The adventures of Master Chief and Marcus Fenix I get as an Xbox player are great and all, but it’s becoming clear I’m missing out on great games on PlayStation like The Last of Us and Journey. Mel F. shows love for the critically acclaimed indie title Journey in a vignette full of clever parts usage. Unikitty tails in tan and the arms of the chicken suit minifigure show the flow of a sandstorm, and a dark red minifigure fan as the playable robed character also evokes movement.
“Aha, that tower again” my friends mumble rolling their eyes each time I tell them about one of the most famous and unusual towers in the world. Fernsehturm Berlin – which we’ve already seen in the [amazon_link asins=’B017B198E4′ template=’TitleOnlyLink’ store=’tbbwpplugin-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’e4759542-e190-11e6-8d87-99954932bf15′]- has a very distinctive shape and Υubnub perfectly captures it at 1:650 scale.
Technically speaking, the tower itself has a pretty plain exterior of concrete and a sphere of steel in the middle. So what makes this build especially good is a couple of buildings on the ground, including a remarkably well executed Pavilion at the base of the tower. Garnished with a several very original varieties of micro trees, this small diorama is ready to shape a perfect skyline of any LEGO micropolis.
What better place to snuggle up inside, safely out of the wind and snow, than noggy85‘s cosy LEGO cottage? This is a lovely piece of microscale building, with “baby bow” curves and 1×1 slopes used effectively to create snow-laden trees. And don’t miss the use of a white croissant as smoke coming from the cottage’s chimney…
We’ve seen some good winter-themed microscale LEGO creations this season. I’d like to see even more before Spring.
Hot on the heels of his smart little LEGO TIE Fighter, Tim Goddard is at it again with a nice microscale rendition of Anakin’s Jedi Interceptor. The model captures the shape and styling of the Eta-2 fighter brilliantly, but the undoubted highlight is the teeny tiny R2D2 — all set to take care of any nano-sized Buzz Droids.
The volcanic eruption in 1883 that destroyed most of the island of Krakatoa was so violent that instruments recorded the blast wave traveling around and around the world several times. Scientists estimate that anybody within 10 miles would have been deafened immediately. Emil Lidé captures this catastrophic natural disaster in LEGO with a beautiful microscale diorama. A bright blue sea and tropical jungle encircle the doomed peak, while flames erupt from the top of the mountain.
Emil demonstrated his mastery of miniature LEGO landscaping with the LEGO tree instructions we featured a few months ago, and these even tinier trees look fantastic.
If you walk along Front West Street in downtown Toronto, Ontario you will see the impressive Fairmont Royal York Hotel. On June 11, 1929, the hotel officially opened. The Royal York changed names and ownership a few times since its humble beginnings as the Ontario Terrace, which consisted of four brick houses, in 1843. Jeff Van Winden has captured the architectural essence of the hotel in LEGO microscale. The sense of scale is emphasised with the busting street below with adorable little microscale vehicles.
I particular like Jeff’s clever solution to the intricate arched windows on the three main blocks at the front with this upturned minifigure basketball stand. Just be sure to book early if the Royal Family are in town, Queen Elizabeth usually has an entire floor reserved for her and her entourage and occupies the Royal Suite herself.
Bigger isn’t always better, and this micro machine by František Hajdekr is living proof. I’m always impressed with the amount of detail builders are able get into builds at this scale. The inverted 1×2 plate on the side looks just like grill on the real thing. Follow this simple instructions video and this miniature bulldozer could be clearing away small piles of rubble on your desk too.
Actually, for all I know, it might be chaotic neutral. But whatever its alignment, Micah Beideman‘s tentacled monster, with its numerous chaoticly distributed red eyes, sure is scary. The gaping mouth appears to use Ninjago dragon jaw pieces as teeth. And the use of inverted tires throughout the model creates a very organic effect. In my opinion though, the microscale ship both helps and detracts from the build; it adds a sense of scale, but at the same time disrupts the illusion of movement, as it seems overly calm considering that a monster of colossal proportions is rising from the water just beside it. I sure am glad these things are not real. I hope.
The challenge of building microscale architecture is about two things — limited size and limited number of pieces which work best as walls, windows and other structural elements. And when you finally reach a perfect balance of scale and elaboration, you have to put some truly extraordinary touches to make your build stand above any other creation. Emil Lidé explores some uncommon shapes and combines sharp and curved corners in his latest microscale tower. What makes this skyscraper truly spectacular is those tiny trees on different levels. They give a perfect sence of scale and remind us about Emil’s talent for building tiny trees.
As we enter 2017 we look upon a world scarred by tension and despair, where reason is too often discarded for demagoguery and life made meaningless by barrel bombs, drone strikes and rampaging lorries. Intolerance seems to spread among both people and nations; the threat of violence, never far off, lurks ever closer.
These factors are not new to our species. The equation has repeated itself often in human history, far too frequently with horrifying consequences. But our viciousness is not preordained. By reminding us of our past misdeeds, history can guide us to a better future. If we forget history, we will be doomed to repeat its mistakes. Pascal pledges not to forget history’s victims with this microscale version of Auschwitz.
Figures vary, but as many as one million people were killed in Auschwitz before Soviet troops liberated the death camp in January, 1945. Nazi Germany’s largest such facility, Auschwitz was the epicenter of what was perhaps mankind’s most barbaric moments. One could certainly praise the builder for this accurate and detailed recreation of Auschwitz’ infamous gates. But what is most striking is the message Pascal adds to it, hopefully lost on no one, that our darkest days may return if we fail to heed their lessons.
The Dark Tower series of books by Stephen King is quickly entering the public eye as the upcoming movie draws closer to release. While it’s on everyone’s minds, David Collins has created his own version of the mystical structure in LEGO. Designed for a “books to life” exhibit of LEGO creations, this Tower stands two feet (~61 centimetres) tall. Collins had intended to make the tower taller, but was restricted to this height by the rules of the exhibit. I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s worth questing for regardless.
And what is a Dark Tower without a gunslinger to find it? Collins has also created a minifigure of protagonist Roland Deschain to go with it.
On a personal note, I can’t wait to see this movie. I love the books and, by a strange coincidence, they began filming the movie right here in my home country of South Africa.
A trio of Martian walkers carve a path of destruction through Tokyo Tag Team‘s city as the sun sets. The tripods look decidedly alien with a thin organic style contrasted by the squared off cityscape, and you don’t need to see the heat rays firing off to tell that they don’t come in peace.
While the tripods are the focus of the creation, I find the smoke trails off the burning buildings particularly clever. The billowing clouds of black curved bricks add a sense of movement that a vehicle on a plate just wouldn’t be able to capture.
