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 tall tower stands alone in the woods, looming

Farwin Castle by Brother Steven is one of the most striking pieces of castle architecture I’ve seen recently. This exceptionally tall, spindly tower still manages to capture an elegance of proportions, looking mysterious yet stately. Unlike many contemporary medieval themed builds, Farwin Castle doesn’t employ much of the precariously complex stonework that’s in vogue. Instead, its strength lies in its solid geometry and fascinating dimensions. You have to wonder what purpose this tower serves. The home of a lovesick, ascetic prince? The prison for a lunatic mage? The guard tower on a dangerous border? Whatever it is, we like it.

Brother Steven says this castle is part of a larger collaborative display, where multiple builders created locations from the same world, so don’t miss the fantastic stable from the collection that we already highlighted.

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Chibi-style Rogue One battle scene

Rogue One continues to inspire new Star Wars LEGO creations. Check out this fantastic beach battle scene, lifted from the Rogue One trailer and “chibified” by Boba-1980. The microscale vehicles are really good — I particularly like the versions of the U-Wing and the TIE Strike Fighter.

Aside from the good landscaping and figure posing, there’s a whole ton of action packed into a tight space in this diorama — justifying the builder’s choice to go with an unusual scale for the vehicles. Nice work.

Medieval stable in a classic Castle-style

Isaac S. proves Castle models haven’t all moved into a world of ramshackle angled walls and twee color-schemes. Ignoring the prevailing fashion pays off wonderfully in this excellent little build — there’s great landscaping, a lovely depth of texture in the walls, and even a nice splash of color which manages to look realistic. To top it all, it looks like this model might stay in one piece if you turned it upside down — something you couldn’t say of many of the “wonky-style” Castle builds.

The model looks almost as good from the rear. Check out that smart little stained-glass window…

Lunar Lander and Rover are out of this world

Getting to the moon is tricky; getting around on the moon is not. The last three missions all got to ride the Lunar Rover, built here by Dorian Glacet.

This gorgeous little scene features the lunar lander in exquisite detail, plenty of texture to the moon’s surface, and the little Rover that could. I love the attention to detail with the equipment and the rover’s tracks.

It’s Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff at the Hogwarts quidditch pitch

While it’s doubtful any builder will ever challenge the sheer scale of Alice Finch’s LEGO Hogwarts, J.K. Rowling’s magical series of books continues to inspire LEGO builders. At nearly seven and a half feet long, Martin Harris and his son have built a massive minifig-scale quidditch pitch that gives Alice a run for her money. The pitch features all the colorful stands shown in the second movie, and there’s plenty of action both inside and outside the structure.

Each end of the pitch features a trio of goals.

Naturally, beaters are aloft to protect Harry from bludgers as he tries to catch the golden snitch.

Visit to Catwoman’s Cat Lair is not going well for Batman

Finally! After seeing others build Batman a LEGO batcave and Joker a LEGO funhouse, someone finally built Catwoman a secret home to call her very own. That someone is Jenn Lee and her kitty-friendly creation is purrfect! After all, what Catwoman lair would be complete without a 70s-style Catwoman costume, an entire wardrobe of sparkly capes, wigs, and handbags, and, of course, a boiling pit of lava to dispose of your enemies? I’m not sure if Batman and Robin were invited or decided to pop by unannounced for a visit, but either way, it seems they’ve overstayed their welcome.

The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant compared to the power of the Force

As an entry in the current MOC Olympics building contest, Boba-1980 recreated this memorable moment from Star wars: A New Hope, in which audiences were first introduced to the “force choke”. And while Admiral Motti’s lack of faith certainly was disturbing, I think Darth Vader’s attempt to kill a coworker during a business meeting could be considered marginally more disturbing (but totally relatable).

“No, no, no... THIS one goes THERE, THAT one goes THERE!”

Thomas Flament created this detail-packed 32×32 stud slice of life aboard the Millenium Falcon that perfectly captures the look, feel and clutter of the ship’s interior, as well as including a suitably greebly section of outer hull and even a mini-Falcon on top!

There’s a nice sense of depth here with both the circular corridor receding into the background and the below-deck maintenance area (with Chewy hard at work). The clever part usage to create the curved sofa is also a nice touch.

A rebellion built on hope

There have been a ton of incredible Star Wars-themed LEGO creations coming out of the IDS Moc Olympics and Paul Trach‘s Yavin IV Rebel Workshop is one of them! This little scene looks good enough to be a potential movie set from the upcoming Rouge One film. I’m not sure what these rebels are up to, but they certainly look busy. The overall muted color palette works quite nicely and the stone walls have a perfect combination of texture, clean lines, and angles.

I’ve got 3 cheese in my bag, good Sheriff!

This enchanting little scene of a medieval market and town gate is packed full of great little details and vibrant colors. I love how builder Bricktease has captured the feel of a bustling crowd on a bright morning, and I can’t help but be reminded of one of my favorite bluffing games, Sheriff of Nottingham, in which the Sheriff sits at the market gate and inspects merchants’ bags for illicit goods. “Honest, good Sheriff, I’m only bringing in chickens! No contraband here!”

Majestic giants of the African plains

Legostrator‘s latest creation is a fabulous scene of sub-Saharan Africa — featuring wonderful brick-built elephants traversing the dusty plains.

The elephants themselves are great examples of brick-sculpting — with complex organic shapes well-rendered. However, as with all the best LEGO scenes, the central models are elevated into something special by the surrounding attention to detail. The feel of a hot, dusty plain is captured perfectly with the depiction of scrub vegetation and the color choices. The lighting for the photo adds immensely to the atmosphere as well. Great stuff.

So you wanna upgrade your podracer eh?

Usually a clutter of detail in a LEGO creation can be a bad thing, dragging the eye around the image and distracting attention from what should be the scene’s focus. However, Patrick B.‘s excellent recreation of Watto’s Workshop from The Phantom Menace takes surrounding clutter and turns it into the main event.

As well as some smart brick-built greebly things lying around, Patrick has also made use of individual LEGO elements with interesting textures. Okay, this might not be actual building as such, but the carefully-haphazard arrangement of these bricks adds nicely to the overall sense of detail and depth. And don’t miss the lovely touches like the use of textured grille bricks for a cross-hatched floor effect, and the conical equipment built of “cheesegrater wedges” standing towards the rear.