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.

How to construct the Avalonian Countryside trees [Instructions]

Sometimes it is easy to see how a builder created a particular LEGO build, while at other times a build requires a bit of breakdown and perhaps even a tutorial if there are ‘hidden’ techniques. Last week we blogged this fantastic microscale LEGO countryside diorama from Full Plate, with beautiful fall foliage and crops ready for harvest.

The builder, Emil Lidé, has responded to questions about the creation of his trees with this fantastic tutorial to help you create your own. First, he starts with a layout of the parts required for the green trees.

Next, Emil shows how the trunk is built using a six-pronged flower stem to ‘hang’ the main foliage. The foliage in this example uses a mix of 1×2 plates and 2×2 round plates.

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Little monster walks tall

We’ve seen many brick-built LEGO Godzillas over the years, but this one by SPARKART! may be the smallest. Despite its size, it still manages to convey the feeling of a towering creature of destruction. All it needs now is a microscale city to destroy.

One final point to note here is that the colour composition of this picture makes the grey bricks look almost blue. For a second I thought we might be getting the ubiquitous Mixel joints in some new colours, but sadly my hopes were to be dashed!

Caterham Seven: LEGO City edition

The new LEGO Ideas 21037 Caterham Seven set was announced last week to much fanfare in the UK, but clearly has got fans all over the world excited too, as evidenced by this minifig scale version by Taiwanese builder RGB900.

Waiting for fall in the Avalonian countryside

Fall is right around the corner, and in some places, has completely arrived and settled in. I’d wager that’s the case for this beautiful micro LEGO countryside diorama from Full Plate, with the beautiful fall foliage and the crops ready for harvest.

There’s quite a bit of detail here; the cottages are adorable and simple, and highly effective. the trees are bursting with color and you can clearly identify the different kinds. The dock into the pond is a nice touch.

The school year has started at microscale LEGO Hogwarts Castle

You’re a bit late, but given that we’ve just discovered this tiny Hogwarts Castle, I believe you’ll be able to start the term without issue.

Kit Bricksto build this beautiful micro-scale Hogwarts and it’s just adorable. It’s very recognizable, with the greenhouses and great hall, and that lovely courtyard (no word if this is before or after book 7).

A tiny but amazing LEGO fortress — and how it’s built [Video]

Grant Davis has built this spectacular little microscale castle. Like most LEGO microscale creations, it’s awash in terrific creativity, with lots of unusual pieces used in new ways, and the finished product belies its complexity. Fortunately for all of us curious viewers, Grant made a short video that shows some of the techniques he employed as he walks us through the disassembly of the model.

Supersized LEGO Architecture 21028 New York City skyline

One of my favorite LEGO Architecture sets of the last few years have been the city skyline series, including 21028 New York City. LEGO architect Spencer_R specializes in 1/650 scale models of landmarks, including numerous skyscrapers. Spencer says he’d already built several of the buildings in the set, so he built the Flatiron building and Statue of Liberty, and then put all of them on a large black base. This much larger scale enables Spencer to include much more detail than the minuscule buildings in the official set, and the higher-resolution photo on Flickr — as well as Spencer’s photostream as a whole — is well worth a closer look.

Microscale bridge is anything but the wurst

“All the specialized parts have taken the creativity out of LEGO building…” If you know someone who regularly trots out this sort of baloney then just show them this model. In one of the finest pieces of creative parts usage I’ve seen all year, this microscale Golden Gate Bridge by liqsr uses hot dog sausages as suspension cables. That’s right, hot dog sausages — possibly the single most “specialized” part LEGO has ever produced. I’m now trying to come up with more sausage-related puns, but none of them quite cut the mustard. Just look at the bridge and be amazed instead…

Through the Siq to the hidden Nabatean city of Petra

As I wrote in introducing ArzLan’s LEGO Petra, I spent the summer of 1994 on an archaeological dig in Jordan, and visited Petra for one memorable weekend. Both Petra and Jordan as a whole remain one of the highlights of my life. Letranger Absurde has built a lovely microscale version of Al-Khazneh, the “Treasury” (actually an empty tomb), that greets each visitor to Petra as they emerge from the winding gorge called the Siq.

My one critique of this excellent LEGO model is that the sandstone geology of Petra is nearly as spectacular as the many structures carved into the rock face. Although building a detailed tomb using varying shades of tan and red might not have been achievable, plain brown LEGO for the surrounding rocks seems like a lost opportunity.

Al-Khazneh is, of course best known as the entrance to the fictional, trap-filled obstacle course leading to the Holy Grail in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The facade is the most spectacular thing about the tomb — the interior is just an empty square chamber, though the acoustics are great for singing.

Modern architecture gets prettier and prettier (and smaller)

Paul Wellington‘s latest microscale building uses the still relatively new Mixel joint piece to create a fabulous pattern effect. Sometimes I think repeated elements like this can be overdone in microscale buildings — cool techniques but failing to capture the feel of real world architecture. That’s not the case here. I could totally see Paul’s building sitting downtown in any modern city.

Of course, Paul doesn’t need this building to show up in your city. He’s got a LEGO one all of his own that he’s been adding to over time. I’d heartily recommend a visit to his photostream for lots of pictures of his brick-built metropolis — current piece count sitting at around 19,000 parts!

Soaring towers are the pinnacle of LEGO castle-building

Fresh from wowing us with his banana-roofed treehouse, alego alego has been building a range of microscale castles. This one is my favorite — a wonderful fantasy castle with soaring spires, surrounded by a crystal clear moat and a pleasant greenwood. This fortress wouldn’t look out of place in Hyrule, or the Magic Kingdom for that matter. Very nice use of the new “weapon spear tip with fins” part from Nexo Knights for the tower roofs too…

I’d recommend checking out alego alego’s photostream for more microscale castle goodness, like this one fit for any prince or princess.

Tiny nuclear cooling towers look less ominous in LEGO

Admittedly power plants are not a common subject for LEGO builders, so seeing one is always fun. WHBRICKS gives us this adorable tiny nuclear plant, which is lovely in its simplicity. It’s highly recognizable and barely 12 studs long. The billowing steam is particularly nice and adds to the overall look and feel of the tiny build. This would be an excellent addition to any microscale layout!