Tag Archives: Diorama

Build Small

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Sometimes you don’t need ten thousand pieces to build something blogworthily good. A few hundred might be all that’s required, and previous bloggee IBrickedItUp is proving that today with three top-quality small-scale creations.

Each combines clever techniques, an eye for detail, and excellent presentation to great effect, and all have building instructions available too.

IBrickedItUp’s Jeep Wangler crossroads (plus some neat street furniture), City Bus, and ‘Back to the Future’ DeLorean DMC-12 time-machine can all be found at their Flickr photostream, alongside a range of other real-world vehicles recreated in miniature from a small number of relatively available pieces.

Click the link above to take a closer look, and see what your pieces could create.

Monaco ’88

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‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, the Toyota Corolla, and the Monaco Grand Prix. All simultaneously the greatest examples of their respective genres, and also the most boring.

But Formula 1 in Monaco wasn’t always a procession. Before the cars were the size of school buses, which these days makes overtaking impossible, Monaco could put on quite a show.

Back in 1988, even with the complete dominance of the McLaren-Honda MP4/4, the ’88 Monaco Grand Prix delivered. Twenty-six cars started – two of which were even called ‘Megatron’ (seriously, look it up!) – just ten finished, and Ayrton Senna was the class of the field.

Out-qualifying his team-mate Alain Prost by a staggering 1.4 seconds, Senna led the race by almost a minute… until he didn’t. A momentary lapse of concentration eleven laps from the finish and he hit the wall, whereupon he exited his broken McLaren and walked home.

Prost took the win (his forth and final Monaco GP victory), followed by Gerhard Berger’s Ferrari some twenty seconds back. Which means there’s perhaps some artistic license with the cars’ proximity in alex_bricks‘ stunning 1988 Monaco Grand Prix vignette, but in every other respect this is a spectacularly realistic homage to the Monte Carlo street race.

Recreating the circuit as it was in the late-’80s required Alex to watch old race footage (which is surely some of the most fun research required to build a Lego model), matching his brick-built version of the Mediterranean Principality to the televised imagery from the time.

The result is a replica of the streets of Monaco as they were in 1988 so perfect we can practically hear the noise from the Formula 1 cars bouncing off the walls of the buildings, with Alex displaying his incredible build at the Brickfair show earlier in the year.

Fortunately he’s uploaded a few images to Flickr too, so you can join TLCB Team immersing themselves in Monaco in 1988 via his photostream. Click the link above to head the greatest race on the Formula 1 calendar, long before it was boring.

Smokin’

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This is a Baureihe 57 / Prussian G10, a German steam locomotive built in the 1910s-’20s for heavy goods transport. Around 2,600 Prussian G10s were produced, with an extra one – pictured here – arriving courtesy of Pieter Post, who has recreated the steam train in beautiful detail. Powered by a hidden Power Functions L Motor and BuWizz bluetooth battery, Pieter’s Prussian G10 is depicted navigating a wonderfully constructed forest track, complete with a transformer building and the best pine trees we’ve ever seen. Top of the billing however, is the smoke – which looks as real as anything made from plastic bricks could possibly be. Click the link above to smoke your way through a German forest in the 1920s.

Wheat Season

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It’s wheat season. Not here in TLCB’s home nation, where everything is under a thin layer of ice, but somewhere it probably it is.

Regular bloggee 1saac W. is bringing in the wheat harvest back in the 1950s, with his lovely brick-built Ford 8N tractor and ’49 Chevrolet pick-up.

A neat Technic-pin field of wheat stands behind the classic farm due, and there’s more to see of both the Ford 8N and the Chevy at 1saac’s photostream.

Grab your hay fork and head to 1950s rural America via the link in the text above.

Handled Like It’s on Rails

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This post features something on rails, carrying something on rails, craning something on rails. Previous bloggee Pieter Post is the builder behind this railway-based Inception, with his 1930s diorama depicting a Henschel ‘Brauns’ narrow-gauge steam engine being lowered onto its new route by a fully motorised Ardelt 25-ton railway crane. Each is beautifully constructed and there’s more to see on Flickr via the links above.

Circuit of Speed Champions | Picture Special

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We’ve all dreamed of building our own racing circuit from LEGO bricks, with tyre barriers, grandstands, food stands, a pit lane, maybe even a Dunlop bridge…

Well SpaceMan Nathan has actually gone and done it, taking fourteen official LEGO Speed Champions sets and creating this wonderful race track diorama, complete with of all the above and more!

Measuring 144 by 112 studs, Nathan’s Circuit of Speed Champions includes everything a race track should, with a crowd of cheering race fans present to watch to the on-track battle.

There’s loads more to see of Nathan’s beautifully presented circuit diorama at his photostream on Flickr – join the action trackside via the link above!

Enter Sandman*

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We’re not really sure what’s going on here but we expect the cement mixer truck won’t be the same shape by the end. Built by hachiroku24, there’s more to see of ‘Spiderman vs. Sandman’ via the link, where building instructions can also be found!

*Today’s awesome title song.

Race to the Bottom

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The early days of flight were perilous ones. Aeronautical understanding was limited and building materials more so, meaning things that operated a long way from the ground were made out of bits of wood and chickenwire. However by the late 1920s mankind’s incredible rate of progress (no doubt helped by the otherwise totally pointless First World War) had made flying relatively safe and normal. Except in one area; Speed.

Like racing cars of the era, racing planes were fantastically dangerous, pushing the limits of physics and effectively working by trail and error, when error often meant death. This is one example from the time, the bonkers Savoia-Marchetti S.65 racing seaplane, designed for the 1929 Schneider Trophy race. With two 1,050bhp V12 engines mounted fore and aft of the pilot, the S.65 proved so unstable it didn’t get airborne at all and the Italian team behind it returned to Italy for more development.

On Lake Garda in 1930 the trails continued, and on the forth attempt the seaplane took to the air in a glorious rush of wind and noise. Whereupon it stalled, crashed into the water, and sunk to the bottom taking its young pilot with it. Thankfully although recovered the S.65 did not attempt to fly again, but a failure though it was it did look rather wonderful, as does Henrik Jensen‘s marvellous mini-figure scale recreation, pictured here in a neat diorama depicting the plane before its fateful flight attempt.

There’s more to see of Henrik’s excellent Savoia-Marchetti S.65 at his photostream – head to Lake Garda in 1930 via the link in the text above, but maybe watch from a distance.

Containment

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Containers are just big boring boxes right?… Er, yes actually. They really are. But what’s inside them can be very interesting indeed. Motorcycles, exotic fruits, LEGO sets, illegal immigrants… the list is endless. All make the world a more interesting place, and pretty much anything in your home that’s come from abroad will have arrived in one of these.

The vehicles that move them about can be pretty interesting too, from the trains and trucks that transport them on land to dockside cranes and giant container ships that bring them to the shores for which they are bound.

It’s these that builder ExeSandbox has digitally created for us here, with this enormous 100,000 peice container terminal that would measure 6ft wide if it were built for real. Spectacular detailing is in evidence everywhere and there much of Exe’s amazing scene to see at his ‘Tour at the Container Terminal’ album on Flickr.

Click the link above for a lot of big boring boxes making up a creation that’s really rather interesting indeed.

Mount Hondarama RC Track

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The ‘LEGO Masters’ TV show is generating some incredible creations wherever it airs around the world. But it’s not just the contestants building amazing models from LEGO bricks, the pros are too; as demonstrated here by Certified LEGO Professional Ryan McNaught (aka TheBrickMan) who has constructed this enormous RC car track based upon a well-known Australian circuit, in collaboration with Honda.

Using a rare (and largely forgotten) genuine LEGO remote control chassis, Ryan and his team have constructed an impressive homage to the famous Bathurst track, complete with the pit-lane, spectators, start-finish gantry, Goodyear bridge, an array of brilliant Honda machinery, and – of course – Mount ‘Hondarama’ itself.

Two current generation Honda Civic Type R’s can be driven around the circuit thanks to their RC internals, whilst a range of other Honda products line the track, from the first generation Civic to the NSX, with everything from lawnmowers and scooters in-between. There’s loads more of Ryan’s ‘LEGO Masters’ build to see at his ‘Mount Hondarama’ album on Flickr – join the race via the link above!

Stop! Hangar Time

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War isn’t won just with planes, tanks and ships. Behind the scenes a huge machine needs to operate to keep the frontline moving, from medical care to mechanics and cookery to construction.

With shifting territory and short aircraft ranges in both world wars, runway and hangar building was as important to the war effort as the aircraft that used them. Often overlooked by Lego builders we have two builds today that recognise the behind-the-scenes heroes of the Allied victory in both wars.

First above (above) is Dread Pirate Wesley‘s superb First World War diorama, set somewhere in Northern France and featuring wonderful SE5a and Sopwith Camel biplanes alongside a brilliantly recreated canvas and wood hangar. It’s a stunning scene and one that you can see more of via the link to Wesley’s photostream above, where you can also find a trio of German Fokkers ready to meet the British fighters in the skies over France.

Today’s second wartime hangar (below) jumps forward around twenty-five years to the Second World War, with the canvas and wood replaced by concrete and tin, and the biplanes by the far more sophisticated Supermarine Spitfire, very probably the greatest fighter of the conflict. Builder Didier Burtin has curved LEGO’s grey baseplates under tension to create the impressive hangar, equipping with everything required to keep the pair of Spitfires airworthy.

There’s more to see of Didier’s beautiful Second World War diorama at his photostream via the link above, where you can also see what happens when a part fails on a 1940s fighter plane, and therefore why the heroes behind the scenes were as vital as those in the cockpits.

It’s a Gas!

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The police are distracted, the roads empty, and the hot rodders of Willow Springs are about to race for cash! Betting agents, ‘shady looking bikers’, and a wonderful rural gas station filled with details add a suitably illegal atmosphere to the proceedings of Faber Madragore‘s ‘Street Racers’ Haunt’ diorama.

Built for Model Expo Italy, which was cancelled due to the Coronavirus outbreak, Faber’s brilliant scene finds a second life online. There’s loads more to see on Flickr where you can head to take in all the details – grab some cash, click the link above, and place your bet!

More Kicks on Route 66

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Dornbi’s ace vehicular Americana appeared here earlier in the month, and he’s now published the complete diorama in which his classic metal features. A collaboration with another builder, Dornbi’s brilliant ’40s and ’50s vehicles pass a charming rural desert gas station, complete with pumps, workshop and store, driving of course on the superb brick-built Route 66 itself. There’s more to see of this wonderful build on Flickr – click here to drive Route 66 for yourself!

Do Not Point at Ukrainian Airliner

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We round out today’s posts with a DAF truck towing a giant implement of death. Thanks Ralph Savelsberg. It is a brilliant model though, recently updated with a newly built terrain base upon which the Dutch military’s missile launcher is firing at… er, we have no idea. Have the Dutch ever fired at anything?

Which is unlike Iran of course, who last week fired upon an airliner full of their own citizens thanks to a twitchy trigger finger mistake. Iran’s accidental downing of flight PS752 takes the number of deaths following the murder of Qasem Soleimani by American drone from ten to almost two hundred, with another fifty killed during a stampede at his funeral.

Well this has all got a bit bleak. You can see more of Ralph’s superb Dutch Patriot Missile Launcher at his photostream via the link above, we’ll return soon with something a bit chirpier, and until then here’s that video of a woman in a Wookie mask.