Tag Archives: Bridges

The bridge between two sides

It’s good versus evil in this LEGO ninja encounter by prolific builder Andreas Lenander. The rock work and attached vegetation has so much of that craggily goodness, setting an excellent scene for this showdown. The spindly trees, shaped primarily by flexible brown tubing is quite excellent! I appreciate the structural similarities of the large and small saplings; not an easy feat with these plastic bricks. But the star of this build is that awesome bridge technique. Relying heavily on connections not sanctioned by LEGO, the clips and bars forming this simple arch provide an even, repeatable texture that feels unique and yet still at home with the torii and the shrine at opposite ends.

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Microscale Waterfall Temple

Microscale LEGO builds can either be the most beautiful or the wonkiest creations out there. Builder Gilles de Crombrugghe pulled all the stops when it came to creating this gorgeous jungle temple scene, from nice piece usage to clever techniques. The choices he made helped create an engrossing, detailed, and realistic scene that feels like an Indiana Jones version of Polly Pocket. Opposing orientations for bricks help create the smooth blue outline of the pool of water. Headlight bricks in the base help attach the waterfalls which cascade serenely to clouds of mist made of ice cream and popcorn pieces. Brown Technic chainlinks make for a wonderful rope bridge with plenty of rickety slack. Steep, stony islands of meticulously sculpted slopes and modified tiles rise from the water, isolating the long-forgotten sacred grounds. At least, until the research team found their way there.

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This bridge will suspend your belief of what’s possible!

At first glance, this beautiful scene of steel, earth, and water looks like a photograph! It owes this to Lysander Chau‘s keen eye and clever LEGO building techniques. Truly, this bridge and the surrounding scenes are made up of nearly 53,000 LEGO pieces! The scenes come from Lysander’s imaginative mind, but the bridge itself is modeled after the Tsing Ma Bridge in Hong Kong. While the build lives in a digital landscape, it still considers the constraints of reality. For example, the weakest part of the bridge, the middle, is supported by the cruise ship’s tallest point. No doubt there’s room inside the cruise ship to add light bricks, or a lighting kit, to make the New Year’s message shine! And that water! It’s rendered with such detail I can almost hear the waves lapping around the boats and land.

Take a closer look at the details

The enchanting Devil’s Bridge

Ralf Langer tells us that he has built a LEGO version of the Rakotzbrücke in Germany and I was like; yep, you totally pulled that off nicely, dude. It looks just like it! Pretending I knew what I was talking about lasted nearly five seconds before I turned to Google to figure out; what the heck is a Rakotzbrücke? It turns out it’s a man-made bridge that was built over a lake in Kromalu Park. The arched bridge is designed to create a perfect circle when it reflects in the still waters below. It’s also known as the Devil’s Bridge due to the belief that the magical circle must be the hands of the devil. Oh, cool! Now we all know something. I’m loving the dark still water and the overall dreadful mood of this eerie creation.

It’s time to acknowledge that elves are more than just toy makers.

It’s no secret that the elves of the North Pole are some of the world’s most proficient toy makers. But not every elf can devote themselves to the craft. To keep an operation like the North Pole running smoothly, you need elves devoted to all kinds of other disciplines. Lepralego is paying homage to the hardworking elves behind-the-scenes with this magical village build. This bridge is where North Poleians can come for some wonderful fresh baked goods, reindeer supplies, and even a stylish beard trimming. Or, they can spend their days off ice skating on the frozen river. The detailed stone work of the bridge and playful tilt of the shops’ roofs would make this feel right at home among LEGO’s official winter village offerings.

The White Bridge of Randland in LEGO

A few episodes into The Wheel of Time on Amazon Prime and fans of the original series by Robert Jordan have already sounded off about what’s disappointed them. Being outside that group but familiar with the disappointment a book-to-film/series adaptation can bring, I can understand a few of their points. Nonetheless, I’ve enjoyed most of what I’ve seen so far. Pacing and casting choices aside, the series has inspired fans of the series and LEGO to create their versions of its iconic moments and places. Builder Douglas Hughes brings us the second in a series of scenes he’s contributed to a Randland-inspired collaboration. Here he’s created his own version of Whitebridge in Andor. Or should I say the White Bridge? Both, I guess, so take a moment to appreciate all those detailed and ornate buildings rising up to match the height of the bridge.

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A Bridgetown that should be zoomed in on

I recall going to LEGO World in Utrecht with my uncle to just look at some of the awesome builds created by the attendees. Every once and a while, you’d stumble upon a LEGO creation that you spotted before online. It never ceases to amaze me that you can still spend a good amount of time looking at a creation in the brick even though you thoroughly analyzed it online months prior. Bridgetown by Markus Rollbühler is one of those builds I’d just love to see in real life. This creation is quite massive. The rocks and pillars at the base are not just there to support the small town on top of them. They are quite detailed and actually little works of art themselves. Building a tower out of curved slopes will always impress me. These round pillars even contain windows with a lovely detailed window canopy and a flower-filled windowsill.

As if that is not enough, each of the town’s houses is a standout itself. We get a hexagonal tower with a dome top of which I have no idea how it is constructed. We get a church with a brick-built clock dial. There are even cordless electric drills incorporated in the roof of the church. The corners of the building are rounded off, which adds a nice touch to the church. On the rim of the city, there are two Tudor-style houses. The one on the left uses treasure chest lids for the woodwork. On the one on the right macaroni tiles are used. I could go on for hours about this one, but I think you should just zoom in and explore all the lovely details and techniques for yourself.

Peace and tranquility in the Ninjago City Temple

I’ll be honest with you, Ninjago was never really my cup of tea until LEGO produced the Ninjago City line. The best thing about these sets is builders like Wochenender using their imaginations and expanding their Ninjago Cities. This Ninjago City Temple is exactly what every Ninjago City inhabitant needs to get away from the busy city life. I love the use of different shades of plates underneath the trans light blue tiles to represent the depth of the water varying at places. A special mention needs to go out for the use of the candle to represent cattails. These water grass plants get the LEGO treatment quite often. Most of the time, a 1×1 round or a 1×1 cone part are used to represent the ‘corn dog’ looking flower. Seeing a different part fulfill this purpose is quite nice.

Some perspectives don’t feel forced at all

What’s that off in the distance? Cecilie Fritzvold has created a beautiful view of a distant bridge, or maybe a nearby view of a model train set. It’s hard to say for sure, but this stellar mix of textures and techniques is certainly satisfying to look at. I love how the fence along the left side of the scene, and that second lamp post, drop down to create the illusion of a hill leading down to the bay. The bridge itself also merits a closer look, being constructed from the rather unusual Large Figure Part Shield Holder with Axle. (That choice of part was no accident, as this is one of Cecile’s entries into the latest Iron Builder contest, which focuses on creative use of that very element.)

Making bridges out LEGO can be a challenging task. Check our our archives to see how other builders solved that problem.

A scraggily troll lives under a scraggily bridge

When I think of building with LEGO, the first thing that comes to mind is building with bricks. Jessica Farrell has taken that to the next level, and built a bridge out of bricks, that themselves are built with LEGO bricks.

And these brick-built-bricks ain’t your standard sized bricks either – they’re all kinds of odd shapes, cobbled together to build a bridge with character. Some have moss growing on them, there are even weeds poking out through the cracks. The vast array of different parts used give the bricks and bridge a quite amazing texture. Underneath the bridge you’ll find your standard bridge-hider-under, an ugly troll, ready to eat whatever goats go trip-trapping over his bridge. Luckily both sides of the river are quite lush. I really like the healthy-looking lime and green grass, as well as the custom-cut lengths of flextube for reeds and bulrushes.

Wait a minute, Mr. Postman

What do you get when four of the most talented castle builders out there collaborate on a series of LEGO builds? It’s a bit like alchemy, because the result is solid gold. Well, Grant Davis, Simon Hundsbichler, Marcel V., and Markus Rollbühler teamed up to show the life of a postman, carrying the mail across every bridge in the realm to make sure each and every citizen receives their letters on time. Each build is different in every detail, except the postman himself, but they are all scaled and shot to mimic the others, with the result that the builds complement each other perfectly. I’d love to have these framed on my wall, side by side, because these are not just LEGO builds, but art.

Click to see each of the builds up close

Take a moment to enjoy the serenity

At a time when chaos seems to be the order of the day, builder Jaap Bijl reminds us that we can still find moments of serenity if we only look for them. At first glance I thought this was a real photo but upon closer inspection it proves to be an incredible work of LEGO art. Just looking at it gives me a sense of peace and calm. The first thing I noticed was the lovely sideways built water in sand green and olive green. The lily pads and plants with a few yellow flowers peeking out and an adorable yellow duck are a perfect accent. The surrounding landscaping is a nice mix of textures and colors that bring focus to the central cherry blossom tree. To provide detail on the bridge, the builder has utilized Technic bushings and axle connectors that appear to be strung like beads onto a flexible tube. The small temple is full of detail and has a roof that utilizes a similar construction method to the bridge. I love the cleverly built Buddha statue with his large belly created by a simple 2×2 round tile. Add in a few animals and a solitary minifigure to complete the picture and you have a model that transports you to an entirely different world where quiet contemplation reigns.