Article by Cole Edmonson | September 23, 2015
Intro
In this article, I would like to share with you a little bit about the general design process I take when I build my realistic “brick replicas.” I’ve had many people ask me over the years how I go about replicating a subject with plastic bricks; while I don’t try to stick to a hard-and-fast set of procedures, I’ve noticed that all of my projects as an adult fan of LEGO (AFOL) have shared similar characteristics in the way they’ve been brought to completion, especially as I have become a more efficient builder. By sharing my 5-step design process with you, I hope that I will inspire you to consider your own personal building methods and come up with techniques that help you become more efficient too. As I outline each of the five steps, I first give a general description and then use my recent Tesla car project as an example of how I worked through the process.
Step One: Idea
In general: This first step in the building project is often the most unintentional one; this is the “spark,” the initial inspiration, the basic concept of a LEGO creation that solely exists (for the moment) in your imagination. Some might argue that each project doesn’t really start until the next step, when the decision is made to actually pursue the idea, but I would say that every idea is a project in its own right; it’s just that most of them are never pursued and made a physical reality.
For example: The first time I came in contact with the Tesla Model S on full display at the shopping mall, I was impressed by its aerodynamically efficient design, right down to the door handles that retract into the body for better airflow. Reading an article in Popular Mechanics a couple of months later, I found out that the newest iteration of the luxury sedan, the P85D, is capable of dusting even gas-powered, nitreous-injected sports cars with its stunning 691 horsepower; who would have thought that an EV (electric vehicle) could show such performance? (‘Sure, the car’s a little overpriced, but that doesn’t reduce the coolness factor where I’m concerned!) It wasn’t long before my growing fascination with the Tesla Model S turned into the idea to build the car in LEGO form…
Step Two: Goals
In general: This is the decision phase of the project, the biggest decision being to make this a project (i.e. to pursue it). At this point in the process, the goal has been set to turn the idea into a physical LEGO model and smaller, sub-goals are set (either subconsciously or intentionally) to give the MOC specific characteristics and features. These are the builder’s design priorities, the things about the project that, if achieved in the final model, are a measurable indicator of the project’s success. These design priority sub-goals include, but are not limited to, the visual focus/theme of the MOC, the scale of the MOC, the color-scheme, the specific type of LEGO elements used (System, Technic, etc.), the kinds of building techniques used, the durability of the MOC, the audience (and intended display format) of the MOC, and much more. Typically, the more intentional a builder is about setting design goals, the more likely that these goals will be met and the project will result in a successful MOC.
For example: It was very important to me that my LEGO Tesla Model S be able to fit into the “world” of minifigures and LEGO City. Minifigure scale (approximately 1:40 or 1:48, I chose 1:40 in this project) is a fun challenge; its small size means that a car requires a relatively low number of pieces to construct. However, because it is a small scale, it is difficult to capture key features and produce a purist car MOC that closely resembles the real-life subject. A design priority on all of my builds is to use only official, unaltered LEGO elements so as to avoid “cheating” and help the MOC better fit into the LEGO world. Another typical goal I have is to make the MOC sturdy enough to hold at all angles without falling apart; this makes it easier to transport my creations to different events for a wider variety of display formats and also means I don’t have to continually adjust the individual pieces on each MOC to make sure it looks right. Finally, my key focus in designing the aesthetics of the car itself was to capture the Tesla’s refined form. This MOC needs to represent an ultra-expensive luxury performance sedan, be pleasing to view from all angles, and feature smooth curves that mimic the real-life car’s aerodynamic shape. Many of my previous LEGO cars have been boxy; I wanted to break away from that trait completely in this project.
Step Three: Research
In general: The project requirements now determined, the real-life subject must be referenced and observed from all angles to ensure that the construction step flows smoothly and the subject is accurately rendered in LEGO form. A clear, 360° understanding of the subject as a whole is needed, and for that, multiple images of the subject are required, along with physical dimensions that can be used to calculate the correct size and proportioning of the LEGO model. If reference is thoroughly gathered and processed before building starts, the construction step will proceed much more quickly and with less frustration; the builder will only need to figure out which pieces need to go where in what order, without having to question how each part of the subject itself relates to the other components (in 3D space).
For example: I used Google Search to find a variety of clear images of the red P85D version from multiple perspectives, and I went to the official Tesla Motors website to find an orthographic (profile, no perspective) view of the car to use for measuring details on its side. Google gave me the overall dimensions (196″ L x 77″ W x 57″ H), which I plugged into my calculator and divided by 40 (because this is a 1:40 scale MOC) to determine the LEGO car’s dimensions (4.9″ L x 1.93″ W x 1.43″ H). Taking the orthographic side-view picture that I printed out, I took my ruler and calculated the size and placement of the Tesla’s key features, writing them down for easy reference during construction. This would keep me from accidentally making certain parts of the MOC too big or too small in proportion to the rest of the car.
Step Four: Construction
In general: The research step having provided a clear, 360° picture of the subject, it is now time to render the subject in LEGO form using the best-suited elements and building techniques, keeping with the project goals that were set in Step Two. This step will usually take the longest of the five, which is a good thing, because LEGO is all about the fun of building anyway. In most situations, it is best to accomplish the harder goals first, as this tends to simplify the assembly, make the building experience more fun, and maximize the success of the project as a whole.
For example: With my reference material and self-calculated measurements in hand, I got to work on the more crucial/difficult parts of the car first. In this project, the most difficult part would be installing and retaining the semi-rigid 3mm hose elements in a specific curve position to form the sides of the greenhouse (an automotive term for the top portion of the car comprised of the windows, side pillars, and roof). However, since the greenhouse sits between and “bridges” both the front and rear portions of the vehicle, I needed to tackle those sections first. What is the most crucial part of those sections? The wheels and their surrounding enclosures. Designing those, I used my measurement sheet to set the proper distances between the wheels and determine the clearance between the ground and the chassis that the wheels were going to be attached to.
The next step in the construction was for me to assemble the front of the car. I opted to use the official mudguard elements to enclose the wheels and then did my best to work around the large 2×2 space that each mudguard piece claimed in the hood; I only happened to have two of these LEGO pieces in red, so I made a mental note to order those on Bricklink before the end of the project, along with some more of the light-grey spoked wheels. Until I received the parts in the correct color, I would just continue working with the patsies (where the term ‘patsy’ means a “placeholder” part in the wrong color).
In order to get the wheels to fit directly against the large mudguard elements, I needed to attach the wheel-axle assembly upside down using some SNOT techniques. (The best solution is rarely an easy one when building small-scale LEGO cars!) In building the front of the car, the focus was to make the tapering hood curve as smooth as possible and accommodate the headlights. Here in the design, I chose the option of “breaking” the scale boundary slightly and making the car half-a-stud longer than it should be in favor of a more realistic approach to the lights, hood, and mouth, rather than compressing these important features to stay within measurements.
Next, I fabricated the floor and car doors to help bridge the gap between the front and rear sets of wheels. The real-life Tesla has door-handles that are flush with the doors most of the time (for better aerodynamic performance) and a contrasting color from the rest of the car body, so I chose not to use the standard LEGO car door elements. The interior details were added at this point, and the steering wheel and seating is shrunk to fit all of it inside the compressed (3-stud) cabin.
The rear of the car was straightforward SNOT-work that was the quickest part of the model to build. Finally, with the front and back of the car connected by the floor and the car doors, the hose elements are connected, first to the front end where their downslope is steepest (and requires the most control), and then to the back end, where the hoses are less angled and easier to grip. The bar/clip holder arm elements act as both the car’s side-pillars (separating the front-seat windows from the backseat windows) and the physical bending point for the hose elements.
With the hoses securely in place to represent the roof, I added the “glass” window panes for the windshield and rear window, closing up the ceiling with a tilted double-sloping surface suspended from the top of the backseat. At this point, the MOC is “completed” but still needs some finishing touches.
Step Five: Refinement
In general: The project goals have been satisfied, and the research-informed picture of the subject has been rendered in physical, brick-built form; now, the entire model is critically examined in detail and corrections are given to the proportions, slopes, and any wrongly-placed details in order to help make the end-result the very best it can possibly be.
For example: Now all that was left to do at this step was to touch up the MOC and make some adjustments. I went ahead and ordered the parts I was missing in the correct colors and then it was just a matter of adding a tile here, tugging on a rubberband here, adjusting the sticker (for the license plate) here, etc. It was at this point that I had the idea for building a display base to photograph the model on, using LEGO letter tiles to ‘inscribe’ the model’s title on the front. The driver minifigure and his wife joined the car on the display, followed by a Tesla supercharger station and flower planter on the side for compositional balance and added interest.
Finally, the parts arriving in the mail, I could finish the MOC and get it ready for final picture-taking. A few days later, I finished this article and posted both the model and the story behind it to the Internet.
Conclusion
Not counting the time spent waiting for the Bricklink parts to arrive, my Tesla Model S P85D project proceeded quickly and efficiently thanks to the Five-Step Design Process, a general approach which made it easier to turn the initial idea into a specific image that I could render in LEGO form. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me at this link. I hope you’ve enjoyed this overview of my LEGO design process and that it inspires you to look at your own methods and choose the ones that you find most helpful. Thanks for reading!
