2019 Parts Fest #2 : Eero's Fig-barf

Minifigures are not something you see an awful lot of on New Elementary but for his next Parts Festival submission, Finnish builder Eero Okkonen used the seed parts to create some awesome outfits and accessories!

I used to make lot of custom minifigures, usually in so-called 'barfs' of four to six figs but I last made one in August 2016, over three years ago.  Some of seed parts seemed useful at minifig scale, so I began fiddling. At first these figs were going to be on the bridge scene which developed into the creation called Frost Serpent Arises but they didn’t work in that context. In a way, this is a special gift to anyone who has asked me to make another barf or wondered why I ever stopped.

2019 Parts Fest #2: Kev's Robots

UK-based builder Kevin Levell is back and, as with many other Parts Festival creations, these ideas are spawned from those amazing LEGO® Batman accessory packs. Many of you readers have expressed frustration that these are unavailable from Bricks & Pieces, because they are 'locked' to the Batman license. It seems there might be good news on the way about this – part 50018 is now listed on B&P, although out of stock – so we will keep you updated.

I very often like to build in a freeform, directionless, even Zen-like way. Part of the delight of a Parts Festival for me is the opportunity to experiment with new parts in that exact way. I very rarely have a clear idea of what I want to do, I normally just tinker, putting things together in abstract ways, in regimented or geometric ways, until something 'speaks' to me. Often, multiples of the same part are a particularly effective way to do this, and this is a further delight of a Parts Festival.

2019 Parts Fest #2: Tim Goddard's Bots and Hover Racer

Tim Goddard returns to our Parts Festival today using the new LEGO® parts we sent him to create interesting and inspiring models.

Underwater Geometry

The marine life family bag (Accessories, Marine Life, No. 1 in Vibrant Coral – 49595 | 6262127) is tricky, it basically is what it says on the tin. What else could it be? Of course I have already seen some good uses within this very Parts Festival.

PFC, 24 (plus some seaweed/coral and a couple of extra fish)

I used the pieces in a random underwater geometric shape, again making use of the 120º 3.18mm bar. Having a hollow stud on both sides in the middle of this piece is amazingly useful. The centre is a stud thick; if you put a tile on both sides the height is exactly 1 brick.

2019 Parts Fest #2: Sagh's bugs

Returning to our Parts Festival today is Paulo 'Sagh' Carreira from Portugal with more fun and inspiring creations using some of the newest LEGO® parts.

When I arrived home from Skaerbaek Fan Weekend with the seed parts, I decided that I would not look up these parts on the internet. I didn’t want to see their original uses, to avoid being influenced. While the use of some parts is quite clear, like Will’s hair or Bo Peep’s staff, others presented themselves as mysteries. The Mini Accessory, No. 11 in Silver Metallic (6266977|50018) was one of those mysteries. What a great set of parts!

Giant Elk Beetle

The Giant Elk Beetle walks the woods in search for food with a slow but steady pace to save energy for the mating season. That’s when the males became very active, fighting each other by making use of their big antlers.

The mix of joints with different angles and connections in this pack of parts were the perfect means to replicate different creature’s articulations. I took inspiration from different species of large beetles with horns, and after some fiddling with the parts a robust dark red beetle was born.

2019 Parts Fest #2: Pierre-E Fieschi's Liebherr Tunnelier

Today, Pierre-E Fieschi returns to our Parts Festival. Following his sci-fi creations, Pierre burned the midnight oil to make another model using new LEGO® elements from our selection.

I got into the small polybags of Silver Metallic/Flat Silver tools and connectors known officially as Mini Accessory, No. 11 (50018 | 6266977) - and all are incredible! Somehow looking at these parts led to me finally building a Liebherr Tunnelier.

Old Elementary: The 1x2 plate with handle

Let's take a momentary break from our amazing Parts Festival to enjoy another look back into LEGO® element history. Skye Barnick suggested we discuss a tiny change to a familiar piece that occurred in 1983 and stepping up to the task we have Inthert, a UK-based builder who participated in our earlier Parts Festival this year.

Coming alongside the introduction of the beloved minifigure in 1978, the 1x2 plate with handlebars (Mini Handle - Design ID 3839) was among the first LEGO® elements to feature 3.18mm diameter bars, essentially meaning it was perfect for being held by tiny minifigure hands… or was it?

2019 Parts Fest #2: Oscar Cederwall's Clips and Crustacean

Today Oscar Cederwall returns to our Parts Festival, following his first post of geometric explorations, to present more fun and clever uses for our selection of new LEGO® elements.

The Shepherd's Staff

Sadly, Bo Peep's crook (Tool, No. 10 in Medium Azure – 49492 | 6256157) loses its clutch power on the curved hook part, so it can't be used with clips. It works great as antennae though. Here is some made-up crustacean.

2019 Parts Fest #2: Andreas Lenander's 3x3 dome inspiration

Following his first post of LEGO® creations for our Parts Festival, Andreas Lenander returns today with three varied builds that were all inspired by one piece.

The new rounded 3x3 dome (Sphere 3X3X11/3, W/ Knob in Medium Stone Grey – 49308 | 6263183) was a piece that I instantly loved when I first saw it. I can see it being used in a variety of builds since it works equally well for nature-scenes (rock work, etc) as it does for sci-fi builds (greebling on a spaceship, etc).

Elementarium IV

The first time I picked up the rounded 3x3 domes (Sphere 3X3X11/3, W/ Knob in Medium Stone Grey – 49308 | 6263183), I knew I had to build a spaceship.

2019 Parts Fest #2: Eero Okkonen's Doctor Who and the Frost Serpent

Finnish builder Eero Okkonen returns to our Parts Festival today with another two varied creations using new LEGO® parts. You can see his earlier two builds here and follow his builds on his blog.

Frost Serpent Arises

Sometimes the bulk of a creation stays almost the same while the concept changes completely. 

2019 Parts Fest #2: Kev Levell's Classic Flash Double Gloucester Gordon Theme

Next to join our Parts Festival is Kevin Levell, a UK-based LEGO® builder who participated in our Nexogon fest and has written other lovely articles for us in the past. Kev just loves a bit of Space, he does. 

I may have squealed like a little child when I opened and emptied out the parcel from Tim, because immediately I could see more than a couple of handfuls of utterly awesome new parts. Some of which I had already (unsuccessfully) been on the scout for. It was these currently ‘unavailable’ parts that interested me most… I could almost smell the potential.

2019 Parts Fest #2: Tim Goddard's tablescraps

Tim Goddard (Rogue Bantha) is co-author of LEGO Space: Building the Future and a regular contributor to New Elementary, thanks to his ability to face any LEGO® challenge. He even managed to create ingenious builds when we slung a pile of seaside polybags at him from the LEGO Xtra theme. This time Tim was a lot happier with the parts.

What a cornucopia of loveliness this parts fest is, almost an embarrassment of riches. There are almost too many cool parts to explore but I will do my best. It is like several parts fests have come at once but for me the stand out is the good Batman family bag (that is the one with all the 3.18mm bar dream selection known as Mini Accessory, No. 11 also in Silver Metallic – 6266977|50018) so you will see parts from that in all but one of my builds.

Tablescraps

As is traditional, I will start with table scraps and build up. With so any exciting parts it is hard to explore them all in depth and I had a hard time working out where to start but I started here.

LEGO® Hidden Side Review: 70418 J.B.’s Ghost Lab

With so many amazing Parts Festival builds pouring out of our talented builders, let's just take a little break – and round off our reviews of LEGO® Hidden Side sets! Ben Davies takes a look at 70418 J.B.’s Ghost Lab.

To complete our coverage of LEGO Hidden Side, today we will be examining the smallest of the retail sets, 70418 J.B.’s Ghost Lab. As the set name would suggest, this set depicts the laboratory where scientist extraordinaire J.B. studies the ghosts that are haunting Newbury, and tests out the latest ghost-hunting gadgets.

2019 Parts Fest #2: Sagh's robots and coconuts

Our next LEGO® Parts Festival participant is Paulo 'Sagh' Carreira, an architect that works for a company managing conservation and restoration of Portuguese heritage. 

After finally being able to participate in one of the New Elementary workshops at Skaerbaek Fan Weekend this year, I was very pleased to also be invited to participate in the Parts Festival. This challenge proved to be a great experience, making me build a lot of different stuff, and it was also good at pulling me out of the building hiatus I had fallen to.

Fujin the Samurai Droid 

Some folks have the patience of an angel, but not him: his heart, well, it yearns for vengeance. No one really knows what actually happened, but after the attack to the Holy City in Jedha, Fujin the Samurai droid has been one fierce enemy of the Empire, spreading justice through his swords, swift like the wind.

2019 Parts Fest #2: Peter Reid's Bits of Batman

Our next Parts Festival participant is Peter Reid, fan designer of LEGO® Ideas 21109 Exo Suit and father to an army of weaponised turtles.  Peter has taken part in previous parts fests and other articles on New Elementary so regular readers should be familiar with his fantastic LEGO builds and Spacer style.

I love the new Batman bits bags - Mini Accessory, No. 10 in Silver Metallic/ Flat Silver (6266155|40598) and Mini Accessory, No. 11 also in Silver Metallic (6266977|50018). The elements go really nicely with those hammer pieces in Silver Metallic (6037878|11106) and other shiny things too. The turtle's name is Michael.

2019 Parts Fest #2: Yvonne Doyle's marine research

Our next Parts Festival participant is Yvonne Doyle, a UK-based Irish builder who likes to dabble in the different scales offered by Belville and Scala. She also has the rare honour of having been immortalised as a green Classic Space minifigure, in LEGO® Ideas 21109 Exo Suit. While other participants have seemingly battled with using the Friends marine multipack parts, Yvonne has flourished!

Biff is Buffing

Biff is buffing his quarter scale model car. The new pieces from Mini Accessory, No. 11 in Silver Metallic ( 50018 | 6266977 ) are interesting and great for attachment points, while the little Octopus from Accessories, Marine Life, No. 1 in Vibrant Coral (6262127|49595) reminded me of some cleaning cloths.

2019 Parts Fest #2: Pierre-E Fieschi's sci-fi containers and launch pad

Our next Parts Festival participant is Pierre-E Fieschi, a concept artist and architect from France who is also well-known in the LEGO® community for his unique, futuristic vehicles and SHIPs (Seriously Huge Investment in Parts - a spaceship that is at least 100 studs in length, often made for SHIPtember).

SCI-FI CONTAINERS

The Brick 1X6X4 1/3, W/ 4.85 Hole, No. 1 in Dark Stone Grey/ Dark Bluish Gray (49699|6263879) immediately caught my eye and I thought 'space containers'! 

2019 Parts Fest #2: Eero Okkonen's Herald and Shepherd

Returning now to our Parts Festival, the next participant is Finnish builder Eero Okkonen. Eero is best known for his character builds and he is currently displaying some of his work within the Masterpiece Gallery at LEGO® House. Eero took part in the infamous Iron Builder with Duplo Grass as the seed part, so this Parts Festival should be a breeze by comparison! You can read more about Eero and his builds on his blog.

Herald of the Carp Speeder

I like bright colours, so I find some of the more vibrant seed parts the most inspiring. Among the seed parts there was a bag of small sea creatures from Friends marine-themed line.

Recycle my Bicycle: The winners!

Time to reveal the judge's five favourite entries to our recent building competition, where we invited you to use the new LEGO® bicycle frame (Design ID 50015) in a clever way.

We had 33 lovely entries. (Didn't see them? Check them out here!) We thank you all for building and hope you all had fun. Jaime Sanchez, the LEGO Element Designer who created the new bike frame (as well as the mountain bike frame from 2018), messaged us to let us know he's been following the results, "and the results have been excellent. Great contest and I look forward to seeing the winners."

Recycle my Bicycle: The entries, part 2

Here is the second half of entries we received to our recent building competition where we invited you to use the new LEGO® bicycle frame (Design ID 50015) as something different. The five winners will be announced tomorrow, but who is your favourite? If you missed the first half, check them out here.

Double Headed Dragon

Ben Tritschler (modestolus)

Once I went to the flea market and found something for my living room. It was a small model of a "Double Headed Dragon" which now is hanging on the wall in the living room - as you can see on the first picture.

Recycle my Bicycle: The entries, part 1

Our recent building competition invited you to use the new LEGO® bicycle frame (Design ID 50015) as something different. It closed last week, and before we announce the five winners we're going to show you all 33 entries; half today and half tomorrow.

2019 Parts Fest #2: Oscar Cederwall's geometric joys

Following Andreas Lenander, our second Parts Festival builder is Oscar Cederwall, a fantastic builder also from Sweden. He is probably best known for his spaceships and other vehicles, but Oscar is very much an all round talented guy when it comes to LEGO® MOCs. Here is the first bunch of his explorations and creations.

The two accessory parts packs in Silver Metallic/Flat Silver from new Batman sets (Mini Accessory, No. 10 - 6266155|40598 & No. 11 – 6266977|50018) will undoubtedly be used as greebling by many builders. I thought it was fun to connect them in geometric patterns.

2019 Parts Fest #2: Andreas Lenander's Fat Boy inspiration

Now that we have shown you the new LEGO® elements that we sent our latest Parts Festival participants, it is time to start taking a look at the results of their hard work. We invite inspiring builders to explore new elements for inspiring ideas, connections and techniques. We start with a favourite builder of mine who is taking part in our Parts Festival for the first time. Andreas Lenander is from Sweden and, despite being a busy medical doctor with three children, he has blown us away with his builds for this parts fest and the speed at which he delivered them - the first pictures appeared only two days after receiving the parts!

As a builder that has a tendency to jump between themes and challenges, I was very pleased when asked to make some MOCs using some of the newer LEGO pieces. I received the parts during the fan weekend in Skaerbaek and spent most of the (long) drive home thinking about what I could build with them. When going through the parts there were some that I instantly loved (the greebling pieces from Batman in particular) and others that I was less blown away with... yes, seashells, so many seashells… haha!

Helicopter NE-P Defender II

I decided to try and tackle the biggest piece first, which is the new rim from the Harley-Davidson Fat Boy set (Motorcycle Rim Ø 75 Solid in Medium Stone Grey – 6268590|46334).

2019 Skærbæk Workshop: Batman bits

In September 2019 we ran a workshop at the Skaerbaek Fan Weekend in Denmark. 60 AFOLs were given two hours to make interesting stuff using some of the newest LEGO® parts, and a supply of mostly random brick stock. Of the hundreds of models and tablescraps created, we are presenting some of the most interesting to inspire your own creations. My thanks to the SFW organisers, the New Elementary team on the day and our cheery photographer, Andrew Tipping.

To finish our selection of workshop builds we look at Mini Accessory, No. 10 (40598 | 6266155) and Mini Accessory, No. 11 both in Silver Metallic/ Flat Silver (50018 | 6266977); two accessory packs from Batman sets that contain amazing pieces and proved so popular, you get an extra-long post!

Edward Eggens “Light tank”

Torbjörn Kristiansson “Dark Pearl Palace”

2019 Skærbæk Workshop: lots of bits!

In September 2019 we ran a workshop at the Skaerbaek Fan Weekend in Denmark. 60 AFOLs were given two hours to make interesting stuff using some of the newest LEGO® parts, and a supply of mostly random brick stock. Of the hundreds of models and tablescraps created, we are presenting some of the most interesting to inspire your own creations. My thanks to the SFW organisers, the New Elementary team on the day and our cheery photographer, Andrew Tipping.

Rather than highlighting particular elements, today's creations use various seed parts from the array in ingenious ways.

Erik Smit “Deer”