The Magazine for LEGO® Enthusiasts of All Ages! Issue 66 • March 2021
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HOLLY JOLLY
MARK VOGER’s sleigh ride thru Christmas pop culture, spotlighting classic holiday movies, music, TV, books, decor, comics, and more!
The Many Rovers of Tom Frost
(192-page FULL-COLOR hardcover) $43.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 • Now shipping! ISBN: 978-1-60549-097-7
Yuansheng He’s Photography
INSTRUCTIONS AND MORE!
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THE MAGAZINE FOR LEGO ENTHUSIASTS OF ALL AGES! ®
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Issue 66 • March 2021
Contents From the Editor....................................................2
People Photo Feature: Alexandre Rossier...............................................3 Yuansheng He: Picturing it in Bricks!..........................................8 Tommy Frost: Rovers All Over!................................................16
Building Jonas Kramm: A Builder for All Themes!...........................24 One Little Spark... ............................................30 Dario Del Frate: Crystallizing Ideas........................................38
Maxim Baybakov: Building a City................................................42 Kyle Sezawich’s Apollo Era Complex 39..............................48 You Can Build It: Zeta Class Shuttle.........................................54 Minifigure Customization 101: Inspector Gadget, Hoo Hoo!....................62
Don’t STEAL our Digital Editions! C’mon citizen, DO THE RIGHT THING! A Mom & Pop publisher like us needs every sale just to survive! DON’T DOWNLOAD OR READ ILLEGAL COPIES ONLINE! Buy affordable, legal downloads only at
www.twomorrows.com or through our Apple and Google Apps!
Community Bantha Bricks Files: Kirk Haksever’s Rogue Shadow..................68 Community Ads...............................................78 Last Word.............................................................79 Bricks in the Middle........................................80
& DON’T SHARE THEM WITH FRIENDS OR POST THEM ONLINE. Help us keep producing great publications like this one! Coraline TM & © Neil Gaiman • Harry Potter TM & © Warner Bros./JK Rowling • Star Wars TM & © Lucasfilm • Inspector Gadget TM & © Wildbrain Ltd. • Ant-Man, Wasp TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. • Aladdin, Jasmine, Figment & Dreamfinder, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse TM & © Disney • Wall-E TM & © Pixar
From the Editor: Hi! So my publisher asked me a question about renders showing up in BrickJournal. It’s a fair question which I think I should take the time to answer here.
March 2021 Issue 66 Publisher John Morrow
Editor in Chief Joe Meno
Photography Editor Geoff Gray Proofreader John Morrow
Japanese Bureau Editor Nathan Bryan West Coast Editors Ashley Glennon
LEGO Ideas Correspondent Glen Wadleigh Bantha Bricks Correspondent Steven Smyth Contributors: Maxim Baybakov, Buggyirk, Jared Burks, Christopher Deck, Dario Del Frate, Tommy Frost, Kirk Hacksever, Yuansheng He, Kevin Hinkle, Matthew Kay, Jonas Kramm, Alexandre Rossier, Kyle Sezawich, and Steven Smyth.
It wasn’t too long ago that builds could be done on the computer that were impossible in actuality, mainly because the programs didn’t recognize the idea of solidity—a part could go right into another part in any way. For that reason, the idea of using renders was something I intially was very leery of. Ten years ago, programs were much simpler, and one could tell the difference between a render and a photo. That has changed. With LEGO Digital Designer, parts were solid and clicked together like they should, and other programs gained that functionality. With that, the idea of building expanded dramatically. Rendering has also improved by leaps and bounds, so much that it takes a trained eye to see what is real and what isn’t. But what makes this something for BrickJournal is that now, anyone can build with almost any part out there. That is something we should embrace and display. And we will. Joe Meno, editor P.S. Have ideas or comments? Drop me a line at brickjournal@gmail.com. I’m open to suggestions and comments and will do my best to reply. P.P.S... Yes, BrickJournal has a website — www.brickjournal.com! Twitter? Yep, there too — http://twitter.com/brickjournal. Facebook? Yup — http://www.facebook.com/group. php?gid=58728699914&ref=mf. Or you can scan the bottom codes with a QR reader!
Website
Subscriptions
Many thanks to the websites who have served as mirrors for BrickJournal:
www.LUGNET.com, www.Brickshelf.com, www.peeron.com, www.brickmodder.net www.rustyclank.com
About the Cover: Yuansheng He makes the cover with a render (!) of 1886, London. About the Contents: Yuan does his version of Rembrandt’s “The Night Watch.”
Star Wars and all related characters and properties TM & © Lucasfilm.
Glossary AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO) AFFOL (Adult Female Fan of LEGO) TFFOL (Teen Female Fan of LEGO) NLSO (Non-LEGO Significant Other) MOC (My Own Creation) TLG (The LEGO Group) BURP (Big Ugly Rock Piece) LURP (Little Ugly Rock Piece) POOP (Pieces—that can be or should be made—Of Other Pieces)
SNOT (Studs Not on Top) LUG (LEGO Users Group) LTC (LEGO Train Club) MECHA (a large armored robot on legs, typically controlled by a pilot seated inside) MECH (a large piloted combat robot) DARK AGES (usually teen years, when you drift away from building) STUDS OUT (building where the studs on bricks face the viewer)
LEGO®, TECHNIC, MINDSTORMS, Belville, Scala, BIONICLE, ExoForce, Mars Mission, World City, and other LEGO theme lines are trademarks of the LEGO Group of companies. All articles, photos, and art are copyright BrickJournal Media, LLC 2011, TwoMorrows Publishing and the respective writers, photographers, and artists. All rights reserved. All trademarked items are the property of their respective owners and licensees. Six-issue subscriptions are $68 Economy US, $80 Expedited US, $103 International, or $27 Digital Only and can be purchased at www.twomorrows.com or payment sent to: TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614 USA. The editorial/advertising office address for BrickJournal is: BrickJournal Editor, 9001 Barb Anne Court, Springfield, VA 22152, USA or admin@brickjournal.com. First Printing. Printed in China. ISSN 1941-2347. BrickJournal and its staff would like to thank the LDraw community for the software it makes available to the community, which we use for making all of the instructions and renderings in this magazine. We would especially like to thank Kevin Clague for his continued upgrades of the LPub tool that is a part of2the LDraw suite. For more information, please visit http://www.ldraw.org.
People
Alexandre Rossier is a designer and photographer that has been a LEGO builder for 44 years. He never ougrew LEGO building, and as a result, he isn’t sure that he grew up yet. But if you ask him what his favorite builds are, he’ll answer by saying that he likes to recreate iconic existing vehicles, such as cars and locomotives, and also create his own futuristic designs. Science-fiction, cool mechancal things, architecture and nature are all inspirations to him. His favorite themes are Creator Expert and Technic, but it used to be LEGO Space in the ’80s.
Photo Feature:
Alexandre rarely builds sets anymore, as he finds the challenges with creating a new MOC (aesthetics, stability, functionality, strength, to name a few) more fun. He somestimes starts a build by making some quick hand sketches to visualize his ideas. Other times he starts by directly going to building with the brick. For him, the creation of a model is a process of building, experimenting, testing, diassembling, updating, and improving.
Article by Joe Meno Photography by Alexandre Rossier
Alexandre Rossier
With many projects in progress, Alexandre photographs them as he progresses. This is a small sampe of his work, showing two LEGO Ideas submissions and an annual project he does for Christmas: a new vehicle for Santa to travel in! There will be more about Alexande and his builds next issue!
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People
Tommy Frost:
Rovers All Over!
Article and Photography by Tommy Frost Tommy Frost is a builder that combined his love of trains, vehicles and Space into a building event that happens every February: FebRovery, where the entire month is devoted to making rovers of all types! Tommy’s work has been seen online and BrickJournal decided to talk to him about his building and his rovers.
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BrickJournal: How old are you? Tommy Frost: I am 40 years young! What do you do? I am an Elementary school Art Teacher in western Pennsylvania, just outside of Pittsburgh. Working with children, especially on creative endeavors, helps to keep me young (at least in my mind). How long have you been building? I was a big fan of LEGO as a kid, especially the LEGOLand Space and Town themes. I caught the tail end of the classic space era, and I was fascinated by the space factions of the late Eighties and the early Nineties: Blacktron, Space Police, M:Tron, Blacktron II. My first MOCs were in these themes. As I grew older, I became interested in Technic and Model Team and began to integrate functional elements into my builds. I can remember building a big Blacktron II vehicle that was remote controlled using the 8094 Technic Control Center. As a teenager, my interests were elsewhere, and my “Dark Ages” began. In 2005, I first visited a LEGO brand store, at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, and I bought my first LEGO sets as an adult. What got you into building as an adult? What’s your favorite theme? What inspired you to build something besides a set? It was after this trip that my interest in LEGO building was reawakened. Many of my first “grown-up” MOCs were designed in LDRAW, before sourcing the parts from Bricklink and building in real life, because, at the time, my collection was relatively small. Some of my first MOCs were cars and trains, two of my other lifelong interests. When LEGO released the collectible minifigures, I naturally gravitated to the new space figures like the pink “Intergalactic Girl” from Series 6 and the “Galaxy Patrol” space marine from Series 7. I began to
design and build themes and factions around these figures. I enjoyed creating the color schemes based on the figure designs and imagining the worlds they inhabited and the roles they played in the greater LEGO space universe. I found the online LEGO community on Flickr and posted these early MOCs. I received a lot of inspiration and encouragement from other builders, and my style and building techniques quickly improved as I began to incorporate what I had observed and learned from others. In 2015, I discovered and joined Steel City LUG, the Pittsburgh area LEGO Users Group. Joining the LUG gave me the opportunity to work with other talented builders and get involved in collaborative displays around the Pittsburgh area. I also spend a lot of time building with my son, Jonah (age 9), who is becoming a talented MOC builder in his own right, and my daughter Penelope (age 6).
Some examples of “what if” building by Tommy.
What are the inspirations behind your builds? Inspiration can come from just about anywhere. Many of my space MOCs begin with a “what if” idea, inspiration from a certain combination of parts, or an idea for a new color scheme. How long can it take to build a model? I tend to build fairly quickly. My typical builds, like my rovers, are usually built in one sitting. Other, more complicated models or scenes, of course, take longer. Do you design your builds on paper beforehand? I usually do not design on paper, with a few exceptions. If I am building a larger, multi-baseplate display that incorporates trains or monorail track, then I will do some blueprinting on paper, but for the most part, most of my designing occurs in my mind. I’ll get an idea in my head, try to come up with solutions for connections or functions, then try them out when I get a chance to get my hands on the bricks. Often, when I start building, much of what I had planned in my head will change.
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Building
Road to the Fruit Festival.
Jonas Kramm:
A Builder for All Themes! Article and Photography by Jonas Kramm
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One of the top builders seen online is Jonas Kramm. A 24-year-old German graphic designer, he also writes and does LEGO building for the German LEGO news website StoneWars.de. He’s been building as long as he can remember and never had a Dark Age. The closest he got to quitting was when he switched over to LEGO Technic building. He switched back to the normal bricks since then. Now, the Technic pieces come in handy since he is making his builds more kinetic. LEGO building turned out to be the perfect way for Jonas to express himself and make his ideas come alive. He loves the limits because of the colors and bricks available, so everyone has the same starting point. With creativity, attention to detail and a lot of effort, one can push the system to its limit. Every time he takes the bricks in his hand he has a good time, and what makes it better is the LEGO fan community. They make the entire effort worth it as everyone is so kind and positive, not only on the social networks Instagram and Flickr, but also in person when meeting at events and hanging together. When asked about a favorite theme, Jonas’ quick answer is LEGO Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The long answer, though, is that pretty much everything inspires him. He switches between themes he builds regularly as he likes to try out a variety of different themes, often inspired by movies, games, or just from concept art he spotted while browsing. In the end it’s important that the theme fits his building style. He enjoys the LEGO hobby most when he
can fully dive into a build and spend as much time as he wants to figure out the smallest details to make it a dense and interesting model that people love to zoom in on and explore. Jonas never questioned why he couldn’t build things with the bricks beside official sets. Luckily, his parents never cared about that, as he put all of his LEGO bricks in one bin to come up with builds from his own imagination, with no consideration that you couldn’t sell the sets later, as happens these days. In his childhood, he built the sets first and then started modifying them. This changed in his teens to just buying sets to get new bricks. These days, most sets he buys never get built and only get sorted in his sorting system. With the rising quality of the official LEGO set, he enjoys it more and more to make a set, build it and enjoy the very advanced building techniques used. They often give him new inspiration and show clever ideas he hasn’t thought of. The ideas he has thought of have been seen online at StoneWars.de. His Brick Rooms have been posted there with the idea to inspire people to build their own models. Initially Jonas started the series at the site to give readers an insight into how his models are built. Often beginners just see a picture of a finished build and get so overwhelmed they get discouraged to try building by themselves. His series of rooms are designed in a particular way so he can showcase each part of the model on its own and explain how they are done. The idea is not just to (continued on page 28)
Temple of the Blue Sea, an alternate build of a few LEGO Trolls sets.
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People
one little spark... Article by Joe Meno Art and Photography by Buggyirk The builder known online as Buggyirk has built imaginative models from worlds of the movies and theme parks, to worlds of his own. With each build comes a story, whether it be one that is already known or one he has to flesh out. When he is not building, Buggyirk works in the information technology area of the healthcare field with the software used for diagnostic imaging and results/documentation in a patient medical records. He records and coordinates issue resolution and systems updates between many teams, and is involved in the configuration/development/training of the software and creation of training materials. Way before that, he entered his LEGO Dark Ages in either the sixth or seventh grade. He remembers giving the little bit of LEGO bricks he had to a friend because he thought he
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The Dream Machine.
needed to grow up. His friend was actually one grade ahead of him. Buggyirk still regrets that decision, as what he gave was a blue bucket set, the M-Tron Celestial Forager (6896), the M-Tron Beacon Tracer (6833) from 1990, and the Technic Mountain Rambler (8820) from 1991. He only had four sets, but he got years of use out of those bricks. Fast forward to 2008. In his early twenties, Buggyirk started buying some smaller sets after getting nostalgic while perusing the toy aisle. The Indiana
the music. They were honing their craft in private and hadn’t performed live yet, but both fell severely ill due to toxic mold in their apartment. This pretty much ended their musical careers—they were actually working on the final recordings for their debut album when they were struck down. He reflects, “In hindsight, our personalities probably weren’t the best fit for the rock star lifestyle, so we have made our peace with how things turned out.” They not only lost their main artistic outlet during this time, they also lost pretty much everything they owned to the mold, and all their savings went to medical bills. While they slowly rebuilt their lives and their health from the ground up, Buggyirk also started to build his LEGO collection back up. This period also inspired a LEGO build: “The Obstacles of Our Dream.” Around 2013, Buggyirk found out about LEGO Ideas (then called LEGO CUUSOO). He hadn’t really been building his own creations, but decided he wanted to make a movieaccurate, minifigure scale version of the Batman Begins Tumbler. He explains, “That movie was so inspirational for me and the Tumbler became my favorite movie vehicle. Ever since the Tumbler project, I have become pretty obsessed with coming up with a LEGO Idea that will become an official LEGO set.”
Jones and Batman themes really got him excited about LEGO again, and he ended up getting some sets: the Indiana Jones Motorcycle Chase (7620) and the Tumbler Joker’s Ice Cream Surprise (7888). The Tumbler set was a little out of his price range at the time, and he recalls feeling a bit guilty for buying it. Back then, he didn’t have much free time to build because he and his wife were working full-time jobs as well as writing and recording music in a band together. The band was their obsession, and they were the only members. His wife was the singer and wrote the lyrics and melodies, while he wrote and produced all
His wife doesn’t quite share the same level of obsession with LEGO Ideas that he does, but he frequently collaborates with her on his projects. She handles the minifigures/parts graphic design and also tests the stability of his models. Her username is jiminiyc on LEGO Ideas. His favorite collaboration they have done together has been the working Pinocchio Marionette, but Buggyirk’s favorite graphic design work from her came from the work she did for their Coraline Magical Garden LEGO Ideas set. Buggyirk tells, “She puts everything she has into all of our projects though, so I really love what she 31 brings to all of them.”
Building
Kyle Sezawich’s
Apollo Era Complex 39 Article and Art by Kyle Sezawich
VAB Complex Dimensions
Total number of pieces: 133473 Length: 100.8 inches wide Width: 141.1 inches Height: 61 inches tall
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The Saturn V Ideas set (which is about to be re-issued) is designed to a different scale than the LEGO system: 1:110 scale (1 foot equals 110 scale feet). This makes the set a microscale vehicle. There have been sets that have been designed and built to complement the rocket, including a model of the Launch Umbilical Tower by Joe Chambers that was featured in BrickJournal #60. Until now, there hasn’t been a design for the structures used to build the rocket itself. This changed in 2020, when builder Kyle Sezawich began building the construction facilities behind the Saturn rockets, including the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and the Launch Control Center (LCC). Tourists can now visit the site at Kennedy Space Center, but Kyle built it in LEGO brick form. Kyle, a carpenter by trade, has been building for about 20 years, but has been in and out of the hobby. He returned to building for the first time when he got out of the US Army in 2010. Building was a type of therapy to help him get back into the swing of civilian life. However, it got too expensive and he quit building. He returned a second time when his family bought him the Saturn V Ideas set as a Christmas present in 2018. The set fit right with Kyle’s favorite themes: Space and Architecture. His favorite LEGO sets extend into the Expert and Ideas themes. Kyle’s inspiration to build beyond sets came from Valerie Roché (one of the designers of the LEGO Saturn V set), Joe Chambers, and Caleigh, his girlfriend. Roché’s Saturn V design led to Kyle finding Joe’s Launch Umbilical Tower (LUT) and crawler designs. Joe’s LUT blew Kyle away with the amount of detail that was in the build and the different versions Joe made for the different Apollo missions. Caleigh was the one that got Kyle back into building and is the one person that encouraged him to start and keep working on this project from the beginning.
A peek at the interior detail of the Vehicle Assembly Building.
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You Can Build It MINI Build
Parts List (Parts can be ordered from Bricklink.com by searching by part number and color)
Main Body
Qty Color Part 1 Light-Bluish-Gray 99781.dat 4 Light-Bluish-Gray 87087.dat 4 Light-Bluish-Gray 30236.dat 1 Light-Bluish-Gray 11211.dat 3 1 1 4 4 1 2 1 1
Zeta-Class Shuttle Design and Instructions by Christopher Deck Hello everybody and welcome back to another fantastic building session! We want to begin the new year with a new starship design introduced in the first Star Wars spin-off movie: Rogue One. The Zeta-class shuttle is a type of cargo transport with foldable wings. When the wings are in flight position, it almost looks like an ancient marine dinosaur. The wings are also the most difficult detail to design for this model. They are not simple planar wings, instead they are additionally angled towards the main hull. To make the wings fully functional, the angled wing connectors to the hull have been attached by sticky clicky hinges, whereas the complete combination uses smooth running hinge clips to easily fold up and down. The shuttle also features a working ramp and a detachable cargo container. It is, however, not recommended to drop the cargo during flight, especially when you are on a smuggling tour for the Hutts. I wish you happy building and see you next time!
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Light-Bluish-Gray 30414.dat Light-Bluish-Gray 3006.dat Dark-Bluish-Gray 2335.dat Light-Bluish-Gray 3024.dat Light-Bluish-Gray 3023.dat Light-Bluish-Gray 2540.dat Light-Bluish-Gray 3710.dat Light-Bluish-Gray 3022.dat Light-Bluish-Gray 99206.dat
2 Light-Bluish-Gray 3020.dat 1 Light-Bluish-Gray 6576.dat 4 Light-Bluish-Gray 54200.dat 2 Trans-Black 54200.dat 2 Light-Bluish-Gray 85984.dat 1 Light-Bluish-Gray 3660.dat 1 Trans-Light-Blue 2412b.dat 1 Light-Bluish-Gray 2432.dat 2 Light-Bluish-Gray 2431.dat 1 Light-Bluish-Gray 50373.dat 1 Light-Bluish-Gray 43723.dat 1 Light-Bluish-Gray 43722.dat
Cargo Pod Qty Color 4 Orange 3 Orange
Part 3002.dat 3794a.dat
6 2
3069b.dat 63864.dat
Orange Orange
Wings
Qty Color Part 8 Light-Bluish-Gray 60471.dat 8
Light-Bluish-Gray 92582.dat
4
Light-Bluish-Gray 11476.dat
4 2 2 2 2 2
Light-Bluish-Gray 32028.dat Light-Bluish-Gray 3460.dat Light-Bluish-Gray 4162.dat Light-Bluish-Gray 87079.dat Light-Bluish-Gray 50305.dat Light-Bluish-Gray 50304.dat
Description Bracket 1 x 2 - 1 x 2 Down Brick 1 x 1 with Stud on 1 Side Brick 1 x 2 with Handle Brick 1 x 2 with Two Studs on One Side Brick 1 x 4 with Studs on Side Brick 2 x 10 Flag 2 x 2 Plate 1 x 1 Plate 1 x 2 Plate 1 x 2 with Handle Plate 1 x 4 Plate 2 x 2 Plate 2 x 2 x 0.667 with Two Studs On Side and Two Raised Plate 2 x 4 Plate 4 x 8 with Studs in Centre Slope Brick 31 1 x 1 x 0.667 Slope Brick 31 1 x 1 x 0.667 Slope Brick 31 1 x 2 x 0.667 Slope Brick 45 2 x 2 Inverted Tile 1 x 2 Grille with Groove Tile 1 x 2 with Handle Tile 1 x 4 with Groove Wedge 3 x 4 with Stud Notches Wing 2 x 3 Left Wing 2 x 3 Right Description Brick 2 x 3 Plate 1 x 2 without Groove with 1 Centre Stud Tile 1 x 2 with Groove Tile 1 x 3 with Groove Description Hinge Plate 1 x 2 Locking with Dual Finger on Side Hinge Plate 2 x 2 Locking with Single Finger On Top Plate 1 x 2 with Clip Horizontal on Side (Thick C-Clip) Plate 1 x 2 with Door Rail Plate 1 x 8 Tile 1 x 8 Tile 2 x 4 with Groove Wing 3 x 8 Left Wing 3 x 8 Right
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Building Minifig Customization 101:
Hoo Hoo! Article and Photography by Jared Burks Okay, anyone figuring out today’s article by the title has too much extra mental capacity or insane recall of song lyrics. Honestly, there must be a title and I try to make them interesting, so I hoped this, as in my last article, got a song stuck in your head. Inspector Gadget began in 1983 with the DIC Entertainment animated television series. Since the original series there have been many spin-offs based on the show and its characters in the animated genre, video games, and live-action films. For those who have not been exposed to Inspector Gadget, please visit Netflix or YouTube! The series follows the adventures of a dimwitted, but quite powerful cyborg police inspector named Gadget. Gadget’s primary purpose is to investigate the criminal enterprises of Dr. Claw and his M.A.D. (Mean And Dirty) organization. What is unknown to both Claw/ M.A.D. and Gadget himself is that Gadget’s own niece Penny, and her dog, Brain, are the ones who make the inspector successful at stopping all of M.A.D.’s evil plans.
Animation art of Inspector Gadget. Inspector Gadget TM & © WildBrain Ltd.
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He is based on his predecessors, Get Smart’s Maxwell Smart, The Pink Panther’s Inspector Clouseau, and the Andy Griffith Show’s Barney Fife, and I am sure many other bumbling comedic fictitious law enforcement officers. He bears the most resemblance to a cross between Maxwell Smart and Inspector Clouseau of Pink Panther fame; in my mind leaning primarily on Maxwell Smart. Recall Maxwell Smart was fighting against KAOS and while he wasn’t a cyborg, he used plenty of gadgets from a shoe phone to a cone of silence. Couple this with the fact that Smart and Gadget were brought to life by the same actor, Don Adams. Don Adams portrayed both Maxwell Smart in the Get Smart TV series and is the original voice of Inspector Gadget from the premiere in 1983 until 1999 when he retired.
The character of Inspector Gadget is a diverse one given his outfit is so basic; this is due to his cyborg side and the myriad of gadgets contained inside his body. At his heart Inspector Gadget wears black shoes, blue pants, a grey trenchcoat (in the cartoons anyway), and a very unique hat that has been drawn in many different styles over the years. Gadget also features a unique “hat head” hair style and has a very long and broad nose. With all that said, Go-Go-Gadget Custom LEGO Minifigure!
Concept model for minifigure Gadget.
Hat Creation Given that the hat is so unique and specific to the character, I started with this piece first. Recalling back many years in the customizing community, we used to alter the LEGO Pith Helmet into the floppy cap that Luke wore on Tatooine. This was a very simply mod where the pitch of the Pith Helmet is sanded down to create a flat top. From there we used the Pith striations to place two dimples that would allow for the attachment of LEGO goggles—again, a throwback to the classic Luke. For those a bit more brave, a bit of heat could be applied through a heat gun/hair drier and the brim could be shaped into a floppy style that more closely resembled the look in the films. As such, I figured this would also work for Gadget. To create this hat we simply used sandpaper and we always worked to get this top of the hat as low as possible without sanding all the way through, which was a delicate challenge. Luckily for Gadget we desired a hole in the top, which I will explain shortly, but I was able to sand down significantly further than I would have for the Tatooine hat. I had to perform a few other mods on this hat as Gadget’s does not have the striations, so those were sanded away, as was the back extended dip in the brim. I started with a white Pith Helmet because I knew it would need to be painted, because the Pith is not available in Light Bluish Grey and that is the color of Gadget’s hat. If I was to paint these objects, I thought it better that one paint was used for all to get them to colormatch. After using a filling primer, I painted the hat light grey and added a piece of tape I painted dark grey for the hat band (I actually forgot to add this detail!). This serves two purposes: it creates the band and makes it raised, and it brings in the other color needed without having to mask off a challenging and small item to merely paint the band.
Modifying the helmet.
Minifigure pith helmet.
Luke Skywaler’s cap, along with minifigure (inset). © Lucasfilm.
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Bantha Bricks Files
Bantha Bricks Files: Kirk Haksever’s
Rogue Shadow Article by Steven Smyth, Bantha Bricks: Fans of LEGO Star Wars Photography by Kirk Haksever
Galactic greetings! I’m Steven Smyth from Bantha Bricks: Fans of LEGO Star Wars. Since the community’s founding in 2016, on an almost daily basis, I have witnessed amazing and creative Star Wars builds in the best Star Wars themed building brick group on Facebook. Kirk Haksever is a very popular MOC builder in the community and has won several of our group contests. I thought it would be great to learn more about this skilled builder and his minifigure scale Rogue Shadow from the Force Unleashed video game that simply made my jaw drop to the ground.
the mid 1980s until the sacred year of 1999 when all of us Star Wars and LEGO fans around the world collectively used our Jedi powers to persuade TLG into doing Star Wars LEGO sets. Would you say Star Wars is your favorite theme? Or do you have a surprise theme for us? I’m afraid that I’m just a plain old Star Wars LEGO fan, although I have bought many random themes over the years, but only for spare parts to use in Star Wars MOCs. Why do you choose the LEGO brick as your medium to express yourself? I look at it like this: everything around us in the modern world is made with parts and components anyway. The challenge and enjoyment in recreating those things or whatever we imagine, by using parts and components of LEGO amazed me when I was four, still gives me much enjoyment today. There is almost no limit to what you can do, and I love the fact that LEGO bricks have been used to build everything out there, from a hotdog stand to a volcano, and of course, Star Wars spaceships! Size comparison to the LEGO set Your latest build of the minifigure scale Rogue Shadow from the Force Unleashed had everyone going bananas; what inspired you to build that particular ship?
and Kirk’s model.
I loved the style of that ship from the first moment that I saw it, and I’ll let you in on a little secret now: I have never even played the Force Unleashed game! I first saw the Rogue Shadow when LEGO released their version of it and I’ve always liked the idea of asymmetrical starships. After searching online for pictures of the actual ship from the game, I knew that I wanted to build one, although it was many years until I decided to stop thinking about it and just get started with the build. Side view.
Steven Smyth: How’s it going Kirk? I’ve known you for years now through the Facebook group and everyone in Bantha Bricks has been amazed by your many wonderful Star Wars brick builds, but for the uninitiated, please introduce yourself and tell us a little about what you do. Kirk Haksever: Hi and thanks very much Steven! Well, I am a real estate company director from the UK, currently living in North Cyprus and married with two padawans. I have been a Star Wars fan since the first film in the 1970s and a LEGO fan from whenever it was that I first put two bricks together. I took a break in
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