Greeble

Greebles, also called greeblies (singular: greebly)[1] or nurnies, are small relief details used to give visual complexity to a model. The act of decorating a model with greebles is known as greebling. While greebling originated as a technique in filmmaking, it is commonly used in model-making, toy design, and kitbashing.[2][3]
The term "greeblies" was coined by George Lucas in the 1970s to describe details on model ships used in the production of Star Wars.[1] Ron Thornton is credited with coining the term "nurnies" to refer to CGI technical detail that his company Foundation Imaging produced for the Babylon 5 series,[2] while the model-making team of 2001: A Space Odyssey referred to them as "wiggets".[4]
In science-fiction model design, greebles are used to imply mechanical function without necessarily having any real purpose. They may also serve to create an illusion of scale.[5] In the production of Star Wars, many ship models began as simple shapes that were given visual complexity by attaching greebles taken from commercial model kits.[3] Greebling is a common aspect of Lego model design.[6][7]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "Revell V-8 Engine Model". www.partsofsw.com. Retrieved 2025-05-22.
- ^ a b Fronczek, Steve (January 20, 2008). "Interview: Charles Adams". Future-past.com. Archived from the original on September 9, 2009. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
- ^ a b "Interstellar Illusions: "Greebles" Lend Large Sci-Fi Structures a Sense of Scale". 99% Invisible. 2021-02-19. Archived from the original on 2025-03-12. Retrieved 2025-05-22.
- ^ "What are Nurnies". LEde Designs. Archived from the original on 5 May 2017.
- ^ Norling, Staffan. "Comments about greebling". battletech-movie.com. Archived from the original on 14 February 2006.
- ^ Spencer, Theo (2025-04-14). "LEGO builders join forces for some greebley goodness". The Brothers Brick. Archived from the original on 2025-04-14. Retrieved 2025-05-22.
- ^ "Skulls could use more greebling in general". The Brothers Brick. 2019-09-19. Archived from the original on 2024-10-09. Retrieved 2025-05-22.