Elliott Halman, 7, helps his dad Mike Halman and his flatmate Brian Cook set up their huge sci-fi themed lego diorama.

Lego enthusiasts have taken over Barber Hall, building everything from spaceships to breweries for the 2018 Palmerston North Brick Show.

The weekend show raises money for the Youth One Stop Shop, which provides free health and social services for young people aged 10-24.

Event spokesman Dylan Thomsen said last year's show drew a crowd of 7000 people over the weekend, and he was confident this year's all-new displays could beat that.

MURRAY WILSON/STUFF Lego fanatic Brian Cook puts the final touches on the space station in his elaborate sci-fi diorama.

"Everyone that comes in will find something different they love. We even have a Lego Tui Brewery."

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Thomsen said each of the 40 displays had taken months of planning and building, such as the 43,000-brick Eye of Sauron that cast a baleful red eye across the hall on Friday.

Exhibitors Brian Cook and Mike Halman have been building their sci-fi diorama for six-months, spreading bricks throughout their flat.

Cook said they were inspired by sci-fi artist Chris Foss​, who's best known for painting the cover images on classic sci-fi novels like Dune.

The scene featured a large space station, surrounded by smaller Lego spaceships and one massive black, grey and yellow ship, about the size of an adult man's torso.

The massive ship was built in three sections, with intricate scenes on the inside, which, unfortunately, fell apart in transit, Cook said.

"So we've had to improvise. We're setting up the other ships like their attacking them, so now it's battle damage – it's a feature and not an accident."

Cook, a British expat, said he rediscovered his childhood passion for Lego when he was a managing director of a large health and safety consulting firm in the UK.

"It was a very high-pressure job and I relaxed by building Lego with my kids."

The kids are grown up and have long left Lego behind, but Cook still foinds it therapeutic.

Devising and building complex Lego models was a form of meditation for him, Cook said.

"It takes up you concentration and keeps you in the moment. You're not worrying about what happened yesterday, or what will happen tomorrow."