I thought I was the only one who realized that you can disassemble LEGO. Every time I see a video where people complain about space, I find myself yelling at my iPad, “Take it apart, doofus!” I build large LEGO sets, display them for a week or two, then take them apart. I can build them again later. I think I have built the UCS Millennium Falcon three times.
I am planning on disassembling the Blacksmith house to make room for a MOC of a castle that is designed to open up. I will just reverse engineer the house putting everything in marked baggies for later. I got this idea from picking up a Stunts City set for my nephews from a consignment shop. I would build so far, then take it apart. It allowed me to enjoy the build experience while discovering the set was missing 4 pieces.
I appreciate your recent videos that address psychological and sociological aspects of the Lego hobby. Of course, I mostly enjoy your mainstay: reviews of sets, overviews of themes, MOCs, etc. I'm a psychotherapist (New York State licensed) and have seen -- as often happens in our society between consumerism, marketing, and chronic loneliness -- how a joyous past time can become entangled with pathology (FOMO, pressure to be a completist, overspending or going into debt, etc). Again: Lego should be a peaceful and joyful pastime. So, my advice: focus on your own Lego world, your vibe -- and ignore outside Lego pressures (Lego marketing, competing with peers, over-reliance on social media Lego influencers, etc). It all comes down to YOU. Like Eric Clapton's song goes: "It's in the way that you use it."
Needs its own video. I remember when younger a played Magic the Gathering and and some other guy took me past his house to pick up some cards. Once there his sister started going off at him non-stop about the TV. He told me it had been stolen. It took a few years to realize but eventually it clicked - he sold the f'ing tv to buy MTG cards and told his sister it was stolen.
Love this video and others you've done recently on lego psychology! I feel like you're the Lego community's therapist. That's a compliment btw. I have some Lego builds I display seasonally then put in storage totes. Home Alone and Christmas builds, Hocus Pocus house and halloween decor, the huge lighthouse and statue of liberty for summer, etc. Then I'm happy to see them again. Of course this doesn't apply to all builds, but it helps a bit.
Another extremely relevant video about subjects not addressed enough in the LEGO Community! I have avoided massive projects, because I build alone, and I know that it would consume me and frustrate me as I would give up in the end. But I already did a large project that took me 18 months to complete. I designed and built a Modular version of the Diagon Alley LEGO set, with more than 11000 pieces, and the instructions to go with it. My approach was to split the project into the four buildings, and although I didn't finish one building before starting on the next one, I did design each one separately, and then build the instructions the same way, and eventually after building all the parts together, followed the instructions to build them one by one. Another thing that helped was that I made it a series in my UA-cam Channel, so I felt the pressure to not give up, as I had a few people following the series.
That sounds cool, will hunt that out. So wish they had made it modular from the start, it looks so good and I would love to build it...if I wasnt invested in completing other projects that are slowly bankrupting me.
My first big MCC was to make a 2x size Blacksmith (Ins ta : BrewPubNate) and I want to make a large landscape for the builds & MOC I already have. I love your idea of splitting up a big project, making instructions, and doing video updates to keep yourself motivated.
I don't have a permanent LEGO display; I have a few shelves that I'll display some sets on for 2-3 weeks then I'll take them apart and build something different. But that's fine with me because I enjoy the building process more than the finished product anyway.
YES. The main problem was the cost and the difficulty getting the parts at a reasonable price. When you find you need 1000 parts and they are in limited supply unless you go to lego and they charge $1 for two. I DEFINITELY wish I had never started this railtrack ballast mission. I kinda sorta calculated what was required, turns out my estimate was way out by 50%. Now the ballast done does look spectacular, but each track piece takes about 50 pieces and after doing 2 or 3 you start losing the will to live doing the same procedure over and over and over again like a robot. Problem was the track had to be compatible and ballasted track had to be done if it was to be joined to other peoples track which is ballasted in this way. It looks great, but it does not look better than a Rivendell and a Barad Dur which is what I could have bought instead. Why did I choose the brown 1x4 printed wooden tiles when not printed looks fine, not great, but acceptable...but the printed does look really good, and if I had gone with the not printed at some future point I would have changed to printed and then ended up with hundreds of reddish brown 1x4 tiles that I would have few uses for. So I am kinda sorta maybe saving money by not having to do it twice. TIP- Sit down and work the cost out EXACTLY, do not just guesstimate it with 10 seconds thought, you might find your estimate is really far outa whack.
1. I added extra shelves into the top of cupboards which allows incomplete things to be moved off the dining room table. 2. I often lose interest because what I have built so far is 'off' - rather than try fix it, I find it better to pull it apart to pieces and take it from there. 3. All my parts are in boxes inside cupboards. So I find I can build 3x the speed if I take out all the boxes and put them in arms reach of the dining room table. More so if I can reach them while sitting. 4. Every piece I have is in a google sheet - so I can find any part at a glance - or compare it using a formula to a parts list of a MOC/set and see what I would need to finish it. 5. Build the figs first and create little scenes with them while the main build is 'under construction'. 6. Double the palette - rather than build a castle that is Light Bluish Gray - intermix Dark Bluish Gray with White sections. This effectively triples the parts I have available right now to build with - instead of having to conserve or order parts. 7. My family don't build along much - but get them interested in the project nonetheless. Nothing focuses your attention on the project like the attention of others on you.
I'd add dividing ones build into modules in order for the build to not take as much space and time when you build each and every one of the parts. An added bonus is that building like a 6x16 section at a time doesn't use up as many pieces and allows you to buy more parts for the next module. Also, many castles was built and improved on over the centuries, so having several styles visible at the same time might not be an issue. A problem when trying to build realistic castles, for example is that the seams in the modules disturbs the impression. Sometimes your building techniques improve over time - and the need to rebuild previous sections rise. In the end, I do prefer building with some kind of modularity.
You can avoid seems with various tricks. If you really have to you can simulate alternatively interlocked bricks with plates and tiles allow it slide into the brickwork of the next module.
Have a few projects cooking. At first it felt good. I could work on what I wanted. Then an accident w/ a nephew and half a big castle MOC set me back & soured me on building for weeks. Fortunately, "Medieval Brick" MOC came in the mail. One done. Fun! Second one, missing pieces. Weeks of waiting for the factory to get back. Finally get parts months later; I still had to sub out some of my own pieces! The designs are great. Then 2x point day; Town Square. "I'm just going to MOC this with pieces I have" I said. Partway in; I realize I should buy a second set... on the next 2x point or good GWP. I put it aside. Then I did a few small carriage builds. They were fun and boosted my confidence. I started Mountain Fortress. No mods. Get 'er done. When a piece went missing, I almost lost it lol. Today I drove up to BAM with the kids and spent an hour in the bulk bins finding a similar notched brick (in white not grey). Good enough!
I think you are very right in this vid. Me myself, I have a few things going on, but I don't have too much money, time, bricks or space... I have a awesome Orient Express with 5 vagons, but I dont have a suitable lokomotive, right now. But I'm not working on that for the time... And I have big plans for a big alphotel (from a danish movie I love), but I'm using a lot of the parts for that, for a bit christmas church for my christmas stuff... You have a nice channel and a lot of good vids. I subscibed today!
I built a building that was largely original, though I borrowed ideas from builds I saw online, and my plan was to make three or four similar buildings to make a kind of crossroads diorama. But after completing one, which took months of rebuilding and buying parts, suddenly the idea of continuing to part 2 is just daunting. I would like to learn how to make the same basic building, but about 2/3 the size.
I started with small sets. Today they're disassembled. And I alternate projects. I made a small "Miami" like city diorama with skyscrappers, beach, palm trees and a beach. One year later I made a moonbase for the galaxy explorer, I wanted to desplay this beautiful remake and also training to build terrain. Today it's disassemblrd and I re use all my pieces to make a pirates Island. To display another great set The Barracuda... All theses project take the siza of a small table 77 cm long and 40 cm large. I think it's not large, not small just enough to master build technics and make a good picture of a theme. Believe meIt's incredible the amount of time it takes and when I see bigger projects I think it would nightmarish. My bets, one theme after another with re used pieces. After the pirat's island I want to make a minecraft diorama and later a Ninjago City, and why not a medieval castle. All with terrain wich I master better and better. Not a time objective, but projects I want to build one time in my life with my growing kid.
Here is my idea 💡 I didn’t hear you say. It is one that I have come to the realization I will have to do after my MOC has been displayed. I am planning on selling off a lot of the pieces.
I build skyscrapers and there has only been one time I have run into this. I built one halfway up but then stopped because I totally ran out of ideas on what to do for the top portion of the building. To this day it is still sitting there and I still don't have any idea what to do. But I am not giving up on it.
Great video. I want to add a tip regarding resources: use space restraint even if you have the space. I limit myself to three IKEA shelves that can each hold 3 baseplates and no more. I use one for classic space, one for classic castle and one for Paradisa. Last one I just redid ua-cam.com/video/YQLWImJgDlI/v-deo.htmlfeature=shared
I thought I was the only one who realized that you can disassemble LEGO. Every time I see a video where people complain about space, I find myself yelling at my iPad, “Take it apart, doofus!” I build large LEGO sets, display them for a week or two, then take them apart. I can build them again later. I think I have built the UCS Millennium Falcon three times.
I am planning on disassembling the Blacksmith house to make room for a MOC of a castle that is designed to open up. I will just reverse engineer the house putting everything in marked baggies for later. I got this idea from picking up a Stunts City set for my nephews from a consignment shop. I would build so far, then take it apart. It allowed me to enjoy the build experience while discovering the set was missing 4 pieces.
I appreciate your recent videos that address psychological and sociological aspects of the Lego hobby. Of course, I mostly enjoy your mainstay: reviews of sets, overviews of themes, MOCs, etc. I'm a psychotherapist (New York State licensed) and have seen -- as often happens in our society between consumerism, marketing, and chronic loneliness -- how a joyous past time can become entangled with pathology (FOMO, pressure to be a completist, overspending or going into debt, etc). Again: Lego should be a peaceful and joyful pastime. So, my advice: focus on your own Lego world, your vibe -- and ignore outside Lego pressures (Lego marketing, competing with peers, over-reliance on social media Lego influencers, etc). It all comes down to YOU. Like Eric Clapton's song goes: "It's in the way that you use it."
Needs its own video. I remember when younger a played Magic the Gathering and and some other guy took me past his house to pick up some cards. Once there his sister started going off at him non-stop about the TV. He told me it had been stolen. It took a few years to realize but eventually it clicked - he sold the f'ing tv to buy MTG cards and told his sister it was stolen.
Love this video and others you've done recently on lego psychology! I feel like you're the Lego community's therapist. That's a compliment btw. I have some Lego builds I display seasonally then put in storage totes. Home Alone and Christmas builds, Hocus Pocus house and halloween decor, the huge lighthouse and statue of liberty for summer, etc. Then I'm happy to see them again. Of course this doesn't apply to all builds, but it helps a bit.
Another extremely relevant video about subjects not addressed enough in the LEGO Community!
I have avoided massive projects, because I build alone, and I know that it would consume me and frustrate me as I would give up in the end.
But I already did a large project that took me 18 months to complete. I designed and built a Modular version of the Diagon Alley LEGO set, with more than 11000 pieces, and the instructions to go with it.
My approach was to split the project into the four buildings, and although I didn't finish one building before starting on the next one, I did design each one separately, and then build the instructions the same way, and eventually after building all the parts together, followed the instructions to build them one by one.
Another thing that helped was that I made it a series in my UA-cam Channel, so I felt the pressure to not give up, as I had a few people following the series.
That sounds cool, will hunt that out. So wish they had made it modular from the start, it looks so good and I would love to build it...if I wasnt invested in completing other projects that are slowly bankrupting me.
@neilrusling-je6zo Agree they should have made it modular, it was such a missed opportunity. That's what gave me the idea for the project.
My first big MCC was to make a 2x size Blacksmith (Ins ta : BrewPubNate) and I want to make a large landscape for the builds & MOC I already have. I love your idea of splitting up a big project, making instructions, and doing video updates to keep yourself motivated.
Thank you, it's good to hear someone hash this out.
I don't have a permanent LEGO display; I have a few shelves that I'll display some sets on for 2-3 weeks then I'll take them apart and build something different. But that's fine with me because I enjoy the building process more than the finished product anyway.
Exactly!
YES. The main problem was the cost and the difficulty getting the parts at a reasonable price. When you find you need 1000 parts and they are in limited supply unless you go to lego and they charge $1 for two. I DEFINITELY wish I had never started this railtrack ballast mission. I kinda sorta calculated what was required, turns out my estimate was way out by 50%. Now the ballast done does look spectacular, but each track piece takes about 50 pieces and after doing 2 or 3 you start losing the will to live doing the same procedure over and over and over again like a robot. Problem was the track had to be compatible and ballasted track had to be done if it was to be joined to other peoples track which is ballasted in this way. It looks great, but it does not look better than a Rivendell and a Barad Dur which is what I could have bought instead. Why did I choose the brown 1x4 printed wooden tiles when not printed looks fine, not great, but acceptable...but the printed does look really good, and if I had gone with the not printed at some future point I would have changed to printed and then ended up with hundreds of reddish brown 1x4 tiles that I would have few uses for. So I am kinda sorta maybe saving money by not having to do it twice. TIP- Sit down and work the cost out EXACTLY, do not just guesstimate it with 10 seconds thought, you might find your estimate is really far outa whack.
1. I added extra shelves into the top of cupboards which allows incomplete things to be moved off the dining room table.
2. I often lose interest because what I have built so far is 'off' - rather than try fix it, I find it better to pull it apart to pieces and take it from there.
3. All my parts are in boxes inside cupboards. So I find I can build 3x the speed if I take out all the boxes and put them in arms reach of the dining room table. More so if I can reach them while sitting.
4. Every piece I have is in a google sheet - so I can find any part at a glance - or compare it using a formula to a parts list of a MOC/set and see what I would need to finish it.
5. Build the figs first and create little scenes with them while the main build is 'under construction'.
6. Double the palette - rather than build a castle that is Light Bluish Gray - intermix Dark Bluish Gray with White sections. This effectively triples the parts I have available right now to build with - instead of having to conserve or order parts.
7. My family don't build along much - but get them interested in the project nonetheless. Nothing focuses your attention on the project like the attention of others on you.
I'd add dividing ones build into modules in order for the build to not take as much space and time when you build each and every one of the parts. An added bonus is that building like a 6x16 section at a time doesn't use up as many pieces and allows you to buy more parts for the next module. Also, many castles was built and improved on over the centuries, so having several styles visible at the same time might not be an issue. A problem when trying to build realistic castles, for example is that the seams in the modules disturbs the impression. Sometimes your building techniques improve over time - and the need to rebuild previous sections rise. In the end, I do prefer building with some kind of modularity.
You can avoid seems with various tricks. If you really have to you can simulate alternatively interlocked bricks with plates and tiles allow it slide into the brickwork of the next module.
Have a few projects cooking. At first it felt good. I could work on what I wanted. Then an accident w/ a nephew and half a big castle MOC set me back & soured me on building for weeks. Fortunately, "Medieval Brick" MOC came in the mail. One done. Fun! Second one, missing pieces. Weeks of waiting for the factory to get back. Finally get parts months later; I still had to sub out some of my own pieces! The designs are great. Then 2x point day; Town Square. "I'm just going to MOC this with pieces I have" I said. Partway in; I realize I should buy a second set... on the next 2x point or good GWP. I put it aside. Then I did a few small carriage builds. They were fun and boosted my confidence. I started Mountain Fortress. No mods. Get 'er done. When a piece went missing, I almost lost it lol. Today I drove up to BAM with the kids and spent an hour in the bulk bins finding a similar notched brick (in white not grey). Good enough!
I think you are very right in this vid.
Me myself, I have a few things going on, but I don't have too much money, time, bricks or space...
I have a awesome Orient Express with 5 vagons, but I dont have a suitable lokomotive, right now. But I'm not working on that for the time... And I have big plans for a big alphotel (from a danish movie I love), but I'm using a lot of the parts for that, for a bit christmas church for my christmas stuff...
You have a nice channel and a lot of good vids. I subscibed today!
I built a building that was largely original, though I borrowed ideas from builds I saw online, and my plan was to make three or four similar buildings to make a kind of crossroads diorama. But after completing one, which took months of rebuilding and buying parts, suddenly the idea of continuing to part 2 is just daunting. I would like to learn how to make the same basic building, but about 2/3 the size.
Good video. We all had big ideas but reality bites.
I started with small sets. Today they're disassembled. And I alternate projects. I made a small "Miami" like city diorama with skyscrappers, beach, palm trees and a beach. One year later I made a moonbase for the galaxy explorer, I wanted to desplay this beautiful remake and also training to build terrain. Today it's disassemblrd and I re use all my pieces to make a pirates Island. To display another great set The Barracuda... All theses project take the siza of a small table 77 cm long and 40 cm large. I think it's not large, not small just enough to master build technics and make a good picture of a theme. Believe meIt's incredible the amount of time it takes and when I see bigger projects I think it would nightmarish.
My bets, one theme after another with re used pieces.
After the pirat's island I want to make a minecraft diorama and later a Ninjago City, and why not a medieval castle. All with terrain wich I master better and better.
Not a time objective, but projects I want to build one time in my life with my growing kid.
To make you an idea the table to desplay our projects can support 8 48x48 baseplates.
Here is my idea 💡 I didn’t hear you say. It is one that I have come to the realization I will have to do after my MOC has been displayed. I am planning on selling off a lot of the pieces.
I build skyscrapers and there has only been one time I have run into this. I built one halfway up but then stopped because I totally ran out of ideas on what to do for the top portion of the building. To this day it is still sitting there and I still don't have any idea what to do. But I am not giving up on it.
Great video. I want to add a tip regarding resources: use space restraint even if you have the space. I limit myself to three IKEA shelves that can each hold 3 baseplates and no more. I use one for classic space, one for classic castle and one for Paradisa. Last one I just redid ua-cam.com/video/YQLWImJgDlI/v-deo.htmlfeature=shared
I perposefully build stuff in Studio cause i havent the space or money to build the Imperial Fort for a pirates world