Tag Archives: BardJaskier

“The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow!”

The Lord of the Rings is full of scenes perfect for adapting into LEGO for the LEGO Ideas challenge “Explore the Middle-earth”. Builder BardJaskier chose one of the most iconic scenes to adapt — the Bridge of Kazad-Dûm. This scene features Gandalf the Grey standing in the way of a mighty Balrog to buy the Fellowship time to escape from the Mines of Moria. To say the Balrog towers over Gandalf is to do a disservice to the presence of the foul being. BardJaskier does a great job of capturing the dreadful power of the Balrog as it wields its fiery sword and whip. And those wings! They’re majestic and terrifying at the same time. They feature fantastic parts reuse from the Ninjago set 71753 Fire Dragon Attack. And let’s not forget the rest of the scene! I do love the techniques and design of the bridge and the surrounding mines. They do a good job of conveying the wear of time.

The Bridge of Khazad-Dûm

The only way to warmonger across the frozen steppe is by mammoth

War elephants are cool and all, but up here in the frozen Nordics, they wouldn’t stand a chance. BardJaskier has envisaged how warriors might have moved around in the last Ice Age with this imposing LEGO war mammoth. The brick-built beast looks great, featuring a neat use of a walnut-print tile for the eye. There are plenty of spikes to ward off attackers, although they’d have to be pretty brave – or foolish – to go near this thing. For one thing, they’d have to make it through the throng of angry Northmen at its side. Along with the surrounding frozen landscape, they’re a great complement to a fantastic build.

Norscan War Mammoth

Arrrr ya gonna eat all that cheese?

The ongoing Pi-rat competition has yielded a lot of interesting pirate ship builds. But Bard Jaskier has gone in another direction and constructed a brick-built buccaneer with a treasure chest full of delicious Swiss. Bard’s mousey marauder is not just adorable, but makes good use of pirate ship pieces, like the crow’s nest barrel halves that make up the legs of his shorts.

Mouse Pirate

Best not to ask what the secret ingredient is...

Bard Jaskier is cooking up a storm in this Warhammer inspired LEGO build. The longer you explore this build, you’re certainly rewarded with the subtle detail scattered around the scene from the rock detail framing the build to the bones littering the floor. Take a look at the cauldron, an inverted tire captures the perfect size and shape with the snake pieces perfectly looking the part for wisps of smoke from the – well, best not to think about what’s cooking…

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Tyranid Lictor ready to spring into action

When I was in my LEGO dark age, I was a big fan of Warhammer 40,000. The first model I ever saw was a friend’s Tyranid Lictor, so when I saw BardJaskier’s LEGO Lictor, I was immediately hit right in the nostalgias. Everything on this model is perfect; from the arc of the upper talons, to the curve of the base. It must be quite fragile, as many pieces aren’t even fully attached. That fragility however, ensures that all the shapes and angles are just right. On top of that, the details are spot on, from the H. R. Giger-esque biomechanical greebles on the chest to the plant elements on the base. My favourite detail is the Ninjago snake skull helmet as the head and longhorns as tentacles. It is really well done and takes me back to my youth. Now if only my aching back would go back to how it felt when I was a teenager too.