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 Siege at Suldanessellar: Enormous LEGO D&D diorama

Ivan Angeli builds big. Really big. His latest diorama, showing the clash of an angelic stronghold with nefarious Drow forces, measures about 12 by 6 feet. The name will be familiar to D&D Forgotten Realms aficionados, as most of Ivan’s models are based in the Dungeons & Dragons universe. Shown recently at LUGS United, a fan event in Belgrade, Serbia, Ivan says this diorama includes over 1000 minifigs, and the white tower is over 6 feet tall. Impressively, Ivan says that he has only enough room at home to build about 18 by 18 inches at a time, forcing him to carefully plan so that each section will fit together when assembled at a show. As with most fans who bring builds to shows — especially large builds — Ivan has plenty of tales of woe to tell of parts not connecting properly or structures collapsing the night before the show, requiring hasty on-site reconstruction. Be sure to also check out our interview with Ivan for his previous model, which was similarly as ridiculously large.

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The defense of Port Royal

TheBrickAvenger has posted his most ambitious LEGO diorama yet, with this scene inspired by the heyday of piracy in the 17th-century Caribbean. While one’s eye is certainly drawn to the steeply slanted roof, clock tower, and minifig action, the standout detail for me is the studs-out half timber construction. The builder also uses three completely different techniques for windows, including an ingenious but incredibly complicated bay window shared back in March by Sheo. Spend some time poring over the picture — I’m sure you’ll find something I’ve missed that’s even cooler.

A long time ago in a restroom far, far away

Ok there are probably a dozen directions the title of this post could have gone (let your imagination run wild). And there are probably a dozen ways builder Sad Brick (why so sad?) could have portrayed the brilliant gag of using Imperial Stormtrooper helmets as urinals in a Rebel Alliance base. But I’m glad he went for this very stylish – almost palatial – design.

Given the old joke that we never see people in science fiction going to the bathroom, I think this is the sort of thing that would work great as an easter egg in some future LEGO Star Wars video game!

Behind the scenes of Star Wars: The Force Awakens

It’s just over three months to the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and the new LEGO sets are hardly the only things generating excitement. Like many of us, Burglarhobbit has been poring over every new frame of footage that the Empire has been doling out to loyal Star Wars fans. The result is this fantastically detailed diorama depicting the making of The Force Awakens, complete with a prop and costume shop, green screen, and cockpit on a motion base.

Take some time to pore over this great creation yourself and let us know what your favorite detail is in the comments.

You can watch the actual behind-the-scenes footage that inspired this great LEGO scene here:

Via BrickNerd.

Fill ‘er up! The hey-day of gas stations

Andrew Tate was feeling nostalgic for a time of full-service stations with an art-deco style, so he built this 30’s-inspired filling station. The curved corner window looks perfect for a classy old shop where the attendants would pump your fuel, wash your windows, and check your radiator, and Andrew says it was one of the inspirations for the model.

The forced perspective is strong with this one

Because there’s no such thing as too many Star Wars builds, Cecilie Fritzvold has created these neat minifig-scale replicas of two locations from the least worst of the prequel movies. (Check out her photostream for alternative angles).

Dex’s Diner

The Jedi Archives

Beware the dracolich...

While my esteemed colleague may have been impressed by Letranger Absurde‘s hourglass, I feel no guilt in posting another one of Letranger’s remarkable LEGO creations just a day later. This amazing undead dragon incorporates numerous LEGO bone and horn pieces, proving that in some cases LEGO pieces are indeed best used as originally intended. The graveyard backdrop with a gloomy tree is also wonderful, once you can peel your eyes away from the dracolich.

Gigantic Erebor interior made out of 120,000 Lego bricks

A while ago we blogged Michał Kaźmierczak‘s gates of Erebor from The Hobbit, and now he has added an interior that is just as grand. Check out this photo with the builder to appreciate the scale of the creation. More photos of Erebor’s exterior and interior are on Flickr.

Roll d20 for initiative!

Builder Deus Otiosus describes this nifty dungeon diorama as “greatly inspired by Adventure Time, partially by World of Warcraft and another large portion by urban exploration”. So while you won’t find stats for his treasure-spewing Chest Dweller in your 5th edition Monster Manual, I still think this would make for one hilarious D&D encounter!

Fan takes 2.5 years to build gigantic LEGO Zelda castle

Joseph Zawada built this jaw-dropping rendition of Hyrule Castle from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Joseph displayed it at Brickfair Virginia earlier this month, where it was a huge hit. After spending 2.5 years piecing it together, Joseph is rightly very proud of his masterpiece, which features great details such as the gradated water and nifty roof techniques.

Our friends at Beyond the Brick have a great on-location interview with Joseph at Brickfair:

Perhaps a LEGO Sherlock can find your missing piece...

The best sleuth in the business is back at it, in brick form this time, thanks to the handiwork of Hacim Bricks and UmmWho. This particular iteration is, of course, from the popular and much lauded BBC series Sherlock.

Our friends over at Beyond the Brick also did a short video on it when it was recently displayed at BrickFair Virginia.

3LUG Presents: A Tale of Two Cities

As regular readers of the blog may know, Nick Kappatos and I build a joint display every year for BrickFair. This year, we wanted to contrast between organic and mechanical, as well as high-tech sci-fi and low-tech creations. We also just really wanted to build a bustling bazaar. It was also high time to work some motion into the display, even it it was simple. While the motion isn’t terribly complex, I have to say that I think Nick’s rotating ring has a perfectly sci-fi feel to it that I love (and can’t take credit for). I also tried my wobbly hand at a fly-through video… with an iphone.