While it may not be driven by a LEGO computer brain, The Hedgehog by Andrea Lattanzio still means business. This tank definitely gives Raiders of the Lost Ark vibes, with side turrets and a villainous-looking driver. Building in a single color like dark gray can be a risky move, but with plenty of dynamic textures, shadows and exposed studs help to break up the monotone. Instead, the build is alive with textures…and spiky treads.
Building the gentle curve of a boat hull in LEGO bricks can be a challenge. That is, unless you find an old Fabuland boat part in your collection like Norton74. He promptly put it to good use as the start of a fishing boat full of the kind of details we have come to expect from Andrea. The simple dock gives a good setting without taking attention away from the vessel. It includes a small cargo hold and a rig for hauling in the day’s catch. Round, white studs give the boat a proper wake in a bed of transparent blue as it approaches the dock at the end of a long day.
Sometimes you just wish that the inspiration for a LEGO fan creation is a real life building. When I saw Andrea Lattanzio’s latest build I knew I would love to spend a night in the cute little outpost. Surrounded by the sea and the waves. The wind passing along the little stilted cabin. Going to the outhouse in the middle of the night just because of nature’s calling. Well maybe scrap that last part. The outpost looks super cute. There are a lot of cute details hidden in this creation. We get wizard wands and officers clubs used for door hinges. There even is a hockey stick used as a railing. There are many more little details to be spotted, so do yourselves a favor and give this one a little zoom in. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to check if the inspiration for this creation is up for rent as a Bed & Breakfast.
Drawing inspiration from author Xavier Liras and illustrator Alexander Shatohin, builder Andrea Lattanzio shares a tense moment as the Guardian of the Abyss lowers himself into the jaws of the mythical wolf, Fenrir. There are great details throughout this immersive LEGO scene, as well as some innovative building techniques. I particularly like the shaping of the olive-green fir tree, the use of cloth elements for roof patches, and the use of a minifigure accessory molding sprue for the doorknob. The wolf emerging from the mists is also worth a close look, with a yellow gear-shift base for an eye and a maw full of pointy teeth.
We’ve featured several great building-centric scenes from Andrea in the past. Why not check them out?
When it comes to beautifully constructed LEGO cabins, Andrea Lattanzio is in a class of his own. Whether you’re looking for perilously perched adventure or a little holiday magic, odds are good Andrea has you covered. Andrea’s latest build is the Crystal Mill, a real-life Colorado landmark as it might have looked back in the 19th century. The realistic trees and gorgeous waterfall catch your attention right away, but don’t overlook the smaller details of the cabin, like the minifigure wand elements on the front-door and the creatively crafted ladder.
In the distant dystopian future of LEGO builder Andrea Lattanzio’s imagination, a colony of survivors braves the seas and storms searching for land. Based on “Le Navigator” by Simon Laveuve (a miniature artist known for grungy, industrial dioramas), this ramshackle pile of outhouses and palettes is covered with clever techniques and textural details. Towering antennae and string lights add height as well as detail to the model while reactor-powered turbines under the barge move the colony, frothing the sea of loose studs below. The olive-green, dark nougat and medium azure plates detailing the structures add a “cobbled together” effect by intentionally misaligning them.
Today, LEGO Ideas reveals the results of the most recent review. In case you missed it, the Review Board had to evaluate 34 projects, including ideas based on popular franchises, fan-favourite creations, and even K-pop! According to the video and article published on the blog, there is some good news, and some not so good news.
Read on to find out what potential LEGO Ideas sets we may get!
While this may not be Santa’s primary residence at the North Pole, we can pretend that this cute cabin by Andrea Lattanzio is Santa’s holiday home. Since Santa only works during the month of December, does he have the rest of the year off? Does he go on holidays? He must go vacationing all over the world since he has so much time. I’d think he has a cabin close by in the Canadian or Siberian wilderness somewhere to to escape his elf-infested home for a bit of peace and quiet. I sure hope he doesn’t need to get away from his wife, and that his marriage to Mrs. Claus is still doing well…
We’ve written about Andrea’s A-frame cabin before, but we forgot to mention who owns the property. Now I’m curious to see Santa’s beach house in a more tropical region of the world. Or maybe I’m just wrong and Santa doesn’t have the rest of the year off, maybe he rents an apartment in a big city and works a boring financial job…
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Here at The Brothers Brick we love smart building techniques. Our hearts start beating a little bit faster when we see a LEGO part used in a clever way. But clever and smart do not always mean complex. Andrea Lattanzio shows us that sometimes simple is the way to go with their 1×1 round plate sea.
While it’s not a new technique, using different colours to create waves is a real nice touch. Making the house in the same vibrant colour as the ocean is a nice way to draw attention away from the bright sea and towards the detailed little house. Plus the bright colour of the house highlights all the earth-toned details around the house. If the house was earth-toned too, those little details wouldn’t stand out as much as they do now. However, the simple studded sea is probably one of the only simple techniques used in this creation. Andrea also built a trabucco, which is an ancient fishing machine from the east coast of Italy. This build looks like it is defying gravity and I truly wonder how sturdy it is. It looks so fragile with those thin legs. I can’t help but wonder how many times the legs collapsed when Andra made alterations to the platform on top. Or maybe the legs were added as the final step to the build to prevent this from happening.
The main character in Sweet Tooth, a new Netflix series based on a comic book, is a boy who is a human/animal hybrid born in the midst of a global pandemic. His caregiver Pubba makes a secluded home in the woods to raise the deer boy in safety, hiding from surviving humans who resent the existence of hybrids. Norton74, who is a master of building cabins in the woods, put his skills to great use in re-creating the dilapidated cabin that Pubba has spent considerable time and effort to repair and add on all the comforts a growing deer-boy needs, including a place to play “catch the ball”. Aside from the wonderful details in the cabin itself, the inclusion of a buck in the background is perfect.
When driving through the countryside, it’s a common sight to see a dilapidated barn in the distance, where nature has taken over. But it is much less common to see nature intruding on a well cared for building. Take this lovely shed by Andrea Lattanzio, for example. While it is clear that the roof has seen better days, the landscape and the exterior of this garden shed clearly receive a lot of love and attention from Magda, the owner. Almost every landscape detail is noteworthy, but my favorite unique part is the Minifig base for Sandman from the Marvel Spider-man franchise, used as a base for the pot to the left of the shed doors.
We featured Andrea Lattanzio’s cozy LEGO A-frame home a while ago. It seems however that the A-frame building went through a little bit of a makeover — the autumn theme has been changed to match the current winter season. It looks like the beautiful wooden tiles outside have gotten a fresh coat of red paint. Where the autumn edition of this creation featured minifigure hammers for a cobblestone base wall, the winter edition uses ingot bars for the brick-built wall. The use of the ingots look a bit better-maintained compared to the minifigure hammers, which matches the fresh paint job. One of the small details from the autumn build that I appreciated dearly was the use of mushroom radar dishes. I am glad those got featured in this creation too.
