Your own LEGO Projects

Hey guys,

I'm thinking of starting a big LEGO project and I'll be honest I don't even know where to start.

My idea is to build a minifig scale superhero city as a display/play piece for my nephew to enjoy when he comes over to vist. He's only 2 at the moment, so the way I see it, I have 3 to 4 years to tinker and build it before he will be old enough to really appareciate it.

For the past year, I've been grabing various Superhero & City sets that are on special, as I know it'll take a lot of money (as well as time) to plan & build. I've even grabbed muiltiples of some things that I thought would be handy. (I have muiltiple Recycling Truck kits for an example)

To break the project down, I want to start with what I think should be fairly simple. A warehouse styled building that looks fairly normal from the outside, but on the inside, has been turned into a supervillain's labratory.

Has anyone here tried thier own 'big' project yet? Or do any of you guys have any links to sites that might be helpful? When I search on the net, all I seem to find are 'pro' displays with no explanations on how they got to the finished product or of the trials encountered along the way.

Either way, I'll try and keep this thread updated with my progress... or lack there of. :P

cool i would be interested in seeing some pics when you have some

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Originally Posted by Mechbiter

Hey guys,

I'm thinking of starting a big LEGO project and I'll be honest I don't even know where to start.

My idea is to build a minifig scale superhero city as a display/play piece for my nephew to enjoy when he comes over to vist. He's only 2 at the moment, so the way I see it, I have 3 to 4 years to tinker and build it before he will be old enough to really appareciate it.

For the past year, I've been grabing various Superhero & City sets that are on special, as I know it'll take a lot of money (as well as time) to plan & build. I've even grabbed muiltiples of some things that I thought would be handy. (I have muiltiple Recycling Truck kits for an example)

To break the project down, I want to start with what I think should be fairly simple. A warehouse styled building that looks fairly normal from the outside, but on the inside, has been turned into a supervillain's labratory.

Has anyone here tried thier own 'big' project yet? Or do any of you guys have any links to sites that might be helpful? When I search on the net, all I seem to find are 'pro' displays with no explanations on how they got to the finished product or of the trials encountered along the way.

Either way, I'll try and keep this thread updated with my progress... or lack there of. :P

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For your project you're gonna need bricks, a lot of bricks. Probably in that 'sand' colour if its the sort of warehouse I'm thinking of, which unfortunately isn't one of the colours that is easy to obtain in bulk.

I don't know what sort of help you're after as building LEGO is a pretty open activity. I would advise having a look at some of the more premium lego sets and 'pro' builds to learn advanced building techniques if you want your model to look spiffy. If you want your model to be more 'playable' for your nephew I wouldn't look at pro-builds at all as they are generally designed to be looked at and not played with.

The warehouse is probably gonna be the most difficult aspect of your model to complete construction-wise. If you've bought a good quantity of superheroes sets already you're gonna have heaps of quirky things to fill your laboratory with. Let your imagination run wild!

I have no experience myself other than based on my own Nephew, you might have 2 years before he's able to start appreciating it.

Otherwise, Lints advice sounds good to me. There must be some stuff on youtube to check out.

You can get huge numbers of every different brick available on Bricklink.com. I've built whole sets (using various online instructions) by getting the bricks piecemeal from Bricklink sellers and saved hundreds of dollars from aftermarket prices on the sets. Bricklink can get you the pieces way cheaper than buying multiple sets at retail prices, and you can just get the pieces you need, rather than some pieces you need and a whole lot you don't. The Bricklink website is not a particularly user friendly interface, but you can get the hang of it after a while.

There are programs you can download (from the Lego website I think) where you can literally build your own designs on the computer. Then, you can go to Bricklink and order all the pieces you may need.

Certainly a big undertaking! Good luck!:)

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Originally Posted by M-bot

You can get huge numbers of every different brick available on Bricklink.com.

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+1

It's probably cheaper in the long run for you to just buy the superhero figures by themselves, and then buy the required parts as separate items, all from bricklink.com.

As for building techniques, you may be interested in:
http://joncraton.org/media/files/Uno...iquesGuide.pdf

and:
http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/inde...howtopic=21936

The first link may not be very useful though, because you would need to find a context to try the techniques out in. But, you probably have lots of ideas already. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by M-bot

You can get huge numbers of every different brick available on Bricklink.com. I've built whole sets (using various online instructions) by getting the bricks piecemeal from Bricklink sellers and saved hundreds of dollars from aftermarket prices on the sets. Bricklink can get you the pieces way cheaper than buying multiple sets at retail prices, and you can just get the pieces you need, rather than some pieces you need and a whole lot you don't. The Bricklink website is not a particularly user friendly interface, but you can get the hang of it after a while.
)

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Can you recommend any particular Bricklink sellers who have a good stock of bricks? I've never been able to find a single seller with enough of what I want to justify the postage.

One of the cheapest ways to obtain bricks if you have the spare time is through garage sales or better still, getting colleagues to gift you their kid's unwanted lego.

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Originally Posted by Lint

Can you recommend any particular Bricklink sellers who have a good stock of bricks? I've never been able to find a single seller with enough of what I want to justify the postage.

One of the cheapest ways to obtain bricks if you have the spare time is through garage sales or better still, getting colleagues to gift you their kid's unwanted lego.

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You can set up a wanted list if you sign up. The list includes options for things like condition and min/max price.
There is then a way to list the shops in order of who has the most parts in your wanted list.

It can reduce the work of looking through all the shops.

I've never found a single seller that has everything I need in one hit, but using the wanted list is the most efficient way. There are plenty of Australian sellers to minimise postage costs and some overseas sellers have massive stocks to draw upon, so even if the pieces you order are coming from overseas, you can minimise the number of sellers you're buying from.

I've had some really positive experiences with sellers, people throwing in unpaid for extras and bonuses, getting in parts that are difficult to find, very helpful and friendly. I suspect because it tends to be hardcore Lego fans, they are more reliable than the average eBay seller.

Thanks for the tips/suggestions guys. I've been looking at pics of old wherehouses for ideas and also downloaded some building instructions from the Lego site itself to give me ideas.

I plan on doing a bit of a moc up/test build, to try some of the different build styles, out of stuff I have already. Hopefully that should give me an idea of what works & what doesn't, along with I need more of.

As for colours, I think I'll worry about that last. I was thinking orginally of the red brick with grey brick edging & trim but I'm seeing a lot of stuff in sandstone, so I might have to think about the Tan colour Lint mentioned.
I have a few Daily Bugle sets that I got on clearance, that I can use as a colour guide I guess? I'm pretty sure that uses Tan bricks.

Do most building mostly use the 1x bricks now or still the 2x bricks?

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Originally Posted by Mechbiter

I have a few Daily Bugle sets that I got on clearance, that I can use as a colour guide I guess? I'm pretty sure that uses Tan bricks.

Do most building mostly use the 1x bricks now or still the 2x bricks?

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More importantly the daily bugle sets come with some excellent windows. I woudln't say that tan/sandstone coloured bricks are that common but I reckon they will look nice if you're going for the 'movie studio' look of warehouse. Hopefully you can snag some tan bricks in bulk for cheap.

1x bricks are probably the most economical and will fit in with the theme of a warehouse.

I'm kinda doing A Walking Dead Lego Scene here a sample of some mini-figs I've mixed and matched to create Rick And Daryl
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...98506968_o.jpg

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Originally Posted by Ryathalas

I'm kinda doing A Walking Dead Lego Scene here a sample of some mini-figs I've mixed and matched to create Rick And Daryl

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That sir, is brilliant

Awesome! Wish I had time for stuff like this