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!
Tag Archives: Post-Apoc
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.
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.
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.
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.
Wonder what the tide will wash up today
One benefit of setting up your post-apocalyptic outpost on the beach, aside from the abundant food source of the ocean’s bounty, is the wondrous things that wash up in the surf. In this scene by Tom Loftus a lone soldier stands watch as the low tide washes in. The outpost is built from shipping containers, which are plentiful if you live near a major shipping hub. The model is part of an iron builder challenge using a dark red Minifig shield part, which you can see in the timbers of the bunker half-buried in the sand.
Mad Max’s V8 Interceptor rides again
This sweet ride by Michael Kanemoto is looking mean in a way only classic muscle cars can. The black beast is a LEGO Technic scale recreation of Mad Max’s 1973 Ford Falcon, which is of course heavily modified and redubbed the V8 Interceptor. It appears here as it did in 1982’s Mad Max 2: Road Warrior, with massive fuel tanks mounted in back.
Click to see more of the V8 Interceptor
Wake up samurai, we have some hot dogs to burn!
Up-and-coming builder Aubrey Beelen presents a detailed cyberpunk street scene with a food vendor. While the scenery appears desolate, it is colourful and packed with stickers that enhance its futuristic nature. The fun, rugged minifigures also reflect the genre of the build alongside the vibrant speeder. In addition to a detailed exterior, the food stall includes cooking appliances and Power Functions LED lights that brighten up the kitchen.
Read about the details of this cyberpunk street scene!
Raiding the last Redbox in a post-apocalyptic wasteland
With Hollywood shut down and most movie theaters closed worldwide due to COVID-19, new entertainment has been a little harder to come by lately. I’m not sure our current global pandemic was the inspiration behind Eli Willsea‘s scene, but we find the protagonist (played here by the Lucas minifig from the LEGO Stranger Things set) fishing for DVDs from what is apparently the very last Redbox to have survived an apocalypse that turned the water a toxic green.
Eli’s build features a slew of wonderful details, such as the rebar or conduits sticking out of the elevated roadway and electrical bits on the power pole built from pieces like a rollerskate (the new universal greeble piece). Eli makes good use of printed pieces on the Redbox machine, including old-school LEGO Space 1×1 button panels and window panes from the TARDIS in the LEGO Ideas Doctor Who set.
A bright spot in the wasteland
Not every image of the post-apocalypse world has to be Mad Max-inspired bleakness. Builder Mountain Hobbit brings a bit of light and color to the wasteland two thousand years from now with their build New Babel. Graceful, densely packed microscale towers make for a great place to spend the end times. I particularly like the use of purple modified angle tiles in the exterior wall. Also neat is seeing the backside of the yellow tooth plates in the towers. And it may be a drab grey, but the use of a stud shooter housings in the domed towers is clever.
Yeah, this looks like a great place to visit. But being post-apocalypse and all, you might not want to live there. If you’re looking for other scenic destinations, be sure to check out some of Mountain Hobbit’s other idyllic builds.
We’ll be safe in here
As we learned on the first US season of LEGO Masters earlier this year, LEGO creations are best when they tell a story that is easily understood. Keith Reed has been setting up a story through his series of apocalyptic modular buildings, and the plot has become very clear with his latest scene. Here you see a family trying to escape their own impending doom, their car broken down, taking refuge in the back of a Nuka Cola truck.
They figured they’d be safe there for the night, but unbeknownst to them, they’d almost made it to the shelter. Turns out they didn’t make it. Whatever they were running from caught up with them that night, and they died right there, baby in arms.
Earlier this year, back when we could still gather in groups, this model was on display at Bricks Cascade. Keith was standing proudly beside his creation engaging with the public. A twelve year old kid came up and described the scene to his dad. Keith was floored at how well the intended story came across — I thought he might cry.