Building the Blue Cottage
/Andrea Lattanzio (Norton74) is continuing his outdoorsy series, going from a rickety bridge with a bear to building a blue cottage. Andrea is known for his realistic LEGO scenes with organic landscaping and realistic vehicles (and even has one currently on LEGO Ideas). His newest country creation is a small and cozy blue cottage that joins his ever-growing series of rural houses, including “Walden,” Joe's Cottage, A-frame Cabin, and Stilt Houses.
We chatted with him about the build and were treated to some awesome work-in-progress photos too!
“My goal again was to create a cottage with a particular shape but at the same time featuring a new color combination, new shapes, and new details. The color of this cottage certainly makes this new diorama unique: blue for the exterior and black for the roof. The yellow larches in the background frame the scene as if it were a postcard.”
“The dark tan base contrasts with the light tan of the path leading to the entrance. The base is made with many plates and wedge plates, as the base comes from my previous General Store, partly revised. Reprising a feature from my previous A-frame Cabin, the dry-stone wall is comprised of many Thor’s hammers, a clever technique I borrowed from the very talented builder Letranger Absurde.”
“In these photos, you can see how I went about preparing the base, made with many dark tan plates and plate wedges, the technique used to make the dry stone wall with hammers, and how I used light bluish-gray tiles pushed in irregularly to create a weathered effect around the base of the house.”
“The asymmetrical roof slopes heavily on the left, with a woodpile supporting the overhang under the eave. I also used the relatively new ‘Tile, Round Corner’ in two different sizes to create round doors and windows, reminiscent of Hobbit houses. Rim covers from the Dodge Challenger in the Speed Champion series find new function inside the windows, making the thickness of the portholes circumferences appear smaller and giving the window look a more pleasant, general appeal.”
“I used simple inverted 1x2 light bluish-gray plates inside the door for texture, and the outcome is excellent. The two-piece roof is made with black plates and tiles.”
“The off-road vehicle parked on the left matches with the house colors, with a beautiful red canoe on the roof for contrast. The vehicle is based on my very popular Chevrolet Blazer that first appeared in Sheriff Hopper's cabin, inspired by the TV series Stranger Things. It’s a truly ‘chameleonic’ vehicle that lends itself well to various customisations.”
“Bringing everything together, I reprised some features from my previous works in this diorama, such as the staircase to access the entrance, the arm of a maxi-fig as a boulder, and others Easter eggs you can look for here and there.“
“One of my favorite Easter eggs, though, is that I sprinkled broken, brittle reddish-brown shards around the woodpile to represent chips from wood chopping. Reddish-brown bricks and plates have a somewhat bad reputation among AFOLs, as they are very easily broken. I have collected these tiny pieces for years and finally found the right way to use them!”
“Finally, the diorama is ready for its close-up! Here you can see my simple photo set-up on a grey paper background.”
So that’s the description from the builder himself! Andrea’s MOC must have hit a sweet spot since fellow Italian builder bomber9971 built a very cute version of the Blue Cottage that nails the look of the model in microscale.
I hope you enjoyed this behind-the-scenes view of Andrea’s build in progress. If you would like to see even more LEGO creations made by Andrea, check his blog too.
What is your favorite part of this model? Let us know in the comments below.
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