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.

Darn good deals on discount droids

As vast as the on-screen Star Wars universe is, there’s probably no corner of it that hasn’t been rendered in LEGO at one time or another. So, it should come as no surprise that LEGO fans have begun imagining their own corners of the universe to build. Abe Fortier does a particularly impressive job of rendering a heretofore unseen section of Tatooine with his Jawa Rummage Sale custom build. Even without the familiar aliens and Stormtroopers hanging about, this building would be instantly recognizable as a locale on the famous desert planet. Abe makes excellent use of greebling for the sci-fi trimmings, and the oft-ignored single groove side of the masonry brick adds interesting texture to the building. Be sure to look closely at what each of these shady characters is up to, so you can spot all the great gags and easter eggs that Abe has hidden in the model.

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I scream, you scream, we all scream for Batman!

What does famed LEGO builder Paul Hetherington do when he’s not impressing us with his amazing talent? Nothing, as it turns out. That’s because Paul is always impressing us with his talent. I’m pretty sure he can just sip a cup of coffee or mow his lawn and we’d all be impressed, by golly! Take this brightly-colored Batman diorama, for example. It seems The Joker has repurposed an abandoned ice cream factory into a…wait for it…I Scream Factory. Of course he has! That Joker doesn’t simply engage in normal bad guy stuff like robbing banks or not picking up after his dog. No, The Clown Prince of Crime goes above and beyond with his own unique sense of flair and style. Dousing Batman’s sweet ride in some kind of oozing radioactive soft-serve goo really takes the cake but the Joker has other tricks up his sleeve.

Click to discover what else The Joker has in store!

TBB cover photo for May 2021: Domino Rally Diorama

Watching dominoes fall is fun. It’s mesmerising. In addition to the time and concentration spent setting them up for that sole purpose, it’s satisfying watching the art form of them tumble into each other. It’s better when the layouts are intricate and imaginative, full of varying levels and moving gizmos that further demonstrate reactions. As a part of the RogueOlympics 101 parts challenge, builder Ben Tritschler built a small layout resembling wooden building blocks that every small child seems to have had. And it functions too! Ben also uploaded a video where he topples the dominoes and it’s oh so satisfying! Fun fact: That’s Stretchy from Little Robots, and he is genuine LEGO, as he comes from an old Duplo set.

Check out more builds from the RogueOlympics contest here!

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The Hogwarts Entrance Hall to rule all entrance halls

Have you ever had that friend who you try to act all cool around, but who’s definitely much cooler and more talented than you? Well, I have a few, actually, but when it comes to LEGO Harry Potter, there is only one true master. Eric Law has awed and inspired many times over with his dazzling and ginormous recreations of the Wizarding World. This time, he brings us an exceptional model of the Hogwarts Entrance Hall. There is so much going on here, it’s a little shocking. Dare you to take the time to count all the frames!

“But wait, Bre! Do the stairs actually move?” You bet your Firebolt they do! Here is a short snippet GIF, but you should definitely check out the full video on Eric’s Instagram page.

Can’t get enough Harry Potter builds? We have you covered!

Somewhere under the sea, somewhere waiting for me

I’m thinking of adorning my home with aquarium decor even though I don’t have any fish. I mean, think about it; tikis, skulls, mermaids, pirate ships. It’s pretty much the decor I already have minus the DayGlo paint. Or better yet, I can move all my stuff into this awesome LEGO Coral Castle by Jake Hansen. With bright coral, various lifeforms, and seaweed made of flex tubes there is a lot to love here. But my favorite detail is the fish made from beehives. I mean, come on, that’s just brilliant! Jake is competing in Iron Builder and, as brilliant as the beehive fish are, that is not even the seed part. This one is. He tells us twenty-four were used in this undersea diorama. This Iron Builder competition is just firing up so I get a feeling we’ll be seeing plenty more great builds from Jake soon.

Life in the Fractured Kingdoms: City of Atrocity

A pop of colour does wonders for every LEGO creation. And some colour combinations work better than others. Armon Russ shows us how good medium blue, lime green and medium lavender go together. In this creation they are a true feast for the eyes. I have absolutely no idea how the blue window frames were made, but they look absolutely amazing. My guess is it has something to do with brackets or are they just tiles? This build is a prime example of how well put together minifigures can enhance the beauty of a creation. Elsa’s skirt looks great on Anna’s top. And Eggheads tuxedo looks wonderful on a female fig. Last but definitely not least I would like you to zoom in on the ground. It is made by connecting round 2×2 plates with round 2×2 and 3×3 tiles. The effect is marvelous.

Juggernaut’s Rampage; two words you don’t want to hear together

Juggernaut and rampage are two words in the English language you don’t want to hear together and yet here we are. This particular Juggernaut is in reference to the X-Men baddy whose schtick is using his bullet-shaped head as a battering ram. For some reason when I try the same thing the results are less than optimal. Here we see Wolverine either trying to stop him or going for a ride on the massive belligerent brawler’s back. Either way, this portion of the X-Mansion is surely about to turn into rubble. This fun X-Men LEGO diorama is brought to you by The Brothers Brick alumni Tim Lydy. I really like Juggernaut’s running stance and Wolverine’s leap lines created with clear flex tubes are a nifty touch. It appears as if Wolverine was tasked with mowing the lawn just as the big bruiser came barreling through.

The Rebels don’t stand a chance

May the Fourth may be over, but we saw so many great Star Wars models from LEGO fans that we’re still catching up. Case in point, this awesome Imperial base by Jan, the Creator and Pablo Brickasso. Jan created the base, and unlike a lot of bases we see, this one looks completely accurately scaled to minifigures, with a large landing pad, hangar bay, cargo area, and even some base defenses. The AT-ST is courtesy of Pablo, and it looks like a great minifigure-scale rendition. Meanwhile, the slick TIE Fighter follows instructions from Jerac.

Here be alligators along the Shipwreck Island!

Ahoy mateys! LEGO builder Markus Aspacher has a little something that definitely hits us in the nostalgic feels. It is a remake of the official 6296 Shipwreck Island set from 1996. Like the set, it’s a shipwreck turned island complete with a small raft, pirate mast sail and alligator. But this modernized version utilizes newer pieces, cool build techniques, and a fancy-pants base that looks like a desolate location in the Caribbean. There’s a neat mix of solid-colored and transparent pieces that convey areas of depth and shallows in the water. It is way more engaging than the blue baseplate that the original set came with. This is not the first time this builder has wowed us with his swell build techniques. It turns out that awesome dioramas is kinda Markus’ thing.

LEGO Star Wars 40451 Tatooine Homestead: GWP for 2021 May the Fourth weekend [Review]

May the Fourth, the annual Star Wars Day, is almost here, and as usual LEGO is releasing some special goodies to celebrate. This year brings another freebie Gift with Purchase (GWP) set in the line of Star Wars microscale dioramas that LEGO’s been exploring since 2019. 40451 Tatooine Homestead lets you finally recreate Uncle Owen haggling over droids with the Jawa junk dealers outside the Lars family underground home. Maybe you can even get those units in the south range repaired by midday. The set includes 218 pieces and will be available from LEGO.com and in LEGO stores May 1 through May 5, free with a minimum purchase of US $85 | CAN $85 | UK £85 of LEGO Star Wars products.

The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Click to read the full review

I want much more than this provincial life

It takes a careful eye for detail to craft a large LEGO immersive scene since every corner of the frame has to be considered. But it also takes a large number of LEGO bricks, far more than one would think before beginning the project (especially for the foreground, which always needs more, always). Talented LEGO builder Joe (jnj_bricks) has both the careful eye and the pile of bricks and uses them masterfully to craft this castle harbor scene, with a quay, lots of shops, a castle, and even a drunken pirate down on the dock. It certainly fits the bill as a large scene, too, measuring 144×80 studs.

Joe neglects no surface in the scene, from the textured roofs to the detailed walls. There are slight variations in color to show weathering, and no two houses have the same wat-and-daub pattern. The selling point is the minifigure posing, however, which can be one of the trickiest bits to nail down, but Joe got it just right, with dynamic and natural poses all around. It really sells that this is a normal day with people going about their ordinary lives. Pretty sure I see the baker with the same old bread and loaves to sell. And do you see the goat? He’s got a goat, the Holy Grail of castle builders!

Not just your garden greenhouse

If you’ve never been to a botanical garden, you should go. As a kid, the first one I ever visited was the Butchart Gardens in British Columbia, Canada. I recall feeling like I had entered a wonderland. And as I saw the greenhouses, I realized I would never look at them the same way again. Since then, of course, I have been exposed to many large gardens and massive greenhouses, but I’ll never forget the beginning. This LEGO build by Kris Kelvin (Montgomery Burns) reminds me of that experience. It may be mostly veggies as opposed to flowers, but those big greenhouses sure are striking!

The huge display is filled with nice element usage, especially through the implementation of minifigure parts and accessories. There are also a couple of fun touches for those keen to investigate closely. Although it’s not a new technique, I’m personally fond of the fence design. Apparently, this will be part of an even larger diorama, which we can’t wait to see in its entirety! In the meantime, check out some of this builder’s other excellent work.