storiesinbricks

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Hallowen Party

It's Halloween and all the monsters are gathering at the pumpkin house of the wizard for a little get-together and some spooky fun.

🎃🎃 Happy Halloween! 🎃🎃

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You can be anyone in your dreamZzz...

If you think monsters lurk in dark spaces, you might escape into your dreams to find the strenght to fight them.

I made this little "cross-over" between the dream world and the real world as part of this month's theme about DreamZzz on @brickcentral . The whole scene is brickbuild and comes to life with some strategical placed lights and a face mister. I included two behind the scenes photos, if you are interessted about the setup.

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Adventure Party

Watched the great second season of "The Legend of Vox Machina" from @criticalrole and got inspired by the intro - So I made a cool group shot of the party in the golden glow of a sunset/sunrise with a dragon in the background. Decide for yourself if you prefere the "clean version" of some lightpainting added for the threads of fate from the intro.

And since its never a good idea to split the party, this might be also a good entry for this month theme on @brickcentral: "Better Together"

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The Last Night of the Titanic

In the dark night the Titanic steams through the Atlantic ocean on her way to the faithfull meeting with the iceberg...

A friend of mine bought the huge Lego Titanic and a fitting light kit. Since I helped him build it and install the lights, I got some time with this beautiful set to take some pictures. With the size of the model, this isn't an easy task... But all what you can see in the pictures is done with practical effects!

How it was done:

Of course with the light kit, the model shines in the night and a ship needs water to swim in. So I tried to make my living room into the Atlantic Ocean:

Since it is a full model and not only a waterline model, I first layed some panels around the model in the hight of the waterline. On this raised level, I layed black plastic waste bags and and transparent cellophane foil on it. The wrinkling of the transparent foil gives a nice impression of waves when viewed from a low angle.

For the icebergs, I made a structure out of Lego and just covered it in cotton.

The (lower) background consists of big black cardboards. To make the stary background I used a technique I explain in detail in an article on the @brickcentral blog (check it out here). In short, I use a black cardboard with holes and a flash behind it. The light shines through the holes to make light spots i.e. stars. Since I don't have a carboard big enough for the whole image, I took several pictures with the star-cardboard in different locations and stiched them together in post.

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Watering little Groot

Maybe if I water little Groot enough, he will grow big again...

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Nature Photographer

Camouflage is the best tool when you want to photograph animals. Just be careful not to stay too long in one place, or you become part of nature.

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Coming home

As a gift for myself, I got me the Galaxy Explorer which goes very nicely with the new astronaut and astronaut baby from the current minifigure series.

I made this little space scene all with practical effects. If you want to know how to make the stary background, check out the tips-and-tricks article I wrote over on @brickcentral this month.

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Happy New Year!

A little late to the party, but wish you all a happy and productive new year.

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The Hound of Baskerville

There was a legend of a great wolf lurking in the fog and scaring people in the woods of Baskerville. Sometimes the guards of the local watchtower cought a glimpse of him...

So some brave advenures made their way into the woods to find the beast - and should it be necessary - slay it.

But it turned out, the scary wolf was just a big boy who was missing some company and is a vegetarien. He especially likes pumkins...

I initally took the first two pictures for the @brickcentral theme of "Myths and Legends". One comment gave me the idea to take another picture and make a little story out of these picture to give the legend a little twist.

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"The Legend of Excalibur"

Or how a magican put a sword into a stone and a young boy had the heart and spirit to pull it out again. All what you see here is done with a pratical effect. The stone is made out of modeling clay with the special purpose to put a sword into it and the "magic" is done with lightpainting to give it the "special something".

For the sword I used the sword of Griffindor, becaus it has these nice red "rubies" that catch the light.

This is also an entry for this month theme of "Myth and Legends" on @brickcentral

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Midnight fishing

During a foggy night, the crew of a fishing trawler is hoping for the catch of their lifes. Meanwhile the lighthouse and the full moon illuminate the night to help the fishers navigate these dangerous waters.

Behind the scenes

In the two photos below, you can see my setup for this picture. I made myself a little water pit with some watertight foil used for garden ponds and filled it with water. Some well placed stones (together with the fog) help to hide the edges in the view of the camera. The fog comes from a smoke machine (not in the pictures) and the moon is a round lamp suspended over the scenery. To give some movement to the water surface, I used a fan and since I don't have three or four arms, the self-timer mode of the camera was very helpful...

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Catch the Dragon

When your kids want to play dragon slayer and you are way to much into cosplay... 😉

These little knights from the new minifigure series are too cute.

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Dangerous Voyage

A sea voyage can be a very dangerous thing. Especially if the waters are infested with sea monsters. Will the brave vikings prevail?

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Everyone it's own

If you like the quite time and want to relax alone, or want to party loud and hard in a big way - everyones vacation is its one and you should do what's best for you to recharge. This is another entrance for this month competition on @brickcentral with the theme "Going on vacation"

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Digging for gold

Some brick build supports and some dynamite and there might be gold at the end of the tunnel...

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Always the same

Never mind the time you are in - when you travel back from your holidays you always seem to carry more than you left with...

As an entry for this month contest on @brickcentral "Going on Holiday" I interpreted this conundrum I have encountered a couple of times myself in three different time periods.

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Thanks to @brickcentral I also got my hands on the lighthouse early to take some pictures with it. I agree with @joschka-vanderlucht on his verdict in the review. Its a very photogenic set with a very nice build experience that lokks great in nature and on the shef. However there is the definite issue with the price. For its size and stickers for most simple plates the price is definetly to high. But enough words, here are some first impressions from the lighthouse...

And here one of my favourites with also a shot from Behind the scenes. (As a disclaimer - I removed all the electronic and motor for these shots in the water)

Disclaimer: @lego sent this set to me via @brickcentral for taking pictures

The 43rd project from LEGO Ideas is now here, the motorized lighthouse. 

The lighthouse has a motor, two lamps and a lens with which the rotating light and a small fireplace in the cottage are realized. 

The set will be released on 1st of September at a price of 299,99€.

First of all, maybe i should confess that i am a bit biased, i love lighthouses! 

This LEGO Ideas Lighthouse is build from 2065 pieces and it looks great. 

Unlike the original design, the tower is built in minifigure scale, which in my eyes is not a disadvantage, but rather a plus point.

The little house looks very cozy and convinces with a beautiful print above the door. Inside is a small lighted stove, a bed and a few small but nice details. 

Above the bed hangs a family photo, which is based on a photo of the fan designer. 

There is also a beautifully drawn map. 

Unfortunately, the photo and the card are not prints, but only stickers. 

The tower itself consists of a basic structure, with a ladder inside, which is covered with individual elements from the outside. 

On the back, the individual elements can be removed and thus allow a view into the interior of the tower. 

In the middle floor is a portrait of a lighthouse keeper on the wall. 

At the top of the tower is the light unit. 

This is driven by a shaft from the motor at the bottom of the base and rotates continuously. 

The light shines from below via a mirror (sticker) into a specially made Fresnel lens. 

This bundles the light and makes it look like a real lighthouse.

Overall, I like the lighthouse very much! 

However, given the very high price, I am very disappointed with the stickers. 

It is almost exclusively simple tiles, which could also be printed without much effort. 

I had a lot of fun taking the photos and look forward to many more. 

The tower is very photogenic and will also look great on the shelf. 

All in one i rate this Motorised Lighthouse with 9/10, as I deduct one point due to the high price. 

- @joschka-vanderlucht

Disclaimer: @lego sent this set to @brickcentral for taking pictures, but all opinions are my own.