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.

War of the ‘micro’ worlds

Although Sad Brick’s War of the Worlds diorama occupies a tiny base plate, it still packs in some serious detail and a sense of scale completely at odds with its diminutive size. It’s one of the perpetual ironies of LEGO building, that working small creates some of the best representations of physically huge vistas.

A few rotated and misaligned transparent cheese slopes become a broiling ocean, unbelievably hot dog sausages are reimagined as the suspension arches on the Golden Gate Bridge – a design adapted from builder Li Li’s brick-topper badge for Bricks by the Bay 2017 – and a minidoll syringe doubles as ~~a submarine periscope~~ Alcatraz Island’s watchtower. Setting the scene for one of the littlest, and best, brick-built aliens I’ve seen, to cause havoc in.

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This microscale Y-wing is setting up for an attack run

The single most recognized feature of the BTL-A4 starfighter, a.k.a. the Rebel Alliance Y-Wing, is the long tube-shaped engines or nacelles that give the starfighter its nickname. But an equally distinct design detail would have to be the greebling, or random non-specific technical looking details, that fill the rest of the ship behind the wedge-shaped cockpit. This microscale model by Tim Goddard has absolutely nailed both of these details in a very challenging scale for a model this complex.

The recent introduction of a number of tiles with rounded edges like the 1×1 quarter tile, the 1×1 incisor tile, as well as the 2×2 curved and angled tiles, provide a lot of detail both on the ship’s fuselage, and in the stand, which contains a slice of the Death Star surface. Another MVP with this model is the 1×2 silver ingot. The signature elements all come together perfectly.

Tim’s Y-wing joins his growing wing of Rebel starfighters at this scale, including a U-wing from Rogue One and classic X-wing.

Run silent, run deep

Digital LEGO models can be a polarising topic — many people would say it’s not “real building”. Strictly-speaking, they’re correct, but occasionally a CGI image comes along which demands attention for its imaginative construction without being a wish-list model of unavailable pieces in rare colours. This stylish and minimalist vision of submarine warfare by Mark B. is a cracker, rendered or not. The microscale ship and submarine models are nicely put together, but it’s the colour choices that set the tone and make this look so cool. I’d love to have this hanging on my wall as an art piece.

A mini sci-fi city that’s a step above the rest

I have a bit of a soft spot for builders that really build a bit of everything. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with building only spaceships, or trains, or architecture, I enjoy building in many themes/styles. I’m not always great at it, but I like being versatile, and it’s cool to see the work of others who do it really well. Micah Beideman is one of them. You may recognize the name from another recent and completely different creation we covered.

The unique sci-fi city is a mass of intriguing buildings. The architecture is designed with a clever use of a very wide range of parts, including several minifig accessories. It’s definitely one you have to zoom in on to really see and appreciate every detail. The most impressive aspect is the layering of tightly bound treads that make up the floating, stair-step groundwork for the city.

A city is not gauged by its length and width, but by the height of its dreams

There’s no shortage of microscale LEGO cityscapes, but the variety within our favourite plastic bricks ensures no two cities are entirely alike. Marco De Bon impresses with this microscale creation, what looks like a transition zone between suburban residences and the soaring towers of downtown. Check out the angles on the grey and blue tower on the right, and the use of a studshooter part as a footbridge between two of the red buildings. The simple stacking of clear 1×2 plates to create the trio of towers at the rear is surprisingly effective, and the restrained use of sand green studs and lime green ice cream scoops makes for some nice vegetation.

Tiny castle wins the prize

This tiny castle by -soccerkid6 was built as a prize for a castle building contest but stands on its own merits as a great microscale model. Many different red elements make great roofs, and I love the ice-cream cones inverted under that long hall. The rockwork is also interesting, with lots of techniques normally found on much larger builds, such as the uneven base and sideways bricks.

And in case you are wondering what it looks like from the back–I know I was.

Clean and simple microscale castle is packed with charm

When it comes to building a great microscale castle, there is something beautiful in the simple choices, color, angled walls, round or square towers, a bridge. This lovely castle scene by Henjin_Quilones has many of these simple choices that add up to an enchanting build.

One of my favorite features is the use of inverted 2×2 round bricks, with windows at the top made with the gaps on the underside of the bricks and plates. A few well-placed gears are another nice detail. The grooved bricks used as stairs was a surprising feature. I also really love the smooth walls topped with slopes, and the very few windows placed very thoughtfully.

Besides the castle itself, there are other areas of the scene worth noticing, like the small village and docks, the watchtower on the far side of the bridge, and the detailed landscaping.

From days of long ago, from uncharted regions of the universe, comes a legend...

It’s been a few days since we announced the upcoming Voltron LEGO Ideas set, and we are counting down the days until its July 23rd release. To help tide things over, Grantmasters has made cute microscale versions of Voltron and the lion-shaped robots. It’s amazing how just a few parts can go a long way toward making something that is instantly recognizable. Voltron looks especially cool, thanks to a pose that is suggestive of preparing for battle. If you would like to build your own, you are in luck because most of these parts are fairly easy to find. The exception to this is the red binoculars, which was only available in the Series 12 collectible minifigure lifeguard. It will make you want to shout, “Let’s go, Voltron Force!”

Sand green tank conquers the sands

The release of the new 21042 LEGO Statue of Liberty set has seen a whole bunch of parts become available in Sand Green for the first time. Peter Reid takes advantage of the new range to put together this cool futuristic tank. The shaping is excellent, and the level of detail and texture crammed into such a small creation is impressive. The backdrop is simple, but provides a nice setting for the central model, and the addition of track marks in the sand behind the vehicle is a lovely touch.

You can read more about the creation of this model over at parts-focused blog New Elementary here.

Awesomely angular microspace magnificence

Microspace ships are one of my favorite things, and this Nebula-class Cruise Ship by Silmaril_1 reminds me just why I like them so much. The combination of orange, white, and lovely shaping make this microscale ship quite pleasurable to admire. I particularly like how those light bluish gray greebles are just barely peeking out from underneath the cracks between panels.

Although the build appears to make great use of mostly common parts — which just goes to show you can make an awesome build without buying tons of the latest pieces — it notably uses a white window pane, with white glass held inside as a subtle detail of the front of the vessel.

Amphibious space invaders

Look out, the amphibious space invaders are coming! Far from piloting mysterious saucers, however, these toads have tech much more familiar, needing a massive rocket to break the planet’s gravity. As usual, the ever-prolific builder Karf Oohlu employs interesting elements at every turn. Two stand out among the lot, though, with minifigure hands deftly employed to create a stud-reversal beneath the cockpit, and light covers doing double duty as space helmets–an easy-to-miss detail of the landed astronauts.

Size isn’t everything in this tiny Jurassic World encounter

Sometimes it’s easy to be amazed by the extremely large creations, and overlook incredible small ones. But some micro-builds are a constant reminder of just how impressive “little” can be. Small size definitely doesn’t mean less detailed or less complicated, and this build is a great example. One of our favorite builders, Grantmasters, has delivered another mini-masterpiece with this build he calls, “When a Kingdom Falls.” Yet again, his eye for unique parts usage has really shown through.

Easily recognizable as a scene from Jurassic World, you may also recognize that those T. rex legs are actually the arms from the full-size LEGO fig. There’s also a Battle Droid body used for the jaw. But my favorite part of this build is the pod. It’s cleverly crafted from 2×2 plates with rounded bottoms and Technic rubber bands. All these elements line up to make for perfect scaling and an eye-catching scene.