The Magazine for LEGO® Enthusiasts of All Ages! Issue 69 • September 2021
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HEAVENLY STRIKE! Nick Trotta’s LEGO® Spacecraft Takes to the Stars!
Builder Profiles: Tim Goddard Attila Gallik
INSTRUCTIONS AND MORE!
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Issue 66 • March 2021
Contents From the Editor....................................................2
Building
Community
People
Nick Trotta: Building the Shape of Space!..................20 Ben Smith: Building the Ark............................................28 Tim Goddard: Displaying Like A Master!..........................36 Hoang Dang: Building Facades and More!... ................42 Minifigure Customization 101: Scale and Perspective (Part 1).................48 BrickNerd Instructions: Baby Spaceship.............................................53 You Can Build It: Mini Mandalorian Fighter.........................57
Bantha Bricks Files: David Dickson’s Life-Size R2-D2.............64 Gearing up for FLL Hungary!......................69 LEGO® Certified Professional Feature: Wei Wei Shannon Gluckman...................72 Community Ads...............................................78 Last Word.............................................................79 AFOLs....................................................................80
Attila Gallik: Building a Future!............................................3 Bill Vollbrecht: Building Models and More!........................8 Jordan Maucotel: Micro Master!..................................................12 Sunder_59: Building SpaceSHIPs!..................................17
From the Editor: Hello there! Another two months, another issue! And this one is different, for sure.
September 2021 Issue 69 Publisher John Morrow
This time we go to SPACE! We haven’t gone there in a bit, and some new builders have come on the scene since then.
Editor in Chief Joe Meno
The cover builder, Nick Trotta, has a color sense that gives his spacecraft an identity like no other. Attila Gallik has a design sense that makes his Blacktron fighter a reinvention of the venerable theme.
Proofreader John Morrow
There’s even a talk with one of the most well-known Space builders, Tim Goddard. But there’s also a feature on the facades by Hoang Dang, and 3-D printing a largescale minifigure by Jared K. Burks, our resident customizer. Even Mickey Mouse makes an appearance, thanks to Bill Vollbrecht!
West Coast Editors Ashley Glennon
So relax and take some time out to see what inside! See you in a bit!
Photography Editor Geoff Gray Japanese Bureau Editor Nathan Bryan
BrickNerd Editor Dave Schefcik Bantha Bricks Correspondent Steven Smyth Contributors: Jared Burks, Hoang Dang, David Dickson, Christopher Deck, Dorottya Fogel, Atilla Gallik, Wei Wei Shannon Gluckman, Tim Goddard, Jordan Maucotel, Ben Smith, Steven Smyth, Sunder_59, Nick Trotta, Bill Vollbrecht, and Greg Hyland. 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: Nick Trotta’s Heavenly Strike graces the cover of this issue! Photography provided by Nick Trotta.
About the Contents: Incoming! Atilla Gallik’s Blacktron fighter heads toward us in this front view. Render by Attila Gallik.
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! P.P.P.S. If you want info on a subscription, you can go to www.twomorrows.com or scan below!
Website
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)
Subscriptions
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 2021, TwoMorrows Publishing and the respective writers, photographers, and artists. All rights reserved. All trademarked items are the property of their respective owners and licensees. 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, 6701 Coachman Drive, 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
Attila Gallik: Attila Gallik, a freelance 3-D artist and illustrator, has only been building for five years, after having his interest rekindled by The LEGO Movie. After watching the movie, he did some research on LEGO but thought that he was too old to go back to building, as he did ten-plus years before. By the start of 2016, he saw that there were a lot of adult builders and/or LEGO fans who were his age and older, so he said, “Why not? I should build too; at least assemble my childhood sets.” From that point, he created some incredible builds, including spaceships and futuristic cars.
Building a Future! Article and Photography by Attila Gallik
Attila’s Blacktron fighter.
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Attila’s Space Utility Truck.
Since he’s a big sci-fi nerd, his favorite theme is Classic Space, and he started his collection with space sets. He began by modifying them, wanting them to be one-of-a-kind, something special, a bit more modern, and streamlined. Attila also wanted to explore building techniques and the design and construction changes in the decades since those Classic Space sets were first released. He’s also expanded into Speed Champions, especially the new 8-stud-wide cars, designing his own vehicles.
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Attila’s inspirations come from a variety of places—from sudden creative spikes to challenges he places on himself. He may see a form somewhere, a newspaper article, or a memory, and an idea will come to mind. For him it’s all automatic from there. It takes 1-2 weeks to a month to complete a model. He usually designs his model on Bricklink stud.io (a LEGO building program) and refines digitally, which is what takes the longest for him to do in terms of building. After this phase, he collects the parts from what he has at home and orders the rest. While he works on his real brick building tests, he usually finds a couple of mistakes or weak points which he fixes. He also designs in modular sections, so as he designs a section, he moves to the next. Once he finishes his final model, the parts are locked down and Attila rarely changes it afterwards.
A very fast police force.
While his creations all have some challenges, the hardest builds he has done have been a real vehicle (the Lamborghini Murcielago) and fictional vehicles (his Flipover Rovers). Both have extremely small spaces in which to get the form and functions right. Out of those, Attila’s favorite builds are his Flipover Rovers. He challenged himself to build really complex vehicle builds, and in terms of features and sheer size, the Rovers are his best. Made of over 3000 parts and controlled by an S-Brick bluetooth controller, these vehicles are actually two vehicles that can be switched by flipping the body over. The weight of a rover is almost 3 kg and include steering, motors, and batteries.
A truck with an interior.
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People
When asked about what he does, Bill Vollbrecht mentions a few occupations: “Freelance artist, illustrator and LEGO builder.” With 30+ years in LEGO building, he has done more than just build—he has built at the LEGOLand parks! Getting back into building as an adult when he stumbled upon a Black Seas Barracuda set at a Toys ‘R’ Us in 1990, he was blown away by how LEGO had evolved since he was a kid. Back then, he was inspired by the old Bricks Kicks LEGO club magazine. There he would find builds by the model shop team based at the USA LEGO office, located in Enfield, Connecticut. He was also inspired by the large sculptures they made, which led him to LEGOLand. Bill started as a Model Builder at LEGOLand California and was eventually given the job of Art Director for the park, where he designed the Land of Adventure and the first-ever LEGOLand Water Park. From there, he got promoted to being the Art Director/Creative Lead to design the new LEGOLand parks— and headed up designing LEGOLand Florida, Malaysia, Dubai, and Japan theme parks.
Bill’s mosaic of the LEGO early mascot.
Bill Vollbrecht:
Built topiaries.
Building Models and More! Article and Photography by Bill Vollbrecht 8
A globe by Bill.
Some views of Bill’s model of a Rose Parade float.
Bill also finds inspiration by being, first and foremost, an artist. His love of old architecture, weird pop culture, and campy off-the-wall retro stuff gets mashed up in his head until he’s able to extract it into something he wants to build. He builds what interests him and always had an affinity for the design that goes on behind the scenes at the LEGOLand parks and the Rose Parade. He explains, “There has always been a saying for writers: ‘Write what you know,’ and I suppose I’ve adopted that motto as ‘build what you know!’” With his projects, Bill considers himself a fairly fast builder. Once he’s gotten an idea and pre-visualized it, the actual build goes pretty quickly in a few marathon, hyper-focused days. He sometimes uses paper to visualize a mosaic, but everything else he builds freehand with only the vision in his head. He’s not one for pre-planning, but he keeps his ideas written down in a book. After doing a little research, if the idea is strong enough to pull him in, he just jumps in and starts building!
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Building
Jordan’s microscale Deep Freeze Defender.
Jordan Maucotel:
Micro Master!
Article and Photography by Jordan Maucotel
Another microscale creation.
Jordan Maucotel, known online as Elemental_Lego, is a patent attorney with a background in applied physics. He works with inventors and engineers to help them get patent protection for their inventions. He also builds LEGO microscope and space models. He started building when he was about six, with his first set being the Blacktron Meteor Marauder (#1875). He asked for LEGO for every birthday and Christmas growing up, and absolutely loved the old space themes. Coming out of his Dark Age, he was inspired by modern microscope builds. He started building a little micropolis and quickly transitioned to microscope and space and Star Wars builds, which is what he mostly does now. Jordan’s favorite theme is probably Ice Planet. The Deep Freeze Defender (#6973) is his favorite set of all time, so of course, he had to do a microscope version of the set, including some scenery to represent the original box art. When he began building again, Jordan wanted to build small scenes that were much more detailed than official LEGO sets. Shadow boxes always interested him, with the idea of fitting a whole scene or environment in a tiny space, and many of his builds attempt to capture that feeling. Inspiration for him comes from many different sources, which results in a very sporadic set of builds. He embraces this variety, though, and looks for good building tangents whenever he can! Some examples of things that have inspired his builds include: • Natural landscapes, such as Mt. St. Helens, an active volcano in his home state of Washington, that erupted in 1908, blowing off a third of the entire mountain and causing massive destruction that is still visible today.
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• Modern Artwork, such as Dom Riccobene’s woodcuts. These inspired his Rainbow Volcano build, a 3-D topological model of Mt. Rainier, with different colors showing different elevations.
Jordan’s Mt. St. Helens set of vignettes.
• Landscapes in movies in video games, such as his many Star Wars builds (like Naboo and Mustafar on the following page) and his Battle Creek map build from Halo:CE.
Battle Creek from Halo.
Jordan has a bad habit of rebuilding his models many times to fix little details, so most take several weeks to finish. This is the one reason he likes to build small— detailed builds that can be built in a day or two, like the tiny Mustafar scene shown on the next page. Not only does he get lots of variety in these builds, but they also look great displayed together as a whole set. Jordan plans his builds sometimes. If he’s doing a large microscope build, he’ll map out where elements will end up, so the overall visual balance is right. For example, he built a large microscope scene of a refining operation on an asteroid, and did much of the early planning on paper. On this model, he started mapping out the mobile refinery Rainbow Volcano.
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Building
Nick Trotta:
Building the Shape of Space! Article and Photography by Nick Trotta
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I’m an avid designer of LEGO spaceships, and most weekends you’ll find me at home (in San Francisco) working on a new creation. As constants across my builds, I enjoy interesting shaping and fun geometries. I love color work, blocking and harmonies and contrasts. I aspire for my work to feel “polished,” clean from the exterior and thoughtfully-engineered from the inside. And I relish the tactile “click” of physical parts, which I find extremely relaxing. There is one other common theme: I’m slow! Oh so slow! When I restarted the hobby in 2011, I was producing only about four ships a year. Flashing forward
Heavenly Strike Phase one: Focus on cockpit, engine, and key color blocking.
Exploring shaping with depth, facets, and a gear rack pattern.
Phase two: Working on internal frame, reworking color blocking and textures.
Phase three: Refining colors and fit.
All the final touches (including decals) in place!
a decade, the production rate has further declined: I invest just as much time at the LEGO desk, but lately I only complete about one ship every five months. I feel quite honored to be invited to be featured in BrickJournal, and I thought I’d use the space to share my personal construction process, and some tips, should you want to try out my particular (perhaps crazy) approach.
My Building Style In a nutshell, the building approach I use is “Outside-In” design. (Thanks to Are Heiseldal who I believe coined that for me!) I first focus on the exterior to confirm feasibility, then translate the “possible” into a real creation, and then polish and improve. Each of those steps balance out to about one-third of the build time. So:
Mid-design on wing section for Heavenly Strike.
The opposite side of the wing section.
Phase One: Shaping and key geometry as an empty, proof-ofconcept facade.
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Building
Ben Smith:
Building 28
Ben Smith had LEGO sets as a child and space was always his favorite theme. About ten years ago he came across the LEGO Factory set Star Justice (#10191) and started tinkering with it again; which snapped him out of his Dark Age. For Ben, the big eureka moment, however, was when he discovered the LEGO Digital Designer (LDD) software. He had hardly any parts in his collection and his daughter had just been born, so it was really, really hard to find time and space to build. With LDD, Ben could fire up the computer and build for ten minutes without needing to get anything out or put away; he was also travelling a bit, so he could build in hotel rooms or even on trains! Now he continues to build almost entirely digitally, ordering parts off Bricklink to assemble the model when it’s complete; although he’s discovered it helps to build test models anytime you try and do anything with motors or moving parts! One of Ben’s latest creations is a huge build of a spaceship named the Ark. With the help of a couple of other builders, he created a spaceship that not only is internally lit, but also has a rotating section. BrickJournal talked to him about the model. BrickJournal: What was the inspiration for the Ark? Ben Smith: I had built a bunch of models with LED lighting in them, which I displayed at a LEGO show in the UK: the Great Western Brick Show in Swindon, in 2018. My display was next to another builder who had a model that was motorized, and I realized how the public were really drawn to anything that moved. So when I got back I decided to try and build something that had motors in it and had some element of movement. I only build spaceships and sci-fi stuff; so the obvious expression of that idea for me was the sci-fi staple of a ship with a rotating centrifuge to generate artificial gravity for the crew on board. How did you begin the project? I have a background in 3-D design and for my last few projects I’ve used this to rough out the model before I do any LEGO building at all. For the Ark, I built a really rough 3-D model on the computer to figure out the overall shape and how big the wheel would have to be to include the kind of details I envisioned. It very quickly became obvious this would be a pretty big model, and I decided to use a technique I’d been aware of for a little while: I would use a frame made of 16mm square steel to support it. I’m really glad I did this—I honestly don’t think it would have been possible to build a LEGO frame that could hold up the weight of the wheel safely, and allow enough room inside for the motors. The rough 3-D model used to design the Ark.
Article and Photography by Ben Smith (www.flickr.com/threeDadventures)
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Building
A collection of Tim Goddard’s robots.
Tim Goddard:
Displaying like a Master! Article and Photography by Tim Goddard
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Tim Goddard is a builder that has been on the Space scene for decades. His models have been seen online, in magazines and even in his own book. BrickJournal talked to him about his builds and building. BrickJournal: First, tell us about yourself. Tim Goddard: I am 43 years old and an analytical chemistry laboratory manager located just west of London in the UK. Currently we are a very small part of the supply chain for several Covid-19 vaccines; it is great to know that we are making a tiny contribution to getting things back to something like normal; roll on the first post-virus LEGO convention! There is nothing in my background other than a lifetime of LEGO building that has led me to do what I currently do with the plastic bricks. Building is my only artistic outlet, so that is probably why I have persisted with it through my childhood and into adult life. I brought sets from many LEGO themes as a kid, but Space was always the main one. When I was young, I created my own little universe based around LEGO space themes; each faction such as Futuron, Space Police and M:Tron had their own baseplate or two, which were connected using the venerable LEGO Monorail. The even had a council room where a representative of each theme would get together to discuss the latest Blacktron threat. I guess I still build in that universe today—it even became a published book! LEGO Space: Building the Future came about after I created a chapter in the DK LEGO Ideas book. From that, an independent publisher contacted me and along with my mate Peter Reid (Creator of the LEGO Ideas
Exo-suit) and some other friends, we created a story/art book based on our childhood fantasies! Many have said it is the best book ever printed. :-) This hobby has led me on some other exciting adventures. I have had models displayed in the LEGO house in its opening year, and I have contributed to several books and magazines. I worked with LEGO by invitation in Billund on a three-day workshop to help develop what would become The Legends of Chima line, along with some other AFOLs; that was great fun. I got to see behind the scenes of product development and was encouraged to spray and even break LEGO bricks, so we were not restricted to just thinking about parts currently available! I only really had a Grey Age as the quality of LEGO sets declined in the late 1990s and I became interested in other things. I think it was the introduction of Star Wars LEGO that prevented full darkness, and a few years after that I discovered the AFOL scene and the public displays that were put on—I wanted to be a part of that!
An Aquazone layout by Tim.
It is great fun displaying at conventions; you get to hang out with like-minded people for a weekend, as well as talk with amazed members of the public as you explain for the hundredth time that, “This model is something I have created, it is not a set, and no I do not work for LEGO.” It is really the conventions, as well as sharing my work online, that keep me building my own creations and striving to get a little bit better with every model. What are the inspirations behind your builds? The LEGO community is a constant source of inspiration; every day a new wondrous creation appears that can not help but inspire. The constant stream of amazing models
Tim’s Zycon IV.
can be a little intimidating, the quality just keeps on getting better and better, but it does push me to put a little bit extra into every build I do. I am involved in a few LUGs such as Brickish, New Elementary and the LondonAFOLs. In normal times we LondonAFOLs meet up once a month in a pub to build and talk over all things LEGO. You can not help but leave full of ideas. As well as building in old LEGO Space themes, I also enjoy dipping my toe in the Star Wars universe—the designs are just so good (Doug Chaing is my hero)! With Star Wars, I tend to create more micro-scale builds rather than minifigure-scale creations, as I find them more satisfying. Making loads of tiny ships appeals to the world builder in me. Star Wars can be restrictive as I create versions of vehicles that already exist (in a fictional sense), but LEGO Space themes can be pushed in any direction you like, so inspiration can be taken from anywhere: computer games, concept art, any sci-fi franchise really. Warhammer is a great property for an industrial look that I have looked at recently.
Tim’s version of the Galactic Explorer.
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Building
Dang’s row of facades.
Hoang Dang:
Building Facades and More! Article and Photography by Hoang Dang
Growing up in the early 1990s, Hoang Dang was exposed to what he considered one of the greatest eras of LEGO. Sets under the System line-up surely made an impact on both his childhood, adulthood, as well as his career choices. Now in his thirties, Hoang has become a skilled LEGO builder, and reflects on how LEGO has been such a large part of his life.
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Hoang Dang: LEGO helped shape me as a professional. As a transportation designer/industrial designer, I have worked on projects ranging from cars and electric scooters to audio amplifiers. At the end of the day, what I do is very much related to my LEGO work: creating things. If my childhood isn’t counted, I started working on builds of my own in 2006. Back then, I made a bunch of house designs in LEGO Digital Designer, a LEGO building program. Those files were lost, and since then I have moved on to several more themes like spaceships, medieval buildings, boats, and cars. Still, it’s fun for me to realize that my building has gone full circle as my latest works are buildings again, especially the facades. I guess I’ve always been attracted to buildings and architecture. I got into building as an adult because of the direct similarity between my work and LEGO building. Sometimes, I use LEGO as a method to clear my mind and allow myself to be creative. My favorite theme to collect and build as sets are Creator sets, for sure. I was significantly impressed by the Land Busters set (#4404) that came out in 2003. That set may have single-handily kept me interested in LEGO through dark times. My favorite theme to part out is Friends! I love the colors, the new parts, and the art direction they are doing now. In my opinion, the Friends theme has been the most innovative theme in recent decades. That said, I would say I always prefer building my own creations. As much as I love to collect sets (and believe me when I say it, I have about 2000+ new sealed sets in storage), I always feel the urge to mix them all up and build something new. My inspirations mainly come from my personal background. Growing up in Vietnam during the economic boom, I was exposed to a mixture of cultures— Eastern values versus Western innovations, traditions versus contemporary. I think the ’90s was the time when Vietnamese of all ages were able to see the world in a more saturated lens, and there was so much to take in. I want my works to reflect that.
Hoang got noticed online when he began posting a series of facades based on Vietnamese Architecture. Here, he talks about the inspiration behind what has become the Vietnam Facade Collection. When it comes to the Vietnam Facade Collection, of course my direct inspirations are the actual places I have been to. Each of those builds represents a significant memory I have. Having said that, I try not to build exactly like my reference materials. I believe art works have a significant value if they can capture the general feeling of a place. I focus more on expressing my personal impression of the places, rather than trying to make a direct physical copy of them. So let’s take a quick walk through all of them!
Vietnam Facade Collection No. 1.
I have completed four pieces so far. Vietnam Facade Collection no. 1 is a french-built mansion back in the colonial times: a remarkable identifier of Hanoi. If you have a chance to visit the city, you will find these hidden relics all over the city. However, they also show a new side of Hanoi. Throughout the years, many generations have lived there and they changed their house as they see fit. You can see that at the door and windows. The metalwork represented by the light bluish gray flex hoses and bars were trendy designs back in the ’90s. Most families had those installed at their houses. One other unique feature is the new colorful tiles that indicate that this family has fixed up their interior to suit their style. A look at the back of the model.
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Hand and legs are printed. The waistpiece is now added.
The slicing program.
Two-color leg prints with minifigure legs.
Two minifigure prints.
A printed figure with a flower print.
You can view Jared’s webpage by going to http:// www.fineclonier.com/ or scanning this QR code!
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talk about tolerances and part design. Since I am designing my figure at LEGO scale and then scaling it up to the size, the tolerance and any error will also scale, making it harder to dial in settings. I have my reasons, but know if you were to scale this up in Fusion360, these would be easier to control. Also, know I have taken an insanely hard path; I want all of my parts built exactly as the LEGO parts. Why is this challenging? Well, the shoulder joint is designed to be compressed and then pop back out to hold the arm at various points. Given the larger size, the plastic doesn’t flex as much because it is bigger and thicker, so this part has to be dialed in exactly—and honestly, I am near to accepting that I will have to alter this portion slightly to allow it to flex a bit more easily. Attaching the arms via rubber mallet is a bit much. Once you have your file, it is off to your 3-D printer’s slicer program. This is the program that will cut your model into XY stacked planes that add up in the Z dimension to the shape of the object you wish to create. You will also have some control here; you will likely need supports in certain areas. This means orienting your model in certain directions on the build plate will be more helpful than others, based on the types of supports you are using. This can also make removing the supports much easier. My printer features a dual extruder, meaning it has two print heads attached side-by-side. This allows me to print in two colors at one time—a feature I much enjoy for the Bigfigs, as I can make two-color arms and two-color legs, replicating the more recent alterations to the LEGO figure, and given the appearance of sleeves and boots. Ultimately, with the 3-D printer the possibilities are endless as to what you can do with this Bigfig. This is merely the first article about Bigfigs. I hope in the next article to discuss how to decorate your Bigfig and create a truly custom Bigfig of your choosing. Who doesn’t want a giant Captain America or your own BigSigFig (your own Big Signature Figure)?
Next Time: Decorating our Signature Bigfigs!
BrickNerd was a LEGO fan website that was started by Tommy Williamson. Relaunched in 2021 by Dave Schefcik and some of the best LEGO builders in the world, the site continues the mission begun by Tommy: to show the best of the LEGO fan community online with builds, interviews and articles. BrickJournal is proud to continue its partnership with BrickNerd.
Parts List
(Parts can be ordered through Bricklink.com by searching by part number and color)
Qty Part Color 1 25126p01.dat White 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 3 1 2 4 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 4 2 4 1 1 2 1 1 2
Description Minifig Baby Body with Yellow Hands Pattern 3069b.dat Trans Yellow Tile 1 x 2 with Groove 30602.dat Trans Yellow Slope Brick Curved Top 2x 2x 1 24581p01.dat Yellow Minifig Baby Head with Eyes and Smile Pattern 2436a.dat Lt Bluish Grey Bracket 1 x 2 - 1 x 4 with Square Corners 2654a.dat Lt Bluish Grey Dish 2 x 2 with Rim 2817.dat Lt Bluish Grey Plate 2 x 2 with Holes 3839b.dat Lt Bluish Grey Plate 1 x 2 with Handles Type 2 4274.dat Lt Bluish Grey Technic Pin 1/2 4592.dat Lt Bluish Grey Hinge Control Stick Base 6141.dat Lt Bluish Grey Plate 1 x 1 Round 14181.dat Lt Bluish Grey Wing 4 x 9 with Stud Notches 15535.dat Lt Bluish Grey Tile 2 x 2 Round with Hole 15712.dat Lt Bluish Grey Tile 1 x 1 with Clip (Thick C-Clip) 25269.dat Lt Bluish Grey Tile 1 x 1 Corner Round 32059.dat Lt Bluish Grey Plate 4 x 6 without Corners 59900.dat Lt Bluish Grey Cone 1 x 1 with Stop 61184.dat Lt Bluish Grey Technic Pin 1/2 with Bar 2L 98100.dat Lt Bluish Grey Cone 2 x 2 Truncated 98138.dat Lt Bluish Grey Tile 1 x 1 Round with Groove 99781.dat Lt Bluish Grey Bracket 1 x 2 - 1 x 2 Down 2432.dat Blue Tile 1 x 2 with Handle 3023.dat Blue Plate 1 x 2 3068b.dat Blue Tile 2 x 2 with Groove 3069b.dat Blue Tile 1 x 2 with Groove 15573.dat Blue Plate 1 x 2 with Groove with 1 Centre Stud, without Understud 16599.dat Blue Minifig Helmet Classic with Cracked Thin Chin Guard 30414.dat Blue Brick 1 x 4 with Studs on Side 54383.dat Blue Wing 3 x 6 Right 54384.dat Blue Wing 3 x 6 Left 61409.dat Metallic Silver Slope Brick 18 2 x 1 x 0.667 Grille
Baby Spaceship Design and Instructions by Geneva Durand from BrickNerd
Blue, light grey, and transparent yellow are a trio of colors that have stood the test of time. No three colors scream spaceship—spaceship!—SPACESHIP! more loudly to a LEGO fan. My philosophy is that anything that’s cool in minifigure scale must be even better in baby scale! Baby scale is a halfmicro, half-chibi scale I’ve come up with to build things like castles, boats, and airplanes for LEGO babies to ride. This “Baby Build” version of the classic LEGO spaceship is one of mini-models included in my LEGO Ideas project, which you can find by searching Baby Builds on LEGO Ideas. One kind of old-fashioned piece that I tried to use in an unusual way was the blue tile 1x2 modified with bar handle on the back of the spaceship. This is a piece with some interesting geometry, and it fits well sideways over two studs. In the front of the spaceship there is a plate 1x2 modified with bar handles—an old part that really helps evoke classic space vibes. This was a fun little build to create, and I hope you have as much fun building it. And yes, it is swooshable! You can go to the BrickNerd website by typing: https://bricknerd.com/ on your browser or by scanning this QR code!
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David Dickson’s
LifeSize R2-D2
LIFE SIZE r2-d2
Article by Steven Smyth, Bantha Bricks: Fans of LEGO Star Wars Photography by David Dickson
David Dickson’s R2-D2.
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. David Dickson is one such creative builder and recently shared his life-sized R2-D2 droid! Steven Smyth: How’s it going David? I’ve gotten to know you through the Facebook group, first with your awesome posts and then your friendliness within the community. Everyone in Bantha Bricks has been stunned by your many amazing life-sized Star Wars astromech brick builds, starting with R2D2, but for the uninitiated, please introduce yourself and tell us a little about what you do. David Dickson: Sure thing Steven, but first, I’d like to thank you for allowing me to be a part of an amazing Facebook group. Since joining Bantha Bricks, I’ve been able to see so many amazing LEGO creations. There are so many talented people in the group. It is just absolutely amazing that Facebook has brought together many Star Wars LEGO fans into once place to share all their amazing stories and creations.
I was born and raised in Florida, having moved around quite a bit and finally landing in Jacksonville in 1993, where I graduated two years later from the University of North Florida with a degree in Computer Science: “Go Ospreys!” I met my beautiful wife Mindy in 1998. We were married four years later and now have two absolutely amazing kids. Conor is 16 and Cadence is 13. I’ve been working in Information Technology my entire career. Aside from LEGO, I have a passion for reading, which typically centers around two primary subjects: Christianity and Star Wars, in that order. Would you say Star Wars is your favorite theme? Or do you have a surprise theme for us? Hah! Yes, hands down, huge Star Wars fan. My first Star Wars memory was seeing A New Hope in the theaters. I was just four at the time. As soon as the ominous Vader walked through the Tantive IV corridor, I was forever hooked! Why do you choose the LEGO brick as your medium to express yourself? My LEGO story began with Christmas in the late ’80s. Back then, the number of LEGO themes was a bit less. Since a LEGO Star Wars theme did not yet exist, my parents thought it was fitting to introduce me to Classic Space. Beta1 Command Center was my first set, then shortly thereafter, the Galaxy Explorer. Then through a great deal Rs’s front, showing some “brick bending.” of shedding my weekly earned allowance, and then later, lawn mowing money, every other available Classic Space set found its way into my inventory over time. If I wasn’t in school or outside playing, I was inside building and rebuilding my Classic Space LEGO.
The back of the droid.
Your latest build of the life-sized R2D2 droid had everyone picking their jaws up from off the ground. What inspired you to build that particular character? When I rediscovered LEGO in 2000 when the Star Wars theme was introduced, I became fascinated with the idea of bigger builds. I then made a visit to LEGOLand in Central Florida. Amongst many epic creations was a full-size LEGO R2. To be frank, my jaw hit the floor. I couldn’t believe the enormity of it. That said, I couldn’t get over how blocky it was. I realized LEGO needed to build it that way to endure the Florida sun and weather. They built it to withstand the elements. I always had a zeal for the incredible movie-accurate builds coming out of R2 Builders Club and thought that I would one day take on my own build of an authentic full-size screen-accurate R2 non-LEGO. As I stood there studying the LEGOLand R2, at that point, I had a thought, and I carried that thought all the way home for the three-hour drive back to Jacksonville, where I then went to work on documenting my thoughts on the design of what would eventually become R2-Mark-1.
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