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.

Who done it?

Even non-LEGO fans recognize the simple LEGO smiley face. Unfortunately, in a hypothetical world full of thousands of identical smiling minifigs (now where have we seen that before?), being instantly recognizable can lead to problems. Illustrating one of the potential hijinks of such a world, Paddy Bricksplitter built an Identity parade (or as we call them here in the United States, a police lineup).

After a crime, police officers will place their main suspect in a lineup along with several “foils” who have a similar weight, height, build, and coloring as the suspect. Then, the police officers will bring in an eyewitness (in this case, a severely injured minifig and presumably, the victim of the crime) to view the lineup through a one-way mirror and “pick out” the criminal. But when everyone looks identical, how can you possibly identify the right person? And who would ever volunteer to stand in as a “foil”?

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The ancient ruins of a forgotten civilization

If the builder of these ancient ruins seems similar, you would be right, because Mark Erickson is one of the best castle builders out there, and very active to boot. There are a bunch of details to see in this with architectural texture being the most important one. I am fascinated how well the builder managed to make all the buildings look similar, even with different techniques used throughout. The palm trees also deserve a closer look, as they get thinner towards the top, an effect achieved by transitioning from palm trunk pieces through brown fez pieces to 1×1 cones.

Celebrating the Year of the Rooster with abundance, good fortune, and joy

Builder Samuel Ho celebrates the Year of the Rooster this Chinese New Year with a little table standee featuring none other that this year’s zodiac animal, the Rooster! The build features a few other key elements to highlight the celebration of a new year in many parts of Asia and around the world. Red is the color for the New Year symbolizing joy and fortune. The potted plants featured on both sides are mandarin oranges, which are also symbolic of good fortune and abundance. If you’ve not guessed it yet, the characters translate to “Chicken” in Traditional Chinese characters.

New fusion battery and an oil change

What use is a super-cool, super-fast speederbike if it won’t go? Don’t underestimate the importance of vehicle maintenance in LEGO’s far-future. Sad Brick makes the mechanic the hero in this smart hangar diorama. The speeder bike itself looks great — it’s a veritable festival of greebling. But don’t miss the wall of neatly-placed tools, and the cabinet towards the rear with its tiny drawers — little details that create a sense of reality. Finally, the use of a blue glass “notepad” by the minifig is a cool futuristic touch (even if it is a it of a sci-fi trope!)

Treasures from the antique store

Builder Jared Chan has a superpower of taking large things and miniaturising them in LEGO. This set of vintage items looks like it’s been plucked right from a sitting room somewhere. I can’t decide on which is my favourite of them all; there’s more than one that really screams out to me. I’m torn between that the gramophone or that beautifully sculptured desk. Which is your favourite?

The capital of the Woodland Realm

It has been a while since the last part of the Hobbit film trilogy hit the cinemas, so the trend of LEGO Hobbit and Lord of the Rings creations is slowly declining. But that does not mean we do not get amazing builds like this one every now and again. This diorama of Halls of Thranduil by German builder Jonas Kramm was made for the 2016 Comic Con in Stuttgart in June. and I really envy everyone who had the privilege to see it in person. On the pictures, it seems like a digital render at first, and even a close look at the main picture did not really convince me. I had to look at some detail shots to be sure this was real.

The details are superb and Jonas has really captured the balance and combination of natural landscaping and Elven architecture perfectly. A carefully set amount of clean surfaces contrasting rough terrain makes for a very interesting build to explore. The use of bars and tubing for architectural detail is inspiring. And while the foresty exterior with simple yet effective large trees is a stand-out build in its own right, it pales in comparison with the complex architecture of the cavern and the giant root path and throne. The cave floor is also nice to look at with the clear streams, nice subtle colours and a natural subtle slope.

You’re all clear kid, now let’s blow this thing and go home

There have been many LEGO versions of the famous Star Wars trench run, and this one in minifig scale by Martin Harris 1 appears to have all the ingredients just right. This massive and highly detailed diorama with X-Wing, TIE Fighters and Darth Vadar’s TIE Advanced X1 is a feast of grays and shadows. At a length of 8 feet (2.4 meters) it’s hardly surprising that completing it took nearly a year and every gray tile and plate Martin and his son had in their collections.

Built for Brickfair Alabama, there are viewing windows cut out of the trench to allow us into the action, as accurately replicated turbolasers shoot at (and miss) Luke Skywalker as he hurtles along the surface of the Death Star with the Empire hot on his tail.

There are so many fantastic techniques and bricks used to create the complex detailing of the trench. I found myself spending a long time appreciating the various shapes and greebling throughout the trench.

Martin must have watched this scene a thousand times as he appears to have captured it perfectly. It even comes with a thermal exhaust port no bigger than a womp rat! A fantastic representation of the infamous cinematic climactic battle.

The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever

Created three years ago for a competition and one of his first big creations, this coral reef was built when Orlando Hay was only 11! Looking good enough to go diving in, it’s constructed with a variety of interesting and novel piece choices. Moon tires make wonderful anemone, clear round 1×1 bricks make convincing bubbles, and various technic pins make the ocean floor look textured. This colorful underwater scene contains a plethora of piscine and invertebrate inhabitants as well as an eel, squid and a turtle all sitting on a carefully hidden LEGO moulded baseplate. No reef would be complete without shipwreck and treasure, but if you plan on going diving just watch out for that mine and the shark chewing a flipper!

Skyrim’s Bits and Pieces store made of bits and pieces

Even though this medieval store by Isaac Snyder uses textures and techniques we see very often in medieval builds lately, it still manages to look unique; first by its complex layout and secondly by its use of dark gray as the stone bricks, which is for some reason rather uncommon. While the model is called Sigurd’s General Goods and is not a direct recreation, it is obviously inspired by the Bits and Pieces general store in Solitude, from Skyrim.

Isaac’s shop even has a full interior.

See more of this delightful Skyrim building

Stop by the shop for parts and service done right

I’ve never been in a workshop as clean as this one by ForlornEmpire. I expect to see some oil, spilled coffee, or some sort of mess surrounding that giant engine — can’t say I’d lay below it, either. The scene has a ton of great detail, from the simple and effective fluorescent lights to the tool drawers, which I absolutely love. They look just like they should, at a good scale, and it’s a fantastic use of a bucket handle!

We’re in the pipe, five by five

First there was Blacktron in 1987, then there was Blacktron II in 1991. Now Luc Byard may have created Blacktron 3.0 with this awesome updated Blacktron landing pad. His ship “Aerial Intruder” sits on the octagonal landing gantry with alien hieroglyphs. Sitting atop four carefully constructed legs on a tidy base with realistic moon surface pocked with brick-built craters.

The whole construction took over a year to complete (6 months for the ship and 7 months for the pad). When you see the level of complexity and details that have gone into this incredible creation you can understand why. Continue reading →

Building by the sea

Sometimes simple is highly effective, like this lovely little build by David Zambito. This little scene by the ocean has a lot going for it, technique-wise (The curves of the half-built/half-destroyed ship are quite lovely!). I like the rock work and the sand dune; the uni-kitty horns and 1×1 round tiles as shells gives it a nice touch. I rarely see beaches completely clear of debris!

It’s a lovely setting for whatever nefarious conversation is happening in the bones of an empty ship!