Standing at an impressive 20.5 inches tall and 30 inches wide, this LEGO Ideas entry doesn’t just demonstrate the solar system’s movement, but it does so while staying true to each planet’s orbit time. The Clockwork Solar System from LEGO builders Chris Orchard and Brent Waller is a nearly 3000-brick marvel that replicates our solar system’s celestial dance with 99.8% accuracy while a set of clocks at the bottom even count down the year while the planets rotate around the sun.
Orchard and Waller are both self-professed LEGO nerds, while Waller even mentions he’s been associated with the LEGO Ideas platform for over a decade (going back to the time when it was called ‘CUUSOO’). While they claim that there are countless mechanical models of the solar system (also referred to as orreries), nothing matches the Clockwork Solar System’s complexity and attention to accuracy.
Designers: Chris Orchard & Brent Waller
This isn’t the first time someone’s built a stunningly accurate orrery out of LEGO. Earlier last year, LEGO builder Marian made an orrery that precisely tracked the earth and moon’s movements around the sun complete with accurate moon phases. The Clockwork Solar System, on the other hand, also factors in the other 8 planets (or 7 planets and Pluto if you’re still clutching those pearls).
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