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Japanese artist Takanori Aiba makes tiny, enchanting worlds, such as this fanciful castle wrapped around an imitation bonsai tree. His whole site is a browsing delight. The only pity is that his creations aren’t real places that we can visit.
Link -via Geekosystem | Artist’s Website
Artist and photographer Carrie M. Becker re-imagined Barbie (the doll) as a pathological hoarder, and arranged Barbie’s dream house as such. She explains some of the thought behind the project in her artist’s statement. Somebody call a maid! No, a sanitation crew! You can see many different rooms in her Flickr set. Link -via Laughing Squid
(Image credit: Flickr user Carrie M. Becker)
There are thousands of tiny soldiers locked in eternal combat in Valencia, Spain, housed in the Museo de los Soldaditos de Plomo (museum of the little lead soldiers).
What started as a small collection belonging to Museum Director Alejandro Noguera’s father has become a collection of over one million, with 85,000 on display in diorama scenes straight out of history. You can see more of Derek Workman’s beautiful photos of the historical tableaus at the link below.
Link –via BoingBoing –image credit:Derek Workman for Smithsonian Magazine
A brilliant machinist named Patelo made this 12cc V-12 compressed air engine. Except for the screws, he cut all of the parts from scratch. This video shows him grinding the parts, assembling them, and then running the engine at about the eight minute mark. It’s an amazing demonstration of precise machining.
-via Boing Boing | Previously: Tiny, Functional V-8 Engine
Gallery O in Boulder, Colorado has only a little space to offer artists: eight by ten feet. So it specializes in miniatures. Recently it exhibited tiny chairs made by different artists, such as these by Tom Lyon made out of Triscuit-brand crackers.
Link -via That’s Nerdalicious!
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Randy Hage is a Los Angeles-based artist on a mission to preserve the crumbling storefronts of Manhattan–one 1/12-scale miniature at a time. The project started when Hage noticed the generic and mass-produced logos of chain stores and restaurants shoving the small, worn shopfronts right out of the city. “My goal is to document and bring greater attention to those disappearing storefronts,” he said. There are more examples of Hage’s awesome miniatures in the capsule he curated for How to Be a Retronaut. Link
Christine de Pizan wrote Othea’s Epistle to Hector (the Book of Knighthood) around the beginning of the 15th century. She is considered to be the first female professional writer. In 1460, a manuscript of the Book of Knighthood was commissioned, written in Middle French and illustrated with miniatures. Sixteen of those miniatures are reproduced for your pleasure at BibliOdyssey. Link
James Cauty makes miniature scenes of riots and protests in empty jam jars. As you can see at the video link, some of them even feature flashing lights on the police vehicles.
You may remember Cauty from his musical career. He was a member of the band The KLF during the late 80s and early 90s. Gallery Link and Video Link -via Nerdcore
For forty years, Alexander Perfiliev has been making miniature model firearms. They’re duplicates of the actual designs (such as the Makarov pistol pictured above) scaled way, way down. English Russia reports that they actually work. We’ve seen functional miniature guns in the past, so it wouldn’t surprise me in the least.
Link via Technabob | Photo: Lesnyanskiy
What a lovely photograph from yesteryear, eh? Not quite.
It’s a model. Specifically, it’s one of the astoundingly detailed models of 1950s American homes, cars, and street scenes made by Michael Paul Smith. His work is being compiled into a new book called Elgin Park, the name of a fictitious Pleasantville-like town which his models and photographs depict.
Link and Smith’s Flickr Photostream via reddit
Artist Yuri Zupancic composes miniature paintings on tiny microchips, such as this nude which measures half an inch high. Zupancic paints them using brushes that he makes from his own eyelashes. Here’s his explanation for choosing microchips as his base:
“Smaller and Faster” has replaced “Bigger and Better” as the leading catchphrase of commodities. I reflect this with my miniature paintings on microchips. From wild plants and animals to human tools and portraits, the range of subjects is diverse. I seek poetic images which raise questions and strike metaphorical chords when painted on microchips -the building blocks of the digital age.
The biggest frontier I see today is where nature and technology overlap. Mankind and our extensions (i.e. computers, cities) are essentially natural occurrences, thus move and evolve in the same dynamic patterns as the rest of the world. My paintings on microchips are an attempt to broaden our perspective of modern electronics and acknowledge their position as extensions of the mind and its sentimental qualities.
The Belgian television channel Prime commissioned miniature sets for major American shows, including Mad Men, Lost, Deadwood, and Six Feet Under. It’s simple, but quite visually effective. Warning: the video at the link compiling them is NSFW.
Link (Google Translate) via NotCot
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The tallest piece in this set is only three inches tall! Kiva Ford makes hand-blown miniatures of many types of glassware and jewelry. Personally, I am a sucker for the cobalt blue glass creations. See more at the Etsy shop. Link -via Evil Mad Linkblog
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Michel Lefaivre is a gunsmith who makes miniature, functional firearms. Pictured above is one example of his work, a 1/4 scale Gras rifle model 1874. Lefaivre writes about how he does it:
Each part starts from a raw piece of material, reduced in size with a milling machine or a precision lathe. The biggest part of the work is made with a file in the fitting vice. At a quality of manufacture and finish equal to the full size, it is more difficult to make a functioning piece reduced to 1/3 scale. The more minute the detail, the more time it takes, and the more risk of making a mistake. Few pieces were successful the first time round. All those not strictly in conformity were scrapped without pity.
To perfect the work and to give it its final touch, the best specialist of our country have been called upon for the engraving, inlaying, gilding, checkering and the wood carving.
Mandatory tooling includes a toolmaker’s lathe, a clockmaker’s lathe, a precision milling machine and hundreds of needle files of all shapes and grades. Burrs and polishing tools of all shapes, pertaining to clockmakers, jewellers, dentists, chisellers and sculptors are used. Very good eyesight and an infinite reserve of patience, tenacity and elbow grease are also required.
Link via Hell in a Handbasket | Photo: The Craftsmanship Museum | Previously: The World’s Smallest Gun
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Artist Kim Burke makes tiny food miniatures from polymer clay:
From a very young age, I’ve been enthralled by miniatures and was delighted at how wonderfully addicting it is to make them. It’s truly remarkable when the delectable textures of food can be reflected on such a tiny scale.
I strive to make each miniature of the highest quality possible with the most realistic details. My inspiration largely comes from scouring cook books and local pastry shops for ideas. Desserts and gourmet food are my favorite to create but I’m open to any challenge to take on!
Link via The Presurfer | Flickr | Etsy | deviantART
From the Upcoming 
ueue, submitted by Maeveone.
