June 2026 // LEGO // Minecraft MOC // Videography // YouTube Content // Updated August 2026
The January 2026 LEGO Minecraft wave brought us some real gems, returning to naturally generated environments rather than player-built structures. The 21586 Pale Garden immediately stood out to me as the first set based on the newly released biome of the same name. While I knew I wanted to upscale the set to create a more game-accurate version, there were several major changes I felt were necessary.
One of my biggest criticisms of the original set is that it doesn't feel much like a forest and doesn't fully capture the dark, gloomy atmosphere of the biome. A single tree simply wasn't enough, so adding additional trees became a priority. I also wanted to expand the overall footprint of the build. While I usually try to preserve the shape and proportions of the original set, the Pale Garden felt too small to properly represent the biome. A larger layout allowed me to create a more immersive environment while also providing room for the play features I had planned.
This play feature is taken from the original set, where there is a technic rod sticking out of the back of the tree, when pushed, breaking off part of the tree, revealing the Creaking Heart. In game, when you attack the Creaking, it won't take damage, but instead, show a particle trail to a tree. Inside of this tree is the Creaking Heart, where when broken, the Creaking tied to it will despawn. So, the idea is that you can have the player break the tree to reveal the Creaking Heart, destroy it, and defeat the Creaking!
This feature is what inspired the entire model. I knew there was almost no chance of seeing something like it in an official LEGO set,
and I wanted to challenge myself with a more Technic-focused mechanism, an area I don't have a ton of experience in. The goal was simple
in theory: whenever the player turns away from the Creaking, it should move closer, just like in the game. In practice, however, creating
a mechanism that only activates during a 180-degree turn proved far more complicated.
I spent countless hours researching Technic gearboxes and gear ratios, testing designs in Stud.io, and discovering that many of them simply
didn't work in real life. After multiple rounds of trial and error, I eventually developed a working prototype, but it wasn't consistent enough
for the final model. One last redesign later, and I finally had a mechanism that reliably recreated the Creaking's signature "Weeping Angel" behavior.
Something that feels like an essential LEGO Minecraft play feature is an explosion, especially if there is a Creeper in the set. Surprisingly, while including a creeper in the Pale Garden set, there isn't one! So, I took it upon myself to make sure I incorporate it the best I could. While I originally wanted to have all of the blocks be able to seperate, it would've been more parts intensive in an already parts intensive model. I made smaller sections that detach, and you can put it back together, kind of like a puzzle!
While the play features are undoubtedly the highlight of the model, several design choices and building techniques helped bring the Pale Garden to life. One decision I made early on was to use Light Gray instead of Light Bluish Gray. While significantly more expensive, I felt it matched the in-game palette much more accurately. Unfortunately, Light Gray lacks some useful elements, most notably 2x2 jumper plates. As a result, whenever I needed to place grass, flowers, or mobs on pale moss blocks, I often had to build sideways with a 1x2 brick with a Technic pin hole and a Technic pin to solve this problem.
I also chose Dark Green for the grass rather than Sand Green. Since the Pale Garden is effectively an extension of the Roofed Forest biome, Dark Green felt like a much closer match to the game's coloration. I originally hoped to use the newer Reddish Orange pieces for the tree resin as well, but since 1x1 round tiles don't currently exist in that color, I opted for Trans-Orange instead, just like the official model.
Several custom details also needed to be designed from scratch, including the Creaking, the Eyeblossom flowers, and the Pale Hanging Moss. The Creaking design was created by Reddit user BlueMoth690, whose version was so accurate that I couldn't think of a single improvement to make. For the Eyeblossoms, many fan builds simply reuse the flowers from the official set, but I felt they were both oversized and the wrong color. While my version isn't a perfect match either, I believe it better captures the appearance of the flowers in-game. The Pale Hanging Moss was adapted from a design by Edge of Bricks. Their model was based on early preview footage of the biome before it entered testing, so there are naturally a few inaccuracies, but it served as a valuable reference throughout the design process.
A link to the instructions can be found
here.
You can find the parts list (.xml)
here.
Similarly to my Zombie Dungeon Upscale, I felt that pictures simply wouldn't do this model justice. Since I created a video for that project, I decided to do the same here! While working to make this video as polished as possible, I learned a lot more about Premiere and gained a much stronger understanding of video editing as a whole. I'm incredibly excited to continue exploring this medium and see what's to come!
