Tag Archives: miniature

This dimunitive Dune ‘thopter is thoroughly thrilling

With an impressive minifigure complement and plenty of wing-flapping, landing gear-extending action, this year’s 10327 Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter was an early contender for my favorite LEGO set of 2024. Still, for some, its higher-than-average price per element might be as hard to swallow as the Water of Life, so we’re fortunate we have GolPlaysWithLego to create this iconic aircraft at a smaller scale.

Dune Ornithopter LEGO MOC

One of the biggest challenges in rendering the ornithopter at any scale is making those long, spindly wings. Heck, the official set had to create a whole new piece to solve that problem. In this case (in an inspired choice worthy of the Kwisatz Haderach) the wings are ingeniously made from garage door panels. Here’s a rear view, where you can see the boarding ramp and landing gear recreated with beautiful fidelity. It just goes to show that when it comes to desert power, bigger isn’t always better.

Dune Ornithopter LEGO MOC

A tiny tanker tickles our fancy

LEGO builder František Hajdekr specializes in the little things. Take this tiny tanker truck on for size. It just shows you don’t need a truckload of LEGO bricks to build something that really packs in the details. What a great color scheme, too! If you squint, it just about looks like a real truck. This might be the best thing I’ve seen all day, and I’ve seen what happens when someone consumes bananas and Sprite. If you’d rather not Google that then I’d suggest checking out some other awesome vehicles built by a truckload of talented builders around the globe.

Small Lego Semi-trailer Tanker Truck (MOC - 4K)

Western Air Temples

If there is ever a license I hope LEGO revisits, it is LEGO Avatar. In 2006 there was a wave of Avatar sets counting no more than two sets. To be honest, the Fire Nation Ship might be the worst thing that ever happend to the Avatar franchise, and I am counting the live action remake of the show. The current super hero sets contain a lot of energie effects that would work perfectly for bending. And we simply need an Appa made of LEGO. Someone who might agree with me on this is Jonas Kramm. His latest creation is the Western Air Temple and it is just stunning. The big ugly rock pieces are hardly noticeable and the temples are constructed quite elegantly by attaching book covers to rounded windows. The star of this creation however has to be that brick build Appa using boomerangs for legs.

Western Air Temple | 101 pieces

A tiny dancer pirouettes in silhouette

If you ever thought to yourself while building a Batman LEGO set, these bat-a-rangs are neat and all, but they’re not much use, Dan Ko has a masterclass lesson for you in thinking about a specific part in a whole new way. This miniature ballerina made from just 30 parts, is a stunning example. The bat-a-rang slots perfectly in-between a grill, and the black gear makes an amazing dress. Considering the base makes up more than half of the parts used, the dancer is a true study in minimalist design.

Schwarzer Dresscode

But that’s not all. Dan includes the parts used, so if you are feeling brave, you can attempt to build your own version.

Schwarzer Dresscode - Parts