Tag Archives: Military

Tanks and fighter planes, dioramas of World War II battles, dreadnoughts and battleships — LEGO builders have an obvious fascination with the arms and armor of the military-industrial complex. Find all these LEGO weapons of mass destruction right here on The Brothers Brick.

The roles of research, critique, and community in improving LEGO models

Like many LEGO builders, I spent the first decades of my life building in isolation, lucky to get suggestions or critique from a sibling or rare friend who also played with LEGO. But in the last 10 years — particularly the last 5 — the LEGO fan community has grown to include a critical mass of people who build in just about every possible genre.

People with shared interests who spend time together online will inevitably run out of solely positive things to say, and as a result, a culture of constructive criticism has emerged among LEGO fans. Balanced against this impetus to critique everything are the planning and research that individual builders put into what they create. In contrast to the solo building those of us in our 30s did 20 years ago, builders today have a wealth of sources right at our fingertips.

What effects do research, critique, and discussion among community members ultimately have on the quality of the LEGO creations we build and share? Since I’ve been on a bit of a building spree lately (amazing what you can do when your LEGO collection is sorted), I thought I’d step back and share my experience.

Read on, and share your own thoughts in the comments…

Before I set out to create a Dodge WC54 ambulance from World War II, I spent a couple hours finding the best pictures and determining where and when they were actually used during the war. Given that many World War II photos were taken by service personnel and are therefore in the public domain, Wikimedia Commons is a great place to find historical photos.

Historical re-enactors and scale modelers also run dozens of sites that pull together vast amounts of careful research. For both my ambulance and later battalion aid station diorama, I turned frequently to the WW2 US Medical Research Centre.

Originally planning to broaden my D-Day beachhead diorama, I confirmed that WC54s were used at Normandy, and even found a photo of WC54s sitting on Omaha Beach. Good enough to start building.

Targeting 1/35 scale, I translating the real vehicle’s length, height, and width into studs and bricks. Remembering what I’d learned from my wildland fire engine, I built from the top down. I struggled with the front, since I had to combine half-stud offset for the three/five-wide hood with SNOT for the grill and bumper, plus tiles (with no studs to sturdy connections on top) for the fenders.

I figured it out, though, and pleased with my results posted pictures to Flickr:

Checking back a while later, I saw a stream of notes from our very own Tim, whose windscreen I’d reverse-engineered for the original ambulance. I gritted my teeth and clicked through. (Honestly, I hate taking criticism, especially when it’s wrong. I’d vented a week earlier that too many of the suggestions to “improve” my M4 Sherman tank took it in more interesting but less historically accurate directions. That’s just plain annoying.)

Tim had seen the mini-rant I’d posted in a Flickr group we both frequent, and his critique was spot on. He made specific suggestions based on the source material I’d used myself, providing solutions where I hadn’t thought the model could be improved. The result is the version I included in my diorama, posted separately below:

The story arc (if you will) started with research, moved through community discussion and critique of the creation itself, and ended with a substantially improved LEGO model. This same story plays out every day in the LEGO fan community today — something that would have been nearly impossible 20 years ago and highly unlikely 10 years ago.

Side note: Looking to future World War II vehicles I might build, I’ll be relying on a copy of World War II AFV Plans: American Armored Fighting Vehicles by George Bradford. I was pleased to discover that I ended up almost 100% to scale (1/35) for my M3 Half-track, even without the book.

Nearly all of the book’s schematics are printed at 1/35 scale, which avoids eyestrain from the WIP-held-against-computer-screen method I’d been using before the book arrived in the mail.

So, what’s your experience with the balance between research or sources of inspiration and constructive criticism?

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Battalion Aid Station, Normandy, June 1944

After I built my US Army Dodge WC54 ambulance, it deserved a proper historical context — a Battalion Aid Station in a ruined farmhouse courtyard.

In the US Army, Battalion Aid Stations are the first line of medical treatment after battlefield first aid by medics or fellow soldiers. Wars of the 20th-century saw many conscientious objectors serving as non-combatants in the American armed forces, often as medics. Army medics served heroically, charging into battle alongside their armed comrades. Eleven received the Congressional Medal of Honor as a result of their actions in World War II.

My Battalion Aid Station is based on historical photographs from the Western Front in 1944 and 1945, after the Normandy Invasion on D-Day. Naturally, I had to convert a couple of the more immersive shots into black and white:

Though the muddy lane with the M3 half-track and hedgerow was an afterthought — one that nearly emptied my bin of plant pieces — I’m quite pleased with the result:

Because the subject matter fascinates me so much, I built a great deal of detail into this that you can’t see in a single photo. Check out the photoset on Flickr for more.

(I’ll be discussing some of the build process for my improved ambulance separately, because I think the role of constructive criticism in improving one’s models is something that deserves its own post.)

Brickmania World War II Battle Pack out now [News]

Dan Siskind of Brickmania has just released a three-pack of WW2 vehicles, with custom minifigs and accessories. The set includes a German SdKfz 124 Wespe self-propelled artillery, American M8 Greyhound armored car, and British Universal Carrier (better known as the “Bren gun carrier”).

At $300, the set of three vehicles certainly isn’t cheap, but spending the time — and bricks — to get it right as Dan does for his custom sets isn’t something you can do for only a few bucks. (I built most of my recent American World War II military vehicles from outside my existing collection, so I know it can get expensive just to assemble the necessary parts from half a dozen BrickLink orders.)

I bought a couple of sets last year to see whether they were worth recommending to readers of The Brothers Brick, and I can say unequivocally that they are.

M3 Half-track APC, M4 Sherman tank, & Dodge WC54 ambulance

I’ve shared in the past my ambivalence toward violent LEGO, but there’s something unique about World War II that has fascinated me ever since I was little. My grandfather and great uncle served in the US Army during the war, and I grew up in one of the countries that both inflicted a great deal of suffering and suffered deeply themselves before losing the war to the Allies.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve really started enjoying the unique challenges presented by building a LEGO model based on something “real.” LEGO has interesting scale challenges, and I think too many LEGO vehicles are too tall or too wide.

My M3A1 Half-track has a three/five/seven-wide hood, with an eight-wide cab and crew compartment. It’s my favorite so far (even though the tracks should have four road wheels, not three).

I’m less happy with my M4A3 (76)W Sherman tank, which has to be far too tall to capture the right details in the suspension, and I missed the shape of the rear section behind the turret. Because it was my first tank, I spent a lot of time looking at tanks built by other builders — especially BrickMania’s M4A2, Phima’s M4A3E8, and Milan CMadge’s M4A3E8.

Because I come from a family of pacifist non-combatants and conscientious objectors, my convoy of military hardware wouldn’t be complete without a US Army Medical Corps Dodge WC54 ambulance. Like the half-track, the ambulance’s hood is three/five/seven-wide, with a six-wide cab. The recessed spare tire seems impossible at this scale, unfortunately, and getting the shape right means it does not fit a fig.

Now to build some sort of massive World War II diorama to put these in…

Lego Halo pistol makes me wonder if it has 2X zoom

The M6D Pistol is a favorite weapon of many Halo players back in the days of Halo: Combat Evolved. This life-sized rendition by Robo-Man is best I’ve seen. I particularly like the SNOT details and the utilization of studs on the grip.

A new and improved motorized tank

We never blogged the first version of Zackhariah Macasaet‘s motorized M1A2 Abrams Tank, so it’s a good thing he posted a better version. This is one sturdy war machine that can handle a variety of obstacles including crossing large gaps, climbing a mound of nails, and even stand from being dropped! Watch the video and see it in action.

Blood skulls tank rains explosives from the sky

Théo’s (Titolian) Blood Skull V6 Battle-Tank is a bundle of firepower presented all in one small package. Despite the scattered dark red patterns on the tank, the details stand out much more as the highlight of this creation. It even seats a minifig comfortably.

US Navy Whalers by Lego Monster

I love the sloped hulls on these WW2 era US Navy 26ft whaler boats by Ed Diment (Lego Monster). Great curves without clunky interior support structure. Very nice.

Another Dark Bley Creation

This one is mine, though. It’s an addition to the Iron Mountain Legion theme that I’ve been tinkering with on and off lately. I wanted to keep with the overall style of that theme, which meant large bulky armor pieces. It also requires somewhat comic proportions, hence the tall turret.

I wanted this creation to look overtly functional. I tried to add interesting details to support that style, such as the winch and textured armor pieces. This was also the reason that there are so many vents pointing in various directions, so that it looks like it could be held in position by their thrust.

Cole is bugging out!

No, Cole Blaq isn’t leaving the LEGO building community, or anything so dramatic. He’s just built a very ant-like mecha.

The proportions of this thing are right up my alley. The legs look over-sized enough to be heavily armored. The body looks continues the heavily armored look, giving the impression that conditions inside are rather cramped, perfect for a “tank.” Cole has also done a great job of building in some functional looking pistons and so forth on the inner legs.

I’m also aware that I keep blogging creations that are largely built of dark bley. I think it may be because I’ve had a dark bley creation of my own waiting to be photographed for about a week.

The eyes of the world were upon them

Milan CMadge has been building LEGO versions of the Normandy Invasion for nearly a year now, culminating in his latest diorama featuring a German bunker built into the cliff (complete with interior), a pair of LCVP “Higgins Boat” landing craft (one more fortunate than the other), and even an amphibious Sherman tank.

See detail shots on Flickr.

Now, to connect this with my own Omaha Beach diorama, along with Darth Yoda’s, for a massive LEGO D-Day Omaha beachhead…

Oh, I don’t want no more of Army life. Gee Mom, I wanna go home.

HispaLUG member teruel211 built a very nice Korean War-era helicopter (likely an H-13 Sioux), complemented by a M.A.S.H. unit on the ground.

Thanks for the tip, Henrik!