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.

Treasure of the Snake Queen

Not to make this all about me, but I’m an artist who enjoys illustrating book covers. My work is heavily influenced by old pulps, spy novels, game manuals, serial horrors, children’s mysteries such as Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, and anything involving elements of danger, intrigue, lush colors, and provocative titles. The point to telling you this is with a spooky castle, and a dense forest, this LEGO creation immediately resonated with me. The title, “Treasure of the Snake Queen” evoked a sense of danger and exotic adventure. Already this was something I was excited to write about. You can imagine my delight when I then learned that this piece was built by our own Brothers Brick contributor Flynn DeMarco and his partner Richard Board. Together they comprise a cohesive building team who goes by the name of Tricky Bricks.

See more of this massive model, including a video of it in action!

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An urban adventurer’s playground

Abandoned factories seem to divide people into two camps: those who for some reason find them beautiful, and those who think such structures should be demolished as quickly as possible. Such locations attract all sorts of people, from graffiti artists to homeless people and edgy teenagers looking for adventure. Dutch LEGO builder and photographer Niek Geurts probably isn’t homeless, and I doubt he is an edgy teenager. Judging by his photography website, he seems to be inspired by abandoned industrial architecture, and his recent LEGO recreation of an abandoned factory is filled with all the functional details one would expect in a factory.

The scene has just about everything you could ask for. There is a little guard house, a railroad access, all sorts of hoses and air vents on the roof and other must-haves for any factory, abandoned or not. There are a few characteristics of abandoned buildings as well; broken windows, graffiti (wonderfully brick-built examples here!), cracked pavement and uncontrollable vegetation sprouting everywhere, including a bit of moss on the roof. The two bikes on the left side of the diorama are either stolen and discarded or the property of whoever is filming clickbait YouTube videos inside…

A glorious day down on the farm

LEGO Castle is a building style dominated, perhaps understandably, by LEGO castles. It’s good to see the less militaristic side of medieval life depicted in the bricks — particularly when it’s as well done as this Manor House and farm scene by Peter Ilmrud. The main building is excellent — stone walls evoked with lots of texture, a nicely-built thatched roof, and the typical “Mock Tudor” woodwork enlivened with sand green window frames. The surrounding farm is wonderfully detailed with a field of corn, a carrot and pumpkin patch, a paddock for the horses, and a filthy-looking pig sty.

A lower-angle image gives a nice close-up view of some of the finer details, including the attention paid to the different types of paving and path, the tiled roof of the outbuilding, and those wonderful crops…

Skate for your life!

Kids, always wear protective gear when skating or cycling – unless you take part in a wild futuristic survival race, and your life depends on your score. Paddy Bricksplitter reveals a roller skater of the future: a courageous racer running in a pair of very high-tech roller-skates. The dynamics of the scene and posture of the figure tell a story of some death-or-glory showdown. Besides the excellent composition, the build is remarkable for its scale, which perfectly suits Rey’s head. Finishing everything off is spot-on use of multiple stickers from various LEGO themes.

The original chicken walker

Long before Chicken Walkers (a.k.a. AT-STs) wobbled about on snowy plains and through thick forests in a galaxy far, far away, another walker with chicken legs wobbled about through the thick forests of Eastern Europe. That walker is the house of Baba Yaga. Despite the ambiguous intentions of that misshapen old woman, if I were wandering about lost I think I would prefer to meet some stormtroopers rather than her. Jessica Farrell brings us the hut of the notorious hag, complete with the pestle-wielding witch herself clad in black robes and a large cauldron that perhaps contains the stewed remains of some unwary traveler.

The house has some nice shaping to the walls and roof, along with a convincing wooden texture. The trees of the forest are also nice, with good use of parts to make for lovely bark. The Ninjago ghost swords make for surprisingly good plants, which complement the rest of the foliage beautifully. I especially like the tires stacked up to form the chicken-leg pattern on the house supports. So, who wants to go walking the woods of Eastern Europe? Not I, not with a woman like this lurking about.

Enormous LEGO castle dominates the shoreline

If a medieval castle was an exercise in the projection of power, we’ve got a new Lord of the Manor on the scene in Joel Midgley. His latest LEGO project is Hingston Castle, a formidable fortress, impressive in both scale and details. The sheer size of the castle grabs the initial attention, but then you’re sucked in by the little touches — the lovely shoreline landscaping, the water, the roughness of the walls, the off-grid angles of the outer rampart. And as for that dark grey line tracing the contours of the crenellations — beautiful!

Joel has lavished as much attention to detail on the action within the walls as without. The central yard plays host to grazing animals, trees and flowers, patrolling guards, and stables…

Best of all, hinged panels in those walls allow visibility of the castle’s fully-detailed interior. Click to take a tour of this incredible LEGO castle…

Just follow the yellow (LEGO) brick road

Thanks to The LEGO Movie 2’s Collectible Minifigures, the full crew from The Wizard of Oz is now available in minifigure form, so the time was ripe to start seeing some great models from the classic film. Enter Livin’TheBrickLife with this amazing diorama that mixes scales to great effect. With the city of Oz a tiny microscale sculpture in the distance, the four adventurers loom large in the foreground.

The whole diorama is much larger, though, incorporating a variety of iconic scenes, each connected by the yellow brick road, made of sideways bricks.

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This massive LEGO Mos Eisley diorama has got it where it counts

The Millennium Falcon might be the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy, but she’s also the subject of many a LEGO creation. Here’s Daniel Ross‘ take on the famous Star Wars freighter, depicting the moment we first set eyes on her, squeezed into Docking Bay 94 in Mos Eisley spaceport on the planet of Tatooine. At first glance, you might think the ship is the massive official version — 75192 UCS Millennium Falcon — but no, this impressive piece of building is a custom model, all Daniel’s own design.

Click here to see more pictures of this impressive diorama

Enormous Imperial hangar is the perfect place to fine-tune your AT-AT

Back in 2017, tastenmann77 took inspiration from The Empire Strikes Back and built an impressive Imperial AT-AT Walker. However, now he’s taken things to a whole new level and put together a huge maintenance hangar diorama to surround it. This LEGO creation is enormous – the walker itself is 45cm tall and 50cm long, which should give some impression of just how big the hangar is.

Sometimes larger LEGO creations rely on their sheer scale to impress, but this one is also filled with a frankly astonishing amount of detail. We’ve got Darth Vader arriving to carry out an inspection welcomed by a formation of Stormtroopers, there are Imperial officers overlooking the maintenance efforts from a gantry, there’s welding going on inside the AT-AT’s hold, and the floor is marked with realistic-looking warning stripes and is covered in interesting cargo and equipment. There’s even a mouse droid tootling around! Continue reading →

It’s a wild, wild life with these jaw-dropping LEGO jungle animals

Travel deep into the jungle and pay a visit to its denizens with City Son‘s stunning LEGO wildlife model. Tigers, parrots, a mandrill, and even a skunk inhabit this overgrown temple.

Figural modeling has always fascinated me. I am always blown away by builders who can create organic models that really capture the essence of living creatures. This is a prime example of how to do it right. Each animal on its own would be a model worthy of notice. Combine them together with some beautiful scenery and you have something truly spectacular.

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A castle for your princess

When I first saw this diorama titled Molly’s Castle, I actually thought it was microscale due to the overall silhouette. But then I spotted some minifigures high atop the turrets, and mounted knights wending their way through the forest. Built by Jon & Catherine Stead over just six days, this LEGO diorama features a rare tan castle in a verdant setting, with plenty of details to ogle. Measuring nearly 4 feet in length and 17 inches tall, you won’t lack for adventure here.

Click to see more of the castle diorama

A perfect castle destination for that end-of-summer family vacation

When I think of all the activities and amenities I want in the perfect vacation locale, the first things that come to mind are: disease-filled swamps; crocodile-infested waters; dark, damp, and uncomfortable rooms; seminars on torture; unnecessary violence; and a complimentary continental breakfast. Fortunately for me, Patrick Massey has built exactly such a place! The dark green waters around Stormholme Castle tempt me with their malaria, West Nile, or dengue-carrying mosquitoes, and the lushness of the vegetation makes me certain that the humidity level is probably about as close to the carrying capacity of air as it can get; I love sweating profusely while being bitten by bugs, don’t you? The dark gray castle itself looks appropriately foreboding, given its swampy setting, and is, shockingly enough, Patrick’s first actual castle (he has specialized in the medieval fantasy genre for at least six years, yet never built a castle; a few towers, and small fortresses, but no castles). The wait has been worth it.

Click to see more of this incredible castle