Tag Archives: Syrdarian

Get ready to showdown with these LEGO samurai, ninja, and cyber-ronin [Minifig Monday]

When LEGO moved the Castle theme from Europe to Japan in 1998 with sets like Flying Ninja Fortress (one of my top 5 all time favorite sets!), the theme brought with it a slew of new minifig elements, like katanas, golden antlers, and samurai armor. In the years since, Ninjago has tapped Asian history and pop culture for even more accessories from Edo era and beyond. This week we bring you a roundup of custom samurai-inspired figs showcasing parts old and new.

Michał Dziadosz gets us started with Master Hirotaka…

Once a general feared on the battlefield, Hirotaka now walks the path of the lone swordsman, bound not by loyalty to lords, but to his own code. His golden katana, earned through a lifetime of victory, gleams like the setting sun before a storm. Behind him follows the whisper of silk a reminder of the life he left behind, and the woman who still watches from the shadows

Michał’s fig was a collaboration with Expansion Bricks, who presents the kensei, literally “sword saint,” an honorary title for master swordsmen and followers of bushido. Note the fig’s wide stance, a technique borrowed from 2p_figs for giving a minifig a more imposing presence.

The Bushido code requires that you continue appreciating these amazing minifig samurai

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The Art of the LEGO Tableau – building in the “Ground-Based” style [Feature]

When setting a LEGO scene, how much of a world needs to be built to spark the viewer’s imagination?

There are two approaches to bringing a world to life in LEGO: 1) meticulously build out every aspect of the scene with bricks, or 2) provide just enough detail to suggest the bigger picture while letting the viewer’s imagination fill in the rest. While building it all can make for impressive displays, I am drawn to the latter approach.

Various styles can achieve this, each with its distinct charms. Immersive scenes transport us to new worlds, like a window into a picture, by filling the frame with LEGO. Vignettes, on the other hand, embrace the artifice of a model and give the impression that a slice of the world has been captured in bricks. Even if vignettes have their appeal, I have a preference for immersive scenes. They’re more fun, if more part-intensive.

But there’s a third style worth exploring, one that many in the community – including myself – have experimented with. It’s a style that I call “Ground-Based.” As you’ve probably already guessed, this is the topic I’ll be covering today
Learn how to create MOCs in the ground-based style

Nature reclaims all as Vignette Week comes to a close [Feature]

Bricks down! After seven grueling days of non-stop building, RebelLUG’s Vignweek 2025 has come to an end. The first five challenges gave builders just 24 hours to create a LEGO vignette around the daily theme, but for the final challenge, builders could take 48 hours. This time the theme was “Reclaimed by Nature,” which is the perfect excuse to pull out those bins of leaf parts and create something beautiful. As the Vignette builders break out their brick separators, let’s take a stroll through an overgrown LEGO world with some of our favorites of the day.

FS Leinad participated in all six builds, but his final creation is my favorite. The orangutan is a great design (per the builder, “RIP 3-in-1 Forest Animals) but it’s those vultures that have stolen my heart… and pick it apart with those brilliant hook beaks.

ILB Creations completed 5 challenges and also ends on a high note. I love the larger scale and the light blue mortar between crumbling bricks.

Forage for more vignettes that nature has reclaimed

We’re head over heels for Vignweek’s day 5 upside down builds [Feature]

Do not adjust your screen. Today’s round-up of Vignweek builds features topsy-turvy creations around the theme “upside down.” This is also the last set of builds created with a 24-hour limit. Some builds are photographed upside down, others are constructed from the ceiling down, and others split the difference with mirror worlds. These are just a selection of the incredible upside-down vignettes from both familiar builders and some new faces.

You can always count on NikiFilik for bright and playful builds, and today is no exception. What a fun twist on perspective as this stunt plane flips in the sky.

Someone had to do it, and that someone was buillding_after_dark. Spider-man’s upside-down kiss remains one of the most iconic scenes in all of superhero cinema and the builder recreates it perfectly.

You’ll flip for the rest of these upside-down vignettes

Life is a LEGO highway as Vignweek day 4 goes road tripping [Feature]

Vignweek 2025 crosses the halfway point with the fourth daily challenge prompt: “Road trip!” Once again, incredible builders heeded the call and quickly assembled LEGO vignettes interpreting the theme in a myriad of ways. Let’s have a look at some of our favorite builds of the day.

Fresh off judging the Summer Joust, LEGO legend CheesyStudios drops by Vignweek with this incredible tribute to Badlands National Park. The forced perspective works brilliantly, and the striated rocks with the bands of sand red are stunning.

_BrickBytes hits the road with cozy VW camper van. The metallic fists as a grille is a brilliant use of a specialized part.

Hitch a ride and for more amazing road trip vignettes

Huzzah, LEGO Castle fans! Your Summer Joust 2025 winners have been crowned [Feature]

For fans of LEGO castles and medieval life, the Summer Joust is one of the biggest events of the year as dozens of incredible builders construct incredible models on the year’s themes. The judges have made their decisions, and this year’s Summer Joust champions have been named. We’re excited to present the list of winners. Many of the models we’ve spotlighted on the site before, but some come from talented builders we’ve yet to feature. Check out the amazing models and be sure to follow and congratulate the winners on their amazing builds. For the full list of runners up, visit the Summer Joust flickr page. A big thank you to -soccerkid6 for organizing the event and prizes.

See the amazing winning entries after the fold

Fishing up some amazing nautical LEGO scenes from Vignweek Day 3 [Feature]

Day 3 of Vignweek has closed, bringing with it a bounty of brick-build vignettes with the theme of “nautical.” Participants had plenty of leeway to interpret the theme and offer up watercraft ranging from ancient to futuristic, structures both cozy and apocalyptic, and sea creatures big and small. And every build here was constructed in just a few hours! Thanks to @RebelLUG for hosting this creative contest. Now on to some of the Day 3 highlights…

CRCT Productions plunges beneath the waves for this evocative scene of submarine exploring a deep sea reef. The submersible is great, but I especially love the fish made from quarter round tiles.

Joël Jurg sticks to the ocean theme with a Roman Emperor’s pleasure barge. I love that w not only get an incredible miniature model, but a history lesson about how insanely luxurious the Emperors lived.

Brownbricks brings us to minifig scale with a seasteader living in a makeshift container house. It must be a lonely life – good thing he has a cat to keep him company!

Voyage on for more aquatic vignettes

Vignweek Day 2: Color us impressed with these monochrome creations [Feature]

Vignweek is an annual competition hosted by RebelLUG that challenges builders to assemble a vignette around a daily theme. Just 24 hours to turn around a build with no rest days! It’s a marathon and a sprint for some incredibly talented LEGO creators. We rounded up our favorites from day 1’s “Archaeology” theme here. For day 2, the theme is “Monochrome,” challenging builders to make a vignette using just one LEGO color. Here’s just a sampling of the amazing creativity born from this challenging constraint.

Jakub Kozina gets his greebling on with a tribute to the knobby little bits that space and machine builders so adore. Excellent glue and modeling scissors too!

Sydrarian offers a microscale scene of a tower in the clouds. There are so many impressive curves in this lovely composition. The builder also gets a bonus color through use of negative space to give the tower windows that pop.

NikiFilik‘s creation may be red, but I’m feeling green with envy at the skillful technique on display.

More monochrome creations await

Digging up some awesome LEGO vignettes as Vignweek 2025 kicks off [Feature]

Vignweek is an annual competition hosted by RebelLUG that challenges builders to assemble a vignette around a daily theme. 5 weekday builds and a weekend build, for a total of 6 builds in 7 days. It’s a marathon and a sprint for some incredibly talented LEGO creators. The contest kicked off on Monday with “Archaeology” as the theme. Here are some of our favorite creations from day 1.

Carson Lacy zooms in with Johnny Thunder exploring a lush jungle site. I hesitate to call them “ruins” as this location seems as slick and studless as they day it was built. It’s probably cursed, but this beautiful build certainly isn’t!

Behold_The_Loaf offers up an alien archaeologist scanning a future Earth. What do they make of this Octan fueling station?

Join us as we dig up more amazing LEGO vignettes

Not even Senshi could top this delicious dungeon meal

Back in my delving days, adventurers only ate the food they brought with them into a dungeon. Lately, a growing number of would-be heroes are following in the footsteps of tall-man Laios Touden and creating meals based on locally-sourced monster meat. LEGO builder Syrdarian joins the movement with this mouth-watering meal of sea serpent steak, complete with all the trimmings. Syrdarian spares no expense on the brick-built meal, pairing the delicious dish with a frothy mug of brick beer (love the shells and other bits for foam) and setting the mood with candles. The builder offers a fine LEGO fork, but no knife is necessary as the entree is quite flaky and easy to eat, considering it appears to be a cleverly arranged mosaic of elements that aren’t technically connected. With a meal this tasty, maybe I should consider eating monster meat after all.

Colour us impressed by this colourless LEGO diorama

Colour is an important facet of good LEGO builds. Yeah, that might sound like stating the obvious – a consistent palette will generally look nicer than a mish-mash of colours. But Syrdarian has graced us with a prime example. It’s a nice build to start with: some cool terrain shaping, and the top of the bridge wall mirrors the hammers used in the archway. But most noticeably, it’s all so drab! The grey background seems to have been chosen carefully for its resemblance to a grey winter sky. And even the figure is dressed in muted colours. The only relative bright spots are the tan reeds, and the figure’s skin, standing out against the harsh environment, and drawing us in as a result. A good build, but with great composition!

Does this LEGO mage seem a bit book-ish to you?

Sometimes constraints can inspire creativity, and limiting yourself to 101 pieces is certainly an interesting challenge. We’ve featured a few 101-piece LEGO challenge builds recently, and this cute wizard built with 101 parts by Syrdarian really makes me smile. The big round eyes and small smile, made from a single rounded tile, give major Adventure Time vibes. The staff that is almost as tall as him is also a great touch, and that little bookmark ribbon poking out the top is just magical.