Tag Archives: Desert

From Sand Elves to Frank Herbert’s DUNE, these desert dwelling minifigs are an oasis of creativity [Minifig Monday]

Believe it or not, Tatooine is not the only desert world to inspire amazing minifigures. There’s also Jakku. And Jedha. And Geonosis. And Pasaana. And… You know what? We’re not looking at any desert worls where Jedi have set foot today. Instead, for this week’s Minifig Monday we’re looking at original designs from the worlds of fantasy, literature, history, and military sci-fi.

Leading us into the desert today is Jacob Manahan, whose Akhanii desert elves are an imagined ancient kingdom from which civilization flowed. Jacob selects a nice assortment of printed body parts with folds of cloth and timeless jewelry (and I see Horizon‘s Aloy split across two different figures). Those blue eyes suggest the presnce of a certain spice on this world…

Speaking of Spice, builders Parker (lego.frenzy) and Woudt (_standaartwoudt_) recently collaborated on a series of fig builds based interpreting the characters of Frank Herbert’s Dune, without leaning the official figures from the excellent Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter. Parker’s series leads with this ensemble. I love the choice of the Haunted Mansion employee for Paul’s sullen face. The Sardukar soldier is epic and menacing. Parker even slips in a brilliant mini-build with that innovative Sandworm maw made from light nougat shields clipped in a ring.

Quench your thirst for hot desert minifigures after the break

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

The vulture will clean up after you’re gone [Building Techniques]

You can tell someone has fired up the Iron Forge because of so many clever uses for their seed part. This time, we’ve got LEGO flower stems and filbrick pulls it off with style. The large cactus (or succulent) is adorned in your usual green flower stems to create its spines while its smaller prickly friend sports the same part in olive green. There’s even one flower stem in lavender. Finally, a few brown stems creates the unmistakable ruffle around the vulture’s neck. The eye looks as if you can screw that in with a flathead screwdriver but it is a clever use of the wheel bearing part. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always been a fan of the pouring un-bricked parts as demonstrated here with the desert ground.

Join this Bedouin and his mount on their journey

We’re gonna go out on a limb and guess that this detailed creation by DW_Mocs is going to be the best LEGO camel you’ve seen all day. A close inspection of the hardy desert beast (created for the Middle East category of the Summer Joust 2024 building competition) reveals an insane level of intricacy in the parts used to get the shape right. Just look at the head, for instance—those are pith helmets for eyelids, with minifig arms and standard crash helmets forming the snout. The old Bedouin sitting atop the camel isn’t exactly a slouch in the parts department, either. His white beard is a magnificent assortment of wings and feathered plumes. The pipe with the curling smoke features a gold scorpion at the end. One sun-baked finger even sports a gold ring. There’s a story behind that pipe and ring, for sure. It makes you wonder what journeys these two have faced together, and where their path leads next.

Two scoops of desert goodness

This latest LEGO creation by Tom Loftus has instant appeal for me. I mean, it looks like it’s going super-fast while sitting still. That is partly due to the genius use of the dusty roostertail behind this Desert Speedster. The position of that minifig driver makes it look like he’s really leaning into that turn. I’d be impressed enough with that but there is some brilliant parts usage with the bucket scoops as front fenders and it appears the body of the car is an upside-down boat. Incidentally, this is not the first time Tom has been using parts in clever ways. Not by a long shot! Check out our Tom Loftus archives to see what I mean.

Revamping mummies

LEGO Adventurers was my absolute favourite theme as a kid. Especially the desert theme. Seeing the Jungle Explorer Collectable Minifigure got my hopes up for the theme to be renewed. This might also explain my soft spot for LEGO Adventurer fan creations. This build by Kevin Wanner really hits the soft spot. We get very well put together fleshy minifigure renditions of all the familiar faces. Two very well designed vehicles. However the absolute highlight of this creation has to be the beautiful palm trees. There are dark tan eggshells used to create the trunk of the palm tree. The crown of the tree uses dark tan, green and bright green plant leaves to indicate the lifespan of a palm tree leaf. It looks stunning!

Build small, think big

Since being introduced with the LEGO Collectible Minifigure Series 2 back in 2010, the so-called trophy figure has been a boon for microscale and nanoscale builders. Sometimes this means creations at a truly colossal scale (relatively speaking), but Caleb Huet shows us that smaller, more introspective builds can be just as good. In this case, our nano-fig is walking through the desert. I’m not sure whether this takes place in the past or future though. At first, I thought the setting was some Egyptian ruins, but with the markings on the floor I’m not so sure. Did the Egyptians have floor lighting? That seems something more in line with extra-terrestrial civilisations. But the pyramids… What if the ancient Egyptians had help with their superstructures? Did the aliens take the floor lighting back with them? Is our intrepid nano-fig having the same epiphany?

See, small builds really make you think. Even if they’re not particularly sensible thoughts.

Bones and desert ruins forgotten by all but Time

Sun-bleached bones and an abandoned structure standout in the LEGO desert landscape by Eli Willsea. A feeling of loneliness and sorrow pervade the scene. Was this a sacred site with a sacred creature left alone due to unforeseen turmoil? Or was this creature the victim of sacrifice or punishment? None can say what happened here, only that the creature is long gone, its bones still bearing the weight of being tethered to the place. The structure around it towers overhead, an impressive mark on the landscape. Minifig roller-skates give detail to the capitals of the pillars. The banners on either side of the entrance stairs are seamless in their fitting, giving form to the staircase. High overhead, quarter tiles are wonderful vertical detailing for the entrance roof. The blending of soft and hard edges gives the scene a gentle, yet harsh, quality, not unlike the sand surrounding it.

Obi-Wan Kenobi rides through the desert on an eopie with no name

Native to the sands of Tatooine, eopies are a great way of traveling the desert planet. Builder Shaun Sheepa gives us LEGO Obi-Wan Kenobi with a cute brick-built eopie, the former Jedi’s only companion in his exile. Shaun uses an angled cone piece to capture the iconic snout of the desert dwelling creature. The eyes are absolutely adorable with those printed round tiles, and I do like how the legs are rendered. The use of bars for the slender front legs is a clean approach. Linked bar holders standout for those rear legs, giving them the thicker appearance. The greebling of the harness and saddle is simple and effective. I do like those quarter round tiles for that back saddlebag. A nice usage of another Star Wars piece is the poncho Obi-Wan is wearing–this part is from a Luke Skywalker minifigure.

An ice cream is just the thing to beat the desert heat

I don’t remember where I learned it, but the way you can remember how to spell “dessert” vs. “desert” is that dessert has more S’s, and you always want more dessert. Well, thanks to Malin Kylinger, one lonely traveler is about to have both. This wonderfully constructed oasis in the sands invites us to enjoy some ice cream and cakes poolside as a respite from weary desert travel. But is it real? Or is it all just a mirage…

See you, space elephant

Ah, Banthas. Glorious space creatures. Portrayed by elephants during the filming of Star Wars (1977) they serve as mounts for the fearsome Tusken Raiders, natives of Tatooine. And now they are ridden by a certain helmeted fan-favourite character, minus the helmet (and the character that never was.) This small desert diorama by KevFett2011 (no relation) showcases a scene from the first episode of new Star Wars series The Book of Boba Fett.

Al’Tamasuk Mansion

I do not know why, but somehow I get drawn to LEGO desert builds. I guess it has something to do with the architecture of the buildings. Where I live, there is nothing quite like it, so it almost feels like taking a small vacation to a faraway place. So I would like to thank Marcel V for my most recent trip to the desert of Jazira, where I got to meet the Al’Tamasuk.

This creation offers a lot of great little details which really make it special. I will highlight a few, but if you zoom in I’m sure you’ll find many more. The best thing has to be the black lamps near the entrance of the building. These are black wands used to create a decorative cast iron lamp. Those wands are held (if I am not mistaken) only by friction and sheer willpower, so constructing that had to be quite the nuisance! Then there are wheel covers used as round windows, and somehow a baseball bat works perfectly fine as an architectural detail (see if you can spot them). There are snakes used as plant vines and have you seen that cute little wooden shed?

A mech in desolation

Roaming around in desolation, a well-armed mech makes its way. This detailed mech model built by Carter, showcases how LEGO is the perfect medium for mech building.

Firstly the parts usage exhibited in this build is fantastic, my favorites being the brown minifigure backpacks used as ammo storage and the roller skate pieces rendering shoulder artillery. Out of some common black elements including the whip piece, 1×2 grill, and 1×4 wing piece – just to name a few, Carter fashions a distinguished arm-gun. A piece of shoulder armor usually found in buildable figure sets, is utilized as a cockpit of sorts. While the mech build is certainly the centerpiece of this model, the ground it walks on is also interestingly put together – comprised of a mosaic of 1×2 brown slopes. Overall this build is definitely and inspiration for imaginations everywhere.