LEGO Masters Netherlands/Belgium
Season 2 Episode 6 – Recap
Welcome back to our coverage of LEGO Masters in the Netherland/Belgium. This week, two challenges await the five remaining teams who cluster into the workshop. to find the hosts quickly packing away a matryoshka doll. Funnily enough, the first challenge is related to this.
Mini challenge: Nesting builds
The teams have to create a series of builds that nest and tell a story with each reveal. An example is given of a food chain, but the teams can create a fantastical creation as well. Each team is given a small LEGO creature that represents the end of their chain which is picked at random
Thomas and Roy – Snail
A storybook that opens up to reveal a witch, which opens up to reveal a cauldron and then finally the snail. Some fantastic use of neon green chains and bricks to create slime. Brickmaster is somewhat horrified at how scary the witches’ face is. but points out how huge the book cover is and how plain its design is.
Jan and Julien – Fly
A giant trap that is set with cheese is presented to Brickman with a clever mechanism that drops the trap when the cheese is removed. Inside is a frog, which sadly bits break off as it’s removed. inside the frog is a spider which has eaten a fly. The story is a bit complex and Brickman can’t quite understand why a frog was inside a mousetrap and the fly on the cheese made it look like a flytrap.
Oscar and Ine – Frog
A giant mechanical robot frog opens up in half to reveal the head of a stork which inside lies a fish (which Brickmaster took a while to interpret) that has eaten the frog.
Ernesto and Marco – Worm
A giant apple… Or pear… With an angry face opens up to reveal a Buddhist monk which reveals a clam who has a worm inside him. The process doesn’t quite make much sense to Brickmaster who gets a bit lost by the big angry fruit and the clash of a pacifist character.
Marcel and Bibi – Spider
A giant blue garbage truck has a wheelie bin taken out of its back which inside has a vacuum cleaner. and inside there is a spider. Brickmaster loves this as it draws back to his experience creating toys as the objects. all have characters and faces. The idea is brilliant, but the theme of “food chain” gets a bit lost given they are objects, not creatures.
The Verdict
The winner of the Mini Challenge is Thomas and Roy who’s spooky witch surprised and captivated Brickmaster. Oscar and Ine are the runner-ups.
Main Challenge
The Upside Down build
The teams are sent out and return to find their workstations have been altered. A baseplate now runs on the top and bottom of each side of the table. The teams have to build a creation that utilizes both sides of the baseplates for a creative story. Joining the Brickmaster is former guest judge and creator of the Stranger Things set Justin Ramsden.
Thomas and Roy – Tree Leaf Factory
Having won the mini-challenge with their evocative Witch book, the team is given a padded utility cart that they can use to rest on when working upside down. Their concept is to tell the story of how trees get their leaves replaced. A giant tree with roots reaching deep underground is populated by a busy force of workers. who remove the old ones while cutting out new leaves from white paper and painting them into autumn colours.
The judges love the concept and the story with the only criticism being the moving conveyer belt is only working on the top half of the model. having both sides deliver leaves would have created a more complete story.
Jan and Julien – Rocket Crash
Their initial concept was a missile that crashes into an atoll in the sea and the underground section. would be filled with underwater creatures investigating this disturbance. Brickmaster drops by and notes that simply having something go through the surface isn’t much of a story and more needs to be done.
They rejigged their work to have the are be a tourist destination. which upsets a giant octopus attacking the rocket. All the while distracting beachgoers with a puppet display that hangs off the edge. The rest of the scene is full of details and little stories that make clever use of the baseplate edge. such as a person digging for treasure. The judges love the scene, but note things such as tentacles not matching up between the halves tend to tarnish the result.
Oscar and Ine – Fairytale Comes To Life
Their story focuses on a woman who loves to read her book in the park. This suddenly comes alive with her Prince Charming being summoned from the fantasy land underground.
While the execution is solid, the piece is somewhat criticized for some scale issues. Such as a giant sandwich that looks out of place.
The other main judging note is both layers are too disparate and with the fantasy land. Actually being on a supported platform and not freely hanging is a bit of a cheat.
Ernesto and Marco – Jail Breakout
A prisoner digs his way out of his cell, under a wall, and to freedom. The ambitious build required the team to start their work by adding several layers to the baseplate to build up. The depth to create the hole the prisoner escapes from.
The concept is well-liked by the judges who note the nice parts usage of things like chains to create a barbed wire effect. The only downside is that the scale is a bit off with the prisoner and guard coming off as too big for the cell and wall.
Marcel and Bibi – Troll Village attack
An old town is under attack by a troll who claws himself up from beneath the surface.
So this is a bit of a struggle for the two as time threatens to run away. There is some wonderful detailing on the houses and the shingled roof. The story is noted for being a bit confusing with elements like the villages escaping from underground. Coming off as a bit messily executed and not easy to read. But much like Ine and Oscar’s build, they rely on a platform to support the troll’s body and this doesn’t give them points. in the end as the judges would have loved to have seen the creature hang free.
The Verdict
The teams are rounded up for an increasingly tough round of judging and another elimination.
The two top teams are Ernesto and Marco and Thomas and Roy with the latter winning. Bringing much relief to the two who were only saved last week by the Golden Brick.
The two teams who are at the bottom are Oscar and Ine and Bibi and Marcel. Both had much the same criticism with a weak story that didn’t quite adhere to the brief by relying on a platform instead of having a free-hanging piece.
Ultimately Oscar and Ine are picked for elimination with an emotional Bibi caught up with relief and sadness. There are now four teams remaining.
Up next week
Will the force be strong with our teams with the Star Wars challenge?
Tune in at BrickBanter and find out!
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