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.

The Witcher and the anything-but-the-kitchen-sink-tree

The Witcher has been the subject of quite a lot of LEGO creations lately. When you take a closer look at this creation by Peter Revan, you can surely understand why. Peter took inspiration from the Witcher books rather than from the game or the series. That’s why Geralt might look a little bit different than what you are used to.

The Witcher

For the base of this creation Peteru used ball joint connections which help with all of the odd angles. I like how he used the flower stalks to keep the leaf plates in their places without actually connecting them to a stud. The tree in this creation is truly something else. Peter calls this technique Just-take-and-use-everything-you-have-under-your-hand. And it sure looks like that is exactly what he did. We can see wings, wigs, droid arms, flex tubing, steering wheels, technic parts, skeleton legs, and plenty more odd parts used in the tree trunk. If LEGO would have produced the kitchen sink in grey, it might even have been incorporated. Peter hopes to create more Witcher-themed creations in the future and so do we.

LEGO Wall-E blasts his way into our hearts

For a movie with very little dialog in the first half, the Disney movie Wall-E had a great story and even greater characters. In this scene by Martin Gebert the love-sick little garbage mashing robot with a heart of gold makes a romantic attempt to get back to Eve using a fire extinguisher for propulsion. The cloud element first seen in the LEGO Monkie Kid theme is the perfect part for the foamy burst. Combined with the lumpy ice cream pieces, they connect to larger clouds made with a variety of radar dishes and other rounded elements. Chromed dishes give Wall-E his wide-eyed expression.

Lost In Space

When a Ringwraith comes knocking

The next LEGO build from Thorsten Bonsch in this The Lord of the Rings vignette series is here! Hamfast Gamgee, the father of the hero Samwise Gamgee, receives a peculiar traveler. Frodo and Pippin learn of this event shortly after their own frightful encounter with a Ringwraith. Sam tells the tale of his gaffer’s visitor and the feeling of dread his father felt. Here, Thorsten paints the scene with greater detail than Sam in his own telling. Check out that thatch work on the roof of the hobbit home! The layering of grille tiles gives the roof a wonderful straw-like texture. Minifigure hands and droid arms stand in for disheveled bits of straw sticking out at the ends. This is a delight to see rendered in LEGO, as some thatch work can look too tidy without it. Another example of great texture layering is the plates and tiles making up the brickwork in the house’s structure. Also, be sure to check out that wheelbarrow!

06. Hamfast Gamgee

Continuing in the tradition established in the previous builds in the series, this vignette depicts the moment from the The Fellowship of the Ring book. The movie version does this scene with Farmer Maggot. In fact, Hamfast is only in the extended version of The Fellowship of the Ring film. Here, Hamfast gets his due! Personally, I’m really enjoying this series, as the books often get overshadowed by the movies in artwork depictions. Can’t wait to see what’s next in this ongoing vignette series!

Hobbits on the run and hideaway

Three is company, but four with a Ringwraith is a crowd. Coming from builder Thorsten Bonsch, this LEGO scene is the fifth build in a series taking on the legendary world of The Lord of the Rings. Depicting moments iconic to both the films and the books, these builds favor the books in the details. That’s why we see three instead of four hobbits–Merry didn’t join the group until the next chapter! Thorsten returns to this story moment after ten years away, though this time at a much smaller scale. What makes or breaks a build at this scale are the details, and the details here are amazing! Take a look at those tree roots, how they frame the hiding hobbits and flow towards the leaning tree. The tree takes you to the Ringwraith sniffing out the Ring, but Sam stops Frodo from revealing their location. These aren’t the hobbits you’re looking for, Ringwraith!

05. Hide!

Ten years ago, Thorsten realized too late that Merry wasn’t part of the group of hobbits hiding from the Ringwraith pursuing Frodo and the Ring. This time around, the mistake is corrected with Frodo, Sam, and Pippin in the hideaway. The ten year-old build is quite beautiful, and I recommend checking it out. It’s at a larger scale than this one, and on a steep slope rather than the hollow Tolkien described in the book. Also look forward to the next build in this Middle-earth vignette series! It will expand to other builders once Thorsten’s contributions are finished. I do enjoy a good adventure through Middle-earth!

Area man calls 911 after spotting a mutated chicken on his property, police are baffled

When deputies arrived at the scene after responding to a call from a local alfalfa farmer about a strange creature outside his window in the middle of the night, they noticed an unusual sight at the edge of the man’s land, which seemed to be a weather balloon or a new-fangled washing machine. The strange object was stamped with “manufactured by Versteinert“. After setting up a cordon around the site, a black vehicle arrived on the scene, and two well-dressed gentlemen stepped out wearing dark sunglasses and holding up a small penlight…

Crash Of A Weather Balloon

Just another shower Hutt scene...

I particularly enjoy a LEGO build that injects a certain degree of humour into itself, and this little scene from Albert Lee hits the nail on the head. The brick-built Hutt captures both the contours of the body and colour of the species. Some nice parts have been used to recreate the shower with the blue web piece from a recent Spider-Mech and the water-filled hose adding some subtle action to the build. Some nice detailing then complements this vignette.

Hot Shower Scene

Have you ever wondered how the Hutts kept so clean? Neither had I!

Our road leads into the desert of Arrakis

From Arrakis comes spice and these LEGO vignettes by builder Bryan Firks, whom you may know from the second season of LEGO Masters. I had the good fortune to chat with Bryan about these scenes and the inspiration behind them. He became a fan of the “Duniverse” after watching the 2021 film Dune, sparking an interest in the original book and the richly detailed world. Soon, the idea to create a series of microscale scenes developed in his mind. He drew inspiration from 2021’s TBB creation of the year, Jan Woźnica’s Tales from the Space Age, for providing atmosphere and color. Equipped with new color palettes, he employs similar techniques with his vignettes. On the left, transparent neon orange antennae represent orbital strikes on the old city of Arrakeen. A spice refinery explodes in the foreground. In the center, we see an ornithopter hovers above a spice harvester with levers as its wings. On the right, there’s one of the legendary sandworms of Arrakis! The worm is captured brilliantly with round bricks interlinked by flex tubing for poseable segments. The sand dunes give a sense of scale to the worm, showing just how massive it really is!

Bryan faced a few challenges rendering these scenes on this scale. Being a Lord of the Rings fan, he wanted to use Uruk-hai swords for the ornithopter wings. Alas, they were too big for this size. The sandworm presented a fun challenge, and using an inverted 2×2 dome for the gaping maw is very cool! The flow of direction, from left to right following the lines of the orbital strike through to the worm’s mouth, is intentional to give the build a sense of motion. Another clever choice is the night-day-night pattern of the backgrounds, giving the vignettes a lovely balance. The mirroring of the dual moons in the night scenes helps to frame and hold the day scene in your attention as you take in the whole. My favorite part of the build, besides the sandworm? It demonstrates how inspiring the LEGO community can be. Anyone can become inspired by another builder’s creation, leading to more beautiful homages and builds!

Holy LEGO build, Batman!

I’m a huge Batman fan, be it comics, cartoons, films or brick. In LEGO form, I’m always looking for something unique that’s perhaps not black (or very very dark grey!) and along comes DekuScrub72 with this fantastic build, lifted straight from the classic ’60s series! The vignette recreates the famous scene of the dynamic duo moving past an open window and meeting a local with a hint of the Gotham skyline beyond with Trans-Brown plates adding subtle detail as windows on the city block beyond and the Unikitty stand as clouds. And, just like the way the show was filmed, the scene is tilted 90 degrees!

Batman 1966 Vignette

“There is a vortex of Fate all around us”

The final installment of The Witcher vignette series from Jonas Kramm takes us to the Battle of Sodden Hill. This LEGO build depicts a scene from the final episode of season one of the Netflix series. Triss Merigold, a powerful sorceress, defends the gate with a web of vines against the invading forces of Nilfgaard. Jonas captures her ferocity and determination with a practiced eye. The parts usage of this piece, like Jonas’s previous builds, is wonderful! Various slopes, plates, and quarter tiles capture the stonework’s weathered and aged texture. Swords, clips, and ingot bricks define the doors’ details. Dark brown arm pieces act as the stalks for the flowering vines growing along the structure. A beautiful build to end a fantastic vignette series!

The Witcher - Battle of Sodden

Just another quiet night in the local...

LEGO builds that are injected with humour are particular favourites of mine. In this regard, I particularly enjoy Ross Fisher‘s builds and his latest perfectly captures a wrong time, wrong place scenario.

Friendly fire in El Oleonda

The characterisation in both expression and pose of minifigure is effortlessly recreated in LEGO form here and the building the figures populate has some nice touches too, with the loose roof tiles and wood frame of the building capturing the era of the high seas.
“Now back away, slowly, as if we were never here…”

Tiny steam engine bursting with charm

Using a certain seed part as a focal point for a build can be challenging but in a good way. Constraints can fuel creativity… like in this clever little train by Thomas Gion that uses a particular Technic connector for the center of the steam engine. And while this is a great part usage, my eye was drawn to the genius use of sideways tiles inserted into the base to form the rails and slats for the train tracks. The simple stone arch and landscape round out this small but mighty model.

Steam Engine

A small raft with a big problem

The latest build by Josh is fiercely triggering my thalassophobia. I can’t help but feel for this lone seafarer, having his world rocked by some elegantly simple kraken tentacles as they rise up from the water below. I can tell from that small, ramshackle raft that he was already on a journey fraught with hardship. And now he’s got to deal with a kraken? No way would I be as calm as that parrot. Stupid parrot, don’t just sit on that hat! Fly away! Go get help! It’s a giant monster from the depths below! Man, I hate the ocean.

Baby Kraken Attack