Grab your friendship bracelets, Swifties, because the queen herself has arrived. Taylor Swift’s Eras tour has stunned audiences across the world, and now it makes a stunning LEGO diorama, too. The biggest challenge, says artist Paul Hetherington (aka “brickbaron”), was coming up with a design that could represent the entire tour in a single scene. So he focused on the Lover House, a symbol of Taylor’s extensive career and body of work.
The Eras tour continues after the jump!
Originally introduced in the Phantom Menace, the Multi-Troop Transport (MTT) has seen several LEGO iterations in official Star Wars sets. But none of them have shown the vehicle in the blue-and-grey CIS livery seen in the Clone Wars animated series. The Minikit Guy has also previously built an MTT in Trade Federation brown – but they have updated it to its Separatist colours! And what a model it is, made up of either 10,000 or 11,000 pieces. Hang on – 10 or 11 thousand? Why the difference?
You’ll have to click through the link to find out!
After weeks without elevenses or second breakfasts, with naught but Ent-draughts to sustain them, you can feel the joy when Merry and Pippen discover Saruman’s private food stash. MorlornEmpire (secondary account of Eli Willsea, aka ForlornEmpire) recreates the scene in a delicious LEGO vignette. The builder is no stranger to Lord of the Rings vignettes, and again he showcases his eye for screen detail with dynamic composition at miniature scale. The lattice roof is my favorite feature, providing a nice contrast from the color and textures on the stone walls. Look carefully and you’ll see that the floor is flooded, but not so high as to ruin those barrels of Old Toby.
The scene was created for the Middle Earth LEGO Olympics 2024 for a final round duel against Isaiah Kepner, who ended up winning the competition with his tribute to Rohan’s Golden Hall feast.
The Botanical Collection has been a great source of Nice Parts Use (NPU) by the standards of LEGO sets, and it’s inspired builders to find their own clever uses for unusual parts. The latest to dig around in their parts bin is Jaroslaw Walter. The result is not one, but two flowering plants, presented in a nice little pond. The lilypad plants make use of some minifigure headwear: a crown in the middle, and the Collectible Minifigure series 21 ladybug figure headdress. There’s another headpiece in the bigger plant too: Ahsoka’s montrals sit at the centre. But what really catches the eye are the pterodactyl wings used as leaves! It borrows some of the floral tech from 10280 Flower Bouquet.
While these days Nintendo’s F-Zero might be best known as providing a stage and combatant in Smash Bros, the franchise was once among the crown jewels of Nintendo platforms. Each game pushed the hardware limits of its generation to create a thrilling sense of speed, and the colorful hovercrafts and their alien racers added a layer of story and lore never before seen in a racing game. Nintendo super-fan Clément pays tribute to the intergalactic grand prix with a LEGO starting gate and three racers: the Wild Goose, Golden Fox, and Sonic Phantom. Clément nails the chunky aesthetics of the N64 era, when the franchise went 3D, witch each vehicle’s colors and silhouette instantly recognizable.
If Clément’s take on Nintendo’s space racers has you feeling the need for speed, consider revisiting the Brothers Brick speeder circuit for other zippy hover vehicles.
In the early 2010s, while most people were watching LOST, I was engrossed in the mysteries of a different show: Fringe. It ran for five seasons before its unjust cancellation, but not before it proved itself to be one of the most thoughtful, creative, and well-written sci-fi shows on air. With that preface to anyone who missed out on Fringe‘s initial run, ledamu12‘s detailed LEGO recreation of Walter Bishop’s lab is a welcome blast from the past.
Mattia Careddu takes us on a journey to Sri Lanka with a LEGO version of the Nymphaea Nouchali, or Blue Lotus, the country’s national flower. The model makes good use of Hero Factory cocoon elements as petals, and syringes double as stamens. Admiring the flower is a Prodasineura Sita, a species of damselfly endemic to the island nation. Minifig hands make for excellent hairs on the delicate insect’s spindly legs. Care Creation regularly finds inspiration in unusual LEGO elements or subjects not typically seen in LEGO models. This tiny model does both!
What is it that makes John Deere farm equipment such a compelling subject for LEGO builders? Maybe it’s the highly-specialized machinery that make a seemingly impossible task like harvesting acres of grain as easy as mowing a lawn. Or maybe it’s just the iconic green and gold colors. Reddish Blue makes their Flickr debut with an incredible John Deere combine harvester at minifig scale. The model packs in a remarkable amount of functionality through technic elements, without compromising the aesthetics of the best City vehicles. RB maximizes play features and utility with optional front treads and a trailer for transporting the header. Even if you’ve never stepped foot on a commercial farm, you can’t help but appreciate this impressive model.
Centuries before Copernicus and Galileo would shake up our understanding of the cosmos in Europe, Islamic scholars like Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi were making breakthroughs about the movement of the earth, planets, and stars. Tylar_Lego pays tribute to the Golden Era of Islamic astronomy with this remarkable tower in LEGO.
The fictional tower impresses not only with the ornate architecture at massive scale, but with incredible landscaping and depictions of life at minifig scale.
Zoom in for a closer look at this telescopic tower!
Some LEGO creations are downright magical, featuring the very best of scientific advancements to put on a marvelous show! And the same can be said of the inspiration for this miniland-scale build by Daniel Church. Based on the 2006 film The Prestige, Daniel employs LEGO-compatible lights to recreate this ultimate magic trick from the movie, transporting Hugh Jackman’s Robert Angier in front of the audience’s eyes using fictional tech provided by Nikola Tesla. And given the technique displayed in this brilliant recreation, I’m equally moved!
A team of elite historical LEGO builders have come together to create a sprawling diorama! Natelego_, Carson, Hunter E., Noah, Max, Matt, Hunter C., and Gary have taken on the Battle of Isted fought in 1850 between the Danish forces and rebels from the local provinces at the village of Isted. This build was displayed at BrickFair VA 2024 where it won Best Battle Scene! Take a look at the partially demolished church on the right side. While there’s one window still standing, the wall has collapsed leaving only the windowsill and part of the frame of the second window. And be sure to gander at the wider landscape too! Building hills and dips in the terrain one plate at a time must take a lot of patience. All of the lush vegetation really brings this scene to life, too.
Take a look at more closeups here!
Half-timbered Tudor architecture is a favorite subject for LEGO castle builders. Peter Botcher has become adept at the style while making his mark by adding a pitch black sense of humor and goth gloom to his works (he even made his own tombstone out of LEGO). For his latest cottage, Peter impresses with use of color, especially the mossy brickwork and the splash of magenta vines against the black roof. He finds creative variations for the timber on the facade, including tail pieces and corner tiles. The model is titled “Nobody’s Home,” but the smoke coming from that spooky chimney, adorned with unholy accoutrements, suggests otherwise. Enter at your own risk!
