Tag Archives: Vincent Kiew

A panda playing a violin on a dock

For most of us, The Sound of Autumn can be leaves rustling in the wind and then blowing down the street as they fall from the trees. Where LEGO builder Vincent Kiew is from The Sound of Autumn apparently involves a panda playing the violin on a dock. I’d like to hear what that sounds like, actually. To me, it’s far more exotic than the usual rustling of autumn leaves, and even the most audacious Pumpkin Spice Latte order at Starbucks. Check out our archives to see why we think Vincent Kiew is music to our ears.

Sound Of Autumn

This is one dad bod we can all strive for

As Dom Toretto will tell you, family is important. Vincent Kiew has heeded these words and paid tribute to the simple joy of hanging out with your family in this lovely LEGO build. Each character is full of personality and smiles! The dog is adorable with an impressively spherical ball to play with. Both mother and daughter are great examples of how Mixel ball joints are a boon for those making characters with character – the posing, and head tilts in particular, are great. The most parts-intensive family member here, though, is the father figure, who looks ready to take his surfboard to the sea. He’s also in terrific shape, if I may say so! Having his shirt off shows off just how well his body is sculpted. And I mean that both with the bricks and those muscles. So much for the infamous ‘dad bod’…

F A M I L Y

Gigantic Sandman vs Spider-Man

LEGO has released quite a few renditions of Sandman. All of them have been minifigure scale, which is fine. Sandman can absorb sand in his surroundings and add it to his mass which means he can increase in size tremendously. To this day it still baffles me that LEGO has never created a brick-built Sandman to fight our friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. Vincent Kiew is here to fill that gap. They created a brick-built Sandman from the waist up. Vincent’s Sandman is equipped with ball joints so you can pose him however you like. He even comes with detachable Schumacher-style nipples. The best thing about this build is that the face looks ever so friendly, something it does not have in common with the actual bad guy it is meant to represent. Thanks to the friendly eyes it kind of reminds me of my significant other trying to fend off a pesky insect and who wouldn’t want a LEGO rendition of that?

Sandman VS Spider-Man.

The fruits of your LEGO labor

Feeling hungry? Vincent Kiew has created this delicious looking arrangement of fruits. A durian stars as the centre piece, with its spikey texture recreated by using 1×1 wedges placed at different angles. A slice of the fruit is also featured, demonstrating its yellow fleshy insides, squashed between a white border. The durian is complimented by a vibrant orange with translucent pieces representing its inner segments. Standing tall and proud, the watermelon slice is constructed out of angled wedges creating its conical portrayal. The purple fruit is possibly a mangosteen, due to its bulbous white centre portrayed by dome corner pieces. All the fruits have wonderful rounded forms which conveys Kiew’s skills in creating realistic shapes.

Fruits

Let’s hope this LEGO durian smells better than a real life one, as the fruit is famous for its overwhelming odour. Still feeling peckish? Why not check out some of our other articles on tasty looking meals recreated in LEGO form.

Whisk us away to the world of Malay

Sometimes a builder waits years for just the right LEGO pieces and colors to come out. That’s exactly what Vincent Kiew did in planning this lovely Kampung House. It took a while for LEGO to produce just the right pieces in dark brown and reddish-brown. The colors are alternated nicely here to replicate the indigenous craftsmanship used in these traditional dwellings. The stilts, shutters, even the intricate roof are all spot on. The chickens, the cat, the cow, even the cart full of vegetables help convey a feeling of relaxation and tranquility. I imagine the home would offer a cool reprise from the Malaysian heat. Vincent tells us this creation was based on a particular village house on Penang island. He also states that being a city-dweller growing up in Kuala Lumpur, he has not had the chance to stay in a Kampung House but his wife had when she was a child. She shared stories of her childhood with him as he worked on this project.

Kampung House.

This photo gives us a better glimpse of Vincent’s attention to detail. I’m loving the shutters, woodpile, as well as chickens languishing in the shade.

Kampung House.

Vincent closes out his write-up with a question; “does this creation remind you of your sweet childhood, too?” I imagine for our readers from the Malay Peninsula it might. As I was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, it doesn’t. In order to envision my childhood, you’d have to imagine cramped three-story walk-up apartments and simple Shaker-style New England homes. But still, we deeply appreciate you sharing your architectural sentiments from your part of the world.

There is one imposter among us...

Just a few months ago, I caught on the trend and started playing Among Us. The game has been everywhere— from memes, politics, and more recently, in LEGO. Here Vincent Kiew has recreated The Skeld‘s security room. Vincent uses two triple curved wedge pieces uses to shape each player’s rounded suits and a nice teal for the floor. The hats on each player are also a fantastic addition; there’s a minifig toilet plunger, brick-built nest and one of my go-to’s, the toilet paper roll. This diorama is adorable to see outside of the game—but I will say, three people in security seems kinda sus.

Among Us.

From animals to pop culture, Vincent has created a vast range of models, some of which you can check out here. A few of my personal favorites are his building studies of Malaysian architecture, like his model of Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown and a heritage house with a complete interior.

Walking in a garden of peace

“Give me odorous at sunrise a garden of beautiful flowers where I can walk undisturbed.” That quote from American poet Walt Whitman perfectly describes what we see here in builder vincentkiew‘s creation.

Morning walk....

Walking through this scene must have been just as relaxing as building it. I really admire the roof work on the gazebo and the house, using various pieces to give an illusion of texture. The flower pots by the beautifully-crafted doors could not be built better.

The lily pads with flowers serve as a calm reminder to the walking wise man of the fragility of life. Perhaps this whole build reminds us all of the peace that comes to the soul when taking a solitary stroll.

A “Panda-emic” is a thing, right?

We take a break from spooky builds and space ships to share some lovely family imagery from Vincent Kiew. These panda bears are super adorable, super emotive, and superbly constructed. It’s rare to see BrickHeadz eyes in such a realistic depiction of animals, and yet they seem the perfect fit here. I love how the shaping of the adult and cub are each unique, but use many of the same parts to unify the build. The green bamboo shoots add just the right pop of color, too.

Love is in the air.

Turns out they’re also fun to accessorize. This is the Mario crossover the world needs right now.

Love is in the air!

As a bonus, these pandas are also have a good level of articulation, allowing for even more expressive photo ops.

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Eats shoots and leaves

“The panda who shot up the restaurant” is a classic example used to illustrate the importance of punctuation — he “eats, shoots, and leaves.” But thankfully these beautiful LEGO pandas by Vincent Kiew don’t appear to be toting any weaponry. The bears are well-sculpted, and their faces are excellent. I also like their angled ears — a subtle touch that adds a lot to their realism and character. The bamboo stalks and tree are simple but effective, and offer the opportunity to show one of the bears in action-clambering-mode — something which happens for about 15 minutes in a day with real-world pandas!

Panda

Vincent has been on a roll with the LEGO animals recently. In the past few weeks he’s given us an adorable LEGO hedgehog, and an impressive show-jumping LEGO horse.

The sad story of how a LEGO hedgehog came to be

Every LEGO build probably has a backstory that may or not be expressed explicitly by the builder. There’s ideation, inspiration and “Eureka!” moments that happen. This build of a hedgehog has a slighly sad note behind it. It was created as a lovely memoriam by Vincent Kiew upon hearing about a pet hedgehog’s passing, built as a gift for a bereaved friend halfway across the globe.

Hedgehog

The hedgehog has tiny claws very much like the actual little spiny mammal and looks just as cute sitting cupped in Vincent’s palm.

Hedgehog

LEGO horse puts on a show

Using LEGO bricks to capture the organic curves of a well-known animal is no mean feat. It’s all too easy for observers to spot when the proportions of a limb or torso are incorrect. They might not be able to articulate exactly what’s wrong, but they’ll know something is just a little “off” about the whole thing. Vincent Kiew‘s showjumping horse, however, is spot-on — a triumph of poseability and shaping. The mane and tail, the ears, the curves outlining the horse’s musculature, are all excellent. But to deliver this in a model which looks good in so many different poses is testament to the builder’s skill. The jockey is as well put together as her mount, and looks comfortable in the saddle whether trotting, galloping, or jumping — the pair are putting on quite a show, as is Vincent.

Equestrian

It’s dangerous to go alone, take this Link sculpture!

Hey! Listen! Builder Vincent Kiew has built a terrific homage to one of the best RPG video games ever made, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Series hero Link (please don’t call him Zelda) has been lovingly recreated here astride his trusty steed (also not named Zelda), ready for an epic adventure in the kingdom of Hyrule.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

This is a delightful model that brought a smile to my face as soon as I saw it. Upon closer inspection, I was immediately impressed by the iconic Zelda touches and the creative use of parts. The horse is chock full of building techniques that combine together to create the complicated musculature. The modified 1 x 2 plates with 3 claws make a beautiful mane and the I really like the minifigure crutch as stirrups. The award for best part use, however, must go to the implementation of Samurai helmets as hooves. If it looks like it’s defying gravity, that’s because it is! The horse was originally held up with transparent bricks which were then quickly removed for the photograph, and luckily it all remained intact.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

The Link figure captures the character perfectly and his clothes are nicely rendered, with special modifications for riding versus standing. The use of car hoods for the hips of his tunic while riding and unicorn horns for his hair wisps are both great touches. As a Legend of Zelda fan, I really appreciate all the attention to Link’s equipment. The details on The Master Sword and in particular, The Hylian Shield, are beautiful. The builder even goes so far as giving him a tiny Shiekah Slate hooked to his belt with an Elves goblin eye tile to finish it all off. Now you may ask, “But, where is this Zelda we keep hearing about?” to which I shall answer “It’s a secret to everybody.”