It’s one thing to say that a plague of locusts, cicadas, or grasshoppers has gone after your crops. It’s another thing entirely when they destroy the entire farm. sanellukovic has posted what can only be a thing of nightmares with elephant-sized grasshoppers destroying the remains of what I imagine was once a farm, full of life. Not so much anymore.
Click to see details of the carnage
Built for BrickFair Virginia, this lovely diorama was displayed in full for the first time. Gary^The^Procrastinator has been working on it for some time and I must say the finished product is wonderful. Each time I look at it, I find a different detail.
Each of the buildings themselves are excellent examples of castle buildings. Seeing them all together, with minfigs throughout, brings the whole display to life.
You’re a bit late, but given that we’ve just discovered this tiny Hogwarts Castle, I believe you’ll be able to start the term without issue.
Kit Bricksto build this beautiful micro-scale Hogwarts and it’s just adorable. It’s very recognizable, with the greenhouses and great hall, and that lovely courtyard (no word if this is before or after book 7).
As fantastical as many of the LEGO Castle creations we feature here on The Brothers Brick are, it’s actually not very often that we see a fantastical creature wreaking havoc among the people and structures that comprise most of these medieval scenes. Wookieewarrior remedies that situation with a monstrous worm emerging from the earth to rip through a round tower. The worm itself has lots of great details in black, but the yellow minifig hands stand out (literally) as wonderful spines. The tower includes lovely details as well, including reused LEGO sprues from three-leaved plants as vines. Potted flowers add a spot of color against the gray tower, and the rounded landscaping of the base is excellent as well.
Be sure to click through to the photo and zoom in for more details, including the priceless expression on the hapless farmer’s face.
The dark primeval swamps of a fantasy world are always a place to be on your guard. They may be silent, too silent perhaps, but the heavy air laden with motes belies the danger of Tirrell Brown‘s bog. This great little vignette has some amazing fen flora made of classic LEGO bushes turned upside down and capped with 4×4 domes. The glowing Galaxy Squad alien eggs add to the mystery and otherworldliness of this everglade.
“Elaborate” and “enchanting.” As simply as that, these two words define Japanese culture for me. Surprisingly, this pair of words perfectly suits these two LEGO creations below.
Andrew JN charms us with this tiny diorama. It is hardly bigger than a medium Creator set, but take your time to choose what exactly you’re going to behold first: an astonishing roof, some charming usage of color in trees or river water calmly flowing by.
Gzu Bricks presents us another tiny vignette featuring one of the giant bonshō bells. I especially love that both creations are of the same concept — Japanese architecture surrounded by Japanese flora — but look how different building techniques are! Gzu Bricks’ build might look a little simpler, but I can’t imagine anything that could make it more complete.
Bricks magazine issue 16 is now available, and this month the main theme is LEGO Castles, with some added Steampunk for flavour, and a little VW Beetle action for variety.
The 124-page magazine has a range of exclusive articles and fan built creations, including a delve inside the magical walls of LEGO’s new 71040 The Disney Castle, and a dangerous encounter for the LEGO Elves as they try to save the baby Princess dragon egg in 41180 Ragana’s Magic Shadow Castle. The magazine explores Michael Kalkwarf’s modular castle system, while James Pegrum illustrates how to build circular towers in his builder’s masterclass. Whilst not medieval but definitely within the realm of fantasy, Rod Gillies explains the Victorian-inspired alternate universe of Steampunk with steampunk-style Ultra Agents MOCs and a look at LEGO’s own take on this genre.
Bricks is available in both digital and print format at a cost of £4.99 or US$6.60 (approx. due to variable exchange rates). Shipping and packaging costs for the print version are £1.50 for the UK, £4.25 for the rest of the world.
Click here for the full press release and sample pages
Grant Davis has built this spectacular little microscale castle. Like most LEGO microscale creations, it’s awash in terrific creativity, with lots of unusual pieces used in new ways, and the finished product belies its complexity. Fortunately for all of us curious viewers, Grant made a short video that shows some of the techniques he employed as he walks us through the disassembly of the model.
French builder Kloou. creates a detailed and technically advanced model of Rapunzel’s tower using tiles for the round tower. If you look closely, you can see Rapunzel’s hair is an actually braided piece of yarn. The builder certainly has not spared a strand of detail.
Just as stunning is the textured roof made of flag clips to imitate the individual shingles.
Tirrell Brown says he was inspired by architecture from the exotic subcontinent of India for his most recent LEGO build; the Qar Riwa Fortress. The castle itself is splendid with lots of eye-catching texture, but I really love the billowy desert sands and the lush oasis-like vegetation along the river. Tirrell chose to forgo the standard black frame around the outside of his build and the resulting effect is fantastic! In particular, I really appreciate that the exposed cut-away edge of the build shows the depth of the river and the darker layer of sand underneath.
LEGO’s Nexo Knights line has brought us some great new pieces and some cool recolored parts, but aside from a few isolated examples, the theme hasn’t sparked a wave of fan-built creations. This recon outpost model from Henry F. stood out as a result. This scene captures all the elements which excite me about Nexo — a perfect blend of medieval castle and hi-tech, the bright color scheme, and the robots. I like the asymmetry of the base, with the composition balanced out around the shield at the center, giving the image a focal point.
The texture in the castle wall is really well done, with attractive splashes of blue to break up all that light grey. It contrasts nicely with the brown and green of the terrain. Where the contrast isn’t working quite as well is with the figures — they’re a little lost in amongst that stonework. Maybe next time the minfigs should be some of the non-grey ones?
A few weeks back, Graham Gidman wowed us with his LEGO barrel-riding scene from The Hobbit. Now he brings us this wonderful little diorama. The stonework on the cottage walls is fabulous, and the curved roof with its spattering of studs makes for a lovely shape.
The smooth flow of the roof is reflected in the curve of the fence, and the whole thing sits on a nicely-built landscape base making effective use of multiple shades of green and earth tones. There’s some lovely touches of detail on show too — check out the little log pile under the cottage’s eaves. The only thing which doesn’t quite work for me is the continuation of the round stonework up into the chimneystack. However, that’s nit-picking — overall, this is a cracking piece of building.