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.

It’s summer in tiny Sweden

Summertime in Scandinavia — beautiful blue skies, and sunlight bouncing from the timbered houses. At least that’s the vision conjured up in Sarah Beyer‘s latest LEGO creation; a lovely little postcard-style microscale model of a Swedish block of flats. The grille bricks create an impression of timber-clad buildings, and the window frames are nicely-done. The foliage is simple but effective, particularly that street-sweeper roller used for the pine at the building’s rear. Ice cream scoops as little fluffy clouds provide the perfect final touch — breaking up the expanse of blue, and making it feel like a wonderful summer’s day.

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Stunning LEGO Minas Tirith stands watch over Gondor

Minas Tirith, the Tower Of Guard, capital of the nation of Gondor, principal defender of the Realm Of Men against Mordor’s dark threat. This famous city from Tolkien’s Lord Of The Rings has been the subject of many a LEGO creation, but it’s seldom looked better than in this rendition by Koen. The model is large, despite being built in microscale, and is composed of around 11,500 pieces. Taking six months to design and build, it’s remarkably faithful to the films’ version of the city. All the key elements are here — the great curved walls, the massive spur of rock, the tall citadel and the single white tree found on the topmost level. Koen has even gone as far as to include the tombs of the Gondorian Kings and their Stewards, situated behind the citadel itself.

The Pelennor Field, the large plain before the city, is seen here in happy prosperous times with farms and forests right up to the city walls, which makes a pleasant change from its usual appearance as an orc-ravaged battlefield. Koen has shared more images which show the details of the buildings within the lower rings, and the various techniques employed to give them varied texture and shape. The muted “sand” shades of green, red, and blue used for the roofs gives a sense of realism whilst providing a pleasant contrast to all the white.

My only quibble with this model arises from its accuracy to the film version of the city. It has always irked me that the outer wall in the movies was white to match the upper levels, when in the books it is described as hewn from the same arcane black materials as Orthanc. However, it seems harsh to hold that against such a wonderful piece of LEGO art, so I’ll push my Tolkien-geekery to one side and instead appreciate the building skills which went into this wonderful creation.

From Hawaii to Havana on the Bannanaville

A striking turn-of-the-century style dreadnought, the CWS Bannanaville is outfitted with more armaments than you could hope to face if she decides to give you a broadside. Designed by Thomas of Tortuga, this fictional fleet-leader is one of the best examples of microscale warship building I’ve seen, with lots of perfect little details. Because of how perfectly it fits, the one I like best is the use of the “cheese grater” 1×2 slopes for ladders between the decks. It’s a remarkably good render, to boot.

A small but mighty Destiny

This sleek craft by CK-MCMLXXXI is a study in symmetry. Not only left to right along the central axis, as is more common in spaceship design, but also top to bottom. It feels like that solid white canopy at the front, combined with that 45-degree wedge plate was the central element to inspire this design. Regardless of where the idea came from, this craft is jammed with great greebly bits in a variety of colors, some really nice connections, and plenty of curved elements that give the vessel a refined, yet functional look.

This castle is over the moon

A long time ago, in this galaxy far, far away, you won’t find lightsabers and droids, but you’ll certainly spot princesses and knights. Built by Koen, this precariously perched castle has a wonderfully Disney-like aesthetic with some clever techniques mixed in, if you take some time to study it. Note, for instance, the second-tallest turret, which has windows made of pulley wheels and Technic pins.

Personally, I’d like to think this is where the Little Prince lives after he grows up.

Homeless in Seattle

As the gateway to the Klondike, Seattle boomed during the gold rush of the late 1800’s. And with the explosive growth of Amazon in recent years, the Emerald City is experiencing a new boom. Everything here is surging: the economy, the population, house prices, and consequently homelessness. King county now ranks #3 in the nation for homelessness, after New York and Los Angeles, 47% of whom lack proper shelter.

I decided to use LEGO to illustrate this problem by imagining Seattle as an Architecture skyline set, featuring the Space Needle, Pike Place Market (complete with brass pig and gum wall), the Columbia Tower, Smith Tower, ship yards, and a plethora of street-side tents.

The good news is that local government has just levied money to finally attack this humanitarian crisis, no thanks to Amazon. The Seattle-based retail giant, now one of the most valuable companies in the world, threatened to halt all of its downtown expansion rather than cough up less cash than they probably spend keeping their cafeterias stocked with kombucha and avocado toast. Meanwhile the company’s founder – now the world’s richest person – allegedly ponders sinking the bulk of his fortune into advancing space travel.

Maybe before we start putting people in tents on Mars, we should first try to reduce the number that are forced to live in them down here…

Beautiful LEGO recreation of Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia in Istanbul is one of the most famous buildings in the world — first a Greek Orthodox Church, then the Ottoman Imperial Mosque, and now a museum. Despite its reknown, its distinctive collection of domed, sloped, and circular construction is surely an intimidating subject to recreate in LEGO bricks. However, Rocco Buttliere — the undisputed master of LEGO architecture — appears up to the task.

The attention to detail that’s gone into this model is impressive, and the parts use is a masterclass in how to give a LEGO creation depth of texture. Don’t miss the use of Shakespearean-minifigure neck ruffs as flourishes on the surrounding towers, battle droid feet employed as arched windows, and the masterstroke of using hot dog sausage parts for the central dome! This is a great example of imaginative building to show anyone who ever says LEGO parts are getting too specialised nowadays.

Spend a little time in the office

One of the great joys of LEGO is when you see a piece used in a brilliant new way. That’s exactly what Victor has done here in this tiny microscale office interior. Yes, the 80s-look geometric floor design uses a bunch of those new diagonal 1×1 tile parts, and the lamp and wall pictures are smartly-done, but it’s the chairs you should be looking at: two minifigure mohawk hairpieces — upside-down and balanced on round 1x1s. Brilliant.

That armor’s too strong for blasters!

Building a Technic mechanism to make a LEGO model actually move can be daunting for those who mainly build static models, but perhaps this excellent Star Wars kinetic sculpture by Josh DaVid will inspire you (and me) to give it a try.

The model features a circling snowspeeder, and moving legs on the AT-AT, which can be powered by hand or with a Power Functions motor. The builder has done an excellent job compacting and simplifying a seemingly complex mechanism into such a small space. Check out the video below to see the model in action!

An exercise in microscale

What I particularly love about building in microscale is that it makes you value every single piece and every spare stud of space. When a tiny 1×2 slope becomes a very huge section of the building’s roof you become very careful with planning your creation. And Marco De Bon‘s tiny quarter is a brilliant example of careful planning and very nice execution. Despite a very limited variety of pieces and colors, this neighbourhood looks both elegant and surprisingly diverse. My favourite part would be those small balconies of the white apartment building; the use ofplate 2 x 4 wedge‘s shape is just stunning.

Head into space battles aboard the Andromeda

Large spaceships are a flagship of LEGO space creations, where “large” is generally accepted to be 100 studs in length (or honestly any other spatial dimension) — these are called capital ships or SHIPs (Super Huge Investment in Parts). For the past few years, it’s seemed like there might be fewer built throughout the year, because many people rather concentrate their efforts in the annual SHIPtember community challenge in September. So in a way, Lysander Chau‘s Battleship Andromeda is like a Christmas gift in May, and I hope your big spaceship lust is as satisfied as mine.

Click to see more of the Andromeda

Micropolis block packs a lot of Microscale punch

The Micropolis standard is what allows LEGO builders from around the world to come together at a convention and build a sprawling but tiny city that fits together. Here, LEGO creator Tammo S demonstrates some great microscale building techniques in this city block, featuring a hotel, some apartments, a pizzeria, a few residential buildings and a lovely courtyard. The model has a very European vibe, with a variety of dormer window designs, satellite dishes, and landscaping.

See more photos of this lovely little town