Tag Archives: Harbors

Voyage out to the lighthouse in LEGO

Like moths to a flame, many LEGO builders are drawn to the fresnel lens glow of lighthouses for inspiration. Hugo Huang answered the foghorn’s siren call and recreated a historic Lighthouse found on a tiny island outside Tsingtao (Qingdao) Harbor. First established by the Germans in 1900, the lighthouse was destroyed and rebuilt by the Japanese 14 years later during the Siege of Tsingtao. If you know Tsingtao as a beer, it was those Germans who founded the brewery there back in 1903, who then sold it to the Japanese post-siege, who in turn transferred ownership to the Chinese after WWII. Oops, I got stuck in the history rabbit hole. Back to LEGO! The octagonal tower is flanked by residence buildings with red clay rooftops recreated with cheese slopes. Hugo puts a vintage LEGO pirate ship mast to great use as a flagpole. Hugo pairs the building with a lightship, a vessel equipped with a lighthouse-style lantern used when a land-based lighthouse wasn’t an option.

If you too want to ~~marry~~ be a LEGO lighthouse keeper and live by the side of a sea, the official Motorized Lighthouse is charming, or you can take Hugo’s approach and bring a bit of history to life in bricks.

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Venice and not a trolley case in sight – Barthezz Brick’s 250,000 brick LEGO tribute to Assassin’s Creed

Sometimes you stumble across a LEGO fan creation that you’d just love to see in the brick. This creation by Barthezz Brick is a good example of that. Each and every building in this creation could be featured on TBB. We generally wait until a builder has finished their work in progress before highlighting the finished build, but at some point I couldn’t control myself and wrote an article about a couple of detail shots that Barthezz posted. But finally, it’s done!

See lots more details from this amazing LEGO recreation of Venice

Barrels for rooftops

We love it when a LEGO building looks a little but quirky. This creation by Andrew Tate features a cooperage. Funny thing about this building is that it looks similar to the products that are made there. The round roof was realised by laying tan garage doors over a half round frame creating round roofs. The roof makes the building look like it is actually covered with two half barrels. Talk about a great marketing strategy! They’ve got everything you might need: barrels, tuns, tubs and more.

Microscale mission of mercy

A friend in need is a friend indeed, they say. Who is they? Probably Louis of Nutwood, for one, since he built this microscale LEGO scene of a relief ship unloading its supplies to help save a city near destruction. The ship itself is small and sleek, elegantly color blocked, and the harbor is great, too, with its large cranes to unload the supplies. The water deserves some extra attention, with the subtle variation in colors and the studs being used for waves near the shore. But more than that, the whole piece has an elegant composition, with the rocks, uneven edge of the water, and the clear central focus on the ship. What kind of ship? Friendship.

Like the opening chapter of a great seafaring novel

“The sea, she’s like a lady. You dance with her you dance by her lead otherwise she chew ye up and swallow ye whole.” How do you like my grizzled sea captain impersonation? Needs work? Yeah, you’re probably right. I was just channeling Ahab, Nemo, and a bit of Quint from Jaws who, as it turned out, needed a “bigga boat.” This historic LEGO harbor scene by Vaionaut has all the quaint charm of Amity without the danger. Upon further inspection, the cannons, soldiers, pirates, and other details do suggest danger and intrigue–though likely not shark related. Everything from the expertly crafted curved wall, to the granite sailing ship model, to the intricate detailing on the rooftops is a treat to behold. My favorite feature is the hanging sailor-capped albatross totem bearing a close resemblance to Donald Duck.

This is like the opening chapter of a great seafaring adventure novel with each page leaving me wanting more. As it turns out, there is a bit more as this was part of a collaborative pirate build presented at Bricking Bavaria and can be seen at Rogue Bricks. Though if you click there, be sure to brush up on your German. All the German I know, I’ve learned from Rammstein, which, like my sea captain impersonations, has proven to be unhelpful while traveling abroad.

In a fishing town, where the sharks go to practice their 8-ball

A couple months ago we featured a spectacular LEGO shipyard, built by Arjan Oude Kotte. Adding on to his harbor town, his most recent creation is this awesome billiards hall. The architecture of this building has its own sense of style, as it perfectly resembles what you might think of when you hear, “Hamilton’s Billiards”.

There are lots of great side-builds used to create the signage and siding of the structure, especially the lettering. The roof shingles look fantastic as well! And, as always, the billiards hall fits seamlessly with the rest of the town. Our only wish is that we could see what fun lies inside!

We’re really impressed by Arjan’s attention to detail, and the story that he tells with his work. For this reason we’ve requested an interview! Stay tuned for a chance to learn more about this awesome builder.

Find safe harbour in Markus Rollbühler’s microscale port

This microscale city-port built by Markus Rollbühler packs detail into every stud of its tiny 12×12 base. Everywhere you look something grabs your attention: ships built from epaulettes, with sails formed from the new triangle tiles found in the Speed Champion sets; printed Minecraft plates make excellent wharf buildings; and, my personal favourite, party hat spires adorn the town’s numerous towers. Of course Markus doesn’t stop there — keep searching and you’ll find treasure hidden in the dock’s cellars.

Incredible sprawling Victorian-age LEGO city has a railroad, a church, docks, factories and more

Built by the members of SwissLUG as a collaborative build, this amazing Victorian-age city has details everywhere you look. Unlike many LEGO cities, the properly scaled tall ship at the docks doesn’t dwarf the rest of the layout, fitting right in while also serving as a beautiful anchor in the center of the scene.

Click to see more pictures of this amazing LEGO port

Let’s go fly a kite!

This delightful harbour scene by Simply Bricking It is the perfect antidote to some of the more ghoulish and macabre Halloween builds we’ve been showcasing.

There are awesome little details in this scene with the buoy, the railing around the base of the lighthouse and the harbour paraphernalia. I particularly love the textured walls of the lighthouse itself and the curved harbour wall.

Of course, leaving the best until last, we have the kite which brings the scene to life. It’s worth taking a closer look at this build to see the details…