Tag Archives: Microscale

Some say “Go big or go home!” but it takes real talent to compress something down to just a few studs and still keep it recognizable. Of course, many of the micro models we feature here aren’t so small after all, whether it’s a vast cityscape or starship.

For brianbrickster, making magic in medieval LEGO is a matter of perspective

When Slovakian builder brianbrickster first started sharing medieval LEGO creations, the stonework and siege weapons were impressive. Over the years, with skills honed in the trials of Brickscalibur and the Summer Joust, Brian has become a true artist of castle creations. His latest is a breathtaking display of forced perspective. The transition from minifig to microscale is miraculous. The brick-built sky gives the immersive scene the air of a painting.

Speaking of paintings, Brian has played with perspective before. Created for 2024’s Summer Joust, here the builder creates a whole world inside the ornate picture frame.

Click to explore more of Brian’s majestic yet playful medieval LEGO creations

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A sleek, sustainable, and modern LEGO city of the future

This modern city by Oliver Barrell demonstrates what is possible when you build a city in harmony with nature. Wind turbines and solar power the city, while green spaces and clear, clean water provide an essential connection to the site.

The choice of only a few colors for the buildings, and the use of clever parts like the flexible wristband wrapped around the tower in the middle help this building stand out. Not to mention the light rail line passing directly into the mountain on the left. I would certainly love to live in a place like this.

This micro Maul is a miniature masterpiece

Way back in 2001, LEGO released set 10018, a nearly 2000 piece bust of Star Wars baddie Darth Maul. While that set was definitely impressive, it was mostly just bricks and plates stacked together to sculpt an almost pixelated version of the Sith Lord. To demonstrate just how far LEGO construction has come since then, Byldan has constructed a microscale Maul that’s cleaner and smoother and made with about ten percent of the pieces. Maul’s trademark black and red visage is rendered here with a clever combination of minifigure body parts and utensils. Some of the construction may not be entirely legal, but no one expects the Sith to follow the rules.

A delicious take on LEGO landscapes

With the latest scenic build by The Creators Child, I think it’s time we establish some ground rules for just how appetizing a LEGO creation is allowed to be. Because just look at those layers! The blend of natural tones feels almost illegal in terms of the official LEGO color palette. And yet all the pieces are genuine. When it comes to composition, the scene benefits massively from the beautifully planned beach. Scaled-down debris and splashes are spot-on, and of course, no modern LEGO shoreline would be complete without a strip of wet sand. This coastal scene was built for the Summer Joust contest. Be sure to check out our round-up of the 2025 winners!

A precarious castle high above the sea

When building microscale LEGO creations, you have to look at common parts a little differently to discover new and interesting uses, like this castle by Geneva Durand perched high above the sea on a rocky cliff. They use a small, rounded element with a hollow stud on one side as the perfect base for turrets mounted to the sides of the tall gray walls. Another part that caught my attention was the white minifigure forks inserted tine-down between grill elements. And several tooth parts attched sideways make perfect arched windows.

This LEGO Fantastic Four scene has me on cloud nine

I love a good microscale LEGO creation, and this model by flambo14 delivers in a big way. There’s a pretty well established trend in the LEGO community where builders challenge themselves (and each other) to create original vehicles and environments inspired by a specific minifigure, but this may well be the first environment built to suit a LEGO Construction Figure. The scene, taken from the latest Marvel Studios summer blockbuster, depicts the celestial being Galactus at his most down to earth, yet somehow simultaneously with his head in the clouds. Flambo14 places an unaltered Galactus model from LEGO set #76316 in a custom cityscape that much better reflects the celestial giant’s true size than the set’s accompanying minifigures suggest. Smart use of textures and a limited and contrasting color palette make this mini metropolis marvelous.

Is this temple big and close, or small and far away, or just built at microscale?

I love LEGO builds that mess with your sense of scale. Mattia Careddu is the latest to discombobulate me with a mysterious, watery fantasy world. Clearly that temple in the middle is massive: there are rocks floating around – literally – with waterfalls coming out of them. But hang on, those birds look like ibises, making excellent use as they do of some dinosaur tail elements. And I recognise those leaf elements too, which means this build isn’t actually that big. But then you see the steps up the side of the temple… Wait, how big are those birds?! And that’s to say nothing of the great big serpent tree deity thing that looks ready to devour the lot. Whoever’s on that little boat sure is brave going wherever here is.

Middle-earth meets Cyberpunk 2077 in this LEGO mashup

The location of Minas Tirith in the epic fantasy adventure The Lord of the Rings is certainly one of the most iconic cities in Middle-earth, so it makes perfect sense to me that Grant Decker would choose to combine it with Night City from Cyberpunk 2077 as a source of inspiration for this build in the cyberpunk mashup category for a LEGO building contest. A cyborg version of Gandalf rides a silver and white speeder bike, standing in for Shadowfax, while a multi-layered holographic highway divides the city into two sections, just like the massive stone blade that gave the steward Denethor such a fantastic end.

LEGO Architecture 21063 Neuschwanstein Castle – Bavarian Cream of the Crop [Review]

Neuschwanstein Castle is a real-life fairytale landmark that inspired Disney’s Sleeping Beauty Castle and was just added to the list of UNESCO heritage sites. On August 1, you can bring it home with LEGO Architecture 21063 Neuschwanstein Castle. We received an early copy of this beautiful set and are excited to bring you our review from guest writer Ids de Jong.

LEGO Architecture 21063 Neuschwanstein Castle
3,455 Pieces
Available August 1
Buy for US $279.99 | CAN $349.99 | UK £239.99

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Our in-depth review follows…

Nothing says summer like a trip to the Grand Canyon

Minifigure habitats are fun, but I prefer microscale vignettes like this minimalist scene by Nannan Zhang. Here, the Grand Canyon is depicted in a three-dimensional scene that feels like a Polaroid picture extruded by a 3D printer. The sky background, combining plates and bricks in stripes, reminds me of the fantastic LEGO set Visions from the Space Age.

Seen from the top, the striations of the rock faces are made by stacking wedge plates of a variety of sizes and shapes. And the wandering river along the bottom, made from light azure tiles, really pops.

See the turtle of renown, on his shell he holds a town!

Before Discworld and The Dark Tower, the concept of a world turtle was rooted in mythologies around the world. Sam (dewback_bricks) took inspiration from the Chinese world turtle myth for this evocative LEGO creation that is both an excellent brick-built creature design and a Roman-inspired microscale city. With SNOT modules angled off the grid, Sam achieves impressive curves on the turtle’s back. Hanging vines give the wizened wanderer a nice goatee. A tiny sailboat in the sea of 1×1 round studs really sells the scale of this impressive creature. Perhaps most impressive – Sam built this towering turtle in just two days!

Set sail for adventure from this microscale port

Many LEGO fan events and building competitions offer brick-built trophies that are works of art in and of themselves, which makes them even more treasured for those lucky recipients. This microscale scene by Isaac Snyder is such a trophy, a one-of-a-kind treasure that will make an amazing display piece for one lucky winner of this year’s Summer Joust. The little town, tucked in next to the dock, is full of great details, but I think my favorite part is the tall stone watchtower with a signal fire, like an ancient lighthouse.

Summer Joust run from June 1 through August 1 with seven categories to compete in and plenty of amazing prizes. If you’re curious about participating, you can find the details of entering the Summer Joust here.