Gizmodo: miniatures

Tiny Adorable Oil Tanker Makes Pilots Better Trained, Slightly Awkward

Dan Nosowitz — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EDT

The Warsash Maritime Academy in the UK uses these $245,000 miniature oil tankers to train its pilots—they're incredibly difficult to drive, and simulate all kinds of different emergency situations, all while looking like a coin-operated children's ride.

The tiny tankers are designed to realistically mimic the driving conditions of their full-sized brothers, with a slightly gentler learning curve. Emergency situations (like a failing engine) can be remotely triggered for training purposes. Oh, and feel free to quote that episode of The Simpsons with the big guy in the tiny car. That's what you guys are here for. [DVICE]

Puny Humans Return In Tilt-Shift Video

Jason Chen — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:00:00 EDT

Keith Loutit's tilt shift video returns with two more clips: another relaxing one of the beach and one of Mardi Gras. The beach one (Bathtub IV) is very soothing in an innocent way. [Neatorama]

Important Chairs From the World of Design, Shrunken For Six Bucks

John Mahoney — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:00:00 EST

Out of all the miniatures at Toy Fair, these famous chairs by Eames and many other bigtime designers are the ones I want most. [Toy Fair 2009]

Tiniest Vintage Arcade/Pinball Machine Models For Your Desk

John Mahoney — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 10:10:00 EST

You can use these shrunken game machines to decorate a quasi game lounge to entertain your non-existent train set ghostmen while they're waiting for the 12:10 to Rochester. Or you can decorate your desk.

Aside from all the vintage game machines (including Playboy pinball), the folks at J & C Studios also have a nice cell tower replica you can use, creating an RF field next to your coffee mug for the tiniest tumors.

[J&C Studios via TechnaBob and BBG]

Tiny Chairs Let Your Gadgets Have a Meeting

Charlie White — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 09:03:24 EDT

Looking for a place to park that new Zune? Brando suggests pulling up The Chair, a $6 gadget stand that looks like those stackable chairs you lugged outside to the church picnic back in olden times. Now when you play Bag Lady Barbie with those mini shopping carts Jason introduced you to last week, at least Barbie will have a tacky old-fashioned 6-inch-high chair in which to sit. [Brando]

SwissMiniGun Not Intimidating, But Could Still Kill You

Charlie White — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 10:16:15 EDT

The SwissMiniGun is a 2.16-inch replica of a Colt Python, and it's a real gun that shoots tiny bullets that are just .35 inches long. This miniature Swiss-made revolver and its ammunition are painstakingly crafted using watchmaking technology.

Looks like the little shooter could do some damage, propelling that tiny slug at 426.5 f/sec. out of the muzzle. Wonder if it has a kick to it. No word on pricing. – Charlie White

Product Page [SwissMiniGun, via boing boing]

World's Smallest Sega Dreamcast

johnb — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 09:59:07 EST

Our drunk brother-in-law, Kotaku, picked up this wee Sega Dreamcast. No, it doesn't work, but it's so cute. It's actually a little collector's thing that comes in a little bag and you can PRETEND you own a very small obsolete console.

Tacohead over at lowdown411.com sent word of a teeny tiny Dreamcast he bought via Lik-Sang. The toy consists of a Dreamcast console deck, removable modem, 2 VMUs, one controller and a copy of Space Channel 5. It gets better. The friggin console s lid opens. Insane.

I would eat the entire thing and wait until each piece—the Dreamcast, the controller, and the game CD—passed through me like a glorious, Sega-themed comet.

World s Smallest Sega Dreamcast [Kotaku]