Tag Archives: Post-Apoc

A charming pair of scavengers

If you are stuck in a post-apocalyptic LEGO world scratching out a living recovering unusual salvage from the before-time, there can be no mode of travel more reliable than a beast of burden who can also defend your stash. This duo of ride and rider by Justus M. are ready for anything as they scour the landscape for supplies to trade. Built for the Iron Builder challenge, the golden handcuffs are used 40 times, most noticeably in the feet, and as a woven blanket under the beast’s saddle. One of my favorite details is the gas mask, made with only 6 parts, and that roller skate is the perfect part usage!

Scavenger

A new take on a LEGO house boat

If you ever wondered what you would get if you crossed climate-change, Star Wars, and the legend of Baba Yaga (c’mon, we’ve all been there) then this wandering house on giant robot legs by Mountain Hobbit may just answer your question. The house itself may not be as terrifying as that chicken-legged shack, but it is certainly as visually interesting. There is everything you need in a post-apocalyptic setting where fetid swamps have covered the land, with great mechanical legs that would give an AT-AT a run for its money, a collection of radio dishes, a utility pole, not to mention a steady source of food from fishing. Even the swamp is wonderfully detailed with a variety of green plates, bricks, and slopes, with a few well-placed plants.

The Swamp Walker

A meandering LEGO microscale metropolis

I’m a sucker for pretty much any sci-fi movie. Add in architectural design and I’m in LEGO nerd heaven. Movies like Bladerunner, Elysium, and the Fifth Element combine story and unique perspectives on cities of the future. I recently watched a Korean sci-fi movie called Jun_E, which was set in a post-apocalyptic city built above the flooded remains of a major metropolis and I was inspired to build my own microscale city based on the concept. You can find more of my LEGO creation pictures on Instagram at koffy_kat

I purposely built the waterline above the frame to enhance the feeling of the water barely contained. Starting with all of the ruined buildings, I then built the pillars. I built each block one at a time, but often went back to add more just like the architects of this city would do with no more solid ground to build on.

Read on to see more details about each of the three sections

The nest laid plans often go astray

LEGO builder Tino Poutiainen presents this piece he simply calls “Nest” and now we have more questions than answers. Like what’s with all that battle-mech rubble? Why did this happen? Who are those strange lantern-headed beings? Should I be concerned? Maybe it’s because it just came out and I’ve been watching the hell out of it but I’m getting a strong The Last of Us vibe here. Whatever these beings are doing, you get the sense that nothing has gone right in this world for quite some time. Tino proves nicely that something can be both beautiful and unsettling. This wouldn’t be this builder’s first time dealing with these beings nor would it be his first foray into presenting wild and wonderful alien landscapes. Check out our Tino Poutiainen archives to see what I mean.

Nest

In search of land, promised or not

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.

Floating Dystopia

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Probably not what LEGO had in mind when they released DUPLO

Did you know you can mix a toddler’s DUPLO pieces in with your “regular” LEGO? Well, you can! LEGO even said it’s a great thing to do. But now, they might be reneging on that idea because of the unsettled mind of Andy Baumgart. Meet Sugarfoot and his parasitic twin Gutpunch. They’re sort of…um…your welcoming committee into a hellish radioactive post-apocalyptic nightmare. They serve as a reminder of what the world can be like if society as a whole makes an awful lot of bad life choices all to an Aphex Twin soundtrack on a continuous loop. Everything you see is all LEGO products except for the badass custom decals. I’m sure LEGO is kicking themselves now! But hey, if you enjoy badassery and terrible life choices as much as I do, then be sure to check out more unsettling post-apocalyptic offerings from other builders as well.

Sugarfoot and Gutpunch

A post-apocalyptic meat buffet

Some visions of the apocalypse involve dark, war-torn cities, some take place in barren deserts, while others speak of…some kind of Squid Game, somehow. This LEGO diorama by Insomnia Builds features a society of people who live in cabins on the ocean’s surface. At a quick distant glance, we see a collection of neat little cabins and even floating gardens. Aside from needing urgent roof repair, the denizens here seem quite content to live within their floating society. But with water comes scary tentacle monsters and that is precisely what they’re dealing with here. This piece bears the uncanny title of Meat Buffet and the apparently sleep-deprived builder serves up the caption of “I’m sure someone will eat meat today”. The thing is, we’re not sure if he means the people of this watery town or the tentacle monster. From the looks of things, it’ll probably be both!

Meat Buffet

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When the world is going to pieces, build your own doomsday bunker

Do you sometimes feel like the world is going to pieces? Like we’re building to the apocalypse that will be the downfall of civilization as we know it? If so, maybe you should try building your own desert bunker, just like the guy in this LEGO creation by hachiroku92. This cross-sectional vignette lets us get a good look at how this prepper will ride out the collapse beneath the desert sands. And as far as doomsday bunkers go, it’s pretty nice. There’s a sturdy reinforced access point, plenty of provisions, and even a nice sitting area. I’m less clear on what the voids above the bunker are, though, but maybe I’m not up on my doomsday prep.

And I wasn’t actually kidding about building your own doomsday bunker. While it’s not quite a parts list and instructions, Hachiroku92 has made a build video if you want to follow along at home.

This build really gets my goat

One of my favorite creatures of folklore is the Chupacabra, an animal known for draining the blood of goats and other livestock. Builder Joss Woodyard has created a post-apocalyptic take on this cryptid with the Gamma Sucker. No doubt livestock is harder to come by in the wasteland, so this nuclear-powered techno-beast drinks the radiation from whatever it can.

Gamma Sucker

The use of color here creates the sense of a mechanical creature that’s coursing with energy and life, despite its dirty and rusted frame. And I love the implied function of the “digestive system.” It’s so easy to imagine the absorbed radiation flowing through the trans-clear/lime hoses, into those processing tanks on the side, and then getting fed into the rear-mounted engine to drive those giant treads, which just push the monster forward in search of more radiation. It’s a vicious cycle, but a guy’s gotta eat.

Post-apocalyptic scene in the palm of your hand

You don’t need a big collection of parts to create something remarkable. Just ask Mark, who accepted the 101 part challenge, and made this amazing microscale scene of nature reclaiming those structures built by man. This scene could be straight out of the video game Last of Us with those vine-covered buildings and that abandoned bus. I especially like the cracks in the pavement with just a hint of green. And don’t miss that vine “snaking” across the sidewalk on the right side.

Nature taking back its place

Spider-bots of the apocalypse!

“Not much still stands of the dead cities, but the twisted ruins make for good cover and even better hunting grounds.” That is the tagline provided for this LEGO render by _Regn. There’s a lot to love here. The dilapidated arching structure is particularly striking and there’s the post-apocalyptic guy doing post-apocalyptic stuff in the background there. The mech-tank-spider though…that’s going to haunt my dreams for a while. It’s just your typical stuff that goes on in the mind of this particular builder. Upon further inspection, there is really nothing typical about this builder at all. They’re new to us here at The Brothers Brick but with creations this imaginative we’ll surely keep all eight eyes in their direction; poised and ready to pounce on what they may do next.

Subservience

The legend of Bubba Yaga

Forget the folklore from the Slavic steppes, this walking house comes straight from the bayou. Built by Letranger Absurde, the shanty is piloted by two women and decked out with all sorts of odds and ends that they’ve picked up in their travels. Giving off a distinct sense of post-apocalyptic salvage, the four-legged mech looks like it was cobbled together from the remains of an industrial platform and an old shed. And as good as the mech is, the base it sits on is also worth noting, with a great layered effect from the trans light blue tiles placed over what’s probably lime green or yellow plates, interspersed with olive and medium nougat for the muddy land.

Zoya's Moving Cottage