Awesome Models

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.

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.

While we’re not sure the designs are officially licensed, the metal model kits from Amusien are still pretty awesome – especially the ones with color. Among their flat-pack kits are a Peterbilt 389 truck and Optimus Prime, along with a Scorpion Gunship straight from Avatar.

National Geographic takes us inside the world of artists Lori Nix and Kathleen Gerber, who have been creating intricate miniature dioramas together for almost 15 years. The scenes portray a post-apocalyptic future in which buildings and material possessions have been abandoned.

We’ve seen metal miniature kits before, but never ones like these. Time 4 Machine’s big selling point is that their detailed models are mechanical. The wind-up cabrio and tank actually drive, the clock tells time (for an hour), and you can actually play the table hockey game.

Pilot Christian Gschwenter’s amazing remote-controlled scale model looks and flies just like a real F-16 Cobra fighter jet. While its engine doesn’t have a real afterburner, it’s got a ring of LED lighting out back to simulate flame, and even can make smoke trails.

LEGO Technic builder Attika created this awesome open-frame 4-wheel drive, Android-controlled car tuned for mad drifting action. It’s got a working drivetrain, brakes, lights, and looks like a blast at to speed. Action footage at 3:30, and lots of build images on Flickr.