Tag Archives: Fantasy

A library for those who aren’t tirelessly building...

After over 30 years of building with LEGO, I can’t tell you how many rubber tires I’ve amassed in my collection. And as someone who never designs anything automotive (primarily due to lack of skill), they have sat collecting dust for far too long. But Tom Studs gives me hope for their eventual use with this brilliantly floored scene. Utilizing forced perspective, Tom gives us a view out the building’s main portal into a green wilderness, complete with a perfectly positioned minifig to convey all those feelings of wanderlust. The interior of the door is beautifully designed, with plenty of intricate brown designs that stand in stark contrast to the verdant outdoors and its winding stone path. But, again, the real star of the show is the cobbled black floor, comprised of a multitude of brick “nuggets” each wrapped in an appropriately-sized tire.

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Winter is summoned

In this imaginative LEGO scene by Malin Kylinger, a group of mages have summoned a portal to the winter realm. The whole diorama is loaded with great builds, from the trees with their densely packed foliage, to the picnic of magical equipment beside the house. The whole build rewards closer scrutiny with lots of great details lurking.

But the real standout is the magic circle at the center, a fantastic use of cheese-slope mosaic-making to craft a pattern that’s almost quilt-like, and at the center is a perfect use for the rare Belville crown element.

A castle chained to the sky

I’m not familiar with the Deepgate Codex fantasy series, but after seeing this captivating floating castle built of LEGO by Gino Lohse I think I might have to check it out, because this microscale structure has my imagination running. It’s a simple build but no less effective at evoking the feeling of precarious city perched atop a magic rock and chained in place. A few carefully placed studs make for great windows on the buildings, while the rock-texture slope gets put to good use giving added dimension to the chunk of earth without looking forced.

A Steward stews in Gondor

It took a random conversation in the grocery check-out line this weekend for me to realize just how happy I am that Lord of the Rings has returned to LEGO. While I admit, I’ve never been a die-hard Ringer, I appreciate so much that Tolkien’s work inspires others like no other fantasy tale. Case-in-point, check out this beautiful Gondorian hall by Nathan Smith. Depicting the scene where we are first introduced to Steward Denethor II, the build is deafeningly empty. Ornate walls and pillars cast in white, black, and tan lead from Gandalf and Pippin to the “empty” throne beneath the city’s emblem, the White Tree of Gondor. The brickwork here is gorgeous, from the inset panels in the arched ceiling to the design of the White Tree using Technic bits and bobs. Even details like the statues in white to the left of the hall are so intricate and effective in the design, while still not being 100% visible from this angle. The triumph here is how all these aspects combine together to emphasize the gaping chasm in this hall where a king should reside.

LEGO Creation of the Week (#14): Lothlorien Riverside by Ralf Langer

Every week readers of the The Brothers Brick Telegram channel choose the Creation of the Week: one project that impressed all of us the most. Ralf Langer got nearly 40% of all votes with his amazing Lothlorien Riverside scenery! Yet another Creation of the Week in our improvised hall of fame, ha!

Meanwhile, the new vote is already on! Join our Telegram channel to follow all the best LEGO creations, latest news, and, of course, vote for your favorites. See you there!

Some towers have spires and some towers inspire

There’s magic waiting to be revealed in every LEGO piece, and builders like exis- (or like you, dear Reader) bring it out. In this case, the build itself is quite magical, being a mage tower of sorts. The black roofing and crenellations create a forbidding–or foreboding–presence. However, the tan of the rest of the architecture balances it out. Perhaps this hints at the risk vs reward of entering such a place. Looking closer, you’ll see wonderful details abounding throughout the build. I really like the use of minifig legs for details in the base floor windows. I do recommend taking a trip over to the builder’s photostream to take a look at the wonders that fill the tower’s interior. There’s even a brief video showing off some cool play features.

The age of men is over, the time of the Mecha-Orc has come!

Well, now I’ve seen everything! Direct from the imagination of Illia Zubashev comes this hearty band of LEGO orcs armed with a mech suit, a rocket pack, and one huge rocket launcher. I absolutely love the colors here! The greens of the orcish skin and dark tan of the terrain provide wonderful contrast with the safety yellow and of this troop’s equipment. Unorganized and organic patters interplay with neat black-and-white checkerboards and safety striping. It instantly signals that these devices are out of place in this setting. And yet, the hints of rust and a few haphazard patch jobs apparent on the modern equipment still anchors this scene in reality (or at least a reality where fantasy has been gut-checked by sci-fi). May this platoon have much success in its raid of the nearby kingdom of Cyber-Elves.

LEGO Creation of the Week (#13): Cold Solitude by Mono

Every week readers of the The Brothers Brick Telegram channel choose the Creation of the Week: one project that impressed all of us the most. Winter is back as Ventum Vox gets the most recent Creation of the Week award! His Cold Solitude is one particularly impressive build, featuring very unusual rockwork.

Meanwhile, the new vote is already on! Join our Telegram channel to follow all the best LEGO creations, latest news, and, of course, vote for your favorites. See you there!

“The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow!”

The Lord of the Rings is full of scenes perfect for adapting into LEGO for the LEGO Ideas challenge “Explore the Middle-earth”. Builder BardJaskier chose one of the most iconic scenes to adapt — the Bridge of Kazad-Dûm. This scene features Gandalf the Grey standing in the way of a mighty Balrog to buy the Fellowship time to escape from the Mines of Moria. To say the Balrog towers over Gandalf is to do a disservice to the presence of the foul being. BardJaskier does a great job of capturing the dreadful power of the Balrog as it wields its fiery sword and whip. And those wings! They’re majestic and terrifying at the same time. They feature fantastic parts reuse from the Ninjago set 71753 Fire Dragon Attack. And let’s not forget the rest of the scene! I do love the techniques and design of the bridge and the surrounding mines. They do a good job of conveying the wear of time.

Rider of Rohan, what news from the Mark?

I just love it when LEGO is used to give us a glimpse of Middle-earth, like Shaun Sheepa‘s Rider of Rohan here. The Riddermark is a vast domain, and to traverse it the people take to the saddle. In the build you get a glimpse of these plains in the grassland beneath the horse’s hooves. Speaking of the horse, it’s not very often I see brick-built ones. There is some nice parts usage at play here. Of particular note is the shaping of the horse’s face, and those angled hollow studs with bar for the rear hooves. This is a very thin part of the horse’s anatomy, and those parts are perfect for it! I think now I need to go watch The Lord of the Rings to see the riders at work.

Great flying turtles!

It may sound like something Robin would exclaim, but this great flying turtle by Markus Rollbühler is delightfully whimsical instead. Markus notes that the whole LEGO build clocks in at just 96 pieces, though I spy some elements in there that are quite uncommon, like the dinosaur head that’s the turtle’s head….except backwards! All the gear piled haphazardly atop the turtle’s saddle completes the feeling of a wandering magician.

Never ending fun in the sun

It’s that time of the year again when the Rogue Olympics contest sweeps the LEGO community. The first round’s theme is “Above the clouds”, and builder Dan Ko delivers this wonderful scene from the 1984 film The NeverEnding Story. Coming in at 27 parts, the scene features Atreyu and Falkor flying through the sky, an iconic and immediately recognizable scene from the movie. What I really like about this build is Falkor. The luck dragon’s body comes together with a series of battle droid bodies. At this scale, they work well to bring the Falkor’s face and body to life.