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.

You’re all clear, kid! Now let’s blow this thing and go home

We got breathlessly excited about a trio of mid-scale LEGO starfighters from Rogue One a few months ago, centered on the amazingly detailed U-wing dropship. Now, Tim Goddard has updated his classic T-65 X-wing and gives us a closer look. Tim has rebuilt the rear third of the X-wing’s fuselage with more detail and better accuracy, and added a cool stand depicting the Death Star exhaust port.

But what’s so striking about his X-wing design (something we just didn’t notice last time, distracted as we were by the U-wing) is the tiny details of the astromech droid, with 1×1 half-round tiles built into the body of the X-wing as the droid’s legs. Amazing!

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Such adorable war machines

This simple scene by Justin Chua demonstrates a keen skill essential to any microscale build: achieving great accuracy with the smallest number of parts. These three distinct tank models, when compared to images of the real thing, manage to capture essential details in a delightfully simple way. The many varieties of trees and the brick-built road round this vignette out quite nicely.

Time to activate your hyperdrive and build The Ghost from Star Wars Rebels [Instructions]

As Star Wars fans will know, the Ghost was piloted by Hera Syndulla and was the starship and home base of a small band of Lothal rebels. She was named for her ability to travel past Imperial sensors without detection. If you missed out on buying LEGO’s 75053 The Ghost before it retired, then this beautifully designed microscale version by Inthert is well worth building.

The simple breakdown instructions show just how well this microscale Ghost has been designed.

See the step-by-step instructions for building your own LEGO Ghost

Tintin’s tiny adventures

A mysterious meteorite floating in the Arctic, a giant mushroom, a massive spider, and… a seaplane made of bananas? All these elements feature in Sad Brick‘s brilliant LEGO microscale version of a classic Tintin comic book cover. The stormy sea looks great, the iconic mushroom is immediately recognisable, and be sure you don’t miss the tiny Tintin and Snowy figures on the shore. But the star of this show is surely that little seaplane — beautifully put together from a handful of well-chosen pieces.

I remember reading and enjoying The Shooting Star as a child, but it’s worth pointing out that it hasn’t aged as well as some of Herge’s other works. The book is now regarded as something of a blot on Herge’s reputation with its questionable anti-Semitic depiction of the main villain.

Retro micro console goodness

If you weren’t lucky enough to get your grubby hands on a SNES Classic, maybe you could build your own out of LEGO instead? Brick 101 has created this smart microscale recreation of the retro console, and it’s very cute. Coming from the UK, I’m always going to say the PAL version of the SNES was far prettier, but for everyone who remembers the original design, this is a wonderful blast from the past. As an added bonus, there are instructions! Check out the video on how to put this together.

Pirate ship leaves the rest in its wake

There’s no shortage of impressive LEGO pirate/sailing ships. This entry into the genre by albert might not have the impressive scale or detailing of some of the large pirate craft we’ve seen but it’s nicely put together all the same. I love the wake effect, built up from layers of different colours of transparent pieces, and the mixture of tiles and studded plates to create texture in the water.

Personally I don’t care for the tiled lettering. I feel it distracts attention from the rest of the model. However, the ship itself and the wake more than make up for that minor quibble.

The height of 70s office chic

Micropolis is a LEGO building standard which allows for large-scale collaborative builds of microscale cities. The usual module sees a 16×16 base with roads down two sides, leaving a 14×14 “development site”. Tammo S. has used the space to great effect with this 70s-style office block. The curving balconies and the colour scheme are totally retro, and very cool. And don’t miss the little touches like the use of the clock tile, and angled grille bricks as steps — the sort of things that elevate a microscale model out of the ordinary. This office might be beige, but it’s anything but bland.

My only criticism is the lighting on the photo isn’t great. But that doesn’t detract from a lovely model.

Welcome to itty-bitty Springfield

Teeny-tiny, and yet immediately recognisable — that’s Primoz Mlakar‘s microscale LEGO version of the Springfield skyline. The Kwik-E-Mart stands out as a cracking re-creation, but all the buildings are excellent microscale versions of the originals. If it works with landmarks from The Simpsons, I reckon this could work for other fictional cityscapes. Hey LEGO, if you’re listening, I would literally give you all my money for a Skylines series of sets including Gotham, Metropolis, and maybe Mega City One!

Sci-fi city is more than the sum of its parts

This isn’t “LEGO building” as much as “LEGO arranging”, but it’s nice work by McLegoboy! all the same. A well-judged selection of textured parts, coupled with good macro photography, creates a striking composition which wouldn’t look out of place in the universes of Judge Dredd or Mad Max. Not bad for a total of eight pieces!

Kaneda’s motorcycle was smaller than you thought

We’ve seen many LEGO versions of Kaneda’s red motorcycle from Akira, but they’re often larger-scale models like the beauty we saw last year. At the other end of the size spectrum, Grantmasters‘ latest creation is a tiny microscale version of the iconic bike. Grant has used the perfect combination of red pieces for this little masterpiece, although purists may quibble that most of them seem to be balanced atop each other rather than attached. Nice work on the figure too. Overall this passes the “microscale test” — ie. is it immediately recognisable? There’s no doubting that. All together now… “Kaaaannnedaaaa!”

A tiny corner of Transylvania

We’ve previously featured alego alego‘s imaginative parts usage in a microscale LEGO castle made of minifig torsos. This new creation is no less imaginative in its parts choice, but delivers an altogether more sombre and gothic look. The six-barrel shooter creates an excellent impression of castle crenellations, and the spikes atop the towers lend a real feeling of height. But it’s the big drill piece as a floating rock, coupled with the elegant spiral stair which pushes this model out of the ordinary. I can just imagine a tiny Count Dracula surveying his domain from a window in the highest tower.

Snowbound fortress offers small comfort

You don’t have to wait for winter to see a snow-covered fantasy castle. Isacc Snyder follows his microscale LEGO Rivendell model with this equally cool teeny-tiny fortress. There’s a nice selection of parts here, with Technic cogs providing excellent depth of texture on the towers. I also like the ice-clear frozen lake at the castle’s foot, and the white tooth plates suggesting a spill of snow over the edge of the base. Personally, I might have added black screwdrivers to the turrets on the topmost towers, increasing their “spindle-y-ness”, but that minor reservation aside, I love this model.