The original shades of gray used in LEGO sets were phased out in the mid-2000s in favor of bluish grays, making the choice of elements in the original grays limited. However, this limitation can lead to creative uses of those parts, such as in this NATO “Devil” Main Battle Tank built by Carter Baldwin. The angled armor plating on the turret stands out as my favorite detail here, but the whole build has a great flow to it.
I always feel a deep sympathy for moths stuck indoors at night, attempting to flutter straight somewhere but instead circling a nearby electric light they mistake for the far-off moon or stars. LEGO lepidoptery enthusiast Revan has constructed a gorgeous white moth alighting on a patch of ground, complete with sprigs of grass enlarged to great proportions. Revan has captured the big black eyes and stubby little legs of these adorable fuzzy night-time creatures.
Next time you see a moth trapped indoors, be gentle and help it, won’t you?
Through decades of planning and cultivation, Singapore has earned the name of a “Garden City”. Within 277 square miles a population of 5.7 million resides, one of the top 3 major global financial centers. Singaporean local Gavin Foo showcases the core of this economic hub with a skyline built entirely from LEGO bricks. This jungle of towering concrete structures hosts the banking and finance industry, whilst along the Singapore river is the place to head for a cold beer at the end of a hard day’s work.
For anybody who’s wanted to have one of the planets or moons in the Star Wars universe to decorate their home or garden — because, who doesn’t want a patch of Nar Shaddaa, am I right? — Kit Bricksto has solved the problem with an ingenious little build. Available to galactic residents everywhere from Corellia to Ryloth*, the Grow Your Own Planet line of celestial objects in garden pots brings you a little piece of a planet (or moon) far, far away. The Rebel trooper minifig with a dripping watering can is a lovely touch, as is the pair of life-size pruning scissors lying nearby, but my favorite detail is the waterfall flowing from the larger pot into the smaller pot.
* Product not available on Alderaan, Jedha, Scarif, or the Hosnian System. Not recommended for residents of Mustafar.
Character builds are one of the hardest to accomplish with bricks and it’s likely the reason you don’t see Billund doing much of these aside from the Constraction series. Builder Roy of Floremheim
does a pretty cool Batman with the parts at his disposal and with clever use of elements. While you’ve got to love that 6-pack, my favourite use of parts are the reversed Minifiigure flippers representing the bat insignia.
While I have no fear of ants in general, this one scares me to bits becomes of its huge size! I’m not sure what Leonid An was thinking when building this monstrosity. Like me, I bet many of you right now are instinctively reaching out for a rolled up newspaper or a boot to stomp this bug. Nevertheless, I can’t wait to see if the builder churns out more of these realistic looking creepy crawlies.
A magical place is how Jonas Kramm describes this serene little home tucked under a tree. What’s interesting is how there’s a particular element that belongs to the LEGO Duplo family that’s part of this build. If you’ve not spotted it yet, it’s the green grass element that forms the roof of the home. I wonder what beings live in this fairy tale wonderland — earth fairies, or ground trolls, or was it the home of Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy? I’ve got my eyes on that hole in the tree trunk, just waiting to see what pops out of the curious-looking land.
When in need of whacky (and some times unsettling) creations, Fedde Barendrecht‘s photostream is always a good place to start, with fresh material being added on an almost daily basis. If you are interested in finding out more about Fedde’s work, I recommend reading the interview we did with him recently. His latest creation is a strange combination of the ancient demonic god Cthulu and the famous videogame character Pac Man. The result is a strange, funny-scary monster with some nice part usage and techniques, most notably the teeth inside the spherical Death Star piece.
Beware the Ides of March – so warned the soothsayer in Julius Caesar of the traitorous act committed on the 15th of March, 44 B.C.E. Performed by Marcus Brutus, made infamous by William Shakespeare, the betrayal is now immortalized in LEGO by legophthalmos. The builder has chosen the perfect expressions to represent the characters: Caesar appears regal and pensive while Brutus looks devious and cunning. With Senators looking grim as they rush towards them with swords drawn and the Roman guard running towards the fracas in very soft focus, there’s no mistaking the inevitable conclusion.
After more than a decade of hit-or-miss Harry Potter movies, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them quite as much as I did. One of my favorite early scenes is the niffler popping around New York stealing every jewel in sight and secreting them away in his infinite, Doraemon-like pouch. Tyler Halliwell takes a break from his usual macabre fare to bring us an adorable, life-size LEGO niffler, replete with coins and treasures.
The creature looks quite pleased with himself, though his fur appears to be a bit ruffled after being chased and cornered by Newt Scamander. 50 points to whatever house Tyler belongs to for the brick-built LEGO wall and floor.
Builder Serge S really really gets his money’s worth out of the LEGO sets he buys — especially the 10242 Mini Cooper. Last year he shared his alternate builds of the set that produced an elegant sports car and a monster of a truck, all from the very same set. This year he’s back with the same pieces to share with us a slick-looking two-propeller monoplane that includes a base stand. If there’s one thing I can learn from Serge, it’s that creativity gives birth from constraints, and perhaps all of us should whip out our older sets and give alternate builds a go!
Even though this oriental bazaar creation by Scottish builder Colin Parry uses LEGO pieces introduced as recently as 2016, there is a strange 2008-like essence to it. Maybe it’s the use of all yellow minifigs (flesh tones have been more predominant in recent years) and amongst them many older head prints. Or maybe it’s how clean the design is, as opposed to more contemporary high-detail castle building trends. Whatever it is, I like it and I think it’s important that we do not get so wound up in progress as to forget how much more there is to be done in styles that fell out of fashion years ago.
While there is much to love in the architecture and other details like the boat or canvases, the real star of the show is probably the minifig action. Minifig posing is an art most people ignore when making dioramas, but it can be the difference between a good scene and an amazing one. After all, what is a diorama without life?