OT: LEGO Model of Central Campus Diag (30,000+ pieces)
Last week I put the finishing touches on a project that I have worked on since 2017. This is the fourth Michigan related LEGO project I have done (football & helmet, Desmond Howard mosaic) and without question the biggest LEGO project I've ever worked on.
This is a scale model (1:381 to be very specific) of the central campus diag. It includes everything within the borders of North U, South U, East U (extended north) and State Street. The buildings are made from about 22,000 pieces and my best estimates put the base and landscaping at about an additional 8,000-10,000 additional pieces. When put together the model measures just under 3.5 feet long on each side. It is made up of sixteen 32x32 baseplates that can be connected together. The buildings are all separate structures that can be easily connected to the assembled bases.
Despite the scale I did my best to add as much detail as possible and I am very proud of how it turned out. This project started out as just digital designs and I never really considered that I would actually build the full model. I steadily made progress when I found the time and over the past few months got the last bit of designing, building, and landscaping done.
For those that are curious I have added a lot of commentary and details to the Imgur album about how I approached this project from start to finish. Happy to answer any questions you might have or share photos of specific areas that you don’t see in the album.
November 10th, 2020 at 9:21 AM ^
Awesome. I love it. Thanks for sharing
November 10th, 2020 at 9:30 AM ^
Well done
November 10th, 2020 at 9:32 AM ^
That's incredible. Your ability to get detail at a small scale is outstanding.
November 10th, 2020 at 9:32 AM ^
Wow. I can tell your passion shines through on this. Art comes in many forms. Congrats on the accomplishment. Looks great!
November 10th, 2020 at 9:33 AM ^
Wow - that is incredible. Nice work!
November 10th, 2020 at 9:41 AM ^
Holy cow this is incredible
November 10th, 2020 at 9:49 AM ^
I feel like I took a walk through the diag this morning. Nice work.
November 10th, 2020 at 9:54 AM ^
This is probably one of the coolest things i've seen on the board this year. Looks great man!
November 10th, 2020 at 9:55 AM ^
This is incredible. Kudos to you for your hard work and attention to detail. I walked thru the diag this past Saturday...so I can attest to the accuracy of your model!
November 10th, 2020 at 9:58 AM ^
Would you mind revising it circa 1971-75 so that it shows Barbour and Waterman Gym and the old Econ Building?
Seriously, great job.
November 10th, 2020 at 10:01 AM ^
Wow, this is incredible! Will you be putting it on display anywhere?
November 10th, 2020 at 10:14 AM ^
Thank you!
I'd like to once life returns to some semblance of normal. The Ann Arbor District Library has an annual Lego event that would be fun to showcase at. Maybe they would be interested in having it displayed for a week or something in the lobby. There are also more regional Lego events every year like Brickworld although I've only ever been there as a spectator.
November 10th, 2020 at 1:27 PM ^
This is impressive and gave me a much welcomed jolt of happiness! Well done, indeed.
You probably already know this, since you just might be more knowledgeable about LEGOs than all of us, but there is a LEGO store in the Somerset Mall.
(There's also one near where I live at Columbus' Easton Centre, but I'm assuming you want to keep your creation un-pooped on)
November 10th, 2020 at 4:56 PM ^
"Maybe" they would be interested in having it displayed? You're far too modest! You might have trouble getting it back after it's displayed. Incredible work.
November 10th, 2020 at 10:19 AM ^
cool!
can you add north campus too cause like i spent a lot of time there
November 10th, 2020 at 10:25 AM ^
Me too! I am moving at a pretty slow pace obviously but I'm torn now between moving towards other central campus buildings off the diag or north campus (where I work). North would definitely be easier to design, lots more brick buildings (maybe start with EECS or FXB).
November 10th, 2020 at 10:30 AM ^
First off, B&B, this is AMAZING!!! Put a huge smile on my face. North campus would be neat as well as the area south of the quad - Ed School, B-School, Law School and Quad.
November 10th, 2020 at 11:11 AM ^
As someone else that spent 90% of their time there, please don't, north campus sucked mostly.
The law quad would be very cool. Maybe also my MoJo dorm room.
November 10th, 2020 at 10:31 AM ^
Dude, this is cool as hell. I'm a big Lego fan, but I'm not patient enough to sit down and come up with my own stuff, so anyone who does quality MOC's has my admiration. I really like how this is in the same sort of style as the bigger architecture kits, but on a much larger scale.
Are there any other campus landmarks you're planning on tackling? I'd love to see Hill Auditorium and Burton Tower as a pairing someday.
November 10th, 2020 at 10:57 AM ^
Thank you! Burton Tower was actually the very first campus building I made, about 5 years ago I threw together a very small version of it. It's on one of the shelves in the last few photos of that album. But having learned what I did after making these models I would probably start over on that.
The nice thing about the grid setup is that it's easy to add other baseplates in the future. So if I wanted I could add extensions on all sides to expand the scope of it.
November 10th, 2020 at 9:21 PM ^
Did you know this is being highlighted in an Alumni Assoc Facebook ad? Just saw it in my feed.
November 10th, 2020 at 10:32 AM ^
That's so awesome. Would love to replicate that somehow.
November 10th, 2020 at 10:36 AM ^
Is there a way for us to somewhat replicate what you did?
Like, selling the instructions, etc?
November 10th, 2020 at 11:12 AM ^
I don't have instructions (and to be honest it would take me far longer to make them than actually building these) but all of the buildings I did design in Lego Digital Designer before actually building them. I'm happy to share those files. Apologies if what I am writing up below is like another language to someone...
I would say some familiarity with LDD is going to be necessary in order to get anywhere with these. They are mostly complete files but some newer piece types aren't available in LDD because the program itself is pretty old (I know that I could use Stud.io but I find LDD so much easier). So in those cases I substituted in red pieces that had a similar footprint and made notes to myself of what to use. If you import the LDD files into BrickLink you can get a piece list and go from there. When I was building I would open up the LDD files and gradually delete pieces as I built them into the model. There was also definitely some freelancing on the structural work as I went. They might not look very pretty on the inside but they're pretty sturdy.
November 10th, 2020 at 11:52 AM ^
Thanks!
November 10th, 2020 at 10:40 AM ^
Holy sh!t, that is amazing. The level of detail is incredible.
November 10th, 2020 at 10:41 AM ^
When is WD moving in?
November 10th, 2020 at 10:44 AM ^
This level of detail is astounding! You can even see cornerbacks and interior DL not being developed!
Sorry. Too soon.
November 10th, 2020 at 10:46 AM ^
Nice campus... for ants. How are students supposed to fit in those tiny buildings?
November 10th, 2020 at 11:07 AM ^
Your second picture (musem steps) is the location where I puked while singing the Victors, blood streaming down both knees, after running the naked mile in April 1997. Good times.
November 10th, 2020 at 11:16 AM ^
Really awesome!
November 10th, 2020 at 11:17 AM ^
That is amazing! Very nice work!
November 10th, 2020 at 11:21 AM ^
Really awesome. I would love to build something like this but I lack the time, patience, and (most importantly) the ability to do so. Great job!
November 10th, 2020 at 11:22 AM ^
Awesome work on this! Kudos, and thank you for sharing--great to see my old stomping grounds, Angell and Mason there. +1!
November 10th, 2020 at 11:24 AM ^
Outstanding!
November 10th, 2020 at 11:38 AM ^
Great work! Very nice - and a lot of work!
November 10th, 2020 at 11:40 AM ^
Appreciate the very good pup for providing size context (and the banana). Please give your dog a treat for me.
November 10th, 2020 at 11:40 AM ^
Holy shit, dude. That's amazing. Great job
November 10th, 2020 at 11:48 AM ^
That is fantastic. What is interesting is that it is probably the one area on campus that really hasn't changed much since I graduated in 1994 (outside of the completion of the construction project that enlarged Randall Lab and connected it to West Engine (and that West Engine is now West Hall).
This brought a smile to my face today. Thank you.
November 10th, 2020 at 11:53 AM ^
Wow. I'm sending the link to a big Lego fan I know, who works at the Lego store in Chicago. It's his perfect job.
November 10th, 2020 at 11:57 AM ^
That is amazingly impressive. Thank you for sharing. It looks like you will need to expand your display area! Looking forward to see the next project. Happy building.
November 10th, 2020 at 12:43 PM ^
Thank you! Yeah, not seen are the four additional 4 ft shelves off to the right. Only one is filled right now but they won't stay empty for as long as they probably should.
November 10th, 2020 at 2:07 PM ^
I have two young boys. I'm happy if a Lego "car" has three functioning wheels on it and it still goes on a shelf somewhere in the house.
November 10th, 2020 at 12:43 PM ^
That is amazing. I love the shots down at ground level through the model. Looks so much like the real thing.
November 10th, 2020 at 12:55 PM ^
Dang, this guy Legos.
Campus is so different from the mid-late 90s. I guess it's not the West Engin Arch anymore. And some of those buildings are new and unrecognizable to me.
Even so, that actually brought back some memories and it is - and you are - a-MAIZE-ing.
Also happy to see Voltron, the yellow submarine and the Beatles and the Bell Tower. I'd love to see a scale model of Hill Auditorium and the fountain on the Ingalls Mall along with the bell tower and Michigan League. Spent many many hours inside Hill as a Glee club member.
November 10th, 2020 at 1:04 PM ^
I am absolutely in awe of this, and the mosaic on the wall as well. You have my unending respect for your mad LEGO skills.
November 10th, 2020 at 1:08 PM ^
Very impressive!
November 10th, 2020 at 1:29 PM ^
Expected to be impressed, came away mind blown - awesome work and thank you for sharing!
November 10th, 2020 at 1:34 PM ^
I love the banana for scale. Kudos, this is an amazing job!