Tag Archives: ExeSandbox

Learn how to master Brick-Bult Water with this free LEGO ebook from Exe Sandbox [Feature]

When it comes to water-building, there are plenty of examples from official LEGO sets that can be adapted for your custom models, but sometimes you want to push your LEGO creations beyond basic designs. Tong Xin Jun (Exe Sandbox) has created an extensive guide full of tips and tricks for creating LEGO water from bricks and is offering it as a free ebook: Brick-Built Water. The builder graciously offered to let us host a copy of the ebook so that others can learn from this essential resource.

For a preview of the free ebook, click here

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I just can’t contain myself!

You have to admit, container homes have been a hot topic as of late and I’ve admittedly watched a few guided tours of them on Youtube. Are they well insulated? Can I still have a vast LEGO room if I lived in one? What about an art room? And a crafts room? These are all questions I don’t yet know the answers to but it doesn’t make me any less intrigued. Tong Xin Jun may be able to answer those questions for me. This little container home looks pretty fabulous. It’s a simple two-story affair with an inviting front porch and a covered stairway chock full of neat build techniques.

Around the back, the panels are removed to see how container living might look from the inside. That cozy sofa and TV just might be calling my name.

A different sort of digital LEGO build

These days, we come across a lot of digital LEGO builds, and it’s easy to see why. Through several free programs, the world of virtual building offers anyone access to infinite quantities of bricks in any type and color you need. But despite having seen thousands of digital creations, builder Tong Xin Jun still managed to create something I’ve never before seen: LEGO Digital Designer. The interface of LEGO’s now-retired free building software will be familiar to many of you, but look closely, because I promise you’ve never seen it like this before. That’s right, this is the LDD interface built out of bricks within LDD! It’s an absolutely brilliant piece of design that I’d love to see rendered with physical bricks, and I actually think the majority of it could be.

Beautiful on the outside and on the inside

I had to look really good to see that this model by Tong Xin Jun is built and rendered digitally. The fact that only existing colors were used certainly helped fool the eye. This cute little house is complete. It comes with its own vineyard and wine cellar, and what more could a person ask for during a pandemic? The brick build base makes this model look very polished. Creating a difference in texture between the path towards the house and the lawn adds to the feeling that the lawn is filled with autumn leaves. And have you seen those roof dormers? The best thing about this house is that it is fully furnished from the basement to the attic. And the furniture wasn’t an afterthought. It is designed beautifully. Sometimes a fan of LEGO uses a part in a way it was not designed for, but it just makes sense. The round 2×2 tile with wood grain pattern used as a cutting board/charcuterie plank is an example of this.

Bustling cargo port on a massive scale

Living in Seattle, or in any major port town, for that matter, this scene by ExeSandbox is a familiar sight. What is much more unexpected about this model is the massive scale. Notice the “small” rolling cranes in the foreground are this crane base, which is 16 studs high! Even though this model is a digital render, this in no way diminishes the amount of effort involved in putting this together.

The builder includes a nice surprise detail in the cargo ship’s name, Leg Godt, the Danish phrase “Play Well”, from which LEGO derives its name.