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.

It’s a whole new world out there

When humanity finally makes it out into the farthest reaches of space and potentially finds extraterrestrial life, it’s doubtful it would look much like the lifeforms we know. And this alien world scene by LEGO builder Bart De Dobbelaer looks the part perfectly with a thick growth of…something. Plus, with its moody lighting, striking colors, and ominous planetary body in the background, the scene is highly atmospheric (so much so that the explorers don’t have their helmets on!). The large, scattered dark blue slopes make an interesting texture that’s reminiscent of broken shale. Look closely and you’ll spot lots of cool parts being used, but my favorites are the clear rings from Clickits on the alien growth.

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See you at Pier 3... if you can make it back to the surface safely

We rarely focus on the piece count when discussing digital builds. Well, it’s not surprising since accumulating a palette of real-life bricks is a lot more challenging than copy-pasting some from a digital library. Nevertheless, designing something mind-blowing always requires a lot of skill and an artistic eye — whether you work digitally or not. I was totally taken aback by a diorama Finn Roberts revealed the other day. Being a result of thorough planning and an enormous amount of designing, this digital masterpiece brings back one of my childhood hobbies — spending hours spying insanely detailed posters from LEGO promo catalogs.

The composition, the focal length, the depth, even the angle — everything seems to be just perfect in this photo. Finn shares that it took him seven months to finish the designs of the facades. And these are just a part of the whole diorama, which weighs in at nearly 12,000 pieces. The crowded alley of the pier fit about 60 minifigure characters; I find a new one each time I look at the image! And if you are not into minifigures, check out these amazing shots of the facades. The longer you look, the more parts you notice that didn’t make into the final shot even though they are still there.

An autumn haven for the Post Master

Imagine a world in which the trees keep their vibrant autumn colors all year round. Vermont and New Hampshire aren’t even that charming, and they make a mint in tourism on account of their autumn leaves! Ayrlego has built such a world in LEGO and it’s called Otoño (The Autumn Isle). Here we see that a post office has recently opened in the sleepy settlement of Hojaroja on the Eslandolan Island of Otoño. When not delivering the mail, the Post Master lives upstairs in his quaint Tudor style home. I can get lost in all these details, particularly the lantern and the rustic chimney. I can imagine standing on that porch and soaking in the autumn splendor. We quite often get lost in Ayrlego’s worlds. Settle in for a while because you can too.

Greebles galore

There are very few LEGO builders whose creations give me the chills, but Bart De Dobbelaer is definitely one of them. Intruder Alert is where we see all of Bart’s photography, editing, and building skills combine into one work of art and the result is haunting… and gorgeous. My eye is immediately drawn to the silhouettes of the unidentified intruders, poised and ready. The walls are decked out with greebles and ominous neon lights have been cast to really set the atmosphere. The ribbed hoses running across the length of the floor, several of which are slightly bent, add to the realism of this scene. According to Bart, we’re looking at his entire light bluish gray collection greebled on the walls of this passageway. The spikes on the armed intruders, the textures on the floor and walls, and the curvature of the entrance all work in harmony.

Got your favorite sci-fi soundtrack playing in your head? Then you’re ready to check out some more of Bart’s creations.

Orange and White as the new Blue and Yellow

Cargo transports don’t always have to look like they stepped out of the set of Aliens, you know. Clean lines and bright colors make this LEGO hangar build by Boba-1980 stand out to me. The focus on white and orange harkens back to the Mars Mission theme, as well as the current City Space designs. (The City influence can been seen in elements like the canopy window from 2019’s 60225: Rover Testing Drive.) I like how having a second cargo pod as part of the scene lets you get a feeling for how the dropship operates. I also like the fact that there’s an exposed outlet and plug on the back wall. That’s a bit of detail I don’t come across very often.

Boba describes the theming as “CS.NextGen” – Classic Space the Next Generation. I’d love to see more builds in this style. I mean, I love classic space and all, but there’s always room for alternate universes that aren’t simply Neo Classic Space.

Not all is well in this city well

Brick Depository welcomes us all to this medieval LEGO city featuring a lovely city gate, a tudor style gate house and a city square with a well at it’s center. There’s only one problem. It appears the well is almost dried out and it appears something evil is lurking in the dark cavern.

There are so many nice things to highlight about this creation. Lets start from the top and work our way down the well to the cavern beneath it. I am a big fan of this tudor gate house using the technic chain links to represent the bare visible wood. Using a flexible brick in stead of a tiles gives the wall a more organic feel and makes it less bricky. The best thing about this creation has to be the fence in the city gate. It looks so intricate and detailed from afar and it took me a little while to figure out how it was made. It’s actually quite simple and quite clever. It’s made from plates with clips attached to evey second stud. This plate with clips then faces anotner plate with clips attached in the different direction. The clips on both plates interlock and voila! Last but not least, I am really fond of the smooth transition from paving to ground to cavern walls. Want to see what is hiding in the dark? Check out his flickr page for more pictures.

Maybe the Amazon will save itself

Brick built plants can help make bring a LEGO scene to life. And when the plants are the focus of a diorama, that scene is full of life, such as this collaboration between Emil Lidé and Bartu. This diorama shows four different sections of the amazon jungle that work together as one scene or as the same scene through time.

Through the series, these builders display a dried riverbed, which is overtaken by a fully grown jungle, then destroyed so someone can mine for gold before the jungle finally begins to retake the land. The vegetation throughout the build is fantastic, so much so that it is difficult to call out any one part! The colour choices are also on point, from the vibrant mixture of greens in the thriving jungle to the more drab dark tan and olive in the mining scene. Not to be overlooked is the subtle landscaping, from the smooth sides of the bricks making up the wet river bed to the slope made up of wedge plates showing how the miners have dug into the earth.

A very stable genius

A builder who goes by the name of Ayrlego has constructed a LEGO scene depicting a peaceful stable. He tells us that Lacryma, with its rolling plains and temperate climate, has become famous for the quality of the horses bred there. In the settlement of Elizabethville, many stables such as this one were built to house both the equines and their human companions. I would love to live in this world for a little while and maybe brush the horses and banter with the townsfolk. The word for how I feel about this is anemoia, a nostalgia for a time and a place I’ve never known. Are you feeling a bit of anemoia too? It turns out this builder is quite good at evoking feelings for a time and a place we’ve never been to. I hope you can check out the archives to see what I mean.

Containment breach

There’s been a slew of stunning LEGO builds recently that is based on the work of conceptual artists and I, for one, am thrilled. My case in point; this neat creation by Bart De Dobbelaer is called Containment Breach and is inspired by the work of Francesco Lorenzetti. Here is the specific reference material. Bart makes great use of color and composition to replicate the unsettling feel of Francesco’s piece. The fearsome red creature is nestled in the shadows and stands out in stark contrast against gray, white, and black. As one commenter on his Flickr stream puts it, “This is classic Bart” and well…I have to agree. Here’s another recent creation by Bart to show you what they mean.

Goat raid

LEGO released the 7189 Mill Village Raid set nine years ago (yes, you heard it correctly, nine years ago!). To this day this is the only set to feature this particular LEGO goat. Buying a LEGO goat on Bricklink is like buying a kidney on the black market. Somehow adding a goat adds to your creation makes it ten times as good. Hellboy.lego made a beautiful new rendition of this set. And it doesn’t need goats to make it look good. However, he added 4 of them anyway. I am not sure what is being raided in this creation but it would be wise to snatch a goat or two while at it…

My uncle is a great fan of LEGO. He once spoke these wise words: “Making something awesome out of LEGO is not about having a lot of different bricks, it’s about having a lot of the same bricks.” And Hellboy.lego proves him right by using a ton of 1×2 tiles in this creation. Most of the walls and the roofs are composed of 1×2 tiles. Even the blades of the mill are made of them!

Adorable cottage in the woods to raise velociraptors

In a cottage in the woods, there lived a… dinosaur trainer? Sure, why not. This pastoral scene by Isaac Snyder is a perfect blend of simplicity and technique from the textured foundation to the interesting use of spiky vines tree branches. I really like the mostly smooth tile roof, with just a few studs for visual interest. And take a closer look at that door, with those “espresso handles” for hinges… nice parts usage!

Operation space-goat teleportation

Space is the place for ground-breaking science like figuring out how to teleport rare pieces of your LEGO collection from one place to another. Andreas Leander is here conducting the research in his latest diorama. It follows the everyday lives of Sven and his crew at Epsilon IV as a part of Andreas’ ongoing series of cinematic Classic Space builds. This time, the crew is trying out a new contraption to teleport a space-goat, but rest assured, none have been harmed in the process.

The teleportation device is made with a variety of tubes running along a simple frame. The tubes feed into a stack of different-sized radars and a Harley Davidson wheel that hovers ominously over the test subject. Alternating long wedge plates and 1×2 rounded plates surround a single space-goat, totally oblivious of what’s to come. The platform construction is super captivating to look at and the blue lighting at its center creates a gorgeous atmospheric glow throughout the build. I’m also loving the details scattered around the scene. An old mech makes an appearance in the background, which we assume is used for transporting the space-goat from pod to platform. If you look even closer, you might see that the pods each have a single plant piece for the space-goats to munch on as they wait for their turn. All this talk of space-goat teleportation has many of us wondering when these space-goats will start arriving into our LEGO rooms. We can’t guarantee any goats, but do keep an eye out!

In the meantime, check out some more Neo-Classic Space creations from our archives!