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How the model is worked out
From the land to studs
The area is laid on a grid with one stud for each square, and the ground at each stud is rounded to a whole number of plates. Three plates make one brick, and the standard sizes are used throughout: an 8 mm stud pitch, 3.2 mm plates and 9.6 mm bricks.
Choosing the parts
Each layer is filled with the biggest parts that fit, from 1 × 1 plates up to 2 × 8 bricks and 8 × 8 plates, in one colour each. Joints are staggered against the layer below, like a brick wall, and every part rests on a part beneath it or on the baseplate, so the model holds together.
Solid, hollow or flat
Solid fills every stud. Hollow keeps a two-stud wall to the outside and the top brick of every stud, with an open space underneath shaped like a dome, so the roof always rests on the step below it. Flat mosaic is a single layer of plates, like a map seen from above.
Colours
Natural colours come from the map: water, beaches and sand, grass and fields, forest, rock and snow, with earth under the grass on the sides. Height bands go from green valleys to white peaks. Every colour is a common, easy to find brick colour.
Elevation: Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (© DLR e.V. & Airbus) and Mapzen Terrain Tiles on AWS. Water, land cover and buildings: map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Map © OpenStreetMap contributors, © CARTO. Building bricks are made by several companies; this tool is not made by or connected with any of them. Want the place as one smooth 3D print instead? Open the TerraPrinter app, make layered contours or see more 3D map gift ideas.