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.

Mid-scale LEGO U-wing & Blue Squadron X-wing from Rogue One

The UT-60D U-wing gunship revealed in Rogue One (out digitally today and on disc next Tuesday) has inspired numerous LEGO models, from the official 75155 U-wing Fighter set to fan-made creations like the UCS U-wing by Mirko Soppelsa. Adding to his fleet of smaller-scale LEGO Star Wars vehicles, Tim Goddard has built a fantastically detailed U-wing, accompanied by a pair of updated X-wings representing Blue Squadron and Red Squadron.

Like the short-lived 7778 Midi-Scale Millennium Falcon, this scale gives Tim enough pieces to achieve lots of interesting detail (I love the gray section and those blue stripes on the sides of the U-wing) without a huge investment in parts. Naturally, Tim has built fully functional swing-wings for his U-wing.

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Your favourite band is now playing at Hardy Nilsson Arena

You will not find Hardy Nilsson Arena in real life as this building comes directly from the creative mind of Nybohov Creation Ltd. Hardy Nilsson is a retired Swedish ice hockey player and coach, and this fantastic microscale arena has been named after him. The shaping of the building is both unusual and eye-catching. Both the curvaceous walls and wavy corners of the roof are beautifully designed. The colour scheme gives a 70s retro feel that I love. How easy would this arena be to spot in a busy city?

As with all microscale scenes, the ingenuity of parts use is often found in the small details. The builder demonstrates a lovely array of microscale flora in the landscape with at least four different types of tree. The billboard lights made from telephone handsets look perfect, while the microscale traffic in the streets surrounding the arena really set the scene.

Smashing LEGO like a Rock Star: a conversation with Canadian Iron Builder, Tim Schwalfenberg [Interview]

This week we headed up to our great neighbor to the north to track down Tim Schwalfenberg. Tim lives in Canada, is 21 years old and is currently studying Materials Engineering at his local university. He also likes to publicly smash his LEGO builds too, but more about that later.

TBB: Hi Tim! Can you tell us a little about yourself and your relationship with the Brick?

Tim: Sure! I have found LEGO to be a great creative outlet when I need a break from all my calculus or physics courses. While I’ve been building almost as long as I can remember, it wasn’t until my first year of university that I started to look at LEGO with the intention of making anything beyond the rainbow-warrior spaceships of my earlier years. Through a combination of some inspiring creations I stumbled upon through MOCpages and finding myself with too much free time on my hands, I decided that to try out this LEGO thing more seriously. Thousands of pieces and hundreds of creations later the LEGO hobby has become an incredibly important part of my life. The itch to build has become a constant companion that is easily rewarded by long hours tinkering away on a table-scrap covered table.

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Space pod arriving at Martian Outpost, please mind the gap

I’m fairly sure this LEGO “Martian Outpost” is a human outpost on Mars rather than a place for Martians to hang out. The dark orange-red environment in this diorama by KW Vauban certainly looks like Mars to me, and there’s a lot of action despite the microscale size of the build. Centrally, a railed transport vehicle approaches a shelter — suggesting we are seeing only a small portion of a much larger habitat. My favourite part? The sliding doors closing behind the ‘space saucer’ that has just left an underground area. I want to peek inside those doors to see what’s down below!

There’s a whole story in this microscale diorama, but the builder hasn’t given us any extra information — just this smart little snapshot in time.

Madame Pele unleashes her fiery anger

It’s hard to improve on the builder’s own title of “Panic in paradise!”, but when I first saw this beautiful and terrifying little scene by Marcel V., I immediately thought of the Hawaiian goddess Pele, simultaneously destroying as she creates new land. While I’m personally not a huge fan of loose bricks for water, the tiny houses and lush forest, along with the fiery volcano itself, more than make up for my aversion to unattached LEGO.

A perfect reflection: the Taj Mahal in microscale

India’s most famous piece of architecture is also the world’s most famous mausoleum and the final resting place of Mumtaz Mahal, a 17th-century empress consort. Builder Brick Point brings us a lovely microscale LEGO rendition complete with the tomb and its surrounding grounds, including the long reflecting pool in front.

And if you want to see how the builder created this, they’ve made an excellent 55-second time-lapse video of the construction showing the process layer by layer.

Singapore skyline faithfully represented in LEGO bricks

Through decades of planning and cultivation, Singapore has earned the name of a “Garden City”. Within 277 square miles a population of 5.7 million resides, one of the top 3 major global financial centers. Singaporean local Gavin Foo showcases the core of this economic hub with a skyline built entirely from LEGO bricks. This jungle of towering concrete structures hosts the banking and finance industry, whilst along the Singapore river is the place to head for a cold beer at the end of a hard day’s work.

A chocolate box château in France

The Château de Chenonceau is a historic building in the Loire Valley in France, spanning the River Cher. The current château was built in the early 1500s on the foundations of an old mill and was later extended to span the river. While not the original owners, the château was acquired by the Menier family, who are famous for their signature chocolates, and they still own the château to this day. Isaac Snyder has managed to capture the architectural essence of this beautiful, grand building in LEGO microscale.

The complex collection of varying roofs that depict the chapel and library areas at that Northeast end of the château are very nicely built, but my favourite section is definitely the multiple archways with the flowing river below.

Court is in session. The verdict? Lovely

A Federal Constitutional Court building might not sound the most obvious inspiration for a LEGO creation. But the resulting microscale creation from Pascal Schmidt is just lovely. Designed by Paul Baumgarten, the original German building was one of the first truly modern court building, avoiding the traditional use of oppressive architecture designed to intimidate and impress. Pascal has perfectly captured the lighter, airy, Modernist feel of the structure. And those trees — fantastic.

Spaceship, Spaceship, Spaceship: A peek into the mind of British builder Jeremy Williams [Interview]

This week we got to sit down with British builder Jeremy Williams (aka “Bricking It”). He lives in Leicester with his wife and two young sons (ages 5 and 6). He travels frequently, consulting for accounting firms and training their accountants. However, I was able to catch him between road trips and pick his brain. Come explore the mind of a builder with me!

TBB: Hey Jeremy, can you tell us how you got into LEGO?

Jeremy: Sure – I got into LEGO as a kid, and Classic Space was my era. I spent every evening building and playing with spaceships! I also got slightly into Technic, but never Castle or City. I then abandoned LEGO as a teenager and only picked it up again six years ago after my first son was born. I figured I had an excuse again!

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Beautiful diminutive kingdom

We’ve covered castles of many sizes from the very large to the incredibly small and somewhere in-between. Look closely at this incredible (entirely digitally generated) microscale Kazum’dar Castle by Sunder_59…

I love how the castle walls rise and fall with the terrain. A bird’s eye view shows the full complexity of the build, allowing a glimpse inside the castle walls at the multi-story buildings, including a perfect wee church, barracks, an assortment of dwellings and a shop. This micro-scale castle is a perfect example of how simple can be elegant.

Judge me by my size do you?

Yes Yoda, I AM judging you by your size. And I judge you to be the cutest little Force-wielder ever. These microscale LEGO Star Wars figures by dmitri dolgov are fabulous — enough detail to be instantly recognisable, yet teeny-tiny enough to be supercute blocky interpretations. Sorry Dmitri, but I insist you go and build all the other Star Wars characters at this scale. Immediately.