Is your LEGO-king or crown-prince tired of wearing a big crown with a heavy neck-protector? Well, unfortunately LEGO only makes battle-crowns for the rulers of your LEGO kingdom. So, to lighten up their crowns you need to do a little modification. 😉
I’m certainly not the first one to customize the crown this way. The main reason I’m doing this tutorial is for your safety.
Many LEGO-fans use an X-ACTO knife or other hobby-blade to modify LEGO elements. On most LEGO pieces this method works really well. However the LEGO crown is an extremely thick piece, and I believe it is made of a different type of plastic; harder than regular LEGO parts.
I personally know two people who seriously cut themselves trying to use an X-ACTO knife to modify the LEGO crown. Because it is so hard to cut thru this element, the knife can easily slip. So, please don’t hurt yourself!
You could perform the process much safer with a hobby-saw, or in my experience the safest and easiest method is a good pair of scissors!
(Please read our Tutorials Disclaimer here for your safety before attempting any of the processes described below.)
PROCESS:
1. Carefully cut off the neck-protector all around. This is just the first part of the modification, so you don’t have to be exact. Just cut it off as nicely as you can, following the line between the crown and the neck-protector. (You may also want to snip off the nose-guard.)
2. Once the neck-protector is off you can smooth down the edge by filing or sanding it down.
3. Even though the edge with the cut is now without the chrome finish, it doesn’t need painting. The underlying plastic is a yellowish clear color, and it blends with the chrome nicely. Hardly noticeable!
Done! Our prince is quite happy with his lighter crown! 😉
I have done the same with my crowns. And yep, scissors is a much better option! Don’t ask me how I know that! 🙁
LOL! Jason! I don’t want to know! I would probably faint! 😀
Nice tutorial! The modified crown looks quite nice! I wonder if it would be possible to remove the center dome as well to create an open crown. Or maybe I’m pushing it? 😀
He-he…good idea….I should try that! 😉
Good job! great tutorial too!
While my friends would call me a LEGO purist, I have taken many a piece “under the knife” lol!
Ive found that a dremel tool works wonders on LEGO. At slow speeds the dremel wont cut skin if you accidentally misguide it. And it cuts through Lego like a hot knife through butter, leaving very smooth and polished edges.
A few words of caution though: if you are young have your parents help. And do it outside, or with a fan blowing away the residue; the plastic makes a fine dust when ground and should not be breathed into the lungs…think saw dust only much finer.
Yes, dremels are awesome! I have to get one for myself! If you would like to write a tutorial or do a video presentation for LEGO fans, just let me know. 😉
By the way if you ever dare to THINK about working with legos.using your very not sharpened swiss army knife remember how I stabbed my big toe. My Mom was more.concerned about her now red carpet then my toe lol.
A problem with the crown was that it was impossible to combine with the beard piece. =/
Maybe it’d work by sawing/ filing off the inner sticks (what’s the term?), though… I haven’t tried it…
The newer beards might be compatible, though. Maybe it’s just the older mold…
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=6132
Or you could just use another beard. Vitruvius’ beard, Sensei Wu’s beard, and Gandalf’s beard work just fine with the crown. Vitruvius’ is particularly nice for an old and regal king. However the original LEGO beard and the short Santa’s beard doesn’t work. So there are some options. 😉
Yeah. I was mostly surprised that it ‘didn’t’ work. I took for granted that if I used two pieces the way they were meant to be used, they would be compatible with each other… But apparently, there are some exceptions…. =/
Yeah, I know what you mean. LEGO trained us to expect that all their pieces work together. I guess they goofed on that one. 🙂
The one at the end reminds me of the character in Clutch Powers :3