Tag Archives: Dystopia

Practical magic

It’s a common practice to touch up LEGO images with a bit of post-production magic. Sometimes it’s knocking out a background that isn’t quite clean enough, or maybe it’s going the other direction and putting a galaxy behind your spaceship. There’s nothing inherently wrong with extending a build by giving things clarity or context. However, Marcel V. shows us that everything doesn’t always have to be “fixed in post”. Tearing apart is 100% LEGO, from the craggy landscape to the clouds on the horizon. And the photo itself is untouched, free from any editing.

tearing apart

The short focal length gives clarity to the foreground elements like the lone wanderer (and faithful canine companion), and adds an air of mystery to the objects in the distance. Are those vines (constructed from 1×1 round brick and dinosaur tails) responsible for the fractured rock? Are they just taking advantage of another calamity? Just how close is the horizon? Are those storm clouds or an onrushing menace?

A behind the scenes look reveals some of the complexities that went into this creation. It’s interesting to see the different layers of construction that combined so seamlessly in the final image.

BTS - tearing apart

I don’t know about you, but I’d love to see more photos from these adventurer’s travels. There’s just something special about the practical nature of their world that speaks to me.

A streetcar named Dystopia

Get your ticket for a cable car ride to the apocalypse in this dystopian future scene by Hellboy.lego. Your final stop is Catastrophe St. & Devastation Blvd. where trouble awaits around every corner!

Cable Car in Downtown

The things I most appreciate about this scene are the little stories spread throughout. An intrepid traveller embarks at his stop and finds himself in dangerous surroundings. A madman protects his arsenal of garbage, while a shadowed figure lurks in a corner just waiting to relieve unsuspecting tourists of their possessions. Peril also comes from above in the form of a gun toting survivalist on the roof, looking for an opportunity to strike.

Cable Car -Detail2

There are even spiders and a couple of baby dinos thrown in for good measure! I also love the overgrown look, accomplished using a wide variety of plant pieces in different shapes and colors. The organic palette of the foliage and crumbling gray building facade create a nice color contrast to the excellently built tan and blue cable car. The cracked and broken pavement is not only a great detail, it also breaks the straight line of the base, adding to the overall decrepit feeling of the scene.

Smoothly keeping dissidents at bay

This slick robotic four-legged police unit, dubbed KA-9 by LEGO builder Red Spacecat, has such a polished aesthetic to it that I could almost see it called the “iProtect” in our dystopian future. The ultra-grippy toes made of rubber Technic axle connectors is a genius design, and the subtle detail of eschewing larger tiles for a series of 1×1 tiles on the upper legs gives the perfect impression of heavy armor plates.

KA-9

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

That famous opening line from Charles Dicken’s A Tale of Two Cities is as good an introduction as any to Paddy Bricksplitter’s microscale diorama of the same name. The juxtaposition of the glistening white utopian towers and the smoke belching grime of the dystopian factory below creates some wonderful drama. There are nods, as he acknowledges, to the cyberpunk anime Battle of Alita as well as science fiction classics such as Things to Come and Metropolis. In the end, its Paddy’s own style that steals the show, relying on clever repeats of simple LEGO elements and atmospheric lighting to show the contradicting sides of his future city.

A Tale of Two Cities

Living the dystopian dream

Ah, to get away from it all — just pack up your trailer and head out of town. Well, according to LegoFin in 2046 you might just end up living in one of these dystopian suburbs. A collage of jumbled junk, all of course expertly built, from the resourceful layering of dishes to create the defunct electrical transformers, to the lovingly detailed generator out back.

CyberPunk 2046: Trailer Life

The caravan’s design uses some cleverly arranged slopes, giving it its distinctive shape; a real home from home, it’s got everything you need… well, alright it has a bucket. Still, if you do get lonely, there’s always that suspicious-looking drone to keep you company.