Tag Archives: Western

LEGO released Western/Wild West sets in 1996 and 1997, complete with cowboys and Indians, robbers and lawmen. Despite its brevity, the LEGO Western theme has remained popular among LEGO fans, who long for its return. In the meantime, see what they’ve built and designed themselves.

Did somebody order an Uber to Deadwood?

Builder Ghost Hunter Gunn‘s vehicle game is strong. When it comes to old-timey roadsters, sci-fi dragsters, and steampunk whirligigs, Gunn is a LEGO ace. Turns out this Gunn doesn’t miss when he sets his sights on Old West conveyances either, as this LEGO stagecoach is a thing of beauty. The design owes a lot to the Lone Ranger Stagecoach Escape (one of our favorite Western sets), even using the same printed tiles, but fixing the scale with a tighter and sleeker package where every brick counts. The red carriage in particular uses some great SNOT techniques for the clean lines and curves that we’ve come to expect from Gunn’s vehicles, and the perfect minifigs capture the cutthroat spirit of the Wild West.

Stagecoach

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How the West was fun in LEGO

Fort Legoredo, biggest set of the 1996 Western theme, had all the qualities of a great LEGO castle, only trading grey stone for brand new log bricks in brown and swapping knights with cowboys and soldiers. It was a remarkable set, the first that I bought in multiples as a parts pack, and so iconic that LEGO re-released it in 2002. Evan Crouch, one of our favorite builders of historical MOCs, rolls out the welcome wagon with his take on a Western Stockade Fortress. While not a direct remake of Fort Legoredo, Evan’s base uses elements from the classic set to build at a more accurate scale with wonderful detail and technique. Brick yellow cones atop the log bricks give the palisades a rough-hewn look. The headquarters takes advantage of white log bricks, not available at the time, for a painted log cabin. The terrain texture is wonderful, especially the tan ruts in the road from wagon wheels. And instead of just decorative bullhorns, Evan’s fort features a whole longhorn skull over the gate.

Western Stockade Fort - Overview 1

While historical themes shows up in Architecture, Collectible Minifigures, and Ideas, it’s been quite a while since LEGO looked to history for a full play line. Would you hitch your wagon to the Western theme again, or is there another historical period you’d rather see explored in bricks?

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A fistful of LEGO bricks

The creak of rusted metal. The faint groan of boardwalk underfoot. The whine of the wind. All these sounds come to mind when I look at this atmospheric LEGO Western scene by Oshi (called “The Frontier”). Violence is about to break out on the streets of this dusty town, with the sheriff and his two deputies keeping their eyes on the outlaw and their guns at the ready.

The Frontier

While the scene is clean and detailed, the build itself is simple enough without many flashy elements, at least until you notice the way the siding on the building is slanted subtly outward to give it a realistic texture. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look. See if you can spot how the builder accomplished the effect:

The Frontier - Behind the scenes

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Just an itsy-bitsy taste of nostalgia

If you need a little more nostalgia in your life, you can get some teeny-tiny doses from these LEGO builds by Rick Brickham! Rick has taken on the challenge of miniaturizing a number of classic LEGO sets from years past. Not only are these great representations of the larger sets, they are examples of great building techniques in their own right. Let’s take a look at each build individually!

Click here for some close-ups!

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Cactus makes perfect

I love a bit of meta in a LEGO build. Eli Willsea is taking part in Iron Builder, where the challenge is to use the watering can piece in new and unusual ways. Now a watering can is a tool to help keep your plants alive. So Eli has used it to bring a plant to life in brick form! But why not go further? Why not choose a plant that is famous for not needing a lot of water, like a cactus? Now we’ve got a hint of irony involved too! Pretty much all that’s missing now is a good pun. What to do for that, I wonder…

The Cactus Caretakers

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Out near the Pacific, we find a LEGO town of fur traders

It’s been 27 years since LEGO brought us the Western theme, but Marshal Banana wants to bring us back to that time with their beautiful riverside town, clad in a brilliant array of earth tones. I love the distinct construction styles used on each of the town’s buildings. The whole build is a clinic in old-timey build techniques: the angled boards jutting out from the sand green hotel; the larger sand blue panels on the dockside hut; the long, dark red slats making up the façade of the fur-trading store; and of course the timber poles of the log cabin.

Western Harbor

This quartet of structures nestles neatly into the side of a beautifully-sculpted hill of plates, complete with a well-worn path down to the river’s edge. I love the bits of dark green and olive vegetation, with pockets of rime distributed throughout the build setting the calendar in the winter months. While Marshal isn’t specific as to the setting, the whole thing screams of the Pacific Northwest in the United States around the early 1800s.

Western Harbor

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There ain’t room in this build for the both of us

Don’t get distracted by gGh0st‘s exquisite hat choices in this imminent LEGO duel. The real battle is one of technique between the two buildings in the background. Will the bank take the win, with its multitude of wooden slat techniques (stacked plates, stacked jumpers, and stacked candles)? It’s also got that darling lettering and an interesting black awning. But the brown building is no slouch, either. Smooth curves and sand green highlights at its crown lead down to more slats, this time with gray cheese slopes. The golden yellow curtains in the window are a great touch, as are the anti-studs (undersides) of a couple of 1×3 jumper plates at the base of the building. And each structure sports its own type of brick-built door. I can’t tell which one I like better!

The Shootout

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This enormous Wild West diorama will bring out your inner cowboy

LEGO’s Western theme may have only lasted a couple of years, but the sets available in that short span could build you a pretty comprehensive Wild West. In the spirit of that, Evan Crouch has collaborated with fellow builders Matt Hudson and Donnie Greenfield to bring us this huge diorama! It’s all there, laid out down one main street in typical spaghetti-western style (among some stunning landscape, I might add). There’s a bank, a sheriff’s office, a Native American camp, settlers, a train station – pretty much the only thing missing is Fort Legoredo itself!

Ravenwood, CO

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One clean looking Western scene

Hardly any studded surfaces are visible in this eye-catching model created by Eli Willsea. Instead, a variety of slope and curved pieces are mainly used, forming a staggered appearance of rocks. There is also a wonderful colour gradient in the rocks, as the light sand tone develops into a warm orange. The slight angle given to the side supports of the mine entrances assists in making the scene look even more realistic. The main characters appear to be in quite the dilemma, as they attempt to swing to safety while being pursued by some fearsome bandits.

Swinging to Safety

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The biggest little set in LEGO’s Wild Wee-st theme

I’m going to be completely honest with you: the noises that came out of my mouth when I first saw Nannan Zhang‘s LEGO microscale Fort Legoredo were mostly unintelligible. I mean, it’s just so flippin’ CUTE! I love the horse designs in this scale, as well as the care put into the microfig design. Even with only a few bricks, it’s unreal how I can clearly identify each of the three bandits from this theme. The use of grill pieces to emulate the log profile bricks from the original is inspired, and Nannan has effectively recreated the big rock pieces using light-gray plates and tile embedded in the walls.

Microscale Fort Legoredo

Here’s a peek at the interior of the fort’s back wall. The printed tiles chosen to replicate the original model’s shutters are spot-on, as is the teensy jail cell below. There’s even a pair of binoculars subbed in for the fort’s chimney from the original set. And don’t forget the fort’s iconic blue sign, held by a pair of clips to the red roof. The whole thing is a welcome bit of nostalgia for me!

09

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Lucky Luke LEGO creation is a colorful homage from a fan

Any Lucky Luck fans out there? Bas van Houwelingen is showing some serious fan cred by making this LEGO creation based on the comic series started by Belgian cartoonist Morris in 1946. Bas’s build (inspired by the designs of LEGO 7) is titled “‘I’m a poor lonesome cowboy…’”, and that somber note is reflected in the otherwise colorful and vibrant build, showing the titular Luke riding alone on his loyal steed Jolly Jumper.

Bas does a great job of contrasting both horses with similar elements showing emotions through how they’re placed; note the positioning of the manes and tails of each. The hair differences between the characters are very similar to this as well. I really like the smaller details, like the stirrups and the bandanas.

‘I’m a poor lonesome cowboy…’

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Hold up! We want to talk to you about your wagon’s extended warranty!

It wasn’t always dysentery that did you in on the Oregon trail. Dmitry has created a microscale wonder in “The Road To The West”,  a build full of great details and part usage. A few that caught my eye right away were the use of hubcaps for the spoked wagon wheels and the really clever combination of small parts in the horses. I also adore the slight gaps between the sections of the coach’s cover. Those allow for a wind-swept look that enhances the scene’s already great sense of motion.

The Road to the West

This scene feels like a small part of a larger story. What happens next? Maybe Dmitry will share another build in the future that fills us in. Otherwise we’ll just have to look at some other great Western-inspired creations and make up our own legends.

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