Awesome Models

Funwhole’s building block sets give LEGO a run for its money with more precise parts and lighting. This 1741-piece camper van kit features a fully-furnished interior, working doors, LED headlights, and details like a roof rack, solar panels, and a canvas shade for its outdoor seating area. The finished model measures 14.9″ L x 8.4″ H x 8.6″ W.

To celebrate Star Wars Day 2023, LEGO is releasing its biggest and most detailed model of an X-Wing Fighter ever. The 1949-piece model measures 11″ x 18″ x 22″ when complete, and its wings can go from flight to attack mode with the turn of a dial. It includes a unique Luke Skywalker pilot minifigure and R2-D2 on astromech duties.

Quantum Tech HD introduces us to the work of Vang Hà, a hobbyist who creates functional scale models of trucks and construction equipment from PVC pipes that he heats and bends into flat sheets. This video condenses his months-long quest to build a remote-controlled CAT 390F excavator down to about 20 minutes.

Magnetic Games walks us through the painstaking process of assembling a 2030-piece metal model that comes together to form an awe-inspiring dragon. It’s not for beginners and takes 20+ hours to put together, but the result is worth the effort. You can buy the kit from EngineDIY.

It’s a battle for the ages – Lady Liberty vs. the king of the dinosaurs. Ok, maybe not, but we still enjoyed watching how Boylei Hobby Time took two off-the-shelf models that have nothing to do with each other and came up with a creative idea for a diorama – that the statue’s real purpose is to defend our country from monsters.

This sweet flat-pack wood model kit from Robotime looks like a fat-cat cruiser motorcycle. The 420-piece, 10.6″ long wooden motorcycle features a working front suspension, steering, wheels that spin, and a spring-wound drive mechanism. Expect a build time of around 4 to 5 hours.

Wood model maker Ugears was clearly inspired by robots when they engineered this mechanical marvel. Once assembled, the six-legged creature ambles along on smooth surfaces when you wind its spring. The 388-piece, flat-pack model takes about 8 hours to assemble.

The Lord of the Rings fans will drool over this incredible LEGO model of the peaceful elven haven of Rivendell. The 6167-piece kit is one of LEGO’s 10 biggest sets ever and is packed with fantastic details. It includes 15 minifigures: Frodo, Bilbo, Boromir, Elrond, Arwen, Aragorn, Gimli, Merriadoc, Peregrin, Samwise, Legolas, and Gandalf.

Inspired by the 2006 movie Monster House, Midnight Hobbies set out to create a miniature version of the animated horror-comedy’s eponymous dwelling. He built the structure for the model by attaching foam board to a tissue box, cutting its roof and shingles from cardstock, and making windows and siding from popsicle sticks.

Most people who make remote-controlled cars start with an off-the-shelf chassis, then attach a plastic body shell. But Liu Mutou is an overachiever. With the exception of the tires and motor, he built virtually every part of this R/C Ferrari 250 GTO replica from scratch, including a welded metal frame and bent metal body.

M.C. Escher’s Relativity is one of the artist’s best-known works. Filled with paradoxical staircases, it’s a real head-scratcher. The Avid Creator went through the effort to replicate the illusion but in a 3-dimensional model. They made the structure from foam board and added details using balsa wood, wire, and clay.

We’ve seen lots of beautiful and unusual items turned on a lathe, but we’ve not seen a woodworker use the method to create a model of a jet airplane engine until now. Gao Wood Lab used walnut, magnolia grandiflora, and red cedar wood to create this wonderful miniature engine, complete with a spinning turbine fan.

Modelmaker 3JWings made this miniature replica of MD 530F helicopter using popsicle sticks. He cut and layered the sticks together, then sanded them smoothly to form the chopper’s body. After cutting and attaching details like its skids and rotors, he applied a yellow and black paint job to bring it to life.

This punch-out metal kit lets you assemble a 3D replica of a camera inspired by the Canon EOS 5D Mk. IV DSLR. Expect a challenging build that requires patience, a good set of needle-nose pliers, and the occasional Band-Aid. As it’s clearly not an official Canon product, it says “anon,” which we find kind of amusing.

A typical rubber band airplane is maybe a foot long. Project Air took the idea of a rubber band-powered plane and supersized it to create a lightweight foam board and carbon fiber flyer with an 11-foot wingspan. The trickiest part was getting its eight propellers to all start at the same time.

We’ve seen lots of things made out of popsicle sticks, but they’re typically larger structures. In this video from 3JWings, they show us how they made a 1:300-scale replica of a Gulfstream G560 jet airplane by stacking, gluing, and carving the wooden sticks.

Devon of MechanicalFiend is an expert at making detailed models and dioramas. She builds them from paperboard, cardstock, foam board, and popsicle sticks. To get us in the mood for her amazing miniature of Jack Skellington’s house from The Nightmare Before Christmas, she kicks things off with a little musical number.

YouTube channel Handmade features models of cars that were individually hand-built out of Plasticine clay. The artist behind the camera uses a plastic model as his form, then painstakingly traces and cuts out each piece of its body to create impressively accurate miniatures. And then he crash-tests them.

One of the most iconic locations on The Simpsons is the Kwik-E-Mart. The talented builders of Ouroboros ARQ and made a detailed miniature of Springfield’s convenience store from masonite and spray foam. Though after rebranding, this location sells something other than Squishees and stale hot dogs.

Adam from North of the Border likes to imagine that when Mario or Luigi get eaten by a piranha plant, their next life is a lab-grown clone of the original. So after sculpting some cloning tank versions of Nintendo’s iconic plumbers, he built them a mirrored chamber that appears to be an endless cloning laboratory.

Inspired by a fan submission to LEGO Ideas, this 2,065-piece kit lets you assemble a 19.7″ tall model lighthouse. It has great details like a lighthouse-keeper’s cottage, a rowboat, and a hidden treasure chest. But the literal highlight of the set is the rotating, lighted beacon at its top, complete with a LEGO fresnel lens.

During a 2020 trip to New Zealand’s famed Wētā Workshop, Adam Savage learned a lot about how they create practical visual effects. Among his experiences was this lesson from Project Supervisor Mona Peters on how to create convincing miniature landscapes by spraying on layers of green flocking with an electrostatic gun.

Clemens Wirth is a talented filmmaker who specializes in building miniatures and shooting macro footage of them. He recently compiled this awe-inspiring showreel of some of his most impressive 1:87 scale builds, including scenes set in the wild west, the big city, the country, the Arctic, and a galaxy far, far away.