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.

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.

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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.

Welcome home to Bosco Verticale

Bosco Verticale is a skyscraper full of lush greenery in Milan, Italy . Built by TBB’s own Elspeth De Montes, this micro-version is a fantastic urban forest coupled with beautiful architectural details. There are a lot of things to love in this build. I particularly love the use of non-traditional green bits to bring diversity and life to this miniature forest: I spot cheese grater slopes, quarter-circle tiles, brushes, and combs. There are teeth pieces, taps, blades, and Medusa’s hair from Series 10 of the Collectible Minifigure line. Repurposing the Eye of Ender tiles from the Minecraft line as solar panels is a fantastic use of that piece.

Ole!

Microscale LEGO building tends to focus on buildings and vehicles, but Teabox(henrik_zwomp) has taken up the challenge of depicting a figure and an animal at a tiny scale. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s pulled it off admirably with this adorable little matador facing up to a bull. Immediately recognisable, the subject matter not be to everyone’s taste as a sporting spectacle, but there’s no doubting the building skill on display.

Many names for this towering sight

Orthanc, home of the corrupted white wizard Saruman, is an important part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and is even referenced in the title of the second book, The Two Towers. The film version of the tower may not be quite as iconic as Sauron’s Barad’dur, but it’s still managed to burn itself into the memories of fantasy lovers all over the world. This microscale LEGO recreation by Maelven isn’t the first LEGO Orthanc model we’ve featured, but the builder has added a lot of great style to it.

Although quite a departure from this builder’s comfort zone of highly accurate Star Wars vehicles, Maelven did not disappoint in this turn to fantasy. The intense details on the tower will keep your attention for more time than you would expect, but what I really like is the gradual but very fluent tapering of the tower’s shape towards the top — an effect achieved by slightly tilting many bars and plates on the surface of the creation.

Like this tiny Orthanc? Check out this diorama of the breaking of Isengard featuring a 7 ft tall Orthanc, or a detailed 8 ft tall Orthanc with a full interior.