(Written by Geneva – gid617)
Long ago, my Grandpa made me a table that we always called “the LEGO table”. It has a removable top, so when there were no babies crawling around we could put the whole thing on the floor. The surface of the table is covered with eight 32×32 stud LEGO plates to build on. Over the years I’ve build a lot on this LEGO table; an airplane I could actually sit in, countless castles and houses, an airport, football fields, campgrounds – just about anything that occurred to me. Most recently I built a LEGO Botanical Garden, inspired by the Build a University Challenge (in the EuroBricks Guilds of Historica). And what would a University be with out a garden! 🙂
I started off with just a few rows of flowers and several pillars in the middle, plus five statues or so. Then someone suggested a pathway, and I thought that was great since it would be an easy space-filler. My mom came up with the bell-tower, based on her experience at the University of Kansas (go Jayhawks!). And I added more flowers, fountains and other details. I believe in total there are ten students, three professors, two gardeners, and eight statues. The entire University is set in the early-mid Renaissance, so nothing too modern!
Ring the bells for any graduating students! I think this is the first time I’ve used the round tower and roof technique. I’m pretty sure I actually crammed it into a bit too small of a circle, but I didn’t have much room! And the tower roof is a bit delicate; it can easily get pushed over if not careful. The bell doesn’t have much room to swing around, but it can move!
I had just bought 100 transparent red and 100 transparent clear round 1×1 LEGO plates, and my brother had done the same. (We actually did that before I started building, otherwise we might have chosen different colors.) Between us both, we just managed to finish up the pavilion. By the time it was done I sure was tired of stacking round plates! 🙄
What’s a garden without a pond? This was one of the first details I added. And at the beginning, I had a minifigure (or, more accurately, half of a minifigure) cleaning it out…
Inside the pavilion or gallery, I built several small displays; a sword in a glass-topped container, a miniature model of a castle, a painting, a mummy in a case, and a miniature light-house model. I had a lot of fun with the painting especially! In general, I really enjoy building in smaller-than-minifigure scale.
Would you like to take a stroll in a LEGO Botanical Garden like this one? I learned a lot about landscaping from building this, and you’ll probably see me use some of the same techniques in a future LEGO creation. I’m sure I could improve on some things, so feel free to give me any suggestions or ask questions you might have in the comment section below. 😉
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ive always imagined something like this when i was still in diapers (which i used about 10 a day and those things are expensive) and youve done my dream you did a very good job heck id say you did better than any massive moc ive seen. It didn’t inspire ms cause its really similar to my imaginations years ago but of course it has its differences, but great job anyways one more thing how did you get the money for all those parts? im sure you used bricklink to buy them seperatly though… for the third time epicly amazing job Geneva
Nope, I built the entire thing with pieces I already had, except for the round 1×1 plates and a few others, but, as I mentioned, I ordered those before I started building (including what my brother got, the total there was probably about $5, maybe little over) so technically speaking I already had those as well! 😀 I’ve been collecting LEGOs for a long time, but I never would have had all those flowers/stalks if it hadn’t been for some friends who gave us (they aren’t all mine, some are my brothers’/sister’s) a fairly large bag full. In general though, since I’m in SA (South America) it’s not that practical for me to order pieces just for an MOC, especially if there’s a deadline (eg. I’m entring it in a challenge, as was the case with this one) since shipping can take quite a while! And finally, thanks! I’m very glad you like it! 🙂
The reason I liked this MOC is because you use quite a bit of advanced techniques and probably don’t even realise it. The pavilion is one of them. Excellent job using the the round plates! The micro light-house is a beautiful piece, so are the statues, and the painting is my absolute favorite! Have you been following Katie Walker’s work or did you come up with it on your own?
BTW, my intention was to challenge you a bit with this post; you mostly write reviews and tutorials, and I thought something a bit more personal like this would make you an even better rounded writer. You did an outstanding job! 😉
Thanks! As far as Katie Walker, I do follow some of what she does, but first saw the technique somewhere else (not sure where… ). I thought it would work perfectly in a painting like that! 😀
And I’m glad you made it 🙂
That is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks!
Pretty cool
i hope they make lego hunger games admin
You have to be proud of this . What fun. Is there a video?
Thanks! No, I didn’t take a video, in fact that didn’t even occur to me! Oh well, too late now! 😀
Awesome garden! 🙂 I wish that I was as a talented builder as you. Nice job!
Thanks! 🙂
I was going to comment and say how much I liked the little painting part with the cheese slopes, and then I see you’ve been talking about it up there with akunthita. 😉 Anyway…. I really like the tiny painting!
Also — what a great idea for a LEGO table, with the top that could come off. That could be very useful.
And did you really make an airplane you could actually sit in? 😉
Yes I did! 😀 I was a bit smaller back then, and it really wasn’t that much in terms of detail, (and there was only one side…), but between me and my siblings, we managed (a bit multicolor, to be sure…)! 😆
Thanks!
Shouldn’t this be in the Featured Creations category?
Yes, it could be there as well. Posts can often be put into more than one category, but I always choose only one; whichever makes the most sense. The Featured Creations category is used for LEGO creations done by others, and Brick Bulletin is for personal stories. Since this is more of a personal story, I put it here. 😉