Scandinavian folklore is full of tales of little people living in the woods and meadows. Swedish builder Peter Ilmrud gives us a glimpse of one community of fairy folk who have made a lingonberry cidery out of an old boot. Peter incorporates DUPLO and Scala elements alongside wildflowers from the Botanicals line and many custom flowers and berry bushes in the vibrant display.
Break out your magnifying people for a better glimpse of what these wee cider makers are up to!
I have a bit of a weakness for life-size recreations in LEGO form, so this beautiful green and gold shield by Peter Ilmrud most certainly caught my eye. The odd angles of the outer gold band are mesmerizing in this blocky medium, creating a non-standard yet fitting silhouette for the creation. And the stripes of sand and dark green composing the interior fill color, again set at an atypical angle, pair nicely with the pearl gold trim. But the 3-D dragon head at the center is the real all-star here. Utilizing both Technic and System pieces, the sculpture incorporates some notoriously-difficult-to-use pieces into the fierce visage. Any knight would surely think twice before attacking a knight wielding this beauty.
Want a vehicle worthy of this Victorian age, but can’t afford a steam car? Yearn for the elegance of the horse and cart without wanting to appear outdated? Then Peter Ilmrud‘s mechanical carriage may be for you! Perfect for the discerning gentleman or lady, this ingenious product can be retrofitted to your existing carriage. You will have access to more horsepower than any carriage could previously accommodate! No need to keep any grain either – coal is the only fuel you’ll need, with the only emissions of a much more nose-friendly nature!* Don’t delay, act today!
*We do not accept any liability for smoke-induced illnesses, diseases, or losses of elegance. Goggles, tophat and driver sold separately. Please consult our catalogue for more modern steam-powered products.
Welcome to the microscale marvel that is the LEGO village of Valendiell, created by the brilliant Peter Ilmrud. First things first, we need to address the gigantic tree at the center of this build, which towers over the village, the lighthouse, and even the neighboring castle. I like the natural shape created by the foliage, setting it apart from the minute vegetation scattered around it. Under its massive boughs, we have a darling castle design, utilizing these technic pins as turrets. It’s an ingenious bit of parts usage, but nothing compared to the outstanding implementation of the brown minifig epaulettes on the airship and the small boat. And I’m only scratching the surface of all the great secrets hidden in Valendiell. See what else you can spot below.
Builder Peter Ilmrud presents a legend in the making with this beautiful, and dangerous, LEGO swamp. Green. That’s the word at the forefront of describing this build, broken up by the tan interspersed throughout. It’s a bright and bold choice and works wonderfully here for this swamp teeming with life. And even with the green dominating, it’s quite nuanced in the variety used. Everything is distinct in its own right, allowing the scene to shine with all its poisonous might. There are two small things I appreciate in this build–one is the bird watching the scene below, and the other is a paint palette. Can you find it? Here’s a hint: it’s a big leaf for a short plant.
Former Swedish LEGO Master Peter Ilmrud is known for detailed, colorful, and occasionally intricate works of art. Often times his builds feature subject matter of fantasy and bygone days. It’s hard to choose, but I think I enjoy his microscale castles best. This will be featured in a LEGO brand retail shop in Sweden, and it’s easy to see why.
The build catches the eye and takes you on an adventure from sea to castle spires. The real triumph is the parts usage in the castle itself. For the most part, the techniques aren’t new, but when they all come together the result is beautiful. I particularly like the techniques used on all the towers, especially stacking modified round plates and tiles back to back to achieve windows and the “stone” look. I also admire how the central helmet piece connected to the lantern element creates a particularly striking feature.
You can see more builds by Peter in our archives. While you’re at it, check out all the incredible previously featured builds in both the microscale and medieval categories.
No matter what kind of creature you are, if you live in a desert environment, chances are you would enjoy a visit to this fantasy oasis by Peter Z for a chance to enjoy fresh fruit, and to sit by the fountain to let the cool breeze wash over you. Gold and teal accents provide a lovely contrast to the tan structure, and the walls are peppered with little irregularities caused by the cutting wind and sand.
Ruins are hard to do convincingly in LEGO form. I think this is partly to do with the rigid grid of the brick, which does not lend itself to organic shapes of decay, and partly to do with the visual incoherence that often results from too many shapes and colors in the same visual field. Even though we are a far cry from the primary/white/black color days at the dawn of the LEGO brick, there is still a limit to the shades and hues that can be used to differentiate areas of a build and maintain something that still makes sense to the brain. That being said, this post-apocalyptic build by Peter Ilmrud does a good job of showing buildings that look both coherent and ruined, covered with verdant vegetation, while a menacing black ship prowls air above the streets.
I’m fairly certain that nearly every botanical element produced by LEGO appears in the build somewhere, from vines to leaves to leafy vines to seaweed and more. Even the sprues from the three-leaved plants appear as vines. It is a lush city. The bad guys (you can tell they’re bad because they wear black) are aliens trying to kill the humans to harvest natural resources (like Avatar in reverse), and their ships are filled with greebles, especially ones from the Batman pack. Of course, with evil aliens on the prowl, one of the poor kids has lost his teddy bear crossing a street. Kids, I tell you what. Good thing they’re cute.
LEGO Castle is a building style dominated, perhaps understandably, by LEGO castles. It’s good to see the less militaristic side of medieval life depicted in the bricks — particularly when it’s as well done as this Manor House and farm scene by Peter Ilmrud. The main building is excellent — stone walls evoked with lots of texture, a nicely-built thatched roof, and the typical “Mock Tudor” woodwork enlivened with sand green window frames. The surrounding farm is wonderfully detailed with a field of corn, a carrot and pumpkin patch, a paddock for the horses, and a filthy-looking pig sty.
A lower-angle image gives a nice close-up view of some of the finer details, including the attention paid to the different types of paving and path, the tiled roof of the outbuilding, and those wonderful crops…
It doesn’t matter how tall are the castle towers or how thick are its walls if the scenery is nowhere near impressive. Keeping this in mind Peter Ilmrud sets his Western Gate by the formidable Zamorah Valley. Thanks to forced perspective the composition of the build really makes it stand out. Although the towers are pretty much identical, differences in the designs of the rocky slopes give the diorama a rather natural look. Make sure to note excellent use of several types of wheels in the designs of the towers; this is something I would love to borrow for my own creations!
Oftentimes castle builds focus on the impenetrable keep with its solid grey walls, or else they depict a single building, like an inn or a blacksmith shop. Then there are the occasional massive dioramas that have everything, but also require five tables to display and several vans to haul. In a comfortable middle place, Peter Ilmrud brings us a charming village with enough shops to be believable and a footprint that is reasonable. There is a blacksmith, an armorer, a baker, a cheesemaker, stables, a cooper, and even a mage-astronomer’s tower. Add in some nice trees and architectural details around Wyvernstone Village, and this makes for a fine build that does not even take up all of one table.
Do you remember that guy from your Math textbook who happened to own a dozen pineapples or 30 bananas? Well, Peter Ilmrud seems to be that guy. Keeping several hundred carrots in your house might not be a good idea unless they’re LEGO carrot pieces. It’s been 20 years since the piece first appeared in LEGO sets, but it looks like Peter is one of the first to use it as roof tiling. The result looks fantastic, and bright orange carrots go nicely with white and brown walls of the house. A simple garden fence made of sticks is another nice touch in the diorama, which I would love to try to recreate in my next medieval creation.
