Sometimes it’s the tiniest LEGO builds that stop you in your tracks. That was definitely the case with this vignette of two pixie-sized ships fleeing a wave of mutilation from builder Louis of Nutwood. Take a moment to appreciate Louis’ brilliant ship design, with croissant sails and frog bows. The gradient of water, from inky black to white sea foam, as well as the irregularly shaped base, add to the drama.
BetaNotus has been working hard to put together a lovely series of microscale LEGO train stations from along the Philadelphia main line. While the real life train moves through space, Notus’ builds bounce backwards and forwards through time to show off Philly’s architecture through the ages. Our first image spans almost 150 years of railroading history. Wynnewood and Bryn Mawr date back to the 1870s, while Merion and Haverford are dated to the 2000s (although Merion was actually built in 1918). Due to the micro-scale nature of these models, Notus has built with admirable delicacy. All the roofs of these stations are only a plate or two thick. The grand staircases up to Bryn and Wynnewood are built of half-plate-offsets
See some more micro-goodness here!
I know if a giant red skull, like this LEGO one by Tino Poutiainen, was hanging over my city, I’d be sounding the alarm. But to be quite honest, the big guy looks almost as surprised as we are. That skull looks like it might have been built by Sentai Fortress as it shares a lot of stickered parts with the Grand Titan. Below the skull, Tino created an excellent sense of scale by building a neat little blasted cityscape. He weathered it by mixing old and new dark grey bricks, and situated it on a dead sandy hill only available from the Loot Island set from 2009. If they’re looking for names for the skull, I’m going to throw out Yor-brick. What would you call it?
LEGO Star Wars fans of a certain vintage may remember a set named 7754 Home One Mon Calamari Star Cruiser. I certainly do – to this day it’s one of my favourite sets. But that remains the only rendition in the brick of Home One, the Rebel Alliance’s de-facto headquarters in the Return of the Jedi era. Even then, it was only the inside! In 2025, we get to see the MC80 depicted in all its bulbous glory thanks to 75405 Home One Starcruiser and its 559 pieces. Part of LEGO’s fledgling Starship Collection, it is available for pre-order now for US $69.99 | CAN $89.99 | UK £59.99, and will ship out from January 1, 2025. After that date you might also be able to find it on sites like eBay or Amazon. Will this be another entry into this writer’s pantheon of favourite sets? Read on to find out!
The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
Click here to read our full review!
Right now, one of the biggest LEGO Star Wars sets you can buy – one of the biggest LEGO sets full stop, in fact – is the colossal 75367 Venator-Class Republic Attack Cruiser. But what to do if you don’t have the funds or space to make such an investment, yet still want a brick-built Republic capital ship? Well, for a fraction of the footprint, you could pick up the 450-piece 75404 Acclamator-Class Assault Ship starting from next January 1! This midi-scale vessel is a fraction of the price, too, with pre-orders open now for US $49.99 | CAN $64.99 | UK £44.99 (oh, and it might show up on eBay or Amazon after its release date). But just because it’s cheaper doesn’t automatically make it a good deal – read on, and see if we think it is so…
The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
Click here to see our full review!
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…?
Much as the Apollo missions took us to the moon in the 1960’s with enough technology to easily fit on today’s smartphone, Joel Short brings us back from the landing in 8 simple LEGO pieces. Utilizing the sprue of a pair of 1×1 round plates as the capsule, we see this little spacecraft propelled through a pair of LEGO Space CMF bases toward a 1×1 plate star. Let’s hope they’ve got enough fuel in that flame piece to get them back home!
In between competing in another Iron Builder competition and contributing to New Hashima, builder Gerrit Gottschalk (gGh0st) spent much of 2024 working on his microscale masterpiece — a model of Château de Chenonceau. The 16th-century French castle sits in the Loire Valley with its bridge and gallery crossing the river Cher. Gerrit’s model consists of about 6,600 LEGO elements and is 80 cm long.
Building in the Architecture style at this scale was a new adventure for Gerrit but you wouldn’t guess it from the end results. It’s a remarkable build filled with innovative parts usage and a high level of detail that remains virtually seamless.
Click for a detailed look at Gerrit’s majestic microscale castle !
While LEGO has released several versions of the iconic Disney Castle in various scales, but those all focus on Cinderella’s Castle from Disney World. There are five other Disney castles around the globe, each charming in its own way. Some argue that Sleeping Beauty’s Castle (or rather, Le Château de la Belle au Bois dormant) at Disneyland Paris takes the crown, and it’s easy to see why in this Microscale version from Jean Paul Bricks. Inspired by the Architecture line and previous builds from Koen Zwanenburg and Dario del Frate, Jean Paul puts his spin on the pink and blue landmark. Jean Paul employs SNOT techniques (Studs Not On Top) to work white stripes into the pink tower. As in Koen’s version, a Gungan shield doubles as stained glass. Someday I’d love to see this version of the castle at minifig scale.
“Here, sir, the people govern.” So said Alexander Hamilton as engraved in the US Capitol in Washington DC. Chances are you’ve seen the Capitol in LEGO before, perhaps in the official release from the LEGO Architecture line, but you’ve never seen it like this. Assembled here from over 36,800 LEGO bricks over four months, Rocco Buttliere‘s model of the Capitol is a masterclass in microscale landscaping and a breathtaking tribute to the heart of American democracy.
To differentiate from past builds of the landmark, Rocco chose to recreate the entire 100-acre grounds of the Capitol Campus, which includes the Capitol, Reflection Pool, Ulysses S. Grant Memorial, Botanic Garden, Capitol Steps, visitor center, and tree-lined paths. As with all of Rocco’s creations, the model is built at 1:650 scale, which posed unique challenges in capturing the appropriate detail. Some of Rocco’s solutions used delightfully surprising parts, such as fork facades, microphone lamps, and jewel fountains.
Take a stroll down the Capitol Steps with us to view the rest of Rocco’s jaw-dropping model!
Either Fedde Barendrecht has been listening to some mind-altering Prog Rock lately or he’s bummed about his daily work/home grind. Maybe a little of both? Whatever the case may be, his new LEGO creation is called Welcome to the Machine. It features a dreary, gray workplace, some cookie-cutter apartments, and a monorail to take you to and from both. That is all. Well, there’s also parkland but when you’re a small cog in a larger machine there isn’t time for dilly-dallying among the daffodils. What did you dream, Fedde? It’s alright, we told you what to dream. Now get back to work, ya bum!
Our amphibious friends have been making great leaps in the field of space travel, as shown by this LEGO model by Julie vanderMeulen. This ship, dubbed the Pond Hopper, was built to help frog-kind see if the water really is bluer on the other side of the wormhole. With a water-lily radar dish on the back, and gold accents throughout the build, any frog will be able to travel in style in a frog shaped cabin. So say it with me, folks: that’s one small step for a frog, one giant leap for froggy-kind!
