Edinbrick event comes to Edinburgh's Potterrow Dome with amazing LEGO models and creations on show

LEGO enthusiasts flocked to Edinburgh at the weekend as colourful and creative models went on show in the city centre.

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Edinbrick - a not for profit LEGO model exhibition - returned to the Capital on Saturday for the first time since 2019 and it proved popular, with all tickets having sold out in days.

Many displays were on show - some of which had taken their creators years to complete - and included scenes from films such as Jurassic Park and Lord of the Rings and impressive structures such as a Disney castle, Hadrian’s Wall and a city skyline.

Edinbrick 2022 came to Edinburgh on Saturday

Event organiser Doug Adamson praised all those who exhibited at the show and said it had been a great success.

"It’s great to be back here after the Covid pandemic and it’s great to see so many people of different ages enjoying the exhibition and appreciating all the work that has been put into the models.

"I think LEGO has something that really appeals to people of all ages and it’s definitely not just for kids. This proves that.”

One of the creators was Aaron Rippon, who was showcasing his cityscape with trains. The city also included buildings, characters and scenes from films such as Spiderman, Ghostbusters and Superman.

Sion Carpenter thoroughly researched and planned before creating his Hadrian's Wall and Lord of the Rings Oliphaunt models.

“We wanted to make a city with trains going round and then we added into it some different little scenes,” he said. “It took about two hours to put together but all the parts took a good week or so to build.”

Jamie Ellis, who lives in Larbert but studied in Edinburgh eight years ago, also had a model which centred around a train and was a homage to time he spent on holiday in Wales in 2019.

His ‘Little Train of Wales’ model used a special software which allowed the train to stop, start, slow down and speed up at different points of the track.

Cammy and Robin Sinclair with their Great Ball Contraption which they've been building for five years. It came about after Robin saw a video on YouTube.

“I got back and decided I wanted to try and make something out of LEGO so I started looking into it. It took a while to develop the train itself and it made its debut last year,” he said, adding that he has been a passionate LEGO builder all his life.

One of the most unusual models was a Great Ball Contraption, which was a five-year labour of love for father and son duo Cammy and Robin Sinclair.

The pair began working on the machine - which is a sequence of modules which transport balls from section to section - when Robin was just five years old. He turns 10 next month.

“Robin found a video of someone having built one in America on YouTube and came to me and said ‘I want to do that daddy’ so we made it happen,” said Cammy, who is a clown and singer and once performed with Robin at Edinburgh Fringe in their play ‘Daddy and Robin I Love You’.

The Edge of Elvendale model stunned visitors at Edinbrick 2022. It was created by Mansur Soeleman, Tom Loftus and Isabel Louise.

“There aren’t really many in Scotland doing it, in fact for all I know we may be the only ones to do the ball contraption. But if not, we would love to find someone else who does it and maybe pair up.”

He added that anyone who is interested in doing so could reach him on his website cammysinclair.com.

Another youngster exhibiting was 11-year-old Micah Munro from Gorebridge, who had been perfecting a series of structures ahead of the show.

“They took a while to make them and we think they look amazing but we also think we could make them even better,” said Micah, who comes from a family of LEGO fans.

“Everybody in my house has LEGO, I even put one brick in my gran’s house just to make sure.”

James Kavanagh with his many LEGO models based on fantastical robots and creatures.

Alex Duffy also showed off his work at Edinbrick, alongside his dad Martin. Together, the pair had created what they called a ‘Jurassic Park World mash up’ which Martin said was a homage to the films.

“We got a spot at the show seven weeks ago so we’ve been building it all that time,” he said.

“We just wanted to have as much fun as soon as possible.”

Visitors to the show were also wowed by Mansur Soeleman’s ‘The Edge of Elvendale’ which was inspired by the LEGO Elves collection, Lord of the Rings and nature and depicted a large rock and tree covered in pink and purple flowers.

The creation, which was a collaboration with Tom Loftus and Isabel Louise, was imagined by the group and created using flat pieces of LEGO to create the look of a rocky surface.

Sion Carpenter was also inspired by the Lord of the Rings series, with his model of the sinister Oliphaunt in battle having been created entirely from his imagination.

He also showcased a model based on Hadrian’s Wall, which he said also required a lot of research prior to building.

“I had to do a lot of research to decide which parts to use and what it would look like so it took a bit of time,” he said.

“I wasn’t even sure the Oliphaunt model would be possible but I think it has turned out well.”

Other models on display at the show, which ran for one day only, included Vlad Zapotoczny’s music concert and beach volleyball game, Kenny Smith’s battle between characters from Disney and Star Wars, James Kavanagh’s robotic creature creations and George Colvan’s climbing and activity centre, complete with pub.