Tag Archives: Vikings

How to build your dragon: the three-part LEGO story

I’m not going to pretend that I’m an expert on the How to Train Your Dragon-verse. Nor am I able to say that I’ve ever seen one of the movies in the series. But I do know LEGO, and I know a great collaboration when I see one. Builders Josh (lego_monkey), Nick (gecko_builds), and Charlie (choopyjups) have come together to tell the tale of Toothless and Hiccup in this delightful three-part team-up.

Friends or Foes

Dig into this trio of creations below!

Hook, line, and A-frame

True story: back in college, my friends and I had a running joke about my evil twin Lyle. We certainly had more in common than the Nordic fisherman Lyle in this LEGO construction by Carter Witz. The rich brown wood, dark green leaves, and deep blue water stand in stark contrast to all the snow in this scene. I love the scattered patches of white amid the fir branches and on top of the house, as well as the rime-covered plants poking up out of the wintry blanket. But my favorite part has to be Carter’s expert use of the gaps between plates and tiles on the A-frame. We’re able to make out every board used to construct its roof, walls, and door as a result. It’s an expert technique that provides an amount of reality to this plastic scene.

Lyle the Fisherman

Welcome back to a coastal Nordic LEGO village

Great Odin’s raven! This LEGO Viking town by builder Simon Schweyer is an excellent return to form after six years away from the hobby. The lush green landscape atop those rocks is festooned with so many quaint buildings, all of them boasting some wonderful curves. The roof shaping, unique to each structure, is the first thing to catch my eye. Though all the buildings have their own character, the shared colors and building styles in each one makes them feel like a cohesive unit. And employing ship hulls in some of those lovely shapes is some great part usage. Lover of texture that I am, I find the haphazard makeup of the hut walls to be quite endearing. And the minifig placement gives the eye a reason to linger on certain parts of the build. As my eyes pass over it, each of the individual scenes stand out. Has the shepherd lost some of his flock? What song are the bards sharing with the town? And have the fish been biting today?

A Mitgardian Adventure (Main)

Have a better look around the village below

This Viking build tells its own story

Ross Fisher continues his LEGO Viking tale in his latest build, in which Viking raiders are repelled, leaving the survivors to take stock in the pouring rain. And let’s take a look at that rain; It’s rare to see the clear aerial used to such great effect as it is here, with the heavy rain adding an extra layer to both the landscape and emotion of the scene.

Legacy chapter 3: a soon parting

The minifigures are displayed under the shadow of a giant’s skull, adding a foreboding presence to the build. The giant’s helm is wonderfully constructed too, taking its shape from a hull piece that effortlessly presents the Viking-style helmet we’re all familiar with. The whole build is then presented on a hovercraft base, adding a nice display to this build.

I always enjoy seeing the inventive use of LEGO parts that Ross employs, and I’m looking forward to seeing where he takes this adventure next!

LEGO Creator 31132 Viking Ship and the Midgard Serpent – An ode to a beloved classic [Review]

Even though the LEGO Vikings line was short-lived, it garnered a fairly decent fanbase. With only eight sets (including chess), the theme was packed with enough exciting elements that they still stand out today. Whether you’re a fan of the line or not, you may have instantly noticed that LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31132 Viking Ship and the Midgard Serpent looks familiar. And you’d be right! There are so many similarities with LEGO Vikings 7018 Viking Ship Challenges the Midgard Serpent, that it can only be a tribute to that iconic 2005 set. Come with us as we take a deep dive into this 1192-piece 3-in-1, which will be available August 1st, retailing for US $119.99 | CAN $149.99 | UK £104.99.

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Click to read the full review.

Downtown Noodle Shop and Viking Ship open LEGO Creator summer line-up [News]

Official product pictures of the first two LEGO Creator summer sets were published by German online retailer JB Spielwaren. The sets continue the sub-themes introduced earlier, with the 31131 Downtown Noodle Shop being an excellent addition to the modular street on budget, while the 31132 Viking Ship is yet another homage to old LEGO original themes. Both sets are slated for June 1, priced at EUR 44,99 and EUR 119,99 respectively. More regional prices are to follow.

More pictures after the cut…

A mighty battle to see us into Ragnarok

Simulterious captures some incredible action in his latest LEGO build depicting Ragnarok, the Norse end of days before all is built anew. Speaking of building, there’s fantastic construction on display within this scene! Simulterious has captured some naturalistic movement in the coiled sand green sea serpent, as it rears in readiness to strike the longboat and its remaining inhabitant. The curved tiles add a nice smooth line to the Serpent, with the plate with holder adding subtle detail to the spine and leading to a well executed brick-built head and crest.

Ragnarok

The longboat itself is well engineered, and I love the use of a wing piece to shape the front of the vessel. The feathers work effortlessly as layered planks on the ship’s prow, leading up to the brick-built carved head of the vessel. The shields that line the side of the ship add a nice detail too, formed from tiles. The sail, made from shell pieces, looks as if it’s catching a last great gust of wind.

Its a good time to be a Viking longboat fan!

Big Viking charm in a pint-sized package

Boy, do I like a good bit of clever figure-building, and in my opinion, if you want an interesting Viking facial hair, you just can’t go wrong when you go with Minifig hair, and a fancy rumpled collar. But Dan Ko didn’t stop there. A DOTS bracelet adorns his mighty shoulders, while his helmet is topped with a pair of Minifig arms.

Meet the Valhallans: Harald

Check out the rest of this tiny trio

It’s a Viking life for me

If you’re anything like me, you’ve been playing so much Valheim for the past few months that you’re going around muttering things like “the bees are happy” in your sleep. So naturally, when I saw this LEGO longhouse by Jake Hansen, I immediately thought of the game. Jake doesn’t mention that this was built with Valheim in mind, but it’s a beautifully simple Norse scene regardless. There are lots of great details but I think the best one here might be the wooden doors with handles made of bucket handles.

Snack time for a sea serpent

There’s no other way to say it – it would really suck to be these guys. This LEGO Jörmungandr (Midgard Serpent) built by Cecilie Fritzvold could swallow that little boat in one toothy gulp. But could there be any solace in knowing that at least they were eaten by a pretty sea serpent? It’s an excellent use of the blue shield holder element, and the color combo with the dark blue and teal is on point. Finally, those wings on the head finish it off nicely as well!

Jörmungandr

Are you interested in seeing more from this builder? Check out Cecilie’s page in our archives. We also have more viking foder for you too!

We come from the land of ice and snow...

Back in 2005, LEGO came up with a stunning Vikings theme that captured our imaginations for years afterwards. I wish they would (ahem) revisit the line again (ahem). Are you listening, LEGO? I wish you’d revisit the Vikings line. (Cough, cough COUGH!) Pardon me, it must have been one of those dry prickles you get sometimes. Anyway, Ivan Martynov takes us back to a simpler time when I had other haircut options and the world seemed full of possibilities. This stunning Vikings-inspired Krakenveiðar creation looks like it would be fun to play with. That’s because it is a reimagining of a prototype of a set that never came to be. He even used the Vikings logo of yore. Care to have your minds blown? Check out the prototype. Care to have your minds blown again? Then check out the other times we totally freaked out over Ivan’s stuff.

Krakenveiðar

The icy halls of the frozen north

If there’s one word that encapsulates Jeff Friesen‘s LEGO models more than any other for me, it’s “clean.” His builds always seem to have every single piece precisely where it ought to be. And his latest one looks like it’s from a picture book of the ideal Viking winter world (unlike hellish purgatory of Valheim that’s all the rage right now). This microscale creation doesn’t have any obviously new or even unusually innovative techniques, and yet it’s absolutely splendid from the snowcapped peaks to the tiny longships. The village spreading across the slopes with their tiny mounds of snow on top, and the two giant waterwheels give this settlement a fairytale aspect that I can’t get enough of.

Jeff was the winner of The Brothers Brick 2017 Creation of the Year and it’s well worth checking out the other builds we featured in our archives: Jeff Friesen LEGO creations.