Tag Archives: History

Red coats make easy targets

At the start of the French and Indian War, the British outnumbered their rivals with 2 million colonists to France’s mere 60 thousand. Through alliances with Indigenous tribes and the use of guerrilla tactics, the French made sure the redcoats paid a heavy price for those “few acres of snow.” Nicholas Goodman brings this chapter of North American history to life in LEGO, depicting the British under attack in 1759. The builder excels at dioramas, mixing scenery and minifig staging to capture the drama of a moment. I love how the trees get darker away from the road, a perfect setting for an ambush. We loved his last take on tricorn hat history: a swashbuckling pirate raid.

This scene was built for an upcoming LEGO history book called Minifigure Monarchs: A History of Great Brits in Little Bricks, by Andrew Redfern.

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Nanyang heritage and Petaling Street: One builder’s journey to connect with the past through LEGO [Feature]

As a child growing up in a small town, LEGO made my world so much bigger. I could imagine life in space, the Middle Ages, or big cities because the act of building with bricks made history, science, and far-off places real. But it wasn’t until years later, thanks to communities like Brickshelf and sites like this one, that I came to understand how universal my experience was. One of my great joys in writing for this site has been the chance to learn from and be inspired by creations shared by talented builders around the world.

Builders like Vooi Loon Low, a Chinese Malaysian AFOL living in Kuala Lumpur.

A few years ago, Loon started sharing LEGO models of shops on Petaling Street, the heart of Kuala Lumpur’s historic Chinatown. Specifically, he’s been recreating the shops as they would have appeared in the 1950s. These buildings, sometimes paired with black and white photos, are the only LEGO models Loon has shared. I wanted to know more about Loon’s motivations for this very specific and long-running project. When I reached out, Loon was kind enough to share his story.

Read on to hear Loon’s story and see more of his builds of historic Petaling Street

The purr-fect tactic for defeating ancient Egyptians

Builders like Hunter Erickson are a gift, using their talent for creating compelling LEGO scenes to share another passion in a way that makes learning fun. For Hunter, that passion is history, especially obscure military history from both the ancient and modern worlds. In his latest scene, Hunter takes us back to Ancient Egypt with a rendition of The Battle of Pelusium from 525 BCE. Persian king Cambyses II overcame the much larger Egyptian army thanks to a clever bit of psychological warfare: they brought cats to the front lines, knowing the Egyptians would be afraid of hurting the sacred animal.

Aside from his knack for mustering ancient minifig armies, Hunter is wonderful as usual in the presentation, staging the scene with a framed brick-built sky and a lovely patch of terrain, as we appreciated in his LEGO tribute to the Hundred Years’ War.

Tommy in the trenches on the Western Front

During the First World War, an explosion in the rate and range of weapons fire made field warfare a last resort. Trenches provided a modicum of safety for soldiers on the Western Front but at the cost of a drawn-out war of attrition. Historical builder The Halls of Montezuma honors the British soldiers who gave their lives in the Great War with a vignette of trench life in LEGO. The scene takes place near Ovillers in northern France, which Montezuma recreates with excellent brick-built terrain that mixes light tan and white bricks to depict the region’s chalky soil. Densely packed carrot tops make for beautiful grass, with snaking foliage in dark green giving extra texture to the scene.

Military history buffs will find many models to appreciate in The Halls of Montezuma’s collection, as well as in TBB’s own WWI archive.

Keeping score on the Andean Quipu

One of the benefits of being a TBB contributor (besides limited use of the headquarters hot tub) is you learn new things about the world. Take this rather unconventional LEGO creation by Mattia Careddu for example. Is it the newest trend on the catwalk? Or is it some sort of facehugger monster? It turns out, it’s an Andean Quipu, a device, according to the internet, used for recording everything from tax information to land ownership to census records to military organization during the time of the Inka Empire. Highly specialized Quipu readers were even hired to read the complex series of fiber and knots in order to settle court cases. The only thing I can decipher from this particular LEGO creation is that someone can tie a sweet figure-eight knot. However, a skilled reader would surmise that I probably shouldn’t have claimed my dogs as dependants on my taxes. Also, I’ve been denied access to the TBB hot tub.

A 2,500-year-old LEGO creation on the shores of the Aegean

LEGO builder Justus M. Has taken us all the way back to Ancient Greece with his contribution to the recent Rogue Bricks collaboration. Each build in the series touches on the myths and society of the time, here showcasing a fishing village on the outskirts of Troy. A pair of huts make up most of the scene, with walls cobbled in various bricking textures to symbolize the mud clay that these buildings were actually made from. These angular houses contrast the smooth, weather-worn rocks in the foreground, showing their age in silence amid the bustle of the scene. But my favorite bit are definitely the exquisite cypress trees littered about. Each one an agglomeration of upward-pointing leaves knit tightly together so as to appear as a single green leafy tube – a difficult task given the nature of the parts used.

This LEGO Mediterranean harbor takes us back to World War II

There is so much going on in this WWII scene by builder PelLego that’s it’s hard to know where to begin. I don’t know if I should talk about the detailed rock work first, or the delicate trees with flex-tube trunks. Those natural forms stand in juxtaposition to the tall man-made domiciles, tiny cars parked out front, and sleek boat being loaded with gear. The build is a masterclass in tile usage, ranging from the flat, even stillness of the water to the rough and worn street next to the dock.

White Jade Lion Seal of the Realm

The jade seals used throughout China’s history have demanded various levels of respect and contention. This model replica by Builder Joe of Dad’s Bricks pays tribute to such cultural regalia, complete with a stand and ornate case. An exquisite lion carving is built with white bricks atop the plain block that makes up the traditionally square seal. Though Joe doesn’t show us the base, which would hold the impression of the seal, we can still appreciate the black fence pieces used in its stand. More impressive is the wooden case with golden filigree which holds the precious heirloom. Clever studs not on top building techniques allowed Joe to add an almost hidden hinge into the sides of the box, along with all of the decorative elements.

This is a kingly artifact, most commonly denoting the word of the Emperor in the dynasty’s past. Though many have been lost to the ages, possession of such items in the past could tear down an Empire or impress power upon entire regions. This Hong Kong-based builder does well to pay homage to such treasures, adding yet another lovely model to his collection.

In Spudkirk, it’s all about the little things

The fictional town of Spudkirk is home to this LEGO scene by builder Evancelt Lego, featuring a row of tiny townhouses and itsy-bitsy infantrymen. And the details here, even at this scale, are larger than life. The cobbling on the wall is excellent, demonstrating how war-weary the town must be. The use of color in the road, specifically the blotches of lime green and burnt orange, further the worn look of the town. And it does this without drawing too much attention away from the rest of the model. This allows other, more nuanced details to shine through, like that teensy tree on the left. The yellow-orange flowers as foliage on top of a trunk mostly composed of a brown stud shooter fits perfectly at this scale.

Minifigs galore from the Hundred Years’ War

Travel back in time with this LEGO battle scene from the Hundred Years’ War by builder Hunter Erickson. This build depicts the Battle of Poitiers, fought between the French and the English in the year 1356. This was but one of many clashes in this series of armed conflicts fought over the French throne. Edward, the Black Prince, led the English forces in this battle, while King Jean II led the French forces. This LEGO scene depicts the battle much the same an artist would have painted the event at the time of the conflict. Layering the background, the sky behind some brick-built hills achieves a great forced perspective. I just love the colors of the plates and bricks making up the rising dawn! The scene is densely packed with minifigures engaged in deadly combat. In blue are the French, fighting to push back the ever-advancing troops of the English. And waving across the battle from the mounted soldier is St. George’s flag, wonderfully rendered with round plates, studs, and clips to capture cloth in motion.

The outcome of this battle will side with the English, despite the two-to-one odds against them. King Jean II was captured, along with one of his sons. Their ransom and the peace talks would take another four years to complete, but eventually, hostilities ceased in 1360 with the Treaty of Bretigny. England regained Aquitaine, was paid the ransom for Jean II and his son, and renounced the claim on the French throne. However, this peace was fleeting–hostilities resumed ten years later, continuing the Hundred Years’ War.

Are you not entertained by this LEGO Roman chariot?

Straight from the Circus Maximus, let me present this exquisite LEGO chariot built by Dicken Liu. And, given the subject matter, I think this is a good time to learn some Latin. Our first vocab word is volare: to fly or move quickly. And, by golly, those horses are doing exactly that! This build evokes such motion with its flying manes and tails, I can almost hear their galloping hooves when I look at it! It’s truly a brilliant use of curved slopes and arches.

Learn some more Latin below

This Roman temple is straight fire!

Behold, the sacred fire of Vesta! So long as it burns, Rome’s safety and prosperity is assured. Builder Antonio Cerretti uses LEGO to show us how this temple may have looked in its prime. The Temple of Vesta once stood in the Roman Forum at the heart of the ancient city. Dedicated to Vesta — the Roman goddess of hearth, home, and family — it stood for many centuries until it was permanently dismantled in the mid-16th century. We know what it may have looked like from coins and artwork, and here Antonio gives us a marvelous recreation built from LEGO! The temple’s adornments strike with their vibrancy, reminding us that the ancient world was filled with color. Clipped together, barbs and cow horns make up the details on the capitals of the Corinthian columns. Further up, light grey minifigure handcuffs give definition to the blue frieze between the columns and roof. Peer through the open entrance to see the sacred fire, burning brightly to keep the darkness at bay.

The temple’s interior showcases the sacred fire and more wonderful columns. Clever usage of croissants make up the capitals of what appear to be ionic columns set into the curved wall. Then, we have the eternal fire in the center of the enclosure! A light brick is cleverly buried beneath loose translucent LEGO studs, giving the fire its warm glow. Simple flame pieces stick out from the embers like the reaching arms of a healthy fire. Undoubtedly, this build gives us a splendid glimpse into an aspect of ancient Rome, grounding the past in the present.

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