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.

One man’s waste is another man’s treasure

Household waste disposal sites are more commonly called Recycling Centres here in the UK, and putting it out onto the street for collection is definitely discouraged. Marion would find herself reported and fined after leaving such a large amount of household waste in the street if she lived near me! Thankfully in the LEGO world, everything is awesome, and that includes household waste left outside on an autumnal day. There are so many objects in here to love: the blackboard, old mattress, children’s chests of drawers, adjustable spotlight, folding table… Even the cardboard boxes are cleverly built with ‘interlocking flaps’.

It’s a melancholic scene in some ways as it looks like there’s been some growing-up in this household with old toys, a tricycle, high chair, booster seat and bike pump lying amongst the other discarded items.

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Learn from a LEGO master at the Royal Academy

There’s a whole medieval world created by LEGO fan builders as part of a role-playing game called Nine Kingdoms hosted by German-language site RogueBricks. Even RPGs need educational institutions and Markus Rollbühler has built the Royal Academy, a place for students to come and learn from the masters. There are lots of interesting LEGO techniques that we can also study at the Royal Academy with some fine LEGO construction and parts use on show. My eye was immediately drawn to the tree, with its foliage uniquely constructed using plumes of green feathers. I also love the bird’s nest sitting on the roof of the Academy, my ornithological knowledge is rather limited but it looks like a stork has made a home up there.

There are almost too many gems to mention, as the Academy itself has some lovely architectural details such as the beautifully shaped dormer windows. Can you spot the brown minifigure hockey sticks in the scene? There’s a lot to love in this creation and if you like this build, you will certainly enjoy spending a quiet summer evening at Markus’ windmill.

Prescribe yourself some meditation

I’m hoping the LEGO Ninjago Movie prompts a swathe of Ninja-flavoured creations. Rollon Smith certainly seems to be getting into the spirit of things with this sweet little vignette of Lloyd meditating before a shrine. The calm pool makes a pleasant change from typical Ninja settings, and the haphazard planks are nicely laid-out. The shrine itself is simply done, but detailed enough to look interesting, and the surrounding greenery offers a strong colour contrast to the blue and grey of the base. Overall, this is a great little scene.

Git along now, little dogies

Continuing with his circle motif, Sergeant Chipmunk has brought us another slice of LEGO adventure. This time, we’re given a glimpse into the old wild west. While the covered wagon, rockwork, and dusty landscape are beautiful, it’s the little details that truly bring this scene to life, like the horses’ reins and bedrolls. Not to mention, the sleeping cowboy on the ridge, with his hat cocked down to block the sun.

Indiana Jones and the collection of LEGO vignettes

If there’s one thing I love more than a beautiful LEGO model, it’s a collection of beautiful LEGO models. Inspired by the Harry Potter vignettes we featured earlier in the year, John Klapheke wanted to build a series of something he was fairly knowledgeable about. The mission John set for himself was to create six vignettes for each of the Indiana Jones movies, each set on a 12×12-stud base.

At first, he was pretty adamant about keeping the entire scene confined to those dimensions. Later, with the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull creations, he relented and let some detail spill over (and sometimes through) the sides of the base. John says “aiming for consistency” was the unique challenge of a project of two dozen separate, yet interconnected creations.

Click to keep up with the Jones’s

Cycling the Paris-Roubaix

The Paris-Roubaix is one of the oldest bicycle races in the world, having begun in 1896. Its famously rough cobblestone route is memorialized here by Luca Di Lazzaro as a large vignette, with carefully spaced tiles arranged to create the uneven pathway. The grim faces of the riders harken to the race’s nickname as The Hell of the North. The trees are a simple design, yet quite effective for adding a bit of greenery to the grueling route.

The brick is mightier than the sword

The Iron Throne is probably one of the most iconic elements of the hysterically popular Game of Thrones series. But if you became the ruthless ruler of your particular domain, taking trophies from those you crushed to create a throne of your own to rule over them, what would it be constructed from? Builder Chris CAPTAIN uses LEGO to re-imagine the concept outside the crushingly limiting confines of a fantasy world filled with gigantic pies and toilet murders. Check out the full set here. This is a concept I’d love to see other builders try their hand at! (nudge, wink)

A good vintage year at the farm

This must be a good year for grapes as a fine crop of an unusual round, lime green variety are being harvested on Nadine Wölfle’s farm. The farm not only specialises in some fine wine production but also breeds goats to produce and sell goats milk. If you take a look inside the cart, a good stock of goats cheese is being taken to market today. This is a gentle scene that is both attractive and detailed, with the cute little home at the far end, and the vines being harvested at the other. I love the old fashioned method of stomping to crush the grapes before the juice is poured into barrels.

Some added views give us a chance to see those cheeses being transported and some of the details in the front court and house. There’s plenty to love about this quaint scene but my eyes keep returning to the method of crushing the grapes and getting the juice into the barrels. Much as I love it, I’m not entirely sure this would pass hygiene standards nowadays.

Many names for this towering sight

Orthanc, home of the corrupted white wizard Saruman, is an important part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and is even referenced in the title of the second book, The Two Towers. The film version of the tower may not be quite as iconic as Sauron’s Barad’dur, but it’s still managed to burn itself into the memories of fantasy lovers all over the world. This microscale LEGO recreation by Maelven isn’t the first LEGO Orthanc model we’ve featured, but the builder has added a lot of great style to it.

Although quite a departure from this builder’s comfort zone of highly accurate Star Wars vehicles, Maelven did not disappoint in this turn to fantasy. The intense details on the tower will keep your attention for more time than you would expect, but what I really like is the gradual but very fluent tapering of the tower’s shape towards the top — an effect achieved by slightly tilting many bars and plates on the surface of the creation.

Like this tiny Orthanc? Check out this diorama of the breaking of Isengard featuring a 7 ft tall Orthanc, or a detailed 8 ft tall Orthanc with a full interior.

An elegant room from a more civilized age

Any gentleman needs a place to do his paperwork and this fancy room built by Rylie Howerter looks just about pefrect. Though simple at first glance due to plain walls, a few seconds of looking at the creation reveals an incredibly intricate floor, which is at least 3, but probably 4 studs deep. It is made of brown bars set between sand green tiles stackedsideways, with dark green tiles in the middle.

In the description, Rylie is not a fan of the minifigure per se, but was happy for any excuse to build appropriately scaled furniture – and the results are well-designed indeed! The chair is made out of plant elements, pneumatic tubing, and similar fine detail pieces, and the ink bottle on the table is an especially interesting part use, although on the border of purism – a carefully cut piece of a ribbed hose.

Grandma gets comfy whilst the mechanic tunes her bike

LEGO’s Collectable Minifigures lines have brought us all manner of fantasy and sci-fi creatures, but some of the most useful for builders have been the new “regular folks”. Cecilie Fritzvold has built a lovely little vignette for the Grandma figure from Series 11. She looks very comfortable in her reclining chair, and the little sitting room is packed with sweet details — the flower basket on the shelf, the biscuits in the bowl, and the nicely-striped wallpaper.

Cecilie has been building a range of these vignettes, each for a different Collectable Minifig character. I particularly liked the scene for the Mechanic from Series 10. The walls and racked tools look great, and that brick-built bike is a fine piece of work. I couldn’t help but imagine the bike belongs to Grandma, and she’s taking a load off whilst the Mechanic checks it over for her.

If Banksy started building in LEGO

Graffiti has been a fact of life since the pyramids were built, but you may not have ever seen LEGO graffiti before (unless you’ve been reading The Brothers Brick for a really long time). Roman says he started with the minifig street artist and then came up with the larger build. The backward bandana as a hood is inspired and it’s good to see he takes his respiratory health seriously.

I love the dripping paint from the freshly painted wall and the items chosen to inhabit the scene. It is a concise frame for a cool piece of instantly recognizable graffiti.