Today’s guest article comes from BrickNerd patron Wayne Tyler. We’ve featured Wayne’s architectural work many times, and today he takes a look at the LEGO Architecture 21061 Notre-Dame de Paris. Half and Half There are two things that really set me off when talking about LEGO architecture sets. First, I complain bitterly when an architecture set only gives you half the model. Can you say 21030 U.S. Capitol Building or 21058 Great Pyramid of Giza? View fullsize View fullsize In both cases, I bought a second set so that I could have one complete model. Second, though I own them all, the Skyline series of architecture sets strays from what attracted me to the architecture line of LEGO sets in the first place: stand-alone builds of iconic structures. Think 21005 Fallingwater or 21045 Trafalgar Square. View fullsize View fullsize An architecture set doesn’t even have to be intricate or complicated. My favorite set, which is...

With the arrival of 10341 NASA Artemis Space Launch System, let’s look at the history of LEGO launch pads, analyze their scale, see what fans have built, and then see how the new set stacks up in comparison. It’s a LEGO space race starting in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… Space is Big and Fuel is Heavy As Douglas Adams says in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, “Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.” Adams is not wrong; in fact, he’s understating things quite a bit. A rocket, especially one going to space, is a complicated balancing act. A rocket’s payload is essentially weight, and the more weight, the more fuel you need to get it into space. But more fuel means...

A special expedition awaits your LEGO characters! Today, all the Arctic researchers, fishers, hikers, and tourists of the LEGO world will become the real Aurora Hunters because we are going to visit different corners of the Earth and paint the night sky with the colors of the Northern Lights! The Aurora Borealis, better known as the Northern Lights, is an optical phenomenon when the charged particles from the sun hit the upper atmosphere of our planet, causing a luminous display! If we “translate” it from physical attributes to artistic ones, it’s a breathtaking natural show full of pulsating shapes and colors. Image credit here. Today, we’re going to study its different forms, recreating them with simple lighting equipment. Let’s get started with our new light painting project under the stars! Ribbons of Light Formed in periods of high solar activity, these bright stripes appear in many colors depending on different elements...

A new month is upon us which means more competitive building! Are you ready? Here’s the latest bunch of LEGO contests and challenges from all around the AFOL community for May 2024 to help you find some inspiration and motivation to build! There’s nothing quite like a theme or a prompt to take you out of your comfort zone and give you something new to try. Besides, contests are the perfect place to interact with other contestants and judges and get to know your fellow builders. And if you’re like me, a deadline helps make sure you actually finish! We’ve listed them in order of deadline so you can plan your building time to the best advantage. Make sure to check the LEGO activity calendar for local challenges and events near you. Here at BrickNerd, some of our fondest memories, greatest building achievements, coolest trophies, and best friendships came from LEGO...

LEGO Shows Qatar 2024 has come and gone, and what a show it was! Being the largest and longest LEGO Shows event, it proved to be quite different from LEGO Shows Kuwait six months ago. Overhead view of the entire event Entrance into the convention hall If you’ve never heard of LEGO Shows before, it’s a large-scale interactive convention organized by ATW/Events aimed at showing everyone who attends what LEGO is and what it has to offer. This year had 26 different zones spread out across the hall for both kids and parents to explore. Some of these zones were very similar or the same as in Kuwait so I’ll focus more on the new zones and talk about some of the social aspects of attending a 16-day event. Fan Zone The AFOL presence at this event included six builders total, two from Brazil (Ildefonzo Zanette and Guilherme Constantino), two from...