Capturing all the flourishes of traditional Chinese aesthetic style, Space Brick’s Shrine of the Golden Dragon is another effortlessly elegant build. Like his ramen and sushi bar, he’s once again tapped into his subject and adjusted his building techniques to match. The eponymous dragon is a single sweeping curve, detailed with simple gold studs to replicate scales. The base is a thing of beauty too, with a backdrop of wonderfully stylised clouds. It’s not just a great LEGO model it’s a marvellous ornament too.
Tag Archives: Dragons
It’s all about the tasty things in life
Who needs riches when the best part of your day is food? This plump little guy is all about his next meal rather than gold. Sassafras the “Happy-Go-Lucky” dragon is the work of Mitch Henry, who designed him for a dragon building contest hosted by Jayfa, an excellent builder we’ve featured numerous times. This adorable creation caught our eye for its unique character and parts usage. Do you have an idea for a cool dragon? Give the contest a shot!
How to tame your dragon
This LEGO dragon tamer by Jayfa may not be a reference to everyone’s favorite dragon-taming movies by Dreamworks (or the books that preceded them), but it’s nonetheless epic. The tamer himself is a mashup of claw- and tooth-shaped elements that somehow weave together into awesome armor, and there’s no denying that having greaves made of dragon skulls must give you an edge in intimidating the beasts.
But the real masterpiece here is the dragon with its vivid magenta highlights. From the exceptionally clever brick-built eye (made with a white rod element flanked by two yellow minifigure hands) to the armor plating down the neck made of robot arms and teeth, everything works together beautifully to give the creature grace and personality.
An epic battle on a teeny tiny scale
Straight from a storybook, this little build by Lubeee is simple yet adorable. Titled, “Micro Fable” it gives us a window into another world, and I must say it looks nice under that glass. You can’t help but admire the tiny dueling dragons as they soar above the castle and forest below. I’d love to see this continue as a series of small fable vignettes!
The escape of the Gringott’s dragon
There were so many terrific creations for our Microbuild Magic! Contest that it was incredibly difficult to choose the winners. While not everyone can win, there are still more that are certainly worthy of a spot on our front page. One wonderful build that caught our eye was this little recreation of Gringott’s Bank, complete with the Ukrainian Ironbelly dragon. The artist behind the build is Zed, who also recreated Harry’s “Cupboard Under the Stairs” for the competition. There were several Gringott’s scenes, but this was one that really stood out.
I’m a big fan of the clever parts usage on the dragon, as well as the contrast of the dark vaults below. The wand-sprue gate is a perfect touch. Overall, the build is clean and elegant, and made even more so by the black background and crisp photography.
The dragon with a flare for fashion
Dripping with charm and dressed to impress, TBB regular Sheo has built this most stylish of dragons. Capturing the spirit of the dandy in the beast’s elegantly coiffured wings and debonair attire; a triangle tiled handkerchief poking out from his suit’s breast pocket. You have to question the sincerity in Sheo naming him a respectable dragon; there’s literally a twinkle in his eye, formed from a clever combination of ring, small cone and mudguard elements. I can’t help but imagine passing him in some shady back street, tipping his hat and grinning roguishly as he goes about his disreputable business.
Blacktron attack on Redstone Five
Last year LEGO model builder Moto debuted his dazzling Chrysalis spaceship, and recently at Denver Comic-Con he enhanced his original creation with a space dragon attack on a remote space base with space heroes on the defensive. In the builder’s own words- “While performing standard maintenance, the Redstone 5 launchpad has come under attack from the Blacktron Dragon Obscurtronum!” and you can see the brave efforts the base occupants are making to guard against the assault.
The star of the show here is still undoubtedly the Chrysalis ship, which shines on the screen even better now with a contrasting background element and the bustle of the battle scene.
LEGO 17101 BOOST Creative Toolbox compatibility with LEGO Ninjago 70652 Stormbringer and LEGO City 60194 Arctic Scout Truck [Review]
The latest wave of LEGO sets includes several sets designed to work with LEGO Boost — the first sets to extend the 17101 BOOST Creative Toolbox into a true system. Not only are the LEGO City 60194 Arctic Scout Truck and LEGO Ninjago 70652 Stormbringer sets compatible with Boost, they are fusions with the robotics system.
LEGO City 60194 Arctic Scout Truck has 322 pieces and 3 minifigures at $59.99 USD, while LEGO Ninjago 70652 Stormbringer has 493 pieces and 4 minifigures $39.99 USD. Both sets are available now as part of the summer 2018 wave of new LEGO sets, along with Boost released last year.
Click here to read more about these exciting combinations
Simon’s sinuous psychedelic sea serpent
Can you count all the different LEGO colors used in this psychedelic sea serpent by Simon NH? We counted at least 20, but we may have missed some. What’s incredible about this creation is that it uses so many different colors, but still manages to feel coherent and striking. That’s because sets of related colors are grouped strategically: greens are used for the underbelly; lavenders and purples are used for the sides; and reds and pinks are on the top.
There’s a lot to love in terms of parts usage too. The use of spring legs on the nose singlehandedly justifies the existence of the oft-maligned LEGO NBA sets for me. Using flags for the spines accentuates the sinuous nature of the whole build. I would love to see an Ultimate Collector’s Series-style set with this level of detail in the LEGO Elves theme.
Luck, Prosperity, and LEGO
We’ve all seen the giant Chinese dragons given life by hidden dancers in their bellies. They’re especially popular in parades surrounding the Chinese New Year. But they aren’t just for fun. These colorful characters are created to honor the beloved creatures of Chinese tradition and culture. Dragons are a symbol of power and luck. They are also said to represent prosperity and strength. This LEGO build, by Vlad Lisin, is a really cool tribute to their beauty.
Vlad has done a great job of bringing the dragon to life with the details of the face. I’m especially fond of the expressive eyes, eyebrows and cheeks.
The Dragon King reigns supreme: this amazing LEGO model of Final Fantasy X’s Bahamut uses over 10,000 pieces
Marius Herrmann used over 10,000 LEGO elements to create this massive model of Bahamut from Final Fantasy X. The so-called dragon king has a wingspan of almost a meter. But most impressively, this stunning creation makes great use of underrepresented colors in the LEGO palette.
Where earth and sky meet
The dragon is a common fantasy trope, but they’re hard to tire of because they come in so many wonderful varieties. This dragon, by Henjin_Quilones, is named Kijani the Earth Dragon. With a sand green color scheme similar to the Ninjago Green Ninja Mech Dragon, this beast has a totally different look. It even uses that set’s sculpted snout piece, but moves the eyes forward a bit, giving it a cute, stubby face befitting a dragon used to nosing about the earth.
Henjin says the dragon is fully articulated, from the toes to the wings. The double base is also a great effect here, with a big of earthy terrain and a more polished-looking smooth black rectangle beneath.