I been architectureing!

"Jim Spanfeller" (awesomeaustinv) 04/07/2020 at 13:50 • Filed to: Legolopnik

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Ta-da, I built a Lego house. I don’t build Lego houses often, usually just Lego cars. But now I built a house. I am revolutionizing Lego house construction by using plate-based construction instead of brick-based like most other Lego houses. The walls of my little house are made of large plates connected at the corners using 1x1 bricks with studs on all sides. This method is lighter, cheaper, quicker, more spacious, surprisingly durable, and much uglier than brick-based construction if left unadorned. Luckily, large Lego plates make fantastic canvases for decorations, so there are ways to cover up the ugliness of the plates. I used this structure as an excuse to use up a bunch of odd parts I bought in bulk a while back, and I think they lent my Lego house a bit of a futuristic look.

I’m still not sure how I’m going to use the 190 Lego carrots I bought, though...

CalzoneGolem > Jim Spanfeller 04/07/2020 at 13:58

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I’m totally stealing this idea to make my own Lego plate based constructions.

fintail > Jim Spanfeller 04/07/2020 at 14:08

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Fun, I never thought of using plates for house walls.

Maybe almost 20 years ago, I bought a bunch of lego as I found something therapeutic in making my own creations. I eventually got over it and sold off most of the collection, but I kept a few houses I built. Some of these have odd vintage pieces like unusual window shapes, jerkinhead gable pieces, etc:

smobgirl > fintail 04/07/2020 at 14:13

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I’d live in that neighborhood.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fintail 04/07/2020 at 14:27

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That’ s really cool. The style and two tone color combo r eminds me of some of the earliest sets they released which followed the classical style of Lego’s home country: Denmark. Some of the pieces from the mid 70s in particular are really interesting and have tremendous possibilities. I just want to know where you got those base plates. Most of the bases in my collection are left over from the space stuff or have this style road.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Jim Spanfeller 04/07/2020 at 14:27

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What’s that farmer doing in West Palm Beach in 1985?

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > Jim Spanfeller 04/07/2020 at 14:35

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Makes me think of tilt-up concrete wall construction.

https://www.korteco.com/construction-industry-articles/basics-tilt-construction/

fintail > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 04/07/2020 at 14:36

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That’s the look I was going for, kind of a German/Scandinavian style. I know some of the pieces like red 1x1 windows etc haven’t been made for a long time. I can’t recall the bases, but they aren’t as old as some of the pieces, maybe from the 90s? The stuff in that pic is what I recall from when I was a kid. I mostly only build houses or sometimes cars, usually just houses with diecast cars used instead.

Brickman > Jim Spanfeller 04/07/2020 at 14:41

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fancy! I like those pine trees

Jim Spanfeller > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 04/07/2020 at 15:47

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I think fintail’s base plates are from Paradisa and Pirates sets...

The base plate I used came from an old Lego Racers set like this one:

These sets were my jam back in the day... I had two of the larger sets, one of which was the bridge chase set and the other was a tuning garage. Both of them came with those little road base plates. I miss Lego Racers, they should bring that theme back.

Jim Spanfeller > fintail 04/07/2020 at 15:50

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I think those base plates came from Paradisa and Pirates sets.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller 04/07/2020 at 15:52

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I kept the sets that date to my childhood intact because there was already a huge supply of interesting vintage pieces to play with, including many older pieces that went out of production such as the cool old computer monitors.

But this baseplate I could never figure out how to use effectively. There are enormous holes covered up by removable plates in the mountain.

fintail > Jim Spanfeller 04/07/2020 at 15:52

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That looks right.  I forget the details as it has been ages, but I got them secondhand, as they seemed right for siting a house.

Jim Spanfeller > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 04/07/2020 at 15:53

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I dunno, visiting yuppie relatives maybe? ;)

Tbh, I included the truck  because I like it and it fits the scale of the house nicely.

Jim Spanfeller > CalzoneGolem 04/07/2020 at 15:54

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Please do! And post the results.

Jim Spanfeller > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 04/07/2020 at 16:00

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A hospital always seemed like a random and strange choice for a base plate like that... It’s much more well-suited to an evil super villain’s lair. The cavities beneath the removable plates would make perfect prisons/death holes!

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller 04/07/2020 at 16:09

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I always thought so too, since even that monster truck of an ambulance barely avoided high-centering on the transition. Maybe the hospital is just running a dirty business.

Maybe you could store your 190 Lego carrots there. You could be a vegetable villain!

Jim Spanfeller > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 04/07/2020 at 16:23

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Maybe! Interestingly, although I’ve never had a set with raised base plates like that, I did get three of them from a friend of mine. He showed me them and said that they looked cool but were too difficult to build on, so he was going to put them in the recycling bin, and I was like “Noooo, give them to me!”, so he did and that’s how I got my three raised base plates. They’ve got some really big cavities I can stuff my carrots in!

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller 04/07/2020 at 16:26

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But they are impossible to build on easily. But creepy  carrot cavities!

Jim Spanfeller > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 04/07/2020 at 16:31

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I’m not sure exactly why I bought the 190 Lego carrots... I think it’s largely just because there was a big bucket of them, I had my cup, and... I couldn’t control the urge to buy an absurd quantity of Lego carrots. I think what I’ll end up doing with them is build a thatched roof from carrots like this guy did:

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller 04/07/2020 at 16:33

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Color me impressed. That’s simply astounding how all the pieces interlock, though I assume it is quite delicate. And the house is even at an angle!

just-a-scratch > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 04/07/2020 at 16:47

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Fora moment I thought it was a hotel in South Beach Miami, but the trees are the wrong sort.

shop-teacher > Jim Spanfeller 04/08/2020 at 00:09

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Fawn-say!

CalzoneGolem > Jim Spanfeller 04/08/2020 at 08:43

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Will do. 

Jim Spanfeller > shop-teacher 04/08/2020 at 12:32

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Btw, how many Lego motors do you have? (just curious)

shop-teacher > Jim Spanfeller 04/08/2020 at 12:40

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Actual electric motors? Just one.

Various models of different kinds of motors from sets and customs?  No idea, a lot.

Jim Spanfeller > shop-teacher 04/08/2020 at 12:42

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Have you sold the Mindstorms set yet? That’s got to have at least a couple motors.

shop-teacher > Jim Spanfeller 04/08/2020 at 14:44

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No I haven’t , but I still don’t want to break up the kit.

Jim Spanfeller > shop-teacher 04/08/2020 at 15:33

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That’s fair. I was thinking of designing a tethered-control RC car to post instructions for on Oppo, and I wondered how many of us actually have enough motors and stuff...

shop-teacher > Jim Spanfeller 04/08/2020 at 17:03

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Gotcha. I would be interested to see that. Not sure if I'd actually build one though.

Jim Spanfeller > shop-teacher 04/08/2020 at 17:09

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Yeah... problem is, my long Lego wires are both broken by now (they’ve been loved and used a LOT), so I wouldn’t actually be able to test it myself. Maybe I could come up with something else motorized, though. What sort of Lego motor do you have?