BrickJournal #44 by TwoMorrows Publishing

The Magazine for LEGO® Enthusiasts of All Ages! Issue 44 • March 2017

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Erik Jones displays Cinderella Castle! Guillaume Roussel’s Disneyland Paris Model! Instructions and MORE!

The Theme Park Issue! John Rudy’s Disney Rides! Jennifer Lee’s Friends Park ISBN-13: 978-1-60549-074-8 ISBN-10: 1-60549-074-1 50895

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Issue 44 • March 2017

Contents From the Editor....................................................2

People Natalia Wolkska-Meijerink: Brick Artist......3 The LEGO Dream of Shuying........................8

Building Constructing Cinderella Castle..................16 Building a Tale as Old as Time....................22 Building Disneyland Paris, Brick by Brick.............................................28 Disneyland’s History in Bricks!...................32 Zach Reynolds: Building Disney in Bricks......................35 Alexis Dos Santos: Ride Builder.................38 Welcome to Friends Park.............................40 Minifigure Customization 101: The Unbelievable Gwenpool — No, Seriously, I am Unbelievable!.....45 You Can Build It: MINI Ferris Wheel.....................................50 BrickNerd’s DIY: Mr. Toad’s Car.............................................60 MINDSTORMS 101: MINDSTORMS Voting Machines.......66

Community Event Report: LEGO Fanwelt 2016..........70 Community Ads...............................................78 Last Word.............................................................79 AFOLs....................................................................80

From the Editor: Hi! This is the Theme Park issue, but mostly about Disney...

March 2017 Issue 44 Publisher John Morrow

To those who have set their eyes on this magazine, welcome! This issue is about something that I am interested in almost as much as the brick!

Photography Editor Geoff Gray

There’s a lot of things that can be looked at with this theme, as LEGO fans have built rides and amusement parks for their minifigures for years. The LEGO Group has also made sets of amusement park rides, thanks to the design work of Jamie Berard.

Japanese Bureau Editor Nathan Bryan

Now, however, large-scale projects are starting to be done, and a couple of them are here—both castles, they are icons to a place where anything can happen and wishes can come true. There’s also smaller projects like minifgure vehicles, which can also be found in this issue.

Editor in Chief Joe Meno Proofreader John Morrow

West Coast Editors Todd Kubo Ashley Glennon

LEGO Ideas Correspondent Glen Wadleigh

Contributors: Jared Burks, Hsin wei Chi, Christopher Deck, Alexis Dos Santos, Jon Grant, Kevin Hall, Erik Jones, Damien Kee, Jennifer Lee, Zach Reynolds, Guillaume Roussel, Jörg Ruckel, John Rudy, Suying, Natalia Wolkska-Meijerink, Tommy Williamson, and Greg Hyland. Many thanks to the websites who have served as mirrors for BrickJournal:

There’s even art—art you can build, and you can WIN—just read on! Build on! Joe Meno, Editor P.S. Have ideas or comments? Drop me a line at admin@brickjournal.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: http://twomorrows.com/ index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=78&products_id=616 or scan below! Website

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About the Cover: Cinderella Castle. Photo provided by Erik Jones. About the Contents: Beast watches over the enchanted rose. Photo by Jamie Lawrence.

All Disney-related characters, theme park elements, and their likenesses shown in this issue are TM & © Walt Disney Productions.

Glossary AFOL (Adult 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) MECHA (a large armored robot on legs, typically controlled by a pilot seated inside) MECH (a large piloted combat robot)

GUNDAM (sci-fi media franchise featuring giant robots or “mecha”) SNOT (Studs Not on Top) POOP (Pieces—that can be or should be made—Of Other Pieces) LUG (LEGO Users Group) LTC (LEGO Train Club) 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 2017, 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 $60 Economy US, $70 Expedited US, $97 International, or $23.70 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, 5610 Briar Oak Lane #510, Raleigh, NC 27612 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 of the LDraw suite. For more information, please visit http://www.ldraw.org.

People

Brick Artist Article by Joe Meno Photography by Natalia Wolska-Meijerink

What happens when you are an artist and a LEGO builder? If you are Natalia Meijerink, you combine art and building. As a child, she preferred to play with LEGO than with dolls, and this continued to adulthood. Some years later, her husband (also a LEGO fan) built a house in the same architectural style of the houses that line the canals of Amsterdam, their home. He made a joke about selling the models and things like that to tourists. Natalia, an artist and illustrator, started to think about how she could make a LEGO model and how to make it possible for people to take it as a souvenir. After some exploring and researching, she found some deep frames and started to build and construct, taking photographs of typical Amsterdam buildings and using them as reference for her constructs. This began her LEGO art career. Amsterdam for her also was the inspiration for her as an architect. She wanted to find a new way to present the city’s beautiful architecture—an original piece of Amsterdam made of LEGO that could be taken all over the world. Her first nice house was made on December 2015. She named her products “Amsterdam LEGO® art.”

Some samples of Natalia’s work.

Since the frames are not that deep, Natalia has to be creative to find the right methods and elements to use. She makes two types of facades: Simple, small ones that are mostly only up to two bricks thick, which are houses based on some characteristic Amsterdam architectural elements; and replicas of real buildings that sometimes are very challenging.

From studying a line...

When building, Natalia first builds the base wall with windows, using the smallest elements to make the models as three-dimensional as possible, with stairs, decorations, cornice, balcony, and other details. Sometimes she has to cut bricks or attach prints of paintings or stained windows to the models for details. When completed, the entire model is glued to the frame background to keep from breaking.

...to building a model.

Final touches include minifigures, small architectural details, and if the building is from Amsterdam, some bikes.

The model’s back is then secured together and glued on the backing.

The back of the frame has contact information for Natalia.

Text is added by hand.

The art is added to the frame.

Natalia’s process is to use the photographs she takes to simplify and distill the shapes and items inside to LEGO elements. This can take some time and involves making drawings and test building, as can be seen here. Colors are limited in LEGO bricks, so substitute colors in the LEGO palette are used when needed.

Natalia’s work can be found at her Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/people/ nwolskameijerink. She ships worldwide. Want one of Natalia’s art pieces? Make an artpiece of your own using the ideas here—you can build a real piece, or you can build one on a program. Send or e-mail a photo of your creation and a photo of your inspiration to admin@ brickjournal.com, title LEGO ART CONTEST by April 15, 2017. One person will receive a piece of Amsterdam LEGO® ART! Good Luck!! No purchase required. One prize only.

People

The LEGO® Dream of Shuying Article by Shuying Photography by Shuying & Geng Lei

Among the LEGO fans from Mainland China, Shuying, which is his “LELE Town”ID, is regarded as a master in building. He is adept in MOC with the bricks in LEGO’s Technic system. And his building is always full of beauty, imagination, and creativity. Let’s visit his LEGO world and learn more about him, as well as his latest MOC buildings. I still remember the first LEGO set I got in 1979. It was LEGO 851, a tractor, brought from Germany by my friend’s father who lived next to me. It was so exquisite that its front wheels could be controlled by the steering. I was deeply attracted by this delicate, colorful, and ingenious “German friend.” And, voluntarily, I became my friend’s attendant, sharing snacks with him, helping him with his homework and even writing a letter of self-criticism on behalf of him. All of these is for building the tractor with him after school. Now, when we look back to those old days, LEGO taught us the real mechanism of automobiles by creating the attractive car model. Only through playing with a LEGO product and observing it can we learn the principle, and in this process, combining education and recreation was realized. By 1993, there were LEGO products displayed for sale in some of Beijing’s upscale department stores such as Baisheng, Yansha, and Saite. By that time, I had graduated from university, started my career, and could afford to buy LEGO sets. After figuring out the background of LEGO, a brand from Denmark, I bought more than ten sets of LEGO Technic. Some of the “aged” bricks in my MOC buildings were actually collected during that time. Being addicted to LEGO for two years, I was forced to give it up because of the development of my career. More than ten years later, in 2009, my wife told me that I could buy LEGO from Taobao.com, an online shopping website. Around that time, LEGO released its first product of the modular City buildings, the Cafe Corner, which opened my

mind in playing and creating new buildings. I started to realize that there not only existed multicolored and simple “LEGO candy houses” for children, but also a functional house like the Cafe Corner, reflecting architecture in reality. Soon after that I found the online forum “LELE Town” that was a platform for communication of LEGO fans from mainland China, and it displayed several MOC works of other players. Preparing everything needed, I set out on my first MOC building, The Dream Palace. It was also the starting point of my LEGO dream.

The Dream Palace

There are plenty of personal touches in my first MOC, and countless The front of The Dream Palace. bricks from the LEGO Technic system were added to the decoration of the building. It was a coincidence for me to create something like that, because I was a “switched architect” who originally focused on building automobiles and accumulating sufficient Technic bricks. When deciding to create something, I thought it would save a lot of expense if I could make use of these bricks. For my favorite European classic architectures, ancient people designed them as gorgeous as possible with walls of embellishments and decorative elements. Luckily, Technic bricks have exquisite and relief patterns. If I could utilize them creatively in my European buildings, it would be wonderful to realize my wish in building. With this thought, I finished The Dream Palace. Because of my accumulation of practical experience, creative designs gradually became real, and new ideas happened to me constantly in the later period of my building. It seemed that I opened a door of creative ideas and all of them came running to me one by one. I kept record of the ideas that were not used in this MOC but might be suitable for my next one. I also wanted to open the door for more LEGO fans and tell them that any LEGO bricks can be used to bring our magic imaginations to life. As long as we choose the appropriate bricks, reasonable but surprising art effects could be realized. The interesting gear fountain. The combination details of the decoration wall.

Greek-style mountain-shaped wall.

My first MOC experience taught me a lot. To build a satisfying work, we should take beauty, creativity, details and strength into consideration, and function should be listed if it is a Technic one. When four of the requirements are met, it will be an outstanding building. And even if only one or two criteria are emphasized in a building, it can also be a vivid one to impress the viewers.

The back side of The Dream Palace.

Trunks and branches are created from Technic parts in this tree.

Note the tiles created from Technic axis connectors.

Drinking Alone

From the poem Drinking Alone: A pot of wine among flowers. I alone, drinking, without a companion. I lift the cup and invite the bright moon. My shadow opposite certainly makes us three.* This building is based on a 32 x 16 base plate, which can be categorized as a large vignette. The inspiration came from my friends’ complaint that LEGO was more suitable to create foreign-style buildings rather than Chinese ones. I was determined to try to disprove this bias and accepted this challenge. Finally, even though the course of creation was exhausting, I found that we could indeed create a Chinese-style building with some effort. What’s more, it was this sample that opened the door of my path on Chinese-style creation, which also laid the foundation of my buildings in traditional Chinese garden style. Among the sample, some impressive parts are worth mention. The roof tiles are from the axis connectors from the Technic series; and some traditional Chinese garden elements like hollowed windows, moon-shaped arch, and common trunks and branches all come from Technic parts. This sample enlightens me that where there is a will, there is a way. These unexpected creations put more charm on the sample and also make my work more interesting and impressive. *cited from the translated version by Amy Lowell, the famous female American poet.

The Butchart Garden built in LEGO.

The Butchart Garden Present Shop

This building is the only one that was created from a real-life scene. The Butchart Garden is an indispensable spot of interest that is located in one of the islands in Victoria beside Vancouver, Canada. The plants and architectures in the garden are splendid and the present shop in the entrance, which sells seeds and other presents, impresses me with its elegancy and peace. When I visited the garden, I only shot one photo as a souvenir, which became my only reference during building.

The Butchart Garden.

The roof structure is the most difficult part in building, as seen here.

Making wall decorations with Technic axle connectors.

The Lost Castle

Making wall decorations with Technic gears and elements. The gate uses Technic axles and bushings.

The Lost Castle.

This building is one of my most satisfying works. After watching the movie The Lord of the Rings, I was inspired by the outpost of the Elves called Rivendell, whose landscape is beautiful and marvelous. While it is not my style to duplicate the scene of the movie into a LEGO building, I imagined a lot of the castle. The elves’ castle should be equipped with a front wall located in the middle of a mountain, and two magnificent mountains connected by a beautiful bridge, demonstrating elves’ elegancy and spirit. There should also exist a grand waterfall falling down over the bridge, bringing vigor and charm to the architecture. When I successfully created the model of bridge in LEGO Digital Designer, I found the idea of creating the two mountains could not be realized because of lack of bricks. Consequently, I altered the two mountains into two The courtyard, which uses turntable bottoms for floor tiles.

towers behind the castle, which was brought into reality at last. The scale of the building is 64 x 64 x 64 studs with overall 15,000 parts. It took me more than two months to finish the project, but the style of using Technic bricks is inherited because I applied approximately 3000 parts to it. Also, there exists some creative ideas that are worthy of being recommended.

The Sacred Temple

For most LEGO fans, complete duplication from real architecture is the most interesting choice, and, at the same time, can reveal the building skill of the person. But for me, what I hope more is to create something I design, which means— apart from enjoying imitating and the behavior of building—I want to feel the happiness from designing the outline, the structure and decoration. It is particularly because I can make full use of my existing bricks, which is like catching a bargain and gives additional enjoyment to building. By scrutiny, all of the windows boast distinct design, apart from the element of symmetry. Plus, the split lines of every floor also enjoy a variety of style. The complexity of the design comes from my self-requirement in creating those impressive buildings that can last in both long-distance appreciation and close observation. Still, the number of bricks in this work is restricted by my inventory and I merely work out the front wall which is 1-meter long and 51-centimeters wide (with 16 + 32 + 16 studs). In the future, I will complete this building. In both sides of the building, the windows in every floor are completely different, with the number of windows changing by 2, 3, and 2; and the size of the windows becomes smaller from those in the bottom to those in the top. All of these designs deliver the sense of rhythm of stability, reason, and harmony. In terms of the rhythm of architecture, it belongs to the concept of architectural aesthetics. It requires plenty of building experience and accumulation of comprehensive observation; afterwards, it can be possible to be inspired and improved. In contrast, those with unqualified rhythm bring strong discontinuity.

The Sacred Temple.

The Chinese Traditional Garden

A closer look at the Sacred Temple.

The roof of the hut is Technic axle connectors. A minifigure point of view look at the garden.

My latest building, the Chinese Traditional Garden, is an illustration of all of my creative designs in Suzhou Garden and Chinese garden architectures. Briefly speaking, it is a set of Chinese buildings that I design by myself, which is also one of my important interests—that is, designing, compensating, and expanding the architecture elements in real-life rather than copying the buildings in daily life. In this work, my willingness to apply large areas of axis-connector tile roof is finally brought into practice. This technique actually figures out several problems in Technics such as multi-angle alternations, the building of arched roof on the moon-like gate, the building of bent roof, the rising and falling of the houses and bridges, quadrangle pavilion, and hexagonal pavilion. Around the scenery, there exists all kinds of Chinese elements such as elegant arched bridge, devious and interesting bridge, and long and changeable corridor. You can also observe some central island surrounded by reefs, traditional hexagonal pavilion, and typical two-floor garden hut. Decorated in the garden, there are Hui-style wall, rough and strange-shaped stone, and jade-green bamboo forest. Also, you can witness gravel path, aromatic grapevine, stone table and chairs, flourish trees, floating lotus, black tiles, and white walls. All of the above elements are combined together with gender and deep lake. Imagine my life in this garden. I may turn out to be a senior fisherman, listening to the songs of cicadas and watching the lake water. When the shaking shadow of trees covers me, I am more willing to be patted by the breeze, and, naturally, I will fall asleep to enjoy the peace. As the work is a large-scale one, I choose to use 21 bottom plates with the scale of 16 x 32, and the total number of bricks reaches 12,000. It takes me one-anda-half months to finish the building. Although the gross number of bricks is limited, I spend most of my building time in comprehensive planning, stereodesigning, and reasonable arrangement of every brick. The result is that I have endeavored to integrate every Chinese element in my mind into this work reasonably.

A bird’s eye view of the garden.

Jade green trees and grapevine are seen here.

A bridge leads from the garden hut to an end corridor.

My LEGO dream is florid and splendid. In my dreams, when watching the Titanic, the classic scene is acted as a LEGO one; I would also walk on the street from LEGO city view and the building along the street would come to me as I step in the picture; sometimes, I could put the scenery of four seasons in the same picture that could turn around me with different prospects. If possible, I may even put the winding corridor into a deep canyon. All I dream is interesting and various. I sincerely hope that you could also fall in love with LEGO and, therefore, we could meet in our dream of the magnificent LEGO world.

Another view of the garden.

Another bridge leads to a little island.

Building

Constructing Cinderella’s Castle! Article and Photography by Erik Jones

It’s not very often that a castle simply appears. Such was the case, though, in 2015, when a castle appeared on Reddit. To make things more interesting, it wasn’t just any castle— it was Cinderella Castle from Walt Disney World. Made of LEGO bricks and elements, it stood at 6.5 feet tall and was 4.5 feet wide, making it a massive structure. As a result, the Reddit thread got a lot of attention and the castle photos went viral. The builder was Erik Jones, a professor of Choral Music at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. He wasn’t the only builder on the castle—he was helped by his son, Colin. Both were inspired by a visit to the National Building Museum in Washington, DC and seeing an exhibition of LEGO buildings. For both of them, this marked the beginning of their LEGO obsession when they started with building the Expert Creator and Architecture sets, and decided to make the castle their first MOC. As Erik said and the old saying goes, “Go big or go home, right?”

A bird’s eye view of Cinderella Castle.

Digital turnaround of the castle, done in LEGO Digital Designer (LDD).

Going big meant planning the build. The size of the model would be minifigure scale, so a set of blueprints would make it easy to build to scale. Fortunately there were official blueprint sketches found online, and Erik started building… in LEGO Digital Designer. One of the hardest things that Erik had to deal with designing the castle was finding photos from above, but he was able to find some after searching online. Design began in January, and it took five months to complete. The model was so big, Erik had to split the Digital Designer file to allow his computer to be able to run without memory issues. During construction, he had to determine how the castle would be set up and supported, and so he made the castle hollow and built it in twelve sections to fit like a puzzle. The middle of the castle rested on a piece of wood with black cloth covering it. While this wasn’t exactly LEGO, it made Cinderella Castle easy to assemble and disassemble for moving.

With the entire model in LEGO Digital Designer, details could be tightened, as seen above and below.

A render of the stained glass windows in the rear of the castle.

It took 135 Bricklink orders and around $4500 to get the 50,000 LEGO elements to build the castle.

As he designed and built on Digital Designer, Erik was able to order parts online from BrickLink. It took 135 Bricklink orders and around $4500 to get the 50,000 LEGO elements to build the castle. His son helped out on the building. Capturing all of the detail of the castle was not easy. Erik couldn’t really make the three-circle railings, so he decided to use Technic pieces, covered by threetooth plates, to give a similar effect. He tried to be as faithful as possible to the original structure of the castle and the decorations. Erik concludes, “I feel like I kept the compromises to a minimum for structural integrity.” Some challenges presented themselves during building. For example, the angled blue pyramids of the roofs of the rear of the castle (where the stained glass windows are) were tough. However, creating the large blue caps on the top of the turrets was the most challenging part of Cinderella Castle. Since the ratio of width to height was not anything that could be realized by regular LEGO elements, Erik had to use a lot of jumper (1x2 with Center stud) plates to make it gradually get narrower to the top. Making the turret structure wasn’t as hard, as Erik used a method of building cylinders using 1 x 2 bricks and 1 x 1 cylinders to make the turret round. The turrets ended up being 16 studs by 16 studs. Erik was forced to rethink the turret design when he made a discovery: “So when I started building up the turrets, with the alternating 1 x 2 bricks and 1 x 1 cylinders, as soon as I got around 12 levels high, the whole thing would collapse at the slightest touch, and it would bend and deform easily. So I had to build up a center pillar out of 2 x 4 bricks, and then shoot out a 2 x 8 every three levels, with the end of the 2 x 8 replacing one of the 1 x 2 bricks. This made the entire turret stable.”

One can see the jumper plates in the turret roofs as well as the turret structure.

Another challenge he had to deal within described by Erik: “While LEGO is really well-made, there are very minor flaws, and those flaws tend to creep in after many levels.”

The towers and terraces are built stud-up. At this size, most of the shapes can be defined using common bricks and slopes.

Here’s an example of using Technic bricks and 1x2 plates with 3 teeth to evoke the rail pattern of the real castle.

1x2 Technic brick with holes

1x2 bricks with studs on side

1x2 hinge base

1 x 2 brick with clip A breakdown of the window panels (seen at the right) show how the color tiles are mounted as well as the roof. The panels are brick hinged (using a stud) to make the angles needed.

“Just as an example, I found that if I built two identical two-foot walls and then tried to connect them at the top, it almost never worked because each wall would warp and bend slightly, or sometimes be as much as ⅓ of a brick off in height. I tore many things down and learned to connect as I went, making sure that everything in each section connected to everything else early and often.” As a result, the exterior of the castle matches the Digital Designer file, but the interior is completely different. By May, the castle was finished and was posted on Reddit, where it quickly went viral. It was displayed at BrickFair Virginia in summer of 2016. Erik has been considering donating the model to Give the Kids the World, a Disney World-based home for children with illnesses, or Walt Disney World, but has not received a response from either, which is a disappointment.

For those who would want some advice on building a large-scale model like the castle, Erik offers these thoughts: “Get lots and lots of photos from every possible angle. Use LDD; it’s hard to learn, but worth it. Break it up into manageable pieces that can be fit together later; remember, you’re going to have to move it. Stick with common colors, because you’ll have to source lots of bricks, and there’s nothing worse than not having enough of the brick in the color you need. Source your bricks from BrickLink, and don’t hesitate to get used bricks; the price difference is worth it. (The vast majority of the bricks in the castle are used.) Buy K2 boxes from your LEGO store, $100 for a large box of all one type of brick; if they have what you need, it’s the cheapest way to get lots of one kind of bricks, hands down. Stick to minifig scale; when you put minifigures near it, it makes all the difference.”

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A close-up of the front gateway roof, showing its accents and details.

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Building

Building a Tale as Old as Time... Interview by Joe Meno Photos by Jamie Lawrence www.facebook.com/ jamielawrencephotography)

Kevin Hall has been in BrickJournal before, both as a builder and a writer. He worked at LEGOLand Windsor, but has gone on and now builds on his own at his firm, Brick Galleria. His latest build got a lot of attention at the UK BRICK 2016 event. BrickJournal got a chance to talk with him about it. BrickJournal: What inspired you to build Beast’s castle? Having a love for history and castles, along with my lifetime love for Disney, I have always wanted to build a Disney castle. Now that I have the means and parts, I decided to finally build something that has been with me since I was a child. Living in the UK and before that, in Germany, I have been inspired the last few years from all of the amazing castles I have visited. So it was only natural that I combined all of these passions to create the Beauty and the Beast castle. I take it Beauty and the Beast is a favorite film—am I right? It’s a favorite of mine, FYI. I love all of the Disney movies, but the ones released in the late ’80s and ’90s are my favorites, such as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Lion King, Mulan, Tarzan, etc. But I think Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorites. The story is typical Disney—don’t judge a book by its cover—but having it set in such an amazing enchanted castle did it for me.

The Beast’s Castle.

How did you plan building the castle? Starting off, I watched the movie over and over again, pausing certain scenes to see how the castle was laid out and to see the features. I then planned out the layout and size to get the correct dimensions and where all the parts of the castle were located within the model. I also printed out various images of the castle from the movie and from different models of the castle in different Disney theme parks. Combining all of the reference, I tried to design the castle based on the actual movie to make it authentic. Once I had the layout worked out and knew the size of the footprint, I built the base and mapped out where all the walls were and where the towers were, as well as how the ballroom mechanics worked under the floor. I then started building... UP!

Building the castle starts at the foundation...

Where did you get the parts? As I already have an extensive collection from over 36 years collecting, most of the parts came from there. I of course had to order more parts to complete the castle. I had to order a fair amount of parts from LEGO online, with the roofs alone having over 40,000 1x2 tiles in four different colors. How long did it take to plan and build the castle? All up, the castle took around six months on and off, with roughly four months of solid building and ordering parts. It took around a month of planning and working out the details of how I was going to build the model. This included working out how the castle would be built modular, so it could be taken apart for transport. Once the base was built, the mapping out of the castle took a week or so. The mechanics under the ballroom floor took a few days to work out and fit to the size I needed. The main part that probably took the most concentration and time would be the roofs. I spent around two weeks creating the roofs, as each tile was individually placed on a clip, then clipped onto the main frame of the roof. The last month was designing and building all the details and finishing touches like the gargoyles and the trees, etc. These were all added right at the end and designed so they could be detached easily for packing and shipping.

...then continues upward...

...until the structure takes shape.

Each time I move the model, the main two sections are around 1.2 metres long and only 600 millimetres wide, so they can fit through a standard doorway if needed. They are bubble-wrapped and then crated up, and everything else comes apart and fits into boxes. It takes around six hours to put together at each new location.

Ballroom Dancing Building the ballroom spinning mechanism.

Another tower under construction. Belle and Beast dance.

Building the floor and walls.

What were some specific challenges you had to deal with? Other than designing the castle to support its own weight once put together, aligning each window, floor and roof was a challenge. As the structure is so large, making sure when it is being constructed that everything lines up is very important to make it look as authentic and real as possible—such as where an internal wall would be; there can’t be a window in the same position. Roofs were made by attaching tiles to LEGO flexible tube. Using this allowed for curved and straight roofs.

I built the model in layers so I could measure where each floor started and to make sure the height of the windows matched from one side to the other. I tend to use a “height stick”, which I built out of 2x2 bricks in alternating colors. I place the height stick alongside the model on each side to check that the heights of features are the same. The other massive challenge was creating such a tall model that could come apart and go back together easily. This was achieved by designing the main bulk of the castle in two sections, the front and the back. These, once built, slide together and lock. Then all the other parts such as the top floors, the towers and roof can then be added to a sturdy base structure.

This required an interior frame to hold the tubes.

Here’s a closer look.

Finally designing the small details and features took a lot of hours to get right. Even the gargoyles took a day or so, making sure they looked authentic from the movie. Where did you get the reference materials for the exterior and interior? Watching the original 1991 film had most of the main references in it. Pausing scenes was the best way to view each section from the exterior to the interior and roofs. I also found images and photos online from different Disney theme parks that had large models of the castle. The only issue was that each park’s castle was designed differently. I guess artistic licence comes into play a lot with things like this. Considering that the castle is a two-dimensional object from an animation means there were different artists working on the castle, so in each scene in the movie where it shows the castle, it is slightly different. Sometimes, the structure is massively different, with towers and rooms in different locations.

Here’s another look showing how the tiles overlap.

Straight rooflines were easier, as seen here.

Completed roofs.

Another great source was looking at small souvenir models from Disney stores and theme parks. The models are small but allow me to see the castle from all angles and sides. Event though they were all slightly different, the main structure was the same and allowed me to see how each part of the castle related to another. What are you proudest of, concerning the castle? I think other than the massive size of the model, the roofs are my proudest part. When I was designing the castle, I wanted to create a roof design that was nothing like anyone had seen before, and I wanted the roofs to look as close to the actual castle from the movie as possible. Having looked at how real roofs from a castle of this period were constructed and looked, I built a variety of prototypes. I decided to design a way that could use 1x2 tiles as roof tiles, as I felt this was the closest to real castle roof tiles. Then I had to work out how I could angle the tiles to get the changing angles of the slopes which vary as the roof rises up. Also, I needed to create a technique that could work on a straight roof as well as a conical roof. After many hours of figuring out what worked and what didn’t, I came up with a technique that used LEGO 3mm tubing and 1x1 clips. This allowed for the tiles to be individually clipped on and could be angled how I needed them, depending on how far apart the tubing was and how high to the next row. This way I could bend the tubing to fit any shape I desired, and Presto! I had a roof technique that worked for straight and conical roofs. What was the reception to the castle by the public? I premiered the massive castle at BRICK LIVE 2016 in Birmingham, UK and received an overwhelming response from everyone. I feel combining the love of Disney with the love of LEGO, the model appealed to almost everyone who viewed it. There were a lot of “ooohs” and “ahhhhs” and people were blown away with the fine details, which I have made a name for myself with in all of my models in the past.

Some of the details of the castle.

Building the logo took a lot of bricks...

...and patience..

Kevin Hall with the castle.

...but was worth the effort.

I think the sheer size of the model also captured people’s attention as it was the tallest model in the whole Fan Zone of the event, standing so tall. The Ballroom was another favorite as it has Belle and the Beast dancing with a huge chandelier lit up above them in the dome roof. The model brought back a lot of happy memories for adults who remember seeing the original movie 25 years ago, and the children loved seeing the model as they are the next generation discovering the Disney classics such as Beauty and the Beast. Was the interior shown on display? The main interior scene is inside the massive ballroom, which is a replica of the famous ballroom scene from the movie. Having a LEGO electric motor and gears built in under the floor, Belle and the Beast slowly rotate in the middle of the ballroom floor as if they are waltzing in circles on the dance floor. They are lit up by a huge chandelier above them which has an LED light built into it and wired to the same circuit as the motor, so it all runs together from a single switch. Lumiere, Cogsworth and Plumette (Babette) are also watching on in the background, adjacent to a grand piano under the balcony.

Beast watches over the enchanted rose.

High up in the West Wing, The Beast watches over his enchanted rose in a bell jar just in the doorway to his balcony. This is all built into the roof overlooking the massive ballroom domed roof. Small red LEDs light up the rose from above and add to the mood of the scene as the Beast ponders his future of being loved, or remaining a beast for all of time! Where do you plan to display it next? Since the premiere of the model back in October, I have had quite a few people wanting me to display it at various events, including a lot of LEGO fan events. The castle will tour around for a bit next year and then hopefully it will find a permanent position for everyone to experience the magic of Disney and LEGO combined into one massive 2.2 meter high and 1.5 meter wide enchanting display that will inspire everyone.

Castle Facts: Height to the top of the spire on the main tower: 2200mm The footprint of the whole model: 1400mm x 1400mm The weight of the total model: around 120kgs Total amount of parts: around 500,000 Total amount of parts in the Ballroom dome: around 4000 plates and bricks Total amount of tiles in the roofs: around 40,000 in x4 colors Time taken: six months from concept to completion Based on: Original 1991 feature film, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast The main structure uses two tones of grey: Old Grey and new Bluish Grey. The Ballroom was built in Tan to help it stand out as a feature There are over 200 LED lights. You can see more of Kevin’s work at www.brickgalleria.com or you can contact him at info@brickgalleria.com

Building

Guillaume Roussel:

Building Disneyland Paris, Brick by Brick Article by Joe Meno Photography by Guillaume Roussel

Guillaume Roussel is a second-year civil engineering student in France, and LEGO builder that decided to undertake an ongoing building project: to build Disneyland Paris. He started this project when he was 14 years old, inspired by a visit to Disneyland park with his parents in March 2011. Disneyland quickly became a favorite subject for him to build, as the park has a lot of different themes in its rides, like pirates (Pirates of the Caribbean), western (Frontierland), space (Tomorrowland) and medieval and fantasy (Fantasyland). Still, once he decided to build the park, he would need to gather research. He searched online for reference and watched movies and documentaries about the different Disney parks worldwide, especially Disneyland and California Adventure in Anaheim, California; Walt Disney World and the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida; and of course, Disneyland Paris.

For Guillaume, the hardest model to build was his final version of Disneyland Paris’ Sleeping Beauty castle. It was very difficult to reproduce the form of the structure. The castle is certainly the most beautiful castle in the Disney parks and also the most original. In addition, this castle is mainly grey and pink—this color is particularly hard to use because there are not many choices of pieces. Finally, he was missing pictures and information about the castle, especially of the right side and the inside of the castle. It took him some time, but he was able to find some plans on a Flickr gallery. One of the plans was particularly useful, as it gave dimension and scale. Others were useful to figure the height of the towers. Each disney attraction was a challenge for Guillaume to build, but he thinks the easiest was maybe the Mad Hatter Tea Party. It was the first attraction that he built. This started his park, which has taken an unknown amount of time. For the castle alone, Guillaume has spent 400 to 500 hours. The rest of the park is still in process of building, so there is no final number of hours behind construction. He builds when he has time available, so during the holidays, he builds over eight hours a day. Otherwise, though, it’s much more variable. Because the parks are not complete, the number of bricks used for building is also unknown. If he had to estimate, Guillaume thinks that there are roughly 70,000 pieces and elements for his Disney park and an additional 20,000 for his rendition of Walt Disney Studios, the sister park to Disneyland Paris. Future additions will be Fantasyland in 2017 and Main Street in 2018. Since he became a member of a French LEGO Users Group, he can get the parts needed to build on to his park—as opposed to when he started, when he was limited to the stock of bricks and elements he had online. He also didn’t build online— he built his models without using LEGO Digital Designer. However, this will change on his upcoming projects, as he will need LDD to estimate brick numbers.

2014

The Mad Hatter Tea Party. The overall layout, with an earlier version of the Castle.

Looking Back at a Layout Dumbo.

Guillaume Roussel’s Disney layout first started in 2011, but he has added more models in the following years. Here’s a look at his layout in 2014 (above) and 2015 (below). Many of the rides and attractions have been built, but some are still evolving... just like the real parks!

2015 Seen at Expo Festibrique:

Alice’s Curious Labyrinth.

Phantom Manor.

Skull Island and Captain Hook’s pirate ship.

The Castle and Main Street.

Splash Mountain.

Building

Disneyland’s History in Bricks! Article by John Rudy

In 1955, Walt Disney opened his original Magic Kingdom—Disneyland, the happiest place on Earth. The inspiration came when he was sitting on a bench in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park. Walt set out to create a land of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy which families could play in and explore together. It wouldn’t be a cheap roadside carnival. Disneyland was meant to be an immersive place where the outside world could melt away and guests could lose themselves in joy. In 1955, the LEGO company was still struggling. Godtfred Kirk Christiansen was trying to convince Europe that plastic toys, not wood, were the future of creative play. The name “LEGO” had only been patented the year before. He demonstrated his interlocking plastic bricks at the Nuremberg Toy Fair. But sales were slow going. Christiansen dreamt bigger, though. He introduced a new idea in Nuremberg: the LEGO System of Play. Disneyland has gone on to be a family destination for over five decades. LEGO System has become one of the most beloved toys for generations. Each has achieved status as a world icon. Combining them seems like the obvious next step. Over the years, Disneyland has evolved, changed with the times, and introduced new experiences. Though the attractions have changed, the vehicles used to experience them have always been iconic, whisking visitors to the lands of fantasy or adventure.

The Disneyland Sign (1958) Sitting along Harbor Blvd. until the early 1970s, the Disneyland Sign welcomed guests to “the happiest place on Earth.” The LEGO Disneyland Sign is an extremely complex build, each letter presenting its own challenges. It makes good use of cheese slopes (54200) and the newer 1x2 curved slope (11477) to help form the curves and angles of the gothic Disneyland font.

The TWA Moonliner (July 1955) One of only two opening day attractions in my portfolio, the TWA Moonliner stood in the plaza deep in Tomorrowland in front of the “Rocket to the Moon” attraction. Guests sat in a circular theatre “inside” the rocket as it flew them to lunar orbit. In the floor, a viewport showed the Earth receding to a small blue dot. The Moonliner, first painted in TransWorld Airline’s signature red-andwhite and later repainted blue, stood in Tomorrowland from 1955 until 1967, when the United States was actually going to the moon and tomorrow was quickly becoming today. The LEGO Moonliner is essentially an elongated take on a Lowell Sphere, a design pioneered by Bruce Lowell based on ideas introduced by Bram Lambrecht. Inside is a core of 1x1 Brick W. 4 Knobs (4733) stacked to allow for SNOT mounting of each side of the rocket’s hull.

The Jungle Cruise (July 1955) A trip to Disneyland isn’t complete without a tour on the rivers of the world, where giant butterflies have wingspans ranging from 12 inches up to a foot and where the elephants are always wearing their trunks. Though the brightly colored stripes are no longer on the canopies, the Jungle Cruise boats still ply the waves over fifty years after they first set sail. Originally, the Jungle Cruise wasn’t a dad-joke packed float down the Mekong and Amazon, but a take on Disney’s “TrueLife Adventures” films—a series of nature documentaries highlighting exotic animals from around the world. Each half of the hull of the LEGO Jungle Cruise boat is built with studs facing out, allowing for tiles to give the gently curving shape of the bow. And just like on the real version in Disneyland, the canopy is fully supported by the poles around the edge of the boat.

Dumbo the Flying Elephant (Fall 1955) Dumbo didn’t start circling Fantasyland until a few months after Disneyland’s gates first opened. Wearing different colored hats, the flying elephants each mimic the main character from Disney’s 1941 animated feature. Nearby, the Fantasyland Band Organ pumps out familiar tunes from Disney films with the beat and ring of a circus calliope. The LEGO Dumbo uses a 24-tooth clutch gear (76019) to don his signature frilled collar. It also allows for the Technic rod which keeps the flying elephant’s head from falling off.

The Haunted Mansion’s Doombuggy (August 1969) Though the creepy southern plantation house loomed over the Rivers of America by 1963, guests didn’t get a chance to meet its 999 happy haunts for another six years. Originally conceived as a walk-through attraction, the Haunted Mansion became a classic dark ride featuring creepy crypts and grim grinning ghosts. Most of the special effects in the Haunted Mansion date back to magic shows and parlor tricks from the 19th century. The gentle curving clamshell of the LEGO Doombuggy is the key to this model. The part used here (41751) was first introduced in black in 2007. The Doombuggy was a modified version of another Disney ride vehicle: Tomorrowland’s Atommobile. But the bright blue Atommobile still can’t be built—that gentle curve hasn’t been molded in blue yet.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (September 1979) The first ride built in Disneyland that Walt had no input on, the Imagineering team for this rollicking roller coaster was led by modern Disney legend Tony Baxter. Helping pull together the runaway mine train careening through Utah’s hoodoos was Claude Coats, who was hired by Walt in 1955 as he began creating the crackpot idea that became Disneyland. The LEGO Big Thunder Mountain Railroad engine and cars are modeled after the ride vehicles with names like U.R. Daring and I.M. Fearless. It uses the newer friction ball joints that came along with the Mixels line to pose the train in the rolling, weaving trip on the wildest ride in the wilderness.

At BrickFair Virginia 2016, there were some interesting little creations that were spotted. Little vehicles scaled to the Disney Collectible Minifigures that were released earlier in the year were displayed in a group, looking something like a Disney parade. After some searching and questions, the builder behind them was found, as well as some other Disney-themed models. Zach Reynolds (@BrickZfrom9to5 on Twitter), an 18-year-old builder, built not only the vehicles, but Miniland scale characters and nanoscale park icons for his name badge. BrickJournal talked to him about his creations and how he started building. BrickJournal: What got you into building? What got you into Disney—were you a Disney fan before you got into LEGO? Zach Reynolds: My love of LEGO and love of Disney are virtually equal. I have been an enormous fan of both, my whole life. My first trip to Walt Disney World was at the age of 3. Our family annually camps at Disney’s Fort Wilderness. My goal is to ride every ride and eat at every restaurant on property. One of the things I appreciate most about Disney is the incredible amount of thought, detail and surrounding story they put into absolutely everything. I try to bring the same level of creativity into any MOC I create. My biggest life’s dream is to become a LEGO master builder.

Zach Reynolds:

Building Disney in Bricks Interview by Joe Meno Photography by Jon Grant

While I have always been a huge fan of LEGO and built for my own pleasure since my first “Duplo tower” at the age of 18 months, my first experience exhibiting wasn’t until 2013 when my scout troop came up with the idea of Scouting for Bricks (a LEGO fan event) in an attempt not to compete with a nearby troop’s mulch sales and fundraising effort. I also enjoy exhibiting annually at BrickFair VA. How long did it take for you to make the models (on average) and what was your approach to building the parade cars?

Left: Mickey’s Sorcerers Hat, which is inspired by the iconic symbol at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Fantasia movie. Right: Minnie’s Red Bow, speeding ahead of the fashion curve.

The Disney parade cars each took between 30 minutes to two hours to design and build. Alice’s teacup and Stitch’s surfboard took the least amount of time, while Mickey’s sorcerer hat and Donald’s houseboat took the most. I tried to think of a specific trait or scene from a movie that well represented each Disney character.

Left: Toy Story’s Aliens, a replica of the ride cars from Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin attraction at the Magic Kingdom. Right: Buzz Lightyear’s Spaceship—To infinity and beyond!

Left: Donald’s Houseboat, influenced by Donald’s houseboat that used to reside in Toontown at the Magic Kingdom. Right: Daisy’s Purple Pump—Always a fashionista.

Left: Syndrome’s Manta Jet: When everyone is super, no one will be. Right: Mr. Incredible—No matter how many times you save the world, it always manages to get back in jeopardy again.

Left: Peter Pan, driving toward the second star to the right and straight on til morning. Right: Captain Hook’s Pirate Ship, sailing off to Neverland!

Left: Little Mermaid’s Clamshell, a loose interpretation of the clamshell cars on the Journey of the Little Mermaid ride at the Magic Kingdom. Right: Ursula—You poor, unfortunate soul!

Left: Cheshire Cat—In this vehicle, if you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there. Right: Alice’s Teacup, a great way to celebrate a very merry unbirthday.

What other models have you built? I currently have a Disney Gravity Falls Shacktron project on LEGO Ideas, which caught the attention of Alex Hirsch (Gravity Falls creator) and Jason Ritter (voice actor). I am also on Twitter @ BrickZfrom9to5 I am an active member of WAMALUG and WamaLTC (Washington DC Area LEGO Train Club). I enjoy creating LEGO trains and exhibiting with both clubs.

Left: Genie’s Magic Lamp—Driving this thing will give you such a crick in the neck. Right: Aladdin’s Magic Carpet. Hop onboard. He can show you the world!

Stitch’s Surfboard: Flying by on a Hawaiian rollercoaster ride.

Maleficient: Spinning up her most evil scheme.

Nanoscale park icons from left to right: Cinderella Castle from the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT’s Spaceship Earth, Hollywood Studio’s Graumann Chinese Theater, and Animal Kingdom’s Tree of Life. This nanoscale version of Cinderella Castle is a simple but elegant rendition, using only a few elements to evoke the icon.

Zach’s miniland scale Mickey is a good example of the use of SNOT building to add detail to a small model.

Building

Alexis Dos Santos: Ride Builder Article by Joe Meno

A theme park built by Alexis with many of his rides.

Alexis Dos Santos is a graphic and web designer who rekindled his LEGO hobby when he joined Community 0937, a Portugese LEGO Users Group at the age of 26. With his favorite themes being Technic, Steampunk, and City (with movement), he combined all of his interests into making a variety of creations. Among his most recognized models are replicas of amusement park rides. He has built a Space-themed spinner ride, a carousel, and a swing ride, to name a few. With all of these rides, he has not only managed to create a ride to scale, he has also done its function. Alexis got into building rides because he enjoys the challenge of building a complex mechanism that is also beautiful.

A rocking pirate ride.

Building a ride takes a few elements. First Alexis starts looking online for visual inspiration based on existing rides. After finding references, he studies the information and then lets it process in his thoughts until he thinks of a mechanism compact enough to be recreated in LEGO. This may take weeks, but it will lead him to begin building a test model. If he’s satisfied with the test, Alexis advances the process to build a more robust version, while incorporating the outer details and embellishments.

The swing ride’s ticket booth.

A swing ride.

Alexis’ carousel.

The most complicated part of building these is trying to pack the ride and its mechanical functions in a LEGO minifgure-scale shell. There’s also no shortcuts to make round rides, so Alexis uses a combination of hinges, panels and odd connection angles. An indicator for overwork is when he builds a nice round shape out of panels or other elements but has no room to add the last part... when he tries to force that last piece, and everything falls like a house of cards, that’s when he knows when to call it a night. In spite of those building challenges, Alexis still has some ideas left to build. However, there are other builds and other themes to play in.

The mechanism inside the carousel.

Alexis’ Sky Tour ride.

Building

Jennifer Lee is an investor (bonds, equities, shares) that started LEGO building in December 2015. Theme parks and fun fairs were her childhood favorite places, and she wanted to rebuild these memories of the games and rides that she enjoyed most, with LEGO elements available. With the release of the Friends amusement park sets in mid2016, she had an opportunity to make the park she always wanted. BrickJournal was given a tour of the park and spoke with Jennifer about it. BrickJournal: How long did it take for you to build the layout? Jennifer Lee: Even though these elements and sets were easily available, it took four weeks to plan and build the layout.

Welcome to Friends Park! Interview by Joe Meno Photography by Hsinwei Chi

How was the layout planned? I worked on one ride at a time before joining it all together. I started off with Flying Hot Dog, Sky Drop, Bumper Car and then I thought the dragons would

blend well in the park, so I built them on a spinning base. Next I added a train station, amusement games, seafood cafeteria and smaller facilities like photobooth, toilets, ticketing and toy booths. Some of the rides of the park are Friends sets, but there are some custom builds. Where are they? I liked the vibrant and lovely colors from Friends sets that made the theme park looked lively and fun. My dragons collection from Elves was rebuilt to a smaller scale and modified into rides. The duck fishing game was my childhood favorite at the fun fair, so I custom built it with parts from Technic and Creator. The ducks can spin in two circular motions. What was the hardest part of building the park? The challenges I faced were joining the layout together, as this was my first time working on a bigger scale with a different type of building experience. However, it got easier when I imagined myself in the park and how I got around, the rides and the games and what I wanted to see in the theme park as well.

The entrance, train line and midway.

The entrance and welcome gate.

Pick up your admission ticket here!

The Sky Drop, which lives up (and down) to its name!

Play games here, from target practice to catching ducks!

Take a ride on the train, and keep your hands and arms inside the ride at all times!

The bumper cars.

What do you like the most about your park? Dragon Ville is my favorite in this park. I spent a lot of time adding recreational facilities like music stage, three different photo-booths, park viewing area, scenic view, dragon toy-store, pizza, burger booth and outdoor cafeteria garden. I also tried to build different styles of word-signs on each big ride so there will be varieties. Are you completed with your theme park, or are you going to add more? I plan to build my own LEGO city; theme park will definitely be part of it, so yes, I shall be expanding the park. People watching at the restaurant!

Take a meal break at the seafood restaurant!

Having fun taking a drive!

Dragon Ville.

What’s your favorite theme? I currently favor combinations of Technic and Creator themes. What’s your next project? I’m working on the layout for two new projects. Just started on one which is related to LEGO Batman Movie and another from Gremlins movie. It will be showcased at Art Centre in Taiwan and Japan respectively. What advice would you give to beginning builders? My advice to beginning builders would be to enjoy the experience in building; possibly sharing with friends is the best. It is amusing but real to me that everything I see in life now seems to be in LEGO form! The Flying Hotdog ride!

You can see a dragon fly!

The entrance to Dragon Ville.

Minifig Customization 101:

...this issue of BrickJournal is all about theme parks, and after racking my brain about what to create that would be up to the concept of theme park characters, I have to admit that I came up with nada. The issue is that LEGO has made almost all of the Disney characters that might be wandering around a theme park. So I started thinking about characters that might crash a theme park—literally crash a theme park, uncouple the Ferris wheel, derail the rollercoaster, and throw up on the tilt-a-whirl. This lead me to none other than the Unbelievable Gwenpool.

-no seriously, I am Unbelievable! Article and Photography by Jared K. Burks

So...

Building

Who is Gwenpool? Gwendolyn “Gwen” Poole is an amalgam of Gwen Stacy and Deadpool which started from a variant cover of Deadpool’s Secret Wars #2 and was drawn due to the popularity of Spider-Gwen, another variant of Gwen Stacy. Due to the popularity of the character, Marvel Comics initially produced two stories featuring Gwenpool. Despite her name, Gwenpool, she is neither related to Deadpool or Gwen Stacy. Her backstory from Howard the Duck #1 revealed her name to actually be Gwen Poole. This is the rub; through means yet to be revealed, Gwen Poole arrived in the Marvel Universe from what she claims to be “the Real World” (noncomic book world you and I live in). Unwilling to be an “extra or sidekick,” she went to a tailor for super-heroes and requested her own costume. A tailor named Ronnie created her costume, but misread Gwen’s application form and thought that Gwen went by the alias of Gwenpool, creating a costume to match her alias. Much like Deadpool, Gwenpool becomes a mercenary who is given news of various freelance opportunities from her tailor Ronnie. Gwen believes her adventures occur in comic books, so she is rarely concerned with the consequences as she believes others will fix her actions till Howard the Duck straightens her out. Gwen commonly crashes other superhero events in her initial comics and ongoing series. So it wasn’t a stretch to believe she would crash a theme park rolling in on her Gatling gun-toting dirt bike. Inspirational art for Gwenpool comes from the cover art for her series, Gwenpool #1, released in April of 2016.

Building Gwenpool’s Ride

This is one of the first parts I cast off the motorcycle mold and as you can see, the larger fill tubes and smaller air vents have been places to allow the part to completely form without voids being created by trapped air. These vents and tubes were simply cut away and the flashing was removed and cleaned up with a razor blade. Above is the part on the mold and below is the part pulled from mold. I liked this image of the part as it reminded me of a Praying Mantis.

This figure is a bit of a challenge simply because I wanted to make her motorcycle as well as the figure, so this requires construction of some larger parts. So let’s start with the motorcycle. In the reference photo on the previous page, Gwen’s motorcycle is the same color pink as her costume, and this represents a challenge as I have yet to find a paint or vinyl dye that matches LEGO pink without some custom mixing, plus I wanted the color to be harder wearing as I imaged taking the figure on and off the bike. This means that I needed to mold and cast the LEGO element so I could construct in the desired color of pink. The custom color matching is the same amount of work, but the end result is a urethane resin plastic part that is pink through and through. The key with molding the motorcycle element is that there are small areas that require air vents to avoid trapped air to allow the mold to fill appropriately and not contain voids. This means attaching many fill tubes and air vents. The next element I needed was the Gatling gun scaled appropriately for her motorcycle. This was no small feat as I was unable to find one after scouring the secondary market of most every vendor (BrickArms, BrickForge, BrickWarriors, MinifigCat, etc.). Several vendors have very lovely chain guns, but they are simply too large for this application. So I reached back into my memory and recalled a War Machine figure I had constructed. WARNING: Now everyone prepare yourself, I am going to say a dirty word to many in the LEGO community in a sentence or two.

War Machine Commission featuring Gatling Guns.

Back when this commission was requested, the Gatling/chain gun was a requirement for the War Machine commission, and much as now, I was unable to find a suitable option and I didn’t have time to create one from scratch—so I looked at other (non-LEGO) building toys. I found this very lovely chain gun in a (ALERT: DIRTY WORD FOLLOWS) Mega Blok polybag figure. It was too perfect then and it is still too perfect now. There, I said it; I feel better.

I used a (ALERT: DIRTY WORD FOLLOWS) Mega Blok element. The thing I find funny is that with many it is perfectly fine to use BrickArms, BrickForge, BrickWarrior, etc., but the second you mention the big M word, people will line up with pitchforks and torches. The point to that aside is to look everywhere for those custom elements that will set your figure apart, and don’t be afraid to pull them out of a gumball machine, LEGO competitor, action figure toy, model kit, or wherever. So how did I get this to attach to the LEGO motorcycle in a nice manner? Well, initially I wanted to drill a hole in the motorcycle part I created and have the gun inset into the hole. I found that this was unstable and weakened the motorcycle part (not good). So I would have to glue it in place; this means I need a large flat surface area on the bottom of the part at the exact angle I want to attach it to the motorcycle. This is a bit more difficult. Perhaps you are just great eyeballing angles and making cuts, but I am not. So I cut it close and then brought out my cheat material, clay. I placed clay on the end and smashed it onto the motorcycle part to give the perfect angle, and then cleaned up the edges. I stuck this on the end of the chain gun and cured the clay with a hair dryer. Then I molded and cast the part so I could play with color and make it more hardwearing. Once cast, I cleaned the bottom and superglued it to the motorcycle. Here is the trick to getting it straight. LEGO created the motorcycle element by molding each side and parting in the middle. So there is a nice part line to use to make sure the gun is in the exact right place; just line it up with the part line.

Angry Mob. Comment captured from Mob. Sinestro to Medusa: “Hey, digging your torch!”

Gun creation, base added via clay to attach it to motorcycle, and aligned to the part line.

Building Accessories Now, we have Gwenpool’s ride—we simply need her accessories. The swords, neck bracket, and even a gun if you would like, are all simple and I will leave them to you to figure out, as LEGO has options for these items as do many secondary manufacturers. The umbrella is the issue. It is this piece that really demonstrates her whimsy or “Pool-ness.” The umbrella in the image has little tassels and

hearts around the edge and is pink in color. I have to figure out what will translate to LEGO and what won’t. While LEGO does have umbrellas, they are not as “fancy,” which again speaks to her whimsy, so I opted for the Minifig-Cat’s umbrella, which I had on hand in white. I primarily used the Minifig-Cat’s umbrella because it has a detail similar to the tassels. Now we have circled back to the same issue as the motorcycle, but the decision is different this time; paint or mold and cast? This part doesn’t have to be as hardwearing, so paint is totally acceptable and spray paint is even easier to use. I went with a darker magenta pink for some contrast as I knew I couldn’t color match easily. I easily masked off the umbrella ribs with some tape before painting to have a two-toned umbrella to improve the “Pool-ness” factor.

Umbrella Progress: A) Masking tassels to preserve white color. B) Final outcome of quick spray paint job.

With the umbrella together, I had to ask myself what it is about Gwenpool that makes her Gwenpool: Her costume color, the details of her costume, and the balaclava she wears with the extended flowing tail at the top. When researching this figure, almost every image has this extended tail to her hood. So I decided this needed to be an element and I got out some Sculpey clay and sculpted a quick part. Then I molded and cast the clay part and made it in white.

Sorry, my model for the balaclava part is a bit disgruntled due to being included in an article with the M word!

From here, as I have mentioned in previous articles, I designed the decals for Gwen and printed them on waterslide decal film. Cut them delicately apart and apply them to the figure. On the legs I actually layered the decals as I was unsure of where the various shoes, to shin guards, and gun straps would land on the actual figure. This helped me resolve the three dimensions and get everything to align as it should, but it meant that I had to apply several layers of film to the legs. I also painted the hip white to make it a bit more hardwearing than the decal would be on this region of the hip. From there it was simply decaling the rest of the figure, and suddenly I was looking at a Gwenpool figure. The one thing I did do is apply a very glossy over-coat since Gwen believes she is existing in a comic book.

Gwenpool is ready to motor into action tearing down the boardwalk. She would, much as Deadpool would, run down the boardwalk winning every carnival prize she could. So the one addition I would like to make is adding a large stuffed bear on the back of the bike with a sword sticking out of it, pinning it to the bike. Recall she is from the “Real World” that you and I live in, so she is much more likely to find the comic and cartoon costumed characters found in the theme park more comical, as she has met the real comic book versions during her “day job!” She may even stop to tell them how wrong their outfits are in a very Pool-like argument.

Don’t miss Jared K. Burks’ two books Minifigure Customization: Populate Your World! and its sequel Minifigure Customization: Why Live In The Box? (both available now at www.twomorrows.com) Ready to take on the Disney park— look out world!

Come back next issue for more Minifigure Customization! You can see Jared’s webpage by going to http://www.fineclonier.com/ or scanning this QR code!

You Can Build It MINI Model

MINI Ferris Wheel

Design and Instructions by Christopher Deck

Hello everybody, I hope you are prepared for our next mini model building session! In this theme-park oriented issue, I want to take you on a ride in a fully functional mini ferris wheel. It rotates smoothly around a 7L Technic axis, and the fully rotatable gondolas will keep their horizontal position during each complete turn. We need lots of LEGO Technic pieces for this particular model. To make the construction more convenient for you, the wheel’s pieces are kept in light gray color which have the best availability compared to other colors. As the building instructions are slightly longer than for a typical mini model, you will need a little more time to build this. Hence I will stop talking now and wish you happy building!

Parts List (Parts can be ordered from Bricklink.com by searching by part number and color)

Base Qty 4 2 4

Color White White Light-Gray

Part 3659.dat 3024.dat 3794a.dat

White

3794a.dat

4 4 2 4 2 8 2 2

Green Green Green Green Light-Gray White White White

3710.dat 3460.dat 3021.dat 3031.dat 3027.dat 3039.dat 3684.dat 6541.dat

12 2 8 8

Light-Gray White Light-Gray Light-Gray

3070b.dat 3070b.dat 3069b.dat 3068b.dat

Center Axis

Qty Color 1 Light-Gray 2 Light-Gray 1

Light-Gray

Dark-Gray

Description Arch 1 x 4 Plate 1 x 1 Plate 1 x 2 without Groove with 1 Centre Stud Plate 1 x 2 without Groove with 1 Centre Stud Plate 1 x 4 Plate 1 x 8 Plate 2 x 3 Plate 4 x 4 Plate 6 x 16 Slope Brick 45 2 x 2 Slope Brick 75 2 x 2 x 3 Technic Brick 1 x 1 with Hole Tile 1 x 1 with Groove Tile 1 x 1 with Groove Tile 1 x 2 with Groove Tile 2 x 2 with Groove

Part Description 44294.dat Technic Axle 7 3713.dat Technic Bush with Two Flanges 4143.dat Technic Gear 14 Tooth Bevel 32002.dat Technic Pin 3/4

Gondolas Qty 12 6 6

Color Trans-White Red Red

Outer Wheels

Part 3024.dat 3023.dat 32530.dat

Description Plate 1 x 1 Plate 1 x 2 Technic Tile 1 x 2 with Two Holes Description Rock 1 x 1 Gem Facetted Rock 1 x 1 Gem Facetted Rock 1 x 1 Gem Facetted Rock 1 x 1 Gem Facetted Technic Plate 1 x 6 with Holes Technic Rotor 2 Blade with 2 Studs Technic Rotor 3 Blade

Qty 6 6 6 6 6

Color Trans-Green Trans-Red Trans-Light-Blue Trans-Yellow Light-Gray

Part 30153.dat 30153.dat 30153.dat 30153.dat 4262.dat

Light-Gray

2711.dat

Light-Gray

2712.dat

Inner Wheels Qty 6 6 6 6 6

Color Trans-Green Trans-Red Trans-Light-Blue Trans-Yellow Light-Gray

Part 30153.dat 30153.dat 30153.dat 30153.dat 4262.dat

Light-Gray

2711.dat

Light-Gray

2712.dat

Description Rock 1 x 1 Gem Facetted Rock 1 x 1 Gem Facetted Rock 1 x 1 Gem Facetted Rock 1 x 1 Gem Facetted Technic Plate 1 x 6 with Holes Technic Rotor 2 Blade with 2 Studs Technic Rotor 3 Blade

52 52

53 53

You can see Christopher’s webpage by going to www.deckdesigns.de or scanning this QR code!

FROM THE PRODUCERS OF BRICKJOURNAL:

LEGO fans: You Can Build It!

YOU CAN BUILD IT is a new ongoing series of instruction books on the art of LEGO® custom building, from the producers of BRICKJOURNAL magazine! Spinning off from BrickJournal’s popular “You Can Build It” column, these FULL-COLOR books are loaded with nothing but STEP-BYSTEP INSTRUCTIONS by some of the top custom builders in the LEGO fan community. BOOK ONE offers instructions for custom creations including Miniland figures, a fire engine, a spacefighter (below), a tulip, a street vignette, plus miniscale models from “a galaxy far, far away,” and more! BOOK TWO has even more custom projects to tackle, including advanced Miniland figures, a miniscale yellow castle, a deep sea scene, a mini USS Constitution, and more! So if you’re ready to go beyond the standard LEGO sets available in stores and move into custom building with the bricks you already own, this ongoing series will quickly teach you key building techniques of the pros! (Recommended for ages 8 and above)

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Get both books on minifigure customizing! BRICKJOURNAL columnist JARED K. BURKS’ book MINIFIGURE CUSTOMIZATION: POPULATE YOUR WORLD! shows a wide range of techniques you can use to alter the lovable LEGO® Minifigure. And the sequel, MINIFIGURE CUSTOMIZATION2: WHY LIVE IN THE BOX?, offers even more techniques to alter minifigures! • Virtual customization, and designing decals • Custom part modification and creation • 3-D printing and painting techniques • Lighting with LEDs or EL wire • Ideas on displays and digital photography • Plus a custom gallery with tips & tricks! Don’t live inside the box—populate your world with any alien, superhero, historical, action, horror, or science-fiction figure you can “just imagine”!

(84-page FULL-COLOR Trade Paperbacks) $10.95 (Digital Editions) $4.95

TwoMorrows—A New Day For LEGO Fans!

TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • Visit us on the Web at www.twomorrows.com

Tommy Williamson is no stranger to BrickJournal, having been featured previously for his Jack Sparrow miniland scale figure. Since then, he has gone farther into building, making some remarkable Star Trek props and other models. He’s now doing a column for BrickJournal: DIY Fan Art. Here, Tommy takes a little time out from his busy schedule at BrickNerd.com to make a model of his choosing for the magazine.

Mr. Toad‘s Car

About this issue’s model:

It’s no secret I love Disneyland. I don’t even have to ride rides or see a parade or show. I’m totally happy just being there. That doesn’t mean I don’t like rides though, and when I heard of the theme for this issue, I instantly thought of the ride vehicles for Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. I have no idea why, to be honest—I rarely ride it. But you don’t get much more Disneyland iconic than these. Hope you enjoy it!

Design and Instructions by Tommy Williamson

Parts List

(Parts can be ordered through Bricklink.com by searching by part number and color)

Qty Part Color 1 2431.dat Red 4 2470.dat Red 2 2555.dat Red 2 3005.dat Red 2 3010.dat Red 4 3024.dat Red 4 3068b.dat Red 4 3069b.dat Red 1 3666.dat Red 1 3710.dat Red 4 6005.dat Red 2 6019.dat Red 1 6081.dat Red 2 6091.dat Red 1 6191.dat Red 1 6636.dat Red 4 30039.dat Red 4 60478.dat Red 2 63864.dat Red 1 87079.dat Red 2 4740.dat Pearl Gold 2 15712.dat Pearl Gold 2 2357.dat Black 2 2420.dat Black 1 2431.dat Black 3 3001.dat Black 1 3002.dat Black 3 3004.dat Black 7 3010.dat Black 5 3020.dat Black 60 6 3021.dat Black

Description Tile 1 x 4 with Groove Wheel 2.8 x 27 with 8 Spokes Tile 1 x 1 with Clip Brick 1 x 1 Brick 1 x 4 Plate 1 x 1 Tile 2 x 2 with Groove Tile 1 x 2 with Groove Plate 1 x 6 Plate 1 x 4 Arch 1 x 3 x 2 with Curved Top Plate 1 x 1 with Clip Horizontal (Open U-Clip) Brick 2 x 4 x 1 & 1/3 with Curved Top Brick 2 x 1 x 1 & 1/3 with Curved Top Brick 1 x 4 x 1 & 1/3 with Curved Top Tile 1 x 6 Tile 1 x 1 with Groove Plate 1 x 2 with Handle on End Tile 1 x 3 with Groove Tile 2 x 4 with Groove Dish 2 x 2 Inverted Tile 1 x 1 with Clip (Thick C-Clip) Brick 2 x 2 Corner Plate 2 x 2 Corner Black Tile 1 x 4 with Groove Brick 2 x 4 Brick 2 x 3 Brick 1 x 2 Brick 1 x 4 Plate 2 x 4 Plate 2 x 3

Qty Part Color 5 3022.dat Black 5 3023.dat Black 1 3029.dat Black 2 3037.dat Black 1 3622.dat Black 3 3623.dat Black 3 3660.dat Black 2 3665.dat Black 1 3666.dat Black 2 3676.dat Black 5 3710.dat Black 4 4488.dat Black 2 4599a.dat Black 1 6191.dat Black 1 6231.dat Black 1 30383.dat Black 1 30413.dat Black 1 30553.dat Black 1 30663.dat Black 1 50746.dat Black 2 60481.dat Black 2 63864.dat Black 1 63965.dat Black 8 87087.dat Black 1 88930.dat Black 2 99780.dat Black

Description Plate 2 x 2 Plate 1 x 2 Plate 4 x 12 Slope Brick 45 2 x 4 Brick 1 x 3 Plate 1 x 3 Slope Brick 45 2 x 2 Inverted Slope Brick 45 2 x 1 Inverted Plate 1 x 6 Slope Brick 45 2 x 2 Inverted Double Convex Plate 1 x 4 Plate 2 x 2 with Wheel Holder Tap 1 x 1 with Hole in Spout Brick 1 x 4 x 1 & 1/3 with Curved Top Panel 1 x 1 x 1 Corner with Rounded Corners Hinge Plate 1 x 2 Locking with Single Finger On Top Panel 1 x 4 x 1 with Rounded Corners Hinge Arm Locking with Dual Finger and Axlehole Car Steering Wheel Large Slope Brick 31 1 x 1 x 0.667 Slope Brick 65 2 x 1 x 2 Tile 1 x 3 with Groove Bar 6L with Thick Stop Brick 1 x 1 with Stud on 1 Side Slope Brick Curved 2 x 4 with Underside Studs Bracket 1 x 2 - 1 x 2 Up

A typical RoboCupJunior robot: A MINDSTORMS NXT with custom printed parts and a set of third-party omniwheels at the rear.

Building MINDSTORMS 101:

MINDSTORMS Voting Machine Article by Damien Kee

Damien Kee is the moderator of a large online community of teachers where ideas are often tossed around about how best to use robotics in the classroom. Given that an important election was coming up, one teacher asked how a voting machine could be created. Damien figured that this project would be an excellent way to introduce students to parallel processing. When one votes for a particular person (or flavor of ice cream, favorite comic book character, policy statement), the different options should be totally separate in the programming, so voting for option A should have no impact on the count for option B. It was also a good way to introduce variables in programming as a way of keeping track of an abstract amount. The robot needs to be built first, but it’s pretty simple to assemble. Here are the instructions.

Parts List

(Parts can be ordered through Bricklink.com by searching by part number and color)

Qty Part Color Description 2 3649.dat Light Bluish Gray Technic Gear 40 Tooth 2 32062.dat Red Technic Axle 2 Notched 2 48989.dat Light Bluish Gray Technic Cross Block 1 x 3 (Pin/Pin/Pin) with 4 Pins 1 95646.dat White Electric Mindstorms EV3 2 95648.dat White Electric Mindstorms EV3 Touch Sensor 4 55804.dat Rubber Black Electric Mindstorms NXT Connector Cable 20cm

Here is the finished robot, with some quick labels for the voting. Other parts can be substituted for the buttons—in this case, bigger is better. Make sure that the wires are connected to Sensor port 1 and 2 as well as the sensors. You can check this by turning on the EV3 and doing a Port Check. You can do this by pushing the right button on the EV3 to the third tab. Push the center button, and the EV3 will display used ports. Sensor ports are on the bottom, so click to see if the touch sensors are displayed at the bottom left two slots.

Announcing

BrickJournal Building Sets!

Designed by BrickJournal’s Editor-in-Chief Joe Meno, these are the beginning of a series of custom sets inspired by the themes and builders featured in the magazine! Microscale Space Shuttle with Stand: 50 pcs. $10

You can find out about these sets and upcoming sets at:

bit.ly/BrickJournalSets

Microscale Attack Helicopter: 109 pcs. $20

Poseable Dog: 57 pcs. $12

Building Sets

For those who want to do more than read BrickJournal!

This is not a LEGO® Product. These are reused LEGO elements that have been repackaged or altered from their original form. LEGO is a trademark of the LEGO Group, which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse these products. The LEGO Group is not liable for any loss injury, or damage arising from the use or misuse of these products.

Touch sensor 2

Variable Takes variable and adds one

Takes variable and adds one

If anyone wanted to extend it further, the loops could be set to run for only a few minutes, and then you do a Compare Block and Switch Statement to declare a winner (or a draw!)

The important thing to note is that this second display block has the ‘Clear Screen’ input parameter set to FALSE to make sure that we don’t clear out our Bob Text.

Takes Bob’s variable and adds texts, then displays

Touch sensor 1

Variable

This program is just one way of solving the problem. There are many different solutions to this challenge, some more elegant than others, some easier to understand but longer than others. Damien tried to pick a way that would be best for a classroom situation to teach parallel processing and variables.

Takes Sue’s variable and adds texts, then displays

Task 3 (below) takes the Bob variable and combines it with some text so that the display says ‘Bob: 7” as opposed to just the number by itself. It then displays that text on the screen at position 0,0 (Top left). It then does the same thing with the Sue variable and puts it at position 0,3 (Middle left roughly).

Task 2 (seen at left) does exactly the same thing for a different variable (Sue).

Task 1 (seen at left) sets up a variable (Bob) and makes sure it is zero when the program starts. It then runs an unlimited loop in which it waits for a touch sensor to be ‘bumped’ (pressed and released). It then takes that variable and adds one to it and stores the number back into the variable.

For this program, here are three parallel tasks:

The Program

Community

Heartlake City? No, just a Friends layout!

Event Report:

LEGO Fanwelt 2016 Article by Jörg Ruckel

Taking a bolloon trip with some Friends.

The German LEGO fan’s calendar was tightly packed during the autumn and winter of 2016 with one exhibition after another: 1000steineInsel in Legeoos, Brick City Days in Völklingen, Bricking Bavaria in Schierling, Steinwahn in Berlin, Stein Hanse 2016 in Kaltenkirchen, Lego Fanwelt in Cologne, Zusammengebaut in Borken and the Weihnachtaustellung der LEGO® Steine in Glauchau. One of the oldest fan meet-ups, LEGO Fanwelt (Fan World) is held in Cologne and has a long history. Since 2003, German LEGO fans and neighboring countries have been meeting in Cologne/Frechen for a weekend between Christmas and New Year’s Day. What started off as a small and cozy meeting has grown much larger throughout the years. With more and more exhibitors and visitors, the exhibition has become what it is today. It has taken place every other year since 2008 in conjunction with a model train exhibition of the Köln Messe.

A crowd watches a train layout.

A medieval layout.

On almost 10,000 square meters visitors were present with a big, diverse and amazing LEGO model exhibition organized by the MBFR (Modellbaufans Rheinland e. V.) RLUG and the LEGO KidsFest organized by LEGO Central Europe. The event, with 160 AFOL attendees, managed to attract about 58,000 visitors within the three days it ran, from November 18 to the 21st, 2016.

Creation Nation, where kids build inside an outline of Germany. Monorail layout from the monorail group MoRaSt.

The Ghostbusters have a visitor. A Gotham city layout with Batman.

An evening event for the AFOLs was held that Saturday. Besides the MBFR, Swiss.lug took part in the festivities of the night. The clubs themed the evening as a Train ride—complete with tickets, announcements and many stopovers. One very special station was a presentation given by Jan Beyer, LEGO’s AFOL Relations manager, who talked about the LEGO House, a LEGO-centered museum and community center that will open in Billund in 2017. The event made for a wonderful evening, filled with variety, good entertainment, and many nice conversations and a nice Kolsch beer. In any case, whether you are a LEGO fan or not, Cologne is always worth a visit.

Jan Beyer talks about the Idea House.

Some fans enjoying the AFOL meeting. Swiss.lug’s layout.

Andreas Haase conducting a tour.

Displayer Spotlight:

Andreas Haase

Andreas Haase is an AFOL and exhibitor who has been involved with the Cologne event since its beginning. This year, he presented a huge Roman fort at Limes and hosted interesting tours through his model. BrickJournal was able to speak with him briefly at the event. BrickJournal: Andreas, why build the Romans? Andreas Haase: It started with Limes (frontier) tower and a piece of Limes when I thought that my 8-10 Legionnaires really needed a roof over their heads. And as a caring AFOL, I care for the well-being of my minifigures. Then at LEGO Fanwelt 2012, I put my 4 square meter Roman diorama on display. At that point in time (May 2012) I did not have anything besides the limes tower. Today, I’m at 6.5 square meters. I’ve had an interest in Romans since my youth, when we delved deeply into Roman history in Latin class. At my home in Usingen, I’m in close proximity to the limes Cohort Fort of Saalburg, but on the Germanic side. And that’s how one thing led to another.

Talking to a tour guest.

Another aspect is the fact that you don’t see very many MOCs dealing with old Romans: I can count the memorable ones on the fingers of one hand. How was the feedback regarding your guided tours? The feedback certainly was positive, both at the ABSolut Steinchen 2016 in St. Agustin and the LEGO Fanwelt 2016 in Cologne. If I recall correctly, there were tours of MOCs before I did them. It’s not a new idea. But no one was “crazy enough to do them with a historic background and while wearing a tunic and caligae!”

A closer look at the troops.

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LEGO fans: You Can Build It!

YOU CAN BUILD IT is a new ongoing series of instruction books on the art of LEGO® custom building, from the producers of BRICKJOURNAL magazine! Spinning off from BrickJournal’s popular “You Can Build It” column, these FULL-COLOR books are loaded with nothing but STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS by some of the top custom builders in the LEGO fan community. BOOK ONE is for beginning-to-intermediate builders, with instructions for custom creations including Miniland figures, a fire engine, a tulip, a spacefighter (below), a street vignette, plus miniscale models from “a galaxy far, far away,” and more! BOOK TWO has even more detailed projects to tackle, including advanced Miniland figures, a miniscale yellow castle, a deep sea scene, a mini USS Constitution, and more! So if you’re ready to go beyond the standard LEGO sets available in stores and move into custom building with the bricks you already own, this ongoing series will quickly take you from novice to expert builder, teaching you key building techniques along the way!

(84-page FULL-COLOR Trade Paperbacks) $9.95 • (Digital Editions) $3.95

BOTH BOOKS ARE NOW AVAILABLE!

TwoMorrows—A New Day For LEGO Fandom.

TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 E-mail: store@twomorrowspubs.com • Visit us on the Web at www.twomorrows.com

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BRICKJOURNAL #41

BRICKJOURNAL #40

BRICKJOURNAL #39

LEGO GAMING! IMAGINE RIGNEY’s Bioshock builds, NICK JENSEN’s characters and props from HALO and other video games, and GamerLUG member SIMON LIU builds LEGO versions of video game characters, spaceships and more! Plus: “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd’s DIY Fan Art, Minifigure Customization with JARED K. BURKS, MINDSTORMS robotics and more!

LEGO EDUCATION! See how schools and AFOLs can build with the new WeDo, FIRST LEGO LEAGUE’s 2016 season explored (with national competitions at LEGOLand California), and robotics builders the Seshan Brothers take LEGO MINDSTORMS to the next level! Plus: Minifigure customizing from JARED K. BURKS’, stepby-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, & more!

OUT OF THIS WORLD LEGO! Spacethemed LEGO creations of LIA CHAN, 2001: A Space Odyssey’s Orion space plane by NICK DEAN, and Pre-Classic Space builder CHRIS GIDDENS! Plus: Orbit the LEGO community with JARED K. BURKS’ minifigure customizing, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd DIY Fan Art, MINDSTORMS robotics by DAMIEN KEE, and more!

LEGO MECHA! How to build giant robots and mechs with builders BENJAMIN CHEH MING HANN and KELVIN LOW, and SETH HIGGINS shows us his amazing transforming LEGO robots! And even cyborgs love Minifig Customization by JARED K. BURKS, step-by-step "You Can Build It" instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, DIY Fan Art by BrickNerd TOMMY WILLIAMSON, MINDSTORMS robotics lessons, and more!

LEGO DINOSAURS! Builder WILLIAM PUGH discusses building prehistoric creatures, a LEGO Jurassic World by DIEGO MAXIMINO PRIETO ALVAREZ, and dino bones by MATT SAILORS! Plus: Minifigure Customization by JARED K. BURKS, stepby-step "You Can Build It" instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, DIY Fan Art by BrickNerd TOMMY WILLIAMSON, MINDSTORMS robotics lessons, and more!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95

BRICKJOURNAL #38

BRICKJOURNAL #37

BRICKJOURNAL #36

BRICKJOURNAL #35

BRICKJOURNAL #34

LEGO COOL CARS AND HOT RODS! LEGO car builders STEPHAN SANDER, JORDANIAN FIRAS ABU-JABER, and ANDREA LATTANZIO! Plus: Minifigure Customization by JARED K. BURKS, AFOLs by cartoonist GREG HYLAND, step-by-step "You Can Build It" instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd Pop Art by TOMMY WILLIAMSON, MINDSTORMS robotics lessons by DAMIEN KEE, and more!

STAR WARS! Amazing custom ships by ERIC DRUON, incredible galactic layouts by builder AC PIN, a look at the many droid creations built by LEGO fans—truly, the LEGO Force has awakened! Plus JARED K. BURKS on minifigure customizing, step-bystep “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd DIY Fan Art, MINDSTORMS robotics lessons by DAMIEN KEE, and more!

MICROSCALE BUILDING! With JUSTIN McMILLAN’s micro house and other buildings, a look at the MICROSCALE Standard by TwinLUG, and featuring some of the best microscopic LEGO work from around the world, plus JARED K. BURKS’ minifigure customizing, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd DIY Fan Art, MINDSTORMS robotics lessons by DAMIEN KEE, and more!

HISTORY IN LEGO BRICKS! LEGO pro RYAN McNAUGHT on his LEGO Pompeii and other projects, military builder DAN SISKIND on his BrickMania creations, and LASSE VESTERGARD about his historical building, JARED K. BURKS on minifigure customizing, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd DIY Fan Art, MINDSTORMS robotics lessons by DAMIEN KEE, and more!

TOMMY WILLIAMSON on the making of his YouTube sensation BATMAN VS SUPERMAN, BRANDON GRIFFITH’S COMICBRICKS PROJECT recreates iconic comic book covers out of LEGO, JARED BURKS and his custom Agents of SHIELD minifigs, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd DIY Fan Art, MINDSTORMS robotics lessons by DAMIEN KEE, and more!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95

BRICKJOURNAL #33

BRICKJOURNAL #32

BRICKJOURNAL #31

BRICKJOURNAL #30

BRICKJOURNAL #29

LEGO ROBOTS! A talk with MINDSTORMS EV3 builders MARC-ANDRE BAZERGUI and ANDY MILLUZZI, designer LEE MAGPILI, CHRIS GIDDENS with his amazing robot sculptures, plus Minifigure Customization by JARED BURKS, step-bystep “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd DIY Fan Art by TOMMY WILLIAMSON, other looks at MINDSTORMS building, and more!

LEGO ARTISTRY with builder/photographer CHRIS McVEIGH; mosaic builders BRIAN KORTE, DAVE WARE and DAVE SHADDIX; and sculptors SEAN KENNEY (about his nature models) and ED DIMENT (about a full-size bus stop built with LEGO bricks)! Plus Minifigure Customization by JARED K. BURKS, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, MINDSTORMS building, and more!

Building LEGO bricks WITH character, with IAIN HEATH and TOMMY WILLIAMSON, Manga-inspired creations of MIKE DUNG, sculptures by Taiwanese Brick Artist YO YO CHEN, Minifigure Customization by JARED BURKS, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd DIY Fan Art by TOMMY WILLIAMSON, MINDSTORMS building, and more!

LEGO ARCHITECTURE with JONATHAN LOPES, a microscale model of Copenhagen by ULRIK HANSEN, and a look at the LEGO MUSEUM being constructed in Denmark! Plus Minifigure Customization by JARED BURKS, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd DIY Fan Art by TOMMY WILLIAMSON, MINDSTORMS building with DAMIEN KEE, and more!

TECHNIC hot rod builder PAUL BORATKO and editor JOE MENO diagram instructions on adding functions to your models, shoptalk with LEGO TECHNIC designers, and more surprises to keep your creations moving at top speed! Plus Minifigure Customization by JARED BURKS, step-bystep “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd DIY Fan Art by TOMMY WILLIAMSON, and more!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95

BRICKJOURNAL #23

BRICKJOURNAL #22

BRICKJOURNAL #21

BRICKJOURNAL #20

BRICKJOURNAL #19

STAR WARS issue, with custom creations from a long time ago and far, far away! JACOB CARPENTER’s Imperial Star Destroyer, MARK KELSO’s Invisible Hand, interview with SIMON MACDONALD about building Star Wars costume props with LEGO elements, history of the LEGO X-Wing, plus our regular features on minifigure customization by JARED BURKS, “You Can Build It” instructions, and more!

LEGO PLANE BUILDING! Top builder RALPH SAVELSBERG takes off with his custom LEGO fighter models, there’s a squadron of articles on Sky-Fi planes by FRADEL GONZALES and COLE MARTIN, find instructions to build a Sky-Fi plane, plus our regular feature on minifigure customization by JARED BURKS, AFOLs by GREG HYLAND, other step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions, and more!

LEGO CAR BUILDING! Guest editors LINO MARTINS and NATHAN PROUDLOVE of LUGNuts share secrets behind their LEGO car creations, and present TECHNIC SUPERCAR MODELS by PAUL BORATKO III and other top builders! Plus custom instructions by TIM GOULD and CHRISTOPHER DECK, minifigure customization by JARED BURKS, step-by-step “You Can Build It” section, and more!

LEGO SUPERHEROES! Behind-the-scenes of the DC and Marvel Comics sets, plus a feature on GREG HYLAND, the artist of the superhero comic books in each box! Also, other superhero work by ALEX SCHRANZ and our cover artist OLIVIER CURTO. Plus, JARED K. BURKS’ regular column on minifigure customization, building tips, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions, and more!

LEGO EVENTS ISSUE covering our own BRICKMAGIC FESTIVAL, BRICKWORLD, BRICKFAIR, BRICKCON, plus other events outside the US. There’s full event details, plus interviews with the winners of the BRICKMAGIC CHALLENGE competition, complete with instructions to build award winning models. Also JARED K. BURKS’ regular column on minifigure customizing, building tips, and more!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95

BRICKJOURNAL #13

Special EVENT ISSUE with reports from BRICKMAGIC (the newest US LEGO fan festival, organized by BrickJournal magazine), BRICKWORLD (one of the oldest US LEGO fan events), and others! Plus: spotlight on BIONICLE Builder NORBERT LAGUBUEN, our regular column on minifigure customization, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions, spotlights on builders and their work, and more!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95

BRICKJOURNAL #12

BRICKJOURNAL #11

BRICKJOURNAL #10

BRICKJOURNAL #9

A look at back-to-school sculptures by NATHAN SAWAYA, LEGO builder MARCOS BESSA’s creations, ANGUS MACLANE’s CubeDudes, a Nepali Diorama by JORDAN SCHWARTZ, instructions to build a school bus, MINIFIG CUSTOMIZATION by JARED K. BURKS, how a POWER MINERS model became one for ATLANTIS, building standards, and much more!

“Racers” theme issue, with building tips on race cars by the ARVO BROTHERS, interview with LEGO RACERS designer ANDREW WOODMAN, LEGO FORMULA ONE RACING, TECHNIC SPORTS CAR building, event reports, MINIFIGURE CUSTOMIZATION by JARED K. BURKS, MICRO BUILDING, builder spotlights, LEGO HISTORY, and more!

BrickJournal goes undersea with looks at the creation of LEGO’s new ATLANTIS SETS, plus a spotlight on a fan-created underwater theme, THE SEA MONKEYS, with builder FELIX GRECO! Also, a report on the LEGO WORLD convention in the Netherlands, BUILDER SPOTLIGHTS, INSTRUCTIONS and ways to CUSTOMIZE MINIFIGURES, LEGO HISTORY, and more!

BrickJournal looks at LEGO® DISNEY SETS, with features on the Disney LEGO sets of the past (MICKEY and MINNIE) and present (TOY STORY and PRINCE OF PERSIA)! We also present Disney models built by LEGO fans, and a look at the newest Master Build model at WALT DISNEY WORLD, plus articles and instructions on building and customization, and more!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95

BRICKJOURNAL #28

BRICKJOURNAL #27

BRICKJOURNAL #26

BRICKJOURNAL #25

BRICKJOURNAL #24

Learn what went into the making of The LEGO Movie and other brickfilms with moviemaker DAVID PAGANO, chat with brickfilmers The Brotherhood Workshop, sit in on a talk with the makers of LEGO: A Brickumentary, a look at MINDSTORMS building, minifigure customization by JARED BURKS, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, AFOLs by GREG HYLAND, & more!

GUY HIMBER takes you to the IRON BUILDER CONTEST, which showcases the top LEGO® builders in the world! Cover by LEGO magazine and comic artist PAUL LEE, amazing custom models by LINO MARTINS, TYLER CLITES, BRUCE LOWELL, COLE BLAQ and others, minifigure customization by JARED BURKS, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, AFOLs by GREG HYLAND, & more!

CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL with builders SEAN and STEPHANIE MAYO (known online as Siercon and Coral), other custom animal models from BrickJournal editor JOE MENO, LEGO DINOSAURS with WILL PUGH, plus more minifigure customization by JARED BURKS, AFOLs by cartoonist GREG HYLAND, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, and more!

MEDIEVAL CASTLE BUILDING! Top LEGO® Castle builders present their creations, including BOB CARNEY’s amazingly detailed model of Neuschwanstein Castle, plus others, along with articles on building and detailing castles of your own! Also: JARED BURKS on minifigure customization, AFOLs by cartoonist GREG HYLAND, stepby-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, and more!

LEGO TRAINS! Builder CALE LEIPHART shows how to get started building trains and train layouts, with instructions on building microscale trains by editor JOE MENO, building layouts with the members of the Pennsylvania LEGO Users Group (PennLUG), fan-built LEGO monorails minifigure customization by JARED BURKS, microscale building by CHRISTOPHER DECK, “You Can Build It”, and more!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95

BRICKJOURNAL #18

BRICKJOURNAL #17

BRICKJOURNAL #16

BRICKJOURNAL #15

BRICKJOURNAL #14

Go to Japan with articles on two JAPANESE LEGO FAN EVENTS, plus take a look at JAPAN’S SACRED LEGO LAND, Nasu Highland Park—the site of the BrickFan events and a pilgrimage site for many Japanese LEGO fans. Also, a feature on JAPAN’S TV CHAMPIONSHIP OF LEGO, a look at the CLICKBRICK LEGO SHOPS in Japan, plus how to get into TECHNIC BUILDING, LEGO EDUCATION, and more!

LEGO SPACE WAR issue! A STARFIGHTER BUILDING LESSON by Peter Reid, WHY SPACE MARINES ARE SO POPULAR by Mark Stafford, a trip behind the scenes of LEGO’S NEW ALIEN CONQUEST SETS that hit store shelves earlier this year, plus JARED K. BURKS’ column on MINIFIGURE CUSTOMIZATION, building tips, event reports, our step-by-step “YOU CAN BUILD IT” INSTRUCTIONS, and more!

Focuses on STEAMPUNK! Feature editor GUY HIMBER gives a tour with a look at his work, DAVE DeGOBBI’s, NATHAN PROUDLOVE’s, and others! There’s also a look at the history of LEGO Steampunk building, as well as instructions for a Steampunk plane by ROD GILLIES! Plus our regular columns on minifigure customization, building tips, event reports, our step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions, and much more!

Looks at the LEGO MECHA genre of building, especially in Japan! Feature editor NATHAN BRYAN spotlights mecha builders such as SAITO YOSHIKAZU, TAKAYUKI TORII, SUKYU and others! Also, a talk with BRIAN COOPER and MARK NEUMANN about their mecha creations, mecha building instructions by SAITO YOSHIKAZU, our regular columns on minifigure customization, building, event reports, and more!

Discover the world of stop-motion LEGO FILMS, with brickfilmer DAVID PAGANO and others spotlighting LEGO filmmaking, the history of the medium and its community, interviews with the makers of the films seen on the LEGO CLUB SHOW and LEGO.com, and instructions on how to film and build puppets for brick flicks! Plus how to customize minifigures, event reports, step-by-step building instructions, and more!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95

(84-page FULL-COLOR mag) SOLD OUT (Digital Edition) $3.95

TwoMorrows. BRICKJOURNAL #8

BRICKJOURNAL #7

BRICKJOURNAL #6

BRICKJOURNAL #5

We go to the Middle Ages, with a look at the LEGO Group’s CASTLE LINE, featuring an interview with the designer behind the first LEGO castle set, the YELLOW CASTLE. Also: we spotlight builders that have created their own large-scale version of the castle, and interview other castle builders, plus a report on BRICKWORLD in Chicago, ands still more instructions and building tips!

Focuses on the new LEGO ARCHITECTURE line, with a look at the new sets designed by ADAM REED TUCKER, plus interviews with other architectural builders, including SPENCER REZKALLA. Also, behind the scenes on the creation of POWER MINERS and the GRAND CAROUSEL, a LEGO BATTLESHIP over 20 feet long, reports from LEGO events worldwide, and more!

Spotlight on CLASSIC SPACE SETS and a look at new ones, BRANDON GRIFFITH shows his STAR TREK MODELS, LEGO set designers discuss their work creating the SPACE POLICE with PIRATE SETS, POWER FUNCTIONS TRAIN DEVELOPMENT, the world’s TALLEST LEGO TOWER, MINIFIGURE CUSTOMIZATION, plus coverage of BRICKFEST 2009 and more!

Event report on the MINDSTORMS 10th ANNIVERSARY at LEGO HEADQUARTERS, Pixar’s ANGUS MACLANE on LEGO in filmmaking, a glimpse at the LEGO Group’s past with the DIRECTOR OF LEGO’S IDEA HOUSE, event reports, a look at how SEAN KENNEY’s LEGO creations ended up on NBC’S 30 ROCK television show, instructions and spotlights on builders, and more!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95

TwoMorrows Publishing 10407 Bedfordtown Drive Raleigh, NC 27614 USA 919-449-0344 E-mail:

store@twomorrows.com

Order at twomorrows.com

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Last Word I think that one of the best things about this hobby is that it’s something that almost anyone can relate to and understand. We build with a toy, which to some is something that is a bit too casual to take seriously. For those people who are wondering if LEGO building is a worthy hobby, ask yourself: Do you have a hobby that challenges you? Do you have a hobby that can get you attention if you practice and hone your hobby-related skills? Do you have a hobby that can change from building architecture to building a robot? Do you have a hobby that includes people from all walks of life? My hobby took me in a direction that resulted in not only this magazine, but also in meeting many different people in many different places. It’s also taught many things about building not only models, but communities and relationships. It starts with building, but results in so much more... ...so build on, and see where you end up! Joe Sometimes, you need a little extra to keep order at the BrickJournal table!

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