For years now, one of my favorite historical LEGO builders has been Evan Crouch, known for turning out beautiful buildings and landscapes from medieval and colonial times. This gatehouse, intended for a DENLUG collab at Brickworld Chicago this coming weekend, is yet another stellar entry into his catalog of work. I adore the construction of that pine tree, leveraging the flexible nature of the 6×5 leaf pieces. And the texturing on the tower’s walls is top notch, as always. I hope I get to see some pics of the whole DENLUG layout from the convention in the near future.
Tag Archives: evancelt
History is made in the abstract
At LEGO street level, a tense scene plays out. Orders from the General. It’s time for Major Brickleton to finish up his puddings and bid adieu to the modernist comforts of Seawatch’s beloved Mondrie Inn. The colonel raises his gaze to look upon the half-timbered rooms, blocked in primary colors in the Dutch style. “War is all well and good in the abstract,” he thought, “but I’d rather stick to my puddings.” Evan Crouch is no stranger at progressive builds that fuse history and whimsy, but his latest scene might be his most modern(ist) creation yet from (neo)plastic bricks. I wonder what came first, the delightful play on the name of artist Piet Mondrian for the Mondrie Inn, or the visual pun of fusing half-timbered architecture with Mondrian’s trademark blocks of primary colors? Evan backs the whimsical concept with exceptional technique.
The inn’s ground floor uses a mix of masonry bricks, round plates and SNOT bricks for a nice weathered effect, while dark grey ingots make for effective cobblestones. The color blocking for the upper stories is minimialist in approach, appropriate for the inspiration, with no windows and just a few round tiles to show wear. Evan rounds out the build with a custom sticker for the inn’s signboard and historical characters.
Here’s the scoop on this wintry scene...
The latest LEGO creation by builder Evancelt‘s depicts a wintry scene with an impressive castle towering above the nearby village. The castle, with its yellow colour scheme, is reminiscent of the classic LEGO Yellow Castle, but what impresses me with this castle is that the walls are made from a digger bucket! In micro builds like this, I’m always impressed when parts you wouldn’t expect should work really do work so well!
But it’s not just a great castle on display here. Surrounding the castle is a beautiful wintry scene complete with snow-covered forests, using various horn pieces, and a small village which utilises the printed plate from the latest CMF series, but my favourite piece of detail in this scene? The snowy mounds made from white croissant pieces!
Now, all this talk of winter leaves me needing to find an open fire to warm up…
Restocking Fort Stockton
Part of a larger LEGO concept by the builder, this model of the docks at Fort Stockton, Wullham features some lovely architecture, delightful parts usage, and realistic rock formations. Flickr Builder Evancelt enjoys historical era models full of red jackets and muskets set against natural scenery with old buildings. Here they used some simplistic parts as crenellations and molding along the top of the fort, while cleverly employing letters with a red seal as diamond-leaded windows. Well-molded sea grasses and foliage compliment the sharp change to rock as we move down to the dock. Basalt formations are a delightful bit of geology that we don’t see enough of in LEGO builds or real life. Using dark grey at the base to illustrate the spray and waves of the sea on the rocks is a great decision that adds to the realism of the build.
Of course, the multilayered dock is also wonderfully detailed. Multiple shades of brown make up the boards, while reddish brown and dark brown in the supports mirror the water effect used on the rocks. The lamp piece is a good period setting element that matches well with the flat-topped chest. I love seeing historical models that aren’t focused on war. Sure, these are soldiers at a Fort but still, this is more about daily life than about a battle and I’m all about that. Not to mention how soothingly executed that blue sea is on the eyes. Well done, Evancelt, well done.