Are these the 7 best custom LEGO Architecture Skylines?

tomalphin

Now that the LEGO Architecture Skylines series is in it's second year, with a total of six sets released so far, We are seeing some amazing fan-made models in the style of the official sets.

I just wrote an article highlighting the very best of these custom models.  (Before selecting my favorites, I created this Pinterest board where I collected all 24 custom Skyline models I've found so far.)


Paris Skyline, by Cecilie Fritzvold

Immediately recognizable despite its tiny scale, what's not to love about this Paris Skyline?  I really like how closely it follows the style of the official sets.


Budapest Skyline, by docbali

This is another excellent model that follows the style of the official sets very well.  It's worth noting that this model is one of the first examples to layer a building behind a bridge for a more interesting composition, preceding the same effect which is used in the new 2017 sets.


Dubai Skyline, by Anscott

While it is far too large and has an oddly shaped base, there is a lot to love in this Dubai skyline.  It's interesting to see how different builders are expanding on the skyline concept.


You can see all seven of my favorite models at brickarchitect.com


Sincerely,
---tom


P.S. Have you found or created an awesome Skyline model that isn't included on my pinterest page?  If so, leave a comment below so I can add it to the collection!

AllBrick

Love them. Dubai looks particularly slick.

MaffyD

I think Paris must appear as a set soon. If it looks like the fan one shown above, I'll be happy. Although, there's something not quite right about the bottom of the Eiffel Tower...

Budapest looks great, but I'm not so bothered about Dubai - it's just too big, and there's nothing historic about most of those buildings.

I might look at the other 4 if I have a chance.

CCC

Milan is good. I'm not a fan of the Dubai one. It doesn't fit in being curved.

MaffyD

I like the Duomo on Milan very much. Not sure about the more modern buildings...

The trees on Tokyo are ace, as is the Skytree and the Imperial Palace. Although somehow it all reminds me of Toronto, don't know why... :-)

Seoul is too big, unfortunately. And Frankfurt has too many towers on it - but they are both well made.

tallblocktoo

I didn't know we had a Tokyo tower in Toronto!  

nexander

I love the Glasgow one, its a very modern skyline as we haven't really had something recognisable until recently but sums up the city well

Mynatt

CCC said:

Milan is good. I'm not a fan of the Dubai one. It doesn't fit in being curved.

Even though it strays away from the norm of just having the series of buildings in a line, I find it to work out well due to it being not far from the palm islands.

77ncaachamps

This inspires me to do my city!

Would love to see other people's MOC cities regardless of the size (of the city/town, that is).

Not having done an Architecture skyline set before, what are the usual dimensions (length and width) of the sets?

tomalphin

32 studs wide, and 4 studs deep.  It's within standard to have part of the model extend forward or back by about 4 studs for s small portion of the model.

(Note: Chicago is just 28 studs wide, and London is 36 studs wide - the're the only two which aren't 32 studs wide.)

As for building instructions for the base - look for the freely downloadable instructions of the official sets.  For instance, Venice has a perfectly regular base.

---tom

CCC

Mynatt said:

CCC said:

Milan is good. I'm not a fan of the Dubai one. It doesn't fit in being curved.

Even though it strays away from the norm of just having the series of buildings in a line, I find it to work out well due to it being not far from the palm islands.

Yes, but all of the other skylines are not linear in real life, but put into a line for the series.

DeMontes

@henrysunset Here's my Architecture Skylines on pinterest, I saw you had already pinned one or two from my collection, not sure if you have all these (some better than others) :
https://uk.pinterest.com/elspethdemontes/lego-architecture-skylines/

MaffyD

^ Here's where I find out I've dissed a couple of your models! I really really hope not though! :(

Edit: Err... are any of these ones you've designed? Or are you pinning other people's stuff only?

tomalphin

@MaffyD, Right now, the models in the pinterest collection are other people's work only.  When I've created a model that I'm ready to share, I will add it to the collection too.

MaffyD

I meant @demontes actually. :-)

77ncaachamps

henrysunset said:

32 studs wide, and 4 studs deep.  It's within standard to have part of the model extend forward or back by about 4 studs for s small portion of the model.

(Note: Chicago is just 28 studs wide, and London is 36 studs wide - the're the only two which aren't 32 studs wide.)

As for building instructions for the base - look for the freely downloadable instructions of the official sets.  For instance, Venice has a perfectly regular base.

---tom

Thanks, Tom!

One of my students is reading your Lego Architect book in class. He has been for a few weeks!

AdeelZubair

I have a commissioned one that I worked on last year however the client doesn't want to share it yet. I'll have to wait a while before I can publish it.

tomalphin

77ncaachamps said:

One of my students is reading your Lego Architect book in class. He has been for a few weeks!

That's great to hear!  What grade do you teach?  Are they finding one chapter more exciting than the rest, or enjoying them all?

---tom

DeMontes

MaffyD said:

^ Here's where I find out I've dissed a couple of your models! I really really hope not though! :(

Edit: Err... are any of these ones you've designed? Or are you pinning other people's stuff only?

MaffyD, I don't use pinterest for my own stuff, I use Flickr ;-)  https://www.flickr.com/photos/azurebrick/

You have not insulted me at all as none of these pins are my builds, I have no need to pin my own stuff...seems a bit pointless :-) I meant "my collection of Architecture Skylines" in the 'I have found and pinned them' manner - sorry my phrase was rather unclear in retrospect!

I can't speak for others on Brickset but if you put your work out there, you can expect to get positive and negative comments.

Elspeth

77ncaachamps

henrysunset said:

77ncaachamps said:

One of my students is reading your Lego Architect book in class. He has been for a few weeks!

That's great to hear!  What grade do you teach?  Are they finding one chapter more exciting than the rest, or enjoying them all?

---tom

Good question.

I'll ask him and let you know!
(I teach 4th grade)

MaffyD

@demontes - phew! That's good to hear. I don't really understand Pinterest so thanks for the info. I'll check out that Flickr when I have a minute, thanks for sharing. Generally speaking, I try to be constructive when I think the builder will see my comments, but in this case I just assumed that wouldn't happen! Cheers, Matt

catwrangler

@MaffyD /anyone else wondering: Pinterest lets you save pics from around the internet (with a link to the source) like a virtual pinboard. You can get a browser button to hit any time you see something you'd like to save. If it's any help, here's how I use it to save pics of anything I want to recreate in Lego in the future...

We now return to your scheduled architecture thread!

77ncaachamps

@henrysunset

I just asked my student and he said he enjoys them all! :)

tomalphin

@77ncaachamps
Glad to hear it.  Let them know that they can send photos of their creations - I always love to see models inspired by readers of my book!

77ncaachamps

@henrysunset Will do! He was actually surprised an author responded to a post online, esp the author of a book he was reading. Thank you for staying engaged with your readers.