that only ever came in a pair of Rock Raiders sets, and subsequently doesn’t get used in fan creations nearly as much as I’d like.
Oh, and did I mention the bot is modular? And that Simon has built more than one?
One of the best things about building with LEGO is sharing your creations with the worldwide community of fans. But in order to do so, you need to take pictures of your builds, and this is where the tricky part comes in. Not all creations photograph well—especially when you build something with black bricks. Getting a good shot is quite tricky, and you tend to lose the details of the build. However, thankfully that didn’t stop Brent Waller from building Gotham at Night with mostly black bricks, and losing some details of the build works to Brent’s advantage here, as it is meant to be a shot of a city skyline at night. I really like how Brent used a mix of yellow and orange to represent the lights burning in the skyscrapers. The different sizes for stars also are a really nice touch, drawing my eyes away from the Batwing covering the moon. This creation really reminds me of a 3D Pop-Up book I used to have as a kid.
To me, the Adventurers theme has always been LEGO’s answer to Indiana Jones before licensed sets were a thing. It is nice to stumble across like-minded people. Jesse van den Oetelaar did a mix between the Adventurers theme and Indiana Jones and the end result is amazing. The build looks gigantic. It is about 20 bricks high.Roller skates , binoculars and flowers plates are used as architectural details. There are foldable chairs and even an old school camera. The camera intrigues me as I can not break it down in my mind completely. I do know that Jesse cleverly used a brown flower stem as camera tripod. There also is an old school backpack used for the body of the camera. For the rest of the construction, I am completely clueless and would love a breakdown at some point.
Autumn and spring are my favourite seasons. Nature changes so immensely during those two seasons. It’s almost magical, and this creation by Aurore really hits the sweet spot when it comes to the autumn vibes. The use of olive green for the grassy plains is complemented wonderfully by the vibrant colours of the fallen leaves. The star with stud holder works perfectly as a fallen leaf.
The overview of the shrine doesn’t do justice to the autumnal vibes that Aurore has presented, though, so let’s take a closer look.
Beyond the books, libraries provide a place for community building and collaboration. Builder Ben Vijle saught to commemorate ‘De Krook‘ city library in Ghent, Belgium with this 1:500 scale model. This architectural beauty uses brown grille plates to mimic the steel beam facade that stands out on the river bend. The stacked levels provide a home for the businesses and organizations which collaborated for the library initiative. Ben uses sideways building techniques to achieve the thin profile of each level without any unnecessary gaps. The builder certainly had an eye for detail when modeling this relatively recent addition to the city.
As you can see, this microscale build features the river, nearby roadway, and the various levels of greenspace integrated into the riverbanks by the library. The brown grilles continue beyond the building structure to the bike path and footbridge. A red blade, bone, and needle hidden in the walkway peak out as Ben’s version of the sculpture of a man and woman by De Krook’s entrance. The printed 1×1 crosswalk tiles from the LEGO Architecture Tokyo set and the clips as bike racks by the road are also simple but awesome little details.
Don’t miss Ben’s lovely microscale renditions of other Belgian landmarks: Ben Vilje LEGO on TBB
Djokson has constructed this cheerful-looking wyrm in a chilly colour scheme, ready for winter. The head is mostly made up of ice-styled pieces, including Strakk’s mask from Bionicle which represents the nose of the creature. At first, the eye might appear to be a normal stud but it is actually a heart piece from the Clickits theme. A dots strap is placed across a balloon segment forming the creature’s stomach, portraying a round, organic look. The wings, in white and transparent blue, have only been featured in one set which was a large buildable Chima figure from 2014. By using a selection of unusual parts, Djokson has succeeded in creating a unique build with a cute and charming appearance.
LEGO builder Titolian brings you the formidable LumberMech M-3000. In his own words, this mech is “the finest piece of logging equipment to ever come from the forestry mechsperts of Northern Canada, this behemoth comes equipped with every tool needed to level acres upon acres of natural beauty. Its innovative internal engine runs entirely on maple syrup, making it one of the first tools that actively destroys its own fuel source. We didn’t think that one through…” Thankfully this would be the first and only time anyone has thought up a short-sighted solution to a difficult problem in the history of the world so we should be in the clear, right? It’s easy to forgive clearcutting on such a colossal scale when it’s done in an awesome plaid shirt. I mean, look at it! I’m smitten! We’ve been charmed by this builder’s work before. Check out what I mean here.
There’s been a sharp increase in the amount of mosaic builds we’ve seen since LEGO debuted their Art series last year. But The Middle Brick has taken the art of LEGO mosaic to a new dimension with The Bounty Hunter, a closeup shot of famed Star Wars fiend Boba Fett.
This piece packs a significant amount of detail, and a subtle 3D effect, into its frame thanks to a unique layered approach. The first layer renders the background in standard tiles, while the second and third layers build up the main subject. The final result may not be as detailed as a man frozen in carbonite, but it’s close.
