Tag Archives: Vignettes

Vignettes are like the haiku of the LEGO world. Usually built on a base 8 studs wide by 8 studs deep, vignettes show a little scene or a moment in time. But like written poetry, there’s plenty of variation on the basic theme.

A cozy cabin creation to get you through the cold.

We’re always glad when the heat of the summer gives away to autumn…but it isn’t long before the cold and the rain has us longing for springtime. Thankfully, Carter Witz comes to the rescue with their fantastic knack for natural landscapes. This cozy yellow cabin scene puts in just the right mood and reminds us sunshine will come again. The cabin’s realistic paneling and rough stone walkways are expertly constructed. And we love how Carter can take almost any piece cast in a shade of green and make it look like a natural plant.

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Home never felt so colorful

Who wouldn’t want to live here? This beautifully whimsical build is the latest creation from Iron Builder Bousker, and it’s chock-full of excellent color and parts usage. The shaping on the house is stunning, filled with uneven angles, lopsided window frames and panels, and a door that looks straight out of a storybook. The supporting terrain is also very naturally uneven, but everything fits together so well that it looks perfectly real. Surrounding the house is an equally striking color palette, where we can find plants made out of katanas, pickaxes, and bows. My favorite detail is actually the signpost up front. It’s simple, yet smooth and perfectly executed- and not something I’ve seen before. I’d gladly move here tomorrow.

Poland’s haunted history in LEGO

Over the past three years, Polish AFOL Mihał Ch has been documenting his nation’s history in a series of LEGO vignettes. The minifig-scale scenes celebrate the heroes of art and culture, as well as recognizing atrocities, uprisings, and statecraft, with builds paired with a history lesson. Just in time for Halloween, as part of the third series of vignettes, Mihał remembers some of the darker chapters in Polish history. For example, dissidents being exiled to Siberia during the Russian occupation.

Here, Mihał pays tribute to the January Uprising of 1963-1964, when the escalation of “russification” and repression sparked a guerrilla war for independence that, despite early successes, was ultimately quashed.

Here we see Mihał’s depiction of the Galician slaughter when, in order to avert a Polish uprising for independence, the Austrian military incited the local serfdom against the Polish aristocracy in bloody revolt with promises of a better life, only to sweep in after the fact punish the peasants with more oppression.

Not all of Mihał’s scenes are quite so grim. Here he pays tribute to the composer Chopin and here to the writing of the Polish Constitution.

The Scottish Highlands distilled in LEGO

The beauty of the Scottish Highlands has been marvelously captured in this build by 11drgnsMOC. Every sight imaginable, from a cottage covered in snow to a castle atop a sunny green hillside, has been nestled side-by-side in this delightful vignette. There’s even a brick-built bagpipe! We can almost smell the peat in the air.

This rendering was one of several models that the builder submitted to Bricklink Designer Program Series 9. Voting for this round is closed, with the winning entries to be announced on November 19th.

LEGO pirates make a scene as Umbasa LUG x Brothers Brick contest sails to an end [Feature]

Our friends at Umbasa LUG host monthly challenges focused on minifigs and dark fantasy. For September, the community tried something a little different, challenging builders to create not just characters but a brick-built vignette of between 10-16 studs on each side. The Brothers Brick sponsored this month’s contest, providing a copy of Windmill Village Hut to the winner. And without further ado, we’re excited to reveal that the winner is…

blocksofmocs!

Of the winner, Umbasa LUG organizer jdm_bricks said: “We decided that with such a small build, blocksofmocs was able to pack in such an impressive amount of character and detail, that it just had to be put on top. Highlights for us were the whimsical aesthetic, the very lively classic color pallet, the cohesive pirate crew, and the lovely shaping of the boat and waves.”

Congratulations to blocksofmocs, and thank you to all the other amazing builders who participated.

Click to see some of our favorite runners up from the Pirate Vignette contest

Mesmerizing miniature Miyazaki models in LEGO

What makes your favorite Miyazaki film? Is it the Adventure of Laputa, the wonder of My Neighbor Totoro, the intricacy of Spirited Away, or the magic of Howl’s Moving Castle? Somehow, builder Tung Man Chun manages to distil the hearts of these films down to 8×8 studs in a series of incredible LEGO vignettes. Each model is anchored by a larger-than-life character, bringing a sense of dynamism to the compact format. Let’s have a look at the full series.

Click to see more of Tung’s incredible Ghibli vignettes

Speed-limit Champions

Speed cameras have taken over most European metropolitans at this point, but William van Beek may have found the answer: a Mini Cooper may be too short for the cameras to catch a good picture! A wonderful little LEGO vignette, just like other pieces of art, can offer a great commentary for what we see in the world around us.

The Mighty Mythological Minotaur

Inspired by Wes Talbott’s ‘Dungeon Dangers’ template and series of MOCs (see those fantastic sets here), TBB alum turned fellow set designer Carter Baldwin set out to make his own dungeon crawl with an ancient Greek mythological twist. The color choices and contrast are stunning, and the assembly behind the stark blue decorations on the pristine white pillars are more complex than they may first appear. The imposing minotaur is riddled with fun build techniques, my favorite detail being the usage of a full hand and arm assembly to round out its eyes and face. This is a beautiful build that manages to capture both the elegance of Greek architecture and the thrill of a fantasy adventure at once.

The “sword saint” Miyamoto Musashi in LEGO

Ever since LEGO transported the Castle theme to medieval Japan in the ’90s, samurai have inspired countless LEGO builds. artist_davs pays tribute to perhaps the most famous samurai of all, Miyamoto Musashi, in an incredible LEGO vignette that looks more like a museum diorama than a model built from bricks. Musashi, the famous duelist and philosopher, is uses a minifig head and a cloth-covered brick-built body for realistic proportions.

Musashi’s armor is as impressive as the man himself, incorporating cloth and string. The tatami floor, made from profile bricks laid on their side, is artfully raised a half tile above the floor. If you’re wondering where the kanji scroll comes from, it’s a sticker from the Hanzo vs Genji set and reads “Dragon Head, Snake Tail.” I don’t think that comes from the Book of Five Rings, but it makes sense that Musashi would display it as he was famously fond of playing Overwatch.

This amazing LEGO scene will leave you stranded

The warped mind of Hideo Kojima has created some incredible games. Just in time for the release of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, builder Care Creations shows how perfect Kojima’s world is for LEGO. The striking vignette captures the danger of traversing a bleak post-apocalyptic landscape where rain ages whatever it falls on and black goo signals the invisible presence of the warped dead. Floating cargo containers and a folding ladder are perfect details to capture in-game story elements, and the full hood rain gear helps protect the courier from deadly timefall. My favorite detail – a minifig trophy for the creepy breach baby!

Where minifig babies come from

Taking your work home with you isn’t always the best idea, but that’s especially true if you work as a Labor and Delivery nurse. Story Brick finds a loophole in LEGO and recreates her workplace in bricks. The builder recreates all of the equipment and essential tools of the delivery trade – I love all the spare gloves ready for the staff. LEGO has released a number of hospitals as part of the city line, but it’s a theme that has yet to make its way into an adult set. Would you want a hospital or clinic to add to your modular city?

This half-timbered beauty is more than the sum of its parts

What constitutes “a lot of bricks” these days? When you see a sprawling diorama from a LEGO expo or a giant new display set, it’s clear you’re staring at “a lot of bricks.” But size can be deceiving when it comes to the number of elements. Take this incredible model from Satnis Creations. It’s a Tudor-style street scene less than half the size of a LEGO Modular, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were close to 10,000 bricks involved. The roof alone has roughly a thousand blue tiles, the walls are packed with 1×1 tiles and cheese slopes, and of course, that sidewalk. Using small parts lets Satnis create stunning detail with maximum precision, like the half-plate offset window frames and intricate half-timbering effects. Excellent period-appropriate minifigs bring the scene to life.