Yet again, Brickleas draws inspiration from the blue large figure shield holder. This time the result is a lovely medieval market. There are a lot of LEGO parts used in interesting ways in this creation, including many used as decorative woodwork — the wand, bucket handle and the ninja helmet horn elaborate to name a few. Over the years LEGO has released quite a few ‘wooden’ containers. Brickleas uses quite a few of them in their market stalls. We can spot the crate, box, half, small and large barrel and the flowerpot. Their uses aren’t notably creative — they are, after all, containers used as containers — but the diversity helps to create a disheveled atmosphere I associate with markets. The best thing about this creation has to be the depth the picture has due to the framing, thanks to the tunnel/gate walls on the left and right of the picture. The buildings overlap, and the addition of a microscale castle in the background adds further depth. The flooring deserves a quick mention, and you can tell this is a rich city/town thanks to the abundance of goats.
Tag Archives: Medieval
I spy with my little eye... some clever parts usage
This one might be worth zooming in for a second. There’s a lot of fun stuff packed into this little LEGO build by Roanoke Handybuck. Where should we start? We’ve got chain links for the water wheel, bridge, and windmill. There are also hands, horns, and wands galore used for a variety of things. We even have full arms (minifigure and tauntaun) here as part of the cobblestone pathway. Let us not forget the reddish brown crown in the tower. That part only came in the 71040 Disney Castle in that color. Finally, can you find the paintbrush and frog?
Actually, those aren’t ALL the cool things. But I encourage you to see what else you can find on your own. Just the colors and shape of the base are fun by themselves. The only negative points for the purist in me are the cut-up pieces used for the grass. Added points, though, for the fact that apparently the water wheel and windmill spin! By crankshaft? We’ll have to stay tuned for a video! In the meantime, check out more of Roanoke’s work in our archives.
A tavern to go along with your blacksmith
Versteinerts creation looks like there is an excellent blacksmith in town. You can tell by all the fittings on the door in the attic and the iron sign near the tavern’s entrance. For the fittings on the door Versteinert used the tooth plate which to me is just perfect. For the tavern sign, a couple of parts were used in a smart way. The fence is hung upside down using the round plate with handle in black (which apparently exists). The plant stem with thorns as an ornate element of the sign is a very nice touch.
The rest of the building looks amazing as well. The walls have a cobblestone look going on, which is achieved using a lot of different plates and tiles. The gold fence windows make the tavern look really fancy. Using the same roof technique as the Medieval Blacksmith makes it blend in really nice with the original set. The best thing about this creation is that it is designed as a modular building and is fully furnished on the inside. The upper floors and the two roof sections can be easily removed to gain access to the building’s interior.
Your studs are showing
While some LEGO builders want to hide the studs on their LEGO as much as possible to create a smooth-looking creation, Luka often has their studs on display to add texture to their creation. The studs are not only facing upwards; they are facing right, left, and center. The effect is quite nice.
One thing I always struggle with when building with LEGO is making trees. Luka reminds us that it doesn’t always have to be a struggle. The trees in his build are quite simple but also quite stunning. There are a lot of droid arms used in this creation for various purposes; for the roof of the house and the base of the trees. Fun thing, in both situations, they are meant to represent wood. It is nice to see that the wood for the roof was probably bought locally, which has to be better for the environment. The foliage of the trees is made by using flower stems with and without leaves upside down.
A little light amidst a lot of dark
Is it a Tim Burton movie set? Is it a miniature fit for a museum about Medieval times? No, it is another fantastic creation from Ralf Langer. Ralf always surprises us with his super realistic medieval Tudor-style buildings. His creations are filled with tons of interesting techniques which he kindly reveals in tutorials not long after posting a creation. His latest model is called ‘A light in the dark’.
As far as I can tell Ralf didn’t use any special lighting to make the archway light up. He created the effect by using a range of yellow tones amidst a lot of grey, dark grey, dark brown, and black. The effect looks stunning. Another effect Ralf managed to get across beautifully is the calm after a storm. The streets look like they are covered in puddles. This is achieved by using chain link for the pavement. The puddles are made with black brick shapes which are placed between the chain links. The difference between the textured chain links and the smooth bricks really looks like rain puddles.
Medieval city tour
Sometimes you just happen to stumble upon a creation that shocks you. Roger Cageot’s creation did this for me. I was shocked that I never heard of Roger Cageot and that I’ve never seen his work before. His medieval street creation is simply stunning. It looks like it could be a film set. Every single building is a knockout if you ask me. I could write a feature about every single house and be perfectly happy to do so. My favorite building has to be the tan stables with the sagging roof. No, wait the white building on the right with the crumbling plaster. No, wait the Tudor-style house with the diagonal wood beams. No the barrack on the left with the half-round wall and the excellent roofing. Ah heck, I love it all! You can ‘walk’ these medieval streets by checking out the rest of the pictures in Roger’s stream. Some of the houses also have an interior.
When trouble comes to town, what will you do?
A new guard is having to learn on the job as bandits attack in this portside scene by Jesse van den Oetelaar, which features some well-textured stone structures, along with a brick-built boat. The dock is nicely detailed, with merchants and a local catching fish. There’s also some great window construction, like the first floor of the middle building which uses the bases of black turntables to frame transparent plates.
Sugar and Seeds for all your needs
Isaac Snyder shows us a LEGO castle creation can be vibrant and colorful too. He used colors I normally wouldn’t consider using. The grass is not just greener on the other side, and it is lime green. The trees are in full autumn colors. The little bakery has lovely dark turquoise details combined with a dark blue roof. The use of the curved windscreen for the roof over the entrance is absolutely stunning. But the absolute best-used part has to be the pentagonal wedge and a wand used as a store sign.
Is this Maleficent again or one of her cousins?
Making LEGO brick built animals is something I always struggle with. Especially when they have to be minifig scale. Louis of Nutwood has no problem with brick built animals. His creation features an amazing brick built dragon. Which has been done before quite a couple of times before. Louis used bricks to build the wings, which I’ve never seen before. Builders quite often make the skin between the fingers of the wings out of a different parts. Fabric, cloth, or plastic with a pattern. The wings look great and are quite poseable. The face looks absolutely divine and the action posing was done exceptionally well. The fire effect looks better than most tv-show CGI fire bursts which makes the water near the dragon ripple.
The clever wandering LEGO windmill
The last time I watched Howl’s Moving Castle was at least 10-12 years ago, and as nerdy as I am, I only did because my best friend dragged me away from ultimate frisbee and into my high school anime club one day. Admittedly, I barely remember it. But what I do know is that it was the first thing I thought about when I saw this LEGO windmill built by Alexey Tikhvinsky. I have lots of pull-back motors in my collection, but I never know what to do with them. This is the most clever use I’ve seen thus far. When the winds shift, and your windmill won’t whirl, why not build one that walks?
Don’t believe me? Watch the video! This thing actually does walk around. Clever gearing allows for both that and the blades to turn at the same time. My personal favorite part is engine piston elements mounted on axle ball joints for more stable feet.
I really like Alexey’s style, and I’m sure you will too. Check out a couple of totally different builds of his: a Faerie creature, and a modified RC Volkswagon Beetle… I told you they were different…
Row, row, row your boat, gently down the ruins?
Kayaking, canoeing, and boating of other types are pretty popular where I live. While Jesse van den Oetelaar’s LEGO model seems to portray a more medieval type scene, this build reminds me of a real life historic park not too far from me, where you can kayak on a creek amidst the ruins of an aqueduct.
Jesse’s minifigure character William Renou paddles a brick-built sail boat which utilizes many small brown elements, notably many tiles of various sizes for the body of the boat while the sail mast utilizes multiple brown 1×1 round bricks. The water in this model is rendered with white trans-clear tiles, which is a bit different from most builds I have seen which tend to make use of trans-clear elements in various shades of blue. The white trans-clear elements are a good choice and they work well with the mostly grey color-scheme of the architecture.
The aqueduct ruins mostly make use of 1×2 brick elements, slopes, tiles, light green tree limb elements, and various other light grey pieces. I especially appreciate the cattails that are fashioned out of tan technic pins attached to brown sticks which were then stuck into the holes of tree limb elements. While the fantasy vibe is evident throughout this work, the vignette is still quite relatable in real and present moments as well.
A troll trolls us all
Internet trolling takes many forms. Sometimes it means building an awesome LEGO troll, showcasing pieces from some maligned LEGO themes, the way David Doci has. Attempt at trolling or not, this is not the typical LEGO creation you see online and I think that’s awesome. This is clearly a masterfully built giant troll. The scale is obvious by the bits of minifigure bones on his belt (a belt made of the uncommonly used Bionicle chain). You may look at it and be like “Are those pieces even LEGO?” and I can assure you, they are. The torso and armour belong to Euripides from Galidor, while the head belongs to Ogrum from Hero Factory (with some expertly place red horns for eyes).
