LEGO Certified Professional Ryan McNaught’s 120,000-piece LEGO Titanic MOC as it shows the legendary ship splitting in half, and sinking at the bottom of the ocean after hitting an iceberg is already technically impressive as it is. However, what makes this masterpiece stand out is not just the sheer size of it, but also McNaught’s use of minifigures that evokes empathy even through a toy that was designed for fun and play.
At a technical level, McNaught’s LEGO Titanic MOC is awe-inspiring. He spent around 250 hours building his masterpiece. He also used several light bricks, adding a subtle drama to this scale model. It also shows a degree of engineering ingenuity considering the manner in which the stern was able to be kept up. Most importantly, and perhaps what should not be missed, is the fact that this Titanic was built in proportion to the size of its minifigures.
Jan Dizon of The Tech Times vividly described how the minifigures were arranged to create a powerful emotional image. “Little LEGO men and woman are scattered throughout the ship and even in the water telling their own mini-stories of terror, and fighting for survival as the ship splits in half… there are minifigs hanging on for dear life. Four minifigs are working together to help their friend back up. One poor chap has a pile of ice that fell on top of him,” Jan reported.
While others marvel at the technical aspects of McNaught’s rendition, others were just uncomfortable with it. User comments at lego.gizmodo.com say that it was inappropriate to use minifigs to replicate such a tragedy. Others went as far as predicting that it’s not too soon that someone will come up with a Lego replica of 9/11. Though this is somewhat debatable – we just have to wait and see.
We surmise that it’s up to the person how he or she will look at it, but truth be told, McNaught’s creation will leave an indelible mark on those that will be fortunate enough to see it.
Thanks to LCP Ryan McNaught for sharing these images. For the rest of his amazing LEGO creations, visit his Flickr page.
