Tag Archives: Summer Joust

Bones and desert ruins forgotten by all but Time

Sun-bleached bones and an abandoned structure standout in the LEGO desert landscape by Eli Willsea. A feeling of loneliness and sorrow pervade the scene. Was this a sacred site with a sacred creature left alone due to unforeseen turmoil? Or was this creature the victim of sacrifice or punishment? None can say what happened here, only that the creature is long gone, its bones still bearing the weight of being tethered to the place. The structure around it towers overhead, an impressive mark on the landscape. Minifig roller-skates give detail to the capitals of the pillars. The banners on either side of the entrance stairs are seamless in their fitting, giving form to the staircase. High overhead, quarter tiles are wonderful vertical detailing for the entrance roof. The blending of soft and hard edges gives the scene a gentle, yet harsh, quality, not unlike the sand surrounding it.

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Got your goat right here

LEGO has released a lot of great minifigure-scaled animals over the years, but one of the rarest is the humble goat. Released in only one set, 2011’s 7189 Mill Village Raid, it currently commands an aftermarket price that is frankly kind of silly. Richard Young (IamKritch) has a suggestion – why pay high prices for a single piece when you can make a giant brick-built version for a fraction of the cost? Built for the “Going Big” category of the Summer Joust competition, this oversized darling makes great use of curved slopes to accurately mimic shaping of its smaller counterparts. We just hope it’s friendly.

Want more goats? Sure, we all do. No kidding, go check our archives. Or maybe opt for a recently released set with slightly smaller brick-built alternatives.

A ghostly greeting in a green garden.

A black knight encounters a white ghost in this garden scene, but the only color you’ll see is green. ABrickDreamer took on the gradient challenge for Summer Joust, and this wonderful little vignette is the result. Eight shades of green are used to give life to this delightful little garden. And the limited color palette forced some excellent parts usage, like those Hulk bigfig arms making up the little hill.

A staggering ghostly presence comes to visit

Inspired by a friend’s work, the spectral stag leaps from Andreas Lenander‘s mind into this lovely LEGO build. An ethereal presence in nature with delicate and flowing features, the deer stands unflinchingly with strength about it. One of the defining elements of the stag is the end of the tail piece. Its use is versatile, from the antlers to the flowing of the neck, to the extended ghostly tail trailing behind. Being a smooth and curved part, it gives a sinewy and organic look to the deer. The greenery of the scene makes good use of minifig whips for the twists and turns of vines and the tree’s trunk. The tree and flowers bring a calming sense of peace to mind, pairing nicely with the rich details of the ghostly visitor. It’s easy to get lost in admiring the sculpting present in the build.

A brilliantly built tiny temple on red rocks

Idoneas of Hillcrest opens the description of this creation by stating it’s a “super quick build”. I think that’s an understatement – I count a grand total of seven pieces here, so surely it must have taken mere seconds to build! In truth, that is underselling it slightly. The build may have been quick, but such a careful choice of parts requires a lot of thought. A piece of Hero Factory armour makes up the rocky base, while treads make up the basic shape of the temple at the top. Interestingly it’s the second creation in a row where Idoneas uses tread pieces to great effect, albeit at different sizes. That’s the mark of a great builder – a master in all scales!

Some gleaming treasure and its fintastic warrior guardian

Builder JastaBrick gives us this amazing scene from the depths for the Summer Joust contest, in Going Big category. This is the sort of build that show off the nearly limitless capabilities of LEGO. I have a special appreciation for builds that render organic movement and shapes. This build does so wonderfully with the tail of the merman warrior. The segmented approach allows for some excellent bend and movement of the warrior as he comes up to defend the treasure. Even the armor has some organic elements to it with the curvature of the plating. There’s even a more literal organic representative in the form of a little grey frog! The sea plant life is sparse, but each is unique unto itself, lending greater diversity to the colors and shapes of the build. Even the treasure chest is fun to look at, especially the nice detail of minifig handcuffs for the handle. The base itself is well shaped and really grounds the whole scene. It shore is a fun build!

Spiders are not the only forest creature to be wary of

LEGO nostalgia is a big thing these days — and I’m not just talking about the footprint of the colossal 10305 Lion Knight’s Castle. Sigmund Haugland has big-ified the legendary yesteryear factions of the Black Falcon knights and the Forest Guardians in this amusing scene. Our brave Falcon knight must be suffering from a bout of arachnophobia, given the way he’s pointing his spear at the poor spider. The Forest Guardian is taking advantage of the situation to lob a net over the unsuspecting soldier. Perhaps he’s in league with the spider? I’m never sure whose side they’re on. These forest dwellers sure give off some chaotic-good vibes. Either way, both protagonists in this picture are full of character. I like the use of the closed eye for the mouth on both characters – despite using the same piece, they both have very different expressions. The door handle is nicely done as well using a pair of antlers.

A pub with a particular palette

For Summer Joust, Metarix Builds had to create a build limited to a single-color gradient. The result is this wonderful tavern with all manner of browns and tans, but nothing else. Even the pub patrons stick to the rule. But there’s no loss of detail or interest because of the limitation. In particular, the Studs Not on Top construction of the floor has an effective ramshackle wood vibe. I’d love to grab a pint in a place like this. Definitely a darker beer, like an amber or a brown ale.

This butcher stand brings home the bacon

Dan Ko has packed a lot of detail into this 12×12 vignette of a medieval butcher’s stand. Inverting the tiles in the awning lets the anti-studs add a pop of texture, and the use of a few 1×1 round plates amongst the round tiles on the ground help give a sense of rough and uneven cobblestone. But the most interesting technique is the way the minifigure roller skates are holding the bars in the underside crevices of the 10×2 brick being used as the butcher’s workspace. It’s details like that which can pack a small build with a smorgasbord of visual intrigue.

Spooky castles at a distance

This latest model by builder LEGO Monkey certainly provides some challenges moving level to level. Adorable, spindly castles are perched on floating islands connected by cascading waterfalls. The whole thing reminds me of a level from Kingdom Hearts 2 that I remember playing through back in 2006. Where’s Sora, Donald, and Goofy when you need them? While they’re out protecting the universe with Mickey, I hope you have Glide Lvl 3 unlocked for this tour of the castles’ grounds. Horns and minifigure accessories adorn a variety of light bluish grey elements to make delightful towers and halls which come to a cute, curved point. Angled and sloped pieces are used in dark bluish grey to create each of the floating islands, while different shades of green elements make up the lawns and foliage. Vines stretch between each block and blue flame elements are wedged together to make microscale waterfalls reaching down to the trans-blue and clear tiles of the sea below.

Honestly, I’m not sure how each of these islands is staying up but I love the results in this edited photo. Whatever spooky actions LEGO Monkey used to keep them in the air, I hope they can keep the magic going.

Surely you joust

Sometimes a LEGO build can take you to unexpected places. Clemens Schneider initially found inspiration for this scene from the Horse and Groom from the Series 22 Collectible Minifigures, but eventually decided on a brick-built horse. I like how the theme is a little ambiguous — sure, these could “just” be cleverly built microscale knights, but don’t they also look a bit like robots? In my head canon, this is a scene from one of those alternate universes where technology and magic comingle — but it looks like these robo-knights need to decide if their wagon is a bit too heavy for the road. Those wheels are clearly embedded in the muck. Maybe walk a bit until you’re back on pavement, lads.

Castles are cool. We all know that. But you know what’s even cooler, and coincidently in our archives? LEGO castles.

The rise and fall of a LEGO castle in four seasons

Given the challenge of building a castle scene depicting the four seasons, most builders would go the traditional route of spring, summer, fall, and winter… there is nothing wrong with that, but these four builders took a very different approach. A collaboration between Brickleas, Simon Hundsbichler, Jonas Kramm, and Ralf Langer. They each choose a season, and built a partial view of a castle, adding a temporal, metaphorical twist to the seasons, depicting birth in the spring, prime in the summer, decline in the fall and death in the winter.

Keep reading to see more details about each build