2018 Bricks in Florence workshop: new part connections

Last November we attended Bricks in Florence Festival (BiFF), hosted by ToscanaBricks in Italy. We ran workshops with fan builders using new LEGO® parts from 2018 – the same seed parts we used at Skærbæk Fan weekend a few weeks prior. Today we're sharing some of the interesting connections our builders noted about the new elements on offer.

Hub Cap, dia. 24, No. 1 (37195)

Cristiano Grassi noted the ball at the tip of levers and walkie talkies sits neatly in the wheel 'spokes'.

Wand (Design ID 36752)

With the new Harry Potter wand you can attach two parts with open studs together at 180°. Magic!

Okay, so you could simply achieve this with a 3L bar instead. There's something very pleasing about threading the wand through a piece like the headlight brick though, as the ball at the end of the wand acts as a stopper. The wand would also be a better choice than a bar if you needed some flexibility in the joint, as the wand is made of rubber.

As for the other end of the wand, it fits in that little hole on the underside of the 2x2 turntable top (Design ID 3679). Turn this upside down and you have a side table!

This technique was spotted by Lorenzo Tattoli, who also came up with the next few as well. We always encourage our participants to not only attempt models but also just to explore and share techniques like this, as they are so inspirational to other builders.

Lamp, No. 1 (37776)

Here a wand is threaded through a small wheel and inserted into a lantern. We all know 1x1 round bricks fit inside these lanterns but the small wheel is another nice option, creating a different effect perhaps like a piston.

Below you see something else threaded through a lantern a different way altogether! Axles sit very nicely this way and this could surely be exploited in a build.

Candle No.1 (37762)

The new candle piece makes a great fit for minifigure air tanks - not only for the tanks themselves but also the minifigure neck bracket!

Leanne Davies came up with this rather posh candle which would look even posher with a gold base. The candle piece is upside down and pushed into the recessed stud of the Sand Green telescope, and the gap covered up with the Lord of the Rings ring. Nice use of LEGO bits! The 'flame' is from Nexo Knights 2018 sets.

Our thanks goes to the New Elementary helpers Francesco Spreafico, Kevin Gascoigne and Melanie Finelli as well as the BiFF organisers including Fabio Broggi who took pictures of all the creations.

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Products mentioned in this post were kindly supplied by the LEGO Group. All content represents the opinions of New Elementary authors and not the LEGO Group. All images are © Fabio Broggi.

1 comment:

Purple Dave23 May 2019, 01:59:00
The wands are polyethylene, which is a soft plastic, not rubber. It's the plastic they are now deriving from plants instead of crude, as are _most_ parts that ship on a sprue.

The airtank trick only works on newer airtanks. I discovered that myself about five years ago, but I don't know exactly when the change occurred. I can confirm that the green Spacemen from the Exo-Suit, and any Benny (or member of his Space Squad) from TLM/TLM2 should have the newer airtanks, while the white Spaceman that came in the Classic Space tote bag still has the older airtanks. The newer ones have a wider bore for about the last 1/16-3/32" with is sized to fit a bar. The older ones (being polyethylene themselves) are just wide enough that you might be able to jam a bar into them, but you'll probably damage the airtanks, you could break the bar, and you _might_ get it stuck so you can't remove it. If you try to stick the bulb of an HP wand in one of the older airtanks, you're almost certain to either bend or break the wand between the bulb and the grip. If you look inside the bottom of the airtanks, it should be immediately obvious if you're seeing the lip where the bore size gets smaller indicating a newer airtank. If you can't tell, you probably have the older style.

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21 May 2019