Designing castles on a limited footprint is a fun challenge and this 12×12 castle by Roanoke Handybuck packs a lot of detail into a small space. From the rocky outcropping above a sheltered cove, three tall towers keep watch. Dark red rooftops are picked up in the small wooden buildings at the water’s edge. A tiny boat with a brave captain risks the rocky shore, and minifig hands for flags are a nice finishing touch.
Your eyes aren’t deceiving you, this hovertank is indeed hovering! Space enthusiast Ben Smith has created a floating hovertank inspired by the fan-favourite Galaxy Patrol from the LEGO Collectible Minifigure Series 7, that not only looks awesome with a rugged colour scheme, but breaks the laws of physics. The boarding ramp is the only point of contact with the sand blue terrain, which raises the question: How is a ramp on the front of the vehicle able to actually hold it up and not collapse?
Find out more about how it floats!
Ah, another detailed seek-and-find LEGO build. Gosh, I love these! Whether builder Micah Beideman meant it or not, this scene falls into that category perfectly! The sequel to the first chapter in the life of “Preston the Potion Master” doesn’t disappoint on the excellent parts usage front. Every corner is filled with eye-candy! Although, I’m personally a big fan of the lovely spiral staircase and bookshelf right in the center. The door and gold elements at the top are a great starting focal point! Another excellent detail: the large “buildable figure” shin armor from Knights Kingdom that is used on the lower fireplace. Altogether, the perfect angles and color combinations really make this build stand out!
Stay tuned for the final chapter of this tale. Meanwhile, take a moment to enjoy another very similar and related build, a potion shop. Or try this garden greenhouse at a different scale.
With a new season of Disney’s hit streaming series The Mandalorian scheduled for this fall as well as the impending release of LEGO’s Razor Crest 75292 set, enthusiasm for the fan-favorite bounty hunter and his young green friend is not going anywhere anytime soon. Here in Dan Ko’s build that enthusiasm is scaled down, yet it still retains enough detail and gravitas to make any fan of the show absolutely delighted.
The twin engines are masterfully yet minimally recreated by combining various cylindrical elements with printed round 2 x 2 tiles that add the perfect finishing touch. Dan utilizes another round 2 x 2 printed tile for the escape pod area on the top of the iconic gunship.
Although this model is quite small, it still features the bay door in the back which opens and closes.
Overall the build is a wonderful micro-scaled version of the beloved ship and provides some eye candy for fans eagerly waiting for the return of the series to the small screen this October.
This elven archer by Dmitry would be at home on any Lord of the Rings fan’s mantelpiece. The clean and minimalist approach to the facial features makes the ornate armor all the more impressive. I particularly like the use of Ninjago Spinner blades as wrapped hair braids, and the grill tiles for a flattop makes me chuckle. (As did that golden banana as part of the tunic.) But I’m certainly not laughing at the great shaping in grey achieved by cheese slopes and curved brick, or at that elegant display stand.
This build has a different look from most LEGO figures we see at this scale, and that’s not a bad thing at all.
There are so many ways that LEGO can be used as an art medium and it’s been a long while since I’ve seen a different take on using the simplest elements to convey a whole lot. Granted that it’s not actually placed together on any studs, and are digital renders, but the arrangement of odds and ends by GYUTA is simply delightful and so on-point.
This could not have happened in the early years of LEGO art arrangement as the round 1×1 quarter tiles were only introduced in 2016 and the 1×1 half-circle tiles a year later with various colours slowly trickling in over the recent years. There are so many great designs that I’m so spoilt for choice and think it would be a disaster to miss any of these being highlighted. Let’s take a stroll down pop-culture lane and see what you think of these.
With the cancellation and controversy around the Technic 42113 Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey, the Technic Summer 2020 wave has taken a bit of hit. The skies may be empty now, but on the ground, there’s still plenty to talk about. The 42114 Technic 6×6 Volvo Articulated Hauler will be available September 1, 2020 from the LEGO Shop Online for US $249.99 | CAN $319.99 | UK £229.99 It’s part of the “Control+” line, LEGO’s next generation of remote-controlled vehicles. That sounds pretty cool on the surface, but is it really? We take a look at this hefty 2193 piece set from multiple angles to see what sort of “construction” we’re dealing with.
Click to read the full hands-on review
Black and Yellow, you know what it is – the 1980s LEGO Space theme “Blacktron” featuring a color scheme with heavy usage of black and yellow. In Nagisa’s build aficionados can get the best of two worlds – Star Wars and Blacktron as this design is a mashup of the two themes. Fusions of LEGO space themes with pop cultural icons are pretty common among fan-builders, but they are always refreshing to see nonetheless. Here we have the landspeeder from Solo: A Star Wars Story film which was already translated well into LEGO in set 75209, revamped in the style of Blacktron. Nagisa uses vintage control panel printed tiles and a newer curved yellow trans-clear 3x6x1 windshield to accomplish the signature aesthetic of the Blacktron faction. Of course, two fully decked out Blacktron minifigures accompany the speeder as pilots.
Nagisa offers a few configurations of the speeder which utilize different elements as thrusters – each offering a slightly varied look all of which are pretty sleek. Overall Nagisa does a great job of displaying creativity and ingenuity while still retaining the original concept of the vehicle from the Star Wars film.
This colorful creation by Jake Hansen (Mountain Hobbit) jumped right out at me with the inviting use of colors that spellbind and luring me to a place where it’s mystical that I almost want to drive right into the canvas of LEGO bricks of which it’s sculpted with. The imagery is vertically split into three: the cool flowing blue of the waterfall streaming, the dark orange earth that paves the path to the hidden abode, and the muted green of the grass work in a perfect combination of something that seemed like it spun off an artist’s color wheel. The equally bright and random colors mushrooms fitted with various sizes of technic gears in tan bring the magical land to life.
Birds are an enigma, and this LEGO one by DOGOD Brick Design is no exception. Well, okay, we do know it’s a Taiwan blue magpie, the so-called “long tailed mountain lady.” And we can see that there’s some really nice naturalistic shaping happening. A combination of ball joints, hinges, and curved slopes allow for the wings to curve gracefully around the body. And the yellow 1×1 round plates make for a suitably mysterious (or just bird-brained) expression.
But beyond that? Total mystery.
If you want to try and figure out more about our brick-built avian friends, then you could always dig deeper into our archive of LEGO birds. Who knows what you might discover?
San Francisco’s most famous painted lady on Broderick Street is the inspiration for this brick-built modular constructed by Cowie, a builder who generally tends to create modular buildings, some influenced by pop culture. Scenes and music from the opening credits of the popular sitcom “Full House” and its recent Netflix sequel “Fuller House” fill my head while looking at this beautiful architectural recreation. While this house is an actual residence in San Francisco that has undergone some remodeling since the television show aired (the door is currently forest green), Cowie stays true to the original image of the building from the 1980s by featuring a red door in her building.
The painted ladies are named such because they are Victorian houses that have been repainted in three or more colors which accentuate their architectural features, Cowie’s modular building accurately renders these features with her white brick-built columns and pilasters – hallmarks of Italianate-style Victorian houses. This LEGO creation definitely has the nostalgia factor built into it — it’s a real treat to be able to see such an iconic and memorable structure at a scale that both builders and minifigures can enjoy.
Ever wonder what you would pack for a trip across Middle-Earth? Tune in and find out in this hilarious new LEGO Lord of the Rings stop-motion animation by BrotherhoodWorkshop. Make sure to grab some popcorn while watching this incredible parody of the iconic scene from The Two Towers!
We arrive at Edoras with Gandalf the White, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli and it looks like the kingdom of Rohan has seen some better days. To top it off, the Three Hunters are having trouble bringing their weapons into the Golden Hall… but not to worry, Gandalf knows exactly how to play by the rules.
Watch “Take the Wizard’s Staff!!!” below.