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.

The stronghold of the separatists

I can only assume that the dark villains who live in this black castle nestled among spiked growths on a lake of lava call themselves the separatists. Why is that? Because the main piece of the castle by Simon Liu is one of the new double-wide brick separators from LEGO’s new mosaics, with a strip of chainlinks down the center to make stairs. But the separator isn’t the only piece that Simon copped from the mosaics, as the front wall of the castle is the Technic panel hangar, with the nail slot making a perfect front gate. Simon built this for our friends over at New Elementary as a way to explore the LEGO Art line.

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Down, down, and away?

“Mayday!” – well that’s never good to hear. Douglas Hughes fashions a little red biplane in some big trouble in this LEGO micro-model.

The background featured in this postcard-like photo is brick-built using a number of different elements including various slopes, bricks, and plates in light blue and white for the red plane to crash through. The plane’s body mainly utilizes the plane minifigure costume featured in the series 21 collectible minifigure set, with some added parts to create a second pair of wings and a cockpit. Black 2×2 round tiles serve as a smokey cloud trailing behind the plane – the signifier of disaster. Overall for a minimal build, its concept is surely conveyed.

An artistic stretch of buildings dedicated to the arts

Microscale buildings can be a challenge to design, but Luis Peña knows just how to make them sizzle. Inspired by the architectural work of Santiago Calatrava and Oscar Niemeyer, the custom buildings in Opera and Museum are filled with unusual elements and a ton of class. My favorite touches are the Mysterio Helmet orb/sculpture, and the Web-effect railings on the bridge. The curves from the balloon panels create a great sense of motion for the scene, too.

If tiny buildings are your thing, take a stroll through our archives for even more compact goodness.

LEGO Star Wars 40451 Tatooine Homestead: GWP for 2021 May the Fourth weekend [Review]

May the Fourth, the annual Star Wars Day, is almost here, and as usual LEGO is releasing some special goodies to celebrate. This year brings another freebie Gift with Purchase (GWP) set in the line of Star Wars microscale dioramas that LEGO’s been exploring since 2019. 40451 Tatooine Homestead lets you finally recreate Uncle Owen haggling over droids with the Jawa junk dealers outside the Lars family underground home. Maybe you can even get those units in the south range repaired by midday. The set includes 218 pieces and will be available from LEGO.com and in LEGO stores May 1 through May 5, free with a minimum purchase of US $85 | CAN $85 | UK £85 of LEGO Star Wars products.

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

Click to read the full review

Post-apocalyptic scene in the palm of your hand

You don’t need a big collection of parts to create something remarkable. Just ask Mark, who accepted the 101 part challenge, and made this amazing microscale scene of nature reclaiming those structures built by man. This scene could be straight out of the video game Last of Us with those vine-covered buildings and that abandoned bus. I especially like the cracks in the pavement with just a hint of green. And don’t miss that vine “snaking” across the sidewalk on the right side.

I spy with my little eye... some clever parts usage

This one might be worth zooming in for a second. There’s a lot of fun stuff packed into this little LEGO build by Roanoke Handybuck. Where should we start? We’ve got chain links for the water wheel, bridge, and windmill. There are also hands, horns, and wands galore used for a variety of things. We even have full arms (minifigure and tauntaun) here as part of the cobblestone pathway. Let us not forget the reddish brown crown in the tower. That part only came in the 71040 Disney Castle in that color. Finally, can you find the paintbrush and frog?

Actually, those aren’t ALL the cool things. But I encourage you to see what else you can find on your own. Just the colors and shape of the base are fun by themselves. The only negative points for the purist in me are the cut-up pieces used for the grass. Added points, though, for the fact that apparently the water wheel and windmill spin! By crankshaft? We’ll have to stay tuned for a video! In the meantime, check out more of Roanoke’s work in our archives.

All hail the king the of the wolves

Never having read Twilight, I must confess I’m not too familiar with Werewolf social hierarchies. But it’s pretty clear that this LEGO werewolf is preeminent among his canine peers, given the crown. Inspired by artwork from Powerwolf, a German metal band, (because of course it is) this vignette by Revan New depicts the Lupus Dei terrorizing a town. Revan has captured the wolf’s snarling visage perfectly with a jumble of pieces that includes wings, teeth, and minifigure arms. I think the best detail, though, is also one of the simplest: the cross clutched in his right hand, which is made of just five elements: a round 2×2 tile and four 1×1 clips.

The world between worlds

Portals, parallel dimensions, time travel, etc. Those concepts sometimes spice up storytelling, like in Back to the Future, and Avengers: Endgame. And sometimes they fail, like in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the sequel fan-fiction that was canonised into a theatre production. Even Star Wars: Rebels tried to explore those concepts in an episode titled “The World Between Worlds”, which didn’t work at all. As for this small two-hour build by Luka (First Order Lego), it works very well.

Titled “A world between worlds,” but totally unrelated to Star Wars, Luka’s creation is a small microscale landscape build. A portal to another world dominates a lush valley with a small cute village built into the cliffside. A barren wasteland from beyond oozes something dark and dreary that pollutes the idyllic paradise. Overall, this has some great details for such a small build. I really enjoy some of the part choices for the greenery, like the green Hero Factory blades for evergreen trees. In addition, a half-hidden Knights Kingdom buildable figure helmet also adds texture to the hills.

Check out more of Luka’s builds!

Aye, there’s a castlehead for you

There’s trainheads and castleheads, but usually it’s meant to refer to fans of the various LEGO themes. However, here’s a build that takes it quite literally. Designed by Corvus Auriac, this 5,400-piece microscale model depicts a castle built on a rock that might be a little more alive than its builders suspected. It’s packed with lovely details from the dragon burninating the town to the tiny wizard tower sprouting out of the side of the castle’s tallest roof. Do yourself a favor and give this one a close look, as you’ll be rewarded with lots of clever parts usages. One of my favorites is also the one used most here: most of the trees are made from dark green minifigure epaulets stacked on each other.

A medieval winter wonder-castle

Winter wonderlands are a fairly common theme with LEGO builders, and not just houses and villages, but castles as well, like this cozy castle by W. Navarre. I hope they have plenty of tiny logs to burn in their tiny fireplaces. The model features a nice mix of newer and older gray parts for the perfect weathered look and speaking of weather, the scene includes several patches of snow on the roofs and the surrounding grounds. One of my favorite details is the little tower near the left side, which is attached using 1×1 rounded tiles on their side, stuck into the underside of the larger 2×2 rounded plate.

The last (tiny) homely house east of the sea

Rivendell – the mention of the name already evokes a feeling of home. A location in J.R.R. Tolkien’s famous books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, it appears as a sanctuary, a last respite to characters who are on a journey into “the wilderness.” Builder Elias (Brickleas) built the Last Homely House in all its peaceful glory in microscale in just 100 LEGO parts. While the elven buildings are tiny among the large cliffs, they are instantly recognisable thanks to clever parts usage.

I love the way Elias uses books as the angled roofs, and one stickered book is actually very fitting here. It is the Red Book of Westmarch, the book that Bilbo Baggins wrote during his retirement in Rivendell. The battle droid torso also works very well, since its skeletal nature represents the open-air feel of those buildings. I found the small waterfalls very impressive, using Hero Factory claw pieces which perfectly hug the large wedge used as a cliff. Elias perfectly demonstrates that when building something with a small number of parts, use the best parts.

A plucky little space patrol craft

Flying through space is not at all like dusting crops, junior. While any self-respecting spaceship tasked with defending a planet wouldn’t be seen without a decent cannon, there are other dangers outside the safety of the atmosphere. Alvaro Gunawan knows about some of these dangers, like solar radiation, and maintaining full power at all times, so they equipped their patrol ship with shields, solar fins, and a couple of big engines. This craft even looks like something NASA or SpaceX might come up with… maybe we’ll live to see something like this sweeping the space around our little rock someday.