Two Rebel soldiers find themselves a little too close to the Empire for comfort in this vignette by Jonas. Thankfully, Jonas has constructed a lush amount of Endorian flora for them to hide among. The Imperial Soldiers have it easy, with their elevated walkway and a dirt road constructed from some surprisingly elaborate techniques. Hopefully they don’t look too closely at what’s hiding in the local vegetation.
With The Rings of Power debuting on Amazon Prime, it seems a fitting time to check back in on Jonas Kramm’s The Lord of the Rings vignette series. Here, Gandalf the White appears before Théoden in Meduseld and drives Sauman’s magic from the corrupted king. This cross-section style rendering of the Golden Hall is worthy of royalty, with the carved wooden horse heads being an especially nice detail.
This creation from SpaceBrick looks like it’s about to fall apart. And I mean that in the best possible sense! It’s a snapshot of a delightfully ramshackle mediaeval inn. The variation of pieces in the walls gives it a nicely weathered look, and both the roof and the bridge have some great uneven layering of tiles and plates. Note the hammers used as big stone bricks in that bridge as well! Speaking of notes – SpaceBrick says this is an “ambush in a mediaeval town”. I’m not sure if it’s the knight or the bard who is about to be ambushed. I think I know who my money’s on in a lute versus sword fight…
Pascal has created a vision of a truly terrifying dystopia. This may look like some neo-classic space robots helpfully planning the terraforming of a new, distant world, but look closer! This is a world devoid of mere mortals like minifigures. In this darkest of timelines, our new robot overlords spend their days playing God with the very Earth that sustains us. Rivers bend to their will. They literally move mountains. And we must acquiesce, as tiny figurines moved around on a Warhammer board, powerless to stop them. If only someone had a brick separator… Then we may be free of this torment that the machines call a game…
If it hasn’t been clear from past articles I’ve written on here, I am a humongous fan of micro LEGO builds. I probably build within an 8×8 stud area more often than not anymore. And I am absolutely gaga for these connected micro scenes by Louis of Nutwood. Depicting some of the classic tropes from high seas adventures, this quartet of vignettes shows the vessel, the fortress, the kraken, and the remote island. Each of the scenes lives in its own black box, reminiscent of those from the succulents LEGO set. But those boxes are then linked via waterfalls, connecting the disparate parts into a whole story. While there is some excellent parts usage throughout, some of my favorites are the cannons on the fortress and the texture-filled tree design.
Since being introduced with the LEGO Collectible Minifigure Series 2 back in 2010, the so-called trophy figure has been a boon for microscale and nanoscale builders. Sometimes this means creations at a truly colossal scale (relatively speaking), but Caleb Huet shows us that smaller, more introspective builds can be just as good. In this case, our nano-fig is walking through the desert. I’m not sure whether this takes place in the past or future though. At first, I thought the setting was some Egyptian ruins, but with the markings on the floor I’m not so sure. Did the Egyptians have floor lighting? That seems something more in line with extra-terrestrial civilisations. But the pyramids… What if the ancient Egyptians had help with their superstructures? Did the aliens take the floor lighting back with them? Is our intrepid nano-fig having the same epiphany?
See, small builds really make you think. Even if they’re not particularly sensible thoughts.
Nothing feels nicer in the depths of summer than a glimpse of a snowy landscape. Jake Hansen (Mountain Hobbit) leads us to Winter’s Gate, an early seasonal treat. Filled with great techniques like mostly connected candles to form bamboo poles, inset cheese-wedge designs, and unusual angles, this build rewards you the closer you look. Case in point: that weathered staff the figure is holding is made from an umbrella and a minifigure hand. How many of you missed that at first glance?
If you want more cold-weather relief, our Winter tag is here for you.
It may seem like an ordinary day to you or me, but in Kit Nugent’s (KitKat1414) world, things are a bit more interesting. In this masterfully built LEGO slice of life, a man is confronted by the fact that 25 Friends Horse Saddle in Dark azure has infected his home. As you may have guessed, this is part of the Iron Builder competition, where the challenge is to incorporate the seed part (in this case the aforementioned saddle) into a build in the most interesting ways possible. Not only are there the “easy” wins of a flower pot or bookshelf, but Kit has incorporated them into a standing lamp and even a chair’s backrest. But the best use to me is turning a bunch of them into floor trimming. Oh, and that rug made of carrots is pretty sweet, too.
More inspired part usages (include more saddle-y goodness) await in our Iron Builder tag!
Hide-and-seek is a game that some people take very seriously, like the person in this scene by PaulvilleMOCs. Try to find them… I’ll wait. When I first saw this build I thought it was a lovely model of a front porch, with solid building techniques and some well-made plants… okay, did I spoil it? I did, didn’t I? The plant on the left is actually a Collectible Minifig wearing a plant costume. I bet the seeker will have as much trouble finding them as I did.
Frequently featured LEGO builder Eli Willsea is on a roll with a series of vignettes, this time building a scene around a collectible Minifig and a crustacean, who share something something in common: The hermit and the hermit crab meet each other at the local watering hole. The candle piece is used to create several bamboo stalks above the scene and as a path for the crab to follow to the water. Recently released Ninjago sets that include the katana in lime green make perfect plants along each side.
If you like this build, be sure to check out some other vignettes by Eli we’ve featured here on TBB previously.
Two LEGO themes come together in this cool vignette from CheeseyStudios. Steve seems to have a love for the explosive lure of TNT–maybe he’s found the secret joy of creepers… The knight seems unsuspecting of the danger waiting outside the castle gate, but his horse is vigilant. This vignette is built for the day 2 Vignweek prompt of ‘Theme Mix’, and CheeseyStudios’s has a great love for the awesome themes of Castles and Minecraft. The two blend together wonderfully with their blocks and bricks, most obvious in the rocks, land, and wall near Steve. I also admire the castle banners with their dual blue and the clever use of the Friends theme horse saddle. Another great use of the horse saddle is for the underside of the brick-built horse and its raiment. The horse towers over all with its long legs, ideal for catching Steve before he lights any TNT!
Eli Willsea brings us a double dose of fun by combining two LEGO themes into one. This mash-up of Adventures and Island Extreme Stunts brings the best of both worlds into a radical ancient skatepark, with plenty of obstacles like ramps, stairs, and even a quarter pipe. I like to think that Dr. Kilroy is trying to deduce the perfect sequence of tricks to open a secret passage.
