Castles are nice, but there’s something I love about a tranquil domestic scene of medieval life, and what encapsulates that better than a stone mill and miller’s cottage? This lovely little diorama is the work of ZCerberus, and although the stonework is nice, and the round mill is great, some of favorite techniques here are more subtle. First, there’s the mixing of brown and dark red for the roof tiles, a subtle swap that helps give a lived-in nature. Similarly, the mixed olive green and dark tan for the ground makes a wonderfully earthy tone. And secondly is something so foundational it took me a minute to even realize it: this diorama has two bases, thanks to a black slab beneath the sculpted landscape. Usually, LEGO dioramas have one or the other, but I really love the presentation here.
Tag Archives: Dioramas
Clean-up in apartment 2A, please
Housework is a real bore. It’s so easy to procrastinate over it. It’s why I’m here writing articles about LEGO on the internet. What I really need is a robot that can do my cleaning. Not a Roomba – I’m picturing something more like Duncan Lindbo‘s clean-up bot here. Sure, it’s more designed for toxic spills than doing the dishes, but look! It’s got a vacuum cleaner in one arm, and a net for… Hmm. What is the net for? Laundry? Actually, if the videos I see on the internet are anything to go by, some animals get really spooked by robot vacuum cleaners, so is it to catch unruly pets? That doesn’t sound very safe. And I might need to widen the doorway a tad to get it into my apartment. You know what, perhaps I don’t need a house-cleaning tachikoma. Not yet. Probably.
Instead of Rivendell, why not Balrog?
This exciting fiery scene is brought to you by the LEGO Rivendell 10316 set; or rather Roland Buzai’s disinterest in buying it. Its admittedly hefty price tag is prohibitive for a lot of builders plus, Roland tells us, is not a favorite scene for Lord of the Rings fans. He’d rather spend the money on a Balrog set, which doesn’t exist, so instead he constructed his own totally badass Balrog diorama complete with copious flames and four LEGO LED lights built into the base. You hear that, LEGO? Your inability to produce a Balrog set has caused someone to come up with an amazingly creative solution. Wait, that’s not a valid argument. Nevermind! It turns out legions of dedicated Lord of the Rings fans have taken matters into their own very creative and very capable hands. Click the link to see what I mean.
A cottage and a Vespa to call your own
I don’t know why but I’ve had a thing for little abodes lately. This LEGO cottage built by Erek Weidner is a little slice of perfection. You have an apple tree, a wee French Bulldog, a shiny red Vespa, and a tiny cottage to call your own. The butterflies, ladybugs, and squirrels are just icing on the cozy perfection cake. What else do you need, really? I imagine a good strong Wi-Fi connection would make this place perfect. The lawn is a little bit unruly but I think the sheep will have that settled pretty soon.
LEGO Creation of the Week (#18): Wild West by W. Navarre
Every week readers of the The Brothers Brick Telegram channel choose the Creation of the Week: one project that impressed all of us the most. Something unimaginable happened last week. This competition is too small for seven builds… this is why only one stands! And it’s ilive with stunning Wild West diorama! Seriously, take a closer look if you are in search of some Western inspiration…
Meanwhile, the new vote is already on! Join our Telegram channel to follow all the best LEGO creations, latest news, and, of course, vote for your favorites. See you there!
This LEGO diorama from the Thrawn trilogy brings great honour to the Mitth family
There’s a lot of hype in Star Wars circles about a guy called Thrawn at the moment. Apparently he had some books about him or something? Weird that they wrote nine books about a guy who was only mentioned in passing in that one episode of the Mandalorian. All jokes aside, Thrawn (or Mitth’raw’nuruodo, to give him his full title) has a special place in many a Star Wars fan’s heart, including Andrew Cazenave-Tipie (AKA CRCT Productions). I must admit that I’ve only read the latest crop of ‘canon’ books, so I don’t recognise the scene that this build is based on. What I do know is that it looks fantastic! The way the light bounces off the walls at the back gives this real depth. It also highlights some great texturing on said walls. And a mention for that floor pattern, too, made up of the 2×3 shield piece. This wouldn’t look out of place in a castle build, but looks equally at home in the Star Wars universe!
How the Wild West was won
I don’t know why but I seem to love the Old West. No, seriously, I can’t explain why. It’s not like I dress like a gunslinger or watch Westerns or anything like that because really I don’t. So you can imagine how (unexplainably) pleased I was to see this amazing LEGO Wild West town built by ilive. This has everything you can expect from a booming Old West town: horses, train tracks, stagecoaches, even one of those western windmill dealios. You can get lost in all the amazing details. A layout this good makes me wish LEGO would bring back the Western theme from 1996. I mean, seriously, who didn’t lose their gunslinging, horse riding, cow rustling minds when Fort Legoredo came out?
Winter is summoned
In this imaginative LEGO scene by Malin Kylinger, a group of mages have summoned a portal to the winter realm. The whole diorama is loaded with great builds, from the trees with their densely packed foliage, to the picnic of magical equipment beside the house. The whole build rewards closer scrutiny with lots of great details lurking.
But the real standout is the magic circle at the center, a fantastic use of cheese-slope mosaic-making to craft a pattern that’s almost quilt-like, and at the center is a perfect use for the rare Belville crown element.
Everyone needs a hobby – even orcs
Do you think orcs ever get tired of warmongering? More often than not, they’re depicted as grumpy, aggressive beings hungry for conquest, but Versteinert posits that they might also be partial to a more peaceful life. This particular one has taken to the forest for its downtime. Which makes sense – if you’ve got all those nice heavy battleaxes, there’s no point leaving them gathering dust between pillages. Might as well put them to good use making some wood. A bit of woodworking is probably a nice way to decompress after terrorising the realms of man, in the absence of LEGO sets. Making a wardrobe or coffee table, perhaps. Rest and recuperation is important, folks!
This enormous Wild West diorama will bring out your inner cowboy
LEGO’s Western theme may have only lasted a couple of years, but the sets available in that short span could build you a pretty comprehensive Wild West. In the spirit of that, Evan Crouch has collaborated with fellow builders Matt Hudson and Donnie Greenfield to bring us this huge diorama! It’s all there, laid out down one main street in typical spaghetti-western style (among some stunning landscape, I might add). There’s a bank, a sheriff’s office, a Native American camp, settlers, a train station – pretty much the only thing missing is Fort Legoredo itself!
It’s more of a defensive structure than a Hutt
LEGO builder WG Productions takes us down to the surface of Teth for this elite Clone Trooper raid on a Hutt ion cannon guarded by battle droids. The clouds above a black surface give a foreboding sense of the pinnacle the defensive structure is perched upon, and the posing of the figures lets you feel the action frozen during this tense aerial combat mission.
The trade winds blow in this desert port
TBB regular Andreas Lenander takes us to a desert port of commerce, and while it’s a lovely LEGO scene at first glance, the details bear close examination. There are obvious points of excellence like the stonework that just has the right amount of weathering or the gently curving hull of the trading vessel, but I’ve got my eye on those beautiful palm trees, which might be the best LEGO palms I’ve ever seen. And of course, let’s not leave out that beautiful blue domed roof on the tower made with tails.