The Magazine for LEGO® Enthusiasts of All Ages! Issue 53 • October 2018
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LI Li’s Pokemon!
BRICK 101:
Building Mario and His Friends Buiding Better Bricks Interview: Mario Bros. TM & © Nintendo
Baron von Brink Instructions and MORE!
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82658 00316
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Issue 53 • October 2018
Contents
From the Editor...................................................... 2
People Helen Sham’s Videogame Consoles............. 3 Martin Hartwigsen’s Technic Creations...... 8 Builder Profile: Kevin Hinkle.......................................................16 Building Better Bricks: Creating Custom High Quality LEGO Instructions...........................................18 Hail to the Baron: Baron von Brunk..............................................24 Li Li and LEGO: Building Places and Characters....................32 Staring in a Pokéball: Grant Davis.........................................................36
Building BrickNerd’s DIY Fan Art: Mario’s Question Box.....................................38 You Can Build It: MINI Thranta Class Corvette.......................44 BRICK 101’s Video Game Characters .........47 You Can Build It: Super Mario Brothers’ Mario.......................50 You Can Build It: Super Mario Brothers’ Yoshi........................54 You Can Build It: Cuphead..............................................................60 Minifigure Customization 101: Creating the Characters of Coraline........66 Holly Webster’s LEGO Idea.............................71 Community Ads..................................................78 Last Word................................................................79 Bricks in the Middle...........................................80
From the Editor: This issue was interesting to do, because video games have a pretty large presence in the building community... well, a couple of games anyways.
October 2018 Issue 53
Finding the popular ones was easy, but it was tough getting different MOCs... do you have any idea how many Mario MOCs there are out there?
Publisher John Morrow
Editor in Chief Joe Meno
Photography Editor Geoff Gray Proofreader John Morrow
Japanese Bureau Editor Nathan Bryan West Coast Editors Todd Kubo Ashley Glennon
LEGO Ideas Correspondent Glen Wadleigh
Contributors: Julius von Brunk, Jared Burks, Grant Davis, Christopher Deck, Martin Hartwigsen, Vaughn Himber, Kevin Hinkle, Li Li, Alysa Kirkpatrick, David Pickett, Helen Sham, Holly Webster, Tommy Williamson, and Greg Hyland. Many thanks to the websites who have served as mirrors for BrickJournal:
In spite of that, this issue came together pretty well, thanks to the gang of writers and photographers that contributed. It’s always a fun treat for me to see what photos show up in my e-mail for every issue! I hope you feel the same way opening this issue—we have more instructions this time! I spotted too many small models that could be done, so off I went to make directions! Have fun reading and... welcome Kevin Hinkle’s comic Bricks in the Middle to BrickJournal! He’ll be contributing comics with Greg Hyland on the back page! Build on! 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! P.P.P.S. If you want to subscribe, go to http://bit.ly/BrickJournalSub or scan below! Website
Subscriptions
www.LUGNET.com, www.Brickshelf.com, www.peeron.com, www.brickmodder.net www.rustyclank.com
About the Cover: Mario makes the cover! Photo by Build Better Bricks. About the Contents: Luigi misses the cover! Photo by Build Better Bricks.
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)
LEGO®, TECHNIC, MINDSTORMS, Belville, Scala, BIONICLE, ExoForce, Mars Mission, World City, and other LEGO theme lines are trademarks of the LEGO Group of companies. All articles, photos, and art are copyright BrickJournal Media, LLC 2011, TwoMorrows Publishing and the respective writers, photographers, and artists. All rights reserved. All trademarked items are the property of their respective owners and licensees. Subscriptions are $60 Economy US, $72 Expedited US, $94 International, or $24 Digital Only and can be purchased at www.twomorrows.com or payment sent to: TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614 USA. The editorial/advertising office address for BrickJournal is: BrickJournal Editor, 5610 Briar Oak Lane #510, Raleigh, NC 27612 USA or admin@brickjournal.com. First Printing. Printed in China. ISSN 1941-2347. 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.
Helen Sham’s Videogame Consoles!
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People
Martin Hartwigsen’s Technic Creations! Article and Photography by Martin Hartwigsen
Martin with his Bugatti.
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Hi! My name is Martin Hartwigsen, I’m Dutch, single, and live in The Netherlands close to Delft in an area with a lot of greenhouses where they grow fruit, vegetables and flowers. My profession is mechanical design engineer, designing robot-like inspection tools for steel walls and welds, especially in the field of oil and gas. My age is 65 (already), but you will understand that I still feel young! My drive is that I always want to create something new and my hobbies fit this direction: Of course LEGO Technic, remodeling the house and garden, portrait painting, and making models in general. Originally I was more a fan of Meccano (a metal construction system), but when I started to help my little neighbor boy building his LEGO Technic models, I discovered the possibilities of this system and became a big fan too. That was 10 years ago.
Martin’s Bugatti 50T, and (inset) the 1:8 scale model that inspired it.
Since then I’ve built many models that you can see at www. brickshelf.com at member marthart. I place my models there not to show off, but to inspire other people.
A look at the rear of the car.
I’m mainly interested in complex mechanisms used in the Technic series, but I also built with the EV3 Mindstorms system and I even have the VW camper, Austin Mini and two Architecture models. LEGO makes it possible for me to create new things, and the challenge always is to let all functions work and to make the best resemblance compared to the original, with the limited amount of shapes available in LEGO Technic. Building the 1933 Bugatti 50T About the Bugatti: I got inspired by the scale 1:8 metal/ plastic model kit that I already owned, and thought it to be a big challenge to get the shape of this model right in Technic!
A side view with the hood open.
It took me about two months with some 12 hours a week to finish the model. Most parts came from Technic sets that I already owned and the extra parts I needed were bought on the Internet platform Bricklink. I think I spent 100 Euro for the extra parts, but if this was a LEGO set, it would cost around about 300 Euro, I guess. David with his Mk II arm.
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People
Black Panther.
Cinderella Castle. Cinderella Castle.
Build Better Bricks (B3):
Creating Custom High Quality LEGO Instructions! Article by Vaughn Himber Photography provided by Build Better Bricks
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Rocket Raccoon.
Have you ever seen an amazing LEGO creation online and wondered how you could build your own version with the parts you already have at home? Imagine if you had special high-quality instructions which would allow you to build some of the coolest custom models out there. Well, now the wait is over! Enter Build Better Bricks (B3). Created by renowned builders Tyler Clites and Sean Mayo, Build Better Bricks provides incredible custom-designed LEGO model instructions and parts lists. “Many builders can relate to their friends or family saying something like: ‘You should make instructions and sell these!’ So having heard this hundreds of times, while already doing occasional commissions on the side, we figured, why not? Well, it turns out there’s a lot that goes into it, and there’s always something just outside your wheelhouse. These things ranged from building styles, initial overhead, to programming, studio space, and of
Darth Maul.
Yoda.
course more organized LEGO than is sane. But as various programs like the stud.io, life circumstances, marketing, videography, and many other pieces started falling into place, B3 (Build Better Bricks) was created,” said Sean. Inspired by each other’s entries in online building competitions, Sean and Tyler decided to partner together after realizing they had a knack for collaboration and mutual inspiration. “We have a long history of battling against each other in many grueling LEGO competitions throughout the years. And, as both of us are the kind of people who seek to become better friends with added respect for the enemy after a long battle, we soon figured out that we work well together,” said Tyler. “The differences in our building styles, even down to organizing our pieces ‘by type’ vs. ‘color’ began to complement shared builds. Just having two different perspectives and talent trees has helped our concepts, edits, critiques, builds, motivation, etc. But at the base of all that, simply put: We’re great friends, and the absence of LEGO wouldn’t change that.” When it comes to deciding what ideas will be developed into full instructions, the B3 team considers many different factors, including “size of the end product, availability of pieces, current interest in that topic, time, and inspiration.” The custom builds take longer to design and complete than the instructions. An oliphaunt.
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People
Mecha Link battle at the Water Temple.
Hail to the Baron:
Baron von Brunk Article and Photography by Baron Von Brunk
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If you want to see an assortment of video game-themed models, a good place to start is the website Baronvonbrunk.com. “Baron” Julius von Brunk is an artist residing in New York who has been building video game-inspired models for more than a few years, with some of his models published in Nintendo Power magazine in 2012. Here, he talks to BrickJournal about his builds. BrickJournal: What do you do outside of building? Baron Von Brunk: Aside from assembling custom LEGO models, I’m also an independent photographer and aspiring animator. I do in fact make some animations with my LEGO pieces, and hopefully some day I’ll launch some short films of my stop-motion animation. Sometimes I incorporate my various artistic hobbies together, such as using my photography along with my graphic arts for print designs. Career-wise, I’m a professional graphic artist in New York City, and currently I design images and graphic assets for Goldman Sachs in Manhattan’s Financial District. On a daily basis, I typically develop PowerPoint presentations, including creating covers/section dividers in Photoshop. I also use Illustrator and other vector imaging programs to generate maps for investment bankers. Prior to this job, I’ve worked as a designer in a variety of fields—including consumer electronics, fashion, and even Major League sports. I started off many years ago by designing packages and labels for third-party electronic devices, and I’ve sort of bounced around between industries whilst expanding my portfolio. I’m actually completely self-taught, and never attended college. My career path has been very long and troublesome, but the way I like to describe
it, I took the “scenic route” to get where I am! How old are you? 33 years old, and I’ll be 34 in October. When did you start LEGO building? “LEGO” was actually the first word I learned how to spell as a kid—even before my own name! I received Duplo sets at an early age, then around age three in the 1980s, my parents bought me numerous LEGO sets for Christmas and my birthdays. I’ve consistently been a fan of this toy line since childhood, and even photographed some of my custom creations way back in the 1990s using old film cameras. This passion of mine predated social media by about a decade! Did you have a Dark Age? If so, what got you out of it? Oh, I definitely had a Dark Age! Although this is a hobby I’ve liked for most of my life, there was a small moment in my life when I “paused” my fascination with LEGO. I’d say this was during the early-to-mid 2000s, when I was in my late teens. This wasn’t because I grew out of it, but rather because at the time, the dominant models/themes in the 2000s-era LEGO System didn’t fascinate me like in previous years. I personally never liked Bionicle, I was never a fan of Harry Potter, I could never get into Spider-Man comics/ movies, and I always despised Spongebob Squarepants. In addition, I could never really get into the Mecha Link. Star Wars prequels as much as the originals. With the lack of selection of sets I wanted to buy, I instead focused on occasionally building creations with my preexisting pieces. Also around this time, I didn’t have a job (due to my age and my high school schedule), and the little bit of money I did have I’d use on other things like video games and food. I got back into purchasing new sets around 2005 or 2006, when the then-new medieval themes were released, along with the Vikings series. This reignited my fascination with LEGO, and I soon focused on creating models and vignettes with medieval themes. At this point I was in my early twenties, and working at various jobs which gave me more disposable income. I’d say 2007 was my definite “LEGO Renaissance”, where my love of LEGO was reborn completely, to the point where it became the dominant creative force in my life, completely reshaping my artistic hobbies and creativity. What are your favorite themes? For me, the best themes are the late-’80s/early-’90s Space or Castle. Although I played with any LEGO theme since I was young, I was always fascinated the most by spaceships and castles. I’ve had a soft spot for the classic Futurons, M:Tron, Blacktron, and Ice Planet—as well as Black Falcons, Forestmen, Dragon Masters, and Crusaders. To show this, I have two LEGO tattoos on my right arm: a red Futuron astronaut, and a green Castle Forestman! Wario.
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You Can Build It
Super Mario Brothers’Yoshi
Design by Kevin Hinkle and Dave Pickett Instructions by Joe Meno This model was made for BRICK 101 by request.
Parts List (Parts can be ordered from Bricklink.com by searching by part number and color) Qty Color
Part
Description
1
3022.dat
Plate 2 x 2
3
White
2
White
1 1 2 2 1 1 6
White White White White White White White White
54
2654.dat 3023.dat 3176.dat 3660.dat 6141.dat
15535.dat 15573.dat 18674.dat 87087.dat
Dish 2 x 2
Plate 1 x 2
Plate 3 x 2 with Hole
Slope Brick 45 2 x 2 Inverte Plate 1 x 1 Round
Tile 2 x 2 Round with Hole
Plate 1 x 2 with Groove with 1 Centre Stud, without Understud
Plate 2 x 2 Round with 1 Centre Stud Brick 1 x 1 with Stud on 1 Side
Qty Color
Part
Description
2
2555.dat
Tile 1 x 1 with Clip
2
White
1
Red
2 1
Red Red Red
98138p07.dat 3069b.dat 6141.dat
14769.dat
2
Orange
3023.dat
2
Orange
6141.dat
2 2 2 2 2 4 4 1 6 2 2 4 2 1 2 1
Orange Yellow Green Green Green Green Green Green Green Green Green Green Green Green Green Green
3024.dat 3023.dat 2420.dat 3020.dat 3022.dat 3023.dat
3069b.dat 3660.dat 4070.dat 6091.dat 6141.dat
11477.dat
30039.dat 47458.dat 48336.dat 85984.dat
Tile 1 x 1 Round with Eye Pattern Tile 1 x 2 with Groove Plate 1 x 1 Round
Tile 2 x 2 Round with Round Underside Stud Plate 1 x 2 Plate 1 x 1
Plate 1 x 1 Round Plate 1 x 2
Plate 2 x 2 Corner Plate 2 x 4 Plate 2 x 2 Plate 1 x 2
Tile 1 x 2 with Groove
Slope Brick 45 2 x 2 Inverted Brick 1 x 1 with Headlight
Brick 2 x 1 x 1 & 1/3 with Curved Top Plate 1 x 1 Round
Slope Brick Curved 2 x 1 Tile 1 x 1 with Groove
Slope Brick Curved 1 x 2 x 2/3 with Fin without Studs Plate 1 x 2 with Handle Type 2
Slope Brick 31 1 x 2 x 0.667 Green
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Building Minifig Customization 101
Article and Photography by Jared K. Burks
Creating the Characters of
Dear Laika Studios, My family and I have enjoyed several of your films without knowing of your central involvement. Specifically we enjoyed Kubo and the Two Strings and The Boxtrolls. Recently I was introduced to Coraline (for this project) and enjoyed it as well. A mutual friend introduced me to Holly Webster (one of your digital visual effects artists), who was looking for help with her LEGO Ideas project [see page 71] to create the characters from Coraline. I dove into the film, its inspiration and the characters. I crawled over the extended footage (per Holly’s direction), and discovered the inspiration and artistic vision of the film. I also found great similarities behind what I do with LEGO figures and how Laika creates the film’s puppets. Therefore, for this issue of BrickJournal I thought a letter to the studio about how I created these figures would be enjoyed.
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For those that have not seen the film, Google’s synopsis of the film follows: While exploring her new home, a girl named Coraline (Dakota Fanning) discovers a secret door, behind which lies an alternate world that closely mirrors her own but, in many ways, is better. She rejoices in her discovery, until Other Mother (Teri Hatcher) and the rest of her parallel family try to keep her there forever. Coraline must use all her resources and bravery to make it back to her own family and life. For Holly’s LEGO Ideas Project titled Coraline’s Pink Palace Apartments (https:// ideas.lego.com/projects/e923271e-078a-4e21-8847-906d0453875d) I started creating the central characters for the film. Holly supplied some reference materials for the characters as well as her base designs, and I started working on how to create physical LEGO figures. Surprisingly, Coraline was the last figure I created, and while the simplest, gave me the most difficulty. I create most of my work with waterslide decals, similar to those found in model cars and planes. I create my own vector art in Corel Draw and print the decals using a micro-dry printer. This printer affords me several specialty inks, three of which I used on this project: white, metallic gold, and metallic cyan. Brasso brass polish, a micro-abrasive, was used to remove the printing from the needed LEGO elements. Once the LEGO elements are cleared of printing and the decals are printed, they are dipped in water to release from the backing paper. This allows the decal to slide off the backing and on to the LEGO element. This central application concept is how all of the art is transferred onto the figures. These decals are then protected through the application of a UV resistant clear gloss acrylic paint. Characters Created: • Coraline • Other Wybie • Other Mother • Other Father • Other Bobinsky • Coraline’s Doll • Cat
Holly emphasized the need for a detailed and recognizable button for the Other Worlders’ eyes. Therefore, I started with a button study to understand the level of detail possible and still resemble buttons, or this project was over before it began. This pushed the limits of my printer’s resolution. The button study helped me avoid the trap of vector art and create resolution that is not possible to print. Once this study concluded, I was pleased with the level of detail created and the easily recognizable nature of the buttons; this allowed me to take the designs Holly had created and go to the next stage: listing what needed to be done for each character.
Button test.
Other Mother:
Other Father:
Wybie:
Custom Design Decals drawn to LEGO standard altered from Holly’s work
Custom Design Decals drawn to LEGO standard from scratch
Custom Design Decals drawn to LEGO standard inspired by LEGO Firefighter
Clarified Garment Colors as Dark Grey
Altered Part Color based on Henry Selick’s Behind the Scenes
Child characters required stubbies to follow Laika’s Vertical Character Nature
Critical Monkey Slippers
Custom template created for Welding Helmet
Added Apron Details and Corrected Pocket Design Acquired Rare Friends’ Hair Piece
Features Medusa’s Hair, primed and painted brown Played with Wybie’s Motorized Bicycle
Cat: VHT Vinyl Dyed a Grey Cat Black Custom Design Decals drawn to LEGO standard from scratch
Mr. Bobinsky:
Coraline:
Custom Design Decals drawn to LEGO standard from scratch
Custom Design Decals drawn to LEGO standard from scratch with inspiration from LEGO design
The Vertical Character of the Film, requires Woody’s Legs and Arms VHT Vinyl Dyed Legs and Arms for better wear Masked Joints Needed a Blue Mustache Primed and Painted with Enamel (CAUTION) Penguin’s Black Top Hat Joker’s Purple Cloth tails Blue Head Needs MANY of the New CMS Mice (Elephant Girl)
Needs uniform Yellow Hood, Torso, Arms, Legs, and Doll Requires Vinyl Dye of all parts for matching (brighter than regular LEGO as this is Other World Coraline Coraline needs Hood from Wyldstyle and Satchel from Indiana Jones (she is one cool character Coraline Needs same Rare Hair as Other Mother Needs to be painted Blue – Primed and Painted
Coraline’s Doll: Complicated bit, Holly liked the size and shape of body of the LEGO Teddy Bear Sanded and removed nose from bear Primed Body and Vinyl dyed everything but hands and head Custom Design Decals drawn to LEGO standard from scratch for bear’s stomach, back and legs Replicating Coraline’s Rain Coat, Shirt, Boots, and Hood. Brush Painted the Doll’s Head/ Hair Darker Blue and Dry Brushed a Lighter Blue to replicate Yarn Hair Alternative Creation: LEGO Minifigure Trophy
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