BrickJournal #88 by TwoMorrows Publishing

Issue 88 • Winter 2025

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Builder Spotlights:

Sébastien Houyoux Marco Lucafò ABrickDreamer A Talk with a LEGO Designer

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Issue 88 • Winter 2025

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

People Geneva Durand: From Pirates to Computers.........................3

Building

Gary Fleischer: Building Berlin..................................................9 Sébastien Houyoux: Micro Architect..............................................14 Marco Lucafò: Micro Madness!.............................................18 Gilles de Crombrugghe: Building Art and Architecture.................23 Isaac Snyder: LEGO Designer and Builder.....................28

Gentle Gidman: Building Airships and Space Settlements.....................................................34 ABrickDreamer: Building Micros and Movies....................38 Rexson David Magno: Making Mechs and Microships..............43 You Can Build It: MINI Bucket Truck.........................................48 Minifigure Customization 101: Why Does Nothing Ever Turn Out Like It Should?................................................52 BrickNerd Instructions: Microscope......................................................58 You Can Build It: MINI Breon Dayvan......................................63

Community Bantha Bricks: Fans of LEGO Star Wars Jürgen Wittner:

Life in Pieces....................................................66 Community Ads...............................................78 Last Word.............................................................79 Next Issue............................................................80

BrickJournal is no longer sold in Barnes & Noble stores. But it’s still available in independent bookstores, comic book shops, and by mail order and subscription!

From the Editor: First, some bad news: the article from Mark Stafford, LEGO designer and former BrickJournal writer, has been delayed. Why? With LEGO being busy, so is Mark—he’s mentoring and designing for the company, so finding time to write and gather materials has been tough. But he’s working on it, so when he’s done, we’ll make room for it!

Winter 2025 Issue 88 Publisher John Morrow

Editor in Chief Joe Meno BrickNerd and Assistant Editor Dave Schefcik Photography Editor Geoff Gray Proofreader John Morrow

Japanese Bureau Editor Nathan Bryan West Coast Editors Ashley Glennon

Bantha Bricks Correspondent David Strenzler

Contributors: Jared Burks, Gilles de Crombrugghe, Christopher Deck, Geneva Durand, Gary Fleischer, Gentle Gidman, Sébastien Houyoux, Marco Lucafò, Rexson David Magno, Ryan Bone, Davide Sacramati, Isaac Snyder, Jürgen Wittner and Greg Hyland.

Also, with this issue, BrickJournal is going to a quarterly (four times per year) publication schedule. I’m being treated for cancer, and the medication I’m taking, while working toward getting my illness into remission, has also resulted in my energy level being much lower than before. This makes it harder for me to work on new issues, so the magazine is slowing down until I get back up to speed. To tide you over between new issues, we’re offering a special 2-for-1 trade deal: Exchange one of your remaining print subscription issues for any two back issues (and we pay the postage)! E-mail store@twomorrows.com and tell ’em which issues you want (limit of 8), and we’ll adjust your account. Joe Meno, editor P.S. Have ideas or comments? Drop me a line at brickjournal@gmail.com. I’m open to suggestions and comments and will do my best to reply.

P.P.S... Yes, BrickJournal has a website — www.brickjournal.com! Twitter? Yep, there too — http://twitter.com/brickjournal. Facebook? Yup — http://www.facebook. com/group.php?gid=58728699914&ref=mf. Or you can scan the bottom codes with a QR reader!

Website

Twitter

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Many thanks to the websites who have served as mirrors for BrickJournal:

www.LUGNET.com, www.Brickshelf.com, www.peeron.com, www.brickmodder.net www.rustyclank.com

About the Cover: Sebastîen Houyoux’s Vatican City. Art by Sebastîen Houyoux. About the Contents: Nanoscale Berlin. Photo by Gary Fleischer.

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)

BrickJournalTM issue 88, Winter 2025 (ISSN 1941-2347) is published quarterly by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Periodicals postage paid at Raleigh, NC. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to BrickJournal, c/o TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Joe Meno, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. BrickJournal Editorial Offices: 6701 Coachman Drive, Springfield, VA 22152, USA. E-mail: admin@brickjournal.com. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Four-issue subscriptions: $53 US, $82 Elsewhere, $19 Digital Only, and can be purchased at twomorrows.com. LEGO ®, TECHNIC, MINDSTORMS, Belville, Scala, BIONICLE, ExoForce, Mars Mission, World City, and other LEGO theme lines are trademarks of the LEGO Group of companies. Star Wars, The Mandalorian TM & © Lucasfilm. All articles, photos, and art © BrickJournal Media, LLC, TwoMorrows Publishing and the respective writers, photographers, and artists. All rights reserved. All trademarked items are the property of their respective owners and licensees. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

BrickJournal and its staff would like to thank the LDraw community for the software it makes available to the community, which we use for making all of the instructions and renderings in this magazine. We would especially like to thank Kevin Clague for his continued upgrades of the LPub tool that is a part of the LDraw suite. For more information, please visit http://www.ldraw.org.

People

Geneva Durand with her rendition of The Vault.

Geneva Durand is a freelance writer and self-publisher. Now 27, she has been building for thirteen years. Before that, she enjoyed playing with LEGO bricks with her siblings, but it was then just a toy for her. The Ninjago theme got her into the online LEGO community, and from there she started entering competitions and building nearly everything she could think of. Her building style has grown as she has, and while she has considerably less time to build than she did as a kid, it’s still her biggest hobby. Her love of LEGO started with Ninjago, but her favorite themes are now the Botanical line, with Speed Champions close behind. Online LEGO community competitions gave Geneva the prompting she needed to start building and kept her going through the years. Even today, about half of what she builds is for competitions. Geneva has amassed a continually growing concept box of ideas and things that she eventually wants to build. Often, she will find a contest that inspires her to build something that adapts well to a contest prompt. An example would be her entry for the 2023 edition of the Wandering Skies Competition that prompted an “Off the Beaten Path” fantasy/steampunk era build. She had been wanting to do a floating island for some time, so building a pirate island for the contest came to mind.

Geneva Durand:

From Pirates to Computers

Article and Photography by Geneva Durand

Various views of Pirate Isle.

Geneva’s builds can take anywhere from a day to three or four months. Geneva doubts she has taken much more than that, because she usually does builds on a deadline (either for a competition or a convention), so something forces her to finish sooner, rather than later. She’s generally a fast builder, though; builds that take her months tend to do so because she is focusing on something else. Pirate Isle took her four days to complete. Geneva has found herself planning her builds more and more as she has matured as a builder. While plans may change in the middle of a build, she has found the final model is stronger and tells a more compelling story if she has planed it out more. These days, she will generally do a little sketch, browse some concept art, and sometimes even throw a few ideas at an AI image generator until she has a pretty firm idea of the layout and colors she would like to use on the build. Sometimes she will even “build in her head” and solve some of the technical problems without touching a single brick!

With Geneva building so many challenging models, it’s hard for her to single out one build as her favorite. Pirate Isle is a good candidate for hardest, though: it’s a pretty heavy island with some finicky construction details (like half-attached plates for balconies) and balancing it was… well, let’s just say it balanced impressively well until it fell over. She was literally minutes away from calling it done and taking it to the photography table when it keeled over so hard, some of the pieces actually broke! Lesson learned; now it’s held up by two supports.

Some of the detailing on Pirate Isle.

The Vault.

When asked what builds she’s most proud of, Geneva recognizes she’s proud of far too many! She mentions two of her more recent commissions: a house with lot of fancy angles, and a replica of “The Vault”—six racks of computer servers. She’s actually in the process of tuning The Vault into a custom set—building to a set standard has been fascinating, and she is hopeful that what she designed will be a really fun building experience for others. Pirate Isle is a special MOC because it is built for 360 degree visibility. It features a skeleton head on one side (which doubles as a great treasure hiding spot), a beach on another, and lots of little details like a bird nested in the rocks and a koala in one of the palm trees.

Geneva builds because she loves the process of discovery and sense of achievement that creating with LEGO bricks gives. There’s nothing like finding the perfect combination of bricks or turning hundreds of insignificant pieces into something epic. She also really enjoys the community aspect—she loves receiving feedback on her builds and discussing techniques with other builders. For her, building is mostly about creating something new, finding new techniques, using a part in an unusual way, or harmonizing unexpected colors. Geneva’s advice for builders is: “Build! The more you build, the better you’ll get.” She also strongly recommends seeing what other builders are doing and really taking time to look at builds and understand the way they were put together. This will really help you increase your understanding of the LEGO system.

One of the consoles of The Vault.

Geneva’s house model.

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THE TV SUPERHERO CRAZE IN ’60s POP CULTURE by MARK VOGER

HOLY PHENOMENON! In the way-out year of 1966, the action comedy “Batman” starring ADAM WEST premiered and triggered a tsunami of super swag, including toys, games, Halloween costumes, puppets, action figures, and lunch boxes. Meanwhile, still more costumed avengers sprang forth on TV (“The Green Hornet,” “Ultraman”), in MOVIES (“The Wild World of Batwoman,” “Rat Pfink and Boo Boo”), and in ANIMATION (“Space Ghost,” “The Marvel Super Heroes”). ZOWIE! traces the history of the superhero genre from early films, through the 1960s TV superhero craze, and its pop culture influence ever since. This 192-page hardcover, in pop art colors that conjure the period, spotlights the coolest collectibles and kookiest knockoffs every ’60s kid begged their parents for, and features interviews with the TV stars (WEST, BURT WARD, YVONNE CRAIG, FRANK GORSHIN, BURGESS MEREDITH, CESAR ROMERO, JULIE NEWMAR, VAN WILLIAMS), the artists behind the comics (JERRY ROBINSON, DICK SPRANG, CARMINE INFANTINO, JOE GIELLA), and others. Written and designed by MARK VOGER (MONSTER MASH, HOLLY JOLLY), ZOWIE! is one super read! (192-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $43.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-125-7 NOW SHIPPING!

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All characters TM & © their respective owners.

This long awaited volume documents the comic book industry during the aftermath of World War II, when scores of writers and artists returned from foreign battlefields to resume their careers. It was a period when readers began turning away from the escapist entertainment offered by super-heroes in favor of other genres, like the grittier, more brutal Crime comics. It was a time when JOE SIMON and JACK KIRBY inaugurated a golden age of Romance comics, Timely and National Comics capitalized on the popularity of Westerns, BILL GAINES plotted a new course for EC Comics, and JERRY SIEGEL and JOE SHUSTER first sued for the rights to Superman. These are just a few of the events chronicled in this exhaustive, full-color hardcover. Taken together, AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES forms a cohesive, linear overview of comics history, sure to be an invaluable resource for ANY comic book enthusiast! NOW SHIPPING! (288-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $49.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-099-1

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Building

BrixxBerlin ad the Berlin TV Tower.

Gary Fleischer:

Building Berlin Article and Photography by Gary Fleischer The Berlin TV Tower.

In 2020, Gary Fleischer applied for the TV game show LEGO Masters in Germany. While he ultimately didn’t get to compete in the show that year, he got back into building after a 15-year Dark Age and bought a LEGO set of the Berlin skyline—Berlin is his hometown. The set was a disappointment for Gary. Having a large basement, he thought, “Almost no one has done something that size yet.” After a friend bet him that it would be impossible to build a LEGO layout of the city because it was so lopsided and crooked, Gary decided to build it at 1:1250 scale, and in 2020 set upon completing his MOC. During that time, Gary did some other things—while he is a trained graphic designer, he left the field to start BRYX Toys, a company that creates custom sets and models from LEGO and other building blocks. He also competed in LEGO Masters 2021. Brandenburg Gate, an iconic Berlin landmark.

Berlin in Bricks or BrixxBerlin Gary’s completed map represents the central part of the city. The layout scales to about 2812 meters by 1875 meters and includes many of the city’s landmarks. This photo shows most of the layout, except for the right edge, where the Reichstag Building and Brandenberg Gate are located. Here are some landmarks that are on the layout: 1. Berlin TV Tower 368 meter tall tower, with viewing gallery and revolving restaurant. BrixxBerlin is displayed there. 2. Neptune Fountain Fountain showing Neptune and four women representing Prussia’s main rivers.

3. Marx-Engels-Forum Statue paying tribute to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. 4. SEA LIFE Berlin Aquarium with interactive exhibits.

5. DDR Museum Interactive museum focused on pre-unified Germany.

6. Berlin Cathedral 1800s cathedral with organ and dome.

7. German Historical Museum

8. Stabi Kulturwerk Museum for the State Library of Berlin. 9. Nikolaiviertel Restored district of medieval townhouses.

10. Museum Island A small island that is the location of five museums. 11. Franzosischer Dom French church with dome.

12. Checkpoint Charlie A gate that separated East and West Germany, now a historic site. 13. German Spy Museum

14. LEGOLand Discovery Center 15. Potsdamer Platz Historic square.

15 12

6 5

A commission that he did while working on the layout was an old Art Deco department store that used 100,000 elements. Gary had to design, plan, purchase parts, and build the model in just two weeks. It was a time with very little sleep. In 2023, he completed BrixxBerlin. With a footprint of 2.25 meters x 1.5 meters, the layout is composed of 300,000 parts. Over 1500 hours were devoted to building the streets and buildings on the model. The layout is modular, allowing it to be transported.

Reichstag Building, home of the German parliament.

For reference, Gary used Google Maps and his own photos to plan the details and roads. From there, the designs are made manually without the use of Stud.io or other digital tools. Design happens in Gary’s mind. He loves reducing large buildings or urban structures to their essentials. “The magic happens in your head,” he says. For him, the important thing is to focus on the details of the building. The Berlin layout is now on permanent display at the Berlin TV Tower, which can be easily found on the layout, along with some other Berlin landmarks. Gary’s microscale work is now available as sets from BRYX Toys, including the Berlin TV Tower and the Berlin Olympic Stadium. BRYX is working with major football (soccer) clubs to design more stadium sets. And yes, Gary won the bet!

The Berlin Cathedral is just off center. Behind it is the Humbolt Forum, an art museum. Another view of the layout opposite of the TV Tower. The LEGOLand Discovery Center is in the starburst-roofed building on the left edge.

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Meet the stars behind the Black Lagoon: RICOU BROWNING, BEN CHAPMAN, JULIE ADAMS, and LORI NELSON! Plus SHADOW CHASERS, featuring show creator KENNETH JOHNSON. Also: THE BEATLES’ YELLOW SUBMARINE, FLASH GORDON cartoons, TV’s cult classic THE PRISONER and kid’s show ZOOM, COLORFORMS, M&Ms, and more fun, fab features! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Interviews with Lost in Space’s ANGELA CARTWRIGHT and BILL MUMY, and Land of the Lost’s WESLEY EURE! Revisit Leave It to Beaver with JERRY MATHERS, TONY DOW, and KEN OSMOND! Plus: UNDERDOG, Rankin-Bass’ stop-motion classic THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY, Christmas gifts you didn’t want, the CABBAGE PATCH KIDS fad, and more! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Meet Mission: Impossible’s LYNDA DAY GEORGE in an exclusive interview! Celebrate Rambo’s 50th birthday with his creator, novelist DAVID MORRELL! Plus: TV faves WKRP IN CINCINNATI and SPACE: 1999, Fleisher’s and Filmation’s SUPERMAN cartoons, commercial jingles, JERRY LEWIS and BOB HOPE comic books, and more fun, fab features! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

The saga of Saturday morning’s Super Friends, Part One! Plus: A history of MR. T, TV’s AVENGERS (Steed and Mrs. Peel), Daktari’s CHERYL MILLER, Mexican movie monsters, John and Yoko’s nation of Nutopia, ELIZABETH SHEPHERD (the actress who almost played Emma Peel), and more! With ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, MARK VOGER, & MICHAEL EURY.

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RETROFAN #28

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Interview with Captain Kangaroo BOB KEESHAN, The ROCKFORD FILES, teen monster movies, the Kung Fu and BRUCE LEE crazes, JACK KIRBY’s comedy comics, DON DRYSDALE’s TV drop-ins, outrageous toys, Challenge of the Super Friends, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

The BRITISH INVASION of the Sixties, interview with Bond Girl TRINA PARKS, The Mighty Hercules, Horror Hostess MOONA LISA, World’s Greatest Super Friends, TV Guide Fall Previews, the Frito Bandito, a Popeye Super Collector, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

The story behind BOB CLAMPETT’s Beany & Cecil, western queen DALE EVANS, an interview with Mr. Ed’s ALAN YOUNG, Miami Vice, The Sixties’ Wackiest Robots, Muscle-Maker CHARLES ATLAS, Super Powers Team—Galactic Guardians, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

The Brady Bunch’s FLORENCE HENDERSON, the UNKNOWN COMIC revealed, Hanna-Barbera’s Top Cat, a Barbie history, RANKIN/BASS’ Frosty the Snowman, Dell Comics’ Monster SuperHeroes, Slushy Drinks, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Magic memories of ELIZABETH MONTGOMERY for the 60th Anniversary of TV’s Bewitched! Plus: The ’70s thriller Time After Time (with NICHOLAS MEYER, MALCOLM McDOWELL, and DAVID WARNER), The Alvin Show, BUFFALO BOB SMITH and Howdy Doody, Peter Gunn, Saturday morning’s Run Joe Run and Big John Little John, a trip to Camp Crystal Lake, and more fun, fab features!

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RETROFAN #32

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Featuring a profile of The Partridge Family’s heartthrob DAVID CASSIDY, THUNDARR THE BARBARIAN, LEGO blocks, Who Created Mighty Mouse?, BUCKAROO BANZAI turns forty, Planet Patrol, an encounter with SONNY AND CHER, Disco Fever, and more! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER. Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Meet the Bionic Duo, LEE MAJORS and LINDSAY WAGNER! Plus: Hot Wheels: The Early Years, Fantastic Four cartoons, Modesty Blaise, Hostess snacks, TV Westerns, Movie Icons vs. the Axis Powers, the San Diego Chicken, and more! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER. Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Take a ride with CHiPs’ ERIK ESTRADA and LARRY WILCOX! Plus: an interview with movie Hercules STEVE REEVES, WeirdOhs cartoonist BILL CAMPBELL, Plastic Man on Saturday mornings, TINY TIM, Remo Williams, the search for a Disney artist, and more! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER. Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Saturday morning super-hero Space Ghost, plus The Beatles, The Jackson 5ive, and other real rockers in animation! Also: The Addams Family’s JOHN ASTIN, Mighty Isis co-stars JOANNA PANG and BRIAN CUTLER, TV’s The Name of the Game, on the set of Evil Dead II, classic coffee ads, and more! With ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, MARK VOGER & MICHAEL EURY.

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99

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Building

Sébastien Houyoux:

Micro Architect Article and Photography by Sébastien Houyoux

Sébastien’s rendition of Vatican City.

Sébastien Houyoux got back into LEGO building during the first Covid-19 lockdown in 2020. While sorting through his old toys, he reopened an old box where all his bricks were mixed together. Deciding to take on the challenge of sorting the parts out and rebuilding his own sets, Sébastien quickly returned to the hobby. Going to college, Sébastien is a fourth-year student, studying to become a civil engineering inspector specializing in structures. It shouldn’t be surprising that his favorite theme is the Architecture series, or more generally any sets representing monuments from around the world. His apartment is filled with LEGO monuments from all over the globe! Discovering the builds by Rocco Buttliere in early 2021 inspired Sébastien to start building his own creations. Rocco’s creations were greatly admired by Sébastien, who thought, “Why can’t I build these?” He gave it a shot and hasn’t stopped designing since. Sébastien’s inspirations for his creations come from two directions. The first and most common is when he takes an interest in a monument like a bridge or skyscraper, for example, and he asks himself how he can recreate it in LEGO, what techniques to use, what dimensions to give the creation, and other factors. The second way is more spontaneous: he spend a lot of time on Google Earth and he virtually explores cities he’s not familiar with. Sometimes he discovers remarkable monuments or buildings, which become new subjects to build.

All of Sébastien’s creations are first designed in the Stud.io software. This app gives him access to a much wider range of pieces and colors than he physically owns, allowing him to experiment with new techniques and color combinations. During the design process, he often uses 3-D models as well as construction plans to achieve a result that’s as realistic as possible. However, the downside of designing everything on the computer is that some techniques that he develops need to be tested in real life to check their strength and viability. On rare occasions, he also builds with the bricks he has on hand to test these techniques. Once he gets the funds, he builds them for real! Completing a creation can take varying amounts of time, depending on several factors. The first is the size of the building Sébastien is designing. All of his models are at a 1/625 – 1/650 scale, so the dimensions can quickly become large, requiring more work, not just on the building itself, but also on the environment where he’ll place it. Second is the complexity of the building: his goal is always to

Different views of Vatican City.

reproduce reality as faithfully as possible, so he can sometimes spend hours on a particular element. He doesn’t stop until he is 100% satisfied with the result. The final factor is the inspiration itself, which isn’t always constant. Some of his creations were completed in an afternoon, while others took several months, with time to pause or work on another project. He often says that a MOC is never really finished; Sébastien frequently

United Nations Headquarters, New York City.

spends time modifying old creations to improve them and add details.

The most complex creation that Sébastien has done is the representation of the Giza Plateau with the three Great Pyramids. It was a challenging project in several ways. First, the subject is vast and has many details he wanted to include, such as the three pyramids, the Sphinx, and the plateau’s cemeteries. Before starting the design, he spent a lot of time researching the site’s topography and the history of the pyramids, followed by many hours on AutoCAD to create the plans. Finally, the design phase was very long. Achieving a satisfying result for both the terrain and the structures, with a relatively monochrome color palette, was a real challenge. In spite of the complexity, he’s very happy with the final result! Additionally, this model currently holds his record for most pieces—nearly 37,000—and impressive dimensions, measuring 1.7 by 1.75 meters. For now, it only exists as a digital model.

The Garabit Viaduct.

Sébastien’s build that he is most proud of, which he also built in real life, is the Garabit Viaduct. Besides being an iconic structure in France which he particularly loves, it posed an interesting technical challenge, especially with its monumental arch. He’s happy that he was able to capture the spirit of this bridge to the point that from a distance, it’s hard to tell it’s made of LEGO! It was one of his first models using complex techniques and he’s proud to see the result every day, as well as the enthusiasm it generates among others. For Sébastien, buildings things with his hands has always been something he enjoys. LEGO allows him to combine these two passions in a unique way. Additionally, he has always loved observing models, as they allow him to have a global view of a building and truly appreciate it as it is. A project that Sébastien has gotten back to working on is something he has had on hold for a long time: the Paris City Hall. It will be at the same scale as his other models, and it’s the first building of its type that he has designed. Because of this, it has sometimes been a real challenge to make progress on! For builders, Sébastien has the following words: “The advice I would give to a beginner is not to abandon a build if it doesn’t look good at first. The first attempt is rarely the best, and everything can be improved. Be persistent!”

The Giza Plateau.

Building

Marco Lucafò’s example of a SimCity 2000 layout, using his modules.

Marco Lucafò:

Micro Madness! Article and Photography by Marco Lucafò

Marco Lucafò is a map designer by profession, but has a background in architecture and urban planning. This training has helped him become a LEGO builder, although he has 35 years of experience building since childhood. He got back into the hobby as an adult less than a decade ago, and has been building MOCs for a couple of years. It was a combination of finally having disposable income and a place of his own that led Marco into LEGO building as an adult. He was also lured in by how advanced LEGO sets had become since he was a teenager. The set that really got him, he believes, was the Saturn V, which is still in his top three builds of all time. A close-up of the layout.

Concerning favorite themes, Marco doesn’t think he has one—he will always be partial to his childhood classics (City, Space, Pirates, Castle), but as an adult he mostly sticks to Ideas or Icons sets, with the occasional Art set for diversity. One theme he has grown out of, unfortunately, is Technic—somehow he never adapted to the studless modern version of the theme. While he had the itch to build for a while, what got Marco interested in building MOCs is, interestingly enough, his fiancé, who is completely uninterested in LEGO. It turns out building something out of bricks is the only creative work he is capable of, so when he wanted to gift her something personal and unique, building something for her came as a natural choice. Marco’s first digital build was a diorama of their first night together, and his first physical build was a replica of their wedding venue. Marco tends to be inspired more by real-world objects or references, as he loves the challenge of replicating either an existing object or something

Some examples of building modules that could be made.

Terrain modules.

Street and base modules for placing buildings.

Another layout example.

from his favorite piece of media out of LEGO. For example, in his AFOL workshop, the entire idea was to be able to replicate, at minifigure scale, some of the most recognizable LEGO sets. From there, it kind of grew naturally in a sort of brickbuilt “inception” vignette. A huge source of inspiration for Marco is what LEGO designers and the most talented fan builders can do with NPU (Nice Part Usage), especially at microscale. He constantly wants to recreate that kind of amazement when one realizes how some detail or element that was deem impossible is actually made in LEGO form. When asked about how long it takes to build a MOC, Marco admits he isn’t a prolific builder, as he cannot spend too much time on a build, and he tends to obsess over finer details. For him, it takes too long to build! Small MOCs can take only a weekend, but his biggest projects tend to span months of on-andoff work, with multiple iterations, and even complete reworks in the meantime. Some Escher-inspired builds.

Since Marco has a limited part collection that is spread over two houses and countries, he almost exclusively designs MOCs digitally. This gives him the freedom to mix both approaches; he can just start building and experimenting with limitless parts, but he’s usually planned or pictured in his mind some essential part of the build. Sometimes he just puts together some physical pieces stripped from his display sets to make sure he is on the right track, or sketches something to figure out the “LEGO math” he needs for a build. A life-sized stapler.

The hardest build that Marco has done is his SimCity 2000-inspired diorama. He could have probably gotten away with a much simpler build, but he was obsessed with trying to recreate, as much as possible, all of the main features of the original game in a very limiting scale. It took him months to find a way to recreate the peculiar blocky terrain, but he finally found a solution that also allowed it to be completely modular. Recreating all the city buildings was also challenging, with a lot of SNOT techniques that he was not familiar with at the beginning, but the results have been absolutely rewarding. Marco is very proud of how simple but effective his AFOL workshop build turned out. It was something born entirely out of nice part usage A street navigator. intuitions—he can’t even remember if he came up with the minifigure hand for the Titanic first, or the tooth for the Concorde “droop snoot,” but he then decided he should try to fit as many of the elements of a typical “LEGO basement” in a diorama as possible. The most exciting moment was when he managed to recreate the Batwing with only three pieces, and the cleverest was when he decided that the AFOL in the vignette could be working on yet another shrunk version of the same build he is in. Reproducing things with LEGO is what Marco loves to do the most, as he doesn’t see himself as a creative person, but rather a person looking for a mental challenge. To him, LEGO is the ultimate puzzle or problem-solving exercise,

Marco’s custom set of his wedding venue.

A nanoscale Concorde.

Marco’s minifigure scale building room.

and trying to mimic something with a limited set of shapes and parts is a great brain teaser that he has always enjoyed. A nanoscale Titanic.

Having been inspired by the latest midi-scale Millennium Falcon (the only one he can afford to display), Marco has started to re-create other Star Wars ships at the same scale, which is a nice compromise between extremely simplistic microbuilds and play scale models. Hopefully, they will turn out nicely and come together relatively quickly, and to his standards! For builders, Marco offers this advice: “Don’t be limited by the lack of a huge collection, time, or space. Explore digital design software, micro-build challenges, or try to build B-models (alternatives) out of your existing sets. I would also advise spending some time to learn the underlying math and rules of bricks. I am still constantly amazed by how much the old and new pieces fit in the same ’system’—and peeved when they don’t!” Building room elements.

A nanoscale Saturn V.

Building

Gilles’ Bonsai Forest Shrine.

Gilles de Crombrugghe (@akidandabrick on Instagram) is a young builder—16 years old. He started building when he was ten, and in the ensuing years grew from building basic models to creations that have been displayed at LEGO House. He has also taken part in a lot of exhibits and displays. LEGO building is his main passion. Other than that, he likes to draw, as it can sometimes help him visualize ideas for MOCs. He’s also a tennis player and very much interested in architecture (mainly Islamic and Asian), which is reflected in his creations. If LEGO didn’t exist, Gilles would have focused on drawing and let it become his art medium. Gilles’ first set (7635) was received when he was four. Starting his building with a LEGO farm set, Gilles quickly got into Ninjago. For playing, that was his favorite theme, but he was also very fond of older themes like Adventurers and Aquanauts. The shrine.

A peek at the Bonsai Tea Garden.

Gilles de Crombrugghe:

Building Art and Architecture Article and Photography by Gilles de Crombrugghe

At the age of ten, he started to play less and build more, so for him it’s been quite a natural journey from spending entire afternoons acting out adventures with ninjas to being a teenage LEGO builder. Now he really enjoys sets like the Architecture line, Modulars, Hokusai’s Great Wave (a LEGO Art set), or Ninjago City sets. Architecture, monuments, and cultures from various countries inspire Gilles to build. He used to get inspired from other builders, but over time, his MOCs have gradually detached from what others were creating, whether it is the subjects, presentation (display stands, for example) or the way they are built, as he tries to invent most of the techniques he uses. Sometimes he is also inspired by artists he likes. A good example is the Age of Zeppelin, as it was greatly inspired by the work of François Schuiten, one of Gilles’ favorite artists, along with M.C. Escher and Ando Hiroshige. Whatever his MOCs are inspired by, they are a combination of different places, as he wants it to look as if it could actually exist somewhere, but never be an actual place. The Bonsai Tea Garden.

Another angle of the shrine.

The Blue Iwan.

Building a MOC can take a couple of weeks for a microscale model, to five months for larger MOCs that include a stand. However, size is not the only factor affecting building time; it also depends on how much time the parts he orders take to arrive, and the complexity of certain sections. The hardest part of building a MOC for Gilles is the first part: choosing the subject. From there, he does a lot of research to get a fairly good idea of what the MOC is going to look like. After researching, he tries to figure what the hardest section is to design and start prototyping—it would be a shame to spend time building a MOC where some sections are impossible to build. After developing the

Some details of the Blue Iwan.

Moorish Courtyard.

hardest section, he continues making multi-colored prototypes for the second hardest section, continuing to the lesser complex sections. After all the different sections of a MOC have been prototyped, he lists all the parts he needs to build the MOC and orders them from various sales sites, such as Bricklink and LEGO Pick-a-Brick, based on price. This can result in different orders from these and other sales platforms. When all the parts have arrived, he starts the final step, which is building the MOC. At this point, it is important to note that Gilles is never sure of how the MOC will look before he starts building; his prototypes are built in multiple colors, and if there is a section that is symmetrical, he only prototypes half to join together when building.

Another angle of the courtyard.

Gilles’ hardest build was the Bonsai Tea Garden. All of his MOCs had sections that were extremely complex, but the Tea Garden also had natural landscaping and a display stand. For the building, it was hard to achieve the curve of the roof, which

he managed thanks to part 87745, but the hardest bit was that the walls are one brick thick, and since there is an interior, that meant that the walls had to look good on both sides. For the landscaping, the zen garden (raked sand with stones on it) is angled with the building; the azalea bushes are especially dense, and the stones on the path are half a plate above the sand. This was also the first time he included a stand for a MOC, of which the corners were very hard to get right. With all of the builds that Gilles has made, he is especially proud of two. One of them is the MOC that is on display at LEGO House: the Age of Zeppelin. The other is the Blue Iwan, as it is his newest MOC and gave him the chance to be able to portray Islamic architecture, which had some sections that were very difficult to build accurately.

A forward shot of the courtyard.

Gilles loves to build with LEGO for many reasons. Here are his most important ones: “LEGO building combines aspects of other art forms, as it is three-dimensional, like sculpture—be it wood, stone or metal. The LEGO elements also have the colors of paintings and drawings. Another nice aspect of LEGO is that unlike sculpture, where you cannot make a mistake, one can replace or change a part. Also LEGO is constantly evolving, as new sets bring new part molds and recolors. Sometimes the new parts coexist with the old ones and sometimes they replace them. Once in a while, there’s even a new color or a return to an old color, so there’s always something new to be excited about.” Giles also likes the mathematical aspects of LEGO: “One can use the Pythagorean theorem to angle a building, or use plates, half-plates, and even quarter-plates (using jumper plates) to achieve cool effects like very small gaps or very specific lengths.” Gilles is currently exploring different types of architecture, including Hindu temples and Mughai architecture to decide the subject of his next MOC. By the time this article is published, he will certainly be busy creating something new. Gilles’ advice to builders is: “Start small. I know how tempting it can be to start a huge display, but if you go for a big scene, you’ll feel stuck with it for a very long time. You’ll learn way more and faster by making a lot of smaller MOCs. I would also definitely recommend prototyping with bricks you have on hand, even if they are not the right colors. You can always buy them in the right colors when you’re satisfied with the result. And when you feel ready, don’t hesitate to take part in an exhibition, as it can really give opportunities to meet other builders and learn from them.”

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Building

Isaac Snyder is a professional LEGO set designer that started out as a LEGO builder. In the time that he has been with the LEGO Group, he has designed over a dozen sets, including ones for the Minecraft theme and LEGO Ideas, including the Viking Village (21343) and Horizon Forbidden West: Tallneck (76989). Here, he talks with BrickJournal about the projects he builds outside of work, just for fun! BrickJournal: How long have you been building? Since I was a young kid. My older siblings had some LEGO sets, so I grew up around bricks. I’m from a big family and we couldn’t afford lots of new sets, so we had two big plastic tubs we kept all our parts in, and from that spent countless hours building houses, cars, trucks, castles, etc. Often these were inspired by new product lines we thought looked amazing. I distinctly remember building our own array of mechs influenced by Exo-Force, and trying mechanical functions in a bunch of mining vehicles after seeing the Power Miners line. What got you into building as an adult? I found the online LEGO community very young. As a young teen, medieval times and castles especially caught my interest, so I was looking them up on the internet when I came across the classic-castle forum. Seeing the incredible models others were building instantly inspired me, and I started trying to emulate that level of MOCing and joined a few different forums. That was in 2011, and I have stayed very engaged with the community ever since. What’s your favorite theme? Castle, as it’s what drew me into building as a serious hobby. In recent years I have been building more and more space, but still always enjoy a good medieval model. What inspired you to start building MOCs? As mentioned above, it was the classic-castle forum and seeing others’ work that really hooked me. I built lots of custom creations as a kid, and enjoyed it, but had never dreamed how complex and detailed LEGO models could be. So I spent a lot of time studying other MOCs, learning techniques, and trying to incorporate those learnings into my own models—as well as building a bigger parts collection via the discovery of Bricklink!

Isaac Snyder:

LEGO Designer and Builder Article and Photography by Isaac Snyder 28

The starship Azarel.

Everdell Chapel.

What are the inspirations behind your builds?

Everdell Chapel’s steeple.

Everdell Chapel: Board games are another big hobby of mine, and one of the most beautiful board games I have played is Everdell. My brother John and I both loved the charming world of woodland creatures and have now made a few models based off specific card art from the game. This one was the chapel, which features a quaint church perched atop some craggy rocks. Everdell Chapel’s entrance.

Life in Allanar.

Life in Allanar: Role building games are a super fun way to meet builders with similar interests, and the Guilds of Historica project was one I got involved with soon after joining the online community. It offers a rich fantasy medieval world that each member gets to develop through their own models. My younger brother also participates and created a lovely land called Alnya with a very distinct style and feel. I was visiting for Christmas and took advantage of our time together to create this addition to that setting. Lime green and dark brown are signature colors for an Alnya landscape, along with the autumn colored trees.

A look at the cabin interior.

Another angle of the layout.

Project Azarel: I like to participate in the yearly SHIPtember challenge of building a 100 stud+ spaceship in just one month, and often look at lots of different things for inspiration. I wanted to try a vertically-oriented SHIP with this one and had been playing Horizon Forbidden West, which has some incredible bow designs. That general shape and silhouette caught my imagination and turned into this unusual spaceship. Azarel.

Azarel under construction.

31 31

AT-Goliath Land Transport.

AT-Goliath Land Transport: The sci-fi contest, Space Jam, had a ‘carrier’ category and I thought it would be super fun building a massive transport rig with opening ramp function to let out other accessory vehicles. That said, I didn’t have the time or parts to finish something of that magnitude in time for the contest if working in minifigure scale, so I opted for micro-scale, which let me achieve what I wanted with far fewer parts and hours invested! How long can it take to build a MOC? That varies vastly depending on the size and detail level of what I’m building, and how effective my efforts are. Sometimes you get into the zone and everything flows super naturally; other times it takes a lot of patient trial and effort to get the result you want. Smaller models can be anywhere from a single evening to a week, with larger projects being several weeks to a month. I don’t usually build massive things, so it’s unusual for a model to take longer than that. Upper rear view of the transport.

How do you build? Do you plan your builds or just start building till you’re finished? It depends on what I’m in the mood for, and the purpose of the model. If it is something like a diorama with a few structures and landscape, I like to get a good idea of the layout via sketching or placing chunks of appropriate size around. Vehicles are often more freeflow, with me simply playing with elements till I find what I like.

What was the hardest build you have done? Right now I would say Buckle’s Mining Outpost. It’s an unusual flying, steampunk, mining colony. To make it look more ramshackle and cobbled together, we had numerous silos, engines, and propellers built off the bottom. Which meant building a central foundation layer with incorporated stand connection, and then adding all the buildings off the top side and other details off the bottom. It’s confusing just trying to explain… What’s a build you are most proud of? Are there any other parts of your build that you want to focus on? Everdell Chapel: There are plenty of models I’m very proud of, and this one especially so. I love how my brother and I managed to capture the angular, craggy rockwork; the dilapidated plaster utilizing plenty of sideways building and discolored white elements; and very steep roofs covered with moss. John came up with some super cute apparel for the animals, too. Why do you build? Do you build because you want to make a replica of something? Or just want to create? Or something else entirely?

Everdell Chapel.

I like the act of creating, and having the result be a 3-D, physical model is extra rewarding. The actual design process is also super engaging with so many problems to solve, different design decisions to make, and part combinations to discover. What other projects are you working on? Most recently I have been participating in RogueOlympics, which is a fun contest with weekly rounds where you build for the given prompt, using no more than 101 elements. It forces you to think very differently on how you capture the desired look with as few elements as possible. What advice would you give to beginning builders? Engage with the community! It can be daunting to share your early builds when you think everyone else is so much better, but we all started somewhere and there are plenty veterans happy to welcome new builders and share useful advice. Contests, conventions, and other community events are a great way to meet people and get connected.

Another view of the chapel.

A look at the chapel’s side crane.

Building

Gentle’s Food on the Fly.

Gentle Gidman:

Building Airships and Space Settlements Article and Photography by Gentle Gidman

Gentle Gidman (GentleSpring on Flickr) is a younger builder and a childcare worker. At the age of 18, she has been building for twelve years and is a new AFOL. She is so new, in fact, that the biggest event that got her building as an adult was just cleaning her desk off so she could start on her next project! She got the first LEGO Friends set, which became her favorite theme. Her brothers, also members of the LEGO building community, were the ones who inspired her to use parts from her old sets to build MOCs. Food on the Fly was built for the “Wandering Skies” contest. The category she entered had to be a business and she hadn’t tried her hand at an airship yet, so she went for it! The time it takes Gentle to build a MOC depends on what she wants to build. For her, it can be as simple as an easyto-build open air market or more complex, like a solar settlement. To start a build, Geneva spends most of her time finding a criteria that inspires her. With Food on the Fly, the criteria was that it had to be a floating business. That gave her the idea of a traveling market. As with many of her MOCs, she likes to add an element of whimsy or humor. The idea of such a modern convenience as the supermarket was funny in a steampunk setting. Once she had the idea and inspiration, it was just a matter of choosing her key elements and building around them.

Gentle’s hardest project to date was the Genesis Solar Settlement, which was a four-part color-coded solar settlement. It took a while for her to build, but it was a blast! Her favorite part on a build would be on Food on the Fly, where she used the balloon pieces and other pieces from the Heartlake Hot Air Balloon (set 41097). LEGO building is fun for Gentle because she loves taking wacky and unique ideas to 3-D. It’s not often that one can world-build on a physical level as quickly and easily as with LEGO elements. Gentle offers this advice to builders: “Don’t compare yourself to others. If we all had to build just one way or be the ‘best’ to enjoy LEGO, then what’s the use? Build what is good and beautiful and inspires you. Fill the world with light and hope with the things you create.”

More views of Food on the Fly.

Genesis Solar Settlement

Green Division

Welcome to the Genesis Solar Settlement, the space research center of tomorrow. This, the habitat of four brave space travelers, is also the mecca of developing a habitat for all people. We start off our tour in the living quarters, also known as the Green Division. Four compact bunks, combined with a transitional seating area, make this the perfect place to unwind after a long day of learning. Top it off with large, wrap-around windows and a full-view skylight, and there’s plenty of “space” to live! Let’s proceed to the Blue Division. A dual garden box creates the perfect biome to study all the unusual soil. A large glassed-in tower is ideal for inspection of some of the more voluminous species. Cap it off with a mudroom and airlock and we’re on to the garage.

Blue Division

Black Division

Next is the Pink Division”, better known as the garage. In this functional garage, the beauty is really what’s inside. To start, we have a space buggy built for two, an AI drone, and an exploration robot. This crew can tackle any planetary terrain with ease. Adorned with a large solar panel, this division is a space explorer’s dream. Last, but not least, we have the Black Division, or the Animal Discovery Center as its commonly called. It includes lots of shelving space for all your planetary needs. A large fishtank, molecular agitator, and incubator make research simple and easy. Built for the Space Habitat category of Space Jam.

Pink Division

Building

Davide Sacramati’s media-inspired habitats!

ABrickDreamer:

Building Micros and Movies Article and Photography by Davide Sacramati 38

The LEGO fan community is a diverse bunch. Builder Davide Sacramati (abrickdreamer on Flickr) is a good example, being an Italian AFOL who happens to be a youth football coach living in Singapore. While he has been building since he was a kid, he started MOC building around 2017. A combination of things got him into adult building. One thing was seeing a very interesting LEGO documentary where he first found out about AFOLs and LEGO Ideas (the LEGO crowdfunding platform). Another thing was visiting a beautiful exhibition in Singapore: Piece of Peace, a selection of World Heritage sites recreated with LEGO. Finally, Davide’s wife gifted him a LEGO set: the Venice skyline Architecture set. That set got him completely hooked. Davide has no favorite theme in particular—he would gladly build any set. If he had to pick themes, they would probably be LEGO Icons and LEGO Ideas. When Davide got back into LEGO building, he didn’t have the space or budget for sets, especially the big expensive ones for adults. As a result, he decided to fill the lack of LEGO in his life by building his own MOCs. Initially he didn’t have a part inventory, so he started digitally building with LEGO Digital Designer and then Stud.io.

A microscale habitat themed to Back to the Future.

Super Mario double habitat!

A Jurassic Park habitat.

“I am your father...”.

The Nightmare Before Christmas.

For Davide, inspiration can come from many places. His first MOCs were mostly based on IPs (intellectual properties), real buildings, or specific designs for LEGO Ideas. Now, he has a different approach. He loves participating in all kinds of LEGO contests, as they give builders a prompt, which is an easy starting point. Davide recommends any and every builder to participate in these contests. Davide’s also a big fan of building small, either in terms of piece count or scale. These factors make the inspiration phase easier. Sometimes he starts from a minifigure and builds a habitat around it. Since he loves the habitat concept, he explored it in microscale. He made a stack of microscale landscape habitats and another stack of iconic scenes in microscale habitats. He also likes to create mini versions of official sets, which is another popular thing to do for microscale fans. The time needed to make a model varies; it can be just a few hours, if Davide has a clear idea of what he wants to build. If there is a lot of trial and error, it will take longer, but generally he doesn’t have a build on his table for longer than a week. Every now and then Davide has a bigger project, but usually he likes to build many MOCs on the smaller side. When he starts to build something, he has this urge to finish it; if he builds too big, he gets impatient. LEGO always comes after family and work, so he advocates building small and fast. Davide always starts with a kind of clear idea of what to build; of course, while building there might be variations and the build could take a bit of a different direction. Generally he completes a MOC, takes photos, makes a YouTube

A habitat for a harpy.

video, shares everything, and goes on to the next build. Since he is now a parent and works, he doesn’t have the time to experiment or make table scraps. He also hasn’t the time to make instructions at the moment. Once Davide started building with real bricks, he stopped building digital models. He can’t go back to digital anymore. Davide doesn’t have any builds that are complex, but he does have challenges with bigger projects, as his parts inventory is still pretty small. The advantage in building small is that he doesn’t need many parts and he doesn’t need many complex structures or techniques. For him, the challenge is generally in terms of parts; building small he can focus on parts usage, without needing a huge quantity of parts.

The Lion King’s Pride Rock.

Since Davide builds so much (50 to 100 MOCs a year) he really doesn’t have a favorite build. His proudest moment was when one of his MOCs displayed at LEGO House in Billund, thanks to a LEGO Ideas contest. It wasn’t one of his best works, but it had an interesting concept that combined minifigure scale into a scene in macro scale. A macro figure was playing with a VR headset, while on a TV screen, one could see the character in a virtual beach scene. For Davide, it was a very proud moment where he also had an excuse to take a trip to Billund! Davide now just creates and shares with the community. This has become a solid part of his daily life, and he feels that the more he builds, the better he gets. Recreating something and using some reference images for building is always a good practice for him as well.

A microscale model of the Interlace Singapore, a condominium complex.

There is a beautiful sense of accomplishment when a MOC is completed, even without sharing or displaying it—just thinking, “I made that.” He recommends MOC building to everyone. Davide has competed in the RogueOlympics (a LEGO building competition held online) as well as other big contests in the summer (Summer Joust, Vignweek, and others). Since he likes to build minifigure habitats, he’s working on a habitat series based on the Space Collectible Minifigures. He’s also started working on forced perspective builds mixing microscale with minifigure scale, as he enjoys playing with the concepts and would love to try more of them.

Davide’s MOC that was displayed at LEGO House. A microscale Ewok village.

For beginning builders, Davide has the following advice: “The first thing is to start building. You can do digital first, but as soon as you have enough parts, switch to physical building. The next thing is to build small. Building in tight spaces will really help to boost your creativity. “If you think you are not creative, I’m a football coach: a person that is not generally regarded as creative. I have had many people telling me that they are not creative enough to build MOCs, but I believe that building is not just about talent; you can train and improve your creativity. LEGO bricks give a lot of possibilities and you can always find a way to represent what you have in mind. “Just start building. You will get better. My first MOCs were not very good, but I’m definitely very proud of my builds now, which are now a source of constant improvement and discovery.“ Disney’s Hercules!

A microscale Japanese garden.

A microscale Japanese castle.

A microscale Viking village.

More recent microbuilds. Recognize the movies?

Building

My name is Rexson David Magno, hence my online moniker is ReD M on Flickr and Instagram. I am from the Philippines but currently working as a technical engineer for specialized printers in the United Arab Emirates. Growing up, I spent most of my time playing with LEGOs, and being an indoor kid meant that my imagination ran wild through my fingers with these plastic bricks for quite some time, which helped me develop my designing, technical, and building skills that I still use today. And having the ability to transform my curiosities, ideas, and concepts into tangible objects fills me with a sense of fulfillment and accomplishment that is unmatched. Growing up in the mid-1990s and early 2000s was an exciting time for me since it was a booming era for sci-fi shows and video games. I fondly remember watching Voltes-V and Gundam on VHS and spending countless hours playing MechWarrior 4 Vengeance on my old computer. I am a huge fan of science fiction. I enjoy stories that take me to futuristic worlds with advanced technology, where mechas and spaceships are used for different purposes.

The MFS (Medium Freighter Ship) Sturgeon.

Rexson David Magno:

Making Mechs and Megaships Article and Photography by Rexson David Magno The Sturgeon with support craft.

Magno’s D-32 Comanche mecha in action.

A three-view of the D-32 Comanche mecha.

A three-view of Magno’s Iron Aegis Kafer-2 mecha.

I often find inspiration from various artists online. I like to recreate the aspects of their work that intrigue me while also adding my personal touch to it. Or sometimes I start with a few small ideas and end up building upon them to create something unique. To be honest, I have a lot of unfinished projects (doodles) that may never be completed. They range from 2% to 90% complete; I keep them as reminders for future reference or to be repurposed for something else. For most of my posted MOCs, I start with visualizing the concept that I’m after, then prototyping the build which mostly covers the framework of the MOC; after that I refine the hard edges by adding the details or make some adjustments from the framework, and in between processes I tend to render the build to see how it would look from a perspective. Finally, once I’m satisfied with the result, I move on to polishing the renders like adding decals on the MOC, photoshopping post-details, and enhancing the colors or lighting of the photos as well. I prefer to finish and post a build within a month, but some take a little longer than expected.

Magno’s Porcelain Koma.

I guess the hardest build that I’ve done was the Kintsugi Porcelain Koma for Marchikoma 2022. The whole building experience was challenging yet fun, especially getting the bulbous head, but the hardest part of that build was applying the decals with the Studio 2.0 Part Designer. I’ve faced multiple wonky decal placements at times. Additionally, some parts of the decals got pixelated during import for some reason, so I had to redo or change them since I didn’t like how it looked. Moreover, my laptop gave out a couple of times as well trying to render the images. My proudest build would be my latest MOC, the Beluga Viper Class Assault VTOL. I got inspired to create it from just a promotional poster of an obscure spaceship from a movie that I saw randomly one day, although I can’t remember the name of the movie anymore. I managed to recreate the cockpit that initially caught my attention, then I decided to incorporate that cockpit into a large-scale MOC, with the final idea of turning it into a VicViperesque Assault VTOL ship. I’m particularly pleased with the weapons I added to the build. Overall, I’m really proud of how it all turned out.

The Ban mecha frame.

Beluga Viper Class Assault VTOL in flight.

Beluga Viper Class Assaut VTOL in landing mode.

Various views of the Drange 8 - Salvage Class Viper.

I enjoy building things either because I am inspired or just out of plain curiosity. Building has been a significant part of my life, and it is more than just a hobby to me. It helps keep my mind active and functioning, and most importantly, it helps me cope during difficult times. Lately, I have found myself preoccupied in the world of Gunplas and other third-party Plamos, which has led me to take a hiatus from building LEGO MOCs. Although

I do miss and have always loved creating MOCs with LEGOs, my newfound fascination with Plamos has taken up most of my free time. The intricate physical details and unique design features of these models fascinate me more, and I enjoy the challenge of building, customizing, and collecting them. I may return to building LEGO MOCs in the future, but for now, I’ll stick with my Plamos for the meantime.

Squad Sierra.

The elements of Squad Sierra, the Pawn (above) and Apollo (below).

Here is some advice that I’d like to give to new builders: It’s okay to take a break every now and then, but don’t forget to come back and keep working on it. Joining a supportive community can be really helpful. You should also try to participate in monthly build themes and observe how others build. Remember to trust in the long process and don’t be afraid to ask for advice from others. Be open to constructive criticism as it will be your guide throughout your building journey, and try to consume media that inspires you to be more creative. Don’t be too hard on yourself if your builds don’t turn out perfectly; they’re not failures, but rather steps toward becoming a better builder, because it’s important to always work on improving your own personal style.

You Can Build It MINI Build

MINI Bucket Truck by Ryan Bone

Ryan Bone is a builder that has been at various events showing his microscale cities. A recent layout showed a great example of a vehicle in this scale. While his city will be spotlighted in the next issue of BrickJournal, here is a teaser for his work! But first some words from Ryan: “I’m 35 and I live in Michigan. I work in a plastic factory— not LEGO because I would put them out of business! I always loved architecture and built many cities as a kid, but sold my collection to buy a PlayStation! I started building my microscale LEGO city in 2012 after a LEGO gag gift from my dad inspired me to splurge on LEGO. I love to build in microscale because I have lots of ideas and not enough space. “Building on this scale allows me to go 10, 20, maybe 25 floors with a building using about as many pieces as a modular LEGO set. I have currently 120 buildings ranging from small houses built with less than a hundred pieces, to a 50-story skyscraper using well over 20,000 parts! “I’ll never know exactly how many pieces my city contains but it’s certainly in the range of 150,000. In fact, the 70+ vehicles that bring the city to life account for nearly 2,500! These micromachines take minutes to build with an assortment of spare parts that you may have in your collection!”

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

Qty Color Part 3 Lt Bluish Grey 35480.dat 1 2 3 1 1 2 2 1

Lt Bluish Grey Lt Bluish Grey Lt Bluish Grey Lt Bluish Grey Lt Bluish Grey White White White

White

1 1 2 1 2

White White White White White

White

1 1

White White

1 1 1 1 2 1

White White White White White White

3 1

White White

2 2 1 1 4 1

Trans Orange Trans Black Trans Yellow Black Black Black

Description Plate 1 x 2 with Round Ends and 2 Open Studs 99780.dat Bracket 1 x 2 - 1 x 2 Up 4070.dat Brick 1 x 1 with Headlight 2412b.dat Tile 1 x 2 Grille with Groove 44728.dat Bracket 1 x 2 - 2 x 2 Down 3023b.dat Plate 1 x 2 30374.dat Bar 4L Lightsaber Blade 99781.dat Bracket 1 x 2 - 1 x 2 Down 33909.dat Plate 2 x 2 with 2 Studs on One Edge 3680c02.dat Turntable 2 x 2 Plate with Light Bluish Grey Top 1748.dat Tile 1 x 2 Half Round 24246.dat Tile 1 x 1 with Rounded End 4070.dat Brick 1 x 1 with Headlight 11090.dat Bar Tube with Clip 15573.dat Plate 1 x 2 with Groove with 1 Centre Stud, without Understud 11211.dat Brick 1 x 2 with Two Studs on One Side 3795.dat Plate 2 x 6 26047.dat Plate 1 x 1 Round with Horizontal Handle on Side 3020.dat Plate 2 x 4 15712.dat Tile 1 x 1 with Clip (Thick C-Clip) 3022.dat Plate 2 x 2 99207.dat Bracket 1 x 2 - 2 x 2 Up 87079.dat Tile 2 x 4 with Groove 18674.dat Plate 2 x 2 Round with 1 Centre Stud 23443.dat Bar Tube with Handle 93609.dat Arm Skeleton with Horizontal Clip Bent 56.31 6141.dat Plate 1 x 1 Round 54200.dat Slope Brick 31 1 x 1 x 0.667 98138.dat Tile 1 x 1 Round with Groove 99780.dat Bracket 1 x 2 - 1 x 2 Up 6141.dat Plate 1 x 1 Round 3023b.dat Plate 1 x 2

Don’t STEAL our Digital Editions! C’mon citizen, DO THE RIGHT THING! A Mom & Pop publisher like us needs every sale just to survive! DON’T DOWNLOAD OR READ ILLEGAL COPIES ONLINE! Buy affordable, legal downloads only at

www.twomorrows.com or through our Digital Storefront at

www.comicshistory.org & DON’T SHARE THEM WITH FRIENDS OR POST THEM ONLINE. Help us keep producing great publications like this one!

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You’ll be seeing a lot more of Ryan’s work in the next issue of BrickJournal. Until then, here’s a small teaser photo!

Building Minifigure Customization 101:

I started with the quote above, because: “I am too blunt and saucy.” —Cymbeline, Act 5, Scene 5 We just got one of the most iconic Tim Burton-themed LEGO sets: “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” featuring some of the best figure variants I have yet seen in any LEGO set ever created, which you would think would make me happy. Good on you, LEGO; the Mayor, Zero, and rest of the characters, Jack and Sally especially, are just phenomenal. That said, bad form, LEGO, for not creating the villains! Well luckily...

Dr. Finkelstein and Sally.

Why Does Nothing Ever Turn Out Like it Should?

The fact that we do not have the Oogie Boogie, Dr. Finkelstein, or the mask accessories for Lock, Barrel, and Shock is just a travesty. So let us put those talents to good use!

Article and Photography by Jared K. Burks

So LEGO left us hanging, but set out with a form that says whatever I create has to be as good or better, and with all the same creativity that LEGO has demonstrated. Where to start?

Lock, Barrel, and Shock.

But alas, no one is going to hold my hand here, so let’s get to creating.

So let’s get to creating and step outside of the same old thing!

The Oogie Boogie Man.

[Tim Burton’s the nightmare before Christmas TM & © Touchstone Pictures.]

Lock, Shock, & Barrel The masks are the easiest to create for Lock, Shock, and Barrel. These are basic shaped masks that could easily be created in Fusion 360, but many other people have already created them and made them readily available on Thangs or Thingiverse. Let’s go take a look. I found these on Thangs; that took me to Printables, as this is how Thangs works—it catalogs all the other sites, making it an easy place to start. https://www.printables.com/model/473860-lock-shock-andbarrel-nightmare-before-christmas

Once we have these masks downloaded, we have to make them function with a LEGO figure—to add them to Lock, Shock, and Barrel official LEGO figures. This starts with sizing the masks and modifying them for the LEGO scale, which proportionally is a bit odd, as we all know well. To do this, I loaded the masks into Autodesk’s Meshmixer. Meshmixer is program that is no longer supported by Autodesk, but is an easy to use program that allows for edit and re-sculpt stl parts. I added a LEGO Minifigure torso and head to allow for the scaling of these masks to make them Minifigure compatible. Check your sizes; you don’t want to scale to the wrong base size—this is easy with a pair of calipers. Barrel, being a round shape, was the easiest. It merely had to be scaled uniformly to fit the LEGO form. Lock was a bit more complicated, as was Shock. Lock had to be scaled in a non-uniform capacity, as the LEGO head is a bit wide. As I scaled the mask, I also had to add thickness to the mask to allow it to be strong enough for it withstand attachment and removal. So height and width were scaled independently, and then the thickness or z direction was augmented. These were simple transformations, which is merely an “edit and then transform” and an adjustment. Shock was the final mask for the trio; she is the most complicated of all of them to create. She has a massive nose and the smallest eyes of any of the masks, and the goal is to have it to align to the character’s eyes on the head that LEGO created. This left me with a series of scaling using the same alterations described for Lock. While these masks are small, the nose on Shock is a bit heavy compared to the others. While I have these masks created and will temporarily attach them today, long term I will add a neck attachment to hold the masks on the figures. But because I was awaiting my LEGO set to arrive, I didn’t have time to fine tune this for these masks.

Designing masks for (left to right) Lock, Shock and Barrel.

Testing masks for Lock, Shock and Barrel.

Painting masks.

Finished masks.

Well, we now have an appropriate Lock, Shock, and Barrel! Now we get to dive into Dr. Finkelstein, the mad scientist who created Sally, and who was not the best father figure.

Dr. Finkelstein

Dr. Finkelstein presents a much greater challenge than Lock, Shock, and Barrel and their simple accessory masks. Dr. Finkelstein needs a very unique wheelchair featuring a rear wheel mechanism that departs from the LEGO wheelchair. In addition to the spooky wheelchair, we need Dr. Finkelstein’s flip top head. We can’t merely use a LEGO head for this character, but we do luck out in the fact that LEGO has created at least three figures that could be used to create this, so we really only need the head and the wheelchair to complete the figure.

Designing Dr. Finkelstein’s wheelchair in 3-D.

Test 3-D printed wheelchair.

Series 4 Crazy Scientist

Series 13 Fencer

Series 14 Monster Scientist

The wheelchair is only complicated if we don’t break it down into its component parts. The wheelchair is a simple creation from a series of small two-dimensional sketches. We merely add a small detail as we step through the creation of the wheelchair. The key is that each sketch falls into a different plane as they affect the simple chair shape that is used to create the chair, and the focus was on the scallops at the top and arms of the wheelchair. Between this detail and the back wheel, the chair is simply a modification of a basic LEGO chair. I used a pair of calipers to measure the LEGO chair part and to create these sketches that ultimately created the wheelchair. Initially I had the center point of the wheels very low, which made the chair very high compared to a LEGO figure standing next to the chair. To adjust this after the sketches were created, I merely moved the wheels and the wheel attachments up higher on the chair to lower it closer to the ground. The primary concern here was when Sally stands next to Dr. Finkelstein, we want her to properly appear next to him in size, as it is a very small individual.

Now that we have Finkelstein’s ride, we need the character to adorn the chair in all his insane villainy. As mentioned, there are three figures: the CMS Series 4 Crazy Scientist, the CMS Series 13 Fencer, or the CMS Series 14 Monster Scientist. Take your preference on which of these figures you would like to use for Dr. Finkelstein (I lean to a mixture of parts, as I like the series 14 arms and legs with the series 4 torso). So we have a figure, but we need the head, and of course it needs a removable skullcap to expose Finkelstein’s brain, as he likes to tinker in his own mind. So I headed back to Thangs and Thingiverse to dive in and find options, and luckily I found two: a free

option, and one that was designed for an adult to wear as a helmet. I actually created both options, as they each had a high point. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2503914 https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/art/dr-finkelstein-wearablehead-with-brain Having to rescale and downsize was a challenge. For the Thingiverse model, it was a lot of rescaling and creation of a new LEGO neck to place this head on a LEGO torso. I also had to remove the pre-supported parts to properly resin print this model. This model held the details a bit better than the other and has three separate parts; the brain, head, and cap. To paint the glasses, I merely used a Sharpie and colored them black, as they were raised high enough off the figure that I could merely use the edge of the Sharpie and streak it down this raised area. The mouth was painted all red and then the teeth were painted white. This was easier than trying to keep the teeth white, as painting inside the mouth is an extreme challenge. As for the second head, I merely scaled it and added it directly on top of a LEGO head in the Meshmixer program. When I added this on top, it rounded out the head a bit more, and of course I had to scale it down. In the case of this part, it minimized some of the details, especially the glasses, making them a bit more challenging to paint or color. While I very much like the eyebrows and find them to be very accurate, the glasses or my ability to paint them suffers, and clearly I need to practice a bit more. Plus, the mouth is closed on this model and thus we lose the detail of the teeth. So I have both and will let you decide which you prefer.

Dr. Finkelstein’s head with cap.

Dr. Finkelstein’s head with brain.

Another version of the head.

A head with brain and cap.

A painted brain.

The painted head.

Dr. Finkelstein almost complete.

Dr. Finkelstein with wheelchair.

Completed with brain..

...and with cap.

Now we have all of Dr. Finkelstein and merely need to have a table for him to lock Sally away to put him in his element. Luckily, a friend, Matt Sailors, had a nice and easy design to borrow.

Now time for the worst of the worst: the Oogie Boogie Man.

Don’t miss Jared’s two books (available now at www.twomorrows.com). On sale: $5 each!

Oogie Boogie .

Oogie Boogie’s body in 3-D.

Testing the body with the head.

The Oogie Boogie is a unique character that is the biggest departure from a classic LEGO figure. I wanted to make him accessible to the rest of the figures in the sets, but yet keep him true to the source materials. This meant I had to figure out how to create a boogeyman, which is a burlap sack filled with insects, spiders, and features a snake for a tongue.

Testing the body with arms.

Testing the body with custom arms.

Back to Thangs to look up an Oogie Boogie statue.

Testing the body and head.

Another test.

https://www.printables.com/model/300240-oogie-boogie I couldn’t merely print a statue. I had to bring in elements to make him more LEGO, so while I found this statue, it was not enough or correct. I took the statue and basically used it as a lump of clay to completely remake the Oogie in LEGO form. I started by cutting his arms off. Why does this make me feel like Dr. Finkelstein? I then had to modify the shell to cover a torso and legs, with the legs protruding just enough to allow the feet to attach to LEGO studs, but the sack not hit the studs next to the feet. Once I did this I got it close, but I had to scale and sculpt it to get it to be a better fit for a LEGO figure. This was because it wasn’t wide enough to hold the torso and legs back to that LEGO scale issue we previously discussed.

While the statue is lovely, the head was not nearly scary enough for the Oogie Boogie Man! So I went looking again and found a new head, which was actually a Christmas ornament. I added a neck acceptor to this ornament and stuck it on top of the newly covered figure. I was still debating how to make Oogie glow and was debating making two versions—a tan version and a green version— but alas, I found another way.

https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/art/oogie-boogie-christmas-treedecoration-nightmare-before-christmas

So now I have a better head and I have a body, but merely adding the LEGO arms wasn’t working. I sought inspiration and guidance, which led me to taking the arms from the statue and figuring out how to apply them to the LEGO torso. I then had to cut the ball sockets off a LEGO arm I had previously modeled and attach it to the statue arms. I also had to sculpt the arms a bit to make them the right size and structure for the figure; this was all done in Meshmixer. Once I had this all created, it was a simple job to print up all the parts in either white or tan resin. Once printed, white parts were sprayed white and the tan parts and the under LEGO parts (torso and legs) were all painted a uniform dark tan. Once painted dark tan, I wanted to add an aspect of the Oogie Boogie Man to make him fluorescent green. I also wanted him to be tan, so to pull this off, I had to find a relatively clear fluorescent green paint. I used a Rust-oleum Imagine glow-in-the-dark paint and sprayed it onto the dark tan, which mottled the dark tan slightly, making Oogie Boogie look even more true to form.

Head test.

Final head.

Painting.

a After the paint dried, a little UV light, and the Oogie Man was oh so scary. Please recall he is a burlap sack filled with insects, spiders, and a snake for a tongue. So back to Thingiverse this time, where I found a collection of insects and more (cockroach, dragonfly, grasshoppers, bee, scorpion, snail, spider, and caterpillar). Needing a worm, I found one of these as well to add to the assortment. https://www.thingiverse.com/nt_toys/collections/4810564/ things I printed these in a swirl of color, mixing three different resins in the vat, hoping it would look like marble. This didn’t exactly work as I had hoped, but did give me a few different shades of insects and allowed the Oogie Boogie to be a bit more grotesque. Well, there we have it: Lock, Shock, and Barrel’s masks, Dr. Finkelstein, and the tyrannical Oogie Boogie Man. I can’t wait to get the set built to add all these new additions to the mix. I hope this was helpful and showed what all is possible.

Oogie Boogie completed.

You can view Jared’s webpage by going to http://www.fine clonier.com/ or scanning this QR code!

Come back next issue for more Minifigure Customization!

Parts List

Microscope

Design by the BrickNerd Team For this microscale model, we wanted to create a microscope to reveal the secrets of the mini world around us. The core of the microscope uses a sturdy, white, double inverted slope more common to plane sets. The teal accents and base mimic the look of a real laboratory microscope, with black highlights to make the color pop in comparison. The adjustable focus knobs are made with vehicle wheels. Look out for a secret BrickNerd Easter egg on the viewing platform! So start building your own LEGO microscope. Who knows what amazing discoveries await just beyond the lens?

(Parts can be ordered through Bricklink.com by searching by part number and color) Qty Part Color Description 1 11301.dat White Slope Brick Curved 2 x 8 x 2 Inverted Double 1 3023b.dat White Plate 1 x 2 2 34103.dat White Plate 1 x 3 with 2 Studs Offset 1 11212.dat White Plate 3 x 3 1 41682.dat White Bracket 2 x 2 - 1 x 2 Up Centred 4 18653.dat White Arch 1 x 3 x 2 Inverted 1 1750.dat White Brick 2 x 2 x 1 with Curved Bottom 4 6541.dat White Technic Brick 1 x 1 with Hole 1 2654a.dat Trans Clear Dish 2 x 2 with Rim 2 3024.dat Red Plate 1 x 1 2 3666.dat Dark Turquoise Plate 1 x 6 2 60481a.dat Dark Turquoise Slope Brick 65 2 x 1 x 2 with Symmetric Stud Holder 2 73111.dat Dark Turquoise Brick 3 x 3 x 2 Round with Recessed Centre 2 3023b.dat Dark Turquoise Plate 1 x 2 2 3700.dat Dark Turquoise Technic Brick 1 x 2 with Hole 2 6091.dat Dark Turquoise Brick 2 x 1 x 1.333 with Curved Top 2 18653.dat Dark Turquoise Arch 1 x 3 x 2 Inverted 2 11477.dat Dark Turquoise Slope Brick Curved 2 x 1 4 3005.dat Dark Turquoise Brick 1 x 1 1 15535.dat Black Tile 2 x 2 Round with Hole 5 3941.dat Black Brick 2 x 2 Round without Reinforcement 2 2780.dat Black Technic Pin with Friction and Slots 1 3062b.dat Black Brick 1 x 1 Round with Hollow Stud 1 32054.dat Black Technic Pin Long with Stop Bush 2 25269.dat Black Tile 1 x 1 Corner Round 1 87580.dat Black Plate 2 x 2 with Groove with 1 Centre Stud 2 3795.dat Black Plate 2 x 6 1 3956.dat Black Bracket 2 x 2 - 2 x 2 Up 2 18646.dat Black Plate 3 x 6 Round Half with 1 x 2 Cutout 1 11253.dat Black Minifig Roller Skate 1 13971.dat Black Wheel Rim 8 x 18 with Deep Centre Groove, Deep Spokes and Peghole

59 59

You Can Build It MINI Build

MINI Breon Dayvan by Christopher Deck

Hello everybody, and welcome back to another mini model building session in distant galaxy! Today I would like to build our first model from the Star Wars live-action series Andor with you. The series first aired in Fall of the year 2022, with one complete season. From the few new ship designs we have seen in the series so far, the “Breon Dayvan” resembles a small personal starship, and might be a combination of transport ship and starfighter—at least the engines are strongly similar to those of the Y-Wing Starfighter. Many ships have a unique detail which makes them easily recognizable—a detail that makes the ship tricky to build, too. The “Breon Dayvan” is no exception here, featuring a nose with an upward lift on the underside. We use the 2x4 triple wedge (part no. 47759) to obtain this special shape, and giving us a small triumph by having used a rather bulky and uncommon piece in a mini model. With 42 pieces, the model has an average piece count for a mini model, but features some nice SNOT technique and stud inversion, nonetheless. I wish you happy building and see you next time!

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

Main Hull

Qty Color 1 Lt-Bluish-Gray 1 Lt-Bluish-Gray

Part 87087.dat 4595.dat

1 1 4 1 1 2 1 1 1 1

Lt-Bluish-Gray Lt-Bluish-Gray Dk-Bluish-Gray Dark-Red Black Dark-Red Lt-Bluish-Gray Black Lt-Bluish-Gray Dk-Bluish-Gray

3023.dat 92593.dat 61409.dat 60477.dat 15068.dat 15672.dat 6541.dat 3700.dat 4262.dat 96910.dat

1 1

Dark-Red Dark-Red

35459.dat 47759.dat

Engines

Qty Color Part 8 Lt-Bluish-Gray 30374.dat 2 Dk-Bluish-Gray 3062b.dat 2

Lt-Bluish-Gray

47905.dat

4 2

Dk-Bluish-Gray 4589.dat Dk-Bluish-Gray 30361a.dat

Trans-Red

2 2

Dk-Bluish-Gray 2654a.dat Lt-Bluish-Gray 3024.dat

58176.dat

Description Brick 1 x 1 with Stud on 1 Side Brick 1 x 2 x 0.667 with Studs on Sides Plate 1 x 2 Plate 1 x 4 with Two Studs Slope Brick 18 2 x 1 x 0.667 Grille Slope Brick 18 4 x 1 Slope Brick Curved 2 x 2 x 0.667 Slope Plate 45 2 x 1 Technic Brick 1 x 1 with Hole Technic Brick 1 x 2 with Hole Technic Plate 1 x 6 with Holes Tile 1 x 2 Chamfered with 2 Top Indentations Tile 1 x 3 Inverted with Bar Hole Wedge 2 x 4 Triple Description Bar 4L Lightsaber Blade Brick 1 x 1 Round with Hollow Stud Brick 1 x 1 with Studs on Two Opposite Sides Cone 1 x 1 Cylinder 2 x 2 x 2 Robot Body without Bottom Axle Holder Cylinder Domed 1 x 1 x 1.667 with Bar Dish 2 x 2 with Rim Plate 1 x 1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Jurgen Wittner Life in Pieces 66

Jürgen Wittner:

Life in Pieces

Article by David Strenzler, Bantha Bricks: Fans of LEGO Star Wars Photography by Jürgen Wittner

Galactic greetings! We are Bantha Bricks: Fans of LEGO Star Wars. As administrators of one of the best LEGO Star Wars themed groups on Facebook, David Strenzler, Frank Averstegge and Eloi Parizeau witness amazingly creative builds by Star Wars fans worldwide on a nearly daily basis. Jürgen Wittner is a very active member of our Bantha Bricks community, as well as an extraordinarily talented MOC builder. Some of you might recall BrickJournal #74’s Star Wars special featured an interview with Jürgen that was focused on his DN-25 Treadable as seen in Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. It was our pleasure to speak with Jürgen once more to learn about some of his incredibly detailed 1:16 scale models of iconic Star Wars ships that he designed over the last few years.

David Strenzler: Hello Jürgen. Welcome to the Bantha Bricks Files! The LEGO Star Wars community has been familiar with your undoubtedly skilled Star Wars-inspired designs for some time. Could you please introduce yourself and what you do? Jürgen Wittner: Hi, I’m Jürgen Wittner, 47 years old, from Berlin, Germany. I’m an architect who works for an office that mainly plans and builds public buildings such as universities, schools, and lecture halls. My main project is a depot with restoration workshops for seven different museums in Berlin. About four-and-a-half years ago, I started designing LEGO Star Wars MOCs, making instructions for them, and going to LEGO exhibitions in my spare time. Does Star Wars remain your favorite theme, or have others recently surfaced? Yes, Star Wars is still my favorite theme. This simply has to do with the fact that I’m an absolute sci-fi fan and Star

Jürgen’s Y-Wing.

Wars is one of the works that has had the biggest impact on the sci-fi genre, in my opinion. I also consider the designs of the vehicles and spaceships from the original trilogy to be simply timeless. This year I ventured into the DC Universe for the first time and recreated the Batcycle from The Flash movie. And of course, I’m not ruling out the possibility that other excursions will follow. Why have you chosen the LEGO brick as your medium of self-expression? What makes LEGO so special to you? I’ve always been a “LEGO kid”. In the early ’80s, when I was three or four years old, I got my first LEGO Duplo bricks from my two older brothers, and shortly afterwards I inherited the rest of their LEGO. From then on, I was fascinated by the possibilities offered by the LEGO system. At the same time, there was the difficulty of having to abstract things if you wanted to build them.

The Y-Wing can be taken apart for travel.

When my own son was the same age, the “LEGO fever” caught me again after a break of over thirty years. For me, the creative challenge with LEGO MOCs lies in realizing things as faithfully to the original as possible without it being immediately obvious at first glance that it is built out of LEGO. This often requires unusual building techniques and a high degree of constructive creativity. That’s what I love about this hobby.

More angles of the Y-Wing.

You have brought us a nice selection of your favorite 1:16 scale models, including most notably one of the most iconic ships of the Galactic Empire, the TIE Fighter, and a modified version of it, the Mining Guild TIE Fighter, as seen in Star Wars Rebels. I was very impressed when I saw all of them in person throughout the LEGO exhibitions of 2023. What inspired you to develop your own versions of these ships? The absolute first inspiration for my 1:16 MOCs was the fantastic MOC “The Emperor’s Arrival” made by designer 0necase. He developed several buildable figures (Darth

Vader, Boba Fett, Stormtroopers, TIE pilot, etc.) on a 1:18 scale based on the minifigure helmets. I loved the concept of those buildable figures and the idea of making their bodily proportions closer to those of humans.

An Imperial TIE Fighter.

At one point, I thought it would be cool to have a TIE Fighter on the same scale as the TIE pilot. When I started designing it, I was focused on how I could perfectly recreate the solar pattern of the wings. The scale of this pattern, plus a few other sizes that can only be varied to a limited extent due to the LEGO system (in this case the 10 x 10 cockpit dish), meant that the model ended up being 1:16 rather than 1:18. Funnily enough, it turned out that 1:16 always worked better than 1:18 with all of my subsequent MOCs. In this respect, I have established 1:16 as “my scale.”

A close-up showing the solar panel detail.

TIE Fighter sections.

Can you tell us about the construction of your builds? Did you use any special techniques? I generally use a lot of directional changes in my MOCs to create the different surfaces and structures; so, my MOCs—like those of many other designers—are very different from many LEGO sets that use the classic horizontal layering to a large extent. One of my favorite techniques is “bricks on the side”, where bricks and plates are used lying flat on the side as a smooth surface for the hull of ships and vehicles, instead of plates with tiles on them. This enables a studless surface, especially on surfaces with sloping edges; otherwise you would have to work with wedge plates and then you would have visible studs. Of course, this technology also offers the advantage that both the top and bottom (or outside and inside) are equally smooth, which is difficult to achieve with plates and tiles. At the same time, however, the statics of the parts are somewhat more difficult to implement. Which of the design elements of your TIE models are your favorite? 100%, the pattern on the wings! I think I managed to capture the pattern really well. As you see on the pictures, the different light reflections on this pattern (glossy plate surfaces vs. the matte surface of the grille pattern on the modified bricks) further enhances the effect of this pattern. And once again, the use of bricks instead of plates makes the wings appear the same from both sides.

A Mining Guild TIE Fighter.

But I also love the custom pad printed 10 x 10 dishes that I designed especially for this MOC, because they give the model a very realistic look.

What was your process of designing such incredibly accurate TIE designs and determining how they could be built? The whole design process of such large models is an iterative process. The larger a LEGO model becomes, the more difficult it is to handle the statics, as the large and detailed structures tend to be built in small pieces. Therefore—unless you have above-average construction skills—you have to try out many solutions and keep refining the weak points until they work. The two main problems with the TIEs were the stability of the wing blades and the stable connection of the wing beams to the cockpit sphere. It took a lot of thought and reworking to make them stable and slim. In the end, the TIE Fighter has become one of my most stable models, that is absolutely swooshable despite its considerable size. More views of the Mining Guild TIE Fighter.

What is also important for the TIEs and all my other MOCs is the attention to details and greeblings. I try to find as much source material as possible, like photos, blueprints, or models of the original Industrial Light and Magic movie props to recreate all the details in my models. If there are no images of certain areas, I take the freedom to design them myself; same with areas or details that cannot be implemented in LEGO one-to-one. How do you start your MOCs? Do you develop the design in a freestyle way, or do you use a computer design program to lay it out first? Nearly all of my MOCs begin with questioning how a certain area, detail, or shape of a ship/vehicle can be recreated.

With the TIE, it was the pattern on the wings, and with the Snowspeeder, it was a matter of how a cockpit canopy could be made of bricks, as well as how the rear diffuser could be built with flag elements. I always design from the outside to the inside. That means that I always develop the outer hull first, and then add the connections and a supporting structure on the inside later. My design process always starts digitally, in Bricklink Studio. There, I develop the MOC until the exterior design is about 90-95% complete and the actual supporting structure is about 70-80% complete. Then, I order the required parts via Bricklink and begin the physical construction of a prototype, testing whether all of the building techniques work and if everything is stable and buildable. If I change something on the physical model, I also adapt it in the digital model. While making your builds, were there any moments when you felt stuck? If so, how did you overcome that obstacle? With many of my models, I had these moments.

The problems with the statics of the wing beams/struts on the TIE briefly brought me to the point of giving up on the model completely, because I thought that any solution to achieve the static would be clumsy and ugly.

Jürgen’s Snowspeeder with pilot.

However, these are often tipping points that mobilize additional energies. With the TIE, I threw the entire design principle of the wing beam overboard and started again with a completely new design. And this design turned out to be extremely stable. But the process is always the same: analyze – rethink – rebuild. As an experienced builder, what advice would you offer to someone who would like to build a MOC of their own? I would always recommend starting with something small or even modifying an existing LEGO set, which is what I gradually did four-and-a-half years ago. In my case, it was the Playscale Millennium Falcon 75257 from 2019. I started adding parts, removing areas, and rebuilding until the model had about three times as many parts and was very clean and detailed. The fact that you are working on an existing model simply reduces the barrier to entry, so you can initially concentrate on purely external changes. Step-by-step, you can try out new construction techniques or rebuild entire parts.

If you find joy in that, you will certainly quickly experience the need to build your own things. Then, of course, it always makes sense to study the models of more experienced designers to determine which construction techniques or parts they use for certain areas. Can you tell us more about your other 1:16 models that you selected for us? The models shown in this article are the five ships I already designed on a 1:16 scale. The first one was the TIE-LN, followed by the Mining Guild TIE Fighter from Rebels. The T-47 Snowspeeder was the next model I designed on this scale, followed by the two Airspeeders of Anakin Skywalker and Zam Wesell (Coruscant Airspeeder Chase), and finally the BTL-A4 Y-Wing. What inspired you to design these ships?

Rear view.

I always choose models that I have a special connection with. Either I like the design and/or I associate them with a specific scene in a film or series that I particularly like. As a rule, for me these are ships from the original trilogy because these are the three films from the Star Wars series

that have had the most influence on my taste in films. For me, the TIE-LN is one of the most iconic ships ever. I love the pure and reduced design. The Mining Guild TIE is a fantastic evolution of the standard TIE, with the cut-out wing front and its striking yellow black “Caterpillar-look“. The Snowspeeder and Y-Wing are also two of my absolute favorite ships. Battle on Hoth with the epic fight between Snowspeeders and AT-ATs is my all-time favorite Star Wars scene, so this was an absolute must-build for me. And I like the “stealth bomber look” very much. What I like most about the Y-Wing is its bulky appearance, with its oversized engines and the sheer exuberance of technical details and wiring on the surface of the fuselage. The wings of the Snowspeeder, showing the built detail. Coruscant Airspeeders.

My fascination with the Coruscant Airspeeders mainly revolves around the great color scheme, the ’50s hot rod look of Anakin’s Airspeeder, and the unusual design of Zam’s Airspeeder.

Are any instructions of your designs available to the public? If so, where can they be found? I made printed instruction books of all my 1:16 MOCs. Some of them also include custom pad printed parts, like the two 10 x 10 dishes for the TIE Fighter cockpit. All of my instructions can be found on: www.brick-collective.com (under five_dc) Those who don’t want to search and order all the thousands of parts on platforms like Bricklink can also buy complete building kits (100% LEGO) of my MOCs under: www.brickmoon.de Can you already tell us something about your next project? Do you have any final thoughts that you would like to share with our readers? My next or current projects are Vader’s TIE Advanced on a 1:16 scale, and a fan-made design of an Imperial Podracer made by game designer Ivan Tantsiura. Vader’s TIE Advanced is almost finished, but Ivan’s Imperial Podracer is still a work in progress.

The Coruscant base, showing a microscale section of the airspeeder chase.

My final words to the readers are: Keep on bricking, and may the Force be with you! To see more amazing builds, cool contests and giveaways and family-friendly discussion about everything Star Wars brick, check out the Bantha Bricks: Fans of LEGO Star Wars Facebook group at: http://www.facebook.com/groups/starwarsLEGOgroup, Instagram account at https://www.instagram.com/banthabricks, their webpage at banthabricks. com or scan the QR code here! Building Anakin’s airspeeder with a digital model.

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Last Word We’re done! We are up to 88 issues—and for those who know Buckaroo Banzai, that’s a cool number! We went all over the place in this issue, even with the micro theme. This made the issue a little more complicated than I expected, but I think it was worth it! More fun stuff is coming, and next issue is going to be a little different—it will be about art, both by the brick and inspired by the brick. I’m excited to see the MOCs and other creations, and I hope you will be, too!

Give the Editor a beard and he looks like a Japanese animation director!

Got comments? Ideas for articles? Drop a line at: brickjournal@gmail.com— the door is open! Til next issue, build on! Joe

Next Issue

LEGO Art

The US Capitol Building, by Mark Loran

Roy Lichtenstein’s Marilyn Monroe by Stefano Bocato

Album Cover (Girls Just Wanna Have Fun) by Adnan Lotia

Satiate Your Sinister Side!

“Heh-heh-heh! It’s me again—the CRYPTOLOGIST—

and my ghastly little band have cooked up a few more grisly morsels to terrorize you with! Amongst them is ROGER HILL’s conversation with diabolical horror (and superhero) comics artist DON HECK! For something even more gruesome, STEVEN KRONENBERG slices up his favorite severed hand films! BARRY FORSHAW brings back the otherworldly horrors of Hammer’s QUATERMASS, while TIM LEESE spends more Hammer Time on that studio’s output. Then, editor PETER NORMANTON prepares a viewing of horror-inspired covers from the Shadow’s own 1940s comic book! We’ll cover another Killer “B” movie classic: CONRAD VEIDT and “The Man Who Laughs!”, along with more preCode comic books, and PETE VON SHOLLY gives his twisted take on cartoon horror. So peer into the dark side with TwoMorrows Publishing’s latest terror—scribed just for retro horror fans!” (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99

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CRYPTOLOGY #3

CRYPTOLOGY #4

CRYPTOLOGY #5

This third wretched issue inflicts the dread of MARS ATTACKS upon you—the banned cards, the model kits, the despicable comics, and a few words from the film’s deranged storyboard artist PETE VON SHOLLY! The chilling poster art of REYNOLD BROWN gets brought up from the Cryptologist’s vault, along with a host of terrifying puppets from film, and more comic books they’d prefer you forget! Plus, more Hammer Time, JUSTIN MARRIOT on obscure ’70s fear-filled paperbacks, another Killer “B” film, and more to satiate your sinister side!

Our fourth putrid tome treats you to ALEX ROSS’ gory lowdown on his Universal Monsters paintings! Hammer Time brings you face-to-face with the “Brides of Dracula”, and the Cryptologist resurrects 3-D horror movies and comics of the 1950s! Learn the origins of slasher films, and chill to the pre-Code artwork of Atlas’ BILL EVERETT and ACG’s 3-D maestro HARRY LAZARUS. Plus, another Killer “B” movie and more awaits retro horror fans, by NORMANTON, the KRONENBERGS, LEESE, VOGER, and VON SHOLLY!

We dig up a few skeletons in the closet of our SKULL & BONES ISSUE! Ghost Rider from comics to movies, skeleton covers from Atlas Digests and pre-Code horror comics, HY FLEISHMAN’s 1950s skeleton covers and stories, Disney’s ’70s Pirates of the Caribbean models and Last Gasp’s Skull Comics, the films of William Castle, and Killer B films: House on Haunted Hill, The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake, plus our Hammertime section! It’s bone-chilling retro horror from NORMANTON, the KRONENBERGS, LEESE, VOGER, and VON SHOLLY!

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KIRBY COLLECTOR #92

KIRBY COLLECTOR #93

CRYPTOLOGY #1

MARK CARLSON-GHOST documents the mid-1950s super-hero revival featuring The Human Torch, Captain America, SubMariner, Fighting American, The Avenger, Phantom Lady, The Flame, Captain Flash, and others—with art by JOHN ROMITA, JOHN BUSCEMA, BILL EVERETT, SIMON & KIRBY, MIKE SEKOWSKY, MORT MESKIN, BOB POWELL, and other greats! Plus FCA, Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, and more!

IN THE NEWS! Rare newspaper interviews with Jack, 1973 San Diego panel with Jack and NEAL ADAMS discussing DC’s coloring, strips Kirby ghosted for others, unused strip concepts, collages, a never-reprinted Headline Comics tale, Jimmy Olsen pencil art gallery, 2024 WonderCon Kirby panel (featuring DAVID SCHWARTZ, GLEN GOLD, and RAY WYMAN), and more! Cover inked by DAVID REDDICK!

SUPPORTING PLAYERS! Almost-major villains like Kanto the Assassin and Diablo, Rodney Rumpkin, Mr. Little, the Falcon, Randu Singh, and others take center stage! Plus: 1970 interview with Jack by SHEL DORF, MARK EVANIER’s 2024 Kirby Tribute Panel from Comic-Con, neverreprinted Simon & Kirby story, pencil art gallery, and more! Unused Mister Miracle cover inked by MIKE ROYER!

The best in retro-horror! ’50s Horror Comics excesses, Killer “B” movies, creepy/ kooky horror toys, House of Usher, Addams Family vs. The Munsters, BERNIE WRIGHTSON’s Warren art, Hammer films, Atlas pre-code covers, and more from PETER NORMANTON, WILL MURRAY, MARK VOGER, BARRY FORSHAW, TIM LEESE, PETE VON SHOLLY, and STEVE and MICHAEL KRONENBERG!

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#191 is an FCA (FAWCETT COLLECTORS OF AMERICA) issue! Documenting the influence of MAC RABOY’s Captain Marvel Jr. on the life, career, and look of ELVIS PRESLEY during his stellar career, from the 1950s through the 1970s! Plus: Captain Marvel co-creator BILL PARKER’s complete testimony from the DC vs. Fawcett lawsuit, MICHAEL T. GILBERT in Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, and other surprises!

BACK ISSUE #157

BACK ISSUE #158

RETROFAN #37

RICK VEITCH discusses his career from undergrounds and the Kubert School; the ’80s with 1941, Epic Illustrated and Heavy Metal; to Swamp Thing, The One, Brat Pack, and Maximortal! Plus TOM VEITCH’s history of ’70s underground horror comix, part one of a look at cartoonist ERROL McCARTHY, the story behind Studio Zero— the ’70s collective of artists STARLIN, BRUNNER, WEISS, and others, and more!

KEITH GIFFEN TRIBUTE ISSUE! Starstudded celebration of the prolific writer/ artist of Legion of Super-Heroes, Rocket Raccoon, Guardians of the Galaxy, Justice League, Lobo, Blue Beetle, and others! With CARY BATES, TOM BIERBAUM, J.M. DeMATTEIS, DAN DIDIO, ROBERT LOREN FLEMING, CULLY HAMNER, SCOTT KOBLISH, PAUL LEVITZ, KEVIN MAGUIRE, BART SEARS, MARK WAID, and more!

HEY, MISTER ISSUE! The FF’s Mr. Fantastic, STEVE DITKO’s Mr. A, the 40th anniversary of MICHAEL T. GILBERT’s Mr. Monster, Mr. X, the Teen Titans’ Mr. Jupiter, R. CRUMB’s Mr. Natural, Archie’s Mr. Weatherbee, and a Mr. Freeze villain history! Featuring BYRNE, CARDY, CONWAY, DeCARLO, DINI, ENGLEHART, the HERNANDEZ BROS., MIGNOLA, MOTTER, and more! Cover by ED McGUINNESS.

The Jetsons, Freaky Frankensteins, Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling’s HOLLYWOOD, the Archies and other Saturday morning rockers, Star Wars copycats, Build Your Own Adventure books, crazy kitchen gadgets, toymaker MARVIN GLASS, and more! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER. Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

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COMIC BOOK CREATOR #37 COMIC BOOK CREATOR #38

STEVE ENGLEHART is spotlighted in a career-spanning interview, former DC Comics’ romance editor BARBARA FRIEDLANDER redeems the late DC editor JACK MILLER, DAN DIDIO discusses going from DC exec to co-publisher, we conclude our 100th birthday celebration for ARNOLD DRAKE, take a look at the 1970s underground comix oddity THE FUNNY PAGES, and more, including HEMBECK!