Building Tutorial: Avengers Logo
Posted by CapnRex101,
LEGO video games often include digital models which inspire builders to try to replicate these designs in reality. Unfortunately this is sometimes not possible as parts are unavailable in certain colours and the physics of real bricks does not always work as it does in the game.
The new LEGO Marvel's Avengers video game includes one such model of the Avengers logo which can be seen on loading screens as shown above. This has sparked a great deal of interest so now seems like the perfect opportunity to publish the first in a new series of articles which has often been requested: building tutorials.
Having studied the logo shown on the loading screens I have recreated the model in physical bricks and you will find a full breakdown of the design after the break...
As you can see in the renders below, kindly provided by TheOneVeyronian, the assembly is relatively simple but construction faces in multiple directions and relatively few connection points are used. Some of the pieces are reasonably rare and light bluish grey is therefore the only colour which can be used if you want the entire logo to be of the same colour. However, with Captain America: Civil War coming up you might wish to divide the colour scheme between red, white and blue which is possible using the current LEGO parts inventory, although I have not shown it in this article.
Unfortunately, the model necessitates what I believe to be an illegal connection to form the crossbar in the centre of the 'A' as a Technic brick is attached to studs. This works in reality and does not cause any noticeable issues, but is worth considering if you are intending to build the model. I hope the broken down shots above and below are sufficiently detailed to demonstrate how it is constructed.
I think the final model is worth the use of this questionable building technique and I applaud the designers at TT Games who were able to create the logo originally. The lack of connection points makes it difficult to incorporate the model into a larger creation, although it could be modified using bricks with studs on the sides to attach to a surface.
While the design proposed by TT Games is superb, I think there are potential improvements to be made and I am looking forward to trying some out.
Would you be interested in additional building tutorials and articles discussing building techniques in future? Let us know in the comments below.
Update: Thanks to Brickset member Havok for producing these PDF instructions.
89 likes
45 comments on this article
Yes, bring on more building tutorials! I always appreciate advice from talented builders.
Great new series! Good job! :-)
I love those offbeat articles, if that's the right word. Nice and helpful.
Thanks CapnRex101
I enjoy this type of article. Unfortunately my limited collection likely won't allow building many of them. Maybe in due time.
Cool. I thought LEGO uses that connection that you listed as illegal, in at least one set.
I really like the building tutorial idea. Also i am pretty sure that the connection is not illegal as that technique has bee used before in an official set, and the pieces are specially designed to connect in that way as well.
I enjoy builds that at first glance seem simple but are actually more complex. Nice article, Capn
Yes please! More tutorials!
Really nice article, I definitely want to see more like it! I love how many different kinds of articles Brickset is doing nowadays on top of the news and reviews, which are excellent as usual.
@curvedRoadPlate had the fun, too with reverse-engineering some SNOT magic, took me a while to find the right pattern since studs faced in every possible direction at that build and it had only 10 or so parts used
yeah totally!! share more of these
I've been playing Avengers all weekend and have been staring at that logo, hoping to build it myself so this is wonderful. More building tutorials would be great!
I signed up just to post this comment: PLEASE do Lola from the game, if you can of course, some of the building techniques look a bit weird in-game, so good luck
I've done it for several years now, using reverse engineering, with the other games that have been on the market. http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=515738
This is so cool! Thanks! And, YES to more tutorials!
intresting build
I have occasionally attached technic bricks to studs in the "illegal" fashion here. May I ask why this is frowned upon? So much as to call it illegal? Does it damage the pieces or cause misalignment of the rest of the build somehow?
Yay to the new tutorial column/articles!!
@fuatecelik - This presentation may be of interest: http://bramlambrecht.com/tmp/jamieberard-brickstress-bf06.pdf
LEGO have actually contradicted some of the rules laid out there and some elements have been updated since it was first published so the presentation is a little outdated.
Thanks for the feedback everybody. I already have some ideas for future articles.
^^ It is considered 'illegal' as the whole stud is squeezed into the round hole of the Technic brick. Normally, studs are held in place by contacting the brick and tube arrangement underneath with only three - or four, in a one-wide brick or tile - glancing points of contact. The plastic can flex a small amount and maintains the desired 'clutch power.'
In CapnRex101's example above, only two studs are connected in this 'illegal' way and could be separated with a small increase in force. If a 1x6 or 1x8 brick or plate were attached to a longer Technic brick, it would be quite difficult to separate without stressing the parts.
The PDF written by Jamie Berard, which is linked in CapnRex101's comment above, describes and explains the full range of 'illegal' connections:
That being said, LEGO often use 'illegal' techniques if it suites them.
Yes, more tutorials please!
^^I've noticed this lately. Was building the Firehouse Headquarters in LDD today, and the tile part of a 1x4 panel is shoved in between the studs of a 2x8 plate! This is like illegal build number one!
At Matt89190: Thanks. Huw added me to his list news reviewers while I was writing the 42052 Heavy Lift Helicopter article.
Quick question what the slope piece one the bottom left?
@Groot - Two of these are placed side by side: http://brickset.com/parts/6092111
You could replace the 1x2 Technic beam with 2 1x1 wall corners (http://brickset.com/parts/4215513), but I don't know if it's legal and I know it's not structurally sound.
I'm glad I could help out with illustrating the breakdown of the model, I'm more than up for doing some in the future as well... well, as long as they don't involve 2015 or 2016 parts as, well, you know what hasn't been updated in a long time!? :o)
It wouldn't be right if I didn't credit the rendering program used for the breakdown shots in the article: all thanks to Bluerender ( http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=109972 ) and a fan mod for Bluerender ( http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=114649 )
What's quite odd is that LDD accepts 1x1 bricks and plates in the round Technic holes without fuss, but not 1x2 bricks and plates. Seriously! :o)
Oh, and if you want to have some connection points underneath the model, replace the 2x6 brick with a 1x6 brick at the front and a few of these on the back: http://brickset.com/parts/design-11211 It's just a matter of trying to find a way of attaching the small floating piece to the right of the main part :o)
Looking forward to more of these articles! :D
Great article - keep them up! Nice you guys have a special "like" button - and it's not an FB like button, but one that y'all keep internal? That's a great way to gauge interest in an article besides simple views or comments, since a view nor a comment isn't a super good way to judge it by. Good thinking @huw! [now just implement userid tagging and comment notifications :) both a lot easier said than done on a system built for speed! ].
Great article look forward reading more like it and try this one myself.... Any chance of getting a parts list added.... I'm new to being an AFOL even though I have been a fan since childhood. I got my second wind and a renewed interest;) Thanks and keep up the good work
^ I did create a parts list along with the renders but for some reason it hasn't been included in the article. Maybe I'll post a text based list in the comments later (or host the parts list somewhere) if that's fine with the Capn' :o)
Good new content! *insert BB-8 thumbs up torch gesture here*
Lol, this article would've been much more useful BEFORE I tried to reverse engineer the Cyberking from LEGO Dimensions (https://www.flickr.com/photos/ummwho/24382415222/in/dateposted-public/). Looking forward to the rest of the series!
Here's my slight variation using the 1x2 technic brick with single hole.
Oh, I like to work in black! ...or maybe I happen to have those loose bricks in black at the moment :P
http://cd8ba0b44a15c10065fd-24461f391e20b7336331d5789078af53.r23.cf1.rackcdn.com/brickset.vanillaforums.com/editor/bb/m4qwug8jlwa3.jpg
Fantastic article. This is exactly the kind of fun one-off article that I love to see on here. Gives me a chance to consider things that I hadn't before, it creates something that exists in both the "real world" (movies) and the video game world, and it's an interesting discussion of building techniques.
Keep 'em coming!
This is great - easy to follow instructions with clear pictures, an ideal way to do it. Articles like this showing how to make items from the games or films would be very welcome.
More please! I was disappointed that TT never published instructions for all the minibuilds of iconic Marvel locations from the first game. An adventure calendar like product with them would have been amazing. This A will go great with a MOCed tower or just with any Marvel Lego collection.
The more the better. Nice one :o)
More tutorials please! Love building ideas and advice.
Yes please.......
yes please
I believe this connection with a technic brick is not stressing the elements. If anything, the technic brick pushes the left slopes away from the studs they are connected to by a fraction of a millimetre.
From that PDF:
"The Center Point for the stud on the side of a System brick is 3.92mm from the top of the brick.
The Center Point for the hole in the side of a classic Technic brick is 3.80mm from the top of the brick"
Which means the bottom of that technic brick sticks out by 0.12mm on the left, and that's its only "illegal" effect in this build.
Not the sturdiest model, but it's not breaking anything even theoretically, is it?
Very nice!
Yes, more building tutorials would be awesome :)
You can find the pdf with instructions (made from this post) here : https://www.dropbox.com/s/da2w47n7xcevonf/Avengers.pdf?dl=1
Looking forward to all further instruction articles