LEGO Art The Milky Way Galaxy 31212: Build Your Own Galactic Wall Art
If you’ve ever thought your wall needed an entire galaxy on it, LEGO has a rather spectacular solution.
The LEGO Art The Milky Way Galaxy 31212 is a 3,091-piece building set for adults that recreates our galaxy as a colourful three-dimensional piece of LEGO wall art.
Rather than producing a conventional LEGO spacecraft or telescope, you’re effectively building a picture. But unlike traditional LEGO mosaic art, the Milky Way uses layers of different pieces to give the finished galaxy texture and depth.
At around 65 cm wide, it’s substantial enough to become a genuine feature on a living-room, bedroom or home-office wall.
View LEGO Art The Milky Way Galaxy 31212 on Amazon
What Is LEGO Art The Milky Way Galaxy?
The LEGO Art Milky Way set is LEGO model number 31212 and is part of the LEGO Art range aimed primarily at adult builders.
It contains 3,091 pieces and builds into a representation of the Milky Way measuring approximately 65 cm wide, 40 cm high and 5 cm deep.
Those 5 cm are important.
This isn’t simply a flat image made from thousands of coloured LEGO tiles. Different pieces protrude from the surface to produce a textured, almost 3D representation of the galaxy.
The finished model includes some familiar astronomical features, including:
- the Milky Way’s galactic centre
- the Pleiades
- the Crab Nebula
- the Pillars of Creation
- Trappist-1
- a small “You are Here” marker showing our approximate position within the galaxy
There is even a tiny LEGO spacecraft travelling through the scene.
LEGO Mosaic Art with a Difference
If you’ve seen previous LEGO Art sets, you might expect to spend your time placing hundreds of small tiles onto a flat base.
LEGO Art The Milky Way takes the idea considerably further.
It still has the appearance of LEGO mosaic art when viewed from a distance, but get closer and you’ll see a much more complicated arrangement of plates, tiles, flowers, stars and other LEGO elements.
These create the clouds, dust and stars of the galaxy.
The result sits somewhere between a LEGO model, a mosaic and a piece of 3D artwork.
It also means this isn’t necessarily something that immediately looks like a conventional LEGO set when you first walk into the room.
Building the LEGO Art Milky Way
With more than 3,000 pieces, this is a substantial project.
However, there’s an interesting feature for anyone who wants to build it with a partner, family or group of friends.
The model is divided into five separate panels, each with its own building instructions. That means several people can work on different sections before bringing everything together to form the completed galaxy.
Alternatively, you can build all five yourself.
For an astronomy enthusiast, there’s something particularly satisfying about watching the galaxy gradually emerge as the individual panels are completed.
LEGO also provides accompanying content that you can listen to while building, exploring some of the inspiration and science behind the model.
LEGO Wall Art for a Home Office
This may be where the set makes most sense.
Many large LEGO models look fantastic, but they also consume considerable amounts of shelf or desk space.
LEGO wall art solves that problem.
The completed Milky Way is designed to be hung on a wall using the supplied hanging elements. At approximately 65 x 40 cm, it’s large enough to make an impact without requiring a dedicated display cabinet.
It could work particularly well above a desk in a home office, in a gaming room or alongside bookshelves containing astronomy and science-fiction books.
The combination of blues, pinks, oranges and darker areas also makes it far more colourful than many conventional spacecraft models.
Is LEGO Art The Milky Way Scientifically Accurate?
Don’t expect to use it as an astronomical chart.
This is an artistic interpretation of the Milky Way rather than a scientifically precise scale model.
That’s inevitable.
Our galaxy is approximately 100,000 light-years across, contains hundreds of billions of stars and is so enormous that our entire Solar System would be effectively invisible at the scale of this model.
The interesting part is the “You are Here” tile.
It provides a reminder of just how insignificant our location is within the wider galaxy.
Earth orbits the Sun. The Sun is just one star among hundreds of billions in the Milky Way, located well away from the galactic centre.
Suddenly that 65 cm LEGO picture starts representing something almost unimaginably large.
Is LEGO Milky Way 31212 Good for Adults?
Absolutely. It’s specifically designed as an adult LEGO project and carries an 18+ age recommendation.
The appeal is also broader than conventional LEGO collecting.
This could suit someone who enjoys:
- astronomy
- space exploration
- interior design
- LEGO building
- puzzles and creative projects
- unusual wall decorations
- science-fiction
You don’t necessarily have to be a serious LEGO collector to appreciate it.
In fact, someone interested in astronomy who wouldn’t normally consider buying LEGO might be exactly the audience for this set.
LEGO Art Milky Way as a Gift
The set also has strong potential as an astronomy gift.
Finding presents for someone who loves space can become difficult once you’ve exhausted telescopes, astronomy books and star projectors.
The LEGO Art Milky Way is different because the building experience is part of the gift.
They don’t simply unwrap a piece of wall art. They spend several hours constructing it before displaying the finished galaxy.
That makes it an interesting birthday or Christmas gift for adults, couples or older teenagers who enjoy creative projects.
LEGO Art Milky Way vs Traditional LEGO Space Sets
Choosing between this and something like a LEGO rocket largely depends on how you want to display it.
A large spacecraft model is ideal for a shelf, desk or display cabinet.
The Milky Way is better if you’re running out of horizontal space.
It also provides something quite different for someone who already owns several LEGO NASA models. Instead of adding another rocket to the collection, you’re putting those spacecraft into context by building the galaxy they inhabit.
Is LEGO Art The Milky Way Galaxy Worth It?
The biggest attraction of LEGO Art The Milky Way Galaxy 31212 is that you end up with something quite different from a conventional LEGO model.
It’s a 3,091-piece building project, an astronomy-themed decoration and a substantial piece of LEGO mosaic art rolled into one.
The ability to divide the build between five people also makes it an interesting shared project, while the finished dimensions make it large enough to transform an otherwise empty wall.
For astronomy fans in particular, the tiny “You are Here” marker might be the best detail of all.
Build more than 3,000 pieces representing an entire galaxy, hang it on your wall – and then find the tiny spot showing where we are.
