Tag Archives: Dioramas

There’s nothing like a massive LEGO diorama to prove that you’ve arrived as a LEGO builder. The LEGO dioramas we feature here span everything from realistic medieval castles to scenes from World War II, and more than a few post-apocalyptic wastelands.

Embark to Episolon IV

Looking like one of those miniature models used in Star Wars, this space base is full of clever parts usage. Builder Andreas Lenander was challenged to use the tap piece as much as possible and inspiration launched him right into space. It’s hard to tell exactly what he imagined for each piece of hardware. Nonetheless, the part lends itself well to pipes and supports. The domes use halves of the Christmas baubles (with their telltale white dots) to hold in all that bright green foliage. As for that craggy landscape, Andreas achieved it by laying bricks on their side as closely together as possible within the limits of the round border he created. It all comes together in a lovely sci-fi scene, complete with a tiny rover.

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Yo dawg, I heard you like trains

Railways aren’t all built alike, and that’s what allows Pieter Post to create this awesome bit of recursion in a LEGO diorama. The green engine is a narrow-gauge steam engine, allowing it to be transported on a standard-gauge flatcar. The engine and flatcar both are magnificent, with lots of details that are so cleanly sculpted they blend in, even down to the wood-slatted structure on the back of the flat—a structure whose purpose escapes me. I also love that Pieter hasn’t simply shown the pair on a straight piece of track, but instead took the time to sculpt a small diorama. The uneven edges add a great deal of visual interest and give the scene a feeling of being part of something much larger.

Another day in Allanar

For many of us, our first LEGO collaborations are with our siblings. Brother builders Isaac and John Snyder know that life gets away from us as time goes on, but thankfully they managed to get another session in that gave us some great results. After knocking out the Everdell castle they took a little trip to the countryside of Alnya to show us a day in the life of a Dwelf. Lush with wildlife and foliage, this little cottage on the edge of Allnar forest is full of interesting parts usage and plenty of character. That purple door certainly makes a statement, but I love the buckets on the chimney or chainlinks around the well.

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I’m sorry, did I break your concentration?

The last thing battle droids want to perceive with their photoreceptors is Mace Windu. Once that lavender-hued lightsaber ignites, it’s over for them. Noah (H2brick) built a diorama of an iconic Mace Windu moment from the final season of The Clone Wars, where he swoops in to captures the shipyards of Anaxes.

While this diorama depicts the interior of a grey warehouse, Noah took care to spice it up with as much colour as he could, as he feels most Star Wars LEGO builds are too grey. One of his goals was to make this scene vibrant with just enough colourful highlights to break up the grey. The bright yellowish-orange highlight draws the eye up from the battleground to the roof and gangway. So do the clone troopers dropping in from above, where we see a bit of Anaxes itself. The blue and purple behind the scaffolding elements make a good depiction of the forever dawn and dusk skies of the planet.

If you agree or disagree with Noah on Star Wars builds being all grey, check out some builds here and see for yourself. Check out some of Noah’s older builds, where he’s been spicing up grey landscapes with colour.
I personally think he’s taking shots at me for the big grey triangle I recently built…

Just a slice of medieval life

To say that I’m intrigued by this LEGO layout built by td_brix is an understatement. The path comes from a destination unknown. It traverses through this outpost in the middle of the water, then leads out of the composition again to another unknown destination. Why is it here? Where does the path lead? Who lives here? This little slice of medieval life proposes more questions than answers. But still, it is a pretty stellar thing. I’m enamored by the highly textured three-tiered roof. I want to live here, even for just a weekend or so. If this were an Airbnb, I’d book this place in a minute!

The White Bridge of Randland in LEGO

A few episodes into The Wheel of Time on Amazon Prime and fans of the original series by Robert Jordan have already sounded off about what’s disappointed them. Being outside that group but familiar with the disappointment a book-to-film/series adaptation can bring, I can understand a few of their points. Nonetheless, I’ve enjoyed most of what I’ve seen so far. Pacing and casting choices aside, the series has inspired fans of the series and LEGO to create their versions of its iconic moments and places. Builder Douglas Hughes brings us the second in a series of scenes he’s contributed to a Randland-inspired collaboration. Here he’s created his own version of Whitebridge in Andor. Or should I say the White Bridge? Both, I guess, so take a moment to appreciate all those detailed and ornate buildings rising up to match the height of the bridge.

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Been spendin’ most their lives living’ in a Theives’ Paradise

Renowned LEGO builder Bart De Dobbelear tells us that “The golden city ruins of Kadena were renowned for their loot and riches.” Oooh! It’s ours for the taking, then. Look at all that beautiful gold! Book my flight, I’m calling in sick! But then he goes on to say; “Many thieves tried their luck, but only a handful escaped the clutches of the city’s guardians.” Wait, guardians? I knew there would be a catch! Cancel that flight. I am not sure if the crazy-haired crab-robots or the two thuggish-looking fellows are the thieves or guardians. Perhaps the guardians are unseen and they’re even bigger and hideous-er than what is pictured here. Either way, I want no part of it. My sense of adventure ends right at making cheap and awkward intros but it really goes no further than that. I’ll just be happy with the pay TBB gives us. Wait, they pay us, right? Don’t they? It’s hard to keep track when everything is direct deposit these days.

While I work that out with TBB’s Human Resources Department, you can check out why Bart De Dobbelear is in a league of his own when it comes to creating fabulous textures and far-out alien worlds. Wait, do we have a Human Resources Department?

A post-apocalyptic meat buffet

Some visions of the apocalypse involve dark, war-torn cities, some take place in barren deserts, while others speak of…some kind of Squid Game, somehow. This LEGO diorama by Insomnia Builds features a society of people who live in cabins on the ocean’s surface. At a quick distant glance, we see a collection of neat little cabins and even floating gardens. Aside from needing urgent roof repair, the denizens here seem quite content to live within their floating society. But with water comes scary tentacle monsters and that is precisely what they’re dealing with here. This piece bears the uncanny title of Meat Buffet and the apparently sleep-deprived builder serves up the caption of “I’m sure someone will eat meat today”. The thing is, we’re not sure if he means the people of this watery town or the tentacle monster. From the looks of things, it’ll probably be both!

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The shadows of Shadar Logoth

The eerie city of Shadar Logoth stands in magnificent ruin in this large diorama by Brick Ninja. They’ve been slowly working their way through scenes from Robert Jordan’s monumental Wheel of Time series, presenting each snapshot completely immersively. Brick Ninja doesn’t show us the full build–or even if the structure is more than a facade. Instead, it’s built for the camera, to be seen from this angle, and it’s beautiful, with architectural details sculpted throughout. The detailing at the top of the large central doorway is especially nice, as is the huge domed roof.

This LEGO Halo diorama takes us back to the classics

I recently replayed Halo: Combat Evolved for the first time in years with the updated Master Chief Collection, and I have to say that 20 years on, the game still holds up remarkably well. I do miss those split-screen, multi-TV LAN games with friends, though. This LEGO diorama by DP_Studios_ takes me right back there with that iconic Covenant architecture and the unmistakable and eternally awesome Warthog. The builder has added just the right amount of details throughout to make it feel the way I remember it, though I secretly suspect this diorama actually has more texture than the original game.

This incredible LEGO Star Wars build shows the temple on Yavin 4 after the war

The great temple on Yavin-4 was a Rebel Alliance headquarters early in their fight against the Empire. It even served as the main staging base for the assault on the original Death Star. But, once that massive space station was destroyed, the Rebels were forced to evacuate Yavin-4 and establish bases elsewhere in the galaxy. So, what happens to a rebel base after a hasty retreat? Markus Aspacher spent a year constructing an answer in LEGO for us.

Click here to explore the temple on Yavin-4 after the war.

Let’s move to this sunken temple. What can go wrong?

When I saw Andreas Lenander’s sunken temple of Mu’hit I immediately decided I wanted to live there. Sure, I can’t breathe underwater and frankly, I’m not the best swimmer so that might be a problem. But check out that view though. Look at those stingrays, those dolphins, the fish, and all that beautiful coral. It’s just breathtaking. Literally breathtaking as I’d drown within minutes. Still, that view though. As evidenced by the few LEGO skeletons scattered here and there things didn’t go entirely well for some of the prior tenants. Perhaps I should have thought that through before submitting my housing application.

If you’re as enthralled as I am, be sure to check out our archives for more of this builder’s stuff!