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.

The way of the sword

The last time I hung out under a tree shirtless with a sword it led to a record number of cops showing up at the scene. But this LEGO minifigure pulls it off in style and that probably has everything to do with his sweet washboard abs. Unlike my drunken ordeal at the city park, SweStar has portrayed a sense of harmony and serenity here. I’m loving the tree trunk and even the root that extends beyond the orderly border. This is a bit tricky and not entirely recommended for the novice but this builder separated the minifigure legs from its waist in order to have the figure seated in a lotus position. Classy! Check out our archives to see the other times we’ve been totally enchanted by this builder’s stuff.

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Would you press a button for me, please?

You don’t need to be claustrophobic to dislike elevators: they are poky, boring, and often painfully slow. But it doesn’t stop there. Depending on where you are going, an elevator ride can be much more unbearable. Look at this industrial-grade platform built by shiu. Although this diorama isn’t very tall, the combination of smooth panels creates a perfect impression of a facility buried hundreds of feet beneath the ground. And take a close look at the minifigures — I love how they tell a piece of the story unfolding there. Any ideas what happened… or is about to happen?

This massive castle display is incredibly detailed

Created by Ben Pitchford, this LEGO model is a beautiful diorama of a medieval castle by the ocean, overlooking a quaint village and a forest hideout. The castle rests upon a cliff which is made up of a variety of sloped bricks with plants pieces wedged between the gaps in the rocks. Several waterfalls flow over the cliff faces into the colourful ocean below. There are even some hidden features underneath the castle such as mysterious caves, a dungeon and a blacksmith.

The castle has a dominating presence created by its sheer height and elaborate layers. The textured surfaces of the castle are produced through a mixture of bricks being stacked up normally and bricks placed sideways. A few of the entrance ways lead to detailed throne rooms, perfectly suited for the royalty of the castle.

A stony path to the castle leads down to a gate with a village surrounding it. The roofing details of the buildings provides a great sense of slabs stacked together. Villagers are shown to be selling an assortment of vegetables and meats, while a cart, full of supplies, heads towards the castle gate.

But the residents of the village should beware as the hamlet is overshadowed by a forest people base. Platforms are built into trees with precarious wooden bridges connecting the platforms. On the forest floor there is a training ground with targets and a blazing central fire. The intentions of the forest people seems unclear, although there are a few of them hiding and sneaking around, close to the castle.

There is also a video of the display where Ben shows some of the intricate details and hidden features of the build. The castle is hooked up with a lighting system, used to simulate flickering firelight in the dungeon and throne rooms. A water wheel is also shown to have a battery powered mechanism allowing it to spin.

Check out more articles relating to fantastic castle builds, here.

A lovely scene at the seashore

When you are feeling stressed out, where do you go to unwind and re-connect with nature? Maybe someplace like this tropical beach by Brickleas, built for an Iron Builder contest using the white radar dish piece, used quite skillfully as steps, a sign, and shades to block the sun on the roof. And in case you missed it, the seagulls as well. One of my favorite features, aside from the shack, is the sand and surf, using slopes and bricks in shades of tan, including dark tan for the sand at the water’s edge.

Morning at the Museum

True story; I had a chance to work after hours at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle. I was contracted to paint display backdrops for a Mars exhibit. It was late at night, long after the patrons and staff had gone home and a security guard and I were the only two people there. I can say with confidence that a museum at night is a strange and eerie place. Some lights are on, others are off and incidentally, they leave the animatronic dinosaurs turned on so they were moving and roaring throughout the night. This LEGO creation called Morning at the Museum by Alex Eylar reminds me of that experience. To be clear, the skeleton T-Rex is from this set but the environment Alex has built for it and the lighting makes this a stellar creation indeed. Alex is quite good at setting a mood in LEGO. Check out what I mean in our archives.

The droids you weren’t looking for

Expert builder Tim Goddard is no stranger to grey greebly things. Co-writer of LEGO Space: Building the Future, he excels in spaceships, space stations, space robots, and really anything to do with space. This collection of robots—sorry, droids—must have been child’s play for him, as they are as simple as they are accurate.

While the astromech, the treadwell, and mouse droids are something we’ve seen in Star Wars numerous times, the larger Binary Loadlifter isn’t as common. Essentially a walking forklift, a plethora of greebly parts make up this lanky mechanical beast. Cabinet doors make up the arms, which provide ample space to lift even the large Imperial crates we see. But my favourite parts usage has to be the use of black Bionicle Toa Metru leg armour as the base for one of the smaller droids. Is it a mouse droid? No, those are the tiny ones. Mouse droid XL? My droid knowledge escapes me…

Tim even built a diorama of a room storing some of the crates. This could either be on the Death Star or aboard a Star Destroyer, since the white vertical lines are a defining characteristic of the Empire’s space brutalism. Tim’s iconic greenling takes a minimal approach here, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. It enhances the mechanical nature of this cold room somewhere in the coldness of space…

Check out more of Tim’s builds here!

It’s a pirate’s life for me down by ‘arr-bour

You might have missed it, but last Sunday was that silliest of holidays, Talk Like a Pirate Day. And to celebrate the occasion, Nick Sweetman built the local LEGO pirate hangout, the Skull and Crossbones Bar & Grill. The cutaway design is ingenious for giving you a feel for the building while letting you see all the piratey action, mostly consisting of lots of drinking and carousing—which seems about right. My favorite thing about this scene, though, is the multitude of pirates wearing that classic blue pirate coat. Often builders try to carefully make sure all the minifigures in a scene are uniquely dressed, but this somehow seems perfect to me for how LEGO pirates would dress and I absolutely love it.

This glorious microscale build portrays some famous Belgian landmarks

LEGO builder Ben Vijle has designed this incredible microscale cross-section of an area in the city of Ghent, Belgium. The model features the Belfort tower, the Stadshal canopy building and an assortment of shops. The structures are placed on a square stand with textured brick pieces representing roads and pavements while providing the implication of cobbled streets. The most prominent section of the diorama has to be the Belfort tower. The tower has an intricate appearance, thanks to the variety of tile pieces featured in the structure and printed round tiles from the Ninjago sets that serve as clock faces.

The adjoining structure to the tower was originally used as a hall to sell cloth. Claw pieces represent arched windows and adds to the building’s grandeur. Next to the cloth hall there are a variety of unique looking shops. An interesting selection of pieces are used along the street; one of the shops has an ice cream cone piece as its roof while another uses hockey sticks to create columns. Looks like there is even a sushi restaurant along the way if you get hungry.

The other landmark of this build is the Stadshal, which has a triangular design and is presented in brown. The building is used to host markets and concerts and overlooks a small park which has some nice details such as the angled grill pieces used as steps. Across from the Stadshal, there are a few more buildings; one of structures even uses handcuffs to create some of the upper details of its roof.

This is a professional-looking build and would make for a fantastic microscale set. The attention to detail and the interesting variation between the buildings make this an outstanding city scene.

Check out more of our articles on microscale LEGO builds.

Springtime in Weydale Valley

Here in the Pacific Northwest, we have four distinct seasons. We have a rainy winter and also a rainy spring. We have summer, which this year fell on a Tuesday and we have Spider Season. With that said, I may consider moving to Weydale Valley. Kevin Wu makes the place seem absolutely enchanting with this stunning LEGO layout. Everything from the bubbling brook to the Tudor-style mill just screams peace and serenity. Or rather it whispers peace and serenity. You can forgive the mix-up as spider season is coming upon us here in the Pacific Northwest and there’s a lot of screaming involved, as you can imagine. Anyway, I love the techniques used on the bridge and the roof of the mill. The deer, the chicken, even the little pig is chock full of charm and tranquility.

An off-the-wall take on a futuristic city

If you stay in the LEGO game long enough, you’re bound to run into the problem shelf space. Specifically, the problem of not enough of it. Andrew Lee is combating that issue with Scumbag City, a multi-storied metropolis that ingeniously hangs on Andrew’s wall.

To achieve this gravity-defying effect, Andrew has built the bottom-most layer around an already existing wooden shelf. The upper layers are secured with screws placed into the wall through Technic brick holes. From there, Andrew has installed a central elevator shaft that allows the citizens to move between levels. Each level was then outfitted with storefronts and restaurants, each equipped with front facades that can be easily removed so you can see the action within.

I particularly like the way this build so clearly tells the story of life in Scumbag City. The top-level, with its large windows and gold fencing, is clearly the home of the city’s elite. The next three levels feature large railings and brightly colored shops and restaurants. The lowest levels have smaller railings, industrial areas, and businesses like a gentleman’s club. No doubt life on the lower levels is a little harder, if for no other reason than it’s probably pretty noisy living right above the engines the keep Scumbag City aloft.

Majestic LEGO castle a true king needs and deserves

With hundreds (if not thousands!) of LEGO castles featured by our team here on Brothers Brick, leaving our editors open-mouthed with a new design has become quite a feat. Somehow, Greg Dlx came up with something equally epic and unique, a fascinating medieval-themed build. Resembling some of the most famous European castles, this enormous build seems to have it all: thick walls and massive towers, detailed inner space, and even a river by the walls for extra defending. Let’s take a closer look at some of the best bits of this build.

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TBB Cover Photo for September 2021: A sense of peace and tranquillity

There is something special about a scene that not only tells a story but triggers your imagination to see the entire world beyond what you are looking at. Heavily understated and humbly set, this scene is masterfully staged by builder W. Navarre.

Once your mind recalls that you are looking at a LEGO creation, you will feel the need to explore further and look deeper. This is when you will notice the technicality that is cloaked by the emotional connection to the scene. The bridge that draws your focus is indeed one amazing build on its own. With parts facing in just about every angle on the protractor and the clever placement of the slopes aids the design, ensuring a great visual aesthetic to the bridge. The technical candy does not stop there! For those hungry for more, your eyes soon move beyond the bridge and over the fields… then onto the mountain range in the background. It is here that you see more creative usage of curved slope pieces to help form the chiselled yet visually pleasing features of the distant mountains. The colour choices only build this further creating a clever and realistic sense of depth.

You can see the original TBB article on this build here

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