The Magazine for LEGO® Enthusiasts of All Ages! Issue 46 • July 2017
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Building LEGO Trains! ®
Launching Brick Model Railroader PennLUG’s Train Displays Cale Leiphart’s Trains!
Japan Brick Fest 2016 Chris McKay Talks About The LEGO® Batman Movie ISBN-13: 978-1-60549-076-2 ISBN-10: 1-60549-076-8 50895
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Issue 46 • July 2017
Contents
From the Editor....................................................2
People
Helen Sham: Small Bricks, Big Figs.......................................3 Of Bats and Bricks: A Talk with Chris McKay, Director of The LEGO Batman Movie..........................9 Karen Metz: Reflections from an Artist.........................14 Berthil van Beek’s Great Ball Adventure...................................18
Building
Sentinel Approaching!..................................24 You Can Build It: Hyperion Class Cruiser...............................28 Minifigure Customization 101: Large Figure Conversion, Part 1.............32 BrickNerd’s DIY Fan Art: Bat-Train............................................................36 You Can Build It: Railroad Hand Car........................................40 The Norfolk and Western Big Steam Freight Haulers: Class A and Y6b.............................................46 Taking LEGO Trains Farther: Sound........51
Community
Building an New LEGO Train Publication: Brick Model Railroader...............................54 The PennLUG Lines - Trains and More!..58 All Aboard the Advertising Train!.............61 Event Report: Japan Brick Fest 2016......68 Community Ads...............................................78 Last Word.............................................................79 AFOLs....................................................................80 If you’re viewing a Digital Edition of this publication,
PLEASE READ THIS: This is copyrighted material, NOT intended for downloading anywhere except our website or Apps. If you downloaded it from another website or torrent, go ahead and read it, and if you decide to keep it, DO THE RIGHT THING and buy a legal download, or a printed copy. Otherwise, DELETE IT FROM YOUR DEVICE and DO NOT SHARE IT WITH FRIENDS OR POST IT ANYWHERE. If you enjoy our publications enough to download them, please pay for them so we can keep producing ones like this. Our digital editions should ONLY be downloaded within our Apps and at
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From the Editor: We went back to trains! Why? Well, people asked about a train issue, and we have one issue that spotlighted trains, but it became apparent that there was more demand.
July 2017 Issue 46
Publisher John Morrow
Editor in Chief Joe Meno
Photography Editor Geoff Gray Proofreader John Morrow
Japanese Bureau Editor Nathan Bryan West Coast Editors Todd Kubo Ashley Glennon
LEGO Ideas Correspondent Glen Wadleigh
Contributors: Jared Burks, Berthil van Beek, Christopher Deck, Will Galbraith, Matthew Hocker, Glenn Holland, Takamichi Irie, Cale Leiphart, Chris McKay, Karen Metz, Henry Pinto, Helen Sham, Tommy Williamson, Geoff Zhang, and Greg Hyland. Many thanks to the websites who have served as mirrors for BrickJournal:
Also, a website for train builders was launched: Brick Model Railroader! This site was launched by one of the best steam train builders out there, Cale Leiphart. He helped me out on the last train issue, so I asked him to work on another train issue with his site included. He was happy to do that and also got some great articles on other train stuff—including instructions to make a hand car! There’s some other fun articles too—take a look at the sized-up minifigures of Helen Sham or the interview with Chris McKay, director of The LEGO Batman Movie. There’s a lot to read, so have fun and 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: Cale Leiphart’s Class A and y6b. Photo provided by Cale Leiphart. About the Contents: The Monkey King, built by Helen Sham Photo provided by Helen Sham.
Glossary AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO) AFFOL (Adult Female Fan of LEGO) TFFOL (Teen Female Fan of LEGO) NLSO (Non-LEGO Significant Other) MOC (My Own Creation) TLG (The LEGO Group) BURP (Big Ugly Rock Piece) LURP (Little Ugly Rock Piece) POOP (Pieces—that can be or should be made—Of Other Pieces)
SNOT (Studs Not on Top) LUG (LEGO Users Group) LTC (LEGO Train Club) MECHA (a large armored robot on legs, typically controlled by a pilot seated inside) MECH (a large piloted combat robot) DARK AGES (usually teen years, when you drift away from building) STUDS OUT (building where the studs on bricks face the viewer)
LEGO®, TECHNIC, MINDSTORMS, Belville, Scala, BIONICLE, ExoForce, Mars Mission, World City, and other LEGO theme lines are trademarks of the LEGO Group of companies. All articles, photos, and art are copyright BrickJournal Media, LLC 2011, TwoMorrows Publishing and the respective writers, photographers, and artists. All rights reserved. All trademarked items are the property of their respective owners and licensees. Subscriptions are $60 Economy US, $70 Expedited US, $97 International, or $23 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 of2the LDraw suite. For more information, please visit http://www.ldraw.org.
People
Helen Sham:
Small Bricks, Big Figs! 3
Helen Sham is literally a minifgure builder. For the past couple of years, her sized-up versions of minifigures have been seen and bought online by builders and collectors. Her Facebook page, Small Bricks Big World, is where she shares her models, both in progress and completed. Her portfolio is varied and mirrors the whimsy and design of the original minifigures she references. BrickJournal was able to talk to her about her work and, well, her work.
What do you do outside the hobby? Helen’s first build.
I was a graphic designer and photographer in Hong Kong with over 20 years of work experience. My projects included commercial packaging like boxes, wrappers, posters, greeting cards, and other commercial products. Before I moved to Taiwan, I owned a studio in Hong Kong for 5 years where I produced portraits, wedding photographs and graphics. It was a challenging and satisfying job as I needed to customize each job to fulfill my customers’ needs. I would spend hours to edit or decorate photos for a special request and I also drew cartoon portraits. The happy faces of my customers were my motivation and reward.
The initial group of scaled-up minifigures.
About 18 months ago, I moved to Taiwan in search of a new career path. One afternoon, I was watching television and a Ghostbusters movie trailer came on, which stimulated my creative juices. I spent two days to design the iconic Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters with LEGO bricks, and the outcome was surprisingly good. One of my good friends is a collector of LEGO minifigures, such as those wearing rabbit, piggy, and monkey costumes. These minifigures made me wonder, “How cute would it be if I could enlarge them?” I began to design my first 25 cm tall LEGO figure which was a LEGO figure in a bumblebee costume. Since then, I have created many new designs and posted my designs on social media. I received many inquires about my figures and requests for instruction manuals, so I opened a Facebook page (www.facebook.com/smallbricksbigworld) to better communicate with all the LEGO fans around the world.
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I post my designs online and I sell LEGO pieces with instruction manuals. This is, at the moment, my full-time job. So basically, my hobby is also my career.
When did you start building? This is a good question; I started building things at an early age (around five or six years old), when I received a big box of LEGO from an uncle as a present. I would spend hours and hours working on it. I can’t remember exactly what kind of vehicle it was anymore. Soon after I completed it, I disassembled it and used all those LEGO pieces to build my own toys, which included airplanes, houses, race cars, etc... As I grew up, I left my LEGO pieces behind... until a couple years ago. Initially, like many others, I purchased and assembled different LEGO sets that were available on the market. This all changed when I walked by a store which sold LEGO individual pieces...
The God of Wealth and Santa Claus.
It was incredible! I didn’t realize that I could purchase parts to build my own creations! That was the very first time I heard of “My Own Creation” (MOC), although I have been producing my own creations for such a long time! With all those LEGO parts I could purchase, my building possibilities were endless. I officially stepped on my MOC path.
What are your favorite themes? My favorite themes include LEGO’s Star Wars and the Superheroes series. I have a large collection of LEGO’s products, many of which include Star Wars, LEGO City, Marvel and DC Superheroes, LEGO Creator, and Technic box sets.
When did you start building large minifigures? About two years ago, I found a LEGO 3723 minifigure online; this was just a simple minifigure with a red shirt, overalls and a cap. This inspired me to create a 50 cm tall LEGO version of “Me”. That became my first official MOC build. Later on, I designed a few other custom creations: a mini friend, a mini dog, together with a Vespa motor scooter. Helen’s first official MOCs.
These creations were so successful that I received many compliments. It’s a huge encouragement to continue challenging myself to make more new designs.
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How many MOCs have you built? I have designed over 60 different MOCs in the past two years including a “base” to hold the Statue of Liberty, a hot air balloon, the “Stay Puft Marshmallow Man”, a 50 cm Vespa motor scooter, a 75 cm Storm Trooper, a 25 cm Darth Vader and Storm Trooper, various enlarged minifigures that include animal costumes, bride and groom, and also the Beatles!
How do you plan your building?
The Beatles!
I usually visualize the idea in my head first. Sometimes I would just start building things when an idea comes. To create all the minifigure characters that I have enlarged, I use the LDD “LEGO Digital Designer” software. With this software, I can finish five 25 cm figures in one day! This software has been a great asset for my design and creations. I have to calculate the size and ratio of different parts of the figures and then check and see if the specific LEGO pieces (size, color, shapes, etc) are available. I spent four hours to design my first bumblebee costumed girl minifigure last February. It took me much longer to look for the LEGO pieces on the Internet. LEGO parts can be quite costly so it is necessary to look for the best deals. When the LEGO pieces finally arrive, it is the best part as it’s then building time! Holding a completed LEGO project in my hands gives me great satisfaction!
Helen at work on a figure.
What do you plan to build in the future? I am currently working on a 75 cm Darth Vader. My short term goal is to complete a total of 100 figure designs. I look forward to the day when I can have my own personal exhibition to share my work with other LEGO fans! I am also planning to record a short video to highlight my 25 cm figure design collection. Recently, I have begun to accept orders for custom characters which include animals. Creation has no boundaries, there are always possibilities!
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A wedding set.
What inspires you to build? This is one of the most popular questions from friends and family. To be very honest, I have no idea... My designs and creation don’t actually go through a planning process. When something catches my attention or when I find something interesting, I’ll just go ahead and try it out. The amazing part of building is that it represents unity. Every single LEGO piece has its own value and position in a final project. They are working together as a team and missing any one of them will make the design incomplete. I learned from my work that unity equals power!
A stormtrooper and Darth Vader.
Superman and Wonder Woman.
Disney’s classic characters in Helen’s style.
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What advice would you give to a beginning builder? LEGO is a creative toy, but to me, it is also a tool. If you are willing to use your imagination, you can become a LEGO MOCer! If you search online, you can find so many different LEGO pieces (colors, shapes, sizes, etc...), the potential designs are limitless! Thanks to LEGO for producing them and making them available in the market. Imagination is the key... Nothing is impossible!
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LEGO Batman was one of the funnier characters in The LEGO Movie, so it wasn’t much of a leap of faith to make a movie about him. Hopefully by now you have seen the LEGO Batman Movie, which was released in February. If you haven’t, it’s now available on digital download and other media.
People
Directing this movie was Chris McKay, who also worked on The LEGO Movie. BrickJournal had a phone interview with him to talk about The LEGO Batman Movie and his part in the production of the film. There’s some talk about LEGO in this, but there’s also a lot about the nuts and bolts of moviemaking. Chris was a gracious and funny guy to talk to, as you’ll read… BrickJournal: You actually worked on The LEGO Movie as an Animation Co-director and Supervisor, but you became a full-fledged director on The LEGO Batman Movie! Chris McKay: Yes! So how did that change your tasks? I worked with Christopher Miller and Phil Lord really closely on The LEGO Movie and they needed somebody that could be kind of a General when they were around and when they were off doing 21 and 22 Jump Street (released in 2012 and 2014, respectively); who could be Commander-in-Chief and keep things running and be able to take the story to the next level. I was there from almost the beginning of The LEGO Movie and because I’ve been a director and a producer of Robot Chicken, they knew I could do both and move fast. They wanted somebody who could iterate things fast, so The LEGO Movie became my proving grounds for the studio. We were batting around ideas for The LEGO Movie and spinoffs and characters and things we just wanted to do, and LEGO Batman was a real natural fit not only for what the next movie should be, but because everyone loved Will Arnett’s performance. Also, since I am a huge comic book fan, playing in the Batman world seemed like a lot of fun. I’ve got Catwoman and Superman tattoos, so it just seemed like a natural fit for me to be the guy who ran this movie and developed it. We had a very tight and really ambitious timeframe and it kinda proved that I could do something with a big epic scope, but on a crazy-fast schedule. They let me direct this movie and for me, as a fan of Batman, as a fan of comic books in general and movies, this has been a dream come true; to be able to play in that world and be able to do stuff like cast Billy Dee Williams as Two-Face to fulfill the promise of Billy Dee Williams being cast as Harvey Dent in the first Tim Burton Batman movie. Just so many things were like a dream come true stuff. I feel very lucky. In The LEGO Movie, Batman’s a person I personally wouldn’t like hanging around too long because he’s, for lack of a better term, self-absorbed.. (Chris laughs) Yeah, yeah.. So the big question for me is how did you manage to keep him from being completely obnoxious for an entire movie? There’s a lot of movies that are about a self-inflated egotistical guy who learns something about the value of the people around him and sort of fills a hole in his heart or fixes a problem. Movies like Jerry Maguire, About a Boy, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zouzou, Arthur, A Christmas
Of Bats and Bricks:
A Talk with Chris McKay, Director of The LEGO Batman Movie Interview by Joe Meno Photos and art provided by Warner Brothers Photo of Chris McKay by Eric Charbonneau.
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Carol, Scrooge, all those movies. That’s the film model that we were playing around with Batman and it’s a great genre to work in. Because he’s got a great sympathetic backstory and because of what happened to him as a child, we could play with that and use that as a way for you to be able to trust him. We could have our cake and eat it too, as we would be able to have him say the funny things, to say and do the things that, like you said, would be inappropriate. You wouldn’t necessarily want to hang out with this guy for long, but because he has this big wound in his life, we wanted our movie to be the movie (two Batman movies actually sorta addressed this) that solved Batman’s main problem. We knew since it was a LEGO movie, because we were doing it in animation, we could actually be a film that sort of attacks that problem head-on and you could make it about this guy, this pompous self-involved loudmouth but who also — You don’t have to be that hard on him! (Chris laughs) —you know what I mean. He’s a charming rogue. And that’s what Will Arnett excels at, these guys whose ego kinda outstrips their self-awareness. We kind of enjoy how inflated their ego is and we also know it’s because they are kind of blind to these other things in their life. We’ve got great side characters: Robin, Barbara Gordon, the Joker, and Alfred, who can shine a light on those things he doesn’t know and possibly teach him something about the value of the other people in his life. We can also give a real earnest sincere story about a guy who learns from the people around him that he can really be happy. He doesn’t necessarily need to keep people at arm’s length because he’s afraid that something bad might happen to them. How did you get so many characters? Getting the main Batman cast is one thing, but there’s so many villains and also the Justice League. How did you manage to get them? It’s like in the script, you wanted grab everyone you could possibly imagine and WB said, “Sure!” Was it that easy? No, it was very tricky because it’s hard to juggle a lot of characters, especially since you and I know who these
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characters are and maybe some of our friends do, but not everybody in the world knows them. My mom certainly wouldn’t, you know, so there was some fear on the part of the Powers That Be sometimes that there were too many characters and there was too much going on. At the same time, there’s enough of a love for these characters so we were just trying to find unique situations to put them in and have a lot of fun with the backstory of Batman. I really wanted to make a movie that tackled all of the history of Batman and as much of the DC Comics world I could get in, including the rivalry between Batman and Superman and the attitudes of some of the characters in that world. I grew up on the Super Friends. I wanted to have Samurai and El Dorado in there, and characters like Apache Chief that were side characters in a couple of episodes. That meant a lot to me because they were fun. The Super Friends were almost like a Benetton ad for me, like having someone representing all parts of the world. I really loved that even though some of those superheroes didn’t necessarily take off, I just loved that that was the ambition of the show. So I wanted them to show up, as well as Zan and Jayna and Gleep, all of that stuff. There’s a lot of rights holders and a lot of people that you have to have the lawyers go in and contact and find out, for example, who wrote Gentleman Ghost into a particular episode. It’s a big job. Fortunately, we had a great producing team that wanted to help us make that happen: executives and lawyers and producers. We also had designers and artists who really loved these characters, loved the fact that they would show up in this movie, whether they showed up and had a role or showed up as an Easter egg in the background. The designers and artists really threw themselves into it and researched and designed these characters. LEGO is just a fun thing to interpret things in. It’s a fun sort of idiom to work in that everyone really liked, even though it was a challenge—everyone rose to the challenge, I guess, and wanted it to work somehow. BATMAN and all related characters and elements ™ & © DC Comics. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
LEGO® minifigure Batman (voiced by WILL ARNETT) in the 3D computer animated adventure The LEGO® Batman Movie.
That leads to the process between you and the LEGO Group. The question that comes across my mind from the clips I have seen and also seeing the sets that are coming out now, is what came first, the movie or the sets? Definitely the movie came first. LEGO was very cooperative. They worked as part of the design department of the movie. They never really imposed anything on us other than I think, honestly, something as silly as this: I think they wanted us to make sure that we got the Bat Dune Buggy in a shot where they were going to make a smaller set. They were like, “Can you please make sure that you see that thing?” That was the biggest request they had. We always pushed the envelope as far as adult humor versus humor for kids and having a little bit of both. Sometimes our kid humor is very kid humor; our adult humor can skew and the situations can skew very adult at times. I wanted to make a big movie that was action-packed, a big movie that was funny and had jokes for adults at times, so there’s that kind of push and pull where we each sort of get each other out of each other’s comfort zones. That’s honestly the only thing where they and we ever had to find common ground, I think. When we pitched the movie to LEGO, we pitched them what we wanted to do and why we wanted to do it as a LEGO movie. They were really blown away by our ambition and that we wanted to make a big movie, have a big Gotham City, and sometimes be able to pull the camera back and show a Gotham City that could look not like it was LEGO. I thought it might be something they might have been uncomfortable with, but they weren’t. You really could pull the camera back and for a second you could mistake it as any Batman movie. They were behind us making a Batman movie that really got into his character and made you feel like you were watching —the way I pitched it to everybody was I wanted to make a “Jerry Maguire directed by Michael Mann with jokes!” They understood the ambition—they wanted the emotional side of it as well as the ambitious side of it. They also understood the fact that we were going to make sort of an Airplane-style parody at times of the Batman world and that we were going to combine all those things. They were on board for that juggling act, so they were great partners.
As Director, you make the calls on what shots go and what shots don’t, but how do you interact, how do you create the shots? You do animatics, storyboards, things like that. Where’s your part in all of this? I work on the story from the nuts and bolts of the script with the writer and with the editorial department and the storyboard department. Basically how it works is that we start a scene with just workshopping. I’ll bring in the storyboard team, pitch them some ideas and some boards I did. They’ll have ideas, and they’ll have ideas that are radically different at times than the script. We’ll discuss and there will be great comic stuff that comes out of the meeting. At the same time, while they are drawing something, I’ll meet with the editorial team and we’ll sit down and we’ll get all the editors (who generally end up being the voices of the movie somehow because we all love doing scratch/temporary voice tracks) and we get on the mic and we read the script and improvise some things ourselves and maybe even throw out and feed off stuff from the meeting with the board artists and team. Then we start putting a radio play together of that scene in anticipation of when the boards come in. When the boards come in we’ll start to adjust it from there. Then we all sit back. I don’t like looking at and refining boards. I like mixing up with the editorial team and getting some voice acting in there and getting people to read stuff and try different things, and try things out with music, because animation is a very visual, very cinematic art form. People just write their way out of a problem with dialog. I want to find the sweet spot between dialogue and visuals. So it’s a lot of going back and forth between those two departments. Then I’ll get Will Arnett (Batman) and Zach Galifinakis (Joker) scheduled and we’ll go record them and then they’ll riff on something. And something will evolve out of that. And then we’ll take it to the layout team and they’ll start to put cameras on the board or start to suggest things based on maybe a set change, or stuff that Will or Zach did that changed the scene a little bit. We’ll start to evolve it there in layout and kind of go back and forth, and 11 we’ll sort of block in the characters.
The way I like to do it is a very organic process—it’s like sculpture: You’re constantly looking at the marble and kind of going at it from one angle, chiseling it over here, and shaping it in over there. Over the course of this big slab of marble, I’m finding the face, finding the hands, all those kind of things. You’re kind of slowly looking around it until you get down to the part where you are polishing it with a lot more specificity. To me it’s a really great way to build a movie. Animation is filmmaking in slow motion and you really get to take apart the process and really slow down the story development, so you really can hone in on the tone you’re trying to create or the mood you’re trying to create for the arc of the character. It’s great. It’s great because I have great collaborators, like Rob Coleman (see BrickJournal #45). There are two scenes that come to mind that I want to know about. One of them is Batman’s wardrobe: having a whole set of costumes on a revolving track. How did that come to be? When I had toys as a kid, I loved the Kenner Star Wars toys and GI Joes, both the big ones and the 3 ¾” ones. I loved all that stuff not only because it was a way to tell stories and be imaginative, but it was also about the accessories and the cool guns and equipment they used. Some of them you could change clothing—you could take off Darth Vader’s cape and you could, with the big GI Joes, change different outfits and go from a snowsuit to the camp. It was really cool. So when we started designing the LEGO movie, I really wanted accessories. I wanted Batman’s belt to be a molded plastic belt that stood out from the costume. I wanted to see a lot of LEGO Batman variations, costume variations from different movies and different comic book stuff and oneoff stuff they did for Comic-Con and Batzarro. With every other version, I was like, “Wouldn’t he have something like I have to display my case of LEGO minifigs at home? Wouldn’t he have some giant thing like this? Wouldn’t he want something this grand?” So Grant Freckleton (Production Designer) designed something to showcase all these suits. It just made a lot of sense that Batman would set up his costumes. He was a rich guy and he has all these costumes for different sort of missions that he could rotate through. It seemed like a lot of fun. LEGO® minifigure Batman (voiced by WILL ARNETT) in the 3D computer animated adventure The LEGO® Batman Movie.
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The fun is wishful filming, you know what I mean? We all wish that we could have these cool cars and the cool outfits for all these adventures you could go on, and it sorta sprang out of that. It’s just a hysterical thing when you see it because of all these costumes, and you’re wondering, what spurred that one on? What spurred Mariachi Batman? What happened? There’s a story there! I want to know! Right! And of course that may lead to a sequel. (laughs) The other thing is when Robin gets his costume, the first thing he does is flings off the past, and they are LEGO legs. That cracks me up to no end because, well, I build with LEGO all the time and that is exactly what happens. That to me was a genius level move because not very many people think of that. Only the builders would be sensitive and notice that, so making that shot and to continue that with another sequence when Batman says, “Your clothes are at home” and Robin throws off his housecoat, and it ends up landing on Alfred... Right, right, right! ...same type of riff, so who came up with that? Who knew enough to do that? Seth Grahame-Smith (the screenwriter), I think, did the original Robin ripping his pants off bit and the way we visualized it, is like you said—it’s the way it would be if you got LEGO in front of you; you take one pants off and you put pants on and the pants that came off are legs. There’s another bit that hasn’t been in any trailers—there’s a bit where Batman is going through a metal detector at Arkham Asylum and then the guy with the wand is wanding him down and it is going off on his utility belt and Barbara Gordon is walking alongside him and she goes, “Okay, take off—what’s under your cowl? What’s under your cape? What’s under your utility belt? Okay, you gotta take all this stuff off,” like a typical PSA kinda of thing, and then she goes, “What’s that in your shoes?” and so he takes off his shoes and now he’s naked except for his underwear,
Art and Design: Concepts Painted Over Model of Gotham City
and she goes, “Oh, I’m sorry, this is really uncomfortable,” and he goes, “I’m sorry, my shoes are part of my pants.” It’s a visual nod to the fact about how the LEGO characters are made. It’s just fun, just making jokes about that. Some people will get it and it’s a joke for them, and other people won’t. We try to keep jokes going so much in the movie that there’s a joke for everybody. There are jokes for people who are Batman nerds, there are jokes for people that love LEGO who are AFOLs, there are jokes for people who are film nerds, there’s pratfalls, physical comedy stuff, and there’s wordplay and puns. We tried to fill the movie with enough jokes to keep everybody entertained. We’re very democratic in that way. If you don’t like this joke, there’s a joke coming in a couple of minutes that will be just for you. How much of a LEGO fan are you? I grew up with LEGO, I built with LEGO, and even made some very silly stop-motiony, sometimes hand-motion films as a kid with LEGO. It’s been a part of my life in one way or another my whole life. I mean even on Robot Chicken, we did sketches with LEGO. Some of the first things I worked on when I was directing episodes of Robot Chicken were LEGO stuff specifically because, as you know with all the brickfilms, LEGO is a great way to make stop motion movies because you can literally stick the characters to the floor and they don’t move! That makes it very easy to create stop-motion as opposed to what we do with other (at least in Robot Chicken anyway) toys or puppets; we have to drill into the floor in order to get the characters to stick in. It’s a much more arduous process both for production and for post production. With LEGO it’s really simple and fun and those characters... LEGO is so charming, the LEGO minifig is so charming that it’s immediately appealing, and that always is what I
love about them. Even when I wasn’t doing this stuff with Robot Chicken or with The LEGO Movie, I had minifigs on my desk at work, characters I saw and bought in blind bags or got out of a set. I always had Wolverine or Batman or something on my desk just because I loved those characters as comic characters and they had a little minifig of them, so it was like a little piece of art. It’s kind of interesting that way, kind of like, I want to say, an idiom—it’s an artistic medium, it’s a method of self expression, it sort of combines your sciencey head, it’s a left-brain/right-brain thing, and it’s just cute. That’s why I love it so much, I guess. One last question: Who’s your favorite Batman? Well… that’s tough. Can I give you two answers? Sure. Michael Keaton (because he was probably my first Batman in movies) is probably my favorite. But I have to say my favorite Bruce Wayne is Christian Bale. That trilogy of movies he does such a good job—most of the time he’s Bruce Wayne in those movies and it’s about Bruce Wayne and Gotham City. I think Christopher Nolan and the writing team and Christian Bale and all the actors did such a good job in those series of movies. I really do love them and think they’re great. I have to say Michael Keaton was my first one and I was a Keaton fan because I loved the movie Night Shift and Beetlejuice. My favorite Batman was Michael Keaton. He was funny, he was also badass, and Batman was the first Batman movie, it was a big movie, and it was exciting to go see that. I remember seeing that in Woodfield Mall (Chicago) in 70mm! Well, that wraps the interview up. Thank you! Thanks, it was great talking to you!
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People
Karen Metz with some of her work.
Karen Metz:
Reflections from an Artist Article and Photography by Karen Metz
I only really discovered the joys of creating with LEGO three years ago. I never had LEGO growing up, so my “Dark Ages” spanned most of my life. Shocking, I know. The only building toy I had was a box of Tinker Toys, which is funny because my husband jokingly refers to me building things with LEGO as playing with Tinker Toys. I did get to play with LEGO occasionally as a kid whenever I visited my cousin’s house, but that was pretty infrequent. I have three kids, who are now adults, and they had some Duplo, the first wave of the LEGO Harry Potter sets, and a few other sets from the late 1990s and early 2000s. The sets were not kept intact but were taken apart by them to create whatever they felt inspired to do. Eventually their LEGO was put away in a storage bin when they got older and stopped playing with them. A tradition at Christmas in our family is to put together a puzzle, and instead of getting another jigsaw puzzle three Christmases ago, I decided to get the Expert Creator Mini Cooper for us all to do. This is what ignited my interest in LEGO. The set was so much more involved than the sets my kids had, and the end result lovely. I also decided to get one of the modular buildings, the Parisian Restaurant, and after building it I was hooked. I am also an artist, working in many different painting and drawing mediums. The same winter I was introduced to the fun of building with LEGO, I suffered a freak tobogganing accident. A friend in our area has a “bobsled” run that he built after his niece won Gold in the two-person bobsled in the Olympics. I went down it one day with my kids and nearly tore my ring finger off my dominant hand. It was impossible to paint or draw while my finger was healing. My artistic desire to create meant that I had to find a new medium, and I found that I could still click bricks together.
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I wanted to see what I could create out of the bricks I still had in the house from when my kids were growing up. Since it was mostly tan bricks from the Harry Potter sets, and I had bought some of the new Scooby-Doo sets, I decided to
create a museum, which was my first MOC. It was fun figuring out the structural challenges, but I did not have many bricks so the building was not very coherent. I tried building a couple of other MOCs with my collection of bricks. I also discovered the Eurobricks site and was blown away by some of the creations that others had made from LEGO.
The Hatbox Ghost...
The next year for Christmas my children got me the Tower Bridge set and I discovered Bricklink, which really increased the number of bricks at my disposal. I decided to improve my first MOC and was very happy and honoured when Kristel blogged about it on ModularsbyKristel. I enjoy creating the exterior of the buildings, but love being able to create the interior, which are kind of like hidden gems inside jewelry boxes. My favorite theme is still probably architectural buildings—my second career choice after being a biologist, which is what I did before having children. I am inspired to build things based on upcoming events and interesting buildings where I live. My Disney Haunted Mansion and the fortune tellers came about because and I was visiting Los Angeles last summer with my two daughters and we decided to visit Disneyland for the first time. One of my other MOCs that I created before our trip was based on the Cristal d’Orleans store in Disney’s New Orleans Square. One of my Christmas creations was inspired by the Christmas windows that were displayed for 10 years at Hudson Bay’s flagship store in Toronto. This Christmas I built a typical scene from Christmases past in rural Eastern Ontario and I wanted to try my hand at building my own version of a Christmas train. I found that six-stud wide did not let me build as intricate an interior to the train cars as I wanted, so I tried my hand at an eight-stud wide version. It is fun learning new techniques by trying different types of builds.
...and the swinging wake.
My latest creation, which is still a work in progress, is based on my favorite style of house in Eastern Ontario. Limestone cottages/farmhouses are beautiful, particularly in the spring and summer surrounded by lush gardens, and after a particularly wintery March in this part of the world I wanted to create something to harken summer. ( I just posted a couple of photos on my Flickr page of progress so far). I really wanted to try to Karen’s Haunted Mansion. create different types of vegetation for the garden. I build organically. After I think of an idea, I just start clicking bricks together. Basically it is trial and error. The error part usually involves underestimating the number of bricks it will take to build things. If I am really stuck at trying to achieve the effect I am after, I will research online to see how others have tackled the problem. I have kept a few of my MOCs together but have had to take a few apart so I could build new things. I don’t belong to a LUG nor have I been to a LEGO convention, but hopefully I will be able to attend one this summer to see in person the amazing things that other people have created. You can see more of Karen’s work at her Flickr gallery: https://www. flickr.com/ photos/134354727@ N08/or by scanning this QR code!
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Shrunken Ned’s fortune telling machine.
Disneyland Fortune Teller Machines The fortune tellers came about as a result of researching Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion. I was very familiar with Disney World, having been there a few times as a kid and taking my own children twice, and the Haunted Mansion is one of my favorite rides. I was excited to see the original in California. It had a special Ghost Post subscription with a number of puzzles that added an interactive feature to the park, where a few of the clues were given by the fortune teller machines. I did not know the Fortune Tellers existed before researching the Disneyland Haunted Mansion, but was intrigued by their humour and the old world carnival charm of them. I thought they would be great as LEGO designs. The three fortune tellers are all unique. My favorite is probably Shrunken Ned in Adventureland. I wanted to capture the island feel and was lucky to find a printed tile with a hand print that worked very well for the mechanism that Ned uses to tell your future. It was fun tracking down the fortune tellers I had recreated in LEGO at Disneyland. Fortune Red was the hardest to find in New Orleans Square.
Esmerelda’s fortune telling machine.
All three machines, with Fortune Red on the left.
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Each of the fortune tellers has a lot of subtle details. To capture this detail I used many printed LEGO pieces and other unique pieces. The carpet tile from the LEGO Jasmine set is behind Esmerelda and the new printed windows from the Elves Starlight Inn add elegance. Esmerelda looks very similar to the LEGO Minifigure Collectible Fortune Teller. I placed the set’s tarot cards in front of Esmerelda as though she was choosing between them like the real working fortune telling machine. Fortune Red has the Yellow Flag oriental carpet from the Scorpion Palace behind him, and many gold coins and a crystal skull in front. Shrunken Ned, whose head swings freely since he lacks a body, has the most diverse elements, with binoculars, a pith helmet, a compass, a cloth flag, and a micro-figure in his case. I was going to use the Peruvian Temple idol, but it was too large for the six-by-six stud base. Shrunken Ned’s hair needed to be able to hold onto the bar and luckily the flat silver hair from the female NinjaCopter character worked perfectly. Ned’s grey/white moustache required some paint, since LEGO moustache pieces only come in black and reddish brown. Brown and gold frogs were useful for making ornate scroll legs and woodwork.
Karen’s Christmas train.
Christmas Train I was inspired to create a train after seeing this year’s Winter Holiday train. I wanted to create a larger, more realistic version of a steam engine train that operated on local rail lines in the Eastern Ontario region in the late 1800s and early 1900s. I did not know a lot about steam train design before taking on this project so I researched which trains were used in the area, as well as how they were designed. I also did not have any basic train parts, so I ordered the Lone Ranger train, which was still reasonably priced, rather than starting from scratch Bricklinking all the parts. This train was still on the small size relative to my red brick house and the truck I built for it, so I knew I wanted to expand it and make an eightstud wide version. The Lone Ranger train, while fairly detailed, lacked a power option as well as details like working pistons. Adding a power option was easier than moving pistons. I placed a battery brick in a cargo/livestock car with the motor under this carriage. I found creating working pistons that would move smoothly a real challenge. It took a lot of trail and error, with the rods getting stuck, resulting in the train seizing on the track. I had to learn about quartering the wheels and made many modifications before I came up with my solution, which involves Minifig lances, Technic pieces, and Bionicle Mechanical Arms. As I said before, I really like interiors and wanted to add a detailed dining car and sleeping car that matched the elegance of some early train interiors.
Livestock car.
Dining car interior.
Livestock car.
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People
On the air!
Berthil van Beek’s
Great Ball Adventure! Article and Photography by Berthil van Beek
I am from the Netherlands, 50 years old, and have two children who are studying at University. I work as a Business Intelligence Manager for the largest synthetic rubber producer in the world called Arlanxeo, a joint venture between Lanxess (formerly Bayer) and Saudi Aramco (the largest oil company in the world). As an 11-year-old boy, I got the first Technic set 853 as a birthday gift. That started my love for LEGO. I built a lot of MOC Technic models from the first Technic sets available. However, my LEGO collection during my childhood was very limited due to the financial situation of the family I grew up in, as my father died very early in my childhood. Like most AFOLs, my interest in LEGO diminished during my teenage years, but it never really left. It was revived by buying many sets as birthday and Christmas gifts for my two children during their childhood. They were not much into Technic, so that part of the collection was still underrepresented. Something kept nagging to overcome my childhood ‘frustration’ of not having enough LEGO to build what I wanted. In the last 3 years I have overcome this frustration by buying a lot of LEGO. After seeing the beautiful historic Formula 1 LEGO models of Luca Rusconi, I came out of my Dark Age and collected all the LEGO from my youth and my children from the attic three years ago. Together with many Bricklinked bricks and my 39-year-old LEGO parts from the 358 set, I have built 11 Formula 1 models designed by Luca. I next discovered the LEGO modular buildings and collected all of them. After that, I thought it was time to design my own modular. For this I combined my favorite sport with the place where I practice the sport twice a week—that being squash and the Squash Centre in Maastricht, The Netherlands. The modular squash court I designed and built was well received by AFOLs and is currently on display at the squash center in Maastricht.
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LEGO World Netherlands
Every year LEGO World Netherlands is organized by LEGO and the Dutch AFOL community. In 2016 it attracted almost 100,000 visitors in one week in Utrecht. It is a great event for children with lots of building corners in all available LEGO themes. Last year in 2016 I showed the eleven F1 models and the squash center there. It was during LEGO World I discovered the LEGO Great Ball Contraptions, also known as GBCs. I was fascinated by the combination of technical and creative skills needed to design and build GBCs. Already during LEGO World I researched GBCs and soon the name Akiyuki surfaced. The creations of this Japanese GBC designer and builder are excellent and a challenge to build and calibrate. I decided to build three of his most complicated GBCs to learn how GBCs work. These were the Ball Factory, Invisible Lift, and Marble Run. The Marble Run does not comply to GBC rules; it does not have a standardized inbox and outbox and also lacks mechanics. To practice building GBCs, I added an inbox and outbox to the Marble Run, as well as two fast rotating wheels to shoot up the LEGO balls in the middle of the Marble Run, making it a standalone GBC to fit end-to-end with other fans’ creations for continual movement of LEGO’s tiny soccer balls and basketballs. As with the modular houses and squash center, it was now time to design and build my own GBC, the Rainbow Wave.
Formula racers on display.
Berthil’s squash center in the middle of a modular building block.
The front of the center.
A bar beside the court.
The court and surrounding floor.
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Motor and Feed
The motor for the Rainbow Wave powers the belt that drops the balls on the wave as well as the wave mechanism. You can see it under the belt to the left of the wave section.
Wave Mechanism
The mechanism to make the wave is a chain of gears that runs attached beams. Each gear has a beam that rotates as well as raises and lowers, making a continual motion for each revolution. The gears used are 8-teeth gears, so each beam is offset by one tooth from each other. The end result when running is a synchronized wave motion.
Rainbow Wave
Ball reservoir and motor, under the conveyor.
The rear of the wave section, showing the drive shaft (center) that connects to the rear gear rack. The motion is slowed down by the larger gear and transferred to the line of gearing behind.
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Fascinated by the possibilities of LEGO mechanics and creative design freedom of LEGO, an idea was born in my head to make a GBC where the balls would surf on an undulating wave of colored LEGO. Inspired by the colors in the LEGO Creators XXXL box combined with Technic mechanics, the Rainbow Wave was born after about 100 hours of tryouts and building. The total build is 1943 LEGO parts with about 1150 of them moving 38 pistons in 38 different colors. Two older colors were used because of color availability and for achieving optimal color transition sequences. 38 eight-tooth gears are connect to each other with one tooth offset so a full wave is made out of eight colors. The balls are thrown on the wave to have moving start, the undulating waves then further carry the balls to the end. The entire GBC is level so the balls are actually surfing on the waves. An excellent building instruction has been made by Laurent Fournier which is available for free. If you like the Rainbow Wave please support it on LEGO Ideas.
Here, you can see the small beams that push the wave elements up and down. The beam is fully vertical at the tallest point and winds down. LEGO Technic plates with holes and round tiles with holes keep the elements straight. The black panels at the top prevent the balls from falling off the sides.
The Anthill
A few weeks ago I was contacted by a Spanish TV show called El Hormiguero 3.0 which translates to ‘The Anthill’. This long-running show includes comedy and combines celebrities with scientific experiments by explaining the technical backgrounds of the experiments to the celebrities. This concept resulted in a nomination for an Emmy award in 2011. The show is very popular in the whole Spanish speaking world. The list of celebrities that attended the show is long, including Will Smith, Miley Cyrus, Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Aniston, and Sylvester Stallone. The show’s producers had noticed my Rainbow Wave creation and asked me to fly from the Netherlands to Madrid to show the Rainbow Wave ‘experiment’ on Spanish Television. I was first scheduled to appear with Vin Diesel and Charlize Theron who were there to promote the latest Fast & Furious blockbuster. My GBC contribution was however moved to April 3rd with celebrities Eva Longoria and Maria Bravo. Eva is known for her role in the TV series Desperate Housewives. Later the Anthill also asked me to bring my modified Marble Run and the Invisible Lift designed by Akiyuki. It would prove to be a logistical challenge to get all three GBCs undamaged to Madrid. My wife joined me to help getting the GBCs to Madrid, as we also planned to enjoy a few days of holiday in Madrid after the show.
Three modules packed for travel...
The Show
To overcome this logistical challenge of flying three complicated GBCs across Europe, I built a special box where the GBCs would sit together as one GBC block on two large base plates. The box was just small enough to be checked in as a ‘musical instrument’ with enough ‘Fragile—please handle with care—this side up’ labels on the outside, also in Spanish. Unfortunately the box was thrown on its side on the luggage belt the last 6 meters of its journey to my hands. The Invisible Lift and Rainbow Wave were damaged, the Marble Run almost destroyed. Also bricks were missing; they must have disappeared through the handle holes that I made to accommodate the baggage handlers at the airports. It seemed a bad idea to start rebuilding the GBCs late at night in a hotel room with insufficient light, so I left the GBCs in the box to take them to the set of the show as early as possible the next day. The set opened at 12 noon the next day, leaving me seven hours to the final rehearsal and another 2.5 hours to airing of the live show at 9:45 p.m. I had not expected to be able to rebuild the Marble Run and test all modules in their final set-up before the show would go live on television. After six stressful hours without eating and resting, I managed to rebuild all models, leaving a few minutes of testing before the final rehearsal with the host of the show, Pablo Motos. My wonderful wife was a great help! She supported me mentally and made sure I got enough water and coffee. At the end the Invisible Lift and Rainbow worked flawlessly, but the Marble Run had a few problems during the final rehearsal. The Rainbow Wave had 37 colors instead of 38 colors because one color was missing. So I began the show with fingers crossed and hoped everything would go well during the live broadcast for millions of viewers.
...that went terribly awry.
Salvaging the Marble Run.
Working against the clock.
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Eva Longoria was there with her friend and actress Maria Bravo to promote her foundation ‘to help Latinas build better futures for themselves and their families through education and entrepreneurship’. The show started with the interview between Eva, Maria and the host. The show went on with the Harlem Globetrotters, a spot for a dog asylum and a demonstration of a fire extinguishing fume cabinet.
Finishing right on time!
Maria Bravo, Eva Longoria and the hosts of El Hormiguero 3.0 watch the contraption at work.
A close-up of the Rainbow Wave.
If you would like to support the Rainbow Wave at LEGO Ideas, you can go to this link: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/169256 or you can scan the QR code on the left!
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After that it was time to demonstrate my three GBCs. As I don’t speak Spanish, the GBCs were explained by the host that described all scientific experiments. Just before that a cameraman walking backwards almost destroyed the invisible lift by falling on the table and shifting the table. This can be seen on the video of the show when Eva and Maria walk back to the set. My heart missed a few beats at that moment. The Invisible Lift was shifted—good thing I designed a new ramp for it to be attached to the Rainbow Wave, so the line of GBCs was still intact. I was called to join them at the GBCs and stepped into the spotlights and tried to be as calm as possible while knowing millions of people were watching. While the host was explaining the GBCs to Eva and Maria, I quickly checked all GBCs and they looked okay. The host started the three GBCs with the PF switches that I had specially mounted on the GBCs for the show. He then dropped one ball in the Invisible Lift and the ball ran through all three GBCs without real problems. Phew, that was a big relief! LEGO keeps tight tolerances but with GBCs in a warm studio anything can happen. I only had to help the ball through the severely damaged and rebuilt Marble Run slightly. Oohs and aahs were heard from the live audience that was present during the entire show, including Eva’s husband José Bastón and other Spanish celebrities. The inbox of the Invisible Lift was then filled with LEGO soccer balls by Eva and Maria and the GBCs did what they were designed for: They carried all balls from right to left. Eva and Maria looked truly surprised and amazed; no doubt that they had never seen this before. The Marble Run dropped a few balls but was mostly outside the view of camera. The special ramp that I had designed for the Invisible Lift had a small but temporary clog because of a missing curved slope. All in all, the entire live appearance took about three minutes that flew by like the blink of an eye. At the end, Eva stepped towards me to shake my hand before the host took her back in the show. I think she was impressed. Afterwards, I and the GBCs went backstage to wait for the end of the show. The whole experience had been tense but very rewarding, and a great promotion for LEGO GBCs! Now it was time to relax and enjoy Madrid for a few days with my wife.
Future LEGO Plans
I would like to be at the Dutch LEGO World 2017 to display the three GBCs as shown in the Anthill together with two new GBC creations I will make. The two new GBC creations will be a Wall-E themed contraption and an interactive GBC where the children must participate in the GBC to move the balls by LEGO Power Functions. I’ve already started building the GBCs and I have until October to finish them. Further plans are to design and build a historic Formula 1 car myself, and I already know which one—and no, it is not the car of Dutch F1 driver Max Verstappen!
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Building
Article by Joe Meno Photography by Geoff Zhang
Henry Pinto’s Sentinel. Sentinel, X-Men, Hulkbuster TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.
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Sentinel Approaching!
Henry Pinto is a manager at a property valuation firm. He has been a Property Valuer for 14 years in total. About 4 years ago he began building. Like many, he went through a “Dark Age”, until he was re-acquainted with LEGO when his oldest son turned five. His son began collecting the LEGO Batman sets at first and after a short time, began to notice that they didn’t look like the movies or cartoons that his dad was watching. It was his son’s insistence for “screen accuracy” that challenged Henry to attempt his first real MOC, which was the Batman Begins Tumbler. As Henry notes, “My first attempt was really nothing special, but I can definitely say that a ‘spark’ inside was triggered.” His first attempt was then followed by many re-builds until he was finally happy to call it an official MOC. It was also at this point he displayed for the first time at the Sydney Brickshow and joined SYDLUG, which introduced Henry to some serious LEGO builders and truly amazing people. His favorite theme is definitely LEGO Superheroes. Having grown up with all of the characters as a child it’s something he can share with both his sons, who are now 9 and 6 years old. Henry recently started watching the X-Men animated series (’92 to ’97) with both of them. His sons are also huge fans of Spider-Man and Venom, which makes him a fan by default. His favorite specific Superhero theme is definitely LEGO Batman—he’s a great fan of Batman, including the comics and screen media. Henry has always loved robots and Mecha ever since childhood. He remembers vividly watching Voltron, Astroboy and Technoman in the mornings. This would grow into a
love of Japanese anime when he became a teenager—in particular Neon Genesis Evangelion. Comics followed shortly after and he got hooked on Marvel and DC after that. Henry always remembered creating LEGO robots in his childhood. He remembered wanting to create his own Johhny 5 robot and Terminator, even remembering trying to create a life size T-800 hand out of LEGO Technic and putting a latex glove over it to scare his brother when he was ten. It was only a matter of time before he would attempt a giant LEGO robot. And Henry explains, “All LEGO Mech builders have a little mad scientist in their head telling them to make their mech’s bigger and badder than the one they built before.” His first attempt at a LEGO robot as a serious LEGO builder was a Hulkbuster MOC, which was well received by his friends on Facebook. He also learned a lot of lessons with that build. It gave Henry ideas how to create oversize limbs that would be structurally sound, which is when he thought he could create a robot/mech that would be truly “massive”. Henry wanted the creation to be instantly recognizable and not just something purely from his imagination, as when one creates something from LEGO that exists in reality, people can instantly form a bond with it. Being a fan of Marvel and the X-Men as well as LEGO Superheroes, The Sentinel was the obvious choice; however the head was always the part that needed to be perfect, otherwise Henry wasn’t going to attempt it. The head is so iconic—it basically hasn’t changed since it was first published.
Henry’s first MOC, a Hulkbuster.
He never really used LEGO Digital Designer (LDD) before the Sentinel, but he thought he would use it to see if he could replicate the angles necessary to create the iconic head (Henry also wanted to see how much magenta he would need). After a few attempts, he was happy with the design and showed it to a couple of his friends on The LEGO Marvel and DC Australia Page on Facebook. Their reaction gave him the encouragement to move forward with the build. After the head was complete, Henry really contemplated if he should attempt to build the whole thing (he originally thought of doing just the head), as he knew It would take a huge commitment to see it through, but he also thought if there was ever going to be an opportunity to create an iconic giant LEGO robot, this would be it. The Sentinel and X-Men hold such a special place in our childhood for so many (“If you haven’t tried to make a Sentinel voice when playing with friends, then you haven’t had a childhood,” Henry notes), so for him, doing it right was the most important aspect of the build, and in his opinion, the only way to bring out the details was to go big—really big.
A breakdown of the Sentinel’s hand.
Henry never plans his builds—he always over-orders on Bricklink what parts/color he might need. The model takes shape as he builds. The Sentinel head was the first time he really used LDD. Even its body was free built. What he tries to do is see what pieces of LEGO would best represent the iconic sections of a subject, then try and see how he can attach it. The Sentinel took him three months to build, from the moment Henry started the head to the day he finished. He estimates that it has some 6,000 to 7,000 pieces. The first challenge came with the head. Just getting it to look right from most angles was really hard for Henry. The
A look at the boots and feet.
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second challenge was figuring out how articulated it could be without compromising the structural integrity of the model. The third and most difficult challenge was definitely finding the center of gravity and making him stand unassisted. “I made him from the top down, so I basically constructed his torso, shoulders, then arms (one of the problems with free building). It was at this point that I made the decision to make his legs static to support the already heavy model; however, I didn’t want him to have an ordinary pose. I realized through experience with other builds that even basic models can be “brought to life” if they are in a dynamic pose. I decided to make him in a “mid-step” pose, but this presented its own set of problems”. If the stride was too wide, then the model would collapse under its own weight, but if too narrow, then it would just look odd. The legs also had to support approximately 3.5 kgs, so they were made solid with now hollow sections. The weight was finally distributed evenly through the two legs with the support of a total of ten Technic linear actuators which are in fixed positions. The Sentinel is lit with a traditional Power Functions battery pack. There are three sets of Technic LEDs which fit straight into the holes of the wheel used in the chest plate. The same battery pack then feeds an additional set of LEDs into the eyes. The body is essentially hollow, which allowed plenty of room to squeeze in all the hardware. Lights on!
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For beginning builders who are interested in building large models, Henry offers this advice: “Don’t hold back on the details. When you are doing a build, everyone will see everything, so it will be the little details that make the model stand out. Also, don’t look at what other people have done. It’s very easy to get influenced by what other people have done with the Internet. When I was building the Sentinel, I looked at only the real life reference material—no other LEGO Sentinels. That way, you will be true to yourself and the subject.”
A look at the Sentinel’s back.
Breaking down the head. Rogue lands to show scale.
The Sentinel in action.
You can see more of Anuradha’s builds at her Flickr gallery: https://www.flickr.com/photos/anupehrson/ or you can scan the QR code!
27
You Can Build It MINI Model
Creator 31054 “Blue Express” Train Alternate Model:
Hyperion Class Cruiser Design and Instructions by Christopher Deck
Hello everybody! I am glad to join again in this issue of BrickJournal! It’s about trains this time, and we want to pick up this theme for our mini-model building session, too! New for 2017 the mini Creator set “Blue Express” appeared on the toy stores’ shelves—a lovely small blue/ gray/black locomotive with 73 pieces (two of them being extra pieces). You can build another two models from the same pieces, a different engine and a wagon. In this building experiment we want to build a fourth model with these pieces, but from a completely different theme. Although the part variety is extremely limited and we only have a few pieces, we want to build a Hyperionclass Cruiser from the Babylon 5 science-fiction series. Of course we will not be able to build it absolutely accurate and detailed under the conditions given, but we should at least be able to recognize the model. I can only encourage you to try this method of alternative building as it’s extremely challenging and will improve your building skills! Happy building and see you next time!
Parts List (Parts can be ordered from Bricklink.com by searching by part number and color) Front/Middle Qty 2 2 2 4
Color Dark-Bluish Gray Black Dark-Bluish Gray Blue
Part 99780.dat 99207.dat 3005.dat 87087.dat
2
Trans-White
3065.dat
1 2
Dark-Bluish Gray Blue
3003.dat 30165.dat
1 2 3 1 2
Trans-White Light-Bluish Gray Blue Dark-Bluish Gray Light-Bluish Gray
4073.dat 4073.dat 3023.dat 2540.dat 3839b.dat
5 1 1
Black Blue Dark-Bluish Gray
3022.dat 3022.dat 18674.dat
1
Black
63082.dat
1
Black
3731.dat
28
Description Bracket 1 x 2 - 1 x 2 Up Bracket 1 x 2 - 2 x 2 Up Brick 1 x1 Brick 1 x1 with Stud on 1 Side Brick 1 x 2 without Center Stud Brick 2 x 2 Brick 2 x 2 with Curved Top and 2 Studs on Top Plate 1 x 1 Round Plate 1 x 1 Round Plate 1 x 2 Plate 1 x 2 with Handle Plate 1 x 2 with Handles Type 2 Plate 2 x 2 Plate 2 x 2 Plate 2 x 2 Round with 1 Center Stud Plate 2 x 2 with Square Towball Socket and Axlehole Plate 2 x 2 with Towball
Qty 1 1 4
Color Blue Blue Dark-Bluish Gray
2
Light-Bluish Gray
Engines
Part Description 3021.dat Plate 2 x 3 3020.dat Plate 2 x 4 32064a.dat Technic Brick 1 x 2 with Axlehole Type 1 2412b.dat Tile 1 x 2 Grille with Groove
Qty 1 1 4 2 2 1 3
Color Black Black Light-Bluish Gray Black Red Black Black
Part 2436b.dat 99207.dat 4073.dat 3023.dat 3023.dat 3022.dat 6157.dat
3 2
Black Black
85984.dat 15068.dat
2 3
Black Flat Silver
3069b.dat 93594.dat
1 1
Black Black
24299.dat 24307.dat
Description Bracket 1 x 2 - 1 x 4 Type 2 Bracket 1 x 2 - 2 x 2 Up Plate 1 x 1 Round Plate 1 x 2 Plate 1 x 2 Plate 2 x 2 Plate 2 x 2 with Wheels Holder Wide Slope Brick 31 1 x 2 x 0.667 Slope Brick Curved 2 x 2 x 0.667 Tile 1 x 2 with Groove Wheel Rim 6.4 x 11 without Spokes Wing 2 x 2 Left Wing 2 x 2 Right
29
30
You can view Christopher’s webpage by going to www.deckdesigns.de or scanning this QR code!
31
Building Minifig Customization 101
Large Figure Conversion, Part 1 Article and Photography by Jared K. Burks
19” Store Display Figures
Over my years in this hobby, I have made many customs for friends and family. These customs typically take on a more personal meaning and I commonly end up making things outside my typical norms or skill sets. These projects typically end up teaching me something and I try to share the lessons learned in these articles. Today’s article is one of those cases. For those that don’t know, my wife and I recently welcomed a baby boy, Greyson, into the world. My wife, having decorated the nurseries of our first two children, had charged me with decorating his nursery. Given my love of LEGO minifigures, I wanted to make a special piece for his nursery, but found the typical LEGO figure a bit small for a newborn. I have long craved to customize one of the 19-inch Store Display Figures that LEGO uses, however they are a bit out of my price point as they sell for hundreds to thousands of dollars on eBay. So Greyson’s room would have to live without one. However, I simply couldn’t let this concept go. I started trying to figure out how I could make a Minifigure larger such that it would work as a display piece in my son’s room and allow him to play with it as he grows. I debated 3D printing a figure and there are many out there that people have created models for; I just wanted something closer to the classic minifigure. It was then I noticed my LEGO Stormtrooper Clock Minifigure. While the Clock Figures are only about 10 inches, it would be more than large enough. As an added bonus the Clock Figures can be found on sale for as little as $10; however, using the clock figure comes with some challenges. This article will chronicle my conversion of the clock into a custom figure for my son. Please note I am not the first to convert one of these figures; I found a few conversion examples online: Galactus by plaguedoc (http://imgur.com/gallery/EcMX5) and Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, which I can no longer find online. Both of these individuals created their figures in ways I wasn’t entirely happy with, and so I decided to find my own path, which I will share here. In this part of the conversion of the Clock to a custom LEGO figure, I will cover the disassembly, clock removal and hole repair, and basic use of Bondo to convert the clock elements to more LEGO-like elements. What do I mean by that last statement? The head of the figure in the clock is a snooze button. The head is design to be pushed down and spring back into place, triggering snooze. The hair, helmet, or whatever head accessory is used is locked onto the head by traveling through the head element. I wanted a removable hairpiece and a removable helmet, so I set to repair these elements to make them more like traditional Minifigure elements. The rest of the conversion of the figure will be presented in the next issue of BrickJournal, which will include: Sculpting in Bondo, Surface Prep, Priming and Painting, Accessory Production, and Decaling or Printing the final Design. Let’s get started.
32
LEGO Clock Minifigure.
Leg Removal
When taking apart a LEGO Clock there are simple sections and there are trickier areas. The legs are the simple, the head and torso are much more difficult. I work from the bottom up, thus starting with the legs and working my way to the head. The legs can be removed by unscrewing four screws. If you look at the back of the leg, there are three screws holding on a back panel. Once these three screws are removed and the panel is opened, the fourth screw is exposed, which is holding on a special Teflon ring that allows the leg to turn. Use caution to not lose these four screws, the Teflon ring, or the bottom foot panel, which is released once the back is removed.
Leg screws are circled on the left leg.
Now that the legs are both off, it is time to remove the screws from the back of the torso. This will allow you to open the torso, as it splits in half, but it won’t come off, as the head has it held on at this point. However, you can get the hips off and if you spread the torso wide enough, the arms will come off as well. This simply takes a bit of force. You can avoid this if you work on the head first, but as I was discovering the process, I focused on removing as many parts before tackling the head.
Head Removal
Locate the seams running along the hairpiece or head accessory; using a razor saw or rotary tool with a toothed saw wheel, cut through the hair/accessory along this seam. There are three main posts connecting one side of the hair piece with the other; there are two minor posts that cover the edge of the undercut of the hair next to the head. The main posts must be cut through to release the hair piece from the head; the minor will either pop out or break (which won’t hurt anything). As shown below, the middle post has already been altered as it travels all the way through the top “stud” area of the head. As I want to achieve a removable hair piece, I had to remove the center post. After the hair is removed, the head is removed in a similar fashion by cutting through the four corner posts and cutting along the seam, again with the razor saw. Once the head is removed the neck is exposed, which is held onto the torso by two screws. These screws must be removed to separate the torso halves from each other. We now have all the parts separated.
Showing the head and hair seams.
The third screw is circled.
Leg and foot parts removed.
The two posts are circled.
33
Superman disassembled!
Bondo Body Repair Kit.
Filling neck holes.
34
Filling head gaps.
Now that we have the figure taken apart, it is time to start repairing the damage and customizing the way the parts connect to each other around the neck, head, and hair (accessory) as we no longer require the snooze function. Using the rotary tool, the torso post and the neck part has to have the screw posts removed to allow the head to smoothly slide on and off the torso post. Now that we have everything prepped, this is where we learn to use a new product, Bondo Body Repair Kit, no pun intended. Please exercise caution when using Bondo. Read all the instructions and follow the safety guidelines. Using the Bondo two-part system, I filled the neck area, making the inside of the neck smooth and I filled the torso posts where the screws go past. This is simply done by mixing a small amount of the hardener with the Bondo filler; once mixed you have a short period before the Bondo sets up. When the Bondo starts to warm it is the easiest to work with, but at this point you have a minute or two tops. I always erred on the side of overdoing it as the cured Bondo can be cut or sanded away. Once the neck was repaired, I used the Bondo to attach the neck to the inside of the head. I also used the Bondo to fill the blade kerf where I cut the head apart. This was simply performed by using a small disposable spatula. Next, I started filling inside the newly reassembled head. I overfilled the inside of the head and then sprayed the torso post with the same Mann’s Mold Release that I use in silicon casting, and pushed the torso post inside the head, pushing the Bondo into all the nooks and crannies. Once the Bondo started to warm, I pulled the torso out of the head, revealing a filled interior. The Mold Release kept the Bondo from bonding to itself. I then cleaned up the holes in the top of the head. I then repeated this trick by filling the inside of the hair piece with Bondo and I sprayed the head with Mold Release and plunged it into the hair, only removing the head once the Bondo started to warm. I can now remove the head from the torso and the hair from the head.
More neck work.
Filling the neck post on the torso.
Filling the head’s interior.
Filling the top stud.
Filling the hairpiece to set the head.
Now that the head and hair have been repaired it is time to fix all the holes in the torso from the clock and the buttons on the back. This is one of the areas where I could have filled the holes in the torso with Bondo as previously done, however there is a simpler way to fix these problems. I started cutting a thick piece of Styrene plastic to close the large hole left by the clock. I used superglue to attach this thick plastic to the inside of the torso. I was careful to allow the hips to connect as they slide into the lower area of the torso. I then cut a thinner (0.040 inch) piece of styrene plastic to fill the clock area from the front. This was all done for strength as I want my son to be able to play with the figure. Now I cut two more thinner pieces (0.020 inch or 0.5 mm) of plastic the exact size of the front and back of the torso. I glued these pieces to the front and back of the torso. Once the glue has set I sanded the edges to feather it into the existing torso edge. I then sanded the torso edges. This is critical as the battery compartment has to remain functional if the hips are going to stay as they are. The battery cover locks the hips in place, so I had to retain this function by cutting the opening for the battery box.
Testing the sheet styrene to make sure the torso fits cleanly on the waist.
Attaching the styrene sheet.
Adding a thinner sheet.
Sanding.
Cutting the styrene for the cover.
Replacing the battery cover.
You can view Jared’s webpage by going to http://www. fineclonier. com/ or scanning this QR code!
Now that the figure is repaired, I have a blank slate to start creating the custom figure in the next issue! In that issue of BrickJournal, I will demonstrate how I resculpted the hair using Bondo, finish Surface Prep, Priming, and Painting, Accessory Production, and Decaling or Printing the final Design. See you next time.
Come back next issue for more Minifigure Customization! Don’t miss Jared K. Burks’ two books Minifigure Customization: Populate Your World! and its sequel Minifigure Customization2: Why Live In The Box? (both available now at www.twomorrows.com)
35
Bat-Train
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.
Design and Instructions by Tommy Williamson
About this issue’s model:
Parts List
“When I learned the theme for this issue was trains, I thought of two things: A Disney train (very tempting) and the Bat-Train. The LEGO Batman Movie was awesome, but what’s more awesome is my friend Paul Lee got to work on the film as a designer. One of his designs was the BatTrain, so naturally I went with that. I’d like to thank Paul for helping me get it right, since the reference in the movie trailer is a little hard to see. His tips and feedback were invaluable.”
(Parts can be ordered through Bricklink.com by searching by part number and color)
Qty Part Color Description 2 98138.dat Red Tile 1 x 1 Round with Groove 4 3020.dat Dark Bluish Gray Plate 2 x 4 5 2412b.dat Black Tile 1 x 2 Grille with Groove 2 2420.dat Black Plate 2 x 2 Corner 1 2436a.dat Black Bracket 1 x 2 - 1 x 4 with Square Corners 3 2654.dat Black Dish 2 x 2 1 3009.dat Black Brick 1 x 6 2 3023.dat Black Plate 1 x 2 5 3024.dat Black Plate 1 x 1 2 3032.dat Black Plate 4 x 6 1 3034.dat Black Plate 2 x 8 2 3035.dat Black Plate 4 x 8 1 3062b.dat Black Brick 1 x 1 Round with Hollow Stud 8 3069b.dat Black Tile 1 x 2 with Groove 2 3460.dat Black Plate 1 x 8 1 3622.dat Black Brick 1 x 3 8 3623.dat Black Plate 1 x 3 1 3666.dat Black Plate 1 x 6 1 3832.dat Black Plate 2 x 10 6 3937.dat Black Hinge 1 x 2 Base 19 6141.dat Black Plate Round 1 x 1 2 4085c.dat Black Plate 1 x 1 with Clip Vertical (Thick U-Clip) 1 4274.dat Black Technic Pin 1/2
36
Qty Part Color Description 2 4477.dat Black Plate 1 x 10 2 4589.dat Black Cone 1 x 1 1 6111.dat Black Brick 1 x 10 6 6134.dat Black Hinge 2 x 2 Top 3 6541.dat Black Technic Brick 1 x 1 with Hole 3 11477.dat Black Slope Brick Curved 2 x 1 2 15332.dat Black Fence Spindled 1 x 4 x 2 with 4 Studs 1 30039.dat Black Tile 1 x 1 with Groove 1 30162.dat Black Minifig Binoculars with Round Eyepiece 4 30503.dat Black Plate 4 x 4 without Corner 1 41769.dat Black Wing 2 x 4 Right 1 41770.dat Black Wing 2 x 4 Left 1 43722.dat Black Wing 2 x 3 Right 1 43723.dat Black Wing 2 x 3 Left 4 50746.dat Black Slope Brick 31 1 x 1 x 0.667 16 85984.dat Black Slope Brick 31 1 x 2 x 0.667 5 87580.dat Black Plate 2 x 2 with Groove with 1 Center Stud 16 99780.dat Black Bracket 1 x 2 - 1 x 2 Up 6 99781.dat Black Bracket 1 x 2 - 1 x 2 Down 2 3062b.dat Light Bluish Gray Brick 1 x 1 Round with Hollow Stud 1 4274.dat Light Bluish Gray Technic Pin 1/2 2 87994.dat Light Bluish Gray Bar 3L
37
19
38
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You Can Build It Railroad Hand Car Design and Instructions by Cale Leiphart The Railroad Hand Car or “Pump Car” is a simple track maintenance vehicle consisting of a platform built on 4 flanged railroad wheels and propelled by hand power. The rider or riders pump a beam on the car and the motion is transmitted though a system of rods, cranks, and gears to the wheels. The hand car was developed around the late 1850s and early 1860s. The average hand car could carry 4 to 6 track maintenance workers, called a Section Gang, who were responsible for performing maintenance on a section of the railroad’s track, usually 10 miles. The section gang would use the hand cars to inspect track for problems, and to haul tools and supplies out to areas along the line where repairs may be needed.
Parts List
(Parts can be ordered through Bricklink.com by searching by part number and color)
Qty Part Color Description 4 2420.dat Red Plate 2 x 2 Corner 2 3020.dat Red Plate 2 x 4 2 3069b.dat Red Tile 1 x 2 with Groove 2 3710.dat Red Plate 1 x 4 2 3794b.dat Red Plate 1 x 2 with Groove with 1 Center Stud 4 4735.dat Red Brick 1 x 1 x 2/3 Round with Bar and Clip Vertical 2 6541.dat Red Technic Brick 1 x 1 with Hole 8 60478.dat Red Plate 1 x 2 with Handle on End 2 63864.dat Red Tile 1 x 3 with Groove 2 87079.dat Red Tile 2 x 4 with Groove 2 2489.dat Reddish Brown Barrel 2 x 2 x 1.667 1 3841.dat Dark Bluish Gray Minifig Pickaxe 1 2412b.dat Black Tile 1 x 2 Grille with Groove 4 2926.dat Black Plate 1 x 4 with Wheels Holder 1 3021.dat Black Plate 2 x 3 2 3069b.dat Black Tile 1 x 2 with Groove 1 3837.dat Black Minifig Shovel 1 4522.dat Black Minifig Tool Mallet 2 4697b.dat Black Technic Pneumatic T-Piece - Type 2
40
Qty Part Color Description 1 30374.dat Black Bar 4L Light Sabre Blade 8 50254.dat Black Train Wheel Small with Notched Hole 2 59230.dat Black Minifig Mechanical Arm Straight 4 76263.dat Black Technic Flex-System Hose 3L (60LDU) 1 604547.dat Black Minifig Tool Hammer with 3-Rib Handle 1 604548.dat Black Minifig Tool Oilcan with Ribbed Handle 1 604550.dat Black Minifig Tool Screwdriver with Wide Head and 3-Rib Handle 1 604551.dat Black Minifig Tool Open End Wrench with 3-Rib Handle 1 604615.dat Black Minifig Tool Socket Wrench with Ratchet and 3-Rib Handle 1 4006.dat Light Bluish Gray Minifig Tool Spanner/ Screwdriver 2 4865b.dat Light Bluish Gray Panel 1 x 2 x 1 with Rounded Corners 4 6231.dat Light Bluish Gray Panel 1 x 1 x 1 Corner with Rounded Corners
1 2 3 4 5 6
1
1 stud
1.25
1.25 stud
Cut one tube to the length of a 1 stud plate. Cut another to 1.25 stud length.
1
41
7 8
Supply Car
1 2 3 42
2
Cut tubes to the length of a 2 stud plate.
4 5 6
9
43
44
Announcing
BrickJournal Building Sets!
Designed by BrickJournal’s Editorin-Chief Joe Meno, these are the beginning of a series of custom sets inspired by the themes and builders featured in the magazine! You can find out about these sets and upcoming sets at:
Microscale Space Shuttle with Stand: 50 pcs. $10
Microscale Starship: 166 pcs. $30
www.brickjournal.com/sets
Minecreep: 75 pcs. $15
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.
45
Building
The Norfolk & Western’s Big Steam Freight Haulers: Class A and Y6b Article and Photography by Cale Leiphart These two locomotives, the Norfolk & Western’s Class A and Class Y6b are my latest big articulated locomotives. These two builds have their genesis in my desire to update an older build of the Y6b I had built several years ago, and in a rare opportunity to build LEGO models for a commission.
pretty well, had nice detail, and was even the first ever winner of Best Train at Brickworld in 2009. It proved that Power Functions could not only work in trains, but could do things 9v couldn’t do when it smashed the competition at the train pull completion at Brickworld ’08. I felt I had done what I set out to do.
My original model of the Y6b was my first attempt at an articulated locomotive, a locomotive type with two sets of driving wheels, pistons and running gear that articulate in the center to help the long locomotive cope with tighter curves. The Union Pacific “Big Boy” is probably the most famous of this type. At the time I built my original Y6b in 2008, I was dissatisfied with the articulated style engines from other builders. The majority of them seemed too compromised, too out of scale in relation to the real prototypes they were based on, and too lacking in detail. I felt I could build a better example, and for the most part I did. It was one of the first LEGO locomotive models to successfully use Power Functions for power instead of the traditional 9v, before even LEGO’s own 46 Emerald Night set came out. It stuck to scale
Fast forward to 2016, eight years later, and the LEGO train hobby has advanced in skill and quality immensely. I had since built two more articulated type locomotives, a Baltimore & Ohio EM-1 2-8-8-4, which was an advancement of my ideas employed in the Y6b, and a Western Maryland Challenger 4-6-6-4 which I built for a competition between myself and my good friend Nate Brill. Each one of these was a progressively better model than the last. But my old Y6b was starting to show its age; it ran well, but the quality and detail of the models being built by LEGO train fans today was so much more advanced. Better parts, and better techniques have come out since the old Y was built. It was time to build a new Y6b locomotive—a build with all the best parts available and all the accumulated knowledge of building trains that I could throw at it.
The rebuild had been on my mind for some time, but other projects always seemed to take priority, so the old Y6 just sat boxed up, waiting its turn at the build table—that is, until a unique opportunity was presented to me. A gentleman I had met a few years ago at a LEGO convention contacted me. He had seen the old Y6 model at that event. He was a big Norfolk & Western Railway fan and was impressed with my model—so much so that he want to purchase a copy of it from me as well as commission me to build a model of the N&W class A locomotive. This was not the first time I had been asked by someone about buying one of my models. And I’ve always tried to give a fair price, keeping in mind that my train models often contain well over a thousand parts, and often over a hundred hours in researching, planning, acquiring parts, designing, building, and applying decals. I can’t build models for others for free and so far, no one yet had felt they were worth the asking price. This time was different though. I came up with an estimate of what I would be willing to build the two models for, and emphasized that the Y6b model wouldn’t be a version of the old model I had built, but a brand new version with better
Y6b Locomotive
The Y6b was known as the “workhorse” of the Norfolk & Western Railway and probably the ultimate evolution of the Mallet (Malley) type. The Mallet style of articulated locomotive reused the exhaust steam from the rear cylinders to power the front cylinders. This gave the Mallet type great power while also being very economical to run. Starting with locomotive no. 2120 in 1936, the Y6 class would become the final refinement of the N&W’s 2-8-8-2 design. With the completion of locomotive no. 2200 in 1952, this Y6b would become the last mainline US manufactured steam locomotive produced.
47
Breakdown of the articulating sections for the Class A.
The tenders have removable sections to access the battery, motors, and receiver.
parts, and better quality, the best version of the model I could possible produce. I wanted to give the buyer my best work and make two models for him that were truly worth what I was asking. And while I’ve never been a good salesman, my pitch this time worked and he agreed to my figure.
Underside construction of motorized tender truck.
So I was now in the professional model building business. I was tasked with building four locomotives—big locomotives too: A Y6b and an A class for the customer, and a duplicate pair for myself. Of course I wanted a pair for myself, I was a big fan of both these locomotives; that’s why I build the original Y6 model years ago, and had also wanted to build the A for many years. Now I was getting the chance to build them both for a paying customer. Building a second pair for myself at the same time made sense on economy of scale.
Y6b articulation breakdown.
An advantage to building big steam, is that they usually have large tenders (the semi-permanently coupled car behind the locomotive that carries the fuel and water the locomotive needs to run), and that means you have a lot of space inside the tender. This is perfect for carrying the I.R. receiver, battery, and in the case of these builds, the motors as well. Both locomotive designs are tender driven. That is, the motors (2 Power Functions XL motors for each locomotive) are contained in the tender, and drive the locomotive through the tender wheels. Of course the real locomotives, like all steam engines, were driven through the large driving wheels on the locomotive. So driving through the tender wheels is not as realistic, but neither is using an electric motor to drive a steam locomotive, so who’s fooling who? The advantage of the tender drive system I used is rock solid reliability. This is the drive system I first used on the original Y6 model, and had used on all the articulated engines I had built since. It had been refined to be powerful enough to pull long trains, yet be trouble free, requiring only occasional maintenance. I could have gone with a more exotic drive, one maybe driving though the locomotive’s drivers, but as this was a model I was selling to another person, I wanted a known quantity that I could rely on to not break down and be easy to care for. A lot of attention was placed by me on getting the running gear of the locomotives to operate reliably and negotiate any track configuration. Every time I build a locomotive, I start with the running gear. That is the wheels, wheel assemblies, pistons, side rods, connecting rods, valve gear, and motor drive. These are the critical components that every steam train builder needs to get right or they will always have problems trying to run their model. I refuse to build any other part of a locomotive until I get the running gear working perfectly, and then I have to be careful that when building the rest of the engine, I don’t foul up what I already did with the running gear. For these two engines I used the LEGO steam drivers from the Emerald Night set, Big Bens Bricks (www.bigbenbricks.com) L Drivers are the same size, and Big Ben Bricks small wheels for the smaller
The motorized tender trucks float free of the tender body. The XL motors are surrounded by a 7x7 stud box and are free to turn acting as the pivot point for the trucks.
49
The Class A nose. The fronts of both engines are packed with detail, which make articulation a difficult challenge.
The Y6b, rods down, in the classic going away shot.
wheels on the locomotives. The tender wheels are the LEGO standard train wheels with the traction band. The rods and valve gear connecting the pistons to the drives are custom pieces from Benn Coifman’s Trained Bricks store on Bricklink (https://store.bricklink.com/zephyr#/ splash). I love these custom rods as they work very well, are realistically detailed, and make a far more compact running gear than stock LEGO parts. There is no magic bullet to building reliable running steam locomotives; every one is different, and each one may have new problems that the last model did not. The key is to work through those problems as they come, observe what the locomotive is doing, what is going wrong, and then coming up with a fix for each problem. And there will be many. LEGO steam can be challenging and frustrating, but also very rewarding when it goes right. I spent a lot of time on these locomotives to make sure they went very right, which was a huge relief as I didn’t want to give the buyer two models filled with problems. And yes, both engines can negotiate standard LEGO curves and switches; they may look funny doing it, but they can do it. There were a few hiccups along the way with these builds however. The biggest was the delay in delivering the models to the customer. My full-time job seemed to conspire against me, taking up more and more time during my day, cutting the amount of free time I had to work on the models. And a huge project for my club, PennLUG, also took priority for some time. So I missed the original delivery date, but fortunately the buyer was understanding, and to make up for the delay I included a Norfolk & Western caboose model in the deal. In the end I’m extremely happy with the models, and fortunately so was the buyer. The reborn Y6b is as good a model as I thought it could be, and so too is the A class. I’ve had a lot of fun building them and now running them on our club layout. They’ve become two of the best running, most reliable locomotives in my fleet. And they’ve also been a learning experience in the business of model building. Perhaps I will get the opportunity to build more models for people in the future. If you’re interested, look me up; I love building LEGO trains.
Class A Locomotive
The Norfolk and Western’s Class A 2-6-6-4 locomotive is often called the “Mercedes of Steam”. Powerful, fast, and highly advanced in their day, they were one of the pinnacles of steam locomotive development. The A class, unlike the Y6b, was a simple articulated. They did not recycle steam between front and rear cylinders; both pairs of cylinders received steam straight from the boiler. This traded some economy for greater power and speed. In 1943 at the N&W’s Shops in Roanoke, Virginia, A class no. 1218 was completed and entered service. After a successful career 1218 was retired in 1959, but Norfolk & Western successor Norfolk Southern Railway would later restore and operate 1218 in excursion service from 1987 to 1991. Today 1218 is on display at the 50 Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke.
The last time all four engines (2 A’s and 2 Y6b’s) would be together, Brickfair Virginia 2016.
Building
Michael Gale’s Class 73 “The Royal Alex”.
Attend any conventional model train show today and you’ll notice one thing right off the bat—the entire room is filled with realistic sounds of locomotives and trains. For many years now, traditional scale modelers have been implementing sound systems in their model locomotives. Doing so adds a whole new level of realism to a train layout. Steam locomotives chuff along at proper speeds, accompanied by the sounds of a whistle, a bell, and various other component sounds which can be adjusted to suit the operator’s desire. So what about LEGO trains? Has sound ever been put in them? In a word: yes. However, these models have been few and far between. Train builders such as Carl Greatrix (the man behind the Caterham 7 set), Michael Gale, and Rob Hendrix have each implemented their own sound systems in some of their locomotives. Carl and Michael Rob Hendrix’s Davenport steam locomotive. each are experienced with traditional scale model trains and the electronics behind them. I had the opportunity to check out one of Michael’s soundequipped locomotives at Brickworld Chicago 2015. While it is a truly impressive model, the sound system he installed and the control he used was pretty over my head. On the other hand, Rob Hendrix of LifeLites has his own solution. Rob uses the Bluerail controller and a Bluetooth speaker in his Davenport steam locomotive. Another very impressive model, but it requires the use of a Bluetoothenabled phone to operate the sound. Rob tells me it works well, has good range, and does not require a line of sight, given the Bluetooth operation. So, if you don’t mind using your phone, this may be a better option.
Taking LEGO Trains a Step Farther: Sound Using a Dallee system and LEGO Power Functions you can add sound to your train! Let’s find out how!
Article by Glenn Holland
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My model of the streamlined Reading Crusader locomotive.
In late 2015, a fellow engineering student at my college was completing an internship with Dallee Electronics—a company which designs and produces sound systems and components for trains of all scales. I began talking with him, and we ended up working together to install a sound system in my model of the Reading Crusader. The Dallee system is very easy to use in regards to the custom jobs mentioned earlier—select your soundcard, speaker, any accessories, and your power source. Required components will vary based on the type of locomotive being built, but for the purpose of this article, I will be referencing the system installed in the Crusader.
Online Content Want to see more Train stuff? Go to our website by scanning the QR code at the corner or by typing in the link below to see the instructions for building this Metroliner Bar Car. Designed by BrickJournal Photo Editor Geoff Gray, this train car features a full bar area with grill, taps and overthe-bar lighting. Take a look and start building! http://brickjournal.com/index.php/extrasissue-46-cfdR23Dc7/
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2
1 4
3
The basic set-up for a steam locomotive is as follows: ·1
The Soundcard: The heart of the system. Dallee produces a few different versions with different sound effects for American steam, diesel, and a few electric locomotives. The Crusader uses the Hi-Line Steam Sound card, and it even has the proper whistle sound for the Crusader locomotive.
·2
The Speaker: The voice of the system. Dallee produces a wide variety of speakers in many sizes, all fully usable with their system, although there may be other sizes available elsewhere.
·3
The Chuff Sensor: The main sound of the system. For a steam locomotive, it is often desired to have the locomotive “chuff” synchronized to the motion of the drive wheels as it moves along the track. This gives a realistic sound as one would hear when viewing a real locomotive. Dallee produces two types of chuff rate sensors: one magnetic and one optical. The Crusader uses the magnetic sensor. Two magnets are attached to the Technic axle of the large drive wheels, on opposite sides. The sensor is attached near the axle. Every time the wheel completes one full revolution, the locomotives chuff twice. The optical sensor works in a similar way, but produces a chuff when the observed surface changes from reflective to non-reflective.
·4
The LEGO Interface: The control and power of the system. This nifty little piece of hardware came into existence as a result of the Crusader, which served as a prototype (shown in the photo above). While it does require some minor soldering, the full instructions and an explanation are available online. This interface wire allows you to control and power the system directly from Power Functions. The sound system
in my Crusader is connected directly to a standard IR receiver. The wiring is set up such that as long as there is power to the receiver, there is power to the sound system. That way, the locomotive can be standing still, but still produce sound. There is a small amount of additional hardware on the interface wire which allows for control of the whistle and bell features on the sound card. This too requires some minor soldering on one end. Once that is done and connected to the system, the whistle and bell can be controlled from an input on a Power Functions remote. Once it’s installed, operating the Dallee system is a breeze—simply power on your model, and off you go. As long as the system has been set up and wired correctly, it should work on your first try. You can use the button on the soundcard to adjust volume as well as select from multiple different sounds. The steam sound card boasts 10 whistles, 2 bells, 3 chuff types, and two types of air pumps to help make the model even more accurate to the original. I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to my Crusader at shows and at home, and it has slowly been convincing other train builders to give it a try. As trains keep getting better, so do the features they have. I am proud to have introduced several people to the Dallee system, and also to have been able to bring the LEGO train hobby something new and user-friendly.
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Community
Building a New LEGO® Train Publication
Brick Model Railroader’s home page.
Brick Model Railroader Article, Photography and art by Cale Leiphart
Have you ever looked at the LEGO® community and seen a hole that you thought you could fill? Well, Brick Model Railroader is my attempt at filling this hole. If you’re a LEGO train fan, you may have heard about it. To put it simply, Brick Model Railroader, or BMR (as we sometimes refer to it) is a LEGO train news and information resource. But to understand what BMR is and why I thought it was needed, we must follow the story back to its beginning. Brick Model Railroader launched on December 30, 2016, but its story really starts years earlier. The seed for Brick Model Railroader was planted with the end of another LEGO train publication, RAILBRICKS. Created by Jeramy Spurgeon and friend Mark Peterson, RAILBRICKS was a LEGO train fan magazine produced from late 2007 to 2014 with 15 issues released in total. As a magazine devoted to the LEGO train hobby, RAILBRICKS’ mission was to bring new builders to the LEGO train hobby as well as inspire the current LEGO train fan with articles on a broad range of subjects from builders to clubs, and reviews to in-depth articles on building techniques. My first encounter with RAILBRICKS was at Brickworld 2007 when I was asked to write an article for the first issue of the magazine. It was the first time I had been asked to write an article for any publication. I was both excited and honored, as my train building had progressed to the level that I was now able to share my knowledge with others in the hobby and help make them better builders. I would go on to become a regular contributor to the magazine throughout its run. I really enjoyed both reading and contributing to RAILBRICKS. It was a go-to source for the best the LEGO train community had to offer and an inspiration for us hobbyists to push the LEGO train hobby to new levels of awesome. But RAILBRICKS would eventually come to an end. Its creator and editor Jeramy Spurgeon left the LEGO hobby after a few years to concentrate more on family and career. Elroy Davis stepped in to take over editing the magazine, and we contributors tried to do what we could to help, but without Jeramy, the magazine lost momentum. Losing momentum soon brought the magazine to a halt. The last issue came in the summer of 2014.
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RAILBRICKS was always a volunteer effort for everyone involved. It was a labor of love, but not a job. It was something that we devoted free time to when we could. Producing a magazine of the quality level we wanted was a huge effort, and as contributors moved on, it became harder to gain new blood due to inactivity; the magazine soon became more than those left could maintain. Seeing RAILBRICKS end was hard for all us involved. We took pride in knowing that RAILBRICKS was a focal point for the LEGO train community. It was a repository for all the great knowledge of train building. Not having
RAILBRICKS left a hole and the LEGO train community lost a great resource. Sure the previously released issues were still available to download for free, but we had no central outlet for new ideas and no one source to turn to when we wanted to know what others were building and how they built their models. This is where Brick Model Railroader began, in the hole that RAILBRICKS left behind. It didn’t have a name yet, or even a plan for what it was going to be. But there was an idea there to create a new place for train builders to gather and share ideas. Like many ideas, this one changed shape as time went on and became something very different than what it started life as. The genesis of Brick Model Railroader started with a post by Elroy Davis to the Eurobricks train forum in March of 2016. Elroy wanted to start a new LEGO train magazine. His idea was to create a new magazine with paid subscriptions unlike RAILBRICK’s free online distribution. The money from subscriptions would be partly used to pay those who contributed to the magazine. Of course this would probably never be much, but Elroy felt that having some kind of reimbursement for contributors would help generate more content. Getting people to write articles for RAILBRICKS was always a struggle. As soon as I read Elroy’s post I contacted him. I too wanted to do something to fill the hole left behind by RAILBRICKS. We discussed many ideas and looked at options. We also examined the potential customer base for this new magazine. And here lay the problem with the for-profit LEGO train magazine idea: The LEGO train community, despite the attention we may get with our large train layouts at events, is a small community. We are a niche within the larger LEGO hobby niche. We are not large enough to support a subscription magazine as Elroy had proposed, at least not yet. Elroy eventually came to this conclusion, and the question then became, what can we do instead? This is when the idea came to home to roost. We needed a place to turn to as a hub for LEGO train enthusiasts. But what should that place be? I soon found myself turning to a sometimes overlooked branch of RAILBRICKS, the blog. Yes, RAILBRICKS had a blog, it was an outlet for current news, and news about upcoming magazine issues, but mostly it functioned the same as most LEGO blogs. It was a place to cover cool models that we had seen from other train builders. The blog was a nice way to get content out there without having to wait three months for the next magazine issue. But the blog interface on the RB site was a bit clunky and so it wasn’t updated with new articles as often as it should have been. I felt there was potential in the blog though. It just needed some new ideas and a fresh start. I knew the strong point of the blog was that it was very easy to upload new content to. Unlike the magazine format which took weeks to edit and put together, assuming you had enough articles to fill the pages, the blog format could be updated with new articles as soon as contributors could write them. No waiting three months for the next issue, you could be reading a new article several times a week. And with this frequent updating of new content, the media becomes more of a fixture in the everyday hobby. It has more visible life to it, and when fans see a lively publication, they are more willing to contribute their own content. The other big advantage to the blog format is that writers often seem to feel more at ease writing for it. Many feel that they may not be good enough writers to write for a magazine. This usually isn’t the case if the writer is passionate for what they’re writing about, but the stigma is there. A blog, though, feels like a more attainable entry point for writing, and so it becomes easier to get people to write for you. I did not want to follow the standard LEGO blog format, however. I love seeing the great models featured on most blogs, but I want this new LEGO train publication to be so much more. One of the great things about RAILBRICKS was the many in-depth articles on aspects of the train hobby. Building techniques, model design, layout construction, all were great resources to builders in sharing knowledge. I wanted those type of articles to find a home
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More!
again on this new venture. I wanted to cover the people who make the hobby great, the clubs who push boundaries, as well as the great train models produced by builders. I want this new publication to be a hybrid of fan magazine and hobby blog.
Early concept sketch for the BMR logo from Glenn Holland when it was still only Brick Railroader.
So now I knew what I wanted to do. I didn’t have a name yet, or know how I was going to create it, but I had the idea. I also knew I needed help, so I turned to some friends. My first task was to flesh out these ideas I had. I wrangled in Elroy Davis, Anthony Sava and one of my fellow PennLUG friends Glenn Holland. We discussed my ideas and added new ones. We all agreed from the start that this effort needed to be simple. We didn’t want to stretch ourselves thin by doing too much. No magazine, no hosting instructions, no forum—just a news blog dedicated to LEGO trains. The best MOCs, the best techniques, info on new sets and other products for trains, train events, building inspiration, etc. It needed to be easy to navigate for the reader, and easy to write for the authors. We could always add other features later if we had the resources, but out main focus should always be the articles.
The BMR boxcar has become our mascot.
Some of the people who have been involved with BMR, left to right: Joe Meno (advice and guidance), Cale Leiphart (creator), Nate Brill (writer), Glenn Holland (writer and social media), Josh Sanders (moral support).
The BMR boxcar being switched around Red Lion train station.
Oh, yeah—did I mention we finally had a name? We couldn’t call it Super Awesome LEGO Train News because of LEGO trademark issues, and mostly because it was too long. Seriously though, we knew we wanted to convey that this was LEGO-related in the title. The most obvious way without stepping on the LEGO Group’s trademarks was to use Brick in the title. And as this was trainrelated, Brick Railroader soon emerged as a front runner for the name. But it was Elroy who added the final piece, “Model” to Brick Model Railroader. It felt right. BMR makes for a good abbreviation, and we all like the idea of emphasizing the modeling railroading aspect of the hobby. With the plan for what we wanted to do in place and a name to do it under, the next problem was how to do it. This new publication was going to be web-based. I know nothing about web design though, and still probably don’t. But I had another friend I could turn to for help, James Catagnus. James is also a PennLUG member and more importantly to this story, he was the person behind creating and maintaining the PennLUG website. James’ immediate suggestion was to use Wordpress for building the site. WordPress is a free and open-source content management system for creating web sites and blogs. It features a plug-in architecture and a template system, and it’s what James used to create
PennLUG’s website. Not only was it pretty well-suited to what we wanted to do, it’s also pretty easy to use, even for a not-so-computer expert user like me. And so we built our site.
www.brickcoaster.com
Launch day for Brick Model Railroader came on December 30, 2016. We had six articles available to read at launch, with more being added every week since. The response from the LEGO community has been amazing. Train fans are genuinely excited to see this new publication, and many have offered to contribute. In the few short months that we’ve been live, we’ve had over 55,000 views and 500 subscribers so far to our website, and have 800 followers to our Facebook page.
Custom Roller Coaster Tracks, Sets and Accessories
And for me, it feels good to be doing something to give back to the hobby I love so much. LEGO trains are my passion, my creative outlet, and the catalyst of many great friendships I’ve made over the years. This hobby has given me so much. And now I have with the help of friends, given it a new place where fans can gather and spread their knowledge, and stay connected to the hobby. Please visit Brick Model Railroader at http://brickmodelrailroader. com (or use the QR code at the left) and also like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/brickmodelrailroader/ And if you have an article you would like to write for BMR, please contact us, we will always welcome those who want to share their hobby with others.
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!
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TwoMorrows—A New Day For LEGO Fandom.
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Community
PennLUG’s layout begins to take shape before a show.
The PennLUG Lines– Trains and More!
PennLUG, or The Pennsylvania LEGO Users Group, goes much further than a typical LUG. Several of the most advanced and well-known train builders call PennLUG their home club, and it is for that reason that the PennLUG train layout is regarded as one of the best in the nation.
A look at some of the finest scale LEGO Train models and the layout they run on.
It all started with the efforts of Cale Leiphart, who founded PennLUG in 2005. Since then, the layout has grown rapidly. Currently, the “PennLUG trains” crew consists of Cale, Nate Brill, Josh Sanders, Glenn Holland, and Nate Robinson. This group of train and LEGO-loving individuals continue to put countless hours into the layout, whether it be adding more trains, building scenery and buildings, or running trains when the layout is put together. All PennLUG members enjoy hanging out at the layout and watching trains go by, but for the die-hard train builders, it’s a little more special, as none of them have a layout at home they can run trains on. Therefore, having the layout put together is always a special and thoroughly enjoyed time.
Article by Glenn Holland Photography provided by PennLUG
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Some of the more notable improvements to the layout include the introduction of “grand curves,” a total redesign of the railyard, and the addition of a roundhouse and locomotive servicing facility. Of course, these are all changes specific to the layout itself. There are almost always new trains to run every time the layout is assembled.
The layout is displayed at many conventions like Brickworld Chicago and Philly Brickfest, but it also travels to more local model train conventions and shows. Because of this, the layout is almost entirely modular. The railyard comes apart by the baseplate, although some sections, like the ladder tracks and roundhouse, are more or less permanently placed. Each of the four grand curve corners assemble in a similar manner, using a guide to ensure correct placement of each tiled baseplate section. Even the roundhouse, though it may look entirely connected, separates by stall and is transported in its own special crate. The PennLUG Lines crew have dedicated themselves to being true scale train modelers, using LEGO as a building medium. When a new model locomotive is being planned, they usually don’t just dive right into building. As tempting as that may be, there is a lot of thought that is put into a model before bricks are assembled. They usually begin by selecting and extensively researching a prototype; buying books, reading Internet pages, examining technical data and dimensions—anything that helps them make their model look more like the real thing. It is easily noticed that all trains on the PennLUG Lines layout have a “homogeneous” look. In other words, every locomotive or piece of rolling stock looks in proportion and nicely scaled. To achieve this, PennLUG generally adheres to a scale of 8 studs equals 10 feet or about 1:46 scale. This scale is derived from most American trains which are roughly 10 feet wide, and 8 studs is the basis for building more realistic looking trains. While this scale is widely accepted, it is common for some larger trains to be built at 9 studs wide. Components like the engineers cab or the coal tender on a steam locomotive generally look better proportioned when built in this manner. Even some locomotives are built fully at a 9-stud width.
The BlueBrick layout plan which was used at a train show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in November 2016. This layout shows which models and builders are involved. Plans are made weeks or even months in advance and are done on software like Bluebrick to keep the layout flexible.
The “Vineyard” corner. The two main lines split from the branch line here. The vineyard, passenger station, and apple orchard are in the background.
Looking at the caboose track at the end of the yard. Behind that is York interlocking tower, and the Reading Crusader waits for the line to clear on the left.
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Glenn Holland’s model of the streamlined Pennsylvania Railroad Pacific type locomotive is entirely nine studs wide, which certainly makes for some interesting challenges.
Most, if not all, PennLUG trains use aftermarket parts. Components such as track, different wheel sizes, steam locomotive side rods, and, more recently, batteries and control systems have all found their way into one model or another. As with any theme, the goal is to drive the hobby to new levels of detail and realism. A locomotive which uses a more powerful battery is able to pull more cars in a single train, which looks more accurate to real railroads. The PennLUG Lines train layout is truly a sight to behold in person. Pictures really do not do it justice, as there is always great amounts of detail that can be passed over. Come on out, say hi, and enjoy watching some trains!
Cale’s Norfolk & Western A class locomotive receives a wash down.
The PennLUG Lines roundhouse, built by Cale Leiphart, Nate Brill, and Glenn Holland.
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Another section of the layout.
Community
A wooden train sold in the ’50s. Photo by Richard Bintanja.
If you grew up with a love for LEGO trains, do you remember what drew you in? For me, it started way back in the early 1990s with the little awe-inspiring brochures and booklets that came in almost every LEGO set. As an adult, I’m still a huge fan of LEGO trains. As a student of history, I’m also interested in the evolution of the LEGO Group’s long line of rail transportation toys. Advertising has played an integral role in fleshing out this story by providing insight into how LEGO trains were marketed, who they were marketed to, and the impact of product innovations on this beloved theme.
From Wood to Plastic
In the beginning, there was wood! By 1932, LEGO founder Ole Kirk Christiansen turned to making wooden toys for a living after his carpentry business fell victim to the Great Depression. It was during the 1930s that the first official LEGO trains made their debut as wooden pull toys. Pages from a ’50s retailer catalog showing wooden trains. Photo from www.miniland.nl.
All Aboard the Advertising Train! A History of LEGO Train Advertising through the 9-Volt Era Article by Matthew Hocker Photography and Art Provided by Matthew Hocker, except where noted. 1957 ad for LEGO toys. Photo from www.miniland.nl.
Following World War II, the LEGO Group set its eyes on plastic toys with the purchase of the company’s first plastic injection molding machine in 1947. In 1949, they introduced the Automatic Binding Brick, which was a precursor to the modern LEGO brick. The LEGO Group continued manufacturing wooden toys until 1960 (when a fire destroyed the wooden toy warehouse). During this period, plastic and wooden toys were advertised alongside one another. A 1957 brochure showed the LEGO System Town Plan below several wooden toys, including a steam locomotive.
The Town Plan Era
The aforementioned Town Plan series was launched in 1955 in an effort to fulfill Godtfred Kirk Christiansen’s vision of the LEGO System of Play. The System of Play emphasized the versatility of LEGO bricks by promoting the purchase of multiple sets and touting their compatibility with non-LEGO toys. During the 1950s, LEGO marketed the Town Plan sets as the perfect supplement to toy trains from other manufacturers, including Märklin. LEGO designed the buildings and plastic vehicles to fit in with HO (1:87) scale trains. An early idea book featured an illustration of an electric train being incorporated into the LEGO System, with brick-built trestles and all. There was even a German TV commercial showing adults using LEGO bricks in their layout... the earliest AFOLs! By the 1960s, LEGO bricks were popular enough that it was no longer necessary to advertise them as model railroading supplements, and the Town Plan era sets and HO vehicles were phased out by 1971. A page from a 1967 Japanese brochure advertising HO scale vehicles.
A page from a 1957 LEGO brochure. Image from the Royal Library (Copenhagen).
A 1965 ad from Sears showing HO scale vehicles. A 1958 image showing LEGO sets being used with HO scale trains. Photo courtesy of Henk van Zanten.
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Reinventing the Wheel During the Town Plan era, The LEGO Group released literature, supplementary parts and, eventually, sets that emphasized more openended building. Large-scale models of trains often appeared in Idea Books of the 1950s and 1960s. Prior to 1962, the LEGO System lacked functional wheels. As a result, illustrations of brick-built trains created through 1961 featured static brick-built wheels! The wheel system introduced in 1962 proved to be a real game-changer. A 1963 brochure for Supplementary Box #400 claimed, “there’s absolutely no limit to the number of different moveable toys you can build with the LEGO System by Samsonite.” Accompanying idea illustrations included an example of a little steam engine.
From Wheels to Rails
The significance of the LEGO wheel cannot be understated because it paved the way for the first true LEGO train sets, which made their big debut in 1966. The LEGO Group developed a train system utilizing blue rails connected together with white plates for railroad ties. Flanged wheels were created so that the trains could navigate the track as smoothly as possible. From the start, the LEGO Group offered both 4.5V batteryoperated trains and “push trains.” In the years that followed, the system was expanded upon through the addition of accessories, including crossings and working “stop & go” signals. A unique innovation for 1968 came in the form of set 118, “Electronic Train,” which consisted of a batteryoperated locomotive equipped with a special sound-sensitive microphone. A clap of the hands or “toot” of the included whistle sent a signal to the microphone, which then activated the motor. A major development for 1969 was the introduction of 12V electric trains, perfect for those who detested batteries. Power to these trains was conducted through “third rail” elements, specially designed to build upon the existing 4.5V track system. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, LEGO also continued selling push trains and 4.5V trains alongside the 12V system.
1965 page from a Sears catalog with LEGO Samsonite sets.
Late 1950s or early 1960s Ideas Leaflet.
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With some exceptions, most LEGO train advertising from the 1960s and 1970s featured illustrations of train layouts laid out on the floor, children enjoying their trains, or a mixture of both. Some were able to take these elements and put a different spin on them, such as one page from a 1971-72 catalog that encouraged kids to play with LEGO toys outdoors. One of the images was a young boy playing in the sand with his 4.5V train.
1968 UK Catalog.
1971-72 UK Catalog page.
One of the most stunning pieces from this period was a French magazine ad from 1971. LEGO trains were presented as an imaginative gateway into new worlds, with the ad following the evolution of a 4.5V train. The 4.5V train travels through the 12V system to become an electric train, and this train is transformed into a monorail. Next, it becomes a boat and a plane, before finishing off as a rocket. For its time, the artwork was also uniquely imaginative.
Every Train Gets its Minifig
In 1975, LEGO introduced its forerunner to the minifigure. Playability was limited because these little people lacked functioning arms and legs, and the yellow heads were void of printed expressions. These shortcomings were overcome in 1978, when the LEGO Group released the modern minifigure with working legs, arms and familiar printed smiles. Nearly 40 years later, this design is still going strong!
1970 Idea Book, showing the Electronic Train.
Minifigures revolutionized LEGO train design because the existence of trains now hinged on serving their needs. There were now engineers, industrious railyard workers, and a slew of adventurous passengers. LEGO trains soon evolved to include minifig-driven design elements such as working doors, interior details and accessories. Catalogs and brochures gradually emphasized these elements.
1971 French advertisement.
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1976 Danish advertisement.
Early minifigures would also breathe new life into the LEGO Group’s print advertising by introducing rich and colorful worlds within which to place its train sets. A great example of this was a 1976 advert that appeared inside a Danish Disney comic book. In this ad, train sets were immersed in a landscape of green grass, blue skies and snow-capped mountains. Features like roads and foliage were created using cut paper.
1980 Ushers in the Golden Era of LEGO Trains
Trains received a major facelift in 1980 with more realistic designs, including the shift from blue rails/ white ties to more believable light gray rails/dark gray ties. The LEGO Group also introduced a ton of play features that upgraded the 12V system to a serious contender in the world of model railroading. New for this year were: lighting for engines, trackside lampposts and remotecontrolled switches and signal lights. A remote-controlled decoupler was added to the line in 1981. In addition to its 12V range, the LEGO Group continued making push trains and 4.5V battery-operated trains. With the exception of a 1966 push train, LEGO trains for the American market were pretty much nonexistent up until this point. 4.5V trains made their U.S. debut in the early 1980s, while 12V trains would remain an overseas exclusive. The U.S. brochure for 1982 depicted 4.5V set #7720 in scenery utilizing traditional model railroading landscaping materials. Due to limited availability in the U.S., the majority of 1980s LEGO train advertising would come from Europe. The LEGO train system had grown so elaborate and exciting that this era witnessed the addition of catalogs and brochures devoted entirely to train sets. To inspire future purchases, the LEGO Group would also publish the last and arguably best of their train Idea Books in 1981 (#7777).
1976 LEGO brochure page.
1980 German advertisement.
1989 German advertisement.
This literature placed an emphasis on illustrating the multitude of play features and how minifigures could liven up displays. Brochures and catalogs contained images of children playing with trains, as well as depictions of trains set within their own custom-tailored “worlds.” The overall presentation was enough to inspire one’s imagination... almost as much as the Idea Book! During this period, LEGO train advertisements in magazines and comic books were incredibly diverse, with some being region specific.
1986 American catalog page.
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Trains that remained in production across multiple years were often depicted in different ways. A good example of this is set #7740, which was available from 1980 through 1986. It took center stage in some ads, while fading into the background of others. In 1984, #7740 even appeared in a hand-drawn comic-themed ad for the UK market.
1984 UK ad.
Contest brochure using the same train as the comic to the left.
There were even train-themed contests, such as the UK market’s 1982 “Great LEGO Railway Game.” Children tested their knowledge of the new LEGO signals by filling out a contest form and mailing in their answers for a chance to win LEGO train sets. The first prize winner would receive a prize package worth 500 GBP ($622.26 USD—over $1,500 in today’s currency!).
The Nine-Volt Nineties For 1991, LEGO unveiled a new 9V train system which adopted a “less is more” strategy. It was designed to replace the 4.5V and 12V systems. With the exception of working lighting for engines, the “bells and whistles” of the 12V era were abandoned. The 9V system would not appear in America until 1992.
1989 European brochure art.
The LEGO Group made sure to reach out to existing 12V owners, putting out a special supplemental parts brochure in 1991. It assured them that 12V service spares would be available for purchase through the end of 1993. “...We haven’t forgotten you!” The brochure also provided instructions on upgrading 12V trains to the new 9V system, accompanied by illustrations of 12V trains outfitted with 9V motors. If the 1980s represented the golden era of LEGO trains, the 1990s was arguably the golden era of LEGO train advertising. Illustrations placed the trains in rich and colorful landscapes, made all the more believable through the use of real world materials, such as aquarium gravel for track ballast. Photographers also utilized practical effects to give images even more personality.
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Support for the new 9V system was initially strong, with full line catalogs in premium sets prominently featuring the Metroliner on their front 1991 European catalog art.
covers. In Europe, the 1991 cover illustration depicted the Metroliner chasing down a handcar piloted by pirate and castle minifigs. Across the pond, the 1992 U.S. catalog featured the passenger train coming head-tohead with a mounted black knight. The message being conveyed was that trains could be every bit as edgy and cool as the other LEGO themes. Trains also graced the front covers of three 1992 U.S. LEGO Shop at Home catalogs. The most unique of these was the holiday issue, which showed a wide-eyed boy looking through one of the previous catalogs. The LEGO Group continued featuring trains on the front cover from time-totime, most often during the months leading up to Christmas. From the late 1990s through early 2000s, the LEGO Group was faced with financial hardship. With less money to go around, the LEGO Group had to choose its battles wisely, and LEGO trains did not perform as well as other themes. As a result, this period witnessed the decline of 9V train advertising. One of the last great hurrahs came in 2002, when trains received their own Shop at Home catalog.
1991 “Message to 12V Owners” brochure.
1997 US Holiday Shop-At-Home catalog.
1991 European catalog cover.
2002 US catalog page. Note the traditional model railroading foliage in the background.
The End?
Toward the end of 2007 LEGO announced it would be discontinuing 9V trains in favor of what would eventually become the modern battery-operated Power Functions system. While this system has proven itself a viable successor, official advertising for these trains has been sparse at best. Fortunately, AFOLs have been carrying the torch with elaborate layouts probably serving as the best form of advertising LEGO trains could ever hope for. However, that is a story for another time...
2002 US catalog cover.
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Community
Twice as many AFOLS, vendors, and visitors came to Japan BrickFest in 2016.
Event Report:
Japan Brick Fest 2016 Article by Will Galbraith (@willgalb) Photography by Takamichi Irie (@legomichiiiiii)
Sachiko Akinaga’s Manmaru.
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There Japan goes, back at it again with Japan Brick Fest 2016! Japan Brick Fest, the country’s biggest fan-held LEGO event, was hosted by the Kansai LEGO® User Group (KLUG) and held on June 4th and 5th at the Black Box Theater & Gymnasium of Canadian Academy, Kobe for its second year in a row. Now when you think “LEGO event”, seeing models built by fans of the brick often comes to mind. Surely there was no shortage of LEGO creations at Japan Brick Fest, but what also sets it apart from all the other LEGO events I’ve visited was the emphasis on games, activities, and entertainment. In addition to all the bricks and games were live musical performances by The Ofuromates (Bath Mates), a saxophone quartet playing various renditions of popular tunes from movies, and of course “Everything Is Awesome” (by law they had to). The event was separated into two areas, the Black Box Theater and the Gymnasium. Like last year, the Black Box Theater held the main stage where the Brick Master Competitions and other games were held, and as a new feature this year, were three large collaborative dioramas built by KLUG and JP-LUG Sakura. Plenty of other models filled in every perceivable open space in this location as well. Across the hallway was the much larger gymnasium where the majority of the AFOLs and their creations were located. From what I could tell it was pretty much packed in there for the whole weekend because there was just so much to see and do. Among the games available were creative building contests for Mixel prizes, Speed Birding, the Minifig Tower Competition, Mindstorm obstacle courses, and the big one, the Brick Master Competition. And at the end of both days, a special raffle was held for those who participated in collecting all the stamps from visiting each area of the event. Five lucky winners were chosen and received a fantastic mystery prize (you guessed it: LEGO)!
For those wondering what I meant by Speed Birding and Minifig Tower, Speed Birding is new this year and I think this one really is going to stick. It is a true test of dexterity and speed—two things I do not possess. The object of the game is to see how many Friends birds you can stick onto a baseplate in a minute. Once the minute is over, the baseplate is flipped over to eliminate the birds that weren’t applied properly, and the remaining are counted. The Minifig Tower Competition, a game thought up by yours truly, challenges contestants to stack minifigs on top of one another as high as they can in a minute. Sounds easy, right? Wrong. Just try going past 12 minifigs. Just try it. I dare you. There were two Brick Master Competitions, both kid and adult level. The rules are simple: each contestant was supplied with identical parts from the LEGO Classic 10693 and 10694 boxes and given a simple theme to build to. Maybe it’s a vehicle, maybe it’s food, or maybe it’s something a little more abstract like the theme of “Japan”. It was great fun to watch the contestants scramble to find their bearings in the sea of fresh parts before them and to think up a good idea at the same time! 20 minutes of either panicked or in-the-zone building later, the models were displayed for the public to see, and each contestant provided a few words about their creation. Judges review each model from each tier of contestants, and the winners proceeded to the next day’s Finals. The next day’s Finals underwent the same process more or less, until three winners were chosen from both the kid and adult levels. Everyone was so happy to have Jumpei Mitsui LCP congratulate the winners in person! The winners of the Kids Level Brick Master Competitions were: 1st Place: Shinnosuke Morita, 2nd Place: Haru Sawayama, 3rd Place: Ayumi Turner. The winners of the Adult Level Brick Master Competitions were: 1st Place: Toshiaki Takahama, 2nd Place: Ryo Arai, 3rd Place: Richie Bartlet. Moko’s Disney-themed mecha.
Sakura LUG’s space diorama.
Sailor Moon figures.
Introducing Bricky!
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KLUG’s Japanese village.
140 passionate AFOLs from eight different countries built a wide range of models that covered all grounds of interest and put them on display just about everywhere you could see. There was a little something for everyone. Cars, trains, planes, historical vehicles, movies, TV shows, anime, cartoons, comic books, fantasy, sci-fi, robots, Mindstorms, a very long and highly complex series of flawless GBC modules, buildings, food, amusement park rides, and even musical instruments! Some interesting displays to note were the adorable Manmaru creations by the equally adorable Sachiko Akinaga (www.lets-brick.com), a giant functional brick-built zipper by Y. Kuramata (Twitter @y.kuramata), and as previously mentioned, a large collaborative Classic Space diorama constructed by the members of JP-LUG Sakura, and two collaborative landscapes by the members of KLUG.
This year, KLUG built an extensive Japanese village diorama and a sizeable Cyberpunk future city diorama. Eyes were immediately drawn to the massive Osaka Castle overlooking the village built by KLUG and event founder Edwin Knight. Built as a cross-section, the attention to detail is not limited to the visually-busy exterior, as the interior boasts some of the finer points of ancient Japanese architecture. The village itself was comprised of buildings and vehicles ranging from modern to old-fashioned as well as fun little vignettes of minifigs going about their daily lives. A great amount of attention was spent on the roads themselves, which were all tiled and bordered with typical Japanese willows.
Brian Yu’s Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile.
Takeshi Tajima’s Sechi (New Year’s Food).
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As for the Cyberpunk City, it was my first time to participate in a project with more than one partner and I was tasked with coordinating all the calculations and building updates with seven other people, to make this complex multi-pieced puzzle fit together. The basic guidelines were for each member to build on a 48x48 baseplate, to build as high as possible, maintain a 4-studwide sidewalk around the perimeter, greeble the MOC’s foundation, and use any source of inspiration from sci-fi, fantasy, or any other fiction that we liked. As our vision of the cyberpunk future is a highly dense city, it was important to have good communication with our neighbors and to anticipate their structures as well as the unifying monorail that literally ran through the city in a loop. Every nook and cranny was packed with detail! You could find things from Star Wars, Star Trek, Blade Runner, Lord of the Rings, Alien, Robocop, Interstellar, Dark City, The Crow, The Matrix, Akira, sea monsters and mutant fish in the river, and if you look very closely, you could even find a tongue-in-cheek addition from Nicholas Winding Refn’s 2008 film Bronson by yours truly! And if you think that a monorail running through the city and the buildings themselves wasn’t enough, the whole city even lit up! Some views of KLUG’s Cyberpunk City.
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The Beatles!
BB-8 makes his appearance at Japan Brick Fest.
Some brick-built keyboards.
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A mech walker.
A sushi restaurant with conveyor for serving food.
Anime characters on display.
A street organ player.
Japanese trains, including a monorail.
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An after party was held on Saturday night. It was a pleasant evening and a chance for everyone to mingle, relax, eat and drink, as well as play an educational yet silly LEGO Trivia Quiz for a signed copy of Yoshihito Isogawa’s Technic Ideas book—not to mention an excellent selection of indie rock music was playing in the background that kept good vibes in the air after a long event’s first day. Japan Brick Fest 2016 was a fantastic event and it’s amazing that KLUG was able to run things as smoothly as they did with only a skeleton crew. Everyone went above and beyond the call of duty, showed great teammanship, and I am very proud of them all. And dare we boast that not a single brick was stepped on! The international AFOL party.
This year, the “Japan Brickfest, Kobe Fan Weekend”, has been chosen to be the third official LEGO® Fan Hub event, the first for Asia, joining Skaerbaek Denmark and Parades De coura Portugal in the Fan Weekend community. It will again be held at the Canadian Academy on Rokko Island on June 10th and 11th. There will be over 270 AFOLs from all over the world, many yatai (Japanese food) stands, live entertainment and much more!
A brick rendering of the Star Wars poster.
BrickJournal Brick Master Competition Winners.
A brick band?
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FEMALE LEGO BUILDERS! US Architectural builder ANURADHA PEHRSON, British Microscale builder FERNANDA RIMINI, US Bionicle builder BREANN SLEDGE, and Norwegian Town builder BIRGITTE JONSGARD discuss their work and inspirations! Plus: Minifigure customizing from JARED K. BURKS’, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, & more!
THEME PARK ISSUE! ERIK JONES’ custom LEGO version of Cinderella Castle, STÉPHANE DELY’s Disneyland Paris Sleeping Beauty Castle, and JOHN RUDY’s brick-built versions of your favorite theme park rides! Plus: Step-by step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd’s DIY Fan Art, Minifigure Customization with JARED K. BURKS, MINDSTORMS robotics lessons and more!
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!
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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!
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!
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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!
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!
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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!
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!
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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!
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!
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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!
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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!
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!
(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95
(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95
(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95
(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95
(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95
BRICKJOURNAL #20
BRICKJOURNAL #19
BRICKJOURNAL #18
BRICKJOURNAL #17
BRICKJOURNAL #16
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!
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!
(84-page FULL-COLOR maga zine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95
(84-page FULL-COLOR magazi ne) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95
(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95
(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95
(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95
TwoMorrows. BRICKJOURNAL #9
BRICKJOURNAL #7
BRICKJOURNAL #6
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!
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!
(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95
(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95
(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95
BRICKJOURNAL #5
Event report on the MINDSTORMS 10th ANNIVERSARY at LEGO HEADQUARTERS, Pixar’s ANGUS MACLANE on LEGO in film-making, 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
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Artwork will be a black & white ink drawing on 11”x17” comic book illustration board. Art will include paste-up cover copy, logos, and trade dress. Email greg@lethargiclad.com for |NCREDIBLE HULK #181 information on pricing and timeframe.
Last Word And it’s the end! Hope you enjoyed this issue as much as I did making it— and learned a little building, too! Next issue is going to be a bit different, as we will be going under the sea to look at some builders who build organically using Bionicle parts along with Technic and System elements. You won’t believe what you will see in the next issue! Until then, build on!
Hijinks at Japan Brick Fest!
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CLASSIC
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All characters TM & © their respective owners.
MORE BOOKS FROM TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING
GROOVY
COMIC BOOK FEVER
MONSTER MASH
HERO-A-GO-GO!
A psychedelic look at when Flower Power bloomed in Pop Culture. Revisits ‘60s era’s ROCK FESTIVALS, TV, MOVIES, ART, COMICS & CARTOONS!
GEORGE KHOURY presents a “love letter” to the comics of 1976-1986, covering all that era’s top artists, coolest stories, and even the best ads!
Time-trip back to the frightening era of 1957-1972, & explore the CREEPY, KOOKY MONSTER CRAZE, when monsters stomped into America’s mainstream!
MICHAEL EURY looks at comics’ CAMP AGE, when
(192-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $13.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-080-9
(240-page FULL-COLOR trade paperback) $34.95 (Digital Edition) $12.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-063-2
(192-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $11.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-064-9
(272-page FULL-COLOR trade paperback) $36.95 (Digital Edition) $13.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-073-1
KIRBY100
Celebrate JACK KIRBY’S 100th BIRTHDAY in style with an all-star line-up of 100 COMICS PROS who critique key images from his 50-year career, admiring his page layouts, dramatics, and storytelling skills, and lovingly reminiscing about their favorite characters and stories. (The Limited Hardcover Edition includes 16 bonus color pages of Kirby’s 1960s Deities concept drawings) (224-page FULL-COLOR trade paperback) $34.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-078-6 (Digital Edition) $12.95 (240-page LTD. EDITION HARDCOVER with 16 bonus pages) $45.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-079-3
spies liked their wars cold and their women warm, and TV’s Batman shook a mean cape!
REED CRANDALL ILLUSTRATOR OF THE COMICS
ROGER HILL’s biography of the “artist’s artist” who brought an illustrator’s approach to comics from the 1940s to the ‘70s on Golden Age heroes DOLL MAN, THE RAY, AND BLACKHAWK; horror and sci-fi for EC COMICS; Warren Publishing’s CREEPY, EERIE, and BLAZING COMBAT; THUNDER AGENTS, ERB characters, FLASH GORDON, & more!
LOR FULL-CO VER HARDCO ES RI SE ting documen of de each decastory! comics hi
AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES:
(256-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $49.95
The 1950s-80s plus 1940s and ‘90s COMING SOON!
(Digital Edition) $13.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-077-9
COMICS MAGAZINES FROM TWOMORROWS
BACK ISSUE
ALTER EGO
COMIC BOOK CREATOR
DRAW!
JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR
BACK ISSUE celebrates comic books of the 1970s, 1980s, and today through a variety of recurring (and rotating) departments, including Pro2Pro interviews (between two top creators), “Greatest Stories Never Told”, retrospective articles, and more. Edited by MICHAEL EURY.
ALTER EGO, the greatest ‘zine of the ‘60s, is all-new, focusing on Golden and Silver Age comics and creators with articles, interviews and unseen art. Each issue includes an FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) section, Mr. Monster & more. Edited by ROY THOMAS.
COMIC BOOK CREATOR is the new voice of the comics medium, devoted to the work and careers of the men and women who draw, write, edit, and publish comics, focusing always on the artists and not the artifacts, the creators and not the characters. Edited by JON B. COOKE.
DRAW! is the professional “How-To” magazine on cartooning and animation. Each issue features in-depth interviews and stepby-step demonstrations from top comics professionals. Most issues contain nudity for figure-drawing instruction; Mature Readers Only. Edited by MIKE MANLEY.
JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR celebrates the life and career of the “King” of comics through interviews with Kirby and his contemporaries, feature articles, and rare & unseen Kirby artwork. Now full-color, the magazine showcases Kirby’s art even more dynamically. Edited by JOHN MORROW.
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(100-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Editions) $4.95
(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Editions) $3.95
(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Editions) $3.95
(100-page FULL-COLOR mag) $10.95 (Digital Editions) $4.95
TwoMorrows. The Future of Comics History.
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Phone: 919-449-0344 E-mail: store@twomorrows.com Web: www.twomorrows.com
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