What is the rationale behind miniscale building?

[Wardancer]

Ok, I just learned this is MICROscale, so I am talking not about MINI, but MICRO here:

Hello,

I was recently inspired by this epic and supportworthy project:

http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=87134

And now I wonder what the thinking behind building in such a scale is.

One thing is perhaps obvious: Define some sort of scale and stick to it.

But to what extend does one have to make compromises?

Take a simple house. If you set a scale which makes it 5 bricks high, then so be it. But as soon as you add detail such as a door or stairs, thinks might become difficult. If according to your scale the door would be 1,5 studs wide, would you make it 1 or 2 wide, violating your scale one way or the other.

Add 10 types of details all with different "makeability ratios" and the chaos is complete.

How does this work?

PS: Support the abovementioned project (not mine)!

Edited October 2, 2013 by Wardancer

[ep3_lol]

Building anything in Lego, no matter the size, is an activity ridden with compromise if you are trying to be as strict as possible with scale. As a car guy who's also into die-cast models, I see this all the time- Lego cars look terrible, no matter the scale, because many of their lines and dimensions cannot possibly be replicated with the bricks we have. The same is more or less true for buildings as well, but to a less severe degree as we have bricks that can better replicate architectural shapes. So, I think we all have to accept a compromise there, and different people prefer to compromise at different levels. Another factor could simply be the physical properties of building smaller- less bricks, less space, less time. I'd also consider that some of us like our minifigs, while others don't much care for them and thus aren't limited to building things for them.

Edited October 2, 2013 by ep3_lol

[Andy D]

I look at LEGO as an art form. Using LEGO bricks to express artistic desires. The scale doesn't matter, it is how one expresses themselves. In any art form there are compromises to achieve the end result. In Micro scale I believe the objective is to "hint" at what is intended much like some abstract art.

Unless one is building at full size, there are "hints" at what the artist intends.

With LEGO it is all art.

Just MHO, YMMV

Andy D

[eurotrash]

I look at LEGO as an art form. Using LEGO bricks to express artistic desires. The scale doesn't matter, it is how one expresses themselves. In any art form there are compromises to achieve the end result. In Micro scale I believe the objective is to "hint" at what is intended much like some abstract art.

Unless one is building at full size, there are "hints" at what the artist intends.

With LEGO it is all art.

Very succinctly put Andy D.

[LEGO Historian]

I think that the LEGO minifig scale gradually introduced between 1973-78 has improved LEGO building in some ways (more opportunity for details, the ability to add interior details for the minifigs, etc.). But in doing that it lost the possibility of building a townscape... after all it requires deep pockets (and a lot of room) to build an entire town.

For example... in the 1955-67 era TLG created the Town Plan System... this allowed for a lot of specialty parts, and some really nice building opportunities....

I have always been fond of the Town Plan System... mostly because I grew up with it, and enjoyed the specialty parts... but also because I could build multistory buildings without a huge outlay of cash. When the Minifig scale doubled the scale of the Town Plan (doors = 5 or 6 bricks tall vs. door = 3 bricks tall)... it increased the amount of bricks needed by 2 to the 3rd power (well not quite 8, but close)... therefore needing about 6 times as many bricks to build multistory houses.

Here's an example I built using the old Town Plan board... with more of a downtown feel....

This was accomplised with just a fraction of the number of LEGO elements that are used today.

So yes... I see the micro scale as a way to build large scale projects without a lot of room and a lot of money.

Images from my 3000 page DVD/download LEGO Collectors Guide.

Gary Istok

Edited October 2, 2013 by LEGO Historian

[Lyichir]

One of the fun parts about microscale building is it can be more of a challenge. In large-scale models, or even with building in minifig-scale to some extent, parts can be more-or-less interchangeable. In microscale builds you have to take into account the natural shape and dimensions of parts to get the shape you want, which can necessitate the use of more obscure parts like minifig accessories, and more advanced techniques like SNOT.

Of course, it's also a lot more economical to build many things in microscale. Large buildings (such as many of those in the Architecture theme) typically would take a massive quantity of bricks to build even in minifig scale. By choosing a smaller scale you can create a decent depiction of a chosen subject, and it will be cheaper and easier to transport than a large-scale model could ever be. The relative cheapness of microscale builds also makes them useful in terms of Lego set design, since for many subjects a truly "accurate" model would be well outside the price range of the majority of fans who might want a model of that subject. Consider the new Maersk Ship; while not traditional "microscale", it's a great deal smaller than true minifig scale, yet still is one of the more expensive Lego sets out there.

[BrickG]

I've never been able to get into mini, micro or minimalist. I just don't like them. I'm pretty demanding. When possible I demand it to be to scale to the minifigures because I'm a minifigure guy. The micro things almost universally don't appeal unless it's something like a mini city with the Lizard Guy rampaging in it :P.

[LEGO Historian]

The interesting thing about microscale is just how micro you use the scale. Many of the buildings shown here were extra dimintive in scale. Some micro buildings can be quite large. Here's a circa 1965 TLG glued Swiss Chalet display model (from my LEGO DVD/download)... as shown using 1x1x and 1x1x2 red classic windows.

[Lego Otaku]

All those little windows glued in place. 96 of em... Enough to fill out 16x yellow castle.

[kermit]

I just love those micro scale buildings made by Lego. I think back then lego building techniques were not as advanced enough to build modular minifigure scale buildings plus the variety of bricks available were limited at the time.