Tag Archives: Eli Willsea

Not your average garden gate

An alien scene, bright and mysterious, speaks volumes within a small space. Builder Eli Wilsea taps into their imagination to open up this garden gateway to an unknown world beyond. As is the trend at the moment, tap pieces are used to create patterns within the stones. While two are identical and use the tap in tandem with the minifigure posing stud, the middle features a pattern with solely tap pieces that opens up to a solid blue barrier to the beyond. The morose, cloaked figure stands by a lamp made with taps. Like a futuristic Kharon waiting to bear us across this door into the underworld, I’m not sure this guy would be the most comforting guide.

The Garden Gateway

Despite the foreboding figure and the unknown beyond the gate, the garden surrounding it seems pleasant and welcoming. The bright yellow frog bids me to stay, to not take this journey with the Ferrymen. The tree’s dark trunks and bright colors suggest a saccharine poison to this world though, so maybe it would be better to see what lays beyond. It’s up to you which is the true Forlorn Empire.

Hotdog buns for toes

One of the first articles I got to write about LEGO for TBB featured a brick built owl. It is safe to say that from that point on, brick built owls have a spot in my heart. After seeing this little cutie by Eli Willsea, I knew I just had to feature it. This forest critter has eyes that stare right in the deepest of your soul with their pitch black pupils and the vibrant yellow irises made out of lever bases. The only feathery parts that are used are the LEGO Chima wings around the eyes. For the most part curved slopes are used to build this animals body and wings. I would however like to highlight one special feature of this amazing build and that are the owls feet and talons. These are made with hotdog buns and black sausages.

Owl

These caves are several miles down, but only six studs deep.

Mystery and adventure await all those who are brave enough to ride the secret elevator to the underground boat dock in The Deep Down, by Eli Willsea. Limited to what he could fit in a carry-on suitcase for a cross-country convention trip, Eli managed to pack a mountain of detail into a microscale space. This build gets some amazing results from some deceptively simple techniques, like the boat dock made from half-pressed together plates and the roof of the house held on only by gravity.

The Deep Down

But it isn’t only simplicity that makes this build shine. The scene includes a working elevator and lights that illuminate the underground chambers for an extra eerie atmosphere. Take a look at the video below to see all the features of the build in action and get inspired to do some exploring of your own.

A wand-erfully whimsical scene in an island storm

A book can be a welcome escape in times of stress, or, for Eli Willsea, a book can also be a roof for an island hut. However, considering the gusts of wind bending those chunky trees, this roof might not make it through the night. And speaking of trees, I love the cartoonish look of these trees made from cones and gnarled trunks. The hut is held aloft as if by magic by four wands, and the nearby boat puts the plastic sprue that comes with another pair of wands to good use as a mast, demonstrating that even parts LEGO themselves consider waste can be put to good use in builds.

The Warp Lands

This LEGO microscale sanctuary is full of surprising details

Astounding us again, Eli Willsea shares another vibrant build, this time in the form of a peaceful-looking sanctuary. The model is entered in this year’s Summer Joust competition and perfectly suits the medieval theme of the contest. An interesting colour palette has been applied to the build, with the soft tones of light grey, bright green and tan contrasting nicely against red.

The Summer Sanctuary

Several unusual techniques have been used in the model. One of the most striking is the use of a car cabin piece as part of the main building. A few of the trees appear to be minfigure helmets, with the open sections turned away from the camera. You can also just see handle pieces placed sideways in the main courtyard, which represents pillars at the entrance to the inner building. Eli has truly succeeded in creating an enchanting scene with a tranquil aesthetic.

Old gods and hidden dangers

The heart of the forest lay deep within the multitudes of birch protected by the Forestmen. The unaware would see a plain tree but within its ancient form lay the spirit of the forest, a god older than the dirt its roots now dig through. Those that hear whispers of its power seek to gain a piece of it to use for their means, good or evil. At least, that’s the story that comes to mind when I see this model. Here builder Eli Willsea shows us the Prince of Persia attempting to evade the Forestmen as he seeks the power granted by the ancient birch. Check out the parts Eli used, like the vehicle shovel in the background of the underground chamber or the horns and large claws as branches. Fantastic rock molding frames the sandy texturing of the bricks at the base of the chamber, detailed with minifigure legs and candles. While the smaller birch trees make use of the slits in the technic parts for their look, Eli used black lifesaver bouys to achieve the bigger birch’s characteristic stripes.

Threat to the Ancient Birch

You can find more of Eli Willsea’s designs in our archives.

Ancient garage door pillars

This creation by Eli Willsea may or may not be inspired by the LEGO 10276 Colosseum. They are similar when it comes to architecture, color scheme, the lovely foliage and last but not least, columns! The columns in Eli’s creation are made of garage doors. There are three orders of Greek architecture (Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian). To these the Romans the Tuscan and the Composite. Since these columns look quite simple my guess is they are either Doric or Tuscan. Next to the exquisite part usage on the columns, the color scheme of this creation is quite remarkable. Most of the colors are earthy tones except for the yellow tree foliage which really pops!

Strategy

The Brothers Brick LEGO Builder of the Year 2020 [News]

Every day the team at The Brothers Brick showcases the best models put together by the global community of creative LEGO builders. However, amongst the thousands of talented builders around the world, there are always a few whose work offers inspiration to the rest of us — displaying mastery of technique and creativity across a variety of building styles.

The Brothers Brick is delighted to name Eli Willsea as our LEGO Builder of the Year 2020.

Best LEGO builder of 2020

Click to see a selection of Eli’s models from 2020

An ideal spot for a picnic lunch

At first glance, this idyllic riverside scene may seem simple, but the more you look, the more amazing details you can see. Eli Willsea makes some great choices to create a landscape filled with interesting part usage. Starting with the trees, made with fishing poles and steer horns. The frothy waterfall uses croissants, and I love the upside-down leaf fronds stuck into the underside of bricks for the vegetation around the edge of the water. The combination of curved and angled slopes for the rockwork is also quite lovely.

The Peaceful Pond

Follow the yellow brick...castle?

If you’ve been seeing a lot of yellow LEGO creations around here lately, that’s because Eli Willsea has been engaged in a competition with Jonas Kramm to see who can put the yellow 9V train track switch to use best. This striking microscale castle is one of my favorites from Eli, in part because everything in the picture is brick-built, except the blue sky. There’s some great forced perspective among the tiny jagged mountains in the distance, the castle in the middle, and the cave in the foreground, but the best detail for me is the parapet over the castle gate, which is made with yellow lever bases attached to the bottom of an upside-down 1×4 plate.

The Hidden Valley

Here comes the sun (flowers)

It takes a certain sort of madness to take something like a 9V Train track switch element and turn it into something organic like a bunch of sunflowers. But that’s just what Eli Willsea has done. Somehow. I mean, sure, you could start with 40 or so of those train switches. Add some 1×1 round brick in light green. A couple of round plates in brown. But then you have to get really creative: Check out that perfume bottle. Who even knew those 1×1 pyramid slopes came in transparent-clear? They form the perfect texture, making the full image for Eau du Soleil seem like an advertisement in a high-end fashion magazine. It’s just…*chef’s kiss*

Eau Du Soleil

This creation is just one of Eli’s entries in the Iron Builder competition. Check our archives for more from the contest.

Poultry Pinball

2020 being the first year in a long time without a licensed LEGO video game is a disappointing moment for fans. It is yet another faction of business affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to GameRant. While there is still hope for the tentative release of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga in 2021, this might be a good time for The LEGO Group to develop pinball game sets. Sure, this screams old school. But TLG already notched success when they captured the nostalgia for Super Mario and the Nintendo Entertainment System. Let’s also not forget the brick-built retro games, plus 2016’s Ideas Maze (21305). Just one look at the Chicken-Pen-Ball machine, made by Eli Willsea, has us stuck on tilt.

Chicken-Pen-Ball

Eli’s fifth creation in the Iron Builder competition used the Track Switch 9V in yellow 19 times. He continues to outdo himself going up against Jonas Kramm, another gifted builder. Eli’s use of the Track Switch 9V balances function and form. They serve as the flippers, the flowers (dandelions?) in front of the barn, the handle on the ball shooter, and even the cabinet’s feet. It’s an egg-citing creation that takes our cheap chicken puns to the next level in this demo video. Check it out.