Floating islands are a popular inspiration for many LEGO builders, and it is easy to see why. They are mysterious and fantastical, and they can provide a great challenge to build them in a way that both supports the model and hides that support to enhance the magical appearance of the finished scene. Nathan Hake does a masterful job of using falling water to provide the support for this microscale floating island with a temple nestled between the trees.
How many pieces does it take to build a good model? Not many at all, if you’ve got a little ingenuity and a good imagination. This tiny build by “Big Daddy” Nelson would make as good a desk display as the official LEGO Ideas 21313 Ship in a Bottle set, especially if your desk is spacially challenged like mine. In fact, I’d love to have a whole lineup of micro sets to display. The ship itself is made of fewer than 15 elements, and the bottle is around the same. Its design is made possible thanks to the new 4×4 half-sphere elements that debuted in 76391 Hogwarts Icons Collectors’ Edition a few months ago, which form both ends of the bottle.
Beyond the books, libraries provide a place for community building and collaboration. Builder Ben Vijle saught to commemorate ‘De Krook‘ city library in Ghent, Belgium with this 1:500 scale model. This architectural beauty uses brown grille plates to mimic the steel beam facade that stands out on the river bend. The stacked levels provide a home for the businesses and organizations which collaborated for the library initiative. Ben uses sideways building techniques to achieve the thin profile of each level without any unnecessary gaps. The builder certainly had an eye for detail when modeling this relatively recent addition to the city.
As you can see, this microscale build features the river, nearby roadway, and the various levels of greenspace integrated into the riverbanks by the library. The brown grilles continue beyond the building structure to the bike path and footbridge. A red blade, bone, and needle hidden in the walkway peak out as Ben’s version of the sculpture of a man and woman by De Krook’s entrance. The printed 1×1 crosswalk tiles from the LEGO Architecture Tokyo set and the clips as bike racks by the road are also simple but awesome little details.
Don’t miss Ben’s lovely microscale renditions of other Belgian landmarks: Ben Vilje LEGO on TBB
When LEGO introduces a big, expensive, and beautiful set like the new Titanic or the Typewriter, it isn’t long before someone in the fan community takes a crack at building a microscale version. The moment I saw this instructions video by A Brick Dreamer I wanted to give it a try since there was no way I was going to be able to buy the official set.
It turned out great. The instructions even include tiny stands. You too can follow along and build the perfect miniature model of the infamous ship that will fit very nicely on your desk, or bookshelf. Check out the video instructions below:
“Are you not entertained?” Former LEGO Masters contestant Aaron Newman presents his latest creation: gladiator mechs. While similar in style, each mech is unique and distinguishable. The yellow winged “Bugbite” has insect like features and reminds me of the iconic Bumblebee. The dual wielding “Whiplash” stands tall and majestic like some of LEGO’s larger mech sets. “Pinhead” is capable of delivering heavy blows with a second set of arms. These builds may be on the smaller size, they are meant to represent massive battle bots piloted by a “trophyfig.”
With this scale established, we now have to look up at them, as Aaron’s photography and editing gets us to do. The lighting of the actual build is interesting and allows them to blend in with the custom background of a futuristic stadium that Aaron carefully crafted. This unconventional composition gives the impression of a render, or even a shot from a high budget film. Aaron has really gone above and beyond to present his amazing builds in outstanding ways.
You can see more of Aaron’s build’s here
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Mystery and adventure await all those who are brave enough to ride the secret elevator to the underground boat dock in The Deep Down, by Eli Willsea. Limited to what he could fit in a carry-on suitcase for a cross-country convention trip, Eli managed to pack a mountain of detail into a microscale space. This build gets some amazing results from some deceptively simple techniques, like the boat dock made from half-pressed together plates and the roof of the house held on only by gravity.
But it isn’t only simplicity that makes this build shine. The scene includes a working elevator and lights that illuminate the underground chambers for an extra eerie atmosphere. Take a look at the video below to see all the features of the build in action and get inspired to do some exploring of your own.
Struggling to find the cash or time to invest in the enormous new LEGO Titanic set? Well builder POMXLEGO may have a solution — why not build your own teeny-tiny version instead? This is an excellent microscale model, managing to nicely capture the essential elements of its larger inspiration — the shaping of the hull, the colours, and the raked angle of the masts and funnels. It’s immediately recognisable without attempting to cram too much into its tiny footprint. I love the use of inverted vertical clips along the top to create texture and detail.
When building microscale, you need to look at parts a little differently, as evidenced by the very creative collection of curved and angled parts Nannan Zhang used on this Japanese castle. Front fenders, rear spoilers, and other small black parts usually found on cars create a tiered roof that reminds me of Nagoya Castle. A trio of cheerleader pom-poms make perfect cherry blossom trees, while a hot dog is used for a small arch. Almost as interesting as the castle is the green and gray landscape it sits on.
When Lando promised to bring the Millenium Falcon back from the battle of Endor without a scratch, he pretty much guaranteed something would get knocked off. And sure enough, this minimalist model by Miscellanabuilds shows the Falcon barely escaping the destruction of the second death star in one piece, let alone scratchless. The model captures the details of the much larger exhaust port perfectly, while the microscale Falcon looks great, even without her signature deflector dish. The only thing missing is the enormous burst of flames that nearly cooked Lando’s goose.
At a quick glance, you might see this as a charming little fantasy LEGO microscale scene. And you’d be right in that assumption. But upon closer look, that is when you realized Tom Loftus has done quite the clever thing. He has used plastic dragon trim from the Raya and Sisu Dragon set to emulate swirls on the water. The two pieces are supposed to be removed from the foil along their perforated edges, but he has left the part intact in order to create the swirling river effect. I entirely overlooked the set for having pieces seemingly useless to my needs but Tom’s clever use of interesting parts has me rethinking that strategy. It just goes to show that even the most seemingly undesirable piece can be put to clever use in just the right hands. Check out all the other times Tom has dazzled us in one way or another in our archives.
Floating rocks have become a staple of fantasy world-building, but this floating castle, designed in LEGO by Matthias Bartsch is a standout example. The castle itself, perched upon it’s levitating rock, is nicely detailed, and successfully pulls off the twin magic tricks of looking larger than it really is, and using grey, sand green, and dark tan parts without looking like a poor man’s Hogwarts. However, what really sets this LEGO creation above and apart from similar creations is the framing architecture to either side and the decision to include autumnal trees and scattered leaves. The resulting image goes beyond the typical fantasy model, conjuring up a feeling of windswept melancholy. The scene is a digital render, but Matthias says he’s only used bricks which are available in these colour combinations — great work.
LEGO Spaceship builder Pierre Fieschi doesn’t put together models as often as he used to, but when he does, you can be sure it’ll be something worth taking a look at. This 105-stud long starship is for “deepspace rescue and crisis response” and appears to be ready for anything, bedecked as it is with grabber arms, sensors, and drop-ships. The colour choices in this model are excellent, the accent colours really popping against the greebly detailing. I love the striping on the yellow and black carapace section — that in conjunction with the bold teal gives this a strong Chris Foss vibe, and evoking the grand-daddy of starship designers is surely a good thing in anyone’s book.
