Posted by
Dan
at
2:32 PM
| Name of Model: Dragon |
| Created by: takamichi irie (legomichiiiiii) |
| Found at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/legomichiiiiii/24578934281/ |
Details:  takamichi irie (legomichiiiiii) recently built this awesome little dragon - it's short enough for a minifig to pet, but definitely fearsome enough to terrorize a microscale kingdom. The head may look a little familiar - it seems to take after an awesome build of Nessie that Sean and Steph Mayo built last year (which I probably should have blogged at the time), but that horns and binoculars technique still works very well. The torso really speaks to me - it's a brilliant use of the thick-pin skeleton torso, with a lightsaber hilt for the neck, four skeleton legs for the legs, and the gargoyle collectible minifigure wings as the dragon's wings. The wings don't look to be swooshable to me (minifig neck accessories tend to have looser connections), but that'd be easy enough to fix with a 1x1 round brick (that's how I'd do it, anyway, but it probably looks better the way it is).
The head and tail demonstrate another technique - using clips in askew connections that are sturdy, but wouldn't be considered "legal" in an official set or LEGO Digital Designer. I think I spy a minifig hand holding that tail in place, with the end that normally connects to a minifig's arm crammed into the skeleton torso (another "illegal" but very useful connection).
The builder recently started a blog in English and Japanese: http://blog.livedoor.jp/legomichiiiiii/ |
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Posted by
Dan
at
8:38 PM
| Name of Model: IMG_9532 |
| Created by: Dan (yours truly) |
| Found at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dp3/15424910239/in/set-72157627265274741 |
Details:  Here's a quick look at one of my own recent builds - a microscale Pirate ship (or more accurately, an imperial galleon for the pirates to attack). The original idea was to create a ship that looked good, but was small enough to animate for Mini LEGO Con. That didn't work out so well, but the finished model was nice enough to add a stand (with water). At 8 x 16 studs, it fits into a Mini Con display, but is slightly larger than one of the BrickFair-styled tables.
This was actually a very humbling model, since I ended up using quite a few pieces that I dismissed as unnecessary when they first came out. The base of the ship is a Bionicle Visorak foot - an "action figure part" you'll never use in-system, right? Two of the sails use a 1 x 2 plate with 2 clips (you'd think 2 1 x 1 plates with clips would do the trick, but this is actually sturdier). One of the sails uses a 2 x 2 tile with one stud in the center, which I remember saying was the equivalent of 3 jumper plates, but a plate shorter. Finally, a 1 x 1 round plate with hole (a part once exclusive to LEGOLAND for metal bracing and wiring) connects the tallest mast to the 1 x 1 round brick below it.
Kids, don't try this at home. You would not believe how difficult it is to connect a plate clip into the bottom of a 2 x 3 plate that already has two 1 x 2 tiles wedged into it. At least it looks good, but LEGO rightly considers that to be an illegal connection.
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Posted by
Dan
at
4:00 AM
| Name of Model: LEGO MINI Unstoppable Diesels |
| Created by: Commander LEGOman |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/73326378@N04/sets/72157630413734274/ |
Details:  The LEGO train community spends a considerable amount of time arguing about what the "correct" scale is for LEGO trains. Usually, 6-wide and 8-wide are the most popular options. The 6-wide crowd can point to most of the official LEGO train sets aimed at kids 6 and up, and the 8-wide crowd can (but rarely does) point to the DUPLO train sets. Here, we have evidence that you can capture the correct level of detail in trains that are only 2 studs wide. The realistic liveries and shapes come across nicely, and the small scale almost seems more forgiving (since nobody's going to complain about a misplaced air vent at this scale). The obvious question is when the rest of the trains will show up, but it looks like there's already a good start. |
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Posted by
Lego Obsessionist
at
6:17 PM
| Name of Model: WarScape: Vol 1 |
| Created by: Siercon and Coral |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/legocy/6262374104/in/photostream/ |
 Details: To the non-Lego hobbyist, this may seem like merely eight individually epic modular builds that combine into an even bigger and better landscape. Although it is that, I found the real treat to be going in and gawking at all of the brilliant microscale NPU ("New" or "Nice" Parts Usage)! Interesting connections and builds abound, made only more impressive by the impossibly tiny scale. Note, for instance, the mermaid and catapults. In some instances parts of elements are hidden to allow the appropiate details to show, like the giesha-fan stairs, which, having tried and failed at before, I find particularly impressive. And, as a Bionicle fan, I have to commend the comprably huge kiina spikes in one of the towers. And those are just a few examples! You really should look through the photostream yourself - it's well worth your while. Via The Brothers Brick. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
12:17 AM
| Name of Series: Marriott hotels |
| Created by: Sean Kenney |
| Found at: http://www.mocpages.com/folder.php/28543 |
Details:  LEGO Certified Professional Sean Kenney was recently commissioned to create replicas of eight different Marriott hotels. As you would expect from Sean's reputation, all of them are fantastic models. Built in microscale, they show off the architecture of the buildings nicely. Each model was presented to the matching hotel as an award for design, construction, collaboration, and and participation. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
12:05 AM
| Name of Model: The Family Tourer |
| Created by: Karf Oohlu |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dragon55/5717797659/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/dragon55/5718360288/in/photostream/ |
Details:  If you've picked up any of the LEGO Games, you may have noticed that many of them come with small characters that look only vaguely like minifigures - they're about half as wide. I'm sure that these little guys will only get more popular with time, and that we'll soon see tons of models based on them. Here, we see a small car - featuring a pair of horse saddles to make the seats. The doors attach directly to the saddles. Suddenly, four-wide seems like plenty to make a decent-looking, 'fig-ready classic automobile.
For bonus points, see if you can figure out how the headlights and spare tire were attached. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
1:04 AM
| Name of Model: Mining Ship Class A |
| Created by: LUKY'S 1987 LEGO CREATIONS (Lukáš Šógor) |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/57490753@N05/sets/72157625992002739/with/5470769844/ |
Details:  Another example of the mega-microscale genre, this spaceship would have been considered large even if it were at minifig scale. The color scheme is very well chosen. While many people have complained about the merits of the newer shade of grey versus the old one, surprisingly few have embraced the fact that the bluish grey colors actually look great next to blue and dark blue. Throw in a realistic amount of greebling and texture, and it's a plausible design for a real spaceship. | | This is Saturday's model of the day |
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Posted by
Dan
at
4:00 AM
| Name of Model: Connect Four |
| Created by: Stacy Sterling |
| Found at: http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/254129 |
Details:  Have you ever played the game Connect Four ? You can't really play this one, but it definitely has the look of the classic game down. The technique here is very simple but tends to be overlooked frequently: you can connect the studs on top of other LEGO pieces to the holes in the sides of Technic bricks and beams. Here, we see that done with round 1x1 plates. The big feat is balancing a round plate just so, like was done for the piece on the top that looks like it's about to go in to the game board.
One of the frustrating things about this hobby is that no matter how many great uses of simple techniques like this we see, we always hear from loud, obnoxious people who don't know what they're talking about that these things aren't possible. You know the sort - the ignorant parents in the toy store who can stare right at the LEGO logo on a box and still insist that Technic elements aren't "real LEGO". They're usually the same people who try to refer to bricks as "legos" and insist that kids can't ever come up with original ideas if they start with kits. If only we could show those people more models like this - simple enough to be easy to build, but still able to show off a great technique in an interesting way - we might be able to get the idea out there that you really can build clever things using the parts that can be found in stores.
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Posted by
Dan
at
11:39 PM
| Name of Model: Little Grand Emporium |
| Created by: Puddleglum |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthew_raehl/sets/72157626302398766/ |
Details:  I've previously covered half-size versions of the Fire Brigade and Cafe Corner, but now two new installments have been added to the series: the Green Grocer and the Grand Emporium. Both do a stunning job of capturing the look and feel of the original.
The interesting thing about going for half-size instead of just a generic "microscale", is that there's actually a scale factor involved to dictate what some parts should be. In both of these, you can see how 2x2 tiles on the sidewalk become 1x1 tiles to create the same mosaic-style patterns. A pair of skeleton legs on the grocer becomes one 1x1 tile with a clip on top. Doors and windows can be tricky, since LEGO hasn't made windows in some of these sizes. You're still required to fill some details in in an impressionistic manner, but not everyone can pull that off and still have things end up looking fairly accurate. | | Yes, we're sneaking in a double-header again - these are Tuesday and Wednesday's models of the day. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
4:00 AM
| Name of Model: LEGO Settlers of Catan |
| Created by: Natron77 (Nation Morath) - and Lauren |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationmorath/sets/72157626115258451/ |
Details:  People have built Settlers of Catan games out of LEGO before, but I believe this is the first one to feature a collapsible frame for easy transportation and storage. The collapsing feature looks to be a matter of placing regular plates instead of hinge plates in a few places in each hexagon. The game is fully playable, and features microscale building on every game tile. It looks like it would be fun to try to play! |
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Posted by
Dan
at
11:12 PM
| Name of Model: SS Dogbone |
| Created by: strandee (Eric Strand) |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/16302109@N08/sets/72157626132088613/ |
Details:  Over the years, a number of display models have been used to promote general LEGO building. In the 1960's, this frequently meant large boats using large quantities of the fairly basic elements available at the time. These early models were glued and frequently made of cellulose acetate plastic. LEGO stop used that plastic in the 60's, after it became clear that it can warp in some conditions. That warping problem makes original models rare (few were kept in good condition, and nobody at the time expected that they wouldn't last terribly well), but many Adult-Fans-Of-LEGO reproduce the old design using parts as close to the originals as possible. Here, you can spot windows with a large ledge (that prevent them from sitting flat on a baseplate) on every deck of the ship. This particular boat was copied from a model found in the Toy and Plastic Brick Museum in Bellaire, Ohio, USA. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
12:41 AM
| Name of Model: Small Bank |
| Created by: Rakanishu1024 |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/40485587@N04/5355227444/ |
Details:  At first glance, this building looks pretty simple and straightforward. This small tower packs in some great techniques, though - each of the four corners of the building has studs facing in four directions (besides the standard stud facing up). The sides facing outward are covered with tiles - which looks great, but can be easy to confuse for a row of stacked 1x1 bricks if you're not looking closely. The other sides, however, connect to the lattice fence elements that form the distinctive windows on the higher floors. It looks like some clear plates may be connected to those fences to properly sell the window look. Interestingly, the geometry of this fence/window arrangement works out to each side of the building being seven studs wide (note the round 1x1 plates at the top) - this allows for the inner columns on the first floor to be spaced perfectly evenly without using any offset techniques.
It's a great place for citizens of micropolis to be eaten by giant flowers! do their banking. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
4:58 PM
| Name of Models: Various, see links below |
| Created by: Marcos Bessa |
| Found at a few different places, see links below |
Details:  Recently, LEGO set designer and frequently featured builder Marcos Bessa has made available for free download the LEGO Digital Designer (LDD) files (useful as building instructions) for five of his models. Two of these models have previously been featured here as a model of the day, and all of them were built before he was brought into the LEGO company. Several of these models can be found in the portfolio used when he applied to join the company. Here are the links to the page for information for each model (each page includes information on the model, a link to photos on flickr, and a link to download the LDD file - along with a brief note regarding reuse of these designs):
No word on if/when we'll see a virtual version of the Ancient Lady's Museum.
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Posted by
Dan
at
10:14 PM
| Name of Model: Dark Turquoise Space Truck |
| Created by: notenoughbricks |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/notenoughbricks/tags/teal/ |
Details:  Dark turquoise is one of the more unappreciated rare colors. OK, sure, it's more widely used than Salmon, but not by much. It's used well here, although the custom stickers dampen the boldness of the color. I'll forgive the inaccurate use of fire in space (a crime against scientific accuracy that LEGO has committed as well) since this is otherwise such a well-assembled craft. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
4:00 AM
| Name of Model: LEGO DEATH STAR ORNAMENT |
| Created by: Chris McVeigh |
| Found at: http://web.me.com/chrismcveigh/mintinbox/home/Entries/2010/11/29_Lego_Death_Star_Ornament.html |
Details:  We've found the perfect gift for the man who still thinks there isn't enough of Star Wars on their LEGO tree. Wait, what do you mean not everyone has a LEGO tree? Where do you put all the LEGO ornaments?
Anyway - this Death Star ornament design is all ready for you to give a try. Model instructions are available from the link above in both PDF and LDD formats. You can also download the parts list to try it with parts on hand, or if you're feeling adventurous, you can buy the parts through LEGO Digital Designer's Design By Me program.
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These fantastic microscale tanks are practically begging us to build some large battle scenes at a smaller scale. They make excellent use of the rotation joint element from the large Knight's Kingdom figures, which has always felt like a part waiting to be rediscovered. I figured someone would find a great way to use it as space-y greebling first, but it looks perfect as a tank turret here. The complete breakdown of how they were built should enable anyone to build these, with the possible exception of the center connecting the treads - the combination of Technic, Axle and Pin Connector Perpendicular and Technic, Pin Connector Round 1L can be replaced with Technic, Axle and Pin Connector Perpendicular 3L with Center Pin Hole (which is also available in more colors so far).
and 
. Naturally, I love the little versions as well. These are at half the scale of the originals, fitting on 16 x 16 (or 5 inches square) baseplates instead of 32 x 32 (or 10 inches square). Considering how much has to be sacrificed due to size, it's amazing how many of the original techniques still work and how much of the original look still shows through.
