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.

A new take on an ancient protector

While this creation by MemeLUG member Micah Beideman definitely looks amazing, I still have to ponder the practical benefit of a fence underwater. All joking aside, this is indeed a pretty sweet re-imagining of a LEGO Atlantis set, Gateway of the Squid.

The base looks somewhat rushed or simple until you take a closer look at it, with some nice textured stone walls in the back and very well placed vegetation. The little temple and titular gateway are not bad either. The main focus of the build is the squid though. It is not the first time we have seen inverted tyres used as organic texture, and it is not the first time the builder used this technique either, but he still managed to sneak in a bit of a unique twist with the printed 4×4 domes as eyes. I am personally always wary of using inverted tyres, because their shape and texture is hard to match with other bricks. Micah did not seem to have such problems, as the tentacle elements and a wedge slope used as the tip of the squid’s conical body flow very well with the tyres.

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Cool off with this Hot Piece of Waterfront Property

If you’re traveling through Northern Italy, you might encounter the picturesque city of Lecco. In his latest masterpiece, “Memories of Lecco”, Dario Minisini chose to model a representation of the city’s renowned waterfront architecture. I really enjoy the overall composition of this model, which has made an excellent use of color. The brown and lavender buildings make for an excellent contrast to one another, and the mixing of old light yellowish-gray and light blueish-gray bricks creates a vintage-looking patina that feels authentic.

There is certainly no shortage of charm here. What makes Dario’s model so memorable is the amount of thought and effort that went into incorporating so much detail. A look at the tree with half its leaves missing suggests Fall must be right around the corner. Weathered-looking roof shingles are made possible with parts such as the boat oar, and the benches utilize classic Fabuland fences to great effect.

Fuel, Give Me Fire, Give me the Gas Station I Desire!

This rustic gas station was built by Markus Rollbühler. He started things off with the Ford tow truck, which then served as the inspiration behind the surrounding architecture and landscaping. According to Markus, he’s “not much of a car builder,” but I can’t help but be impressed by the intricate-looking towing mechanism on the back of his vibrant, bright-light-orange truck. Thanks to the excellent use of darker colors, Markus’ gas station really looks like something you might find while cruising down Route 66.

There are plenty of little details to enjoy, including the building’s tilted siding, the custom-built outdoor furniture, and the little red bird in the tree. In particular, I’m loving the design of those trees, which uses several green feather parts as leaves. This same technique was used in one of Markus’ models we featured back in October. In fact, that particular tree looks like it might have been transplanted next to this gas station.

Death Star rule #1: When you hear the theme music play, line up in the main hangar bay

I don’t think there is anything more fitting to celebrate “Revenge of the Fifth” (the day after May the Fourth) than this diorama by Sergio Jaensson, which depicts the arrival of Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. Although the shuttle and some of the tie fighters are official LEGO sets, their use doesn’t hurt the overall build — the diorama is so big you probably didn’t even notice them. The signature imperial white glowy lines on the walls of the hangar are a particularly excellent detail, as they prevent the walls from looking too simple and barren.

I like the use of the yellow Emperor Palpatine minifigure as it gives the scene a bit of a classic flavor. The build also contains a few Easter eggs: If you look closely in the background near the TIE fighter, you can spot some bumbling Stormtroopers — one has almost fallen from the walkway!

Massive LEGO Star Wars The Force Awakens scene depicts Rey in crashed Star Destroyer on Jakku

A three-week collaborative effort between Eli Willsea and Grant Davis resulted in a beautifully atmospheric LEGO diorama depicting Rey scavenging a derelict Star Destroyer from Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens. The build itself is incredible, showcasing both builders’ talents in creating battle damage, believable layers of sand coverage, greebling, partially buried TIE fighters and Lambda shuttles, and behind it all the stark Imperial architecture. The lighting in the scene is practical, making use of bright lamps and a smoke machine to complete the aesthetic.

Update: This model is the winner of The Brothers Brick LEGO Creation of the Year award for 2018.

Grant has also shared a behind-the-scenes video showing a time-lapse of the diorama’s construction. The video shows just how much structure is necessary to support the large interior scene that makes Rey look so small. The builder walking back and forth adding bricks also proves just how huge the diorama is!

If you enjoyed Eli and Grant’s scene, you might also like the crashed Star Destroyer scene by KevFett2011.

And the fierce dragon awaits

Earlier this year we wrote an article about two builders from Australia who came together to create an epic mythical scene. Their inspiration came from a Nordic legend about a pair of warriors who slay a fiery dragon. One of the builders, Ben Cossy, continues the tale with the dragon he calls “Yddreig the Red”. Now we have a snapshot diorama of the confrontation about to take place. It must have taken countless hours to create the incredibly detailed landscape, which features amazing rock work. Everything is positioned in a way that really brings it to life and sucks us straight into this fantasy world.

One thing is for sure: our heroes look like they have quite the battle ahead of them to survive.

The Battle of Crait diorama in bite size

The battle scene from Crait from Star Wars The Last Jedi was most memorable for its distinctive blood-red dust plumes that billow from the wake of the Resistance Ski Speeders in their feeble attempt to bring down the First Order. Their target was the modified canon protected by the First Order Heavy Assault Walkers (AT-M6) that towered over the battlefield. Builder Irwan Prabowo miniaturised the scene with a diorama that perfectly captures the tense moment.

We love the cracked planet surface texturing approach Irwan used. If you take a closer look, the tiny Ski Speeders use minifigure skates to complete the look (albeit on the outrigger, not the ski). How appropriate!

The hottest and coolest guard post

What better place to stand guard during the winter than by a hot spring? The scenery in this diorama by Jaap Bijl truly is something to look at — in fact, perhaps it’s “scenery” that the dwarves are protecting!

The builder has used his signature sagging roof style lined with a bit of snow, along with some nice wood construction on the building. While the building uses some new ideas, the star of the show is the hot spring. It uses window pane pieces as the water to make the surface extremely smooth, giving it a great reflection and allowing the deep colours underneath to be seen. These colours continue outwards on the shore in a gentle gradient to the sulfuric yellow that ends under the snow.

Open the book and let your legend unfold

It says in this unique creation that every legend has a beginning, and I believe this is indeed the beginning of Malin Kylinger‘s legend. As a newcomer to the online LEGO fan community, her photostream on Flickr is hardly half a year old. Malin’s photostream has already accumulated a few, very cute builds, but this vibrant fantasy scene is a level higher than the rest.

Obviously what makes this build unique is the ornate open book with the words “Every legend has a beginning”, but the build is much more than that. The landscape seems to be spilling into the book, while a sea serpent emerges out of the latter with a very dynamic water splashing effect. The serpent is quite good too, most notably the shaping around its eye. I can not wait to see this legend continue… Both the Legend of Anendra and of Malin.

Anything with a roof is good in a dank swamp

Medieval houses are a popular motif in LEGO fan creations, but that comes at a price – even though the quality is generally very high among these builds, there is less and less room for originality. Obviously, this build by César Soares is something more.

The Green Fish Inn does not look like a place where most people would want to spend their time in real life if presented with a choice, but it does look cool. The textures and exotic colours look great, most notably the recently returned legendary dark turquoise used as some strange mold all across the building. The roof is great, with a few patched holes and a nice mix of tiles and slopes that make for some subtle details. Both the island and trans-black lake add a great deal to the atmosphere of the scene.

Patrolling the Mekong River Delta with the PBR

Army and Marine Corps ground troops bore the brunt of the American casualties in the Vietnam War. Serving aboard a Navy ship off the coast may have been comparatively safe, but part of the US Navy was right in the thick of things too: the Riverine Patrol Force. They operated on South Vietnam’s many rivers, in particular in the Mekong river delta.

Hot on the heels of my USMC Seahorse helicopter, this weekend I built one of their boats: a Patrol Boat Riverine, which, like just about anything in the military, had its own abbreviation: ‘PBR’, which was typically pronounced as ‘Pibber’. These were small and fast boats that could operate on some of the smaller tributaries of the Mekong, often surrounded by jungle, with crews living in stifling heat and primitive conditions. This type of boat was made famous by Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, a war movie whose ‘Making of’ is at least as memorable as the movie itself.

The making of my model was considerably less of a psychedelic trip than the journey described in the movie. Despite the dark green, which is still a somewhat awkward colour to build with, it came together very quickly. The diorama will be part of a collaboration and for it to fit with the other builders’ styles, the boat has very few visible studs. I built its hull mostly with bricks on their side, which gave me both a smooth deck and a nicer shape. I used BrickArms M60s and helmets as accessories for the minifigures, but the rest is all LEGO, including the luscious jungle foliage.

The happiest place on Earth, built with LEGO

Disney’s Magic Kingdom, and particularly Sleeping Beauty’s castle, has been a popular subject for LEGO builders. However, many of the attempts to recreate the magic “in the brick” have been in microscale. It’s not often we see someone take on a major re-creation of the park at minifigure-scale. Etel Enzos does just that, with a wonderful diorama of Orlando’s main attraction, complete with central castle and some of the surrounding themed “lands”.

Click to see more photos of this excellent model