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.

Whichever way you look, a new world awaits

The best LEGO builds tell a story. Take this one by Carter Witz, which begins with a simple premise: what if a magic portal separated a land of summer from a world of winter? What happened to divide these two realms? And what will it take to bring them together again? While you’re pondering those answers, be sure to appreciate the rich combination of plates, tiles, sloped bricks, and plant elements to achieve the textured greenery. Same with the variation of elements that make up the ancient, weathered stone wall. (I count at least twelve different kinds of brick in that wall.)

Here’s a better view of the opposite side, where winter still reigns. Rather than simply duplicate the topography of the summer half, Carter added mysterious ruined columns topped with drifts of snow. Enchanting!

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The stage is on fire in this heavenly KISS concert build

You don’t have to be a member of the KISS Army to lick up this sizzling concert scene from virtuoso LEGO builder Paul Hetherington. In this fantasy staging, The Starchild, The Demon, and The Spaceman shred on pedestals above lava, while The Catman owns the drums from atop a flame-spewing podium flanked by metallic demon dogs and backed by a deafening wall of speakers while Detroit Rock City burns in the background. Doesn’t get more rock and roll than that! Paul artfully blends flat typography and graphic design with a minifig vignette to create this popping poster. (It’s a technique he’s used before, including in this TBB favorite golden age batman masterpiece). I find the use of color particularly striking, with flame shafts and geometric brick-built lava matching the KISS logo. While there are few visible LEGO studs on the stage itself, Paul uses an enviable amount of silver-grey elements to mimic the band’s studded leather look in the design. The custom minifigs come courtesy of Big Kid Brix. And is that a Bionicle Kanoka Disk hiding behind The Catman? If you love your LEGO loud, you’ve got nothin’ to lose revisiting Paul’s classic black diamond builds.

This AT-TE does whatever a spider can

How’s this for a classic Star Wars moment captured in LEGO diorama form? It’s 2008, and you’re watching The Clone Wars, surely the last Star Wars movie you’ll ever see in theaters (haha, right?) when suddenly, a normal-looking All-Terran Tactical Enforcer starts climbing a frickin’ purple cliff like some sort of fat metal spider. Tim Goddard uses unevenly layered sloped bricks and tiles laid out in SNOT (studs not on top) fashion to achieve the irregular surface of the cliff. The AT-TE looks great in midi-scale—all the way down to the tiny clone trooper sitting at the turret.

In the Shire, there’s always time to take a break from your chores

J. R. R. Tolkien imagined Bilbo Baggins’ door as a circular construction, green and impressive in size (for a hobbit). Peter Jackson ran with the description and the gently rustic feel of the Shire and created an organic-and-tudor style mix that Gus has wonderfully captured here in the blocky medium of LEGO. There are so many details to love in this scene; the fence is made from a pair of whips, while the circular window to the right of the door is a bicycle tire! The organic side of the hobbit style is on full display as Gus has achieved both a cobbled circle for the windmill tower, and a smooth roof-line mimicking the slope of the of the hill – not to mention the striking red of the wood slats in the door. With all of this excellent building on display only one question remains; are these two folks Bagginses or Tooks?

Fight or flight? This pteranodon has chosen both!

Sure, you might be cool. But are you chasing-conquistadors-on-a-pteranodon-through-the-jungle cool? Oh, you’re the guy who bulit this – Mihał Ch (BardJaskier). Then yes, you certainly are! Those Imperial soldiers probably didn’t sign up for fighting flying dinosaurs. I’d say they want to watch where they’re running, though. Mihał’s jungle is well-built and dense with vegetation. If it can conceal a creature that’s supposedly been dead for millions of years in its canopy, I dread to think what’s lurking in the river that they’re running straight towards…

Exploring the Depths: An Underwater Diorama by Thomas Jenkins

Looking at this custom creation, you may find it hard to believe that it’s made entirely out of LEGO pieces. Frequently showcased on Brothers Brick, builder Thomas Jenkins has crafted an underwater diorama that transports us to another world. Do we see a hint of ancient Roman pillars being overtaken by nature? Or perhaps this is a playful interpretation of the legendary tale of Atlantis. At first glance, you cannot help but have this build evoke thoughts of an underwater realm, blending elements from both reality and imagination. The builder mentions a desire to build with and incorporate a newly introduced, in 2023, trans-clear curved element as part of the arguably main focus, the jellyfish. I am impressed by the creator’s ability to repurpose clown hair, pom-poms, and even Thanos’ arms! Explore our Thomas Jenkins archives and discover some of his other creations.

Animal Crossing glow up takes you to new horizons

Someone’s been busy upgrading her Animal Crossing island! Rylie Howerter gives Nook’s Cranny an impressive glow up, and terraforms a pixel-perfect island landscape to go with it. Even the little gift balloon gets an HD upgrade. The grass, made from a mosaic of cheese slopes, is an especially nice touch that perfectly mimics the game franchise. Now that Animal Crossing minifigs are in the wild, I hope we’ll see many more original island creations. Excellent work, Rylie! I hope you make good use of all those Nook Miles. Now, can we interest you in a loan to expand your diorama?

Reading into the scene

This creation by Bryckland titled simply “The Grand Tower” is an excellent example of visual world-building in LEGO. The characters are about to do battle, and Alex has provided a snippet of a larger story on their Instagram, but I’m referring to the environs themselves, which evoke a sense of history. Comparatively, the titular tower is not so grand in stature but the beautiful build more than makes up for it. Throughout, the restrained use of varied colour suggests the aging, decay, replacement, and repair of both wood and stone as the seasons pass, and the texture achieved by roof tiles not fully “in click” lends further authenticity. Plus I have always appreciated good stonework and that beautifully crafted dome roof is just the cherry on top.

Imagining what will come next, for “the Grime Brothers”, their unwelcome visitor, and for this alpine outpost, leaves me eager for the next chapter…

An arctic diorama full of life

Dive into the chilly waters of the far north with this adorable LEGO build by seb71. This build features a host of micro-scale fauna for you to enjoy. The whale is made from a pair of balloon panels, and the extremely lost penguin is mostly made of black and orange teeth. The local Inuit is using a wand to fish for supper under the watchful eyes of a walrus and polar bear. I sure hope they have a plan to get back to their igloo; that polar bear looks hungry!

Try not to B2EMO on Rix Road

Big screen Star Wars adventures might lean heavily into swooshable LEGO-ready ships and alien vistas, but Andor emphasized sides of that galaxy far, far away that feel uncannily grounded and close to home. Abe Fortier (Hypolite Bricks) has been recreating those gritty, lived-in spaces with vignettes from every episode of the series’ first season, and his latest – a tribute to the uprising on Ferrix – movingly captures the spark of revolution from the finale. A digitally added projection of Maarva Andor looms large over the tense scene, but look closely and you’ll see that she also appears in brick-built form as… a brick, as per Ferrix traditions, the remains of local heroes are “bricked” into funerary stones. Bricks feature heavily in Abe’s creation, which uses no less than five colors of masonry bricks to recreate the earthy tones of Rix Road.

See more of Cassian’s exploits in LEGO form below

A pop of colour set against a dreary WWII sea

Some months ago (well, over a year ago now), PelLego Bricks built a model of a Schnellboot S-100 – a German marine craft from the Second World War. Now, this was – and still is – a mighty impressive model, with some fantastic shaping. But they’ve gone one better and built an entire Norwegian harbour to go with it! The last time we featured this builder’s work, we commented on the excellent use of the humble LEGO tile. But while there it was on serene, flat water, PelLego has somehow manipulated the same parts into a darker, much more dynamic sea. The effect is terrific! Boat and water take centre stage, but the background has a nice contrast of colour thanks to some autumn foliage and the red wooden buildings, so typical of these Northern climes.

Johnny Thunder and the Plunderers of the Misplaced Coffer

An intrepid adventurer in a wide-brimmed hat enters a desert temple containing Anubis statues, with a sinister rival in tow. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? What? Indiana who now?! No, we’re referring to Ben Cossy‘s latest masterpiece! It depicts the Adventurers heroes of yesteryear – Johnny Thunder, Pippin Reed, and Dr Kilroy Lightning – in hot pursuit of their erstwhile antagonists, Baron von Barron and Sam Sinister. You can see why they were drawn to this structure. The massive Anubis statue at the back, framed by that broken ring, is striking! It’s almost Stargate-esque – a testament to Ben’s architectural skills. As for Johnny Thunder, it’s a good thing he has that torch in hand. There’s always the possibility of snakes…

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