THE BEST Models

Model railroad builder Luke Towan shows off one of the coolest miniatures we’ve seen – a 32″ tall HO-scale model of an art deco apartment building. The 450+ piece laser-cut acrylic Majestic Towers kit is made by Custom Model Railroads. Luke’s painting, added 3D-printed details, and interior lighting really bring it to life.

Geoff Collard takes us on a POV tour of his recreation of the bridge from the Starship Enterprise D on The Next Generation. It features an incredible level of detail, with light-up displays, and a viewscreen that plays videos of space. You can check out more pics of his impressive seven-year build on Facebook.

To celebrate Honda Australia’s sponsorship of LEGO Masters Australia, the car company commissioned artist Ryan “The Brickman” McNaught to build a detailed model of the famed Mount Panorama racing circuit. The 150,000 brick model took eight builders over 650 hours to construct, measures 11 ft by 6 ft, and has driveable R/C cars.

Dreipunkt’s flat-pack wood kit lets you build your own orbital model of the Earth, the Sun, and the Moon. As you move its lever, each astronomical body rotates relative to the others, as an arrow indicates the date on which they take up those positions. From Laserdeko, who has all kinds of nifty laser-cut stuff for sale.

Drop by The Awesomer Shop and save 10% on these flat-pack wood models from UGears. Choose from a working safe, a steam locomotive, treasure box, vintage grand prix car, butterfly, or monowheel, each offering a challenging glue-free build and working mechanisms.

ROKR’s flat-pack wood kit gives you everything you need to assemble your own working rubber band shotgun. It features a simulated pump-action mechanism, and can fire multiple bands in sequence. Includes wooden soldier targets and plenty of rubber bands.

Located in Manchester City, UK, Etihad Stadium is one of the most iconic stadiums in Europe. Model maker FoBIRD took about 20 days to fabricate a miniature replica of the football stadium, using wooden skewers as his construction material. He did a great job capturing the facility’s architectural highlights.

These days, if you want to destroy a city in a movie, you do it all with computer graphics. But back in the day, it was done with practical effects and miniatures. Check out this footage from the 1933 disaster movie Deluge, in which models of countless New York City buildings are demolished by a massive tidal wave.

LEGO builder Slekk024 is hoping to get his creepy crawly model of an emperor scorpion put into production. The brick-built sculpture is based on a real creature that grows as large as 9″ long, and glows under UV light. The model is made from 694 parts, and has around fifty articulated joints, including legs, pincers, and tail.

Model maker Roman Khramov of Minibricks shares a wonderfully soothing video in which he meticulously crafts a realistic diorama, complete with tiny tress, plants, tourists, and a model of a medieval castle as its centerpiece. He 3D-printed the main structure, but did all of the detailing and painting by hand.

A fantastic gift for fans of architecture and design, this kit lets you make a pint-size wooden model of Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic Guggenheim Museum. The model measures just 6″x 4.5″ x 3.5″, and takes about 4 hours to complete. Made from aspen and American cherry, and licensed by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.

While we’re perplexed by Liberman’s musical selections, we are impressed with what he was able to construct on his workbench. Watch as he puts together a working model of a helicopter rotor from plywood, rulers, popsicle sticks, and off-the-shelf hardware. We love how it even can adjust the angle of its blades.

Miniature model maker Hoo’s mini world shows off an incredible build, a teensy version of a Leica M10 camera, complete with a removable lens. No detail was overlooked, from the curvature of the lens glass, to the leather case, to the aperture settings on its lens ring.

Microworld makes these intricate metal building kits of mech-animal hybrids. The collection includes a polar bear, crocodile, lion, flying tiger, scorpion, and a police dog. Each one is made from iron and brass, with fade-resistant color coatings. Expect a challenge for all but the most experienced builders.

Restoration junkie MrRescue got his hands on a toy Porsche 356 model that looks like it was stomped and kicked into a pile of dirt. From the looks of the undercarriage, it doesn’t look all that ancient, but we’re still impressed with the finished car after he brought it back to its former glory with that glossy peanut M&M paint job.

Time for Machine makes amazing metal and wood models of vehicles. Among them is a tiny tank called the “Marvel.” TOMs Modeling in Motion assembled one of these mini mechanical marvels and captured the build as a time-lapse, stop-motion video. We also enjoyed watching him put together a metal Hindenburg from AEROBASE.

The supersonic Concorde jet planes have been retired, so the only way to witness the majesty of this marvel in flight is through replica models. RCScaleAirplanes shares footage of Otto Widlroither’s incredible 1/6-scale version of the jet. It measures 33 feet long, has a 13 foot wingspan, and is powered by four JetCat P300 Pro turbines.

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.

Flat pack model maker Ugears 48-piece kit is one of their easier builds, yet it’s simply fascinating to watch. The mechanical contraption converts air pressure to movement, which in turn spins a pointer which acts as a sort of decision maker for the next task for you to work on.

Here’s another nifty wood model kit from Nashville artist 1Man1Garage. This laser-cut wood kit comes with everything you need to build a 14″ long zeppelin model, inspired by a 1929 model flown by England’s Royal Air Force.

Miniature model maker 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.

To celebrate 80 years of Batman, here’s an epic LEGO kit of the Batmobile, based on its appearance in Tim Burton’s 1989 movie. The 3,306-piece model is 23″ long, and has a sliding cockpit and pop-up machine guns. Includes minifigs of The Dark Knight, The Joker, and Vicki Vale. Drops 11/29/19, with an exclusive mini replica through 12/5.

Artist Jason Freeny is best known for his see-through anatomical figures of pop culture characters. These version of his LEGO-inspired Brickman figure let you assemble his innards yourself. Choose from a 16-piece, 5″ tall model, or a 12″ tall model with over 40 pieces.

Flat-pack model makers Ugears offers this very cool kit that lets you build a mechanical monowheel that actually drives. It has retractable training wheels, but can roll without them on smooth surfaces. With 300 parts, it looks like a challenging 3-hour build. No glue required.

We’ve see the amazing tiny worlds of Hamburg, Germany’s Miniatur Wunderland before. The attraction will soon have over 51,558 feet – or nearly 10 miles of model railway track. Guinness World Records tallied up some other impressive facts and figures about the attraction.

Designer James Paulius extends his collection of colorful wooden architectural blocks with a miniature version of New York City. The full set features two iconic skyscrapers, a handful of shorter buildings, and a smattering of urban greenspace. The Empire State building and greenway models are available separately as well.