Tag: Tank

  • Blitzkrieg Machines: German WWII Vehicles in Lego

    When you think about German WWII vehicles, most people immediately recall the iconic Tiger. But beyond the Tiger, the German army fielded a wide variety of vehicles—each with its own role on the battlefield. From nimble early-war tanks to heavy tank destroyers and even supply trucks, these machines defined the way Germany fought during the war.

    Naturally, I had to bring these legends to life in micro-scale! Below you’ll find my custom builds of some of the most famous German vehicles—each with photos, videos, and tutorials so you can build them yourself.

    Panzer I – The Beginning

    The Panzer I may have been lightly armed with just machine guns, but it marked the start of Germany’s armoured force. Small, fast, and easy to produce, it trained the crews who would later fight in more advanced tanks.

    This small vehicle could only hold a crew of two and first saw combat in the Spanish Civil War from 1936-1939.

    I tried my best to recreate this in 1:120 scale which proved to be very difficult because of how small the tank is in real life. In fact, in the Micro Brick Battle rulebook, it’s not even listed there, so if you want to use this in the game, you’d have to assign your own attack and defend values.

    At only 4 studs in length, I think this might be the smallest tank I’ve made thus far. I was thinking how best to represent the model and since the most prominent part was the turret, I tried to make that stand out. I used minifigure hands to represent the dual machine guns, the only appropriate piece I could find that worked.

    Panzer II – A Step Up

    The Panzer II improved on its predecessor by adding a 20mm autocannon, giving it a bit more punch. While still underpowered against heavier Allied armor, it played a vital role in the Blitzkrieg campaigns.

    The Panzer II was meant as a interim replacement to its predecessor, until more advanced and bigger tanks were developed. It saw improvements to its amour and weapon, which now sported a single 20mm KwK 30 L/55 auto-cannon. This tank played an important role during the Polish and French campaigns of the war.

    The design for this tank was just a slight modification of the Panzer I and change to the turret design, and I found that the short bar with clip(from Brickarms) could imitate the look of an auto-cannon.

    Panzer III – The Workhorse

    The Panzer III was Germany’s main battle tank in the early years of the war. It came equipped with a 37mm and later 50mm gun, and it served in huge numbers across Europe and North Africa.

    The Panzer III was the first medium tank of the series and was used extensively in WWII as an infantry support type of tank.

    Its main gun was a 37mm cannon(Ausf. A-G) and many variants of this was produced with different calibers.

    Here you can see the size difference with the light and medium Panzers, and I once again used the Harry Potter wand for the barrel.

    Panzer IV – The Backbone of the Wehrmacht

    If there was one tank that saw the entire war from start to finish, it was the Panzer IV. Constantly upgraded with thicker armor and more powerful guns, it remained Germany’s most reliable and widely used tank.

    Similar to the III, with an upgrade in firepower. The Panzer IV was manufactured in response to the formidable Russian T-34’s. It was the second most produced German tank in the Second World War with a total of 8,553.

    Back to the build, the body for the IV is the same as the III, with only a slight modification on the turret. Swapped out that 37mm for a 75mm, and you can see a 1×3 bar in dark bluish grey does the job.

    Now you are ready to have your first game of Micro Brick Battle, you can choose to pit the Shermans(see my other post) against the Panzers!

    Elefant – The Beastly Tank Destroyer

    The Maus and Elefant

    Built on the failed Porsche Tiger chassis, the Elefant was a massive tank destroyer carrying the powerful 88mm Pak 43 gun. While heavily armored, it struggled with mechanical issues and lack of mobility.

    Maus – The Super-Heavy Tank

    The Maus was the heaviest tank ever built, weighing a staggering 188 tons. Armed with a massive 128mm gun and thick armor that no Allied weapon could reliably penetrate, it was designed to be nearly unstoppable. In reality, only two prototypes were completed, and its size made it impractical for warfare. Still, the Maus has become legendary among tank enthusiasts for its sheer scale and ambition.

    Hummel – The Mobile Howitzer

    Jagdpanther and Hummel

    The Hummel (“Bumblebee”) carried a 150mm howitzer, providing crucial artillery support for German divisions. It combined firepower with mobility, making it a dangerous battlefield presence.

    Jagdpanther – The Deadly Predator

    One of the most feared tank destroyers of the war, the Jagdpanther combined Panther tank armor with the long 88mm gun. It was powerful, well-armored, and deadly effective against Allied tanks.

    Opel Blitz – The Workhorse Truck

    No army runs on tanks alone—the Opel Blitz was Germany’s most common military truck. It transported supplies, troops, and even served as a platform for anti-aircraft guns. Without it, the German war machine would have stalled.

    Marder III – Stopgap Tank Destroyer

    The Marder III was built by mounting captured Soviet or German guns on obsolete tank chassis. While vulnerable due to its thin armor, it gave German forces much-needed firepower against Soviet armor in the mid-war years. In the video below, I show you how to build the Marder III along with a Kubelwagen and Sd.Kfz.251 as a bonus!

    If you like my post on this subject, stay tuned and subscribe to my mailing list because there will many more of these coming! Also, leave a comment and let me know what else you would like to see in future posts. Thanks for reading!

    Tip: Sort your Lego pieces, it will help you understand the different types and colours available to use in your creations. I personally sort by type and then colour, and after years of doing this I have found that it is the most efficient way for me to find things.

  • The Tiger’s Roar: WWII’s Most Iconic Panzer

    Four variants of the Tiger 1

    When you think about a Tiger, what comes to mind?

    I think about a top-of-the-food chain predator, dangerous, strong and lethal. That’s why the name is very befitting of the German heavy tank known as the Panzerkampfwagen VI or simply Tiger I. There is also a Tiger II, also called a King Tiger, but that would be for another post.

    Possibly one of the most well known tanks among enthusiasts and modellers, it seems everyone has done some version of this revered vehicle before, whether using building bricks or with custom painted plastic model kits.

    So what makes the Tiger a formidable foe? That would have to be its 88mm KwK 36 gun and thick armour plating with the frontal hull armour of 100mm and 60mm to the sides.

    Of course, we had to make this tank in micro-scale, I mean how can you have a tank battle without the Tiger I?

    I created the first version in dark bluish grey, because it seemed to be the most common colour scheme. After some measurements(using sariel’s unit converter), I started with the turret first and made sure to have the two opening hatches, which could fit one commander up top as you can see here. I choose dark green for the German army soldiers because the Allies are in olive drab.

    Underbelly of the beast

    Then i worked on the main body which had to look a bit chunky, hence the addition of 1×4 tiles on the side.

    Once I was happy with my design, i just modelled another one in light bluish grey just to see if I had all the parts. I didn’t have one particular piece(1×3 panel), so I modified it to have the MG gunner slit on the left.

    Then I also remembered seeing a winter camouflage version before, so I added that to the battalion.

    The last one I made is a tan variant, used in the North Africa campaign, also the same one you see in the movie Fury.

    The actual Tiger 131 used in the film Fury
    The actual Tiger 131 used in the film Fury

    Fun fact: Did you know, the Tiger I featured in Fury, is an actual working version and it was a Tiger 131 captured by the British in Tunisia during World War II. It is the only operating Tiger tank in the world. It was also the first time a real Tiger appeared in a feature film since Theirs Is The Glory in 1946. It is now preserved at The Tank Museum in Bovington, England.

    Below you will find a tutorial on how to build all four versions:

    If you like my post on this subject, stay tuned because there will many more of these coming! Also, leave a comment and let me know what else you would like to see in future posts. Thanks for reading!

    Tip: I use tiles a lot, to give the model a certain look, whether to feel more minimalistic or clean, or to mimic the look of armour plating, tiles are a stable part of micro-scale building. There are so many different kind of tiles, round, angled, grill etc, so play around with these. And if you want to remove a tile from a plate, remember to use a Lego Brick Separator to save your fingernails!

  • The Little Sherman That Could

    Today I want to talk about probably the most popular tank of World War II, the M4 Sherman.

    The M4 Sherman was the most widely used medium tank harnessed by the Allies during that period. It was named after General William Tecumseh Sherman who served during the American Civil War in 1861.

    This tank was mass produced by the United States and was an important piece of machinery, not because it was better on the battlefield but because the Allies could manufacture these at a faster pace and was able to repair and replace parts with greater efficiency. This advantage was a turning point for the Allies during the war.

    Here I’ve made the most basic version, and while I didn’t plan on copying anyone, similarities in this scale(1:120) are unavoidable. That said, I used a different technique to create the tracks(which is a bit of an overkill), by using 1×2 round plates and I found that it is more modular than the technic beam piece normally employed. I can go from 5, to 6 or 7 studs with ease. It’s looks more detailed even on the underbelly, which I also tried to make convincing in this scale. I actually used curves and plates in my initial design for the tracks but scrapped it after developing this technique instead. I think it’s just more visually appealing because you can have a very slight bend on the “tracks” and with the holes, it kind of looks like wheels.

    I also remember seeing in one of Brick Mini’s photos of how a Harry Potter wand would be useful as a barrel and that element was perfect for this scale. The stickers and nano figure elements of course can be found at Brickmania and Brick Mini.

    Another feature of the Sherman was how adaptable it became, which saw many forms during its service. There are too many to name here, but one of my favourites include the M4A3E8(Easy Eight).

    If you’ve watched the movie Fury, you would have seen this bad boy in action against the fearsome Tiger 1. (Note to self, I have to make a diorama of that at some point!)

    I then made some modifications on the original build and upgraded the gun, (the most prominent change) and also added in that M2 Browning to complete the look.

    There is also the Sherman DD(duplex drive), which is an amphibious version used during the Normandy landings. You’ll recognise it because of the protruding snorkels(which was very difficult to add to the small body). Finally I squared it off with the some tan tiles, held together by 1×1 brackets.

    I researched a little bit more and saw they had a minesweeper variant as well! This one was a little easier to make as it was just an attachment consisting of 4 pieces.

    That short chain piece really came in handy, but you could also use other things like minifigure hands or even a technic pin in dark bluish grey that could do the job.

    The last variant I wanted to build was the Rocket Launcher T34, and the rocket attachment was a quick assembly using claw pieces clipped onto a 1×3 bar. I modified the turret by adding brackets which would hold the thing in place. I used the shorter clips from Brickmania because it looked nicer, but if you don’t have those you could just stick to the claw piece(48729b).

    All these models could be used in the Micro Brick Battle game and here’s a tutorial if you want to build one:

    There is already an extensive archive of models they have created before, but I’m just adding on to that world piece by piece.

    If you like my post on this subject, stay tuned and subscribe to my mailing list because there will many more of these coming! Also, leave a comment and let me know what else you would like to see in future posts. Thanks for reading!

    Tip: Every plate matters when building in micro-scale. 1 brick = 3 plates height and 2.5 plates width.