An Ode to the Goatherd: designing a pastoral LEGO diorama [Guest Feature]

LEGO diorama expert Anu Pehrson is back as a guest contributor to give a behind-the-scenes look at her latest creation, a large scene that highlights LEGO fans’ favorite farm animal, the goat, as well as the minifigure who tends it. If you’ve ever wondered how some of the big builds we feature go from concept to completion, Anu has documented her process for us from first bricks to final touches.

You may recognize Anu from some of her previous builds we’ve covered, including a giant minifigure-scale recreation of The Wall from A Game of Thrones. Check out our articles about Anu’s previous LEGO builds here. 

In 2011 Lego produced a cute little goat in one set, 7189 Mill Village Raid. After that, the minifigure-style goat didn’t appear again until 2024, when we got a collectible minifigure of a goatherd with another cute little goat. In that gap, the goat became one of the most sought-after figures. (Friends-style goats have also now been released, and accompany the minifigure-style ones here.) My latest model is an Ode to this Goatherder. 

The Goatherd needed an idyllic place to live his life in peace and tranquility, but as we know in real life, there’s always a yin and yang, so his peaceful farm has a dark side too!

As a builder, my goals with this model were to keep the size small (relative to my other models), make it as pleasingly colorful and eye-catching as possible, and tell a story. In addition, I wanted to use parts and techniques that I haven’t used before and expand my horizons a little, by adding  lighting, something I’ve not done in my earlier models. In the beginning, I limited the size to 20 inches wide, or 64 studs. This changed a little towards the end.

First I started with building an underground cave. 

For this I decided to build walls at odd angles using the math of a diagonal with a 1×6 plate. The following pictures explain this better.

The picture shows the placement of the first plate at a 4 studs diagonal and the second plate at a 3 studs diagonal. This uses the wonderful geometry of the brick to create Pythagorean triangles (New Elementary has a great article on LEGO triangles for further reading.) 

The object of this was to get an uneven wave throughout the cave.

Then, I built a structure with studs on the side to attach 6×6 and 6×8 plates on the front. The 1×1 round brick was necessary to avoid friction in the corners.

This is the structure from the back. Rounded plates worked best for smooth edges. 

This is the front and back of the cave walls. Then I added horizontal and vertical plates for added structural integrity and additional landscaping on the next layers of the model.

I chose to use several layers of the 4×4 rounded plate with a round corner to get a chiseled look for the roof of the cave. At this point I started covering the 6×6 and 6×8 plates (the walls of the cave) with 1x curved sloped bricks to add texture to the wall of the cave.

My plan was to have a water body on the farm, and then have it seep into the underground cave as a small muddy puddle, via a mini waterfall in the cave. Water generally flows in an uneven pattern, so I thought of using the 1×2 modified plate with a clip as flowing water.

With a little more landscaping, and the addition of lights, the cave was done. 

Now, for the farm. The Goatherd needed a nice cottage, so I went through all the possibilities, e.g., a wooden shack, or a medieval stone structure, etc. I settled on building a cottage that would have a base of stones and bricks above that. These pictures will help explain this better. 

Each stone is brick built, using these pieces in variations of blueish grey. 

This is the first layer and the next one is on alternate studs.

Part of the roof is rounded with hinge plates that are then covered with 1×2 curved slope pieces.

The trees and plants are simple constructions. 

The other goal for this model was to use colors in a vibrant and beautiful way. To my surprise, achieving this wasn’t easy. Vibrance is easy to achieve but doing it in a harmonious way that doesn’t hurt the eye is difficult. I went through several iterations of landscaping to achieve this objective. 

Many LEGO builders have a few pieces that have broken, especially in the reddish brown color. I have a bag full of them and decided that I’m going to use them everywhere I need broken wooden planks. What can be more authentic, right? 

(Editor’s note: LEGO’s reddish brown formulation had a flaw in the formula that caused it to be extra brittle. LEGO acknowledged the issue and updated the formula in 2018.)

I used them for the construction of the door of the cottage and the roofs of the goat and chicken shacks. 

Lastly, I added little stories all over the model and finished the shrubbery. Here’s the goatherd, living his best life.

There are a few children playing in the flower fields.

With a pond, of you’ve got to have fishing.

The birds are singing and the animals are having a relaxing afternoon listening to the music.

But sometimes, there’s a sinister side to tranquility. In the cave underground, we have another inhabitant. A thief who steals little kids (baby goats) and tries to live a comfortable life too!

This was a simple model but a lot of fun to build. I enjoy landscaping with LEGO and adding little details and stories to the models. There’s cheerfulness and beauty, and dark humor. Maybe an Ode to Life…

 

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