The Magazine for LEGO® Enthusiasts of All Ages! Issue 43 • January 2017
8.95
$
in the US
Building Games in Brick! Imagine Rigney talks about his Builds! Nick Jensen shows his Game Characters! LEGO Munchkin! Instructions and MORE! ISBN-13: 978-1-60549-072-4 ISBN-10: 1-60549-072-5 50895
9 781605 490724
We’re In Canada Too! St. John’s, NL
EVANSVILLE, IN Phoenix, AZ
Issue 43 • January 2017
Contents
From the Editor....................................................2
People Build Until it Hurts: Raising Imagine Rigney................................4 Instructions: Itty Bitty Songbird................12 Gamers and Building: A Conversation..............................................14 Gallery: Nick Jensen........................................18
Building Overwatch’s Winston......................................20 Building the Normandy................................23 Crafting the Original LEGO Minecraft Layout................................................................26 LEGO Minecraft Gallery.................................28 You Can Build It: Minecraft Creeper.........................................32 BrickNerd’s DIY: Zelda’s Master Sword..................................36 You Can Build It: Dagobah Swamp.........................................42 Minifigure Customization 101: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed!...............48
Community Kill the Monsters, Steal the Bricks!............54 RoboCupJunior Australia.............................59 Tiny LEGO Wonders: A Discussion with Mattia Zamboni......62 Brickfilmer Spotlight: Marc André Caron........................................66 Building the Samurai Code.........................70 Community Ads...............................................78 Last Word.............................................................79 AFOLs....................................................................80
People
Build Until it Hurts: Raising Imagine Rigney Article by Jessica Rigney “Tell me what you want for your birthday. Go on, say it. Or don’t say it and let me guess.” How many words does a human know by the time they approach age four? Perhaps a few hundred? Though what a child knows or does not know can be debated amongst proud parents for an eternity. Or at least for as long as the children are playing well and no one is crying.
Imagine and Jessica Rigney.
Imagine, age 6 in 2002.
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Imagine with judges at the LEGO 50th Anniversary Build-off in 2005.
If my son Imagine happened to be part of a group of toddlers at a party or play group, I can guarantee that there wasn’t time for any kind of lengthy debates. He would usually be the one causing another child to cry. To be mother to a strong-willed, fast-minded boy who came out of the womb holding his head up on his own, meant that I needed to hit the ground running. The fact that he was my first, and only child, also meant that I had no idea what I was doing. He was so often bored or irritated by other children that he would push them away or bite their fingers if they interfered with his creative play. I ask Imagine, now age twenty-one, if he can remember what he was thinking when he lost his patience with other kids back then. His honest response would be difficult for the parents of those children to hear. “I don’t like you. Go away. You’re sticky. You smell. And you have no idea what you’re talking about.” Remember dear reader, we are seeing inside the mind of a child who wasn’t yet two. That he can recall what he was thinking at that age is in itself astounding. These next few sentences will probably sound familiar to parents of children who seem to come into this world from a different universe. He seemed to need very little sleep. His brain had expectations that far exceeded the abilities of his infant body. He could not eat, speak, or walk fast enough. To be content meant the visual, the kinetic, the auditory, the tactile, all needed to be entertained at the same time for extended periods. To not be content in this way would result in lengthy bouts of boisterous crying not calmed by anything other than reengagement of the mind. When I invited a friend and her toddler over for the afternoon, I stacked dozens of puzzles all around the floor. She walked in and gasped. She said I would need to put them away because her daughter would only put the pieces in her mouth and possibly choke on them. I was stunned. In my isolation of rearing my son with all the multitude of stimulating experiences I could think of to keep his brain occupied, it did not occur to me that other mothers of tenmonth-old children were not doing the same.
By the time he approached age four, I had run out of ideas for what to offer him next. Of course by then he was walking, talking and more easily making it known that he needed more—just more. How I had not made a trip down the LEGO aisle at Toys “R” US sooner is beyond me. All I know is that once I did, it changed our lives, both his and mine, forever. It was not long after that we began having that birthday conversation. “Tell me what you want for your birthday.” It was LEGO then, and for every birthday since; still to this day. What do LEGO bricks do for the active mind which both calms and excites? There are perhaps studies out there which can illustrate the cure that they became for Imagine. Here’s how he explains it: “At first it was nothing special. LEGO was like a lot of the puzzly things Mom had gotten for me before. But that it was three-dimensional, and Star Wars, was fun for me. (His first set was the Naboo Fighter 7141-1.) I do remember finding the Technic pieces interesting, how they were used to support the exterior repulsor engines. It was also very yellow. I think yellow was one of my favorite colors back then.” So where did his name come from? It was simply on my lips as I woke up from a dream I had while I was pregnant with Imagine. A story that he likes better, however, is about the evening I went into labor with him. I had spent the entire day cleaning and prepping the house, getting groceries and walking the dog. I was two weeks overdue, but still wasn’t really feeling like birth was imminent. My husband had brought home the Star Wars Trilogy on VHS that evening as a gift. After dinner I did the dishes, put the first tape in and reclined on my side on the couch. The moment the Star Wars theme began playing, my water broke. Imagine was born nine hours later.
Howl’s Moving Castle, 2009.
So what makes Imagine so special? How did he get to be such an incredible LEGO builder? What can I tell you about his life that will give you some insight into a mind which can take an idea and bring it to life in three dimensions with plastic bricks? To be quite honest, I’ve been by his side his whole life and I can’t say. I know that by the time he got going with building LEGO and playing games, he was insatiable. I wished many times that there was a way to make more money so I could get him rooms full of LEGO and games. But scarcity is sometimes a good thing. The limits I placed on his computer gaming, the limits of space and supplies for building everything he wanted to build early on, forced him to find other ways to do things. I forced him too, unknowingly. I would make him clean up his builds from time to time so I could clean the floor or sort the LEGO. We would fight over it, often. He would try in his way to make me understand that the builds were always in progress, that there was no stopping point inside his brain and so none existed amongst the parts all over the floor either. I would try to explain how a clean slate is a way to clear the mind and start fresh. We clashed in that way enough times that I started to just move things around as I cleaned so we wouldn’t have to go through the struggle our differences caused. At around age six he began playing many of the early LEGO computer games, including LEGOLand and Rock Raiders. These were a source of contention between us too. When I limited his time on the computer, he would
Big Daddy and Little Sister from BioShock, 2011.
Rapture Boiler Room from BioShock, 2011.
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Nick Jensen is a LEGO builder that has become well-known for his builds of sci-fi and gaming weaponry. Ben Caulkins is a builder that gained fame for his HALO Master Chief armor and costume, which was built almost completely with LEGO parts. Both are members of GamerLUG, a group of builders that focuses on building items from video games, and good friends.
People
Nick and Ben first met at Brickworld 2010. The annual LEGO fan event becomes a central meeting point for them, and by Brickworld 2011, they are both building their iconic builds— Nick’s HALO-themed weaponry and Ben’s HALO armor. BrickJournal asked them to talk about their experiences in building.
Ben Caulkins: I remember everyone asked to hold your guns and wear my helmet. That was a good year. A good ego-rubbing year. Ben Caulkins (left) and Nick Jensen.
Gamers and Building: A Conversation Article by Nick Jensen and Ben Caulkins
Nick Jensen: Yeah, I liked wearing your helmet a lot, even though it was all sweaty and gross. I was like, “Oh my God, I get to wear LEGO. I get to be Master Chief.” Ben: I don’t go to the gym. I’m sorry. Nick: (laughs)
Ben: I like holding your guns though. That was pretty cool. But yeah, I guess that was how we first met, officially. The idea of a collaborative videogame-related display for... what was that guy’s name, Alec? Nick: Alec…
Ben: Alex Ruiz! That’s right! Alex Ruiz was the guy who organized the display (HALO themed “New Alexandria” display at Brickworld 2011) and got us together. Nick: Yeah. And he, like, bailed.
Ben: But yeah, after that we— I don’t remember who said it first— somehow, one of us told the other that we wanted to do a collaborative HALO display. I don’t remember who said it first. Nick: I think that was my idea. Like, we couldn’t get Alex back in for obvious reasons. Ben: Yeah, he disappeared off the map.
Nick: I didn’t like 2010 in that I was separated from all the HALO people, but when we did that collaborative display (New Alexandria) in 2011, all the HALO stuff that was outside the collaborative was near each other. Ben: Oh yeah, we realized there were other people who built HALO stuff, or built video game stuff actually and that we could talk to them. Nick: Yeah, it felt weird to have that spread out across Brickworld, so why don’t we just condense it? So, 2012 was when we condensed everything to one big HALO: Combat Evolved display, which had my sniper rifle and shotgun and it had your assault carrier as one of the central pieces.
Ben in his HALO suit.
Ben: You built a ship too, right? You built the little HALO: Reach Starfighter. Nick: I did.
Ben: That was your first spaceship, wasn’t it? Nick: No, but…
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Nick in the HALO suit.
Ben: Wait a minute. Really? Oh, damn. We all have builds like that I guess. But yeah, Brickworld 2012 was when we did the HALO collaboration. And that was the year I won something, and that felt pretty good.
Nick: Was that award for spacecraft or mega creation?
Ben: I think it was spacecraft. And I remember that was the first time you brought your sniper rifle too, right? Nick: Right, and I destroyed it on-site right away. Ben: That’s right!
Nick: I did not want to take it home.
Ben: That was horrifying. (laughs) Why did you do such a thing? Nick: I didn’t wanna take it home…
Ben: Well, that’s become the start of a tradition now, you destroying your builds at every Brickworld. Nick: That’s true. That was the first time I did that.
Nick’s starfighter.
Ben: Now you’re just teaching young Brickworlders that it’s okay to destroy your work.
Nick: Well, you gotta move on. If I’d stuck with that, and just had that built today, I don’t think I would’ve tried to improve anything. Everyone’s like “my gosh, it’s the best build I’ve ever seen” and I’m just thinking, “I could do better,” and looking back on it, I’m just thinking it was good at the time, but you gotta move forward.
Ben: If nothing else, it definitely made for a good catharsis. Like a good climax—kind of like the opposite of breaking a bottle on a ship. It’s like the ship’s sinking and you break a bottle on it.
Part of the HALO: Combat Evolved display with Ben’s ship in the rear.
Nick: What?
Ben: It’s like the opposite of commemorating a ship’s beginning by breaking a bottle on it. It’s like dropping the boat on the ground before it dies to leave it with some dignity, and you dropping one of your guns on the floor at Brickworld, to say “we’re done.” Their conversation quickly shifts to building LEGO costumes and the growing community of LEGO gaming builders. Ben: Never again. Nick: (laughs)
Ben: Never again. It’s too hard.
Nick: What, the Master Chief suit?
Nick’s sniper rifle.
Ben: Building a LEGO costume. Nick: Oh, is it?
Ben: I see you posting those ODST helmet pics. I see you posting that helmet from 800 years ago that you started. Nick: (laughs) Oh my gosh. You remember that.
Ben: Oh I remember that. I was like, “Oh, he’s gonna do it. That looks like a more promising start than when I did it.” Then you never did it. Nick: Well, this time I feel like I know what I’m doing. I actually made a frame first.
Ben: It looks like it’s starting to form. You haven’t posted them on Flickr, have you? Nick: No.
Ben: I see those on your Snapstory.
Nick’s recently completed helmet.
Nick: Oh yeah?
Ben: It’s starting to form. It’s starting to come around. I’m excited to take a look at it. Finally, someone will build a better HALO helmet, ’cause mine is not that good.
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Building
Overwatch’s Winston
Article by Joe Meno Photography by Paul Lee
Ever have get inspired to build a video game character? Paul Lee did when he saw one of the trailers for the game Overwatch with a gorilla named Winston. Originally, he had built a super-articulated human frame for a character, but couldn’t think of a character to build. He then decided to shorten the legs and build Winston. Paul started designing the armor and new body by beginning on the head and then working on the rest. His son Ethan helped out on the build by making the Tesla Cannon Winston is armed with. In total, it took three weeks to complete Winston for display at Bricks by the Bay, a LEGO fan event in the San Francisco area. As for the game, neither Paul or Ethan have played. As Paul explained to BrickJournal about Winston, “We just really liked the look of him. A super-intelligent, armored gorilla with weapons! What’s not to like?”
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Head sections Eyes
Peeking Inside Winston’s Head Paul’s attention to detail is demonstrated in how he built Winston’s head. Designed in four sections, the head uses building up and sideways and even angled to make a mouth.
Mouth Cheek
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You Can Build It MINI Model
Dagobah Swamp MINI Diorama Design and Instructions by Christopher Deck
Hello everybody! I am certainly glad to join again for another building session together with you in the current issue of BrickJournal. Herein we want to continue our mini diorama series of epic scenes from the Star Wars saga. We have already seen the desserts of Tatooine and the temples of Yavin from A New Hope as well as the forests of Endor in two scenes from The Return of the Jedi. Thus it’s really time for The Empire Strikes Back: the swamps of Dagobah! The 12x8 studs small diorama features Yoda’s hut enclosed by a large gnarltree and Luke Skywalker’s semi-sunken X-Wing starfighter. While most other dioramas of this scene feature a complete X-Wing, either sitting outside the water or in the water embedded by bricks, the X-Wing in this diorama is a specially designed half-starfighter. It is built on the base of a 1x3 inverted slope. To make it slide on the water surface
it was important to have enough weight towards the front of the model to enable a stable stand in the tipped-over-position of the slope. For the lower pair of laser cannons, shorter bars were used to give the illusion of their tips being under water. With that, our little diorama is completed and I wish you happy building! Hope to see you next time!
Parts List (Parts can be ordered from Bricklink.com by searching by part number and color) Swamp Diorama
Qty Color Part 4 Reddish-Brown 3005.dat 2 Dark-Tan 3005.dat 1 Dark-Tan 3010.dat 2 Dark-Tan 3003.dat 1 Dark-Tan 87620.dat 4 Dark-Tan 3001.dat 3 Green 3741a.dat 1 Dark-Orange 19119.dat 1 Green 2423.dat 1 Green 2417.dat 3 Trans-Green 3024.dat 3 Green 33291.dat 2 Dark-Tan 3036.dat 3 Dark-Bluish-Gray 54200.dat 2 Reddish-Brown 3040b.dat 1 Dark-Tan 3665.dat 2 Reddish-Brown 13548.dat 2 Reddish-Brown 6541.dat 45 Trans-Green 3070b.dat
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Description Brick 1 x 1 Brick 1 x 1 Brick 1 x 4 Brick 2 x 2 Brick 2 x 2 Facet Brick 2 x 4 Plant Flower Stem Plant Flower Stem with Bar and 6 Stems Plant Leaves 4 x 3 Plant Leaves 6 x 5 Plate 1 x 1 Plate 1 x 1 Round with Tabs Plate 6 x 8 Slope Brick 31 1 x 1 x 0.667 Slope Brick 45 2 x 1 Slope Brick 45 2 x 1 Inverted Slope Brick 45 2 x 2 Double Convex with Cant Technic Brick 1 x 1 with Hole Tile 1 x 1 with Groove
Sunken X-Wing
Qty Color Part Description 2 Light-Bluish-Gray 30374.dat Bar 4L Light Sabre Blade 2 Light-Bluish-Gray 87994.dat Bar 3L 1 White 3024.dat Plate 1 x 1 1 Blue 4073.dat Plate 1 x 1 Round 4 White 6019.dat Plate 1 x 1 with Clip Horizontal (Open U-Clip) 1 White 3623.dat Plate 1 x 3 1 Trans-Black 54200.dat Slope Brick 31 1 x 1 x 0.667 1 White 4287.dat Slope Brick 33 3 x 1 Inverted 2 Light-Bluish-Gray 32123a.dat Technic Bush 1/2 Smooth with Axle Hole Reduced 1 Light-Bluish-Gray 2412b.dat Tile 1 x 2 Grille with Groove
You can see Christopher’s webpage by going to www.deckdesigns.de or scanning this QR code!
Swamp Diorama
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Building
Minifigure Customization 101
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed! Article and Photography by Michael Marzilli and Jared K. Burks
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Some of the most memorable moments in film and TV franchises occur in their associated video games. This means we are unlikely to get LEGO to create these characters and their associated pets for our collections. So as always, we have to refuse to live in the box and we must customize our worlds. With the release of the Rancor, Michael and I have been fixated on bringing to life two very specific characters in LEGO form: Specifically, Shaak Ti and her pet Battle Rancor from the video game The Force Unleashed. Yes, LEGO released a Shaak Ti figure, but nothing like the Shaak Ti found in The Force Unleashed video game. Much as Yoda and Obi-wan went native and adapted their Jedi garb to fit their environment, Shaak Ti has done much the same in the video game. Shaak Ti was exiled in the deep forest regions of Felucia and adapted more of a Tarzan/ jungle-style outfit. Using the LEGO headpiece, this design was fairly simple to recreate, yet not simple to apply, as the entire figure was covered in waterslide decals. Several aspects of the design were purposely drawn to tie the character to the LEGOverse. Specifically, the ropes that wrap around her mid-section and the bandages that wrap her legs and feet are of similar design to LEGO figures that feature ropes and bandages. These elements along with using the LEGO Shaak Ti headpiece help ground the figure in the LEGOverse. As I have recently covered designing and applying waterslide decals, this article will focus on the Rancor’s customization.
Shaak Ti’s customized look.
Creating a Battle Rancor The Rancor we get from LEGO is an excellent representation of the ghastly beast found deep in the caves of Jabba’s torture chamber in the film Return of the Jedi, but he’s not the only Rancor in the universe. We get to see several different Rancors in The Force Unleashed video game series. The game allows you to play as Darth Vader’s secret apprentice through a series of adventures and battles from one end of the universe to another. One planet that the Apprentice visits is Felucia. On this planet, Rancors abound and many have been tamed by the Force-sensitive indigenous beings. Vader’s apprentice must survive through action-packed battles with these enormous monsters. In the video game series, we see at least three different types of Rancors in several different sizes, colors, and markings. For this project, we selected the Battle Rancor. This Battle Rancor was chosen specifically because Star Wars has made a licensed action figure of this Rancor and we were able to find multiple reference photos of the action figure on the Internet on which to base our project. A primary source of inspiration was found on Rebelscum.com as they always have very detailed photos of the figures/ subjects from all sides, and even close-ups of extremely detailed areas. With our reference material properly located, we can begin preparing our Rancor for its transformation.
Rancor reference material.
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Building
Kill the Monsters! Steal the Bricks!
Article by Guy Himber
First revealed in 2014, The Munchkin® LEGO® Game Board (a.k.a. the “M.L.G.B.”) is a minifigure-scaled version of the popular card game’s original flat playing board. The M.L.G.B. measures about 15” x 30” in size and is as fantastic to play a game of Munchkin upon as you would imagine! Like a heavenly plastic peanut butter cup, the board combines two of my favorite things together: Playing games with friends and building with LEGO. To make the games even more amazing, the set-up features custom hand-drawn playing cards by famed comic artists; numerous creature MOCs such as the Bullrog, Beholder and the Gazebo; beautiful custom-printed LEGO tiles; specially printed dice; and amazing one-of-a-kind minifigures. Hidden throughout the board are inside jokes, artist signatures, and fun themes such as zombies, Christmas, and H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu. The custom Munchkin themed accessories used throughout by the minifigure pawns were provided by CrazyBricks (www.crazybricks.com).
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Originally built for fun and awesome, the giant board has become a special treat at numerous LEGO fan events and gaming stores. The game
board has made multiple appearances at AFOL events including BrickFiesta in Texas, Brickworld in Chicago, and most recently at BrickCon in Seattle. A handful of convention attendees have even gotten to enjoy a memorable game on this special MOC. Those lucky few who have gotten a chance to play on the board often get to compete with Steve Jackson Games employees (including owner and game designer Steve Jackson himself!) and fight it out for special and unique SWAG from the game design company. Past goodies have included rare and signed promotional cards, unique CrazyBricks prototypes, and a specially printed LEGO die! The game’s winner usually gets to keep a copy of whichever ‘flavor’ Munchkin game we play, although perhaps the greatest prize is the bragging rights of having adventured in the dungeons of brick. Steve Jackson is the designer of many amazing and beloved games. Besides being a world-renowned figure in the gaming community, he is also an active and prolific member of the Texas Brick Railroad (http://www.texasbrickrr.com), the local LUG of Austin, Texas. Among the games Steve has designed is one of my favorite card games, a fun-loving dungeon romp called Munchkin. Steve and I became friends due to our mutual love of gaming and LEGO which eventually led to the creation of the successful Kickstarter project called Munchkin Bricks. Now equipped with fantastic new minifigure accessories, the next logical step was to make a game board scaled to these custom pieces. This led to the creation of the game board.
Even if you haven’t played a tabletop game before, you may be aware of Munchkin in passing. The game is celebrating its 15th anniversary, and has sold thousands upon thousands of copies worldwide. But to many people outside of our geeky hobby, some explanation may be needed. Munchkin is a parody of tabletop roleplaying games, full of puns and jokes, as well as tropes and references. You take the role of a munchkin—a dungeon-diving character trying to get gold, even at the expense of the rest of their party members. We like to say, “Kick down the Door, Fight the Monster, Grab the Treasure, Reach Level 10 and Win!” That’s Munchkin boiled down to its basics. The fun part is how you go about fighting those monsters, getting levels, and messing with your friends. Many times, monsters are stronger than you are, so you have to team up with your friends to beat them. But why should they help you? You’ll need to bribe them, of course! Other times, you’ll be more than strong enough to beat a monster, walking away with the easy victory, level, and treasure, but that same supposed “friend” helps the monster! What a jerk. Those are the types of situations players are given in the game, and it usually ends hilariously. Friends helping, then backstabbing each other—that’s pretty much Munchkin in a nutshell.
A Munchkin Primer
by Hunter Shelburne
Plus, if you’re not interested in fantasy, there are tons of themes to choose from to parody your favorite genre. Into horror? Munchkin Cthulhu or Munchkin Zombies may be up your alley. More interested in galaxies far, far away? Then Star Munchkin may be the game you’re looking for. From Munchkin Fu to Munchkin Apocalypse, if you like it, we’ve probably made a fun game about it. We’ve even let some new pens tackle our games with the Munchkin Guest Artist Edition line, in honor of the 15th anniversary. Whatever your flavor, Munchkin has a wide appeal, and it’s a treat to see it come to three-dimensional life on Guy’s brick-built board. The amount of detail and theming added to each room, plus his effort to keep updating it and keep it modern, makes it an amazing living monument to Munchkin. Thanks to Guy for sharing Munchkin with the masses, and if you haven’t tried it, hopefully you know enough to try it out. Happy gaming!
Custom Cards
One of the great things about the highly customized nature of the Game Board and the nature of the Munchkin game itself is that you are encouraged to customize and create your own ever-changing experience in the game. The decks of Munchkin cards we play with are full of hand-drawn cards from a special Munchkin set called the “Sketch” edition. Literally, it is a fully playable deck of Munchkin cards (Doors and Treasures) in which all of the artwork has been purposely left blank! The Munchkin LEGO Game board includes art from guest artists Katie Cook, Mike Lucas, Lar DeSouza, Ian McGinty, Len Peralta, Phil Foglio, and most importantly, original art from Master Munchkin artist John Kovalic! Another fun aspect to Munchkin is that you can create you own cards for use during your game. You will notice the Brick theme makes multiple appearances in the cards we play with.
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Community
Mattia Zamboni and his book.
Tiny LEGO Wonders: A Discussion with Mattia Zamboni Here at BrickJournal we’ve always had a soft spot for microscale LEGO building, so when we heard that Mattia Zamboni and our friends at No Starch Press were releasing the book Tiny LEGO Wonders, we jumped at the chance to obtain a copy and chat with Zamboni about his latest work.
Article by Ashley Glennon
Some models from the book.
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Tiny LEGO Wonders represents Zamboni’s solo authorship debut, yet his co-authoring experience as a vehicle guru in the LEGO Build-It Book series is evident. Whereas the subtitle of his volume is “Build 40 Surprisingly Realistic Mini-Models,” it should more accurately read, “Build 40 Surprisingly Realistic Mini VEHICLES.” Packed within the 208 pages are building instructions for trains, planes, cars, trucks, ships and spacecraft of nearly every variety. Every page is rendered in edge-to-edge color and the instructions are clear and thoughtfully planned. The list of parts needed to build
each model is provided at the start of each set of instructions along with both wire-framed and fully rendered images of each creation. Zamboni excels in his ability to create and curate models that are quite small, yet accurately capture the design language and shapes of much larger creations. Contributor Liam Bates’ lowriders have long, sleek tail fins. Zamboni’s own muscle cars have air scoops and an aggressive stance. Peer Kreuger’s and George Panteleon’s F1 cars are amazing and Robert Heim’s excavator and cement mixer contain details that mimic their real-life counterparts, right down to their logos.
Art from the book. Amazingly, these are not real models—all of these are renders!
It was a set of these tiny models, according to Zamboni, that inspired him to write this book. Jarek Ksiazcyk created a fire engine and a bucket truck (both included in the book, of course) that contained so much detail that Zamboni thought it would be cool to create a collection of similarsized models. “I am fascinated by tiny models,” said Zamboni, “because I consider it way more challenging to design a tiny but instantly recognizable model than a bigger model which allows you to include the model’s traits more easily.” And of course a great attribute of being mini means there’s a smaller parts count. A quick browse through the book implies that many of the models have fewer than 100 pieces. You might think that a book featuring mini-models would be small, but Tiny LEGO Wonders is a hefty, hardbound book, measuring in at nearly 9x11 inches. The book is divided into 10 chapters and features eye-popping dioramas between each section that feature the models you can learn to build in the pages ahead. The book opens with a fantastic construction scene and moves to a train station, an airport, car dealership, racetrack, harbor scene, moonscape and more. “These ten scenes were created by two amazing designers: Alexander Bugiel and Matteo Russolillo,” according to Zamboni, “by rendering the scenes using a very powerful
Instructions are prefaced by a render and partlist.
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