The Unofficial LEGO Builder's Guide

Remember a little while ago I posted an entry about a really cool LEGO Vic-20?

Well, Joe Meno made sure that the instructions for it got included in the most recent edition of BrickJournal. I’m pretty sure I have about 75% of the parts I need to make one. So I’m slowly trying to figure out which ones I need (or need more of) and I’m going to order them from Bricklink. I think it would be really funny to have this model sitting on my desk next a a “modern” computer.

Allan

I find it both amazing and comforting to know when each issue of BrickJournal is released. Afterall, this is the LEGO hobby community’s only true periodical. So the fact that we’re already up to issue #8 is fantastic.

You can find all the download information on Joe’s posting to LUGNET.

There is a bitter-sweet tone to this issue though. Sadly Eric Brok, the fan designer of the new Market Street set, passed away at the beginning of this week. I remember Eric’s LEGO On My Mind website as being one of the first adult LEGO builder websites I discovered back in the late 1990s when I got back into LEGO building. Thankfully this issue of BrickJournal is a real celebration of one of Eric’s great accomplishments. Enjoy it, enjoy his work. He was a true asset to the LEGO community.

Allan

Maybe you’re wondering about buying this book but you’re not entirely sure what sort of things you can learn by reading it. That’s fair. It’s often hard to judge how useful or interesting a book is until you actually have it in your hands.

If you’re wondering about ULBG, then you might want to start off by taking a look at one specific page on my website that shows you a lot of detail about what’s Inside the Book.

Or, if you want a much more visual example, you might want to take a look at the Miniland scale Napoleon character built by Didier Enjary. He used some of the ideas presented in Chapter 4 of ULBG and created a wonderful model that you can see by clicking here.

I hope you’ll take a look at his work and if you do, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it as much as I did. I love the instructions he created. I am pretty sure I’ll soon be building one using the steps he’s provided.

Allan B.

This is another one of those, “this has been a long time coming” posts. And for that I apologize.

Many of you have written and been very patient in asking for the instructions to build the Sphinx model that is mentioned in Chapter 7 of The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide.

Before I present this document, I just want to back track a bit. If you’re not a regular reader of this blog you may not be familiar with the computer problems I had over the summer. Long story short…. when lightning strikes your apartment building directly there is a distinct possibility that your laptop can get fried. It happened to me. Unfortunately, since that time I’ve not been able to get the software (needed to generate instructions) working on my new PC. I’m still working on resolving this problem but it’s been frustrating.

So the document that I’m posting now, related to the Sphinx, is not the complete instructions. Rather it is a combination of newly written tips and tricks, along with some images that were originally generated for ULBG but never used in the final version of the book.

Hopefully this document will help you get started on your own Sphinx model and of course, like every original model, be sure to make it unique by adding your own special touches.

You can right click here - and do a SAVE AS - to download the .pdf tips document. You can also go to my Instructions page to find more instructions that are mentioned in the book.

Enjoy!
Allan B.

As of the fourth printing of the book Figure 3-5 (Chapter 3, page 42) has been updated to correct the part counts in the Bill of Materials for the train station model. The updated image now shows 18 light gray 2x2 tiles rather than just 1. A single light gray 1x1 tile has also been added to the image. If Figure 3-5 in your copy of the book doesn’t show these parts and quantities, please download the updated version from the No Starch Press website.

Regards,
Allan B.

I know that many of you have been waiting (very patiently) for these, and I thank you again for having such patience.

Take a look at the Instructions page and you’ll see that the instructions for the microscale Empire State Building have been posted again… this time to stay.

Enjoy!
Allan B.

Yes, one of the questions I’ve been asked many times about the book is why it was printed in black and white. If you’re one of those people, you might be interested in reading a blog entry I wrote to address those concerns about black and white images.

But… to show that I do read your emails and listen to your concerns I decided to offer this next set of instructions in color. You might recall spotting this model near the end of Chapter 1:

Of course, in the book it appears as a greyscale image. But in this case I had actually created the instructions in full color. In fact, they have previously appeared on the web on both Brickshelf and The Building Instruction Portal. That original set of instructions was produced when I was just new to the software used to render the images of instruction steps. For the apotome.com website I went back and completely rerendered them in a higher resolution and using different lighting settings. (Sort of like getting to go back and remaster an old album)

So head over to the Instructions page and feel free to download the .pdf file.

Enjoy!
Allan B.

You asked for it…. you got it!

First I want to thank each of the readers who took time to email me about the Empire State Building instructions that I had posted. They pointed out that posting them as a Word document probably wasn’t the best idea. They were right.

So for the time being I’ve removed those instructions, but have posted a brand new set in their place.

I hope you’ll take a minute to stop by the Instructions page at Apotome.com and check out the instructions for the microscale cargo ship. Many of you will recognize this as the model that opens Chapter 6. Enjoy!

Thanks again for everyone who offered help and advice with the instructions!

Allan B.

UPDATE: March 5, 2006
After some excellent feedback from a number of readers I’ve removed these instructions for the time being. They are being recreated as a .pdf file and will be reposted soon!

Many of you have written to me asking when the instructions will be posted to the apotome.com website. I wish I could have them all finished and uploaded now, but I just haven’t been able to finish them as quickly as I’d hoped. However, I am happy to report that at least one is finished and a second is on the way soon. So for those of you who have wondered about this model:

I hope you’ll take a minute to check out the Instructions page on Apotome.com and download the complete instructions for the Empire State Building model.

More to come! Remember, Apotome.com isn’t nearly finished yet. It’s still very much a work in progress.

Allan B.