Tag Archives: Koen Zwanenburg

Daisy and Donald Duck are built and dressed to impress

Disney’s Donald Duck recently celebrated his 85th birthday, and his companion Daisy is technically 82 (she was originally introduced in 1937 as Donna Duck). Koen Zwanenburg is just in time for the party with fantastic looking LEGO versions of the beloved pair. Thanks to a variety of curved and angled elements used, the sculpting of each character’s body looks spot-on. Their eyes are particularly expressive and well angled, especially Daisy’s partially closed eyelids. Meanwhile, Bionicle ball and socket joints used as legs look to be just the right size. Donald looks especially happy, with Daisy giving him a birthday kiss.

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A ‘barrow full of Easter eggs

I’m not entirely sure how Easter is celebrated in other countries, but in the US it means the Easter Bunny is coming. This mysterious character, who secretly delivers and hides colorful eggs filled with candy, is the mascot of springtime. And while Easter is still a serious religious holiday for many people, it’s an excellent excuse to play and celebrate. Koen Zwanenburg’s rabbit (looking very much like the Nesquik bunny) is a fun tribute to the season! My favorite parts are the croissant eyebrows and cloud plate cheeks!

Koen says the eggs in the wheelbarrow are actually “easter eggs” of LEGO themes. Can you guess what they are?

Great shot kid. That was one in a million!

There’s one thing I never get tired of in the world of Star Wars, and that’s seeing yet another custom LEGO X-Wing model. Each builder brings their own flavor to the table, including neat techniques. What seems easy usually isn’t. For example, builder Koen Zwanenburg experimented with four different iterations and modifications before ending up with the X-Wing seen here. For those unfamiliar with Koen’s work, he’s quite a versatile builder with everything from the cuteness overload of his classic rubber duck to the elegant grandeur of his Minas Tirith from the Lord of the Rings!

Crack it open and see that beauty lies within

I grew up in central Oregon, USA, the “thunderegg” capitol of the world. As a kid, an ultimate prize in treasure hunting was finding baseball-sized rocks that reveal beautiful crystals when broken in half. Unfortunately, giant Amethyst geodes aren’t found in Oregon. They’re not found in the Netherlands either, but that didn’t stop Koen Zwanenburg from building this exquisite replica from LEGO.

Standing almost two feet tall and containing over 7300 perfectly placed pieces, this must have been a real feat! That’s especially considering trans-purple parts are hard to come by. The unique building technique combined with those lovely curves makes for a work of art!

Presents you must have, my young padawan

The Grinch isn’t the only strange green creature you’ll meet this festive season, Koen Zwanenburg would have us believe that Father Christmas is in fact a Jedi master, Yoda no less! Bizarrely it makes perfect sense — clearly, it would take a high-level Force user to achieve Santa’s intergalactic delivery schedule. There is also a sly nod to the commercial success of the Star Wars franchise: in a clever reversal of roles, Yoda carries a LEGO minifigure Luke on his back, ready to fill someone’s Christmas stocking.

If you like Keon’s model, he’s provided LDD instructions for you to make your very own Santa Yoda.

Beware the gaze of BrickHeadz Medusa

In Greek mythology, Medusa is a slithering monster with a stone-cold gaze. The tables have now turned for the Greek gorgon, with Koen Zwanenburg having transformed her into a static LEGO BrickHeadz character. Though often portrayed as a hideous monster, Koen’s version is adorable. The sculpting of the body is particularly nice, with the tail from Jabba the Hutt being used to great effect. Her hair is comprised of several snake head elements, which look practically made for the character. It would be great to see other mythological creatures receive a BrickHeadz treatment this nice!

Microscale Agrabah from Disney’s Aladdin

This microscale model by Koen Zwanenburg is of Agrabah, the fictional city from the Disney animated film Aladdin, and serves as the perfect bird’s eye view to the minifigure-scale scene we highlighted earlier today. The numerous tower tops using a variety of pearl gold domes and curved elements are well designed, and the inkwell part ties them all together nicely. One of my favorite missable details is the use of 2×2 macaroni tiles facing each other to create those lovely dark pink and teal stripes in the three larger towers. It also takes some clever brickwork to pair eight of the pearl gold 3×3 quarter domes together into a solid sphere.

And if you liked this microscale Agrabah, be sure to check out Peter Ilmrud’s minifig-scale Agrabah we featured earlier today!