Tag Archives: Winter

Knight bricks and chill

This crisp mountain scene by LEGO builder Nicholas Goodman is a lesson in atmosphere. The visuals are engaging – strong and clean, conveying depth and detail with terrific balance in both color and texture (studded and smooth) – but also evoke the other senses. As my eye is drawn in, I can practically smell the frozen air and hear the slushy hoof-thumps. The scene itself is deceptively simple, leaving much room for imaginative interpretation. Will the “Guardian of the Pass” and his faithful companion warmly welcome this traveler? Has he come with the thaw to relieve their solitary duty? Or is this chilling moment a prelude to mounting conflict between two nations…

Guardian of the Pass

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Settle down for a long winter’s nap

With the holidays coming to a close, food consumed, and relatives gone home, you might think it’s time for a good solid nap—and the hero of Yuan He’s (aka BuildGoNuts) latest work would agree! The old gentleman has fallen asleep in his favorite rocking chair by the fire, midway through a book about boats and attended by his two cats. You’re probably not as comfortable as he is, but feel free to settle in as you peruse the fun little details surrounding him, from the pastries on the dining card to the model ship on the mantel. I also love the overlapping rounded bricks for the gramophone’s bell and the sideways grooved bricks used to get some fun texture on the rug. And that’s just scratching the surface of all the abstract little details on every surface that make the scene look so lived-in and cozy.

Fireplace room

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Animal Crossing happy holiday habitat paradise

Last time we checked up on Katja (Palixa and the Bricks), she was taking assorted fruits on a sunny summer holiday. Now Katja’s back with holiday scenes of the winter variety with a sextet of LEGO habitats starring the neighbors of Animal Crossing. Every scene is a delight, but I think Maple’s cluttered kitchen takes the cake (or cookie) as the cozies habitat of them all. Nice work on those Snowboys, Julian!

Holiday Habitats

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Traveling tonics were once upon a time in a dream

Sometimes great ideas arise when you combine unrelated materials from diverse sources. That’s what is at play here with Isaac Wilder’s latest LEGO creation called Tabitha’s Traveling Tonics. He tells us his fiance was playing Fables III and within the game are these neat caravans. So naturally, he decided to try one of his own. He used the wise and diminutive Mrs. Castillo from the DreamZzz line, specifically the Turtle Van set as Tabitha. A reindeer and snow was added to his idea to create a rather dreamy wintery scene. Stir in a fanciful caravan wagon, a few unearthly light sources, and a dash of magic and you have yourselves a cure for foot fungus and a bevy of love potions; all delivered to you post haste!

Tabitha's Traveling Tonics

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You only get one shot (to take in this scene)

“The crunch of snow beneath my boots betrayed my presence with every step. The forest, a solemn witness to my journey, contoured the world with branches heavy under the weight of winter.” Even without those words, it’s amazing how much of a story the simple but beautiful LEGO build tells. “Prey,” by Louis Nutwood, transports you to a single moment as a solitary hunter stalks a rabbit half-hidden in the snow. Gazing at this build, the world goes still until all you can hear is the sound of your own heartbeat in your ears as you take aim. Will the shaft fly true? Or will the hunter go hungry?

Prey

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Settle into some snowy steampunk serenity

We’ve all been there: you’ve had a busy year fighting sky pirates in your steam-powered dirigible and now you just want to kick back and enjoy some holiday cheer in peace. Thankfully, “Snowbound Serenity” by Isaac Snyder has just the steampunk-friendly winter retreat for you. At first glance, the retrofuturistic aspects of the cabin are subtle, playing second fiddle to icy landscape and inviting exterior of the cabin. Blue and green cheese tiles make for great angled siding, with gentle slopes of snow piling up on the ground next to the icy lake.

Snowbound Serenity

Stepping inside, however, is where it becomes clear this is no ordinary cabin. A steam-power boiler keeps the fire going. Pipes spread warmth throughout the house, weaving through pearl-gold accents. A few relics from our steampunk hero’s adventures adorn the walls. Our wily adventurer himself sips hot cocoa and helps himself to a cinnamon roll while his beloved pets look on. I love this build because it brings to life several fantasies at once—both the call of adventure and the allure of a cozy winter night.

Snowbound Serenity

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Midnight sweet train brings holiday cheer in LEGO

It’s not even Halloween, but some folk are already pining for a winter wonderland. Christmas comes early in LEGO courtesy of Eann McCurdy (Miscellanabuilds) whose delightful midnight train scene is both cozy and clever in design. As his eighth and final entry in the latest Iron Builder competition against Geneva D, Eann incorporates the required red cauldron in the engine’s boiler. The pileup of snow in front of the train is a perfect mix of parts, including ice cream, hoods, and a frog. I especially love the forced perspective created by snow-capped trees at two scales. A tiny red byplane appears in the background, referencing Geneva’s prior Red Baron entry.

Midnight Train

As if the brilliant train weren’t a grand enough finale, Eann prints the scene as a postcard for a bonus build that amps up the holiday spirit. Candles, Chrismas lights, and candies show off an abundance of red cauldrons. Dr. Strange capes make a sweet appearance as candy wrappers. Decorated gingerbread is the icing on the cake cookies.

Season's Greetings! (Scene Version)

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Stalking in a winter wonderland

“They’ve heard rumours of strange folk from the east and the west, new words and new gods and bright steel. They hope to be left in peace in their cold northern home but the watchfires have already been lit on the hills.” So begins builder Eero Okkonen‘s description of this amazing LEGO diorama, and those words are already way cooler than anything I managed to write about it. And speaking of cool, the build looks downright freezing. Good thing our lone warrior is properly dressed for the ordeal, with heavy mittens, a fur hat, and a thick beard made out of plant stalks. The star of the show, however, might be all that drifting snow, including probably the best use of a windscreen outside of a cockpit I’ve ever seen. Brrr!

Vainolaista vastaan

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What awaits the weary traveler within the wintry walls of the Crow’s Nest?

“Halt! Who goes there?” A lonely warrior, his cloak billowing in the frosty air, approaches ZCerberus’s formidable tower known as Crow’s Nest. Along the way, our intrepid LEGO hero passes an assortment of slopes and angles used to evoke snowdrifts and half-buried evergreens. He gazes upon the light bluish great accents on dark bluish gray stone and steps beneath inverted sloped elements used to create dramatic battlements. My favorite part of all, though, has to be the brick-built coat of arms above the door, including upside-down feathered wings. We don’t know what this solitary traveler seeks within those sturdy stone walls, but we know what he’ll find: an impressive display of building techniques that bring this wintry scene to life.

Crow's Nest

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Whichever way you look, a new world awaits

The best LEGO builds tell a story. Take this one by Carter Witz, which begins with a simple premise: what if a magic portal separated a land of summer from a world of winter? What happened to divide these two realms? And what will it take to bring them together again? While you’re pondering those answers, be sure to appreciate the rich combination of plates, tiles, sloped bricks, and plant elements to achieve the textured greenery. Same with the variation of elements that make up the ancient, weathered stone wall. (I count at least twelve different kinds of brick in that wall.)

Between Worlds

Here’s a better view of the opposite side, where winter still reigns. Rather than simply duplicate the topography of the summer half, Carter added mysterious ruined columns topped with drifts of snow. Enchanting!

Between Worlds

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Winter is coming? No, winter is already here!

For some, this time of year is closely associated with falling leaves, scarves and things being suddenly pumpkin-flavoured for a few weeks. But for those of us in the more Northerly latitudes, autumn is already starting to look like Michał Kozłowski‘s wintry scene. In fact, as I type this, there are two inches of snow forecast in a few days, and muggins here still haven’t changed over to winter tyres. How did they manage that in medieval LEGO villages? Do you think they had horsecarts with studded wheels? Or did the horses just have to look for the studs to lock themselves in? You’d have to hope your builder hasn’t exclusively used slopes and tiles to model their snow.

Winter in the Raven's Wharf_E8

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A snowman attack in August? Sure thing!

With some extreme weather, wildfires, and record temperatures, it wouldn’t be so far-fetched to see this LEGO scene built by PeterBoxXu. I mean, we’ve already seen murder hornets and a Latter-Day Saint ghost town that keeps emerging from Lake Mead and we didn’t even have that on our weird stuff bingo card. Somehow I love the concept of a massive snowman who has had enough of your winter holiday cheer. In August, no less! I like the snowman’s red neckerchief and his grabby Maxifig hands. The snowblower figure hurling through the air has definitely seen better days. If this creation wins the contest for the “All Seasons” theme it just might be seen in the LEGO Ideas House. I’m rooting for the snowman. In fact, with oppressive temperatures and a hint of smoke in the air, I’d welcome a snowman attack right about now. Or was I thinking of a cold glass of lemonade? Yeah, that’s it, cold lemonade!

Snowman Attacks!

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