LEGO builder Pan Noda has a stellar record when it comes to color use. Not too long ago, I raved about this monotonal marvel that spilled forth from their mind. And while this creation goes a bit more subterranean than their previous work, it’s still a powerful bit of art composed of cobbled walls, hanging vines, and still water. Even though the palette here only uses four colors of brick (light gray, green, tan, and transparent light blue), their brilliant use of light transforms the scene into a symphony of shades. The uneven textures on the walls create pockets of shadow and reflective surfaces that bring the whole thing to life! Plus, it’s giving me the sudden urge to hunt for jungle temples in Minecraft….
Tag Archives: Jungle
LEGO Creation of the Week (#21): The Lost Temple by Jake Hansen and Eli Willsea
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. Neither a Pokemon, nor a fancy Fabuland starfither could crush a charming lost temple by Jake Hansen and Eli Willsea during our last week’s vote! Congratulations!
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A ruin of cubes amid the jungle
The dynamic duo of Jake Hansen and Eli Willsea have combined their LEGO talents to construct a glorious jungle scene based around a very boxy temple. The contrasts here are brilliant! The natural chaos of the jungle, replete with bladed vegetation, juxtaposes the right angles and clean lines of the temple. I love the choice of non-transparent blue for the water, adding to the feel of consistent color patches throughout the scene. But the real star here is the consistent architectural style throughout the temple’s ruin. Re-use of common patterns makes the build feel whole, while subtle variations on those modules gives the viewer an idea of the site’s state of decay. The consistency is so impressive that I was shocked it was made by two builders.
Johnny Thunder and the jungle shrine
On the heels of some sweet Indiana Jones news earlier this week, it’s a good time to pop in on the ongoing escapades of LEGO’s other, less cross-promotional adventurer: Mr. Johnny Thunder. And no one captures that better than builder Ids de Jong! Here he and his team explore a beautiful jungle pagoda while braving the hazards of a rickety rope bridge. The minifig posing here is spectacular, with one teammate about to take the plunge thanks to a snapped plank. The temple stands in brilliant contrast to the surrounding vegetation, a white monolith among so many earth tones. But the flora itself is the true standout here, utilizing parts both new and old to create a lush landscape atop these cliffs.
An outpost from the past
This Pioneer Outpost by Ayrlego recycles the cabin from an earlier north-western themed build and a tower from an even earlier effort. Builders enhancing their earlier works is nothing new, but even recognizing the “seed builds” doesn’t diminish the achievement here. The cabin is now elevated well above the water line, fully integrated into a dense forest of greenery. Are those pink flamingos lawn ornaments or actual wildlife? Maybe one of each? But look beyond those pops of color and you can find great details like the vine on the roof – that looks like a cut up sprue from around the 3-leaf LEGO plant element. That’s some unusual part usage – and a great way to recycle.
Love immersive scenes like this? Check out our achieves for more vignette goodness!
King of the Builders
The premier LEGO competition Iron Builder is back! Kit Nugent starts the round strong with this wonderful king of the jungle. This round’s seed part is the Friends Horse Saddle in dark azure which Kit used 38 times here. The side of the saddle works beautifully as the very Aztec-styled half circles. The white throne has some fantastic part use as well, including white claws and teacups. Lush greenery and the blurred foreground give this a fantastic sense of depth. Stay tuned for more Iron Builder coverage to come!
Microscale Waterfall Temple
Microscale LEGO builds can either be the most beautiful or the wonkiest creations out there. Builder Gilles de Crombrugghe pulled all the stops when it came to creating this gorgeous jungle temple scene, from nice piece usage to clever techniques. The choices he made helped create an engrossing, detailed, and realistic scene that feels like an Indiana Jones version of Polly Pocket. Opposing orientations for bricks help create the smooth blue outline of the pool of water. Headlight bricks in the base help attach the waterfalls which cascade serenely to clouds of mist made of ice cream and popcorn pieces. Brown Technic chainlinks make for a wonderful rope bridge with plenty of rickety slack. Steep, stony islands of meticulously sculpted slopes and modified tiles rise from the water, isolating the long-forgotten sacred grounds. At least, until the research team found their way there.
Present your oblation at this jungle altar
As I’m sure you’ve read in other posts on here recently, we are smack-dab in the middle of another round of Iron Builder. Here is one more entry featuring the red canopy seed part from LEGO builder Jake Hansen. What really stands out to me in this build, besides its Crash Bandicoot-inspired color scheme, is all Jake’s interesting parts usage. The use of upside-down green baseball caps for leaves is genius, as is sticking those 1×1 curves onto the ends of roller skates at the base of the altar. I’m an absolute sucker for a design that connects parts in atypical ways. I also love the texture change in the base of the model, from the rolling curves of the jungle vegetation to the blocky stone of the path leading up to the altar. And as for that tree in the background, I’m definitely not not stealing the tube-filled trunk design for my own builds. The Iron Builder gods will be pleased!
Exploring the Jungle From a Kayak
LEGO builder Markus Ronge has quite the green thumb! Check out his incredible Jungle Explorer Tree creation. Most LEGO trees I’ve seen go straight up from the ground, but this one curves up convincingly from the rock face. The surrounding vegetation is highly varied and shows the skill Markus has in knowing exactly where each brick should go. Both I and the kayaking minifigure are very impressed.
Sometimes you just gotta make sacrifices around here
The kind of sacrifices we make nowadays involves a shorter lunch break to get more work done or maybe even buying a less flashy car in order to help put the kiddos through college. In the world of ancient Mesoamerica, however, sometimes their sacrifices involve blood, really cool pyramids, and serpent gods. Captainsmog has pieced together a LEGO creation called Sacrifice to Quetzalcoatl. With the dense jungle, imposing ziggurat, and the charming flying serpent it’s every bit as majestic as the name would imply.
Carrot Top, Idol of millions
Idols are meant to inspire, but all too often they’re shown after centuries of wear and neglect, stripped down to the wood or stone that serves as their core. But Markus Rollbühler shows us a totem in full splendor in Jungle Idol. The bright colors are all sourced from uncommon parts like red paddle-ends and wakeboards, blue wrenches, and, yes, a halo of carrots. There’s also a splash of teal in the central disc and arms that makes me grin.
Markus notes that Emil Lidé came up with the technique for the palm trees – a gracious touch that speaks to how the LEGO community can inspire each other, even at the highest levels.
At the jungle temple of Coatepec, we witness the rise of Huitzilopochtli
Oh, man! I read about Mesoamerican mythology in college and I love the subject. So you can imagine how thrilled I was to see Luis Saladrigas present this stunning LEGO scene depicting the birth of the warrior-god Huitzilopochtli. He tells us that in a place called Coatepec (Serpent Hill) the goddess Coatlicue took a small number of white feathers and placed them in her bosom, from which she conceived Huitzilopochtli. Outraged by the nature of her mother’s pregnancy, Coyolxauhqui led four hundred of her brothers in an attack on Coatlicue. In the midst of this attack, Huitzilopochtli emerged from his mother’s womb in full battle armor and armed with his spear, Xiuhcoatl, destroyed his brothers and sisters, and rose to take his place as the Aztec God of War.
There’s plenty of amazing details to see here.