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.

13 Miller’s Court in tragic detail

The late summer and fall of 1888 was a rough time for women in the Whitechapel district in London. The ever evasive Jack the Ripper slowly but surely made his way into history and headlines, culminating in what is believed to be the last attack on Mary Kelly, who was discovered the morning of November 9, 1888.

Mark Hodgson has illustrated the room she rented with stunning detail of how it looked prior to the first week of November that year.

The alley way, building front, and room are full of detail of the cramped quarters where she lived. Her life, up until her tragic death, is illustrated in one tiny room. Her murderer was never found, and the legends surrounding Jack the Ripper endure to this day.

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An epic LEGO tale of death

This fantastic vingette by Thorsten Bonsch is a LEGO recreation of a scene from the Elder Scrolls Online (ESO). The ESO is an online multiplayer role playing game and this particular scene comes from the latest part of the saga, The Thieves Guild. The build is not an action scene but, as Thorsten calls it, a ‘still life’ that tells a story – can you imagine what happened by looking at the evidence left behind?

The builder uses a great building technique to curve the bricks and allow the ground to slope gently upwards to the right side. In addition, the rock formations are very nicely shaped and hints of colour are just enough to capture your attention. The more I look at this scene, the more intriguing I find it.

Personally, I think that a huge snake-like creature has eaten the first man and then reaches the second and kills him just as he mortally wounds the snake with a spear to the heart. All that remains are the bones and undigested evidence that tells the story of their deaths.

Previous ESO-based creations by Thorsten have been blogged by us and are worth a second look: the City of Orsinium, the Stonefalls in Morrowind, and an amazing 11,000 piece portal called The Dolmen.

Alien kills Predator with a LEGO flipper

The 2004 movie Alien vs Predator was a clash of two eponymous sci-fi creatures to bring the comic action to the big screen. Grantmasters has captured the penultimate moment from the movie in LEGO, when the Alien Queen has mortally wounded Predator with a thrust of her tail to his torso and his green blood drips spills.

Grantmasters has cleverly utilised a host of parts to create this scene in ‘small scale’. Black minifigure hands form the feet of Alien, while lime green depict Predator’s dripping life-blood. The minifigure diver’s flipper also makes a fantastically unusual appearance as a wound!

The characters are cleverly built and a few subtle landscape details add to the scene without distracting from the main event. I hope Grantmasters continues with Alien vs Predator Requiem next…

Corridor spaces are the best Space spaces

A beautifully-lit space corridor scene? Yes please. SweStar is the builder behind this great little model, and they’ve done an excellent job of creating a whole galaxy’s worth of atmosphere in a tight space. There’s a genuine sense of tension and impending trouble here. I want to know what’s going to happen next.

Space shaman is set to stun

All too often, LEGO space models can be a sea of light gray. This cracking little creation from Chris Perron breaks the mould with a wonderful splash of color.

The mech obviously features a bold color scheme, but there’s some great parts usage on show too — check out the use of the alien legs as feet. And I’m enjoying the metallic silver pieces, particularly the figure’s staff which I think adds a nice little touch of fantasy to this sci-fi scene.

Chris says this was inspired by another builder’s model in a very different genre. I think it’s cool when builders link to their inspiration like this, it shows how ideas travel and change from person to person.

Not just a tree house, but a LEGO tree fort

Did you have a tree house as a child? jsnyder would have been very disappointed by my basic tree house if his LEGO tree fort reflects his idea of one. This creation is on three levels with a swing bridge that spans across two huge trees. There is a look out at the top of the largest tree with a telescope to keep an eye out for potential attack (or parents looking for you at bedtime). The trees themselves are well shaped and I love the mix of studs on show and tiles to add texture.

The details are really adorable in this build, for example the tyre swing and rope pulley system to allow a crate of resupplies (perhaps more ice lollies) to be lifted high up into the tree.

You can see more detailed views of the tree fort on his Billy’s Tree Fort album on Flickr.

Gotham’s Ace Chemicals in LEGO bricks

I’ve always been a Batman fan, and Joker has always been my favourite of his adversaries. However, until very recently I have never possessed a Joker minifig. As soon as I got my grubby hands on one, I knew I had to have a go at building something appropriate…

The model was designed to sit in a basin of water and I used an ultrasound fog generator to create the mist effect. It’s a bit splashy, hence some of the water droplets on the model, but I figured it looked like rain and I could get away with it. A couple of people have asked how I did the lighting. I’m ashamed to admit I didn’t do anything fancy. I cheated and did all the tinting digitally in GIMP.

I’m slightly obsessed with Ace Chemicals — it’s such a cool Gotham location, and its factory and pipework elements make it ripe for reinterpretation. As well as the minifig-scale version, I recently had a go at something a little smaller…

Launch Status: looking good

We’ve featured a couple of justin_m_winn‘s scenes of everyday life in the future previously. His models just keep getting better. This latest creation has a strong sense of being part of a greater world — the control room seems an island of activity in some kind of vast hangar. There’s a good use of lighting too. Sometimes nice interior touches in models are lost in photographs, but not here. Check out those classic printed control panel slopes…

Kombinat: apocalypse is now

A group of LEGO fans from Poland decided to build the hugest Fallout diorama ever, and Bartłomiej Huetter has already built the first part of the project. Kombinat features a derelict factory that’s been turned into a refuge for survivors in the wasteland. Despite all the chaos, people seem to find entertainment in this messy living space. A brewery, an arcade saloon, a dance club and a couple doing not so safe for work activities. I guess we can’t expect more fun out of this apocalyptic world!

Usually it’s quite hard to build a large scale diorama but sometimes they are also full of details that it’s harder to absorb everything at once. Luckily, Bartłomiej has created a huge album on Flickr which displays many details including stickers and digital designs of the early model. Make sure you don’t miss anything. The vehicles and minifigures are astonishing!

A colonial bazaar

We’ve featured Patrick Massey with his amazing Al Amarj Island before, and once again he proves himself a master builder with this new addition to his portfolio. Considering the oriental folk and western troops, the Andus Tradehouse and Bazaar depicts a colonial period and perfectly manages to sum up all the little oriental details. Palm trees, the snake charmer, oil lamp posts, drunken lords and a silly jester makes a lively scene while different types of arches and columns turn the building into an impressive piece of architecture. Zoom in and take a peek at all the little details!

“We’re going on an adventure!”

Regardless of your opinion of the most recent movie adaptation, The Hobbit is a timeless adventure story that has stood the test of time. The idea of gaining the courage to leave home and embark on a grand adventure is the very idea that makes the world go round. It’s the idea that inspires adventure, inspires discovery, and creates stories for the next generation.

Noel Peterson has illustrated that moment of courage, of letting go, of leaving as Bilbo races across the bridge toward his destiny. The bridge has the perfect, aged, well-worn look, with life going on as two hobbits fish in the murky water. I like the story this build tells.

TBB cover photo: April 2016

This month’s cover photo comes to us from teen builder K.Kreations, and is a depiction of Scottish hero William Wallace. This scene and more of his work were featured in the book Medieval LEGO, which we reviewed here last year.

Want to see your own LEGO creation featured across TBB social media for a month? Then acquaint yourself with the submission GUIDELINES (no, seriously, read them) and submit your photo today.

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