Somewhat Smaller Than Expected... AND All-Composite!

At least one ANN staffer -- who shall remain nameless (it's Rob -- Ed.) -- fondly remembers playing with LEGO plastic bricks while growing up -- using them to build various planes, cars, and spaceships, even as he grew well past the "recommended age" stamp on the packages.

As it turns out, Rob isn't the only one to harbor a LEGO fascination -- in fact, he's in some pretty lofty company, as this week Singapore Airlines unveiled the latest addition to its fleet -– an A380 aircraft model built entirely of LEGO bricks -- in Billund, Denmark. As fans of the multicolored, blocky plastic bricks know, the city is home the LEGOLAND theme park.

Using over 75,000 LEGO bricks in eight colors, the world’s largest Singapore Airlines LEGO aircraft model -- as well as the world's smallest superjumbo jet -- took an entire team of professional LEGO model builders more than 600 hours to construct. It is currently on display at "MiniWorld" in the main LEGOLAND Park.

The model retains the dimension, scale and design of an actual Singapore Airlines A380 aircraft. Measuring 9.5 feet in length, it has a wingspan of over 10 feet and stands just over three feet high at the tail. The total weight of the model is 275 pounds... 220 lbs. of which is LEGO bricks... and is scaled pretty close to the size of LEGO figurines.

The LEGO model is actually the second A380 unveiled by Singapore Airlines this year. In June, the carrier -- who is launch customer for the real thing -- also unveiled a 1:25 scale model of its A380 aircraft in the miniature city of Madurodam, in the Netherlands.

We want one. Heck, send us the bricks and we'll even build it ourselves.

FMI: www.singaporeair.com, www.lego.com