Disney’s Magic Kingdom, and particularly Sleeping Beauty’s castle, has been a popular subject for LEGO builders. However, many of the attempts to recreate the magic “in the brick” have been in microscale. It’s not often we see someone take on a major re-creation of the park at minifigure-scale. Etel Enzos does just that, with a wonderful diorama of Orlando’s main attraction, complete with central castle and some of the surrounding themed “lands”.
Click to see more photos of this excellent model
This LEGO re-creation of the library from Disney’s Beauty & The Beast by Sarah von Innerebner isn’t just huge, it’s also stunning. From the soaring spiral stairs, the ornate fireplace, the tall windows and their curtains, through to shelf after shelf of books — the entire model is beautifully crafted, and (from what I remember of the short scene in the movie) wonderfully accurate.
At the heart of the scene, Belle and the Beast stand before the fireplace. The predominantly white and gold colour scheme provides a glittering backdrop yet doesn’t overwhelm the details on display. I love the red and green furniture, and the little touches like the writing desk and globe. The tiled floor offers a nice contrast to all the white.
Click here to see more photos of this amazing creation
We recently got our hands on the latest addition to the LEGO sets from Incredibles 2, the LEGO BrickHeadz two-pack 41613 Mr. Incredible & Frozone. This set joins the LEGO Juniors sets 10759 Elastigirl’s Rooftop Pursuit and 10760 Underminer Bank Heist, and features the head of the Incredible family, a.k.a Bob Parr, along with his best friend and long-time partner in clandestine superhero-ing: Frozone. The 41613 Mr. Incredible & Frozone two-pack set retails for $19.99 and includes 160 pieces.
Read our full review of these Incredibles 2 BrickHeadz after the jump
Last week we reviewed the latest LEGO Ideas set, 21314 Tron: Legacy. The set launches on March 31st, and is available now from the LEGO Shop online ($34.99 US | £29.99 | $44.99 CAD).
The new set includes two light cycles, three minifigures — Sam Flynn, Quorra and Rinzler — with a total of 230 pieces. You can learn more about the set in our hands-on Tron review.
Can’t afford the enormous LEGO Disney Castle set? That’s okay, why not use an entirely smaller selection of bricks to create your own tiny version like minimal-brick has done? This is a lovely microscale model, featuring some excellent detailing, particularly around the gatehouse and turret-tops. Check out the use of cog pieces around the model — adding texture to the turrets and as the clock above the entranceway. The relatively large base is nice and the trees and coloured paving break it up nicely. Disney geeks might quibble about the lack of a couple of the taller towers which sprout from the real castle’s rear, but that’s nitpicking at an otherwise great creation.
November is a busy time with new sets revealed for 2018 and we have already revealed 2018 sets Technic, Minecraft, City, DC Comics Superheroes, Architecture and Creator Expert themes, as well as some special 60th Anniversary sets. Now we can reveal a further selection of Nexo Knights, Ninjago, Friends and Disney Princess sets, all pictured below. Even if a particular theme does not take your fancy, there are plenty of new parts to spot within some of the sets.
Ninjago has a sub-theme of Sons of Garmadon for 2018, including a headquarters set, a larger temple and the return of hand-held rip-cord powered sets.
70643 Temple of Resurrection
70640 S.O.G. Headquarters
Click to reveal more sets due to be released in 2018
Most of us grew up watching old Disney films. César Soares says he wanted to live in the cottage in the woods when he watched Snow White as a kid. This fabulous LEGO representation of the Seven Dwarves’ cosy abode is based on a Thomas Kinkade depiction of the famous film.
Cesar claims to have “rushed the build a bit” to make room for other projects, although I see no evidence the final result suffered for it. There is so much to love about this model — the cute little bridge, the shapely trees, and the lived-in feel of the cottage with its gently smoking chimney. Superb landscaping technique and a beautiful array of colourful flowers round this creation off perfectly.
A while ago, we featured a build from Jae Won Lee of a very emotionally stressed Tinker Bell. With this updated build in the picture, it all now makes sense. A larger-than-life Captain Hook seems to have captured Tinkerbell! I must admit those eyeballs set deep within his sockets give off a frightful look.
All is not what it seems as he has built a mechanical laugh to give life to the dastardly Hook – check out the video for it in action!
I’m pretty sure a motorhead like Donald Duck would love to get his wings on this beautiful toy steam locomotive. David Liu has turned Mickey Mouse into a coal car, while Goofy makes an adorable passenger car. Built for his son, the model has built-in radio control, however, his son prefers playing with it with his hands.
The color schemes look perfect and instantly recognizable – even from a thumbnail. Donald’s sailor’s hat on the engine smoke stack is a fantastic touch! And you really need to join Mickey and Minnie for a refreshing beverage in the passenger car.
Would you like to know what happens if a prince strolls into an all-princess party? Yep, you guessed it! Princesses Moana, Mulan and Merida all stand glazed and wide eyed, armed and ready to battle each other for his hand in marriage! While I may tease YOS Bricks about one attention grabbing feature of these models, he’s been at this theme for quite a while now — since we last featured his versions of Elsa and Anna — and there is certain charming consistency about them that appeals.
The builder’s Flickr stream is definitely worth checking out to see similar takes on Jasmine, Belle, Tiana, Cinderella and Ariel. As an added treat, many of the princesses are also shown wearing multiple outfits. But in each case, the brick-built recreations of their costumes and hair styles are almost perfect.
While an impressive set, 71040 The Disney Castle disappointed builder Swan Dutchman in the fact that it was only a facade and did not encompass the rest of the castle “in the round”. To fix this, Swan built his own microscale version, if we can call it that, because the finished build is actually rather large. It’s built on top of a 48 x 48 baseplate and contains around 3000 small pieces.
Big numbers aside (and not even mentioning that it took three months to create) this is a brilliant build that is instantly recognisable. There’s a lot of clever techniques, such as gears used in the turrets for stone detail and the use of two different kinds of 2 x 2 round bricks. Make sure you take a few minutes to soak up not only the castle, but the builds around it in the body of water, brick road, and vegetation.
Some creations rely on complicated techniques and difficult shapes to impress the viewer, while others make the connection by emotion. The strength of Tinkerbell in a lantern waiting for Peter by Jae Won Lee lies in the expressive posing of Tinkerbell in the center. The lantern’s details reward closer inspection, like the golden decorations or the seams between 1x6x5 window panels to look like wire mesh.
