Markus Rollbühler surprises us with a creation that could be straight from a fairy tale. Inspired Terry Pratchett, Markus created this giant turtle with a settlement on its back. The turtle is a lovely build, using owls for legs and acorn tiles for eyes. The best thing about this creation has to be the use of the ninja neck scarf to create the dome roofs of the settlement and the smalles airship (which is cute as a button). The bigger airship uses a combination of the magnifying glass and the barbell weight. After seeing these I want to build an entire fleet of cute little airships.
Tag Archives: Castle
Autumn woodlands just in time for Spring
Just as Spring has sprung around here Isaac Snyder has Autumn on the brain with this Tryandal Woodlands. But as it turns out, March signifies the onset of Autumn in the southern hemisphere, so… Yeah, maybe my title and premise aren’t as funny and ironic as initially thought. Plus, last week, it was snowing and 36 degrees Fahrenheit here, so who knows what’s going on in the world. Either way, Isaac tells us Autumn is a magical time for him, and if that inspires him to build a LEGO creation this good, then I’m inclined to agree. With only 101 elements, we are taken to a magical land complete with Elven towers. It’s rather breathtaking, truth be told. Here are some of the other times Isaac had us whisked away to magical lands.
Gnepnug the Forager gathers mushrooms
Behold! Another fun little LEGO creation by John Snyder featuring a woodland gatherer. I’ll be honest, my first thought upon seeing this build was, “Oh, look! The Wicked Witch of the West!” But then I saw the title and realized it was an insanely cooler character, Gnepnug the Forager. I’ve never seen anyone use a Bionicle leg plate before as a face, but this works! The use of multiple minifigure capes for worn-in clothing was a clever idea. I also appreciate the lack of a baseplate, with John instead opting for what appears to be a green LEGO sail piece.
Aye, there’s a castlehead for you
There’s trainheads and castleheads, but usually it’s meant to refer to fans of the various LEGO themes. However, here’s a build that takes it quite literally. Designed by Corvus Auriac, this 5,400-piece microscale model depicts a castle built on a rock that might be a little more alive than its builders suspected. It’s packed with lovely details from the dragon burninating the town to the tiny wizard tower sprouting out of the side of the castle’s tallest roof. Do yourself a favor and give this one a close look, as you’ll be rewarded with lots of clever parts usages. One of my favorites is also the one used most here: most of the trees are made from dark green minifigure epaulets stacked on each other.
A medieval winter wonder-castle
Winter wonderlands are a fairly common theme with LEGO builders, and not just houses and villages, but castles as well, like this cozy castle by W. Navarre. I hope they have plenty of tiny logs to burn in their tiny fireplaces. The model features a nice mix of newer and older gray parts for the perfect weathered look and speaking of weather, the scene includes several patches of snow on the roofs and the surrounding grounds. One of my favorite details is the little tower near the left side, which is attached using 1×1 rounded tiles on their side, stuck into the underside of the larger 2×2 rounded plate.
Medieval city tour
Sometimes you just happen to stumble upon a creation that shocks you. Roger Cageot’s creation did this for me. I was shocked that I never heard of Roger Cageot and that I’ve never seen his work before. His medieval street creation is simply stunning. It looks like it could be a film set. Every single building is a knockout if you ask me. I could write a feature about every single house and be perfectly happy to do so. My favorite building has to be the tan stables with the sagging roof. No, wait the white building on the right with the crumbling plaster. No, wait the Tudor-style house with the diagonal wood beams. No the barrack on the left with the half-round wall and the excellent roofing. Ah heck, I love it all! You can ‘walk’ these medieval streets by checking out the rest of the pictures in Roger’s stream. Some of the houses also have an interior.
It takes a village to raise up good builders
Back when I was first exploring the world of online LEGO fandom, years ago now, one of the first places I landed was the Guilds of Historica, a medieval fantasy-based role building forum on Eurobricks. It was an eye-opening experience for me, then just a novice builder fairly fresh out of my dark ages, seeing all the incredible castles and villages that talented builders the world over had contributed. I quickly joined up and contributed my own creations, getting invaluable building and photography feedback along the way, and Mathijs Dubbeldam was one of those helpful folks giving me feedback and support. His latest build feels like a medieval piece of Ninjago City, with the blue water and grey walkway along with the tower and colorful buildings. The varied roofline and angled walkways give it a wonderfully organic feel, like a real city. Fancy a visit?
Don’t forget to browse other LEGO fantasy builds while you are here! Perhaps you’ll be inspired to build your own, especially with the new LEGO Ideas 21325 Medieval Blacksmith shop out now.
A mine for the blacksmith
If you’re a blacksmith, odds are you have a supplier of ore and metals coming from a nearby mine. In this case, the mine is built by -LittleJohn. Clearly taking inspiration from the new LEGO Ideas Medieval Blacksmith set, builder -LittleJohn made this creation for the Colossal Castle Contest. The Allanar Mine is run by dwelves (dwarves + elves) who offer a warm meal and a soft bed to any travelers passing through.
The level of detail here is staggering. The landscaping, the mine building, and the inn are a work of art. I’d have to say my favorite part of this build is the windows. They’re beautiful! Both paned and double-paned are built so creatively. I’m going to have to see if I can replicate -LittleJohn’s techniques in my next medieval-themed creation.
Is this Maleficent again or one of her cousins?
Making LEGO brick built animals is something I always struggle with. Especially when they have to be minifig scale. Louis of Nutwood has no problem with brick built animals. His creation features an amazing brick built dragon. Which has been done before quite a couple of times before. Louis used bricks to build the wings, which I’ve never seen before. Builders quite often make the skin between the fingers of the wings out of a different parts. Fabric, cloth, or plastic with a pattern. The wings look great and are quite poseable. The face looks absolutely divine and the action posing was done exceptionally well. The fire effect looks better than most tv-show CGI fire bursts which makes the water near the dragon ripple.
Quite some minifigures were harmed in the making of this creation...
Elias tore apart quite a few figures to build this creation and his the use of torso’s in this creation is amazing. They are everywhere! From the columns to the altar, from the platform to the staff. Thirty torsos have been used in this LEGO creation. The thing I love the most is the way the printing on the torsos was incorporated in the build. There are a lot of city hoodies and licenses fantasy torsos used to represent cracks and crumbling down of this ruined temple. What torsos do you recognize? Also a special mention goes out to Elias for using the sprue from the flower stem with 3 large leaves for foliage.
Teeny-tiny castles for teeny-tiny knights
I loved chivalrous romances and fairy tales as a kid, and as a teen, I delved deep into epic fantasy novels, so it should be no surprise that as an adult, my primary building interest in LEGO has been the castle theme. It seems that Aaron Newman‘s primary interest has also been castle, as his earliest builds are castle builds (and he designed his own unofficial castle theme). Now, he’s a top-notch builder, and he’s branched out into every other theme over the years, but it’s always nice to see someone returning to their roots in an impressive way. These miniature castle scenes are just that. I can’t decide if I like the floating village with a windmill or the picturesque watermill the best, but they’re all stunning.
Don’t miss more of Aaron Newman’s LEGO builds, and be sure to browse the LEGO castle builds archives while you’re here. You are sure to be inspired. And if you just absolutely love these tiny scenes, Aaron has provided free building instructions for them so you can put them on your desk at work or home.
Blood, sweat and tears – behind the scenes of a medieval construction project
I always wonder what it takes to build a beautiful, weathered LEGO building like the builds of Ralf Langer. His creations always leave me with the same questions. How are all these parts connected? How sturdy is it? Can you pick it up and move it around without it falling apart? What does the inside look like? How does he manage to create such amazing builds? Well, the answer is simple: All it takes is some blood, sweat and tears (and a couple of beers). Ralf’s latest build shows us a little behind the scenes. We can see a castle style building with the scaffolding still next to it. The scaffolding itself is quite cleverly made using lightsaber handles, plates, and a lot of tools.
The building itself is pretty as usual. Ralf uses a lot of different types of bricks to give his builds a weathered look. This also helps to avoid the “big grey wall” effect. The stained glass window is quite cleverly made by attaching transparent round tiles to transparent plates with a string net between them. Unfortunately for me, this behind-the-scenes creations answers none of my questions.