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 place where a technical mind is at peace

I am not here to downplay the classic minifig’s ability to convey emotion, but it is a fact that its range of movement is much more limited than that of a Technic figure. Heikki Mattila uses this posability to great effect in his large scale vignette called “Thinking at night”. The technic figure is set in a convincingly contemplating and perfectly peaceful pose, while the setting is full of nice details like tyres, boxes and more. The backlit window makes for a convincing nighttime effect as well. I could not imagine a better happy place for a Technic figure than a workshop or garage.

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LEGO emergency vehicles in a scale New York City makes you feel like a minifigure

Ever wonder what it might look like to wander the streets of New York at night, if you were a minifigure and the city was made of LEGO? Builder sponki25 has taken some incredible shots of his brick-built emergency vehicles, placing them in their urban environment, and it gives us exactly that experience.

We’ve highlighted some of Sponki’s amazing minifigure-scale emergency vehicles before, but he continues to grow his collection, recently adding a GMC 2500 FNDY support truck and an instantly recognizable FDNY EMS Ford Interceptor (the law enforcement version of the Ford Explorer).

Is this where Groot grew up?

A magical place is how Jonas Kramm describes this serene little home tucked under a tree. What’s interesting is how there’s a particular element that belongs to the LEGO Duplo family that’s part of this build. If you’ve not spotted it yet, it’s the green grass element that forms the roof of the home. I wonder what beings live in this fairy tale wonderland — earth fairies, or ground trolls, or was it the home of Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy? I’ve got my eyes on that hole in the tree trunk, just waiting to see what pops out of the curious-looking land.

Duplo brick in critical but stable condition

You can almost smell the clinical environment and hear the beep… beep… beep of the heart monitor in this hospital-themed build by Finnish builder Eero Okkonen. The IV bag hanging from the drip stand seems to contain the infamously yellow vitamin B infusion with a tube leading down to a rather frail looking hand on the bed. The pulse oximeter is hooked up to a large monitoring machine with a glowing display. Additional details like the “Get Well Soon” card and a couple of bottles of tablets are a lovely touch.

What is particularly impressive about this build is the ingenuity of the part that Eero used as the screen display for the monitor — it’s actually the underside of the current seed part in this round of Iron Builder, namely the Duplo part Fire/Grass/Ice 1x4x2.

The Alien vs Predator you didn’t know you wanted

Grantmasters’ Alien and Predator LEGO figures are excellent on their own, but why not show them off in an epic battle? Well, this isn’t the battle I expected to see. Which classic film creature can out-shred the other and has the best lines to skate?

The wooden fortress of Valahadrian can withstand any force (except fire)

The Elven Fortress of Valahadrian is located deep in the Mystic Isles of Avalonia, and was created from the imagination of LEGO builder Tirrell Brown. The tan and reddish brown colour combination fits well into the green woodland landscape surrounding the fortress. I love the unusual circular construction with overgrown arches to give a really organic feel to the architecture. Tirrell has clearly spent time on the trees and greenery to bring the whole build together, resulting in a lovely vignette. There’s a story unfolding before our very eyes with the rowing boat arriving and someone awaiting the visitor’s arrival.

I can’t help but draw your attention to the multi-layered base mimicking the differing grass, soil and water layers — a very nice detail!

In space, no one can hear you refuelling

LEGO Space is a much-loved theme and builders continue to create new interpretations in what is commonly referred to as “Neo-Classic Space”. Rob Damiano has built a fantastic Rover Utility Vehicle — part of his wider Nova Team adventures. Apparently the R.U.V. is the “golf cart” of the Federation — just big enough for one occupant, with a tool box in the rear compartment.

The rover and fuel tanker are both great little builds, but it’s the overall scene and photography which makes this really impressive. I love the lighting and the sense of distance created by the backdrop.

Harassing your local LEGO farm

Ciamosław Ciamek today brings us simple but very effective, with a small “Barnstomer” plane rudely flying low on a farmer’s land. Take a few seconds to look at this build. There are no complex techniques nor an overwhelming amount of parts — it’s just the right amount of bricks used in the right places.

What I also love about this build is the small scale of the plane. It’s absolutely minute, and there was some cheating done with the build. I assume the minifig head is just stuck on a brick, or one of the 2X2 driver’s bodies that have a minifig head peg. They were popular with the Drome Racers theme in the early 2000’s, and it’s a good way to simulate a full minifig in a small space. Also check out this alternate view, which shows off more of the plane.

Panda ex machina

If we’re all puppets, who is pulling the strings? Cole Blaq presents an interesting answer in a fun little cyberpunk vignette. We should’ve known all along Duplo martial artist pandas were behind everything.

LEGO looks great, even when it’s garbage

Life is a mess. Look anywhere and you’re sure to see clutter, trash, and other signs of waste. This is a fact builders can easily forget when aiming to create a lifelike scene, but it’s certainly not the case with this pile of garbage by David Guedes:

If you’ve ever been down an alley of any major city on the planet, then this is going to be a familiar scene. The busted toilet, piles of cardboard boxes, newspapers and other assorted trash capture a common though rarely highlighted aspect of the inner city. It’s this attention to detail which can really bring a LEGO city scene to life. Heck, I’d go so far as to say this garbage looks rather attractive. The real stuff, well, not so much.

Happy Pancake Day!

UK based builder Nick Sweetman has created a fantastic build for Pancake Day (also known as Shrove Tuesday). My new favorite LEGO creature – the lobster – is helping himself to a bottle of something from the sink as the Chef and his new apprentice create delicious floor pancakes for the annual holiday. But I guess you should expect floor pancakes when you hire a butcher to operate the frying pan!

All we need is a bit of wind to grind the grain

Windmills have been utilising the energy of the wind power to automate tasks such as water pumping of grain grinding since 500-900 A.D. in Persia. This LEGO windmill by Issac S was inspired by some of the windmills seen in the video game Skyrim and was built for the 2017 Brickstory contest in the Early Middle Age category. The textured stone base of the windmill contrasts nicely with the wood and lighter stone central section and inspired use of the upturned barrel is the cherry on top.

The model features working windmill blades and a grindstone that are simultaneously operated by a crank on the back of the windmill. Issac has shared a video of this feature in action.

If you want to read more about the landscaping and, in particular, the tree seen in the left hand corner of this build, Issac has shared a tutorial. Originally this technique was used by Joeri Riddler and Issac has unpacked the design to allow others to develop the technique.

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