The Magazine for LEGO® Enthusiasts of All Ages! Issue 58 • August 2019
8.95
$
in the US
Building LEGO® Warbirds Past and Present!
with James Cherry and Ralph Savelsburg! Corvin Stichert’s Seraphim!
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82658 00383
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Instructions AND MORE!
Issue 58 • August 2019
Contents
From the Editor................................................ 2
People
João Eínon: Secret Weapon Builder............................... 3 Tan Yi Liang: Mechs Against NF2...................................... 6
Building
Nicholas Kramer: Builder of Warbirds and Warships...........10 You Can Build It: Mini V-22 Osprey........................................14 Building the Grumman X-29.....................22 The Aircraft and Helicopters of Carrier Air Wing Eight..........................29 Corvin Stichert: Building Modern & Future Planes........36 James Cherry: Props, Jets and Bricks!...............................44 Minifigure Customization 101: Usurping a Theme – Evil Soliloquy, Act II: GEAR!.....................52 You Can Build It: Mini Boeing 747 “Jumbo” Jet..................59
Community From LEGO Education: Introducing SPIKE Prime..........................64 Review: Building LEGO Dream Cars with Mattia Zamboni................................70 Community Ads.............................................78 Last Word..........................................................79 Bricks in the Middle......................................80
People
João Eínon with his model.
João Eínon:
Secret Weapon Builder Article by Joe Meno Photography by João Eínon
João Eínon is a 30-year-old Portugese LEGO builder. His job is at the ticket office at Portela Airport, located in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. He’s an AFOL who is a plane builder. His latest model is a huge plane that was a version of a flying aircraft carrier, the Daimler Benz Project C. Before that, he has built other aircraft and military vehicles. João has always had LEGO in his house. His father and cousins gave him all their LEGO collections, and after that, he continued to buy more and more. Luckily, he never had a Dark Age and always continued to build even when he got older. However, for many years, he thought that he was the only teenager that continued to build with LEGO. That changed in 2005 when João did a Google search on “LEGO Military” and found Dan Siskind’s BrickMania website. After contacting and talking to him for a little while, Dan explained to João that there were thousands of Adult Fans of LEGO worldwide. Shortly after that, he became a member of the Portugese 0937 Community and since then, he has participated at a number of LEGO events in Portugal, Germany, Denmark, and the United States. João’s favorite LEGO theme is Classic Pirates, but while he has some of those sets at his home, he always prefers to build his own models, specifically military planes, warships and tanks. This, combined with a video game, inspired him to build the Daimler Benz Project C. Many years ago, he bought the PS2 game Secret Weapons over Normandy, which featured this plane as the final Boss. The real plane was a secret project developed by the Germans at the end of World War II. The plane was designed to carry five manned guided bombs under the wings and then launch them against targets with extreme precision. Luckily this plane never flew, but João was so impressed with the size that he had to eventually make it.
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People
KS22 Keisha, Beatus Flamma Pattern.
Tan Yi Liang:
Mechs Against NF2 Article and Art by Tan Yi Liang
Rear view of KS22 Keisha, Shooting Star pattern.
Another view of KS22 Keisha, Beatus Flamma Pattern.
What motivates a builder? What inspires them to make creations? For Tan YL, his current inspiration is a genetic disorder. Before that, Tan had been building other creations for a while. He’s a 34-year-old Malaysian journalist with an English-language Malaysian newspaper, but he started building around the age of five. He spent more time creating his own models than building sets, as he always found sets to be less fulfilling, and harder than creating new models. For Tan, LEGO has always been about creative expression. Tan’s main focus initially were conventional and sciencefiction flyers like fighters, starfighters, bombers, and helicopters, as he had a love of aircraft in general. Mecha were actually a sideline to his main interests until 1999, when he discovered the creations of Mladen Pejic. The mecha Mladen built showed Tan what could be done with LEGO given enough practice, passion, and skill. He doesn’t have a favorite theme, but his current favorite set is D.Va and Reinhardt (75973) from LEGO Overwatch. Tan’s work is never far from his initial inspirations—the vast majority of the mechs he builds are flyers; when he comes up with new designs, he tries to create a seamless blend of a fighter, bomber or gunship and large power armor. He’s also learned a lot since he started posting his models online in 2014, when he built to occupy his time after his girlfriend Keisha Petrus passed away from Neurofibromatosis Type 2 (NF2).
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Building
The C-47 Skytrain comes to life with motorized propellers.
Nicholas Kramer:
Builder of Warbirds and Warships Interview by Joe Meno Photography provided by Nicholas Kramer
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LEGO fans come from all walks of life and all kinds of jobs. Nicholas Kramer has two jobs: His career as a Deputy Sheriff for a department in Wisconsin, and brick designer and owner/operator of NK Custom Bricks. His company sells custom LEGO kits, including military planes and ships in micro- and minifigure scale. BrickJournal talked to him about his building. BrickJournal: When did you start LEGO building? Nicholas Kramer: I built as a kid years ago, but as all childhoods go, life moved on to other interests and responsibilities. Did you have a Dark Age when you stopped building? If you did, what got you back into building? Definitely the Dark Ages. I didn’t touch a LEGO from the mid-’90s until March 2015. I got my daughter a Disney LEGO set for us to build together.
You Can Build It MINI Model
Mini V-22 Osprey Design by Nicholas Kramer Instructions by Joe Meno The V-22 Osprey is the first production tiltrotor plane. The rotors at the tips of the wings can tilt up to 90 degrees, giving the craft the ability to take off and land like a helicopter. This lets the Osprey take off and land in a small area. After takeoff, the rotors are tilted forward and the Osprey performs as a plane, with a speed of 310 miles per hour. The Osprey is in service in the United States Navy and Air Force as a transport craft for troops and equipment. This model by Nichoas Kramer is small-scale, but has tilting rotors. Have fun building it!
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Parts List (Parts can be ordered from Bricklink.com by searching by part number and color) Qty Color 1 Trans Clear 1 Trans Clear 1 Pearl Gold 2 Black 2 Black
Part Description 3023.dat Plate 1 x 2 85984.dat Slope Brick 31 1 x 2 x 0.667 90398.dat Minifig Statuette 2780.dat Technic Pin w/Friction and Slots 15790.dat Propellor 3 Blade 9 Diameter with Technic Peghole 1 Black 55298.dat Minifig Tool Screwdriver 1 Black 90370.dat Minifig Microphone 4 Black 98138.dat Tile 1 x 1 Round with Groove 2 Lt Bluish Grey 3020.dat Plate 2 x 4 1 Lt Bluish Grey 3021.dat Plate 2 x 3 8 Lt Bluish Grey 3022.dat Plate 2 x 2 11 Lt Bluish Grey 3023.dat Plate 1 x 2 6 Lt Bluish Grey 3024.dat Plate 1 x 1 1 Lt Bluish Grey 3068b.dat Tile 2 x 2 with Groove 4 Lt Bluish Grey 3069b.dat Tile 1 x 2 with Groove 6 Lt Bluish Grey 3070b.dat Tile 1 x 1 with Groove 2 Lt Bluish Grey 3623.dat Plate 1 x 3 1 Lt Bluish Grey 3795.dat Plate 2 x 6 2 Lt Bluish Grey 4081b.dat Plate 1 x 1 w/Clip Light Type 2 1 Lt Bluish Grey 4085c.dat Plate 1 x 1 with Clip Vertical (Thick U-Clip) 2 Lt Bluish Grey 4274.dat Technic Pin 1/2 3 Lt Bluish Grey 4733.dat Brick 1 x 1 with Studs on Four Sides 2 Lt Bluish Grey 6541.dat Technic Brick 1 x 1 with Hole 8 Lt Bluish Grey 11477.dat Slope Brick Curved 2 x 1 2 Lt Bluish Grey 13547.dat Slope Brick Curved 4 x 1 Inverted 1 Lt Bluish Grey 15068.dat Slope Brick Curved 2 x 2 x 0.667 1 Lt Bluish Grey 15573.dat Plate 1 x 2 w/Groove w/1 Centre Stud, without Understud 2 Lt Bluish Grey 18677.dat Plate 1 x 2 with Offset Peghole on Underside 1 Lt Bluish Grey 24299.dat Wing 2 x 2 Left 1 Lt Bluish Grey 24307.dat Wing 2 x 2 Right 2 Lt Bluish Grey 28192.dat Slope Brick 45 2 x 1 with Cutout and without Stud 1 Lt Bluish Grey 34103.dat Plate 1 x 3 with 2 Studs Offset 2 Lt Bluish Grey 41769.dat Wing 2 x 4 Right 2 Lt Bluish Grey 41770.dat Wing 2 x 4 Left 2 Lt Bluish Grey 42446.dat Bracket 1 x 1 - 1 x 1 2 Lt Bluish Grey 43857.dat Technic Beam 2 1 Lt Bluish Grey 44728.dat Bracket 1 x 2 - 2 x 2 2 Lt Bluish Grey 58176.dat Cylinder Domed 1 x 1 x 1.667 with Bar 2 Lt Bluish Grey 61678.dat Slope Brick Curved 4 x 1 2 Lt Bluish Grey 63864.dat Tile 1 x 3 with Groove 2 Lt Bluish Grey 85861.dat Plate 1 x 1 Round w/Open Stud 2 Lt Bluish Grey 87079.dat Tile 2 x 4 with Groove 4 Lt Bluish Grey 87087.dat Brick 1 x 1 with Stud on 1 Side 4 Lt Bluish Grey 99780.dat Bracket 1 x 2 - 1 x 2 Up
Building
The X-29 all ready to fly another test mission.
Following the Bell X-1, in which Chuck Yeager famously became the first pilot to fly faster than the speed of sound in level flight, dating back to 1947, there has been a long line of American experimental aircraft called “X-planes”. X-planes have pushed the frontiers of aeronautical research.
Building the Grumman X-29 Article by Ralph Savelsberg
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The X-29, which first flew in 1984, was an X-plane intended for testing socalled forward-swept wings. Two examples were built by Grumman, a Long Island-based manufacturer with a long history of producing aircraft for the US Navy, including the F-14 Tomcat of Top Gun fame. Grumman was also responsible for the spider-like Apollo Lunar Modules used to land American astronauts on the Moon, so they certainly weren’t strangers to building unconventional flying machines. The two X-29s flew a grand total of 242 test flights until their retirement in 1991. Both aircraft currently reside in museums.
Forward-swept wings
At a first glance, forward-swept wings may seem like an odd idea, but they can have a lot of advantages for a fighter aircraft. The shape of an aircraft wing changes the flow of the air around it, such that the pressure under the wing becomes larger than the pressure on top. As a result you get an aerodynamic lift force pointing upwards. If the nose of an aircraft is raised, increasing the angle between the wing and the airflow, this lift force increases. That angle is called the angle of attack. For a jet fighter, being able to fly at high angles of attack can be very useful, because the large lift force helps to make it maneuverable. However, if the angle of attack becomes too large, the airflow over the wing
forward, but that they cannot splay out too far sideways. This solution was inspired by an F-16 model by Corvin Stichert. Given that the real aircraft’s gear was from an F-16, this seems only fitting. The wheels themselves are mounted at an angle relative to the struts using LEGO revolvers, so that they are vertical when the aircraft is parked. This is an idea I picked up from John Lamarck.
I always like to have some working features on my aircraft models, such as a folding landing gear.
The fuselage gets wider towards the intakes, which gave me just enough space to house the gear when folded. All this space did mean I had to take some care to make the fuselage sufficiently sturdy. Fortunately it is just tall enough for me to run a few plates lengthwise through it, above the landing gear bay. I built the gentle curve of the intakes into the fuselage using wedge bricks and curved slopes mounted sideways. Both X-29s had an attractive color scheme, with white overall paint. The white was contrasted with thin dark blue and red lines that ran along the length of the fuselage and curved graciously over the wings. Initially I wanted to build these into the construction using plates. However, I soon realized that, with the panels for the cockpit sides and the complicated wing construction, this wasn’t feasible. So, I decided to use stickers instead. I made these myself, using a vector graphics program on a computer and an inkjet printer. After carefully cutting them, I attached them to the model using thin adhesive tape.
Cockpit detail (left) the distinctive forward swept wings (center) and engine detail (right).
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People
A model of one of the aircraft that started it all: An F-14A Tomcat in the 1978 markings of Fighter Squadron 84, “The Jolly Rogers”.
Was it triggered by a movie such as Top Gun or The Final Countdown or a book by Tom Clancy or Stephen Coonts, or perhaps by seeing the model kits being built by my best friend? I don’t know, but as a teenager I developed a fascination with military aviation, and with naval aviation in particular. I started making model kits. One of the first scale models I built was a 1/48 scale F-14 Tomcat in the seventies markings of US Navy Fighter Squadron 84, “The Jolly Rogers”. Most US Navy jets from that time were painted light grey on top, with white undersides and white control surfaces and, more importantly, with brightly colored markings identifying the squadron they belonged to. The Jolly Rogers are famous for the skull and crossbones applied to the fins of their aircraft. I also had a poster of one of their Tomcats on the wall above my bed. However, when built my model kits never looked quite as good as the pictures on the box they came in. I was simply too impatient for all the sanding, gluing and painting and for sitting around waiting for paint or glue to dry.
The Aircraft and Helicopters of Carrier Air Wing Eight Article by Ralph Savelsberg
I have been an enthusiastic LEGO builder for most of my life, and because model kits weren’t really my cup of tea, at some point I turned to building aircraft models out of LEGO parts instead. Since then, aircraft models have been the staple of my LEGO diet. Over the years, I have always kept at least one model of an F-14 Tomcat. An earlier version was featured in the second ever issue of BrickJournal, way back in 2006. LEGO has changed a lot since I was a teenager, or even since that first BrickJournal article. There are many more colors and parts that simply didn’t exist 25 years ago. In particular curved slopes, wedge bricks and wedge plates with different angles really help with building aircraft models. I also have a much bigger budget and can rely on resources such as Bricklink for buying parts. As a result, I can now do things that I could only dream of doing with my limited childhood parts collection. As a child I used to find minifigures a bit dull, with their identical goofy smiley faces, so I started building my aircraft at a slightly larger scale, rarely used minifigures. Nowadays minifigures are much more varied and fun, but I have mostly stuck to the scale I’ve been using for
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Electronic attack squadron 141 “Shadowhawks” flew EA-6B Prowlers as part of Carrier Air Wing Eight in 2003.
The wing also had three squadrons of F/A-18 Hornet strike fighters, one with S-3B Viking anti-submarine warfare aircraft, a number of SH-60F/ HH-60H Seahawk helicopters, and E-2C Hawkeyes. I’ve built an example of each type. The Hawkeye was a particularly fun build, with its radar dish and weirdly canted tailfins. Like the old E-1 Tracer before it, it has propellers, but they are powered by more advanced turbine engines.
Aircraft of Carrier Air Wing Eight in 2003, clockwise, starting from the upper left: An F/A-18C Hornet strike fighter, an SH-60F Seahawk anti-submarine warfare and utility helicopter, an S-3B Viking antisubmarine warfare aircraft, and an E-2C Hawkeye airborne-early warning aircraft.
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Building
Corvin Stichert:
Building Modern and Future Planes Interview by Joe Meno Photography by Corvin Stichert
Corvin Stichert is a builder who has been seen showing off his planes at BrickFair Virginia. He also took the leap from fan builder to LEGO designer in 2015. Before that, he worked as a community manager and student concept artist. BrickJournal talked to him about his planes. BrickJournal: How long have you been building? Corvin Stichert: I received my first sets at the age of 4, starting with a bucket of classic bricks and my father’s bricks from his childhood, followed by my first town sets. All in all, that makes 24 years of building with bricks. Did you have a Dark Age? If so, what got you out of it?
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Yes and no. I lost a lot of interest in the classic themes in the early 2000s. Part of that was of course due to becoming a teenager, but also the sets themselves. A lot of them were just too simple for my taste. Luckily, that was when the first waves of Star Wars sets were released, and I found the building challenges I was looking for. I had only just been introduced to the movies a year or two prior, so it happened at just the right time. It felt like forever to save up enough pocket money to buy that first X-Wing. And then in 2001, Bionicle was launched and I heavily got into that. I stuck with Star Wars and Bionicle for many years, building just a few MOCs here and there whenever the mood struck. It wasn’t exactly a full ‘dark age’, but it was very casual up until 2010, when I attended my first LEGO fan event. It was quite eye-opening, and meeting so many like-minded builders re-energized the wish to create my own models.
Building
James’ Corsair diorama.
James Cherry:
Props, Jets, and Bricks! Interview by Joe Meno Photography by James Cherry An overhead view of the diorama.
James Cherry is a builder who lives an ordinary life. He’s married, has a son, and a dog and cat. He has been working for a computer games company for the last 20 years. His interests include skateboarding and playing guitar in a band. Another interest he has is in aviation, and he combines LEGO building with it to create incredibly detailed models of aircraft. While he builds other subjects, like cars, he is most known for his planes, which have been seen online and in events in the UK. James talked to BrickJournal about his planes and building. BrickJournal: When did you start LEGO building? James Cherry: I have built LEGO since being a small kid; it was by far my favorite toy growing up. I continued building until around the age of 16 before other interests got in the way. Did you have a Dark Age? If so, what got you back into building? I got back into LEGO at the start of the Star Wars franchise, especially after the first few UCS sets. I began to understand what could be achieved with LEGO as a medium and that realistic representations of real life objects were possible. What is your favorite theme? I have enjoyed a number of LEGO themes over the years, starting with Classic Space; I got into Technic at a fairly young age; then Star Wars and nowadays mainly Technic and some of the ideas sets like the Saturn 5. I don’t buy a lot of kits for myself these days, but my son loves LEGO and I get to enjoy many of the newer sets that he gets! Why did you choose LEGO as a medium?
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My dad used to ask me that all the time! He is a scale R/C aircraft builder, and an amazing one at that. He never used to understand my choice of medium. Seeing some of my latest models, though, I think he understands that the level of fidelity that can be achieved with LEGO now is pretty high. Though they have functionality, he does still
A look at the custom chrome on the Mustang.
create the shaping. This process is the most time consuming and usually involves many, many iterations before they get finalized. The last build stage is the detail like undercarriage, missiles, pylons, gear doors and cockpit interior. Finally the stickers and stencils are applied to finish the model off. The main ambitions with the Mustang were that I wanted to build the internal frame and components accurately (like fuel tanks, frame structure and engine) and wanted to have it chromed to loosely resemble the bare metal finish of many of the real aircraft. I built a Technic frame which was held rigid largely by putting the large 16x8 tiles down the fuselage side. Most of the parts I chromed myself in vinyl. The studded parts I bought custom chromed. The F4J Phantom was my first proper foray with Power Functions. While with the P-51D it made sense to have the control column and rudder pedals manually drive the control surfaces by cables, I wanted to create remotely controlled control surfaces for the Phantom. Due to the much larger size of the real aircraft, I scaled down to 1/15. I built this model from the ground up with the Power Functions as key and then skinned the Technic frame and functions with the outer shaping. I use huge amounts of the discontinued finger hinge pieces in all of my model outer shaping, as well as various ball joints and other hinges. My main ambition with any of my models is to build an accurate scale model. This is always forefront in my mind and I generally will not compromise that for anything. This tends to make building the functions much harder as I generally have less space to fit them due to internal structures needed to support the accurate outer skin. The F-14A Tomcat was an evolution of the experience I had building the Phantom. I refined many of the techniques and incorporated new ones and it took a year to build with so
Interior compartments are also built in the plane.
many iterations. The complex nature of the curves on that plane meant it was a huge challenge to model accurately and also maintain the functionality. The inclusion of the carrier deck section added an extra dimension. I love to be able to display the models in some kind of background environment, and that one I was really pleased with; the tow truck and carrier deck crew (designed by the awesome Joe Perez) really helped the overall display. My latest aircraft build, the F4U Corsair, continued this theme with a detailed background to place it on, which was a lot of fun to build, especially the palm trees. It is the first of a number of planned 1/15 scale WW2 aircraft I intend to build. I am currently building 2 Spitfires, a Mk5 and a Mk14. 47
Building Minifig Customization 101:
Usurping a Theme Evil Soliloquy, Act II:
GEAR!
As with the start of every continued TV show, there is a quick recap from last time… AIM troops guide an Air Support vehicle.
Article and Photography by Jared K. Burks A.I.M., Modok TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.
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Last time on Minifigure Customization 101, we demonstrated the creation of a unique A.I.M. Agent helmet, which was 3D printed and painted to color match LEGO bright light orange. Minifigure art was drawn and printed onto torsos to complete the basic figure. Now M.O.D.O.K. has his minions; they need their gear…. For those unfamiliar with A.I.M. Agents, a quick recap will follow. Advanced Idea Mechanics (A.I.M.) is an organization of brilliant scientists and their hirelings dedicated to the acquisition of power and the overthrow of all government by technological means (i.e., Evil Tony Stark types). A.I.M. was the scientific research division of the subversive military organization Hydra however; they seceded from Hydra in the late ’60s because of political differences, and began independent operations. A.I.M. first came to public attention when it was incorporated as an international cartel dealing with the development and marketing of new technological products. It supplied hardware and weapons to governmental and quasigovernmental agencies. Sometime after this, Colonel Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. exposed A.I.M. to be a subversive organization. Since then, all of A.I.M.’s activities have been covert. In the Marvel world, A.I.M. has only had three major achievements: The Super-Adaptoid, the Cosmic Cube containing an Infinity Stone, and M.O.D.O.K. Thus, M.O.D.O.K. needs to meet his makers! [Footnote: M.O.D.O.K. and A.I.M. biographies were modified from Marvel. com]
Parts List (Parts can be ordered from Bricklink.com by searching by part number and color) Qty Color 1 White
Part Description 4733.dat Brick 1 x 1 with Studs on Four Sides 2 White 85861.dat Plate 1 x 1 Round with Open Stud White 2 Pearl Gold 577b.dat Minifig Lightsaber Hilt with Bottom Ring 2 Pearl Gold 2412b.dat Tile 1 x 2 Grille with Groove 2 Pearl Gold 3023.dat Plate 1 x 2 4 Pearl Gold 3048b.dat Slope Brick 45 1 x 2 Triple 6 Pearl Gold 6091.dat Brick 2 x 1 x 1 & 1/3 with Curved Top 24 Pearl Gold 6141.dat Plate 1 x 1 Round 1 Pearl Gold 15573.dat Plate 1 x 2 with Groove with 1 Centre Stud, without Understud 2 Pearl Gold 47457.dat Slope Brick Curved 2 x 2 x 2/3 Triple with Two Top Studs 1 Pearl Gold 60474.dat Plate 4 x 4 Round with Hole and Snapstud 2 Pearl Gold 61252.dat Plate 1 x 1 with Clip Horizontal (Thick C-Clip) 1 Dark Purple 44728.dat Bracket 1 x 2 - 2 x 2
M.O.D.O.K. – Photo and custom chair by Jeff “Octopunk” Cross.
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Mini Boeing 747 “Jumbo” Jet
You Can Build It
MINI Model
Parts List (Parts can be ordered from Bricklink.com by searching by part number and color)
Qty Color Part Description 4 Lt-Bluish-Gray 87087.dat Brick 1 x 1 with Stud on 1 Side 2 White 6192.dat Brick 2 x 4 with Curved Top 7 Lt-Bluish-Gray 59900.dat Cone 1 x 1 with Stop 1 White 6039.dat Cone 2 x 2 x 1.667 Octagonal 4 Lt-Bluish-Gray 2429.dat Hinge Plate 1 x 4 Base 4 Lt-Bluish-Gray 2430.dat Hinge Plate 1 x 4 Top 4 Lt-Bluish-Gray 3626c.dat Minifig Head with Closed Hollow Stud 3 Black 11253.dat Minifig Roller Skate 4 Lt-Bluish-Gray 3024.dat Plate 1 x 1 1 Lt-Bluish-Gray 3023.dat Plate 1 x 2 3 White 3023.dat Plate 1 x 2 1 Red 4596.dat Plate 1 x 2 with 3L Extension and Stud Hole 5 Lt-Bluish-Gray 3794a.dat Plate 1 x 2 without Groove with 1 Centre Stud 2 White 3623.dat Plate 1 x 3 2 Lt-Bluish-Gray 2420.dat Plate 2 x 2 Corner 1 White 87580.dat Plate 2 x 2 with Groove with 1 Centre Stud 1 White 99206.dat Plate 2 x 2 x 0.667 with 2 Studs On Side and Two Raised 1 Lt-Bluish-Gray 3020.dat Plate 2 x 4 1 White 3020.dat Plate 2 x 4 1 Red 3795.dat Plate 2 x 6 1 Red 3034.dat Plate 2 x 8 1 Lt-Bluish-Gray 3034.dat Plate 2 x 8 2 Trans-Black 54200.dat Slope Brick 31 1 x 1 x 0.667 1 White 44675.dat Slope Brick Curved Top 2 x 2 x 1 with Dimples 1 White 41855.dat Slope Brick Rounded 2 x 2 x 0.667 1 White 2340.dat Tail 4 x 1 x 3 1 Trans-Green 98138.dat Tile 1 x 1 Round with Groove 1 Trans-Red 98138.dat Tile 1 x 1 Round with Groove 1 Trans-Red 3070b.dat Tile 1 x 1 with Groove 1 White 24246.dat Tile 1 x 1 with Rounded End 2 Lt-Bluish-Gray 41770.dat Wing 2 x 4 Left 2 Lt-Bluish-Gray 41769.dat Wing 2 x 4 Right 1 Lt-Bluish-Gray 3933.dat Wing 4 x 8 Left 1 Lt-Bluish-Gray 3934.dat Wing 4 x 8 Right
Design and Instructions by Christopher Deck Hello everybody, I am very excited about this mini-model building session in this issue of BrickJournal, which is all about planes! This year is a special one for all plane fans like me, as we are celebrating the jubilee of the famous Boeing 747, more commonly known as “Jumbo Jet”. It’s already been 50 years since 1969, when the huge passenger plane had its first flight! A perfect opportunity for an oxymoron—and a model: a Mini Jumbo. So, let’s get started! The plane’s most distinctive design feature is of course its hump of the upper deck sitting on the main deck level. The most convenient way to build this was to use two different curved slopes, which both feature a tapering towards the top. In this way, they go along very well with the rounded bricks for the main cabin. Another tricky point when building miniature planes is the sweep back of modern planes’ wings. To achieve this without generating unnecessary gaps between wing and main hull, the use of hinge plates is a common method. This especially works well for the rear wings as they cling to the space nose which perfectly resembles the auxiliary power unit of the plane. The Mini Jumbo comes complete with landing gear for which we use minifigure roller skates. The white/ gray color scheme with the red highlighting line has been chosen as these were the colors of the first Jumbo prototype—the “City of Everett”. I really hope you will build this model and will have as much fun with it as I had. I wish you happy building, and see you next time!
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Community
From LEGO Education:
Introducing SPIKE Prime! Article by Joe Meno Photography provided by LEGO Education
One of the many attendees of the New York SPIKE Prime event.
A SPIKE Prime model - the Breakdancer!
On April 2, 2019, a LEGO set was unveiled at an event in New York City. However, this set was announced from LEGO Education, the branch of the company that produces the MINDSTORMS EV3 set and more recently, the WeDo Educational set. The name of the set? SPIKE Prime. Like its predecessors, the set creates a hands-on approach to both building with LEGO bricks and elements and coding. As a completely new design in both hardware and software, SPIKE Prime is a set that is between the WeDo 2.0 and MINDSTORMS EV3 in difficulty. For those students who have worked with the WeDo 2.0, SPIKE Prime adds more powered options to their builds and the Scratch language to their programming base. From there, students also progress to Python, which is a popular programming language that is used worldwide and in real-world settings.
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SPIKE Prime builds not only LEGO creations, but also confidence in students. While targeted to middle school, the set is designed to reach all levels of learners and to be inclusive, intuitive and naturally adaptive with its physical and digital creative approach. With the hands-on projects
and lessons, SPIKE Prime lets students engage in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) learning in an immediate and exciting environment.
IF Jørgensen, YOU ENJOYED THIS of PREVIEW, Esben Stærk president LEGO Education, CLICK THEa LINK TO ORDER THIS said: “We are seeing challenge globally in middle school ISSUE IN PRINT OR DIGITAL FORMAT! children, typically aged 11-14. At that age, children start losing their confidence in learning. A Confidence in Learning Poll (fielded by Harris Insights and Analytics and online at https://theharrispoll.com/global-confidence-poll-executivesummary/) data shows that most students say if they failed at something once, they don’t want to try again. With SPIKE Prime and the lessons featured in the SPIKE app, these children will be inspired to experiment with different solutions, try new things and ultimately become more confident learners. And for teachers, time is the ultimate barrier. The lesson plans, resources and models make it so easy for teachers to integrate SPIKE Prime into the classroom.” Each SPIKE Prime set has 523 pieces which can be used to build many different creations, including corresponding BRICKJOURNAL #58 LEGO WARBIRDS, PAST ANDwere PRESENT! JEFF CHERRY’S WWII STEAM lesson plans that created by and for educaand modern fighters (P-51 Mustang and F-14 Tomcat), RALPH SAVELSBURG’S BrickJournal exclusive X-plane, MICHAEL tors to help them bring more hands-on STEAM learning F-14 Tomcat “Vandy One”, step-by-step LEGO ininto theirBROWN’S curriculum and DECK, get students engaged and structions by CHRISTOPHER BrickNerd’s DIYmore Fan Art with TOMMYSTEAM WILLIAMSON,subjects. Minifigure Customization with JARED excited about LEGO Education and the K. BURKS, and more! LEGO Group have also created 11 new innovative elements (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 for the LEGO System(Digital in Play, will be first seen with Edition)which $4.95 SPIKE Prime. These new elements include an innovative http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_78_166&products_id=1436 integrator brick, which allows for building together with both the LEGO Technic and the LEGO System platforms, further expanding systematic creativity and the building possibilities. BrickJournal had a few questions about the system and talked to LEGO Education about them: BrickJournal: What was the reasoning behind the creation of SPIKE Prime? Was it meant as an easier version of MINDSTORMS, basically, and if so, what did SPIKE Prime simplify? LEGO Education: SPIKE Prime was created to help grow confidence in STEAM subjects among middle school teachers and students, whatever their starting point. SPIKE Prime is one of the easiest STEAM learning products for teachers to bring into the classroom—we know it can be daunting for teachers to find the right solution and then build lesson plans, so we’ve done the work for the teachers,
The SPIKE Prime Competitive Robot, using parts from the Expansion Set.
providing lesson plans and resources in the SPIKE App. SPIKE Prime is unique in that it combines physical building with beloved LEGO bricks, digital skills with Scratchbased coding, and such a wide array of standards-aligned curriculum designed to be relatable and make learning joyful for middle schoolers and to build their confidence. SPIKE Prime is complementary to our learning continuum and WeDo2.0 will continue to serve the primary school audience, while MINDSTORMS EV3 Education will serve middle school as well as high school students.
Another model from the set.
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