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It only took a week to make, but AutomailED’s Red Riding Hood-inspired build is an amazingly evocative creation. The small woodland scene has a tremendous sense of place, and character - both alluringly beautiful and yet wild enough to have a hint of danger.

The details are what make it for me, and easy to miss at first glance - the train of bees emerging from a nest which hangs from a high branch; the luridly coloured spider dangling from a cobweb, the mushrooms clustering among the roots; the thick grasses which rise up around the path, creating a slightly uneasy sense of claustrophobia.

Grandma’s house itself is a neat little bit of architecture, with its curved doorway, stained glass and distinctive brickwork. But looking up is my favourite part: AutomailED has created a canopy of convincing natural beauty, dappling the scene below with light and shade.

How did the build come about?

“Basically, I was looking for a textbook under my desk,” explains AutomailED. “I just found a book about this tale named Little Red Riding Hood. I’ve liked that story ever since I was a kid, so I thought, ‘Why not make it in Minecraft?’”

Why not indeed!

“The hardest parts of the build to get right were the house and the girl,” says AutomailED It's pretty difficult to [match the] scale for the house, the girl and the forest size. First time I made the house, it was too big for the forest, so I had to remake it all over again and make the girl almost the same size as the door in the house. And not to forget, it was difficult to choose the right colour for the house!”

AutomailED reveals the secret behind the glorious canopy of leaves: “I made the leaves with oak leaves, green wool, lime stained glass and yellow stained glass. I used the stained glass so that the sun ray could go through it, and make it natural, and I added some fallen leaves too as the effect from the wind breeze, made from lime stained clay, green wool and green stained clay.”

Using a mixture of unusual materials, and in this case with different transparencies, can make all the difference to a build, giving the impression of even greater detail than the eye can perceive. A handy tip for realist builders or those looking to bring fairy tales to life!