Showing posts with label Technique. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Technique. Show all posts

30 October 2019

2019 Skærbæk Workshop: the crook bit

Posted by Admin
In September 2019 we ran a workshop at the Skaerbaek Fan Weekend in Denmark. 60 AFOLs were given two hours to make interesting stuff using some of the newest LEGO® parts, and a supply of mostly random brick stock. Of the hundreds of models and tablescraps created, we are presenting some of the most interesting to inspire your own creations. My thanks to the SFW organisers, the New Elementary team on the day and our cheery photographer, Andrew Tipping.

We were surprised how popular the shepherd's staff, or crook (Tool, No. 10 in Medium Azure – 49492 | 6256157) proved at the workshop, so what better way to start this Parts Festival than to look at the creative ideas people came up with. Sadly the curved section is thinner than 3.18mm and so clips cannot connect to it, but that didn't stop them.

Axel Meyer “Curtain”


15 October 2019

2019 Parts Fest #1: Duncan Lindbo's star-stuff

Posted by Admin
Yes, our completed LEGO® Parts Festival came back again! But it definitely finishes today, and what better way than with a creation by Duncan Lindbo who has really pushed the boat out with this festival

Everything is made of star-stuff, to paraphrase the late, great Carl Sagan. In the case of this MOC, that’s not just true in an abstract cosmic sense, it’s true in a more literal “I used a bunch of the new star pieces”.

I was casting around for ideas when it dawned on me that because the stars (Design Plate, 4X4X2/3, No. 1 in Bright Yellow/ Yellow – 6248804|39611) are two plates high, with a one plate high base and one plate high points, two columns of stars would mesh together easily. Throw a few meshed columns together, and they looked like the teeth of a gigantic shredder.

14 October 2019

2019 Parts Fest #1: Ben Tritschler's Bone Fish

Posted by Admin
There's been a surprise rebirth of the LEGO® Parts Festival we ran in August and September! Two more models have just surfaced so we will bring them to you today and tomorrow, in advance of the next Parts Festival which kicks off very soon. Ben Tritschler (modestolus on Instagram and Flickr) was unfortunately unable to participate but has recently had time to create something. Ben is a member of the German online community RogueBricks and likes building all themes but recently has preferred Castle.

The first time I saw the shoulder pad, I knew I had to build a fish. The result is a a little scene in a museum and it shows the exhibit of the New Elementary Bone Fish – or to give it its Latin name: Nova Elementum Ossa Piscis.



01 October 2019

Old Elementary: Insectoids legs

Posted by Admin
Duncan Lindbo returns today with another look at a weird LEGO® part from history and how it might be used in your creations today.

Today, we’re going to venture back into the dark days of the 1990s once again and take a look at some more parts from the Insectoids theme. Last time, we looked at some of the properties of the Insectoid wings; this time we’re looking at the legs. Bug legs! Weird biomechanical big legs!


25 September 2019

Old Elementary: The 1x2 plate with the arm that moved

Posted by Admin
Today's look back into LEGO® part history comes from Felix Stiessen, an avid LEGO enthusiast from Austria who is always interested in discovering new and interesting techniques to exploit the unique geometry of certain LEGO bricks.

Making its first appearance in 1984’s LEGO Castle range, the basic design of the LEGO® 1x2 plate with a vertical bar attachment has now been around for 35 years. However, in 2008 LEGO introduced a subtle design change that might have gone unnoticed by many.

This article will explore the difference between Design ID 4623 - Plate W. Hook 1X2, and Design ID 88072 - Plate 1X2 W. Vertical Schaft (sic).

22 September 2019

How the LEGO® element team designed the new gear wheels

Posted by Admin
We’ve really enjoyed this latest Parts Festival, which now draws to a close, and we are so grateful to the talented artists who gave us their time and creative talents for everyone’s pleasure; in no particular order – Jessica Farrell, Inthert, Jaap Bijl, Duncan Lindbo, Samuel Pister, Sarah Beyer and Jaroslaw Walter.

To complete the festival we will take another look at what are arguably the most noticeable parts in the selection; the new gear wheel plates that we affectionately named ‘splat gears’. You may recall back in March, Elspeth wrote a fantastic post listing the different kinds of LEGO gears through history, including an examination of the new splat gear family.


It seems LEGO enjoyed her post too! – we later received this fascinating email from Marinus Jasperse on behalf of the Element Design Platform Team at the LEGO Group about the development of the new gear family...

21 September 2019

2019 Parts Fest #1: Duncan Lindbo's Schwebeadler

Posted by Admin
It's the final day of creations in our Parts Festival today and we hope you've been inspired by the incredible LEGO® models and techniques our global team of fan builders have come up with. (If you're looking for a building challenge yourself, check out our latest competition, Recycle my Bicycle!) To round things off, Duncan Lindbo creates a cool ship.

With Ma.Ktober approaching, I decided to get in on the action with this build for the parts fest. So, here’s the Schwebeadler, a two-person hovercraft used primarily for scouting and light anti-infantry duties.



20 September 2019

2019 Parts Fest #1: Inthert and the pauldon

Posted by Admin
Our Parts Festival has almost ended but those of you with a good memory may recall there is an element that hasn't yet been shown in any of the LEGO® creations yet; Reinhardt's pauldron. We didn't have lots of this element and a couple of unfortunate complications meant that in the end, only one builder was able to use them. That builder is Inthert, and we're excited to present his ideas to you today!

As an AFOL who almost exclusively builds spaceships (more specifically, grey spaceships) there was one part amongst the selection I received that I took particular interest in: Design Element 5x5x3 in Medium Stone Grey/ Light Bluish Gray (6254171|49523).


18 September 2019

2019 Parts Fest #1: Duncan Lindbo bugs out

Posted by Admin
After a break let's get back the last few contributions to our Parts Festival, where LEGO® builders use some of the newest parts to create inspiring ideas. Duncan Lindbo is back today, finding a place for the first creation he made for us.

Today we get to see where the TRT13 dropship was in such a rush to get to…

(Click image to enlarge)

The colony on planet LG-624 had gone silent, so a platoon of marines was dispatched to investigate. They start their search at the colony’s power plant complex. The massive reactor tower appears intact, but the shattered windows and flickering fires in the admin towers suggest some kind of struggle. More ominous still, the entire complex seems deserted: no sign of the colonists anywhere.

06 September 2019

2019 Parts Fest #1: Samuel Pister's clown and soldier

Posted by Admin
Time for the second half of Samuel Pister's creations for our Parts Festival today, where LEGO® builders from around the world try out new pieces. If you missed his first bunch, they're here.


For this clown creation, I integrated many of the parts from the selection:
  • Vibrant Coral Gear Wheel 6x6, Z14 (6258385| 35446)
  • Medium Lilac/ Dark Purple Gear Wheel 2X2, Z6 (6238330 | 35442)
  • Bright Purple/ Dark Pink Plate 3X3, Heart, No. 1 (6254513|39613)
  • Bright Yellow/ Yellow Design Plate, 4X4X2/3, No. 1 (6248804|39611)
  • Bright Orange/ Orange Tile 1X1, Heart, No. 1 (6258993|39739)

05 September 2019

2019 Parts Fest #1: Jarekwally's chair and speeder

Posted by Admin
Following his earlier creations for our Parts Festival, LEGO® builder Jaroslaw Walter (jarekwally) focuses on some of the stranger elements among our seed parts.

Office chair

For the base of my retro furniture I used three of the seed parts: Black Turntable 2X2X1 w/ Function (6252373| 40145), Dark Stone Grey Turntable Holder W/ Cross Axle (6252372|40144) and Black Pneumatic Connecting Piece, No. 1 (6249327|41817).


04 September 2019

2019 Parts Fest #1: Sarah Beyer's microscale

Posted by Admin
Following her experiments with new LEGO® Technic parts, Sarah Beyer presents some microscale creations for our Parts Festival.

Last time I used Brick, Modified 1 x 1 x 2/3 No Studs, Curved Top (Design ID 49307) to create arm rests for a sofa. I believe that this "D brick" will fulfil many different purposes in coming sets and MOCs. Below, I've used it as the roof of a microscale train.

02 September 2019

LEGO® Hidden Side review: 70422 Shrimp Shack Attack

Posted by Elspeth De Montes
Hidden Side is a new LEGO® theme for 2019 featuring brick-built sets that combine with augmented reality (AR) to give a physical and digital aspect to each set. The Hidden Side range features eight building sets and interaction is via a smartphone app which reveals a hidden world of interactive mysteries and challenges to solve, using AR.


We are taking a look at a few Hidden Side sets and following 70425 Newbury Haunted High School, our second set up for review is 70422 Shrimp Shack Attack. This set has 579 pieces, one sticker sheet with 16 stickers, five minifigures and retails at £44.99 / US$49.99 / 49.99€.

01 September 2019

2019 Parts Fest #1: Duncan Lindbo sings C is for Cookie

Posted by Admin
A little Sunday treat for you from Duncan Lindbo, as he continues his LEGO® Parts Festival explorations for us.

So there I was, staring at a pile of Vibrant Coral gears (Gear Wheel 6x6, Z14 – 6258385| 35446), trying to think of a MOC to make with them, when it struck me that they kind of look like a big splat (I’m not the first one to make this observation, I know). Then I tried to think of things with big pink splats on them, and the first thing that came to mind was a particular variety of cheap, disgusting, and totally delicious sugar cookie that pretty much every grocery store and supermarket around here has a generic variety of…


30 August 2019

2019 Parts Fest #1: Jaap Bijl - week 2

Posted by Admin
Time for another update of what's been going through Jaap Bijl's (jaapxaap, found on Flickr and Instagram) head as he is faced with the various LEGO® parts in our Parts Festival.

There was one piece in the parts selection that was just weird to me. It's a white piece with some strange holes and details that didn't feel like LEGO to me. I was wondering why it even existed and why they would make such a part. But hey, if I think a piece doesn't deserve the name LEGO, I feel like that's enough reason to use it.

While looking at the piece, it suddenly came to me that it looked exactly like a security camera. So I took some bricks together and made a little scene to prove that even this piece is useful.


29 August 2019

2019 Parts Fest #1: Inhert's Splat Gear Experiments

Posted by Admin
Back to the Parts Festival fun today as our LEGO® fan builders find uses for 2019 parts. Following his discoveries with the big yellow star, Inthert returns today with fascinating analysis of the gear wheels.

Perhaps it was their bright colours or unusual shape but the three sizes of the affectionately dubbed ‘splat gears’ immediately caught my eye as I emptied all the parts onto my build table.


  • Vibrant Coral Gear Wheel 6X6, Z14 (Element ID 6258385 | Design ID 35446)
  • Dark Stone Grey [TLG]/ Dark Bluish Gray [BL] Gear Wheel 4X4, Z10 (6252371|35443)
  • Medium Lilac [TLG]/ Dark Purple [BL] Gear Wheel 2X2, Z6 (6238330|35442)

26 August 2019

2019 Parts Fest #1: Duncan Lindbo's Castle Maze Puzzle

Posted by Admin
After his initial creation using the new LEGO® stud shooter, Duncan Lindbo returns with a wholly different idea, this time using the new gear wheel, as part of our ongoing Parts Festival.

When I got my shipment of Gear Wheel 4x4, Z10 (Design ID 35443) from New Elementary, it didn’t take me long to come up with an idea for a MOC that used them. With a diameter of six studs including the teeth, and four studs without, they’re big enough to have some space to work on without requiring a tremendous investment in parts. Also, the ones I got were Dark Stone Grey/ Dark Bluish Gray (Element ID 6252371), which works well for a variety of uses (they also come in Medium Azure, 6238331).


So I built a slide puzzle. Not just any slide puzzle, but one in which the pieces also rotate!

25 August 2019

2019 Parts Fest #1: Jarekwally's Space Base, candle and summer break

Posted by Admin
Following his first creation for our Parts Festival, LEGO® builder Jaroslaw Walter (jarekwally on Flickr, Facebook & Instagram) returns today with three more varied builds all using our seed parts.

Base in Space

24 August 2019

2019 Parts Fest #1: Samuel Pister's tube and king

Posted by Admin
Samuel Pister (Pistash on Flickr and Facebook) is a French LEGO® builder and member of Lug’Est. His wild and colourful style seemed the right fit for the wild and colourful elements in our Parts Festival!

When I received the different parts shipped by New Elementary my first question was, “What will I do with this giant coral gear?” (Gear Wheel 6x6, Z14 in Vibrant Coral 6258385|35446.)
Obviously there were two main difficulties with this part. Firstly this element is designed to be used as a functional element, a gear in rotation, not for aesthetic effect. Secondly, the Vibrant Coral. I love this newest colour introduced by LEGO but it is not natural and very difficult to integrate in MOCs.

Despite these difficulties, it is always feasible with LEGO parts to find solutions and that is one aspect of the hobby that I particularly like: everything is possible.

20 August 2019

2019 Parts Fest #1: Inthert is Starry-Eyed

Posted by Admin
The next Parts Festival participant to introduce you to is Inthert (on Flickr), a UK-based LEGO® builder who was one of the winners of our Build 'n' Fix contest earlier this year with his lovely spade, although spaceships are really his thing. Here's the first of his investigations into our 19 seed parts.

At first, I questioned how useful the star element (Design Plate 4X4X2/3 No. 1 in Bright Yellow/ Yellow – Element ID 6248804| Design ID 39611) would be, especially without straying straight into illegal techniques. This is simply down to its number of connection points which, for a part of its size, is pretty limited. A star with nine friends is a slightly different story though.