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.

Warsaw landmark in microscale

Polish builder Rafal P has perfectly captured the largest landmark in Warsaw in microscale, and he managed to incorparate almost every little detail in this relatively small creation. The building is question is the Palace of Culture and Science and it was built in 1955 in a Stalinist manner. Today it is still the tallest building in Poland and the seventh tallest in the European Union at 237 meters (778 feet).

Rafal’s perfect photography creates an atmospheric look, but bright trees and colorful vehicles cheer up the gloomy ambience. The rounded conference room is perfectly represented despite the difficulty of building curved objects with LEGO parts. The clock tower, antenna and rooftop details are amazing. Soviet remnants in architecture have always amazed me and it’s a joy to see them built with LEGO parts.

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Tiny F1 cars win the LEGO Grand Prix

Fabulous microscale F1 cars on show from BrickMonkey. Really nice close-up photography makes these models pop on their starting grid, and the use of the silver hub wheels and grille slopes adds some lovely depth of texture. But the killer parts usage? That upside-down handle piece as a rear spoiler. Excellent work.

High-concept art for a space rover

Shannon Sproule brings us a cute little space rover concept. As usual, the presentation is top-notch, with Shannon’s trademark 50s retro sci-fi style in full effect — lovely curves and color choices giving an “astronaut chic” feel. The use of the “tooth plate” on the cab flanks, along with leaving a bunch of hollow studs visible, builds an impressive sense of texture. Lastly, the addition of two white rubber bands across the cab windows splits up the expanse of black with the sort of thin detailing which is so hard to do on a model this scale. I want to drive one of these beauties all the way across Mars.

A little Laputa to brighten your day

We’ve seen a lot of LEGO renditions of Hayao Miyazaki’s Castle in the Sky, including a gorgeous scene of Laputa among the clouds and a beautiful music box floating fortress. But there’s always room for more, so here are a few that caught our eye.

Mel F‘s lovely little version is a joy. Mel built it to be a desk ornament, and it’s got that perfect balance of size and complexity to subtly show co-workers that LEGO is cool, but you’re not insane (that comes later when they see your LEGO room).

Another gorgeous version comes from builder 米基, with this terrific soaring castle surrounded by clouds. It even has Dola and her pirates’ tiny gliders flitting about beneath the massive fortress.

The Palace of the Sultan

This magnificent palace of a sultan looks splendid in microscale, a size not often used for the inspiring architecture of the near east. Marcel V. puts those gold ice-cream swirls to great use atop the minarets, and tiny crowns adorn the other towers.

The Buccaneer’s Dread, sailing the tiny seven seas

I love when a small build looks like a full-sized build at first glance. And that’s exactly what Robert4168’s mini pirate ship does! The base of the ship is actually a single row boat normally meant to hold only one or two minifigures. But with a handful of tiny parts and some expertly folded sails, Robert has created a massive-looking ship that’ll still fit in the palm of your hand!

Polk Library of UW Oshkosh in LEGO microscale

Microscale master Paul Wellington recreated the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh’s campus library at the University’s request. Paul used approximately 4800 individual LEGO pieces to achieve a convincing scale replica of the building and surrounding greenery. Some of the excellent microscale techniques on display here include vertical tiles set into the base as columns, and the trees (a similar style to those seen in Rocco Buttliere’s Palace of Westminster).

See more of Paul’s microscale work on his Flickr page.

The height of good microscale

This lovely towerblock by delayice is a great piece of microscale building. The blue and grey color scheme creates a sense of modernity and style, and there’s good details in the lower lobby building at the tower’s base. Check out the offset “headlight brick” providing wall texture and window detailing — nice work.

Two boldly go...

A couple of excellent microscale Star Trek spaceships for you. First up, this recreation of the classic Enterprise by hachiroku24 — a lovely little model elevated with some excellent photography…

And then there’s Ben Smith‘s cracking version of the Excelsior. If you fancy a go at building this little beautie for yourself, Ben’s been kind enough to provide the LDD file…

There goes the neighborhood

Have you ever seen abject poverty up close, where it lives? The brain almost doesn’t want to accept it: you literally cannot believe it. People can’t possibly live like this: but they do. And ironically, there is a kind of beauty there: colors that a designer would never choose, patterns that leave the eye wanting. The humanity of it cannot be contained. Shannon Sproule perfectly captures the heartbreaking chaos and vitality of economics gone horribly wrong in this wonderful vignette. And the presentation, spoofing the classist bias of the LEGO Architecture line, really hits home. Don’t expect to see this set in the next catalog.

All your tiny space base are belong to us

Karf Oolhu does it again with his unique blend of stripped-back style and clever parts usage. The little flyers are lovely, but the highlight of the show is the pyramid structure built with old-school printed logos.

Stunning LEGO Nebulon-B Medical Frigate

Morten_Svendsen has built a massive and highly-detailed model of the famous Nebulon-B Medical Frigate, first seen in The Empire Strikes Back. Morten’s dedication to getting the angles, details, and textures just right in comparison with the model used for shooting the movies is frankly astonishing…

The overall shaping and coloring are simply spot-on, but the little touches are what sets this creation apart. Check out the medical bay window featuring the famous scene of Luke, Leia, and the droids watching the Falcon depart to begin the search for Han Solo…

See more images of this fantastic model after the jump