Seeing a large LEGO build of a distinctive structure from real life or fiction is almost always a thrill, especially when photos or video footage get to zoom in on the fine details. But an ever bigger sensation can be had when watching a build project in progress before completion. That must’ve been in the mind of Ryan Thompson, software engineer from Boise, Idaho and AFOL by hobby. His latest building MOC, a LEGO Model of the Idaho LDS Temple, was captured as he was assembling it via time-lapse; the result is a beautiful scale reconstruction of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Temple in Meridian.
Announced to be built by the LDS Church Public Affairs office in 2011, construction for the Meridian Temple started in 2014, and was completed in time for dedication in 2017. The LDS Temple itself was constructed of white marble, which the church acquired from quarries in Spain, Italy and Egypt.
It’s no wonder then that Thompson primarily used white LEGO bricks on multiple green brick-mats to create this LEGO Model of the Idaho LDS Temple. He says that designing the Meridian Temple’s brick-built structure on CAD took him some 80 hours, while 20 hours were spent actually putting the 5,500 LEGO elements for the project together.
The brick-built temple stands an even 3 feet in length, width and height, comparable to a 1:60 scale of the actual structure in Idaho. It’s a natural development of Ryan Thompson’s LEGO building skills. He once recreated in LEGO the church he and his wife married in; he finished it in time to display at their wedding reception.
From: Idaho Statesman