Tag Archives: Peter Ilmrud

Countryside idyll built of carrots and sticks

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.

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Airship! Airship! Airship!

I’m a big fan of finding new ways of integrating large LEGO pieces creatively. Peter Ilmrud does this adeptly in his Steampunk Airship. His skill with smaller LEGO pieces cannot be overlooked (for example the smoke billowing out of the top), and this would be a fantastic creation even if it didn’t have an abundance of large elements, but it’s those big pieces that make you say “oh cool, I haven’t seen one of those used like that before” or, if you’re steeped in the LEGO fan lexicon, “NPU” (Nice Part Use).

Let’s dive in and examine some of the parts used nicely here. The obvious examples are the planets – Bespin specifically – used for the balloons. Another easily noticeable piece is the dragon head fittingly used as a figure head. Further examination reveals well-integrated use of a Ninjago Airjitzu propeller, hero factory blades, and 4 Juniors boat bows used to support the wing propellers. The final example of great parts use I’d like to point out are the inside-out tires used in the the smokestack. Take a look at the images of different angles Peter’s posted and see what other cool building techniques he’s used on his airship.

Half a kingdom, a tenth of the size

Microscale offers LEGO builders an opportunity to create epic layouts within a reasonable footprint and parts budget. Peter Ilmrud takes full advantage of these benefits to create a sizeable slice of a fantasy kingdom, complete with an impressive mountaintop city guarded by a dragon. The city itself is nicely done, with clever combination of bricks to make windows from the little gaps. Aside from the towers of the citadel, the scenery is packed full of all the fantasy details you’d expect — sprawling forests, riverfront villages, guard towers in the hills, and a cave entrance which doubtless leads into a dungeon complex overflowing with goblins.

I particularly like the river winding its way through the landscape, the banks smoothed with a nice selection of curved plates. It also offers a setting for some smart parts usage — check out that ship made from golden epaulettes mounted upside-down on a jumper plate. Sweet.

When did you last let your heart take flight?

“Welcome to Agrabah. City of Mystery, of Enchantment, and the finest merchandise this side of the River Jordan…” This cool little LEGO Disney diorama by Peter Ilmrud captures both the exotic atmosphere of Aladdin’s hometown, and a real sense of action and excitement with characters leaping around the rooftops and the magic carpet soaring above. With multiple minifigures crammed into its tight circular footprint, the model has some nice detail in the framing walls. I particularly like the use of panel pieces to provide architectural texture to the top of the buildings. The only slightly jarring note for me is the mixing of regular minifigs with Friends-style mini-dolls — a form of LEGO heresy in some parts — but the overall scene is so nice we’ll let it slide.