J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy world of Middle-earth, best known from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit books and films, has shaped much of modern fantasy. Indeed, LEGO builders have been finding inspiration there for a very long time, in the recent years even more so with the support of the official LEGO themes based on the movies. Over the years, we’ve seen multiple collaborative projects appear both as online galleries and convention displays; however, we think this latest initiative is among the most impressive. The massive collaborative project includes 10 builders and 13 creations depicting different locations and events of the Third Age of the Sun. The project consists of dioramas of varying sizes and styles, although modern castle-themed builds tend to have moderately standardized techniques and styles in the fan community. This makes for a very consistent group project, while still letting each builder’s individual style shine...

There’s only 1 week remaining to build an entry for our Microscale Magic contest and have a chance to win the biggest Harry Potter set of them all, the massive 6,000-piece 71043 Hogwarts Castle! There are some great entries already, but we think our readers might have a few more excellent scenes up their sleeves, or maybe even still in your imaginations. So don’t delay, as the contest ends before the stroke of midnight Sept. 30. We have two categories for you to enter with big or small creations, each with their own awesome prizes. And the person who builds best in both categories will get their very own 71043 Hogwarts Castle, the largest LEGO Harry Potter set ever. BIG category award: 75954 Hogwarts Great Hall + 41615 HP BrickHeadz (prize worth $115 and donated by TBB)SMALL category award: 75953 Hogwarts Whomping Willow + 41615 HP BrickHeadz (prize worth $85 and donated by TBB)MASTER...

LEGO builder bbchai brings a bit of old-school class to the scene, to the tune of a lovely violin and bow paired with a bust of the famous musician Mozart. This wonderful composition would look great on any music lover’s desk. The clips which make up the embroidery on Mozart’s jacket are a superbly simple technique that works perfectly, and the lightsaber handles for the wig’s white curls are similarly great. The violin and bow are masterpieces as well, with the plate 1×2 with handle making for excellent F-holes. Of course, they have a nifty little stand to hold them with the care they deserve.  The post A note from the maestro appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Chris

Kass, the Rito minstrel from Zelda: Breath of the Wild is captured perfectly in this neat LEGO bust by Markus Rollbühler. The model makes great use of dark turquoise amongst more regular LEGO colours to capture the character’s bright plumage, and it looks like there’s a complex structure underneath it all to deliver the shaping, with bricks and tiles facing in multiple directions. The printed eye tile is a perfect choice, rotated out of it’s usual “frown” position, to evoke Kass’ cheerful disposition. Surely the challenge now is for Markus to build the rest of the character, accordion and all. Come on Markus, don’t let us down! The post I happen to know a song about the ancient hero... appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Rod

This article is the third and final installment in a series. Read about the LEGO Grumman E-1 Tracer Part 1 and Part 2 here. In the last four weeks, I have been building a LEGO scale model of a Grumman E-1 Tracer aircraft. Part 1 described how I planned the build, and Part 2 dealt with how I built some of the difficult bits; in this, the third and final part, I explain how I built the last bits, and present the finished model. For weeks this build seemed to progress really slowly. I know that for some builders September means building huge spaceships. It took me most of this month to build just the radome, the nose, the wings and the engine nacelles. When I started building the fuselage, however, it felt like I had reached the home stretch. All of a sudden things went really quickly. Building the final parts wasn’t...