Taking us back to Qing Dynasty China, ElviN has built a historically accurate version of the iconic Double Dragon Bridge. The diorama is packed with the comings and goings of day-to-day life: there’s a peasant fishing in the Nanpan River; a platoon of soldiers marshals a criminal across the bridge; whilst at the other end a farmer waits to herd his cattle over to the other side.
Continue reading
Tag Archives: Castle
A mystical treasure awaits those who can find the shrine
You might imagine that the golden crystal in the centre of this scene is the treasure of the shrine, but I believe the true treasures are all the crazy building techniques that Grant Davis has used in his Mountaintop Shrine. From a distance it may look like nothing special and the foliage on the periphery is nothing new, but a closer look will have you looking for your jaw somewhere under your desk (or under a bus seat if you are reading this on a mobile device).
The very composition and colour choices are great for setting up a bright, positive and somewhat cartoony atmosphere, but that is only the first thing to draw your attention. This attention is retained by amazing building techniques I have hinted at in the previous paragraph. Starting with the obvious, the cobblestone wall behind the shrine uses all sorts of round pieces from ends of bars through small ball joints to 2×2 tiles and more to achieve a highly realistic effect. But there are more subtle details too. For instance, you can see that the path leading towards the shrine is not just tiles connected flatly to the base, but is in fact irregular, as if damaged by centuries of disuse. Another subtly irregular thing is the left pillar (built out of frying pans stacked on one another!), which is standing at an angle. One more unique thing and the last I noticed myself is the tree, using the new leaf pieces set in such a way that they make a coherent treetop.
Click if you want to see a behind the scenes video
Visit the busy town of Khevroa in the Isles of Aura
There have been many entries in the continuing Isles of Aura saga, a series of floating islands creations, but I wanted to spend some time touring Isaac and John Snyder’s latest effort: the Town of Khevroa.
We’ve previously featured models from the Isles after the concept’s genesis as Models Inspired by Music and later with Brother Stevens’ Sunset Slumber among others. However, this latest scene has some great examples of packing a lot of detail and building variety into one small town.
Are you worthy of gazing upon the mighty Talos?
Worthy or not, you definitely should gaze upon Andrew Steele‘s Talos (and guards), because they are amazing creations. The builder doesn’t provide much explanation as to who they are — besides, perhaps, the character from Greek mythology — but we can imagine Talos being an evil overlord, judging by his skull-decorated throne. The figures are impressive on their own, but setting them in a bit of scenery, even if minimalistic, brings the build to the next level.
Click here to gain audience with Talos!
A market where you can buy cartoony and sell realistic
LEGO castle is one of the most perfected themes hobbyists build in, with nearly standardized textures and all sorts of solutions to build your perfect castle or medieval village. There is a price that comes with this, because just trying to build the best medieval creation you can some times is not enough. Originality has split the theme in question into two wider categories: cartoony style with crazy colours and rugged pseudo-realistic builds containing almost exclusively earth tones. Mountain Hobbit has a bit of both, especially noticeable in his latest creation, the Wefyrf Valley Wheat – Market
The landscaping is very neat with flowing curved shapes giving the village a realistic setting, and the dense treetops add to that too. But we should focus on the main part of the build, the village in the centre. The builder uses some wacky shapes for the walls of the houses that are set at a slight angle that still seems believable and coupled by natural colours they almost look realistic, but still somewhat joyfully cartoony – something LEGO bricks do not naturally lend to physically, but definitely do conceptually as a child’s toy in its basic purpose.
The only place where you can trade chocolate for dragon eggs
The LEGO Elves theme keeps surprising me personally with how popular it is amongst fans. While the related LEGO Friends remains successful, it is the Elves with their characteristic motives and colours that keeps inspiring builders to expand the story on their own. The rich world surpasses its target audience and as Martin Harris proves, there is something for everyone in it.
The Elvan sea port of Elvadion is an epic diorama showing us a less adventurous slice of life in Elvendale. There is everything one could expect of an Elves creation here, from bright colours and ornate architecture to cute animals, including dragons.
Click to explore the port town more closely!
A small homage to a great civilization
There has been a large influx of Mesoamerican architecture LEGO creations recently, including temples, sports and even the Aztec Feathered Serpent god. Simon NH adds to this collection with this microscale Maya city. Seeing Mesoamerican architecture in its golden age is quite refreshing, as all the overgrown decrepit temples can slowly start looking similar…
Simon has used many different techniques to build quite a variety of different kinds of steps – from functional to ornamental. The little town has a very organic layout built into rolling hills, with houses, temples and platforms scattered around in a very believable way. It is amazing how much detail the builder managed to get onto such a small footprint, most notably the leg used as a waterfall, the circular pattern in the center of the city and the buildings on the gray platform. The landscape is great too, using all sorts of curved tiles and quite exotic colours for the river’s water.
The grace of disgrace: an incredible resurrected dragon
It appears Aaron Newman has developed an affinity for flying elements in his LEGO creations, as they appear in several of his latest builds. Floating and flying parts are nothing new, but few builders take the effort of going the extra step to make them look this good (presumably by digitally editing out the supports–or maybe learning black magic and making parts float for real!).
Aaron has used his editing and presentation magic on more than just the flying draconic skeleton. The purple light emanating from the circle on the ground was achieved with a glass table and a lot of effort, while Aaron says the backlit stained glass windows were just as difficult to get right. We should not ignore the actual LEGO build though. It is all about atmosphere here and every part helps create it. The architecture with the circular design of the hall gives a nice focal point to the scene, and the impression is finished off by the ground texture, passing from a cobblestone floor through a circular section of the tiling into a clean glowing purple area. And if you are, like me, wondering what makes the little purple gaps between the “stones” of the circle, Aaron has revealed the secret: purple quarter-circle roller coaster tracks!
TBB Cover Photo for August 2018: Enchantments, potions and magic!
August is an enchanting time of year — here in the Northern Hemisphere, people are taking summer vacations and looking forward to the heat waves ending as we head into autumn, while in the Southern Hemisphere winter begins drawing to a close. Far more enchanting than the mere changing of the seasons, this magical scene by César Soares is TBB’s cover photo for August 2018. The diorama depicts a wizard’s workshop, replete with potions, ingredients, and arcane equipment. Spend some time getting lost in the details, but make sure you get out before the wizard returns!
Want to see your own LEGO creation featured across TBB social media for a month? Then read the submission guidelines and send us your photo today. Photos that do not meet the submission guidelines will not be considered, and will be removed from the group.
Keep up with the Brothers Brick by liking us on Facebook and following us on Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. And for occasional extra goodies, follow us on Flickr or subscribe to us on YouTube.
Dare you face the giant lord in his Profaned Capital?
One of the more interesting video games in terms of story recently has been the Dark Souls series with its subtle lore. Revan New has created this visually impressive diorama of the Profaned Capital from Dark Souls 3 with hardly any description, save for it being inspired by said videogame. With imposing pillars and arches set in a rocky environment, this is definetely one of the most memorable areas of the game.
See Yhorm the Giant upon his dark throne
A new kind of old temple in the new world
Mesoamerican temples lend themselves naturally to LEGO, with their blocky shapes and colours that are often abundant in collections, namely grays and greens. There seems to be an influx of Mayan and Aztec temples lately as you might have noticed on The Brothers Brick, and we have the Summer Joust competition to thank for this. One of the creations built for this contest is this one by Andreas Lenander
The first thing that catches our attention is the dark tan ground, a change from the expected greens that are used in similar creations. While I like the contrast that green gives, tan is probably more realistic. The sand and olive green overgrowth on the temple is an interesting colour choice, joined by dark green, which looks almost black in the photo. This darker colour gives a strong impression of wet moss, setting the scene in a particularly dank swamp. Some of the more unique parts usages include the Statue of Liberty headgear used as serpent’s head ornaments and the brown treads used as vines.
A chapel that won’t be assaulted
With their towering stone walls, crenelated turrets, and ornate decoration, medieval churches could almost be seen as castles–an idea helped in no small part by the frequency of medieval clergy acting like their secular counterparts. So whether this structure by KevinyWu belongs to the church or the state, the Fortress of St. Jocosa certainly prepared for what the world may throw at it. The fortress’ foundations are a nice bit of rockwork, giving a great feeling of a tiny castle perched upon a lonely rock, and the winding path leading to it, while using simple techniques of stacked dark tan plates, cuts a striking line through the scenery.
Click to see inside the fortress