Category Archives: Vignette

Mixing up the LEGO ingredients

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Great LEGO building isn’t all spaceships and robots and Star Wars you know. Josiah N. cooks us up a beautiful domestic kitchen scene, which includes some excellent little touches. The rolling pin on the worktop, the white croissant as a curl of stray icing oozing from the pipe, and the classic design of the radio — all great. But the undoubted main attraction here is that mixer, and the clever use of an inverted knight’s helmet as the mixing bowl. Not just imaginative parts usage, it fits perfectly into the scene and looks fabulous.

A Baker's Dream

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Venice, 1486: an Assassin’s Creed II scene in LEGO

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Assassin’s Creed II is a video game I consider a must-play, with its incredible interpretation of Renaissance-era Italy, fun and simple stealth gameplay, and Ezio Auditore being my favorite assassin in the series. Builders Jonas Kramm and Brick Vader met up and collaborated on one of the most incredible dioramas in LEGO I have seen — one that undoubtedly does justice to a great game. I spent plenty of time admiring just how much attention to detail these two builders have in their Venice scene, and my favorite details captured have to be the gameplay aspect of Assassin’s Creed brought to life. The facades look climbable, the black pole appears perfectly aligned for a swing into a double assassination on the guards, and of course a cart of hay that make a leap of faith from any height safe.

Venice 1486

Even if one hasn’t played Assassin’s Creed II, one can still appreciate the iconic, beautifully constructed Venetian architecture and canals.

Venice 1486 - Detail

Nothing is true; everything is permitted.

Then & Now with Doris the aging minifig

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TBB contributor Elspeth De Montes has been working on a fantastic series of scenes contrasting the life of a woman named Doris in 1966 and later in her life today, in 2016. Originally built for and published in Bricks magazine, Elspeth’s scenes are not only well-built LEGO creations, but also poignant and funny. She describes her Doris series thus: “On the left it is 1966 and she is a young vibrant lady in touch with the latest fashion, technology and trends. On the right, time has passed and it is 2016 and Doris has to cope with new technology, innovation and the changes in society.”

In Elspeth’s first scene, Doris happily tosses her rubbish out in 1966, but struggles to sort her recyclables in 2016. What impresses me most about this scene is how many LEGO trash cans in various colors Elspeth owns!

Taking Out The Trash 1966 vs 2016

 

“Reception” has gained a very different meaning in our technological lives over the past 50 years.

Reception Issues 1966 vs 2016

I’m totally with Doris on this one. Segways are for giant nerds and drones are for jackasses.

Playing in the Park 1966 vs 2016

I’m going to posit that Doris’s weight loss regimen is much more effective in 2016 (with Wii Sports) than it was back in 1966 (with one of those jiggly band things that actually didn’t do anything).

The Latest Exercise Fad 1966 vs 2016

A full English breakfast in 1966 consisted of a side of bacon, eight sausages, a dozen eggs, one loaf of bread with a jar of marmalade and another loaf with a can of Heinz beans, plus some mushrooms and tomatoes. And tea with whole milk, and sugar, of course. I’m not sure what’s going on in 2016, but I’m as terrified as Doris seems to be…

The Healthy Life 1966 vs 2016

In Elspeth’s final scene, in which Doris gets her oats, we see our protagonist finding love in both 1966 and 2016.

Blind Date Woes 1966 vs 2016

The hardest part of space travel is getting off the planet

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I’ve been inspired lately to build some near-future space vehicles, and so I’ve got at least a couple of vessels in the works. But the first step of space travel is always getting off the planet. This space shuttle, the Indefatigable, is designed to carry payloads to orbit, where they can be assembled into a much larger craft. The shuttle is designed for undergoing the rigors of liftoff, while a vessel capable of interplanetary travel may not be.

Space Shuttle Indefatigable

I generally avoid using stickers, often not even applying them to official models. However, this model really needed a tiny detail for the cockpit, and there’s no way to achieve that with bricks, since the area is just too small. So, a few carefully cut official LEGO stickers work well to mimic cockpit windows.

Space Shuttle Indefatigable

Curiouser and curiouser!

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Since the release of the Collectible Disney Minigures earlier this year, I’ve been waiting to see the adorable Alice figure put to great use. And that’s exactly what The Knit Knight has done here! Knight built the iconic scene where Alice falls down the rabbit hole in her quest to crash the white rabbit’s party. This LEGO scene is truly complete, including excellently-built, falling furniture, striped wallpaper, sweets and fizzy drinks (presumably all labeled “eat me” and “drink me”), a miniature rabbit-sized door, and even a tiny Dinah waving goodbye to Alice from the real world.

brief

Tribute to a sunrise

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There are few joys in life quite like a sunrise. I find them especially beautiful – though admittedly that may be partially due to the fact I’m a life-long night-owl. I find the colors and serenity quite beautiful.

ForlornEmpire has done their best to capture the beauty of a sunrise in LEGO. While they call it a “sorry” attempt, I’d respectfully disagree. The colors are lovely and striking, like a true sunrise. I like the forced perspective on the road, leading you to where the sun is starting to peak above the horizon.

Sun Rise

The lazy days of summer

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Often it’s the small things in life that are the sweetest. Sometimes that means the mundane activities of a peaceful life, and sometimes it means the small but brilliant work of a creative mind. Or best yet, combine them both, as in this lovely vignette by Grantmasters entitled “Weekend Chores.” The lawnmower made of rebreathers, a 1×1 round plate, and a twisted rubber band is ingenious, but my favorite detail is the tire swing made of a simple minifig wrench.

Weekend Chores

A medieval triptych: from affluence to affliction

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Sometimes, life may be different than it appears, and comfort and fear may arise from the same space. Jonas depicts such a contradiction in the Middle Ages. His small but effective build is filled with many details and master craftmanship. The top level is occupied by a Medieval beauty enjoying her hot tub. She possesses some luxury items such as a mirror, perfumes and books which were rare for her time. She seems completely unaware of the horrifying truth happening far below. The middle floor seems to be furnished to brew homemade beers, and the arched ceiling makes the room dark and cramped. Even with the presence of mice, the room may be enjoyable for a certain type of person who wishes to craft a beverage in silence. But the big barrel hides a secret trap door which leads to misery in the lowest level. A poor man is tied to a big wheel and his screams only echo in his spinning head, which is filled with the laughter of this masochistic band. Considering the torture tools scattered around, he will suffer a lot.

Secret Door

An Elder Scrolls wonder

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I consider some computer games to be pieces of art, and Elder Scrolls has always been one of those. You may find many great details in the stories, dialogues, characters, geography and locations, and Tava’s Beak is among those inspiring landmarks in The Elder Scrolls Online. Thorsten Bonsch is apparently very impressed with this ancient statue from an unknown civilization and decided to recreate it with LEGO parts. The result is magnificent! Almost every curve of the big rock is perfectly represented. Here’s a screenshot from the original game to compare with the LEGO version.

Tava's Beak

A scene of Hotline Miami, recreated in LEGO

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Hotline Miami LEGO are two things which shouldn’t mix. One is an ultra-violent top down murder fest of a game, and the other is a made-for-kids interlocking bricks system. Luckily, Nannan Zhang does both properties justice with this little scene from the games.

Hotline Miami

Aside from the great colours used to imitate the game and the textured brick pieces being used as carpet details, what I really love is the fact that (as far as I can tell) only LEGO pieces were used. The Chima headpiece acting as a Tony Mask works particularly well. It all comes together so well and makes me want to play the games again.