The Kiruna Watchtower — Mitgardia

The Kiruna Watchtower — Mitgardia, Lego MOC

In the Guilds of Historica the northern guild of Mitgardia rules over cold and harsh lands. Mitgardia has a series of fortifications to provide safety to travelers. This Lego MOC called the “Kiruna Watchtower” is created by Andreas Lenander. Set in the Historica project, which is a collection of fantasy themed Lego creations working towards creating a fictional world full of lore and adventure. This Lego Watchtower has been built as an entry into the Summer Joust. There are a lot of interesting techniques and details on show. The frozen river and snow break out from the base, a great way to communicate how wild and uncontrollable the environment is. The wooden pier is a great mini build as are the various pine trees. The tower itself is a good example of using texture to increase the detail of Lego. The brick patterned 1×2 pieces can look fake when too many are lined up, which has been avoided by adding in some green details.

The Kiruna Watchtower, Lego MOC Frozen North Detail

You can find more story information and details about his Lego Kiruna Watchtower over here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/124068149@N02/50037346418/

Glass Dome Lego Castles

Glass Dome Lego Castles

These glass dome Lego castles are created by Petronel22. The presentation of these Lego MOCs is above and beyond most creations. Each castle fits inside of an Ikea Härliga Glass Dome, this make them feel like a unique (and fragile) miniature world. Plus they get the added bonus of not having a dust problem. Another way to present these is that each castle has also been digitally composited against a background. These images almost feel like travel posters. The red roofed castle is called Tar’Cen Burg. It occupies all the available room on top of a rocky island. There is even a little Lego stream descending into the ocean. The yellow topped castle is called YuDita has been built on top of a grassy hill. Both of these are great micro scale castles. Each of them feature a lot of well built towers, keeps, bridges, and other small buildings.

Glass Dome Lego Castles, TarCen Burg

You can find more information and photos of Tar’Cen Burg and YuDita Castle over here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/petronel22/49939272866/

Glass Dome Lego Castles, YuDita

Guard Duty At Tensegrity Tower

Guard Duty At Tensegrity Tower, Lego MOC

Guard duty at Tensegrity Tower requires a certain amount of courage. To save on construction costs a local wizard can be employed to help build your next tower. Saving at least 50% of material costs. Just be on the look out, as any type of lateral force could knock you over at any time. Tensegrity Tower is a Lego MOC created by David Roberts. This is a very clean build, focusing on keeping your attention on the tower. The scenery is just a few plants, a couple of trees, and a short stone path. The addition of a foundation gives this tower a certain plausibility, and creates a target to attract your eyes to the center. The yellow stonework of the tower is a nod to the original castle theme. With just three chains holding up the upper portion. There must be some sort of magical portal leading up to the top, otherwise the guard is going to have a hard time getting down.

You can find more information about Tensegrity Tower, and read some ad copy from the local wizard over here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidroberts01341/49802418702/

A lot more Lego Tensegrity sculptures can be found on EveryDayBricks over here: http://everydaybricks.com/tag/tensegrity/

Behind the Scenes; Building Lego for Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Brooklyn Nine Nine Logo, Behind The Scenes With Lego

Brooklyn Nine-Nine recently featured Lego in a scene with Detective Sergeant Terence “Terry” Jeffords (played by Terry Crews). Afterwards something awesome happened. Reddit user austoncall posted a whole bunch of behind the scenes photographs showing what went into creating the Lego tower. Although it took a whole lot more work then someone would expect, the Lego tower looked great as it was being destroyed on set.

Brooklyn Nine Nine, Behind The Scenes With Lego Setup

The whole project started out as about $300 worth of brand new Lego. Everything was built with 2 complete sets of the Lego King’s Castle (70404), 2 Builders of Tomorrow (6177) sets, 2 Lego Creative Buckets (10662), 1 Lego Creative Building Kit (5749), 1 Lego Education Doors, Windows, & Roof Tiles set (9386), plus a few baseplates and other miscellaneous parts.

Brooklyn Nine Nine, Behind The Scenes With Lego BuildingBrooklyn Nine Nine Lego, Behind The Scenes Three Towers

The greatest challenge to creating these props, was figuring out what kind of style to build the tower. A sleek modern tower that the best AFOL would create, or a tower created out of a hodgepodge of bricks (like a child would build). After a few attempts, the show decided on something in between. A good decision, as it is instantly recognizable as Lego. In the end three towers were needed, so that the crew could film multiple takes and angles. If you look closely the three towers look similar, but are actually slightly different.

Brooklyn Nine Nine Lego, Behind The Scenes Set

Make sure to check out all the photos of this Brooklyn Nine-Nine Lego Tower prop: https://imgur.com/a/khn83

Plus, here is the original post over on Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/2jxexh/i_was_the_one_who_built_the_lego_tower_that_terry/

And, a follow up AMA here: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2jxrbs/iama_guy_who_built_the_lego_tower_that_was/

*Nevermind!* If you happen to find a clip of the scene from Brooklyn Nine-Nine please share!

A Gleaming LOTR Lego Minas Tirith in Micro Scale

lisqr's Lego Minas Tirith Micro Scale

If there is one The Lord of the Rings set that everyone is waiting for an official release it is Minas Tirith. The problem is that almost any set that Lego designs will disappoint LOTR fans in some way. It will be either, too small and toy like, or small and expensive. A minifigure scale version of Minas Tirith is just not feasible. With this in mind, Flickr user, lisqr proposes a Lego Minas Tirith in micro scale. Even in the tiny scale this is a huge MOC at 65 studs across and 35 bricks tall. The gleaming white walls look ready to withstand any invasion. All the major details of Minas Tirith are here, the 7 ringed levels, the Citadel, the Tower of Ecthelion, and the White Tree.

A Lego CUUSOO page has been created for this project. As lisqr says: “Minas Tirith, the greatest fortress in Middle Earth, deserves to be immortalized in Lego bricks. The Lord of the Rings theme feels incomplete without it.” Check it out here: http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/58380

lisqr's Lego Minas Tirith Micro Scale Top

Check out this Lego Minas Tirith over on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/43699326@N00/12494022694/

“Mister Frodo! Look! It’s an Oliphant!” – A Minifigure Scale Lego Oliphant

Elliott Feldman's Orthanc Bracket: The Oliphant

This Lord of the Rings influenced Lego Oliphant is the latest creation from Elliott Feldman. Everything is built in a Minifigure scale. Meaning that this Oliphant is huge. In fact the dimensions of this MOC are: 25 studs wide, 75 studs long, and 65 studs tall. For comparison, a typical Lego Modular Building is 32 studs wide. The trunk and tusks of this Oliphant are extremely well made. Also, check out all the details on the tower. Some artistic changes were made, for instance the tower is built out of red bricks instead of the more accurate brown. This was changed due to a limited part selection in brown. But, the red might even be better. It adds a whole lot of contrast to the other colors, and really makes the tower pop out of the scene.

Elliott Feldman's Orthanc Bracket: The Oliphant Backside

This Lego Oliphant was built for the Middle Earth Lego Olympics over on MOCpages. This is a contest between Lego builders centered around building Middle Earth themed stuff. The Oliphant is an entry to MELO Round 3, and a part of the Orthanc Bracket.

Make sure to check out all the details, such as Frodo and Sam watching from a nearby hillside. Gollum in the process of running away. AT-AT style controls for driving the Oliphant, and a hidden mini fridge for its passengers.

Elliott Feldman's Orthanc Bracket: The Lego Oliphant Birds Eye View

Read more about this Lego Oliphant at MOCpages: http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/380244

Lego Castle: King’s Castle (70404) Reviewed @ Eurobricks!

oo7's Lego Castle, Kings Castle 70404 Review

Lego has recently restarted its Castle theme. This may be the first time that two fantasy based Lego themes have overlapped. Lego Castle and Lego the Lord of the Rings / the Hobbit are both themes that share common designs. It has never been a better time for fantasy Lego fans. The new Lego Castle theme is actually very similar to the previous Kingdoms theme. Almost matching up set for set, with very few new ideas. For collectors of Lego Castle the minifigures are going to be the main draw here.

oo7 has recently posted up a full pictorial review over at Eurobricks of the new Lego Castle: King’s Castle (70404). This is the big flagship set for the theme and seems to have hit all the checkboxes for a Lego Castle. The standard Gatehouse, Kings keep, curtain wall, and two towers all combine to create a great modular castle. Perfect as the Crownies seem to be defending against the included siege engine and Red Dragon minifigs.

This castle comes with the Lego King, Knight, and two Archers. While on the “bad guy” side you will get a Red Dragon Knight and two Raiders. The Lego King usually comes with a chromed sword, but here comes with a pearlized sword. It comes off looking not as regal, but is also not that much of a loss. The best minifigs here are the Crown Knight, and Red Dragon Knight.

007's Lego Kings Castle (70404) Review Minifigs

As usual the Castle set is modular and can integrate with other Lego Castle sets. For instance adding the Lego Castle: the Gatehouse Raid (70402) to the castle will match the design and scale perfectly. There are a lot of different options that you can choose for the castle layout.

oo7's Lego Castle, Kings Castle 70404 Review 2

Check out the full review of the Lego Castle: King’s Castle (70404) over at Eurobricks:
http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=84348

You can find the new King’s Castle over at Amazon.