There has been a recent wave of microscale models inspired by official LEGO sets… Maybe Brainiac has set his intergalactic collector sights on LEGO creations. This microscale model of 70751 Temple of Airjitsu by play captures many of the great details of the larger set perfectly, from the tree next to the blue blacksmith shop to the gold ornaments on Sensei Wu’s tea shop. The temple itself is the perfect miniature replica of the traditional structure.
One of the joys of building in microscale is the challenge of doing more with less. In “The Bull Girls,” flickr user Letranger Absurde has proven adept in the art of micro-building. The entire scene has a Mediterranean flair to it. In particular, the microfigure with the red dress reminds me of a Spanish flamenco dancer. You can even find a piece of a flamenco dancer in the thatched-roof building…literally! The curtain over the entrance is actually the dress from the Series 6 collectible minifigures flamenco dancer.
It’s amazing what one specific part can do bring a little LEGO creation to life, and this model is packed full of fun details. The use of the black wizard beard for hair is brilliant, and I’m a big fan of the roller skates & cupcake holders that make up the microfigures’ dresses. The curved tree trunk also adds a lot of character.
My favorite part is the bull, which uses brown frogs for legs, minifig arm for a tail, “gorilla fist” for a head, and white cattle horns that first appeared in the 1994 Pirates Islanders theme. It’s a truly inspired design!
Massive new Marvel movie coming out? What better way to celebrate than with a set of teeny-tiny LEGO Avengers? I couldn’t resist giving these guys a go in micro/nanoscale. There’s not that many characters you can reduce to this scale and still keep them immediately recognisable, but the distinctive colour schemes of comic book superheroes make it possible. The model is not quite purist — there was a little bit of cutting involved (HERESY!), and two sections are balanced on each other rather than stuck together. But I think it looks cool so I’m begging forgiveness. (Bonus points for any eagle-eyed commenters out there who can spot which piece I cut…)
Building a microsocale landmark is a fine art of choosing the right miniature detail that makes your model instantly recognizable. Some landmarks are so iconic that it might seem like this would be too easy. Not so! Finding the perfect detail part can be challenging. In this model of the Taj Mahal by Jay B, several recently introduced parts provide great details, but might not be the first thing that a builder would think of.
This model reminds me of one of the very first models that I posted on Flickr over 5 years ago, using a much more limited supply of parts.
We singled out Jeff Friesen’s Cityscapes as our 2017 Creation of the Year. If you’ve missed it then, these are still very much worth a look, and even if you’ve seen them, they’re so mesmerising that you may find something you missed earlier on. It’s almost soothing and appealing to let your eyes wander around these intricate builds.
We could not resist reaching out to have a deeper discussion with Jeff to understand the mind of an artist that could create something so different and unique with the very same bricks all of us see and build with every day.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, e.g. where are you based, your LEGO history, and your work (LEGO/Photography and real life if it is different)?
I’m an award-winning photographer based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, which is on Vancouver Island. I have vivid memories of playing with LEGO from the age of 3 (that was in the early 1970s). I had a shoebox full of white and red bricks in the classic sizes, mostly 2 x 4s. Those bricks were used to make everything from aeroplanes to cities to double-decker car ferries for Matchbox racers. Recently, I was wondering why the brick selection was only red and white. After doing some research it appears the bricks must have been a hand-me-down set from the 1960s. Back then LEGO used to have basic building sets in just red and white.
The late 1970s brought with it the dual treasures of minifigures and Space LEGO. I essentially lived in a Space LEGO drama for a few years. Blue, trans-yellow, and grey were the primary colours of that era. As a child, the actual LEGO building is just the beginning of the fun, and then you get to play with what you’ve made. As an adult, I’ve replaced the play phase with photography.
It’s amazing how LEGO has been there through every stage of life, and now my daughter’s life.
Click here to continue reading our interview with Jeff Friesen
The new LEGO House in Billund, Denmark is designed to look as if it has been built from giant LEGO pieces. Aside from the official set 21037 – LEGO House, we’ve not seen many actual brick-built versions. Lasse Vestergård is out to change all that with this wonderful 1:100 scale re-creation of the Danish original. The model does a great job of capturing the distinctive shapes and colours of the structure, and has an impressive level of detail…
Click to see more pictures of this great model
Whenever a new element is released by LEGO, it quickly starts to show up in custom LEGO creations. This wonderfully detailed microscale model of the SpaceX Falcon booster landing on a mobile platform by Curt Quarquesso is a great example. Curt used two new transparent orange flame-colored parts (aka power burst bolts) for the rocket thrust and its contact with the platform. These pieces have only appeared in two sets so far: 76097: Lex Luthor Mech Takedown, and 76108: Sanctum Sanctorum Showdown.
It’s always interesting when a LEGO builder who is well-known for a particular style decides to dabble in something different. We’ve previously featured the work of Sarah Beyer — her minifigure-scale architectural homes are beautiful (even if regularly devoid of any actual minifigures!). Here, she shifts to microscale, and tackles an altogether different structure — a corporate skyscraper that wouldn’t look out of place in an episode of Suits.
The photography here is excellent, the low angle creating an impressive sense of height and heft. Whilst the bricks and building techniques employed are simple, the texture gives the whole thing a realistic feel — the key to an effective microscale creation. The model’s base is as stripped-back and attractive as its upper storeys — don’t miss the use of the golden ring as the base of the fountain in front of the bank’s lobby.
Don’t you find it unfair that it took the Rebels just a couple of movies to destroy everything the Empire had built across the whole galaxy during many, many years? A Star Wars fan and an extremely talented LEGO fan one case shows compassion to the Empire with a jaw-dropping replica of the iconic Executor class Star Dreadnought ship. This 52-in/132-cm ship consists of more than 7,300 pieces; this is even more pieces than in the biggest LEGO Star Wars 75192 UCS Millennium Falcon set!
See more of this huge LEGO Star Wars ship
This microscale LEGO landscape by Emil Lidé offers a picturesque insight into the expansion of the LEGO colour palette — particularly in green. The model’s colour scheme effortlessly recreates a realistic forest feel, and the variety of colours is supported by the variety of construction techniques used amongst the trees. Beyond the forestry, there are some lovely touches — don’t miss the tan Technic pins used to create the wheat field, and the fence built from brown minifigure hands. The only thing I’m unconvinced by is the elaborate border on the diorama’s base — I think it distracts from the central build and would have been better as a plain construction. However, that’s a minor quibble with an otherwise excellent creation.
You may remember back in January we featured instructions for a tiny typewriter by Niklas Rosén. After seeing more of his gorgeous builds we decided to feature highlights from his Flickr collection. Niklas tells us it’s the shapes that give him the inspiration to create everyday household objects. Here he is trying to expand his Monofig collection with this nifty airbrush kit with paints.
His favourite among his eclectic collection is the elegant antique clock. I love the simplicity of his gravity-defying tap with water splash motif.
Click here to see more awesome mini-builds!
Here’s a tiny slice of futuristic LEGO from Blake Foster — a cool spaceship in an equally-smart hangar. The ship itself is a masterpiece of microscale building, boasting an impressive depth of texture for such a small creation. Blake has made the most of the details moulded into the chainsaw handle element which makes up the core of the craft, but it’s the chunky droid arms used to create the thruster fins which give the ship its distinctive shape and character. Set the craft in a neat little hangar (featuring binocular parts used to create pillars) and couple with some excellent macro photography, and you’ve got a great piece of LEGO microscale.
