Models

While it’s not as fast as the life-size LEGO Bugatti, this LEGO replica of a Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LT Trail Boss is still quite the feat. It took 18 builders over 2,000 hours to construct from over 334,000 bricks. It’s on display at the 2019 NAIAS in Detroit.

Miniature artist HMS2 shows us how to make some ridiculously tiny and accurate replicas of fast food and their packaging from McDonald’s. We love the individual french fries, and how the Coke even has microscopic ice cubes.

Adam Savage and fellow modelmaker Kayte Sabicer show off one of the coolest replicas we’ve seen in a while – an insanely detailed recreation of the blimp that hovers overhead in Blade Runner, enticing Earthlings to head for the Off-World Colonies.

LEGO set 10264 is a 2500-piece, model of a 1950’s-style building loaded with details, including a fuel pump and vehicle lift, an animal hospital on the second floor, a furnished apartment on the top floor, and a roof deck for minifigs to sun themselves on. Drops 1/2019.

YouTuber HMS2 is known for creating impressively accurate miniature versions of real-world objects. This build is a spot-on, Lilliputian replica of an aquarium complete with gravel, rocks, plant life, and a weensy little school of fish floating in its simulated water.

LEGO Ideas contributor Sleepy Cow created this 2,798 piece model of a grand piano which features 25 working keys, complete with strings, pedals, and dampers. It doesn’t actually play music, but it’s still a mechanical marvel. If you’d like to see it produced, vote here.

2001: A Space Odyssey gave us one of the longest spaceships in the history of science fiction. Now, thanks to Japanese toymaker Kayiodo, you can own an intricate 1/10th-scale replica of the 54-foot-long model that was used in the production of Kubrick’s masterpiece.

Cath of The Square to Spare shows off a fun little project for guitar players and anyone who appreciates a good musical instrument. In the first clip, she shows us how to make tiny electric guitars using popsicle clips, and in the second, she crafts a mini acoustic.

Art Insider takes us on a tour of the world’s largest architectural model. Located at the Queens Museum, this incredibly detailed miniature of New York City was first revealed at the 1964 World’s Fair, and was updated with new buildings all the way until 1992.

Tested’s Adam Savage has built some incredibly complex projects, but here he returns to his model-making roots, and shows us how to make a completely unique robot sculpture using parts cobbled together parts from Weta Workshop’s Giant Killer Robots board game.

Guinness World Records spoke with the creators of Miniatur Wunderland, the world’s largest model train set. Despite already having thousands of vehicles across different country sections, they are still expanding. Their latest addition is Italy, which took 2 years to build.

Artist Dutch exp shows us how he uses a 3D printing pen (in this case a Myriwell Pro) to create amazing full color replicas of characters from pop culture, including Spongebob Squarepants and Patrick Star, Q*Bert, Pac-Man, Sonic, Olaf, and Rick Sanchez.

Up for a fun and challenging project with a satisfying result? Look no further than this wooden model of a London-style double decker bus. Once you assemble all 216 laser-cut parts, you’ll have a working vehicle that can actually move up to 12 feet on rubber band power.

Zupagrafika’s cut-out model book lets you build your own cold and impersonal miniature city filled with the brutalist architecture of Central and Eastern Europe. Includes seven buildings from Serbia, Moldova, Russia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland, and Russia.

Taiwanese artist Hank Cheng makes incredibly realistic dioramas and scale models. Whether he’s making vehicles, store exteriors or bedroom interiors, the finished work will make your jaw drop. Check out more of his work on his Instagram and Facebook pages.

LEGO teamed up with hypercar maker Bugatti to create this incredible 1/8th scale, 3,599-piece replica of the Chiron, which measures 22″ long, and features details like an active rear wing, a working suspension, gearbox, and a W16 engine with pistons that move.

Most of the builds we’ve seen from The Q are small enough to carry, but the serial maker’s latest construction is substantially larger. It took over 400 hours to put together this 1.5:1 scale model of a Formula 1 race car, made entirely from soda cans and glue set onto a PVC chassis.

Monsterchannel24 presents close-up footage of a number of handmade remote-controlled model trucks, tractors, construction equipment, and other machines, each of which is a tiny mechanical marvel unto itself. The amount of detail in each vehicle is truly incredible.

For those of you unfamiliar with Nanoblocks, they’re teensy LEGO-style building blocks. We really love these sets, which feature mini cityscapes of New York and London. The also have architectural models of the Taj Mahal, Himeji Castle, and the Vatican, among others.

We’re always amazed by the attention to detail that turns up in the remote control vehicle festivals over in Europe, and this selection of scale model trucks and buses driving around at the Modell Leben show in Erfurt, Germany is no exception. That mini truck wash.

Flat-pack wooden model maker UGEARS presents 11 awesome new creations, each of which features gear and rubber band mechanisms. The new models include a wind-up horse, windmill, stagecoach, flying aircraft contraption, big rig, steam train, and more.

Clearly taking inspiration from the work of Jason Freeny, Stephanix’s LEGO concept is a 10x-size minifig with a removable layer of skin and clothing, allowing curiosity- and gore-seekers to poke around the skeletal structure and organs inside.

Another sweet laser-cut wooden model from UGears. While the VM-02 isn’t based on any actual bike, the detailed chopper will still be a cool addition to the desktop of any motorcycle fanatic. Coming to Kickstarter soon.

An in-depth look inside Rapido Trains Inc.’s production facility in China, where workers painstakingly assemble scale model train engines and rail cars. Each model train body is individually molded, masked, painted, detailed, and assembled by hand.

Got 30 minutes to kill? Sit back and enjoy James Risner’s ridiculously long model train set, which has 1662 train cars, measures 1,134 feet long, and needs 25 engines to pull the thing. We’re just glad we’re not stuck in a tiny car waiting at the crossing for this thing to go by.

RC Media World presents footage of a remote-controlled airplane replica, based on Howard Hughes’ 8-engine H-4 Hercules aka “Spruce Goose.” Builder Jürgen Schönle’s surprisingly quiet flyer has a 12-foot wingspan, and can take off and land on water, just like the real deal.

Build your own desktop robot factory with this amazing wooden model from UGears. The 598-piece kit comes in flat-pack form, and features a variety of moving parts as well as robots that roll off the assembly line.

Etsy artist VictorianDollhouse created this series of baltic birch plywood models which let you create your own miniature sculptures of classic cars. Choose from the Citroen 2CV, Jaguar E-Type, Mazda Miata, Chevy Corvette Stingray, and Morgan 3-wheeler designs.

A first look at a sweet new LEGO set based on Mack’s workhorse trucks. The kit (#42078) includes includes all the parts needed to make two entirely different trucks – a Mack Anthem tractor-trailer and a Mack LR garbage truck. The set will go for about $150 when it drops in 2018.

Artist Thomas Houha makes laser-cut wood and mat board models of objects ranging from spaceships to bridges. One of our faves is this 4″ x 5″ model of a relic of traditional design – a wooden drafting table complete with a teensy T-square and other drafting tools.

These palm-sized, flat-pack metal models require patience and attention to detail to assemble, but the result is well worth the effort. Choose from Millennium Falcon, R2-D2, AT-AT, X-Wing Fighter, TIE Fighter, Imperial Star Destroyer, and Vader’s TIE Fighter kits.

Alex Purinok creates amazing wooden models of trucks, construction equipment, buses, robots, jeeps, and more. His 558-piece Komatsu dump truck, 730-piece Kenworth W900 semi, and 2190 piece Terex RX 400 earthmover are truly epic. He also sells simpler wooden kits.