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.

What’s got two legs and goes woof?

Wildfire — Game Of Thrones‘ very own version of napalm. In this neat LEGO vignette by ekjohnson1 we get to see the everyday reality of Wildfire production and storage down in the depths of the Kings Landing branch of the Alchemists’ Guild. Sure, the gloopy green stuff is worth a fortune, and makes short work of any invader vessels coming up the Blackwater. But drop a candle in it? Things get hot and messy real quick. The green liquid is nicely done in this model, with transparent pieces capturing its unearthly glow, but the highlight for me is the subtle angle on the brick walls between the timber supports — a nice touch which perfectly evokes the idea of the arched tunnels beneath Westeros’ capital.

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Parachuting into a wild adventure

Over the years, Marcel V has graced our pages as an impeccable example of all the things that make a creation exciting. Marcel seamlessly harnesses vignettes, storytelling and parts usage in a stunning way, and all without missing a beat. Case in point: his most recent work titled Emergency Landing. Inspired By Jonas Kramm and his incredible Jurassic Park vignettes, Marcel has chosen to build within a base of approximate 16×16 studs. With in this small space, the builder has packed in a brilliant little scene, oozing with lush detail.

I love having my eyes constantly drawn from one side of the build to the other just to soak in all the elements. The 1×1 3-leaf piece introduced last year has made a great impact on this build, showing up in two shades of green and giving the scene more depth. The tangled parachute made from two blue triangular sails has been nicely achieved, threaded over some gangly tree trunks. Trees aside, it’s the light bluish grey rock walls in which they spring from that set the scene for me. The white collared bird appearing on the right-hand side is another superb display of parts usage. A combination of minifig parts make up this specimen, such as a bushy minifigure hair piece, ruff and plume, just to name a few. The fact that a lot of it is held together with a rubber band only makes it better.

To see more of Marcel V’s work, check out this incredible build that had me stumped.

The Jeeps and Explorers that everyone wanted

Can there ever be enough dinosaurs in the world? Well, in a world without any living dinosaurs, I would have to say no. Where’s the Deinonychus with a saddle to take me for a ride, or the Quetzalcoatlus flying service I dreamed of as a kid? Nowhere, since places like Dinotopia and Jurassic Park only existed in science fiction. Jonas Kramm tries to fill some of the void inside me with his awesome vignettes from the first movie of the Jurassic franchise, which is appreciated but never enough.

Speaking of voids, that is just what Jonas fills in this next set of builds, with both the Ford Explorer and Jeep Wrangler many fans of the film complained were absent from any of the official LEGO sets so far (especially the huge 75936). The Jeep stolen by Dennis Nedry is stuck in the mud and high pointed on a log, and the hapless tech wizard has been blinded by the toxic spit of the Dilophosaurus. A stud shooter is cleverly used as the log under the Jeep, and the crowbars make a great frame for the windshield as they did in LEGO set 75916‘s Jeep).

Click to see the rest of these dino-riffic vignettes

And bring me the passengers, I want them alive!

The release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story brought a sentence from the original film’s opening crawl to life and connected it directly to the start of Star Wars: A New Hope in a most dramatic way. And this model by Pablo Piccasos does just that in LEGO. What looks like a single model is actually made up of three distinct creations that fit together seamlessly, bridging the two movies in more ways than one.

Continue reading for more details

A very special homecoming

Every journey comes to an end sometime, and for this weary traveler, his journey ends with a warm welcome from a loving father in this lovely scene by Carter Witz. One of the first details that caught my eye was the gently angled wall along the riverside.

The same style of stacked plates and tiles is carried through to the back yard, which also features simple but interesting trees and other vegetation.

Carter has included a fully detailed interior, which suggests, along with the letter in the father’s hand, that this homecoming was expected, and a yet another treasure of home is waiting. A good meal.

A series of familiar scenes from Vietnam

Writers are often taught to write what they know, to create from a place of familiarity. This simple technique can also apply to building LEGO scenes depicting everyday life, like this delightful series by Khang Huynh, who, judging by their Flickr profile, is fairly new to building custom LEGO creations. They’re off to a great start, and I’ll be keeping a close eye out for more from this talented builder.

In this first scene, built using a colorful but muted palette, we see a city street being worked on by a most unusually colored excavator. Also, notice the teal brick separator tool stacked on the roof. I really like how the look of the separators is continued around the corner. Another great detail is the use of a Power Functions motor as a transformer.

Check out more Vietnamese scenes by Khang Huynh

What’s the matter kid? You never had lamb chops?

Faster than a T. rex can eat a lawyer, Jonas Kramm continues cranking out Jurassic Park vignettes. After bringing us the raptor dig and introductions of John Hammond and Dennis Nedry, Jonas now takes us to the Tyrannosaur paddock. Everything about this scene is iconic from the colorful Ford Explorer touring vehicle to the T. rex bait behind the fence. There is some excellent composition here, including the angling of the fence and lush landscaping behind it. Judging by the smile on Lex’s face, she probably hasn’t seen the goat yet.

See more amazing LEGO Jurassic Park vignettes

We have proof that the earth is as flat as a LEGO baseplate

If it’s on the internets, it must be real. Thus, by Laws of Cyberspace, I decree that there is sufficient evidence to prove that the earth is flat. LEGO Certified Professional Ryan McNaught collaborated with Centuri Chan to turn this conspiracy into reality by building a scaled-down Flat Earth. However, just proving the earth flat is not enough — all fakery perpetrated on the sheep-like masses by Them must be debunked! So Ryan and Centuri toiled away (probably wearing the necessary tin-foil headgear) to reveal the truth behind key moments in our history. The truth is out there, and it may keep you up at night — just be careful where you walk barefoot in the dark!

Some of the real-life moments captured with LEGO bricks include a behind-the-scenes view into the making of the movies purportedly about men landing on the moon, which of course was filmed in a Hollywood back lot. Lots of coffee and croissants were needed to energise the hard-working crew. We must never forget.

Let the scales drop from your eyes to see more truth as revealed in LEGO bricks

“But for today, I guarantee it!”

“Hey, we were saving that!” Those were the words first uttered by Dr. Alan Grant when he and Ellie Sattler met “dinopreneur” John Hammond, who would take them on a wild ride through Jurassic Park. Thanks to Jonas Kramm, we now have a LEGO vignette of this iconic introductory scene, in which John Hammond invites himself into the scientists’ trailer (and to the bottle of champagne in their refrigerator). The little room is packed with plenty of detail, including a table cluttered with fossil hunting instruments like a miniature microscope and sifting tray. However, the star of the show is the open fridge and its lovable old benefactor. He has a kind of biological preserve that’s right up their alley, spared no expense!

Jonas continues the Jurassic Park fun with “Dodgson, Dodgson….we have Dodgson here! See, nobody cares.” Who cares? We care, because this is a another enjoyable build depicting the film’s introduction of Butterfinger-loving bad guy, Dennis Nedry. It also features Dodgson showing Nedry the embryo canister disguised as a shaving cream can. It’s the third in a line of Jurassic Park LEGO vignettes, the first of which was his splendid raptor dig site. Being a big Jurassic Park fan, I can’t wait to see what Jonas comes up with next!

Bedlam in the sahn

Builder Ted Andes brings us this scene full of middle-eastern style architecture and serpentine intrigue. A group of warriors battles it out with the forces of evil in the form of a snake-bodied wizard that we only see from the back. I love the way it lets your imagination fill in what might be behind that hooded cloak.

The whole courtyard is full of touches that evoke a feeling of the Middle East. The sand green and white tiled floor is beautifully done and complimented nicely by the sand green tiles with blue and yellow flowers on the wall to represent the elaborate tile work. The impressively large door made from palisades bricks is quite a presence and the use of keys as handles is very clever. The column treatment is elegant with its combination of square, round and palisades bricks as well as an earthy color palette that brings a cohesiveness to the whole scene.

But, it’s the decorated central column that really steals the show. The octagonal fountain at the base is a pleasing shape that draws your attention and mimics the angles of the tiled floor. The use of upside-down gold lamps for faucets gives is a nice touch and the gold scarab finishes this portion off nicely. The central column leads to a cluster of shin guards at the top that blossom into balloon parts topped with a bush to create a beautiful architectural palm tree. The addition of Aladdin off to the side, mopping up with a wry smile, is terrific and leaves us wondering if perhaps he was in on this evil plan the entire time.

GLaDos is doing science and she’s still alive

GLaDos is back and she’s serving up some vengeance on Chell and Wheatley in this Portal vignette by hachiroku24. Way back in 2007, the video game industry was taken by storm by Portal, a mind-bending game that pitted a human test subject against technology run amok. A sequel followed in 2011 and the series proved popular enough that LEGO included it as a playable world in LEGO Dimensions, even producing an official Chell minifigure and the beloved Weighted Companion Cube. Hachiroku24 has taken that Chell minifig and built this spot-on recreation of a scene with the evil GLaDos and Portal 2’s friendly AI, Wheatley.

GLaDos is perfectly rendered here utilizing a variety of visible Technic parts to create that feeling of exposed machine technology. The hoses and wires are especially effective and add a touch of realism that make the whole machine seem plausible. I’m very fond of the combination of pieces used to create GLaDos’ elegantly curved “face”. Comical sidekick Wheatley, in contrast to his larger relative, gets a similarly ideal treatment but using only a small number of parts. As a builder, I like “breaking the square” so I really love the use of hinges and angled plates to create a more irregular shaped base for this scene. Although 12 years may have passed, thanks to hachiroku24, GLaDos is still getting the science done for the people who are still alive.

Have a drink on me, fellows, for tomorrow, we fight.

Scenes from Star Wars movies and television have been a major source of inspiration for LEGO builders since the first time we were transported to that galaxy far, far away. Some builders take more subtle inspiration from the Star Wars universe to create scenes that we never saw but were there all along, like this model of barracks for Rebel troopers on Hoth by Gabe F, a charming view into the day-to-day life of the brave men and women who put their lives on the line to fight the tyranny of the Galactic Empire.

The carved organic snow landscaping is great, and there are lots of little details like portable bunks complete with temperature gauge and power cords, pin-ups on the wall, and cups of caf littered throughout. There’s even a lost sock. Hopefully, the owner has a spare pair to keep their toes warm.

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