20 November 2019

2019 Parts Fest #2: Andreas Lenander's 3x3 dome inspiration

Posted by Admin
Following his first post of LEGO® creations for our Parts Festival, Andreas Lenander returns today with three varied builds that were all inspired by one piece.

The new rounded 3x3 dome (Sphere 3X3X11/3, W/ Knob in Medium Stone Grey – 49308 | 6263183) was a piece that I instantly loved when I first saw it. I can see it being used in a variety of builds since it works equally well for nature-scenes (rock work, etc) as it does for sci-fi builds (greebling on a spaceship, etc).

Elementarium IV

The first time I picked up the rounded 3x3 domes (Sphere 3X3X11/3, W/ Knob in Medium Stone Grey – 49308 | 6263183), I knew I had to build a spaceship.




When looking at the domes I instantly got a picture in my head for how to use them and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. The Batman multipack pieces (Mini Accessory, No. 11 in Silver Metallic - 6266977|50018 and Mini Accessory, No. 10 in Silver Metallic - 6266155|40598) are great for greebling, something every spaceship desperately needs.


For the rear-engine of the ship, I didn’t really have a clear idea until I started to mess around with the LBG steering wheel (Fabuland Ship Wheel in Medium Stone Grey – 52395 | 6278555). Connecting two of them facing each other was easy using some regular 1x1 bricks with studs on the side. I added another dome at the end of the rear wheel which is easy given that it has a stud at the center.

A day in the jungle

 The first thing that came to mind when looking at the domes were that they would make for some great rocks. Since the domes are pretty smooth, the most natural placement for them seemed to be in water, so I went with a little jungle-scene by a small river.


I really wanted to try and use some of the seashell pieces (Accessories, Marine Life, No. 1 in Vibrant Coral - 6262127/ 49595) and figured they could make for some exotic flowers, without looking to much out-of-place.

Exosuit base with tanks

I decided to try and make something using two of the dome pieces connected at their bases. I decided to go with an oxygen tank and put a normal wheel on one side and then a rounded 1x1 tile for stability on the other since I wanted them to stand upright.


By placing the two domes at a slight rotation, a somewhat interesting pattern emerged at the center. On the top there are hollow studs which makes it easy to connect two of them using a normal 4L bar. The height of two rounded bricks compared to a bar differs slightly but that can be solved by adding basically anything with hollow studs on either end.

I also used some of the Batman greebling pieces when making the little carriage, and placed them in this scene with a platform and Exo-suit.


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Products mentioned in this post were kindly supplied by the LEGO Group. All content represents the opinions of New Elementary authors and not the LEGO Group. All text and images are © New Elementary unless otherwise attributed.

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