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.

No more milling around!

I hear it all the time from would-be builders that they just don’t have enough pieces in their collections. “I can’t make anything cool,” they bemoan, as if having a billion LEGO elements at their disposal would make building easier. Now, in some respects, that is true; having more parts does expand the horizons of what you can build. But more importantly, building cool things comes from an eye for how to use the parts one has, rather than the parts one wishes one had, and a small collection is as good as a large one in that respect. Take this windmill by Inthert, for example. It’s not huge. It didn’t take a lot of parts. Granted, there are some specialty parts like the green palettes and the green feathers, but most of what is in the build could come from the collection of anyone who has a few sets. It’s in the art of arrangement, the way the parts are used, that the coolness comes. And that comes not from having a ton of bricks, but from using them a ton and getting familiar with them.

For example, who, having the fence piece, thinks to put it into the bottom of a jumper plate? Not I. And the tiny round tower, the artfully placed foliage of all sorts, the grille tile fence…the list of clever constructions goes on. And the little Heroica figures are just the cherry on top. And it did not take a billion bricks! So what are you waiting for? Go get your collection out and start building something, if you aren’t already. With this quarantine, I know you have time.

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Deserted in the desert

“Eventually it shall be reclaimed by the sands. But until then, it stands there still — empty and abandoned. A warning to us all.” I love when a LEGO model begs the observer to create a story, when narration springs into the mind as you look over the builder’s work. This excellent microscale castle by Eli Willsea somehow demands the creation of a backstory — its formidable walls and soaring towers seem to require an epic history to explain its emptiness and sense of decay. The model is well put-together, with a nice depth of texture despite a relatively limited selection of bricks and a monochrome colour palette. And its that colour selection which is key to the scene’s appeal, immediately placing the model in a desert environment and conjuring up an atmosphere of decay and mystery and romance.

Small, or far far away?

Some LEGO builders return over and again to the same subject — obsessively tinkering with a particular design, fiddling with the structure or details in an endless quest to “improve” their creation. My particular obsession is with microscale Star Wars — the attempt to capture iconic spaceships and movie scenes in the minimum number of pieces. Microscale building can be a dangerous time-suck of a pastime, as the smallest tweak in part choice or connection can make all the difference in the final appearance of a model. For as long as I’ve been an adult builder I’ve been fiddling around with tiny Star Wars scenes. I must have built these subjects in microscale dozens of times, but on every occasion, the design gets tweaked and revised and tightened. Maybe someday I’ll be content with them, but in the meantime, here are the current iterations. First up, Episode IV: A New Hope…

Click to see models from Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi

Epic tale, epic microscale

I love The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. Like, really, really love it. I have more than a whole shelf in my library (yes, I have a library, filled with many leather-bound books) devoted just to the book and its ancillary volumes (The Hobbit, Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, etc.). Tolkien is my favorite author, by far, and I’ve read his major work at least twelve times. So when I see really well done LEGO builds based on the stories, like this one by Simon Hundsbichler, it gets the warm fuzzies going inside. Even if it is based on the movies, I still love it; after all, for whatever butcheries they did to the characters (e.g. Faramir), Peter Jackson et al. did a phenomenal job of representing the material cultures of Middle Earth. This particular build is inspired by the second volume of the work, The Two Towers, and features many towers, from the horn tower of Helm’s Deep to Orthanc to Minas Morgul to Cirith Ungol.

Microscale is notoriously tricky to pull off, but Simon is a master among masters at it. Some features that need to be pointed out include using the tiny hole in the bar holder with clip as the window at the top of Cirith Ungol. Genius. But it is all amazing. Helm’s Deep bears repeated looks, with the absurd number of unconventional pieces in the rockwork, from grey hawks and frogs to saddles. But then there’s my favorite stair technique with a grille brick leading up to Meduseld. And a stud shooter in Cirith Ungol. And rockets in the towers of both Minas Morgul and Helm’s Deep. And a spider as Shelob, a giant spider. Brilliant. And there’s a Treebeard, too! Add in the book base, and the water flowing through it, and you have one of my favorite LEGO creations ever.

If you missed Simon’s masterful representation of the first volume of The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, check it out here. I can’t wait to see the third installment!

The brightest of battles amongst the stars

From movies to TV shows to LEGO models, we all love a bit of Star Wars action. But one of the persistent criticisms of the franchise is the peculiar need it appears to have to return to similar planetary environments over and again. In an entire galaxy of apparently habitable planets, it seems weird we keep ending up on desert or frozen worlds. Here’s a LEGO creation that decides instead to revel in the possibilities of alien environments, setting a battle between the Republic and the Trade Federation on the colourful world of Tealos Prime. I love the bright foliage and unusual tones in the scenery here — a brilliant contrast with the typical grey vehicles of the Star Wars universe.

The scene, a collaborative effort from Tim Goddard, Mansur Soeleman, and inthert is an absolute cracker — massive in scope despite the micro scale employed on the individual models. Check out this wider top-down view which reveals the full size of the layout, with scenery ranging from forest to cliff-side landing pad, and the impressive array of vehicles from both factions…

Frogzilla for the win

Step aside Godzilla, there’s a new monster in town! And she brought offspring! This LEGO amphibian by alego alego is one the best I’ve seen. It has excellent shaping, and those helmets for eyelids are awesome! Green cherries were a great choice for toes, too. But the nifty parts usage doesn’t stop there! As your eyes wander around the scene, you can make out garage door elements and crates/containers giving texture to buildings, and 1×1 dark green round plates with holes attached to upright paintbrushes for tiny trees. Not to be forgotten, the 1×1 plate with a printed square is perfect for adding depth to the smaller buildings.

Check out more of this excellent builder’s work by visiting our archive.

At this research facility, the future is NOW!

Inspired by the work of Syd Mead, builder Jme Wheeler packs a lot of punch into a fairly small area, creating a sprawling, Futurist research facility in LEGO microscale form.

The builder makes great use of a limited black and blue color palette on the buildings and all light gray rocks. Restricting the colors of the structures gives the whole facility a cohesive look. It makes the green plant matter quite striking and yet doesn’t distract from the beautiful building designs. The tall, stacked building gives us some impossible architecture that somehow feels right at home in the scene and you can almost imagine workers bustling through the covered walkways between buildings. I love the use of the gray curved tiles to represent a raised road or perhaps a monorail track. The windmills are a clever addition and the tiny island with a single palm tree is a great little gem hiding in plain sight.

Stunningly large microscale model of Burj Khalifa

At first glance, this LEGO model of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai could be mistaken for the official set… wait, who am I kidding? there’s no possible way you could confuse this incredible model by Rocco Buttliere for the LEGO set made with only 333 pieces.

There are so many great details that I’m not sure where to start. How about with the inner ring at the base of the model, which uses circular roller-coaster tracks to create a faceted plaza between all three spurs of the building.

Rocco also creates large trees that match the look of the tiny trees made from green flower parts.

Along with the many stunning architectural details like the symmetrical recessed circular gardens, and the gently curving buildings along the edge of the model and the multiple sloped and terraced plazas, the three tapering spurs capture the look of this iconic landmark beautifully.

The entire world of Mario Kart just got shrunk by lightning

With the exciting news of the forthcoming LEGO and Nintendo Super Mario partnership, we should expect to see a bunch of LEGO creations imagining what some of the forthcoming sets might look like beyond those revealed in the press release. BenBuildsLego is off the starting grid early, with this wonderful idea — an Architecture-style line up of iconic tracks from the classic racing game Mario Kart 64. We’ve got six tracks, each immediately recognizable just from a tiny seven-brick-wide segment: Koopa Troopa Beach, Mario Raceway, Bowser’s Castle, Sherbet Land, Wario Stadium, and of course, Rainbow Road. If you didn’t start humming the tunes for each of those as you read through the list, are you even a real Mario fan?

Curve your enthusiasm

LEGO has released a lot of great sets in their Architecture theme, but they all have one big drawback. They’re all based on buildings that exist. I mean…c’mon. This is LEGO we’re talking about. Can’t we be a bit less derivative and a bit more creative? Happily, F@bz didn’t limit themselves to recreating a landmark, they built something new for us to enjoy. In Architecture #1, we get a functional, realistic-looking building with some pretty unique shaping. Those big curves are made from a series of split-level plates sandwiched between 1×2 transparent plate, bent around a curved-slope base. Sweet.

As enviable as that curve is, though, don’t overlook some of the other great details. The roof-level mechanics include ingots and minfigure accessories. My favorite, though, is the stamped letter used as a tiny statue/sign in the courtyard.

This is F@bz’s first venture into microscale building, but hopefully not the last.

Microscale Mata Nui

After writing about LEGO for nearly a decade, it’s rare that I see a mashup that’s new, let alone one that’s done excellently. But this build by Mansur Soeleman brought me that rare delight in the form of a Bionicle creation made of system pieces and done in microscale. The lush green island is Kini Nui, the temple at the heart of Mata Nui in the Bionicle universe, and it evokes the verdant foliage of the island’s jungle well. The build is loaded with brand new elements which I’m excited to see put to such great use, such as the white 1x8x3 slopes for the four pillars on the temple.

Side note: I’m feeling an urge to play Halo now, for some reason…

Build your own microscale Phoenix from Gatchaman [Instructions]

One of my absolute favorite cartoons growing up was Battle of the Planets – the Amercanized version of the Japanese anime classic Science Ninja Team Gatchaman. I loved the cool vehicles, the best of which was the Phoenix, the team’s giant carrier jet. Although it’s already been done, I’ve often dreamed of making a minifig scale version out of LEGO. In the meantime, though, I’m absolutely going to be building this microscale version created by len_d69. This 51 piece build just makes me stupidly happy.

The curved bow plates are the real star of the show, doing double duty as both the nose cone and wing details. The 1×1 tooth plate is also a perfect choice to match the vehicle’s shaping. So…what are you waiting for? Check out the full parts list and make your own!