Tag Archives: Belville

Scan in the piece where you live

One of the great things about a fandom like LEGO is that it can accommodate and celebrate so many disparate special interests, from tractors to ancient Rome to ornithology. Builder voxel123 give the full otaku treatment to a subject I’ve never seen in LEGO before; radiology. Voxel has previously built medical scanners at minifig scale as well as BrickHeadz tributes to pioneering radiologists, but for his latest series of models, he works at a larger Miniland scale, using Belville dolls to staff the facilities. Each piece of machinery is part of a larger vignette where studless surfaces are crafted with the bright colors and geometric patterns you might see in a medical facility catering to children.

First, we have an open MRI system, a scanner that can accommodate those who might have trouble with the standard tunnel MRI machines, like children or claustrophobic patients.

Open MRI Suite Playset (Miniland Scale) - Scanner room

A waiting room puts younger patients at ease with a miniature MRI model and boxes of plush toys to scan. I especially like the quarter circle tile mosaics, balanced inside a transparent brick, a variation of a technique I first encountered in the Ninjago City Markets karaoke lounge.

Open MRI Suite Playset (Miniland Scale) - Waiting Room

But wait, there’s more medical imaging fun to be had!

A spaceship scene that is truly “in tents.”

OA KD has a real knack for taking unusual LEGO elements and working them into brilliant Classic Space homages. Last time, a Duplo windscreen did its duty on a massive cargo freighter. This time, a Belville tent frame from 5846 Desert Island forms most of the hull of a tiny fighter. While white isn’t typically part of the Classic Space color scheme, the effect works here thanks to all the dark gray provided by that beautifully-textured background.

Moon escape

Vintage Deltron spice wine

If there were ever two themes that do not go together it has to be Belville and Star Wars. Both are worlds apart from each other. Still Eyrezer managed to use a part that is quintessential for the Belville theme. It is the wall corner and it is used to build a wine rack in a wine cellar. I love the creative use of this part. The thing that stands out the most to me is how this big brightly coloured part blends in with the background of the creation. When thinking about Star Wars sets, I mostly think of white, grey, black and tan bricks. It is nice to see that there is even a place for big brightly coloured parts in this universe.

Cellar raid

So, head or no head?

Guys only want one thing and it’s disgusting. However, in the world of praying mantises, that doesn’t always work out. It’s the lady who gets the head — literally. Expert builder Djokson sets the table for a romantic candlelit dinner, with fancy tablecloth and a glass of wine. Lady mantis appears to have been stood up by her suitor, until her meal is served on a big platter.

Date Night

While this is a fun scene, we have to talk about NPU when we write about Djokson’s many ingenious creations. For example, Lady mantis wears pieces of cloth that can only be from either Scala or Belville — two old LEGO themes full of large dolls. It’s just hard for me to pinpoint which cloth piece is from which. However, the eye sockets of each mantis are the shoes of said dolls, with the good old minifigure arms wedged inside them. Other pieces include the rubbery Krana and Kraata from Bionicle, which Djokson uses in the head and stomach respectively. I also enjoy the use of the fantastical key element from LEGO Elves, which gives the elbows a spindly look.

I guess you could say Djokson’s builds make me… lose my head.

The prelude to the robot apocalypse

Ah, robots. Despite not being alive, somehow they manage to capture our hearts. Try hating WALL-E or R2-D2. Try it, I dare you. I knew you couldn’t. I suspect they’re just trying to soften us up for the impending AI overthrow of humanity, but in the meantime, it’s fun to think about helpful and friendly sentient robots. Take this one by Grant Masters; it’s inspired by the movie Elysium, and is here helping this child who broke his leg. Adorable, right? See the trust in that kid’s eyes? Any moment now the robot will rip his face off with those pincer hands and stomp on him with those grille and roller skate feet. The greebles and textures look perfect, and the contrast between the body plates in white and the technical stuff underneath in black makes for a sharp image. Almost as sharp as those pincer hands.

Keep Hope Alive

Care for a bit of apocalypse with your tea?

The mind of Andy Baumgart must be a very interesting place. Somewhere in that chaotic cranial coolness, there was a collision between the neurons responsible for housing the military schematics repositories, the hot rod files, and 90s girl LEGO themes. Thus, out popped the T-42 “Sugarcube” MLRS, which has got to be one of the most insane (and insanely awesome) military vehicles to ever grace our site.

Belville T-42 ‘Sugarcube’ MLRS

Studded with nearly every chrome silver element LEGO has ever produced, and jazzed up even more with a generous dose of immaculately applied custom decals, this red rocket launcher houses a single Belville figure. As we’d expect with Andy, there’s no shortage of fantastic and unusual parts usages. The most obvious, of course, are rockets sprouting from the back which hail from the Series 17 Rocket Boy. The roof is a piece that isn’t seen often, but is actually being used for its intended purpose, having been a Fabuland vehicle top. Look closely, and along the side you’ll spot a well-disguised derrick arm, while Belville crowns and classic gates line the front. Of course, you wouldn’t want to miss tea time, so there’s a set just in reach of the driver.

Acquired immunity – the only way to be sure

Once again, Grantmasters has created something outside the box — and to think it all started with a bulk lot of LEGO Belville purchased online. Wanting to make something reminiscent of an old toy catalogue with all characters posing for the photograph, he has included an array of various doctoring devices. I love how the X-ray seems the perfect scale, and the discarded plaster cast boot on the floor by the bin.

A Distraction

Grant started with the computer screen – constructed by miniaturising Chris McVeigh‘s designs – he says the biggest challenge was getting the black part of the screen to hold the correct angled curve. He solved it by pivoting it and attaching it to an angled pin protruding through a hole in the middle of the screen.

The perfect Christmas gift for your little Strahl Youth

For a sci-fi universe based almost exclusively on rare Japanese plastic models, Maschinen Krieger has a broad fan base within the LEGO building community, supported by an annual building challenge in October. We’ve featured the LEGO mecha created by Andy several times here on The Brothers Brick, many of them integrating Belville figures as supporting characters. In what might be the smallest Ma.K mech we’ve featured — built from only about a dozen pieces and judiciously applied stickers — Andy has created an adorably lethal “Kinder-Kröte” that could well prove to be dangerous to kids and kitties alike.

Kinder-Kröte

Emilia Starboarder

I first saw Paul Meissner’s (legosamurai) creation in person at our most recent LUGOLA meeting. While I am flattered that he credits my Daedalus Drop Suit as an inspiration, his Emilia Starboarder is so much more elegant and downright sexy in comparison. He cleverly incorporates a Belville doll head and uses Prince of Persia claw weapons to great effect as hands. I’m thinking we need to start a group dedicated to using LEGO doll heads.

Emilia Starboarder Spacewalk Armor

There are no studs in Belville

Not exactly, but Izzo says that Belville figures “Have so very few studs, so few studs…” Regardless, he manages to fit a Belville fig into a sweet purple power suit:

While we’re at it, here’s Izzo’s previous powered armor for a Belville fig:

If that’s not enough of a Belville fix for you, a quick search on Flickr will reveal several more interesting creations.

(No. I refuse to add a Belville category. You can’t make me.)