1x3x2 inverted half-arch

Over the next few weeks I'll be publishing articles about new LEGO® parts that have come out this summer - "with a little help from my friends". Yes, these new parts have gone out to a handful of the UK's finest builders to see what they make of them. The first of the three parts under the microscope is the new small inverted arch, offering Bart Simpson a slightly less dangerous skateboarding experience than before, as Simon Pickard shows:



The official TLG name is Brick 1X3X2 W. Inside Bow whilst BrickLink have gone with Brick, Arch 1 x 3 x 2 Inverted. The all-important part number a.k.a. Design ID is 18653, and this first instance of the part in White has an Element ID of 6110019.

The undersides have those little teeth instead of the usual anti-stud holes, meaning you can offset the part. Inverted arches are rare in the LEGO System; I think I'm correct in saying the only other one is the 1x5x4. There has however been a similar (two-deep) part in the DUPLO System since 2013.

At the moment, the part comes exclusively in set 10247 Ferris Wheel but no doubt it will appear in more affordable sets soon enough, and in different colours.

The curve describes a near-perfect quadrant, so two of them of course create the inverse of the 1x6x2 arch - something we've all been using SNOT to achieve. Shown above are new inverted half-arches connected to [left] the original 1x6x2 and [right] the new 1x6x2. You can probably spot the difference; the old arch doesn't create a perfect circle. In fact neither does the new one; it's a little too large (but I won't go into that now as it will be discussed in detail soon when we come to review the new bow window part). The important thing is that if you want to place a round 4x4 piece sideways inside this round window, it will not fit if you use the old style arch. Elspeth DeMontes used this technique in a washing machine:

But how does the 1x3x2 inverted half-arch look when combined with other arches? Rather pretty, I think you'll agree.

Being half-arches they can be separated to fit arch spans wider than 1x6. I can imagine some nice tunnels and shuttle bays:

All sorts of rather classy combinations of curves happen when you combine with curved slopes...

...and many combinations seem to have a particular '70s vibe to them:

I especially like this one that looks a bit like a quotation mark. These fun combinations quickly get large so might not be of much use in minifig-scale builds, however.

Remember how that round window fitted a 4x4 piece placed sideways inside? Rod Gillies took this to the next level when he created a really nice bit of SNOT work [below] with his parts. He combined the inverted arch with part 6091, the 'duck head' (as I will call it as its other names are too long and confusing). Laid horizontally, the curves of these two bricks match those of the macaroni brick (Design IDs 85080 & 3063), shown in Red here. This is a superb effect and I think it would look really nice in a garden.

Here's another nice idea from Elspeth; a chunky awning which looks rather 1970s to me!

So I think you'll agree the inverted half-arch is a wizard new part... or as Iain Scott would have it; Pinball Wizard!

I'm hoping to publish some more inverted half-arch builds and experiments by the team over the next few days. Check back here or better still, follow New Elementary on Twitter or Facebook.

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