“The lunatic, the lover, and the poet, are of imagination all compact.”

Check out this microscale model of the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, an ancient Greek theater in Athens, built by George Panteleon (ZetoVince). I think Greek architecture is absolutely beautiful, and seeing a classic drama performed in this ancient theater (which has been renovated and is still used today) is something I'd like to experience. Despite its repetition and bland color scheme, this model pops because of the contrast of textures: the smooth SNOTed sections reflect the chiseled rows of seats in the amphitheater, opposing the rough rocks and crumbling ruins on the edges of the build. You can check out this construction shot to see how it's built (although I must confess I'm still not entirely sure!). 

The history of the world is at stake!

In 480 BC, King Xerxes of Persia sent a massive army to invade the Greek city-states. A tiny force of Greeks (the subject of the movie 300) stalled the Persian advance at the pass of Thermopylae, giving the Greek general Themistocles just enough time to launch a naval defeat of the Persians in the straits near the island of Salamis. This deterred the Persian invasion, led to the proliferation of ancient Greece, and ultimately shaped the history of the world. 

That's not what's going on in this scene by Micah Beideman (Hacim Bricks), but it could very well be something just as important. Maybe that trade ship is holding the future king of a country? In any event, there's a Greek trireme involved; that was enough to kickstart me into history mode. 

Note the nicely constructed mountainous background, and a pretty cool part use on the trireme: a flaming sticker from a Racers set holds a cheese slope on the front of the ship! 

Into the jungle

This jungle temple by Jonas Wide is chock full of creative building techniques and part uses. The structure has a really nice decaying feel that blends well with the mayhem of the jungle - vines growing everywhere, monkeys scurrying about, birds chirping loudly... it reminds me of a quote from the author Orson Scott Card: "The natural world is beautiful, and it is beautiful again when it reclaims the ruins of humans who are gone." 

Something that works really well here is the blend of different shades of green - there's the olive-green grass, dark green of the vines, and medium shades used for the trees. It offers a nice contrast and adds that natural touch to the build. Also noteworthy are the microfigure "statues" set a half-stud into the walls of the temple, and the incredible multi-layered, intricate construction of that tree nudged up against the ruins. (I'm also a fan of that spindlier tree on the other side of the build, but I don't know what the pieces used for the leaves are!)

"Bazaar"ly masterful building skills

Howdy.

Ignoring my face-palm-worthy title, Mark of Falworth's The Grand Bazaar is truly a LEGO magnus opus in the first and finest degree.  It not only invokes a wonderfully refreshing building style that perfectly utilizes a brick-built base to give the MOC structure, but the details that he has added really bring out the structural beauty in this diorama.  I especially am a fan of all the pastel and sand-green/blue elements he has used. Quite inspiring, indeed. 

Venice, 1486

Last time Jonas Kramm (Legopard) and Brick Vader collaborated on a MOC, we blogged it. Then again, pretty much anything made by these builders extraordinaire is blog-worthy. Here's their latest, a wonderful scene from medieval Venice:

This is one of those builds where the more you look, the more details you find. This was built for NEW ELEMENTARY's "The New Black" parts festival, so plenty of new molds and recolors (in black, of course!) are featured - check out the lamppost, bench, door knocker, gondola, and balcony! (Some are hard to see from the above image, so be sure to visit Legopard's post to see more images and some building analysis.) 

Some Scala parts have been integrated: the bridge features a specially molded flower, while the large salmon-colored vase is made from a flowerpot and umbrella stand. 

The wonderfully lifelike tree features many flexible elements and is one of the most natural LEGO trees I've seen. 

Maybe my favorite part use is the Chima vulture head for the mask of a plague doctor!

Overall this MOC is fantastic and only heightens the already lofty reputations of its builders. Great work!

Some images and content in this post came from NEW ELEMENTARY. See Legopard's highly interesting post there at this link!

Khanibre Castle

Here's a sweet build from W. Navarre with a decidedly medieval-Japanese flavor. "Khanibre Castle" features some great techniques in those stone walls and fantastic roof adornments. I'm also a fan of the not-quite-a-minifig samurai...

Badshahi Mosque

Not too long ago Andrew of The Brothers Brick wrote a post in which he stated that "the world needs more LEGO mosques," citing a lack of Islamic architecture in LEGO in the last several years. Since then, I actually have being seeing a fair few examples of Islamic styles in my Flickr feed (and a look through The Brick Bucket's archives will reveal previous posts containing these types of MOCs). It's one of my personal favorite architectural styles and I've been thinking about trying a hand at building it myself. 

No doubt I can credit some ideas to jsnyder002, who constructed this excellent model of the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan. The complex building techniques and intricate designs make this model more interesting the more you look, so once you're satisfied with the picture here, hop on over to the builder's blog Brickbuilt for more. 

Just look at all the fantastic implementation of SNOT building and part usages like the flowers, unicorn horns, and cheese slopes and tiles built into the walls. This MOC is a great example of the intersection of LEGO and art. 

13-piece plane

When you're building with only a tiny handful of parts, every piece counts. As far as I can tell, this Fokker D VIII plane by Karf Oohlu uses only 13 pieces, 14 if you count the 6x6 tile base. But even at this scale the model is still easily recognizable, and is full of details thanks to the minifig guns, 1x1 cylinder with "wings," and Batarang (!). 

Mini mill

Somehow I missed this when it was uploaded to Flickr in December of last year. This tranquil little micro-castle build from Halhi141 has some of the best rockwork I've ever seen at this scale, and the rest of the construction isn't too shabby either. 

Check out the lovely sloped construction of the stream and the terrain around it:

This project is up on LEGO Ideas and it deserves your support. Imagine having this miniature masterpiece displayed on a shelf in your own home... https://ideas.lego.com/projects/129343

Imperial dam

Those of us who don't usually build microscale often find ourselves staring in mind-boggled awe at the work of those who do. Microscale builders find ways to use the most obscure parts in the most unexpected ways, for MOCs that are often just as impressive as those six-foot star destroyers on the opposite end of the spectrum. Case in point: this microscale "imperial mill" by Dubbadgrim. 

As I pointed out on Flickr, my favorite details have to be the treasure-chest roof and that tiny little water wheel.

The Meduza II underwater habitat: going down to the bottom

The Meduza II was a Polish-designed underwater habitat constructed in 1968. Polish builder Karwik has miniaturized the submersible in LEGO form, and the resulting MOC and presentation is awesome. 

Something was triggered in my brain's "happy center" when I realized that everything in the above photo - including the ropes and tubes - is made out of LEGO. The photography is stunning as well, really making it seem as if the picture was taken in the murky depths of the Baltic Sea. 

Check out this Flickr album to see some more angles. 

Signing a treaty

This build by gid617 appears simple at first, so I nearly overlooked it. But the more I looked, the more I liked. First I saw the scroll on the table, created from a pair of rods and map tiles. Then I noticed the decorative overhang at the top of the build, the SNOT in the candle-holder, and the subtle pattern in the textured bricks in the wall. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised. Very nice little build! 

War has been declared

Commander Mark Informs his troops that War has been declared. They are to march to attack the city of Lampsacus at dawn tomorrow.

This scene from Mark of Falworth makes great use of several custom pieces and some nice building techniques to achieve a natural, realistic look. I love MOCs that draw on historical architecture (Greek and Roman in this case) - besides LEGO, history is another of my big interests. 

The contoured base here is complemented by the dark green landscaping, which is itself contrasted by the bright leaves on the trees and the red of the building's roof. Overall this is a really nice looking MOC. (The custom minifig parts look great as well... I'll have to look into getting a few!)

EDIT: I'd thought the neon green leaves were custom; turns out they're actually from some of the new Elves sets. Regarding the minifigs, the builder says:

Those helms are Brickforge as are the shields and most of the spears. The armor piece and the scroll on Mark are Brickwarriors. :)

Darraor Castle

For this year's Tourney over on MOCpages, the theme is to build something based on an Arthurian Legend. For his MOC, Isaac Snyder chose Sir Balin and the Holy Hollows, and produced this magnificent model of Darraor Castle:

You can read the story of Sir Balin here. Plenty more images of Isaac's creation can be seen on MOCpages here... go check them out! 

Katoren Jail

As you might know from one of my previous posts, Arabic/Middle Eastern architecture is one of my favorite styles. I love seeing MOCs from that theme, and this one by jsnyder002 is just about perfect. 

The scene consists of a jail and another building that I think is an interesting (but very good) choice: a cartographer's workshop. Some of the building techniques like the jail walls and the roof on the workshop are really nice, and overall this is just a great MOC. You can see more photos on Flickr here. 

Nativity silhouette

David Alexander Smith built the Nativity scene out of LEGO, but in a different way than you might imagine. He used black pieces to create a "silhouette" in which it's hard to make out individual elements, but the model as a whole looks stunningly simple in its composition. Nice work.

UPDATE- MCLegoboy also made a nativity scene in a similar (but not silhouetted) style; you can view it here. 

Luxury yacht

This one's been on Flickr for a few months but I just found it this morning and thought is was good enough to warrant a post here. "Motor Yacht Mohican" by JBIronWorks:

More images on Flickr.

The Diver

Those old diving suits may not have been as well-designed as the ones we have today, but they have a certain amount of charm and antiquity to them that modern suits lack. They're symbols of the old days of exploration, when brave souls descended into the dark seas to conquer the unknown and further the knowledge of humankind. 

This MOC by Pate-keetongu seamlessly blends System and BIONICLE to create a great character with this antique diving suit design. See more photos on the builder's blog, Cyclopic Bricks. 

The elusive ninja, master of shadows

leon scopes was influenced by a fish tank ornament when building this MOC. It's a nice little scene, with some flowing natural elements like the water, rocks, trees, and bridge. I also like the Bavarian hat used as a lily pad. 

The Legend of Zorro

It's been over a year since TheBrickAvenger last found time to make a MOC... and he says this one will probably be his only build this year. Fortunately, it's a fantastic one. Enjoy "The Legend of Zorro".

There's so much to look at here, so allow me to list a few of my favorite little details and techniques:

• I love how the walls have little bricks that stick out partway, giving the surface a rough and textured look.
• We've seen that roof design- using a ton of 1x1 cylinders- before (and even on official sets), but it looks so darn good here!
• The alternate use of plates and tiles to create an uneven ground surface is nice. 
• I really like the little windmill rig on the lefthand side. 
• The archway with the little section of slanted roof is a nice touch. 
• And of course, there's the little things, like the wagon wheel and little brown sack leaning against the wall of the building. 

Check out the Brickshelf gallery for this MOC here. And, while he may not be very prolific, TheBrickAvenger is an amazing builder. Go check out his Flickr photostream here and prepare to see some more awesome LEGO creations.