Tag Archives: Dwarves

A stout building for bitter warriors to cure what ails them

Dwarves of the Warhammer universe take their beer very seriously. No warrior worth his salt would get drunk on pig swill. Only barrel-aged stouts will do.  Dwalin Forkbeard, builder of all things dwarven and steampunk, treats us to a proper Dwarven Brewery in his latest LEGO creation. Dwalin recreates a dry stone building technique of stones stacked without mortar – a tricky technique to pull off this well with LEGO bricks. The stonework is paired with a riveted rooftop, copper detailing, and a pearl gold brewing apparatus peeks out from the back of the structure to heat the wort for a heady brew. On this day, the brewery has guests of dishonor, as Dwarven slayer Gotrek and his chronicler Felix look thirsty for a pint of Korben’s Finest.

Dwarven Brewery

 

This Warhammer-inspired LEGO diorama is fast in friendship and in enmity

What do LEGO dwarves have to be resentful of? Well, elves got their own fondly remembered line, orcs featured prominently as Castle foes for a spell, and dragons appear in multiple themes and get their own zodiac calendar year. Oh, the indignity! We can’t know what animus brings motivates the dwarven king in Illia Zubashev‘s grand diorama, but chance are it involves gold, elves, or grudges. Probably all three.  Illia calls this creation The Hall of Grudges of Karak Izûm, a sacred site for dwarves of the Warhammer ilk. It’s a truly grand scene where a lone minifig king and the holy Book of Grudges are dwarfed by a hulking statue and a towering wall of brick and stone, showing the immense scale of the underground dwarven empire. Illia employs a solid mix of profile bricks, offset tiles, and SNOT work (studs not on top) in the impressive wall and floor. The chonky statue of dark grey and gold makes impressive use of 2×3 rock tiles for a chiseled beard. But perhaps the most striking element of the  scene is the diamond window of jutting trans light blue crystals.

The Hall of Grudges of Karak Izûm. Night

The evenly lit scene represents the hall at night. Even more striking is the daylight version, where light shining through the crystal window transforms the underground scene.

The Hall of Grudges of Karak Izûm. Day

These miners face a major obstacle

The dwarves of Undark were merchants renowned for their valuable ore, but one day they simply stopped coming to market. Sebastian Arts depicts the reason for their disappearance in this impressive build, showing an enormous dragon head throwing the underground mines into chaos. Sebastian has done an outstanding job with this vignette, crafting clever columns that look carved from stone, and even building a mine cart track that splits into two directions. The bright colors of the dragon head make it an instant focal point, but the multitude of minifigures are positioned in such a way that the action of the story is clear and easy to follow as your eye wanders along the build.

The Bane of Undark 2

Plan your day the dwarven way

Ever wonder what your a day looks like for your average dwarf? Well, builder Ids de Jong provides the answer in this great LEGO scene. First off, dwarven hygiene is of the utmost importance, so we have a pair scrubbing off all the dirt from the mines in a subterranean river. The minifigure torso choices here are excellent, showing their bottom halves submerged below the trans-blue water. The droid-arm ladder next to the bathing pair is a classic choice, and feels right at home in this scene. I absolutely love the pillar right next to it, with its center turned 45 degrees creating an interesting look.

Everyday life of a dwarf

Mine for more pictures below!

“Elf on the Hunt” by a raging waterfall in this lush build

Paul Rizzi‘s latest LEGO creation is a lush build, focusing on a lone elf hunting a stag in the forest. The bulk of the works appears to be have put in the textured cliffs and the translucent waterfall; I especially appreciate the implied motion of the water as it rolls over the rocks on the bottom. The trees use different shades of green to add some dimensionality, and we have a mixture of brown and white bases to change things up.

Elf on the Hunt

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A mine for the blacksmith

If you’re a blacksmith, odds are you have a supplier of ore and metals coming from a nearby mine. In this case, the mine is built by -LittleJohn. Clearly taking inspiration from the new LEGO Ideas Medieval Blacksmith set, builder -LittleJohn made this creation for the Colossal Castle Contest. The Allanar Mine is run by dwelves (dwarves + elves) who offer a warm meal and a soft bed to any travelers passing through.

Allanar Mine

The level of detail here is staggering. The landscaping, the mine building, and the inn are a work of art. I’d have to say my favorite part of this build is the windows. They’re beautiful! Both paned and double-paned are built so creatively. I’m going to have to see if I can replicate -LittleJohn’s techniques in my next medieval-themed creation.

Allanar Mine

This micro LEGO Dwarven mine has upper, lower and middle earth

Just when I think Letranger Absurde can’t surprise me further, they do! This micro build of a Dwarven Mine is spectacular and just dripping with NPU (nice parts use). There’s so much to look at in this small build, but the two things that catch my eye the most are the graveyard up top and the absolutely genius use of minifigure purses as minecarts down below.

Dwarven Mine

I love the combination of sideways and studs-up building and the limited color palette. The large amount of gray tones really makes the other elements stand out. The building detailing is beautiful and the dark tan ground level draws your attention to the middle of the photo, allowing the viewer to take in the upper and lower parts at the same time. The cluster of sand green trees is a nice addition that adds a little more color. The final touch is the wagon, perfectly realized in only three pieces and drawn by a brown frog posing as a dray horse.

An enigmatic maze

Sometimes you don’t need a wide breadth of pieces to build a great LEGO model. You just need a large quantity of a handful of elements. That seems to be the case with this eye-catching maze by Dutch builder Erik Eti Smit. Using a repeating pattern of tan arches, curved slopes, and striking red slopes, Erik has crafted a stunning maze for some hapless dwarves.

Doolburg

Click to see more of the maze and dwarves

Gold, Gold...Precious Gold!

It’s been a bit since we featured a castle creation on here, and I think it’s high time!

This tower by Marco den Besten (ecclesiastes) is just full of great details to draw the eye and avoid the big-grey-wall syndrome. I love the decorative elements at the top of each tower, and the lines on the main door. I particularly like the off-angle of the tower in the far back right.

Gold, gold, precious gold...

Open the tower to reveal the gold within:

Gold, gold, precious gold...

Dwalin and Balin...brother dwarves in LEGO form

Dwalin and Balin are probably my two favorite dwarves from The Hobbit and Pate-keetongu recreated them perfectly. There is a plethora of cool details in both figures but the pattern on Balin’s shirt is incredible.

Balin & Dwalin