BrickJournal LEGO Fan Magazine - #69

The Magazine for LEGO® Enthusiasts of All Ages!

Issue 69 • September 2021

9.95

$

in the US

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

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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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.

People

An Emperor ironclad warship.

Sunder_59 is an 3-D modeler who returned to LEGO building about a decade ago, when he saw an old box of LEGO from his childhood. His models are of different themes, but his favorite builds are of space stuff and spaceships.

He found his inspiration a long time ago in his childhood when he got a copy of the Homeworld computer game. At the time, he didn’t understand anything, as it was in English and he is Russian. However, he fell in love with the spaceships, and from there he found (and still finds) inspiration everywhere, including games, books, and films.

Sunder_59:

Building SpaceSHIPs! Article and Photography by Sunder_59

Building his creations can vary. Sometimes he can build something in an hour, sometimes it can take months. On average, though, it takes him several evenings to build a model.

Sunder_59 builds organically and rarely has a plan. He just keeps a general idea in mind and lets his imagination flow.

Often the model concept changes a lot during the process of building. As a result, the design changes into something completely different. When he builds large projects, such as the spaceships that LEGO space builders build in September (SHIPtember), or if he has something particular in mind, he makes rough 3-D models. Sometimes, his smaller models become bigger as he changes their design.

A paddlewheel drive for the steamship below.

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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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Building

The marketing figure that was made for stores.

Minifig Customization 101:

When you start working in any art form, you begin by learning how to think about scale and perspective.

This is one of the most challenging bits of working in minifigure customization, because LEGO minifigures are so small and their scale is not a 1:1 with our world.

Their heads are too big, their hands are massive, and their torsos and legs are the same length. They are a weird-shaped figure comparatively speaking, and the scale of objects around them is much, much, larger than they would be to you or me.

Just look at the LEGO apple and think about how large that would be to us. Perhaps you will recall my conversion of a Clock Superman Figure into Captain America in previous issues. I have wanted large format LEGO minifigures. Clearly, I have longed for big minifigs or Bigfigs/big figures, but these can be hard to build and time consuming.

Scale and Perspective (Part 1) Article by Jared K. Burks

No, not these figures!

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No, I do not want that abomination to LEGO—the anthropomorphized figure with so many non-moving parts and crazy steroid induced anatomical features found on no other LEGO figure. I want a true large format LEGO style minifig with its odd scale and weird proportions.

Not to completely bash the current Bigfigs—the original rock monster and HP Troll made sense, as did several others—however, in 2012 when LEGO started using it for the Hulk and gave it 6-pack abs, it just did not make sense anymore.

Want to see all the official figures in this category? https://youtu.be/ FVa2xQHJ9LU. These post-2012 larger figures just don’t seem to fit the rest of the LEGOverse. As such, I want a true big, giant figure that is merely a scaled version of the figure standing small at 1.5 inches or 4 cm.

Not only could we build a better Hulk, we could make a Marvel Giant Man, Galactus, or Sentinel. We could also make our favorite signature figure simply larger.

Well, if you want a larger version, there are a few options. LEGO or a marketing group did produce a 19-inch figure for commercial use that was very common in stores like Toys ‘R’ Us. I haven’t seen a 19-inch figure in a store for some time, outside of eBay for hundreds to thousands of dollars. Also, these were display pieces and not meant to be interacted with or played with—they were to look pretty on the shelf. While they are pretty, they are impractical to give to a kid or take to an event to show off, as they could be easily damaged.

There are also the LEGO Clock Figures as well as the more recent LEGO Wooden Figure. Both leave me wanting, for various reasons, which left me to make my own. Where did I begin? Research—lots and lots of research to figure out the details.

While the figure patent is out there and available, it does not completely supply all the figure’s measurements. Also, there are several competing technical drawings that call out different bits of the LEGO figure with slightly different metrics. I am sure many of you can notice when something doesn’t quite look right in the LEGO figure, or when you are looking at a knock-off or another brand version of a minifigure. The arm angle is off, the head curve is wrong, the legs don’t taper correctly. There are a million small issues that if you are used to staring at a LEGO figure, you will notice. Also, if you are looking at a LEGO figure from the late 1970s to the early 1980s, you will know that LEGO has changed some of their own measurements since that original police officer figure, especially the fillet of the head. There are some details that LEGO even wants to forget, like the first minifigure focused feature film wasn’t The LEGO Movie; it was Clutch Powers, but I digress. Notice the Bigfigs don’t fit into the LEGO history of the minifigures below because LEGO doesn’t consider them minifigures. LEGO considers Bigfigs as creatures, which is why I suppose there are inconsistent changes in their dimensions and scale, which does not muddy the minifigure trademark.

The wooden minifigure.

Drawings showing minifigure measurements.

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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 2 x 2 x 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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You Can Build It MINI Build

Mini Mandalorian Fighter Design and Instructions

by Christopher Deck Hello everybody, and welcome on our next spacey ride into the lands of miniature building! Our vehicle of choice for this journey is the Mandalorian fighter which you can remember from the Star Wars series Clone Wars, Rebels, and The Mandalorian. It’s a highly maneuverable and agile ship with several possible wing positions.

The landing position has the wings standing upright, and the standard atmospheric flight and space travel position has the wings in horizontal position. A third possibility is to let the wings rotate around the main body for higher maneuverability—for example, during a space battle.

There is already an official LEGO mini version (#30241) for the Mandalorian fighter, but my personal opinion is that this attempt’s outcome is not completely satisfying. The proportions of wingspan and main body are way off the original design, and important

details like the rear section behind the rotating ring are missing. Admittedly, the Mandalorian fighter is a filigree and very flexible design, making it difficult to miniaturize. And of course I don’t want to pretend that the following attempt is perfect… ...but I am very happy to face this challenge with you on the next pages of BrickJournal and go through the building instructions with you! One of my favorite details is the tooth plate on top of the trans-blue cockpit glass. When you look at it from the side, you will see that the tooth plate gently continues the 1x1 slope’s angle and rounds it up. Be sure to use only Technic pins with frictions, otherwise the wings will loosely rotate in every direction. I hope you’re going to have fun with this model and all its wing positions!

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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.

Community

Despite the global pandemic, building with LEGO bricks never stopped and the 2021 season of the FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) LEGO League Championships were held. WE LOVE WHAT YOU BUILD (WLWYB) was chosen to design and produce the FIRST® LEGO League Trophy for the Hungarian Championships. Here’s the story behind the trophy, from WLWYB Project Manager Dorottya Fogel.

If you have never heard of FIRST® LEGO League before, it’s a STEM competition for kids between the ages of 4-16 around the world. The participants build mesmerizing robots of LEGO system and Technic bricks and pieces with programs included. There are six category prizes in the Hungarian competition: Best Team, Best FIRST® Core Values, Best Innovation, Best Robot Game, Best Robot Design, and Best Coach.

We were chosen to design and develop the trophies for the Hungarian FIRST® LEGO League Championships 2021 season. The association who organizes the FLL Championship in Hungary reached out to us in August 2020. My team and I had the opportunity to build the project from the ground up.

The Hungarian FLL trophy, designed and made by WE LOVE WHAT YOU BUILD.

Gearing Up for FLL Hungary!

Article and Photography by Dorottya Fogel

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Vertical City, celebrating the launch of Brick by Brick® in 2019.

LEGO® Certified Professional Feature:

Wei Wei Shannon Gluckman Article and Photography by Wei Wei Shannon Gluckman

“We are in a constantly changing world...”

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Location: Shanghai, China Facebook: playabledesign Vimeo: playabledesign

BrickJournal: You started using LEGO not as a hobby, but in a professional capacity. How did that come about?

Wei Wei Shannon: My first experience working with LEGO bricks professionally was through a not-for-profit organization I co-founded in 2006 called People’s Architecture Foundation (PAF). PAF, along with ArtAsiaPacific Magazine launched a two-year-long traveling exhibition and workshop, the Building Asia Brick by Brick (BABB). This was a landmark cultural and educational experience that toured the People’s Republic of China in 2007.

We invited leading Asian and Pacific architects to create original architectural models from custom kits of white LEGO bricks, with the intent that the models IF YOU ENJOYED THIS PREVIEW, be exhibited to raise awareness about architectural CLICK preservation in Asia.

The THIS THE LINK TO ORDER project engaged concepts of creativity through play, and issues of ISSUE IN highlighted PRINT OR DIGITAL FORMAT! urbanism, new design, and heritage awareness; all issues that affect architects in a region undergoing dramatic change and development.

Building Asia Brick by Brick used a Teach Through Play approach to foster children’s awareness about architecture and urbanism. Along with all the exhibitions, we conducted a series of workshops using LEGO bricks to create a truly integrated educational and playful environment. Youngsters could interact and learn from architects and urban planners, and explore and develop their creative skills both individually and in group settings. Architects and invited local participants were on-site to explain the concepts behind their models and work with children on creating their own architectural designs, exposing them to a new way of thinking about design, building, and teamwork.

How did your work with LEGO in China lead to you being an LEGO Certified BRICKJOURNAL #69 Professional (LCP)?

Head SPACE-ward with starship builders NICK TROTTA and

ATTILA GALLIK, see TIM GODDARD’s space builds (and more)

Ever since BABB, I’ve been playing with LEGO bricks to connect LEGO from the book LEGO Space: Building the culture Future, plus STEVEN SMYTH of Bantha Bricks returns with more intricate Star Wars with modern Chinese culture. The relationship between the two has flourished builds! With step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, Minifigure Customization secrets by largely because of a shared belief in the importance of play and the intensifying JARED K. BURKS, & more! Edited by JOE MENO. need for play in China. The government believes innovation is key to China’s (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 success. Schools, meanwhile, increase focus on exam preparation, which (Digital Edition) $4.99 encroaches on the space needed by children to nourish the imagination and https://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_78&products_id=1628