Mini LEGO Con

Name of Model: Mini LEGO Con

Created by various people, see below

Found at (semi-official Flickr group): https://www.flickr.com/groups/2318936@N22/

Details: As I hinted at earlier, there's a big project I've been involved with for a while now that I am really excited to share with everyone. That project is Mini LEGO Con - in short, a miniland scale model of a LEGO convention. This is a massive group layout that you can expect to see at many LEGO conventions (and other conventions, too!) in the years to come. Mini LEGO Con was first displayed at BrickCon 2012 by Steve Oakes (BrickCon Microscale coordinator) and Mariann Asanuma (former LEGOLAND Master Model Builder). Mariann brought Mini Con to other events throughout 2013 (BricksCascade, Emerald City Comic Con, BrickWorld, BrickFair VA, Bricks by the Bay, BrickCon). After BrickFair VA, BrickFair coordinator Todd Webb decided to make Mini Con a part of BrickFair going forward, and purchased the parts required to assemble the layout at future conventions. Most notably, Todd decided to change the layout from being a caricature of a convention to being an exact match - at BrickFair, the baseplates and tables are set up in the same layout as the convention itself. Back at BrickFair Alabama 2014, I (Dan) assembled the miniland-scale (roughly 1:20) tables, chairs, and stanchions for use at BrickFair events, the next of which will be in Manchester, New Hampshire, this upcoming weekend (public hours are May 10th & May 11th, 2014, 11:00am - 4:00pm, we'd love to see you there!). If you've registered to participate, you should make sure to bring a miniland-scale version of yourself and microscale versions of the models you're bringing (BrickFair provides the bare bones of the layout, so you shouldn't need to pack your own mini tables and mini stanchions). If you're attending as public, you're in for a real treat, as this enormous layout will completely match the map of the convention (and should be filled in even more than the layout in Alabama earlier this year). Can't make it to New Hampshire next weekend? BrickFair will also be in Virginia (July 30th-August 3rd) and New Jersey (October 30th-November 2nd), and similar, smaller layouts (without BrickFair's backing) should be appearing at BrickWorld Chicago (June 11th-15th) and BrickCon (October 2nd-5th). We're hoping this catches on more generally as a theme and a building standard for group layouts at LEGO events (like moonbase or the Cafe Corner standard). I've started a Flickr group to make it easier to find ideas, inspiration, and displays related to this theme. For blogging purposes here, we're mostly talking about LEGO conventions, but these displays are also a hit at Comic and Sci-Fi conventions (think: minilanders in costume as their favorite characters) and I intend to expand to Maker Faires this year as well. The Flickr group discussions include an attempt at a list of all Mini Con events.

Millyard Project / Amoskeag Mills

Name of Model: Millyard Project (Amoskeag Mills)

Created by: NELUG , with the help of sponsors.

Found at: http://www.nelug.org/article.php?story=20061130213415274&sid=cc116c3d7a38a7ee77130814512937f1 and http://www.see-sciencecenter.org/millyard/

Details: NELUG (the New England LEGO Users Group), along with Manchester, New Hampshire, USA's SEE Science Center, LEGO, FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), and CLD Consulting Engineers, built this enormous scale model of Manchester's Amoskeag Mills. There are many things to love in this model. Careful research was done to make this model as historically accurate to the late 1910's (when the Amoskeag mills were at their peak) as possible. With over 3 million LEGO bricks used, this is believed to be the largest minifig-scale LEGO model ever made. As you can see in some of the many pictures available, some of the individual buildings here are longer than most people are tall. As many details as possible were rendered in the 55:1 LEGO minifig scale. For more information, I recommend viewing the model at the links given above. There's a ton to take in - to be honest I haven't even found time to go through some of the photo galleries yet. By my count, there are 527 photos available! This model is now a permanent exhibit at The SEE Science Center, an excellent museum in Manchester, New Hampshire, USA. They also have a webpage about this model, as mentioned above. On a personal note, I was very excited to see this model because I grew up near this area. I have been inside most of the mill buildings, some of which are not as well-kept now as they used to be, but some now hold a number of other businesses and such - including the SEE Science Center, which I loved visiting as a kid.