2018 Parts Fest #1: Luc Byard's The Alchemist

One of the 2018 LEGO® elements that we sent to builders to investigate was the new minifigure neck bracket with four bar attachments (Element ID 6215458 | Design ID 36452). One of our talented buiders, Luc Byard, used it to create a walker mech and has now come up with another interesting creation based upon this unusual part.

This build came out of looking for a way to connect the two shafts that are at 90° to each other. ‘Easy enough,’ I said to myself but the placement is not as convenient as I expected. It’s a tight fit and I think I’m pushing tolerances but I managed to secure them.

Using Plate 1x2 with horizontal clips, they fold to not quite align about half a plate out in each direction. Using a plate 1x2 with raises 1x2 bracket and a couple of standard plates, I created a structure that bridged the gap.

Where to go from here? Now I had brick structure to attach the piece to something securely, the angles created by the remaining shafts and the neck hole became a playground for greebles, creating strings that wrapped and twisted. The gold pieces I ended up dictating the theme and soon I was getting a feel for how I wanted the creation to turn out.

Inspired by what I now know to be the Asp Explorer from Elite Dangerous, I went for a kind of chunky block of a spaceship with a protruding cockpit and big shoulders either side.

The design was heavily influenced by what pieces I had hand in pearl gold but there were some I was really pleased to have found a home for like the 1x2 sport piece with spoiler.

For the neck hole, I use a 1x1 round with holed shaft and a 1x1 round plate with hole to clasp the neck hole reasonably securely. Those with a keen eye may notice that in the final build, I switched the orientation of the back piece so that it attaches 'side and under' rather than 'side and top' but the principle is the same.

I love this little build, there’s so much going on in such a small space. I’m really happy with the angles that the new piece afforded me and how it let me get all those engine details and obscure positioning.

READ MORE: More ways to connect this piece, and more creations using it built by more builders!

You'll find the 4-bar neck bracket in these LEGO sets, available from Amazon USA:

• 76101 Outrider Dropship Attack – Outrider x 2
• 76103 Corvus Glaive Thresher Attack – Outrider
• 76104 The Hulkbuster Smash-Up – Outrider
• 76107 Thanos: Ultimate Battle – Iron Man
• 76108 The Sanctum Sanctorum Showdown – Iron Spider-Man

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