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.

Dance me to the stones and back

What do you get if you cross the Giant’s Causeway with Doctor Strange? That’s the vibe I’m getting from Daniel Church‘s kinetic LEGO vignette here. The geography looks quite otherworldly – I love the look of the hexagonal columns. But the meditating chap in the middle adds an extra layer of mysticism. This has to be some temple or shrine at the top of the tallest mountain, where only those seeking true enlightenment will dare to venture. And if you do make it to the top, and you achieve the inner peace you’ve been craving, you may get to see the stones dance thanks to Daniel’s clever mechanics.

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A build from the past gives us a glimpse of the future.

The world of The Wheel of Time book series is both the ancient past and the far-off future. So, it’s fitting that this build by Vladimir van Hoek from ten years ago (long predating the recent Amazon Prime TV series) is just now getting shared with us in the present. The microscale scene of the Field of Merrilor depicts a high-tech castle and neighboring village, in a world where vehicles are powered by primitive sails and advanced jet propulsion. I love the way foliage peeks out from beneath the vignette framework, and the way the reddish brown grill bricks have been laid on their sides to create the rows in the farmland. This idyllic scene is definitely a place I’d like to visit someday…or perhaps I’ve already been?

Take a moment’s quiet in this atmospheric LEGO vignette

Whatever your take on their purpose, it has to be said that religious buildings like churches or cathedrals can be quite amazing places. There’s the spiritual aspect of course, but even on a purely material level, often they’re just downright pretty. That’s definitely the case with Casey McCoy‘s vignette. It’s a captivating scene depicting a priest in a moment of quiet contemplation. The whole thing is beautiful, but so are some of the building techniques! The cheese-slope stained glass windows are what draw the eye, and what give this scene its distinctive atmosphere. But cheese slopes are also used in the floor tiling to great effect. The candles are also great, made of Technic pins and lever handles.

You may be wondering how the Casey has managed to manipulate the figure into that quite un-minifigure like pose. The answer is with rubberbands, care and a lot of patience! A white rubberband also doubles as his clerical collar, which is a nice touch. There’s a good view of it here – a gorgeous snapshot that almost makes you hear the echoing silence of an empty church.

I am altering your LEGO build. Pray I do not alter it further.

Say what you like about Darth Vader, but he sure has an eye for the dramatic. You’d expect nothing less from a guy who walks around in a cape. Remember when he stopped a laser bolt with his hand in The Empire Strikes Back? If you don’t, Nathan Smith is here to jog your memory with this superbly-framed scene. It makes you wonder how long Vader was waiting there. Was he waiting in that dramatic pose for hours before our heroes arrived? Maybe that’s why he was so sassy when they finally did show up. The Dark Lord of the Sith doesn’t take kindly to tardiness, it seems.

LEGO Creation of the Week (#28): “Die in Your Arms” by Casey McCoy

Every week readers of the The Brothers Brick Telegram channel choose the Creation of the Week: one project that impressed all of us the most. Casey McCoy gets almost a third of all votes cast by our readers with his charming Die in Your Arms diorama. Such a touching scene, with lovely color palette. Well-deserved!

Meanwhile, the new vote is already on! Join our Telegram channel to follow all the best LEGO creations, latest news, and, of course, vote for your favorites. See you there!

A pair of ripping LEGO railcars, with scenes to match

Builder Pieter Post has a history of some excellent LEGO railcar productions, and this pair of scenes adds two more to that list. First up is a rail weigh station, featuring a beautiful hopper car in brown. Here, his wonderful technique relies heavily on jumper plates to create the reinforcements along the sides of the car. I also applaud his use of brackets and cheese slopes to get the perfect clean slope up the sides of the hopper. The surrounding vignette is almost as detailed as the car, showing a daredevil railworker falling from a ladder while trying to change a lightbulb. What an unlucky fellow!

He’s almost as unlucky as the night watchman in Pieter’s other scene. Featuring a boxcar clad in dark green, the creation employs some brilliant tiling technique to provide a smooth, slatted look. The use of depth to break up the sides of the railcar, just as on the hopper car, is truly inspired. Hopefully the bandit in this scene doesn’t give the guard too much trouble…

This moody piece gives us the blues. Several shades of it.

When describing this LEGO creation, a commenter on Casey McCoy’s photo stream said it best; “I’ve never had a lego model stir my heart the way this one does. Absolutely fantastic composition and beautiful use of color. This is art.” When something like this evokes such profound emotions, it is art indeed. This piece is called Die in Your Arms and I’ve found myself gazing at this image for long moments at a time. Perhaps the dead being was already white when they were alive but I imagine that, as its soul drains from its body, so does the blue color. Casey tells us that this model only uses the following colors: Black, Dark Blue, Dark Azure, Medium Azure, Dark Bley (bluish gray), Light Bley, Light Aqua, and White. He also went on to say that it won Best Vignette at Brickworld Chicago 2023. The folks of Brickworld most certainly made the right choice.

What’s cookin’ in the kitchen?

I’m always so impressed by the level of awesome parts usage in some of these LEGO vignettes people are producing lately. Just when you think all the good ideas and designs are taken, someone else does it all over again. This particular build by Marcin Otreba is one of my all-time favorites. It’s just so quaint and cozy. The color palette is lovely as well. While common great parts usage abounds, like the axles, wands, and small horns used as furniture legs, and skates for drawer pulls, there’s also plenty of unique stuff too. I love what this builder did with the clam shell behind the sink. I’m also a fan of the stove burners, the bread pan on the table, and even the simple, tan, “window glass” cutting board tucked under the window sill.

While you’re here, check out some other builds by Marcin, as well as more awesome vignettes.

A LEGO Gnome and his patch of mushrooms

This stout LEGO gnome built by 8mm-plastic has lots of character, from the rumpled hat to that big fluffy beard. He stands beside a well-crafted mushroom while glittering butterflies flutter. At first glance, it might seem that those butterflies are the smallest creatures in the build, but look closely on the ground in front of the mushroom and you’ll find a snail made from just 2 parts.

This LEGO pilot is dreaming big, on a little budget

Sometimes using a limited number of parts is an excellent forcing function to drive creativity, or in the case of this simple vignette by Justus M pilot creativity. This airplane is built from boxes and tables and uses everyday household objects like a desk lamp and a dart board. It looks like these young adventurers have everything they need to fly off into the sunset of imagination.

Remember to take a break sometime–the cost could be deadly

This LEGO build comes to us from builder Ghalad through the Digital Iron Builder competition this year. It features the use of the SPIKE Prime color sensor, wonderfully used for the eyes of the skeleton and on the headphones. Every detail of this build is great with so many parts usages from Technic to the more classic LEGO pieces. I don’t know about you, but I really like the use of Mixel joints for the framing of the collarbone. I’m not particularly familiar with the finer details of skeletal anatomy, but this skeleton looks to be fairly accurate, which is something I can appreciate. I know this is a digital build, but this would be awesome to see IRL just to look at it from every angle.

Rider of Rohan, what news from the Mark?

I just love it when LEGO is used to give us a glimpse of Middle-earth, like Shaun Sheepa‘s Rider of Rohan here. The Riddermark is a vast domain, and to traverse it the people take to the saddle. In the build you get a glimpse of these plains in the grassland beneath the horse’s hooves. Speaking of the horse, it’s not very often I see brick-built ones. There is some nice parts usage at play here. Of particular note is the shaping of the horse’s face, and those angled hollow studs with bar for the rear hooves. This is a very thin part of the horse’s anatomy, and those parts are perfect for it! I think now I need to go watch The Lord of the Rings to see the riders at work.