Master castler David Frank has turned out this beautiful diorama. I absolutely love the scale of it; so often LEGO creations are—by necessity, no doubt—scaled down, so that houses are shed-sized and castles are the size of houses. Not so here, with this lovely dwelling sprawling across a delightful garden scene. David built the model to celebrate the publishing of his wife, Clair’s, fantasy novel, “To Whatever End (Echoes of Imara Book 1)
I have a personal tradition of watching a depressing movie on Christmas Eve; I find it has a nice effect of tempering the holiday festivities with some sobering reality.
Apparently Gabe Umland is similarly inclined. This depiction of London during the Blitz has some gorgeously detailed rubble, with just the right touch of Christmas spirit.
There are so many things I adore about this little scene. You’ve got the nostalgia factor, because I absoultely played hopscotch at recess as a little girl. Then you look at the detailing on the pavement, and your eye should wander to the absolutely brilliant bicycles for the kids.
That bunny is just adorable. Michael Jasper, well done.
Running afoul of angry vehicle drivers is as old as time, as an unfortunate peasant discovers in this wonderfully detailed scene of medieval Japan by Disco86.
This poor, little fisherman has caught more than he can reel in, thanks to not cutting a big enough hole in the ice. He’d better watch out. Sweating profusely, while out in the winter weather, can lead to hypothermia! Anyway, I really enjoyed this small scene by Jonas Wide and his lovely wife. I’m rather partial to scenes that show above and below the water, but scenes that show below the ice are pretty rare. It’s very nicely done. They also did a great of hiding the supports for the ice and you have to love those footprints in the snow. Perfect touch!
César Soares has created a rustic windmill, built in the round and composed of some really nice textured masonry and woodwork. It gives it a nice sense of age without being too distracting. The rest of the build works nicely to give the tower context. Not to say that there isn’t some nice technique going on there but the tower of the mill is star of this show.
Disco86 has built a unique bit of medieval history here. This scene depicts how the Japanse began to build rice terraces on the northern mountains of Honshū in order to cultivate rice there. The build is very striking. I can set aside my normal disgust for borders on this one because the flowing lines of the terraces are nicely accentuated by the rigidness of the border. The brightness of the blue also contrasts nicely with the black of the border and is complemented by the green vegetation. All that makes for a build that is really nice to look at.
This Lord of the Rings themed creation by Grant Davis (Takkata1) features a battle between the orcs and Uruk-hai inside an underground mine. I admire the complex rock work that uses both studs up and SNOT orientations for finer texture.
César Soares is the mastermind behind this lovely medieval village. I really like how each of the houses is distinct but fit together so well. Also, while I normally don’t like borders, it actually works really well her, as it highlights the absence of straight lines elsewhere in the build. I like it. I really do.
This western collaboration by Jonas (Legopard) and Jonas (Brick Vader) features an intricately crafted small town with subtle details that distinguish the creation such as non-linear oriented buildings and an uneven landscape. You can see more detailed shots on MOCpages.
South Korean professional LEGO building quartet Olive Seon are known for their massive city dioramas. This latest city is having the disturbing problem of being built above a river of lava. The airtanker in the middle of dumping water is a terrific image, and adds a huge amount of dynamism to this diorama, and I always appreciate that the builders include a lot of below-ground details.
Check out this cool microscale space mining operation by Outer Rim Emperor. He says it’s his first model in the Classic Space theme, and I think he’s nailed it. The big Octan tank is a nice, touch, too, though I’m not quite sure where Octan fits into LEGO’s chronology in relation to Classic Space.
