Tag Archives: Christian Rau

Nothing but praise for this LEGO church

Capturing the spirit of the subject, conveying detail at scale, and cleverly using parts are the holy trinity of a LEGO microscale builder’s goals. Builder Christian Rau scores the trifecta with this remarkably faithful LEGO model of the Jesuit Church in Lucerne, Switzerland. While the actual church took over a decade to construct, Christian finished much quicker, using parts from across many decades of LEGO history – notably the 1x1x2 windows introduced in 1956, and the versatile 1×2 inverted arch which are less than three years old. Offset building techniques throughout the model are especially effective in illuminating the towers’ shapely onion-tops (which are also square in real life!) and spot-on color choices harken the building’s characteristic façade.

The building I work in started life as a Romanesque Revival style church, and I frequently imagine modeling it in LEGO. Perhaps I will take a page or two from the book of Christian’s techniques…

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LEGO all-stars bring Edo-era Japan to life in LEGO in epic collab

Each year the RogueBricks community, home to many of Europe’s most accomplished LEGO builders, comes together for a collaborative build. This year’s endeavor is an immersive recreation of the Japanese city of Kumamoto during the Edo Period built atop a whopping 170 base plates (that’s 2.5 x 4.3 meters!). The massive diorama depicts the coastal city in autumn and is packed with details of life during the Tokugawa shogunate, including scenes telling the story of the famous samurai Miyamoto Musashi.

Attendees were treated to motorized elements and integrated lighting, as well as informative plaques describing the history captured in bricks. As a bonus easter egg for young visitors, 10 Ninjago charaters were hidden in the build. Like 2023’s Rogue Odyssey collaboration, the project took home first prize for collaborations from both jury and audience. We’ve highlighted several contributions in recent weeks, but only now can we share the complete build thanks to Hannes Tscharner. Extended highlights and builder credits follow.

Read on for a full tour of this tour de force!

Tiny tower tribute to a legend

Microscale models of official LEGO sets aren’t hard to come by, but microscale tributes to original builds are much rarer and more personal. If ever a personal build was worthy of a microscale spin, it’s Bridgetown by Markus Rollbühler. Christian Rau lovingly adapts Markus’ masterpiece with the ace architectural artistry the builder is known for. Markus’ build was itself inspired by an illustration from Leo Hartas. Who will be inspired by Christian’s build and where will that creation end up, I wonder…?

Miniature model of St. Andrew’s Church, Kyiv

This microscale model of St. Andrew’s Church in Kyiv, Ukraine, built by Christian Rau is instantly recognizable with its four angled towers topped by gold spires, and its colorful greenish-teal domes. I love the small details of light blue peeking out behind the white grills. The cheese sloped attached sideways gives the church front a visual interest. Cheese slopes are also used to form the curved central tower.

The model is a near-perfect replica of the actual building, which sits at the top of a hill in the middle of the city overlooking the Dnipro river.

A microscale visit to Ukraine: Verkhovna Rada Building, Kyiv

Normally I try and make up some silly commentary to go along with the builds we feature here. This, time, though, I’m going to let builder Christian Rau do the talking:

My 1:700 LEGO model of the Verkhovna Rada building (Будинок Верховної Ради) in Kyiv, Ukraine, the seat of the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada). Originally built in the 1930s in neo-classical style for the parliament of the Ukrainian SSR, it has been the meeting place for the parliament of the independent Ukrainian nation since 1991 and has borne its flag ever since. The photo shows the view from the south.

This and other models can be bought on LetsBuildUkraine.co. All profits (minus material and shipping costs) will be donated to front-line workers and organizations caring for Ukrainian children suffering from the ongoing war.

It’s a classy model, and tied to a good cause. Check out our recent feature on more ways the LEGO community has been getting involved.

Classical Prussian splendour, realised in Lego

Builder Christian Rau has recreated in LEGO the famous Sanssouci Palace in Germany.
Built to the style of the Architecture line, Christian has captured the opulent villa and its magnificent Gardens. The terraced walkways are recreated well with a half stud offset allowing a shallower curve to the hedges and pathways. Atop the hill, we find the Sanssouci Palace. To capture the facade of the building at this scale, Christian has employed brackets to allow building in multiple directions which has allowed him to add the narrow yet grand windows.

Moving to the Gardens at the foot of the build, Christian has captured the marble statues at this scale via two nipple pieces using the flower as a decorative flourish before we reach the pool of water with a trans blue candle flame utilised to add an impressive display without distracting from the magnificence of the Palace above.

I’m enjoying studying this build as the smallest detail is realised in LEGO form here, effortlessly looking the part.

One small ‘quack’ for a duck, one giant symbol for the toy industry

The iconic LEGO wooden duck, which was one of the first toys produced by Ole Kirk Kristiansen and his team, has to be one of the most famous ducks in the world. Still, we don’t see modern brick-built versions that often! Based on the original toy and the last year’s 40501 The Wooden Duck, the recent mini-build by Christian Rau is simply adorable. Thanks to the great use of printed eye tiles and its open beak, this duck is as funny as an under-50-piece creation can be.

What’s peculiar, it’s not the first mini wooden duck we’ve seen; you might remember another version by Adeel Zubair. It’s amazing how different the builds are even though both are so tiny!