Tag Archives: Jeff Friesen

Take a small trip to this Studio Ghibli-inspired diorama

In the LEGO hobby, some builders like to be able to build everything and anything; but some pick a specialist subject and stick to it, forever improving their craft. It’s fair to say that Jeff Friesen falls into the latter category, with his superb microscale cities and landscapes. But what sets Jeff apart is the variety he is capable of capturing within that niche! We’ve seen everything from his steampunk cities to Viking villages, and now we have a Studio Ghibli-inspired diorama to feast our eyes on. This one was actually rebuilt from a 20×20 stud footprint to a 24×24 base before being called finished. Ever the perfectionist, Jeff!

Microscale city scene mixes traditional architecture with fantastical flair

Whenever I come across a scene by Jeff Friesen I’m amazed at his uncanny ability to create such interesting stories in such a small space. His models are a wonderful blend of seemingly simple techniques combined with the perfect color combinations. In this scene depicting a sky train station with a cruise ship port, the addition of the floating tower in the foreground is such a whimsical detail. And the arches continuing through the build perfectly divide the lower level details from the upper. Gold parts are used throughout the scene for just a splash of sparkle.

The icy halls of the frozen north

If there’s one word that encapsulates Jeff Friesen‘s LEGO models more than any other for me, it’s “clean.” His builds always seem to have every single piece precisely where it ought to be. And his latest one looks like it’s from a picture book of the ideal Viking winter world (unlike hellish purgatory of Valheim that’s all the rage right now). This microscale creation doesn’t have any obviously new or even unusually innovative techniques, and yet it’s absolutely splendid from the snowcapped peaks to the tiny longships. The village spreading across the slopes with their tiny mounds of snow on top, and the two giant waterwheels give this settlement a fairytale aspect that I can’t get enough of.

Jeff was the winner of The Brothers Brick 2017 Creation of the Year and it’s well worth checking out the other builds we featured in our archives: Jeff Friesen LEGO creations.

The art and science of LEGO tensegrity builds

The recent trend in the LEGO-sphere community has all been about magical floating compression structures, better known as a tensegrity – a portmanteau of “tensional integrity”. The fad started with a very rudimentary build on a Reddit and soon spawned many more creative iterations. We pick a few of the more outstanding ones that we’ve seen that has impressed us. A couple of them come with build videos and instruction guides for you to build your very own.

Click to see some of the best we’ve spotted around

A stately castle fit for a pocket-sized king

This tiny castle by prolific LEGO microscale builder Jeff Friesen has all it takes to make a towering appearance. As the builder notes, this is not a castle built for defense. This is a regal structure built to show wealth and power, or perhaps serve as the central focus for a theme park.

We’ve featured Jeff’s incredible work in the past and this model is quite different from his usual fanciful style. He trades in whimsical landscapes and modern cities for a more uncomplicated look. Clean, straight lines are the order of the day in this kingdom. But straight lines need not be boring! There is just enough asymmetry here to keep it architecturally interesting without straying into high fantasy territory. The subdued color palette works nicely, especially when offset by the small pops of color from the brown trees and red flag. The shield with crown decoration is a nice finishing touch that draws the eye to the entrance and lets the viewer know exactly who presides over this Lilliputian domain.

A castle amongst waterfalls

I am constantly jealous of both Jeff Friesen‘s exceptional photography and his beyond-exceptional LEGO builds. As the winner of our 2017 LEGO Builder of the Year award and the author of the book LEGO Micro Cities, Jeff is always on his A-game. This castle with lovely waterfalls made from trans-blue curved panels and Technic driving ring extensions for turrets is just awesome.

Just a few weeks ago we wrote an article on another cool LEGO castle of Jeff’s. Also, stay tuned for our review of his book!

Magnificence on a mini canvas

If there was ever a “Master of Microscale” it would be Jeff Friesen. As the author of LEGO Micro Cities and builder of our 2017 Creation of the Year, he knows how to pack a big punch in a small space. It’s incredible how he is able to create a whole world on a 20 x 20 stud baseplate. I love this latest piece, a medieval village and castle, for its levels, layout, and lovely parts usage. This time around, Jeff used several flick missiles to help form the lower towers.

I’m also a big fan of Jeff’s consistently perfect color palette. While this one is more simple in terms of colors, it holds true to form in the fact that there is zero monotony. The two-tone base gives it dimension and a slight complexity. If you love this build as much as I do, stay tuned for our review of the book, LEGO Micro Cities. Also, check out our interview with Jeff Friesen about his “Cityscapes” series.