Tag Archives: 1:1 Scale

Lifesize props that will have you asking “Is it LEGO?”

We can’t take our eyes off this microscope

Kamil Banasik has been hard at work in the LEGO lab, and the result is this magnificent tribute to the microscopic world. The microscope at the center would be a note-worthy build on its own, as a near perfect 1:1 scale recreation of the real thing. But the way that it’s framed, with those LEGO particles climbing up the those angled arms, takes it from a clever piece of engineering to to a work of art.

The only thing that troubles us is that when you peer into this microscope, it looks back up at you. Someone call Ant-Man, I think the Quantum Realm might want a word with us.

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DOOM: The Dark Ages Skullcrusher slays in LEGO

The DOOM franchise has introduced some memorable epic weapons, going back to the original BFG (“Big Friendly Gun), but the newly released DOOM: The Dark Ages introduces the most metal weapon of all: the Skullcrusher. This weapon does what it says on the tin, crushing literal skulls and using the bone fragments as deadly projectiles. Dicken Liu built a roughly life-size version in LEGO, complete with a pre-ground skull to feed into the chipper. Even if it’s not motorized or sharp, that maw of gears and rotating blades fills me with dread. Whether a sly joke or serendipity, the gun is decorated with the headpiece of Bionicle baddie called Skull Grinder. How perfect is that?! Dicken is no stranger to gaming tributes, although they tend to be of a slightly more family-friendly flavor, like this adorable Baby Bowser.

To learn more about the builder and his creations, check out our interview with Dicken Liu from earlier this year.

Gourmet Taiwanese food builds in LEGO that look good enough to eat!

For the grand opening of a new LEGO Store in Tainan City, two of our favorite Taiwanese builders celebrated with delectable brick-built versions of local dishes. Hsinwei Chi, fan designer of the LEGO Ideas Jazz Quartet, created a trio of dishes. Starting from the top, we have shrimp rolls, a fried snack of shrimp, fish paste, and vegetables wrapped in tofu skin. Next, shrimp rice is an iconic bit of home cooking with shrimp, shallots, and white rice stir-fried with soy sauce and rice wine. Last is a mouth-watering bowl of danzai noodles, with roasted pork, mashed garlic, and shrimp sitting atop chewy wheat noodles in a deep, savory broth. In case you’re curious where those noodles come from, they’re yellow flex tubes exclusive to the DC Heroes Bumblebee Helicopter set.

James Zhan showed up with two dishes. First we have a pair of guan cai ban – Taiwanese “coffin bread” – in which a thick slice of white bread is hollowed out and fried and filled with a creamy stew. James employs a fun mix of parts for the stew texture, including white bananas, large clamshells, and technic ball peas.

Fittingly, our last dish is a dessert – beh teung guai, aka Taiwanese churros. The fried dough of glutinous rice flour is similar to Japanese mochi, with a chewy interior, and flavored with sugar and crushed peanuts. For both dishes, James elevates the presentation with elegant serving trays and leafy garnishes.

If these Tainan comfort foods leave you hungry for more LEGO cooking, check out our food archive for more delicious models. (Especially this street food noodle cart that seems like a great place to enjoy some of those danzai noodles!)

Everyone loves a building kit

To anyone who has built a model kit of the non-ABS type of plastic, you can probably feel the texture of the these plastic frames. I love every ounce of detail that Oshi has included, down to the last sprue. As someone who has built both plastic models and LEGO, it is a great combination of worlds. In looking at the details of the “model parts,” don’t miss a wonderful start to the actual car model. It looks like Oshi has selected “green forest” for the model’s final color. I don’t believe that is an official LEGO color, but I trust the builder that it will look incredible.

MOCs of the LEGO Masters: Where does he get those wonderful toys?

Where did Batman get his wonderful toys? He made them himself. The same can be said of Luke Horwath, who not only assembles expressive animals in bricks (that dog is eerily lifelike!) but also brings a makers’ ingenuity to the hobby, combining LEGO with mechanical engineering to construct a working LEGO Batman pinball machine and a lifesize LEGO claw machine. But just as Batman counts on his Bat-family, Luke is teaming with his mother, Anne, for the new season of LEGO Masters. (Sadly, there’s no Air Bud loophole on the show and dogs are not allowed to compete.)

Luke’s Pinball machine is a remarkable build, and one that I wish I could have tested in person. I wonder if he’ll get to show off that mechanical know-how on the show?

This is part of our series on MOCs of the Masters where we preview the work of the newest batch of LEGO Master contestants. Have a look at creations from other builders in the lineup.

Extermin8 with extreme prejudice

You see just one of these buggers crawling across your kitchen counter and you know there are hundreds more in hiding. Who can relate? That was my college dorm room experience. It was a bummer because I’m pretty sure I signed up to have only one roommate, not hundreds getting into all my stuff. Thankfully LEGO phenom Dicken Liu comes to the rescue with a can of insecticide. The dead roach, with it’s broken leg and fishing rod antennae, is a clever touch. It serves as a reminder that getting on top of a roach infestation can be icky business. Cockroaches don’t even seem to appreciate alternative rock, although I specifically stated on my roommate application that alt rock was my jam.

Put your bricks down, flip it and reverse it

UNO isn’t just the card game that teaches kids to count to one in Spanish. It also spawned a TikTok trend with the iconic Reverse card, a totemic item so powerful that it can flip any situation back on the other person. Dominique Boeynaems recreates the most iconic card since the Black Lotus tapped for 3 with UNO’s game changer built from LEGO bricks. It may look like a simple design, but Dominique shows some impressive SNOT building skill to line up the arrows just so without gaps, using brackets as half-plate spacers. It’s such a remarkable likeness that seeing the build atop a pile of actual UNO cards, you’d be forgiven for missing that it’s LEGO at all!

Dominique’s UNO Reverse card was made for the “Backwards” challenge in the Rogue Olympics competition, which also inspired Woomy World’s taco cat.

Growing as a builder

It’s been said that the purposes of bonsai are “primarily contemplation for the viewer, and the pleasant exercise of effort and ingenuity for the grower”, and when done properly results in an “artful miniature replica”. Remind you of any other hobby? In that context, the diminutive zen-influenced art form seems like a natural (though challenging) subject for a LEGO model, and a browse through The Brothers Bricks archives reveals that builder Louis of Nutwood was not alone in making the connection. Some builders would rather not repeat themselves, but I think building and improving on a subject is where true growth lies, and Louis has certainly cultivated better and better results with each revisit. Louis shares that “it stands in my living room, only to remind me to breathe and cherish the beauty in every moment.” Not to knock the official LEGO Bonsai set(s), but I would choose Louis’ rendition for my own mantle any day.

LEGO birds (some assembly required)

Do you remember those building kits that let you assemble your own airplane or bird? No, not LEGO. The kits made from balsa wood or Styrofoam that were a step up from paper airplanes. LEGO House Masterpiece Gallery alum ArzLan lets nostalgia take flight with a pair of easy-to-assemble bird planes that perfectly capture the 2D designs and die-cut slots of the classic toys. I can practically feel the disappointment as they inevitably nosedive, crack a wing, and end up in the waste-bin after a few good flights.

Jumpei Mitsui rings out the end of an era with a massive Danjiri shrine

When we first featured builder Jumpei Mitsui 18 years ago, he was the fresh-faced star of Japan’s LEGO King Championship TV show and, soon after, the youngest person to earn the title LEGO Certified Professional builder. Now, on the eve of returning to school for a master’s program in artistic expression, Jumpei reveals his latest creation, a nearly life-size Danjiri cart buitl entirely of LEGO bricks. Carts like these, modeled on shrines, are paraded around town during Danjiri Matsuri festivals where different neighborhoods compete in pulling their decorated cart through the streets while chanting furiously. Jumpei recreates the intricate hand-carved woodworking in brick, as well as lantern decorations with flower prints and kanji script.

Jumpei, who specializes in large-scale creations (like this jaw-dropping model of the battleship Yamato), starts with a sketch, but then free-builds everything by hand. This project, consisting of over 200,000 bricks and weighting over 200kg, took six months to complete. When working on large-scale projects, Jumpei has an assistant who should be quite familiar to fans of the site – Moko – one of the most prolific and impressive mecha builders around whose we’ve featured going back nearly 20 years!

Jumpei’s creation is currently on display at the Sumiyoshi Danjiri museum in Kobe. Congratulations on this masterpiece, and best of luck in the next chapter of your art education!

Get your LEGO game on with this fantastic Gameboy replica

Nostalgia for video game consoles and hand-helds is a very popular obsession with gamers of all ages so it is not surprising that LEGO fans are feeling it, too. And you can’t get much more classic than the Nintendo Gameboy. This homage by DanielBrickSon hits so hard, especially for me since I had one of these myself. I won’t show my age by telling you what my first hand-held game was (Okay, it was an LED football game)

The builder captures the iconic look of the Gameboy right down to the simple d-pad and buttons, the square screen with huge black borders, and the rounded outer case.

And if you are asking yourself if that game cartridge fits in the back… you bet your Charizard it does!

Badminton with LEGO? It’s a racket

Japanese builder and LEGO Masters finalist Chie Kiyoshima is such a fun creator to follow as you never know where her imagination will lead next, and every model she posts is a delight. Her latest creation is a 1:1 scale badminton set, where if you squint you wouldn’t know it was made from LEGO bricks. The racket is strung with genuine LEGO string. Chie finds the prefect parts usage for the shuttlecocks with basketball nets as skirting. 1:1 props of mundane items are joyful enough on their own, but Chie serves up a smash by creating a motorized rig for the props. Game and match.