The Allied liberation of Venlo, 1st March 1945

Maarten W is proving himself the master of the LEGO street scene. We’ve previously featured his Edinburgh’s Royal Mile and desert market creations, but this WWII-inspired diorama is his best yet. It’s a recreation of the moments when Allied forces liberated the Dutch town of Venlo on 1st March 1945.

the liberation

The damaged buildings are beautifully done, giving a sense of what the townsfolk must have endured as the battle raged around them. Maarten has included numerous small vignettes throughout his diorama, such as the American GIs interacting with the survivors.

the liberation

The details of the left-hand house are particularly poignant — the remnants of the upper-floor telling a tale of shattered domesticity. And whilst I’m not a “dog person” myself, even I can appreciate the message of hope for the future as one of the townspeople finds his pet amidst the ruins.

the liberation

Like a troubled bridge over water

On a bright spring morning, troops from two nearby castles converged at one of the bridges of County Madison. Fat trout could be seen swimming in the creek below, and all agreed that it was a prime spot for fishing. But no one could decide who should make the first cast. As things often went in the era of Castle, violence ensued and blows were traded. By the time the melee was finished, all the fish had been scared away. The moral of the story? Isaac S. makes pretty awesome medieval bridges.
Aindrea Bridge

A tall tower stands alone in the woods, looming

Farwin Castle by Brother Steven is one of the most striking pieces of castle architecture I’ve seen recently. This exceptionally tall, spindly tower still manages to capture an elegance of proportions, looking mysterious yet stately. Unlike many contemporary medieval themed builds, Farwin Castle doesn’t employ much of the precariously complex stonework that’s in vogue. Instead, its strength lies in its solid geometry and fascinating dimensions. You have to wonder what purpose this tower serves. The home of a lovesick, ascetic prince? The prison for a lunatic mage? The guard tower on a dangerous border? Whatever it is, we like it.

Farwin Castle

Brother Steven says this castle is part of a larger collaborative display, where multiple builders created locations from the same world, so don’t miss the fantastic stable from the collection that we already highlighted.

Farwin Castle

OwlBaby the adorable wandering mercenary

Some builders write lengthy backstories for their LEGO creations, making sure to share with viewers every detail of why their model is the way it is. Other times, the model just speaks for itself, leaving you wanting to know more. Personally, I prefer a bit of mystery. LEGO 7 presents this adorable character who looks like he stepped out of a manga or anime series, though I think the little fellow is entirely original. With an owl-shaped helmet, impish grin, and weapons pointing in every direction, he looks ready to take on the whole world.

Mercenary-OwlBaby-1

The character’s purple eyes are from LEGO Elves sets, and LEGO 7 has provided him with a range of equipment, including a gas mask and sniper rifle.

Mercenary-OwlBaby-2

Chibi-style Rogue One battle scene

Rogue One continues to inspire new Star Wars LEGO creations. Check out this fantastic beach battle scene, lifted from the Rogue One trailer and “chibified” by Boba-1980. The microscale vehicles are really good — I particularly like the versions of the U-Wing and the TIE Strike Fighter.

Rebel Attack on Scarif

Aside from the good landscaping and figure posing, there’s a whole ton of action packed into a tight space in this diorama — justifying the builder’s choice to go with an unusual scale for the vehicles. Nice work.

MOC-IDSMO-R3_Scarif_07-Bearbeitet

A brand new LEGO brand store

If you’re interested in LEGO, you’ve got to know everything about toy stores in your town or city. But Adeel Zubair knows about toy stores a lot more than any of us; he knew to build the perfect one.

LEGO Brand Store - Modular Building

Not only is this an outstanding modular building with an exterior worth being placed in one lane with the legendary Green Grocer, but also a masterpiece of store marketing — just have a look at what is hidden inside!

LEGO Brand Store - Modular Building

Here are the lovely wooden duck and the lovely green dragon on the first floor, while the ground floor is all about shelves full of the newest sets. And don’t forget to check out the awesome Pick-A-Brick wall! Many more pictures are in the album on Flickr!

Delightfully cute LEGO battleship

Dwalin Forkbeard‘s latest is a brilliant little pocket-battleship called the Yamamoto. This is an unusual scale for this kind of chibi-style building and I love the level of detail it has allowed the builder to include — particularly good work around the bridge and the funnel. Top off a cute and cool model with excellent presentation like this and you’ve got a cracking LEGO creation.

Yamamoto

I misread the name of this model at first and got all excited, thinking this was a rendition of Space Battleship Yamato. Although I love what Dwalin’s done here, I demand he now produce a version of that craft in the same style.

The Edge: Step into a LEGO painting

It’s not often that I see a LEGO creation and think to myself “this is art.” But Lukasz Wiktorowicz‘s most recent build, “the Edge” certainly is art. Using both classic architecture and surrealist imagery, Lukasz created an absolutely stunning build. The proportions on this thing are spot on and the details are ridiculously, well, detailed. But what really pushes this build over the top is Lukasz’s out-of-the-box building techniques.

The Edge

Normally I’m a stickler for lining up LEGO bricks perfectly (90 or 180 degree angles only, people!). A little crease from a cattywampus brick in an otherwise smooth wall is a downright sin in my book. But Lukasz purposefully stacked the bricks in his four pillars all askew and the resulting texture is fantastic! Another creative feature of this build is the base. When I accumulate a boxful of seemingly useless bricks, I shove them to the back of my shelf and forget about them. Instead of doing the same, Lukasz used those ball socket bricks to create an unconventional base for his build that makes the whole thing look like it is floating. Well done all around.

This roof is driving me bananas!

In yet another repudiation of the idea that LEGO pieces are only good for the purpose originally intended by their designers, alego alego has built a yellow thatched roof made entirely of LEGO bananas. And the cabin itself is built almost completely from brown Technic connectors. The base of this treehouse is also quite lovely, with a stone pathway, well, and lovely little bushes.

Maison d'Assurancetourix

My only critique is that a lovely LEGO creation like this feels a little underpopulated without some characters to enjoy the scenery.

It’s Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff at the Hogwarts quidditch pitch

While it’s doubtful any builder will ever challenge the sheer scale of Alice Finch’s LEGO Hogwarts, J.K. Rowling’s magical series of books continues to inspire LEGO builders. At nearly seven and a half feet long, Martin Harris and his son have built a massive minifig-scale quidditch pitch that gives Alice a run for her money. The pitch features all the colorful stands shown in the second movie, and there’s plenty of action both inside and outside the structure.

Harry Potter Quidditch arena. Based mainly on the 2nd H.P movie we have accurately recreated one of the most iconic pop culture sporting arenas of all time. This was such a fun father/son project to complete and measures almost 7.5 feet long.

Each end of the pitch features a trio of goals.

Harry Potters Quidditch

Naturally, beaters are aloft to protect Harry from bludgers as he tries to catch the golden snitch.

Harry Potters Quidditch