*This article was also published in Coldplay Issue 32.
For those of you who spend time in the LEGO community browsing through knowledge articles and watching review videos, "minifigure proportions", "chess pieces and minifigure proportions" or other terms used to roughly describe the scales of LEGO models are familiar. However, few seem to delve into the specific meaning of these proportions.
In the world of LEGO bricks, the most well-known is the minifigure proportions. Many LEGO enthusiasts, including The LEGO Company itself, prefer to add these charming little plastic figures to their LEGO models. However, the LEGO minifigures are not designed to be realistically human, and they represent the outlines of various parts of the human body in an abstract form, making it difficult to define the exact standard size. This article will explore this fundamental question and analyze the possibilities of different proportions.
LEGO parts system
The LEGO toy system is largely based on a basic unit called the "Lego Plateau" – a name derived from the ancient Greek word "atomos", meaning "indivisible". Such a unit refers to a 1×1 slab on which only one stud is assembled. In the standard building blocks of the LEGO system, the dimensions of each part are based on the length, width or height of this 1×1 plate and its integer multiples.
Perhaps many people who have played with Lego bricks in their childhood will find that the average Lego brick is exactly three boards high. The image below shows the exact dimensions of the LEGO system.
A standard LEGO minifigure is exactly four bricks or twelve slabs tall, excluding its headgear. So once the hair, hat or helmet of the figure is removed, it's easy to place it in a structure made of LEGO bricks.
It wasn't until the 1999 Star Wars series that G.A. Binks introduced G.A. Binks (J.A. Jar Binks) minifigures, which feature specially shaped head parts, and until the 2002 Yoda minifigure had shorter legs, the LEGO minifigure maintained this size standard. As a result, the "height of four bricks" became the standard by which the LEGO minifigure model was measured.
Excluding the overhead hollow studs, a standard figure is 38.4mm tall, while the overhead hollow studs are increased by another 1.7mm to make a total height of 40.1mm. If you want to make a building that is the height of a LEGO minifigure to life-size to life-size scales, you'll need a reference human size standard.
While anthropometric and German Institute for Standardization standard values can be used, these may be outside the inherent size of LEGO parts. Therefore, the proportions of the LEGO building are always an approximation and should be used with some flexibility.
You can build a building at a scale of approximately 1:42.5, which is based on the relationship between the total height of the LEGO figure (including the stud bulge on the head) and the actual height of an adult who is 1.70 meters tall. This ratio is adjusted to 1:40 for a shorter adult to be 1.60 meters tall and 1:45 for an adult 1.80 meters tall.
So, due to the difference in human height and the fixed size of the LEGO tiles and bricks, players need to have a flexible understanding of the "minifigure proportions".
However, this is just one of the many sizes in the LEGO world, and only refers to the height of the LEGO minifigures. When you zoom in and compare the LEGO minifigures to real humans, you can see that they don't follow any standard proportions. The minifigure's head is relatively oversized, and the legs are short compared to a real human.
In the design of LEGO figures, the difference in size is especially noticeable in the accessories. Due to technical limitations, the minifigure's hands need to be kept to a minimum thickness so that they can withstand tension without breaking when "grabbing" items. In addition, considering that the toy needs to be suitable for children to play with, the size of its accessories is set to a certain size from the beginning of the design.
For example, the Lego stick has a diameter of 3.18 mm, which is suitable for use as accessories such as shovels, brooms or spears. But in real life, it's rare to see a wireless phone that reaches to chin height, or a magnifying glass that's larger than your head, further highlighting the difference in proportions between LEGO design and the real world.
Minifigure ratio or play ratio?
As you can see, defining a universal scale for a LEGO minifigure-sized model can be challenging. As a result, a new term has been coined for the proportions that are often used in the LEGO world: "Playscale".
The term "play proportions" is used when a LEGO model is not designed to follow the exact proportions of a LEGO minifigure, but the player is still able to interact with the minifigure.
If this concept sounds a little difficult to understand, some of the ship models from the LEGO Star Wars series can serve as simple examples of understanding the "play scale": let's say a 1:42.5 minifigure scale, a Star Destroyer with an actual length of 1600 meters would be close to 38 meters in length in the LEGO version!
Obviously, there are hardly any rooms that can accommodate such a giant model. As a result, the LEGO designers' Model of the Imperial Star Destroyer 75055 is less than 60 centimeters long, but it can still be used with minifigures. Aside from these extreme cases, determining whether a LEGO model is a minifigure or play ratio is often more complicated than might think, and even the LEGO Group itself rarely uses absolutely accurate minifigure proportions.
LEGO City in proportions
Take the modular streetscape buildings from the LEGO ICONS series, for example, these building models are designed to be proportioned to the appropriate minifigures, providing a more realistic environment for the LEGO minifigures. Players who build LEGO cities often work hard to ensure that all models are in the same proportions as the streets in order to maintain the harmony of the overall look.
In stark contrast to this is the LEGO Supercar series. For a long time, the original racing car model was only 6 studs wide, which was a relatively good replica of the minifigure proportions of a real car, but due to the size of the LEGO bricks, these cars only provided a middle seat for the minifigure. Still, the cars don't look particularly out of place when paired with the buildings in LEGO City.
Comparison of the 6-block wide car and the 8-block wide car of the Super Racing series
With the design of the 8-stud-wide vehicle, the exterior details of the LEGO car have been more accurately restored, and the interior space is large enough for two minifigures. However, these 8-brick wide cars have become larger and more difficult to match with LEGO street floors or buildings. In this case, it is clear that the compromises that had to be made in order to follow the minifigure proportions were visible.
Star Wars series in proportion
The compromise on the scale of the models is especially noticeable in the LEGO Star Wars series, especially in the UCS (Ultimate Collector's Series) models for adult collectors. These models are designed to provide a large and detailed collection, but in reality, only a few of them are in some way in line with the minifigure proportions. For example, the 10212 Imperial Shuttle, the 75060 Slave I, and the 75192 Deluxe Millennium Falcon models from the Star Wars series can all be considered models that are more human-proportional.
However, when we look at iconic ships like the X-Wing Starfighter, TIE Fighter or Y-Wing Attack Aircraft, they are sometimes almost twice the size of the minifigures. For these small ships, the play scale is usually closer to the real scale, but they are not as detailed as the UCS model. The Death Star, for example, has a diameter of 160 kilometres, or a staggering 3.76 kilometres at a 1:42.5 minifigure scale, enough to completely hide New Zealand's highest peak, Mount Cook.
Harry Potter series proportions
Even in the wizarding world of Harry Potter, LEGO designers had to use some clever tricks to ensure that the official set was kept within a reasonable range in size and price. In the Modular Hogwarts Architecture series, which is gradually being phased out, the standard size of all rooms is 8x16 studs, which is obviously too small for a minifigure given the size of a large classroom in a real castle.
If you're unhappy with the game-scale buildings in the Harry Potter series and want to create a minifigure-scale Hogwarts castle, you might be inspired by Alice Finch. Using around 400,000 LEGO parts, she built her own minifigure scale Hogwarts Castle.
Proportions of the LEGO ICONS series
LEGO designers enjoy considerable freedom in size and scale when creating LEGO ICONS models. From the Titanic to the Eiffel Tower, almost all real-life objects can be recreated with LEGO bricks. Of course, these models don't usually follow minifigure proportions. In addition to the modular streetscape buildings mentioned above, there are also models in the LEGO ICONS collection that are close to minifigure proportions.
For example, the 10266 NASA Apollo 11 Moon Lander Set with two astronaut minifigures on board shows that even objects that are physically sized enough to scale to a minifigure have to make some design compromises to match the LEGO minifigures.
While Michael Collins remained in lunar orbit, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin flew aboard the lander for the first lunar landing mission. In reality, Armstrong is 1.80 meters tall, Aldrin is 1.78 meters tall, and the height of the lunar lander from top to bottom is only 7 meters. If we take Armstrong's height as a reference, the height of the model should be only about 15.6 centimeters at a scale of 1:45. However, the LEGO version of the lander is about 18.5cm tall and is designed just right for minifigures.
The proportions of the different vehicles in the ICONS series also vary, and the models, while similar in size, do not follow the exact same proportions compared to the actual vehicles. They are designed to be cohesive when they are displayed.
For example, the ratio between the 10262 James Bond Aston Martin DB5 sports car model and the original car is about 1:13.4, the ratio of the 10258 London Bus is about 1:24.7, the ratio of the 10220 Volkswagen T1 camper is about 1:14.3, and the ratio of the 10265 Ford Mustang is about 1:13.7.
Although the proportions of these car models are different, due to their consistency of length, they can be placed on the same shelf and displayed together in an attractive way. Of course, these vehicle models are too large for LEGO minifigures.
Proportions of the architectural series
The LEGO Architecture-themed series showcases the diversity of model scales, with trams sometimes being as wide as one board and cars as high as three boards in these scaled-down building scenes.
For example, in the 21035 Guggenheim Museum set, a combination of a yellow 1×2 jumper board and a 1×1 smooth flat plate is used to symbolize New York's iconic yellow cab.
In a British-style architectural suite, such as 21045 Trafalgar Square, the height of the red double-decker bus is equivalent to five boards, which is about the height of five superimposed taxis. Miniature chess figure figures are often used to represent statues, but in the scene they are actually on the larger side.
Other proportions in the world of Lego
In the world of LEGO, there are other series of characters to choose from besides the classic minifigures. For example, the figures from the "Best Friends" and "Disney" series are slightly larger than the classic LEGO minifigures and are visually distinct. For the models of these figures, a scale of approximately 1:38 can be used.
However, with a little creativity, you can combine the Best Friends figure with a classic minifigure. For example, they can be perfect as mannequins in a clothing store or tailor dummies in a sewing shop.
Miniature scale has become a common standard in large LEGO building models. This ratio is not set in stone and varies between approximately 1:80 and 1:130. For example, in the 71043 Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle - Deluxe Collector's Edition, LEGO used a chess figure (trophy figure) to represent a miniature character, sometimes referred to as "nanoscale".
In 2009, with the release of the LEGO Board Game Set, we saw the two-block tall miniature figurines for the first time. These miniature figures were originally designed to be used as characters in board games, so they weren't very restrictive in their proportions in the suit. In addition, these miniature figurines are often used as miniature sculptures in game-scale or minifigure-scale models, and 2018 was the last appearance of these miniature figurines in a regular LEGO set.
The smallest scale of a character built with LEGO bricks is made up of two small round particles that are simply superimposed. The human body is simulated by using two 1×1 round plates, which roughly correspond to a scale of 1:150.
With such minimalist proportions, the design of the architectural model, although simplified, is impressive. Although the details of the interior of the building cannot be represented at this scale, the creativity of the designer often complements this deficiency very well. In recent years, some LEGO Star Wars giveaway sets have adopted this ratio, such as the 40362 Battle of Endor 20th Anniversary Edition in 2020 and the 40451 Tantouin Farm set in 2021.
Write at the end
Looking at the many different scales, if we need to determine the ideal size for the model now, we can confidently say that any scale you prefer is fine, and any design that is close to a minifigure scale is basically suitable.
When it comes to minifigure proportions, no one can establish a mathematically exact proportion, as humans come in size and LEGO minifigures are very different from life-size ratios.
So, even if we want to turn real-life objects into LEGO models, we have to use our imagination. As long as the environment we create for the minifigures seems harmonious and harmonious, then that's enough. If you want to build something specific, it's a good idea to use a roughly 1:42.5 scale. But at the end of the day, it's all about experimenting and having fun.
How do you decide on the proportions of LEGO models when you build them?
*原文来自stonewars,原作者Roar of Thiem,酷玩潮zamperini编译
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