I fairly regularly browse Rebrickable.com for alternate building ideas for official LEGO sets or just for inspiration for my own custom projects. Sometimes I just look at the pictures and that’s enough to trigger my own ideas, other times I download full instructions to work with. Many of the instructions on Rebrickable are free or are offered for a small fee.
I recently ran across a series of alternate building ideas that I really liked by a LEGO fan from Hong Kong who goes by the name beewiks. They basically take official LEGO sets and turn them into 3-D-style pictures that fit in a picture frame.
I know many LEGO fans struggle with display space issues. They often have to resort to keeping sets in storage, rotating what they have on display, or even passing on sets they would really like simply because they don’t have the space.
I myself turned several of my favorite sets (particularly buildings) into almost flat backgrounds for my LEGO Modular Buildings. I like them so much, and I like to have them on display but I just don’t have the room to showcase them in their full form or the funds to turn them into regular Modulars.
And this is why I liked beewiks’ idea. They are also making full sets almost flat but with the addition of a picture frame. This way, you reduce the amount of space your LEGO sets take up while still being able to display key elements (and your favorite minifigs) from it. The 3-D style can even allow for retaining some functionality and play-features. And the picture frame gives them a nice finishing touch.
Some of the sets they worked with are the #21319 LEGO Ideas Central Perk, the #21316 LEGO Ideas Flintstones, the #10263 LEGO Winter Village Fire Station, the #75955 LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Express, the #31105 LEGO Creator Townhouse Toy Store, the #21302 LEGO Ideas Big Bang Theory, the #75953 LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Whomping Willow, the #60227 LEGO City Lunar Space Station, the #75978 LEGO Harry Potter: Diagon Alley, the #21324 LEGO Ideas Sesame Street, the #76108 LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Sanctum Sanctorum and the # 10292 The Friends Apartments.
The suggested picture frames are from IKEA (recommended sizes and styles mentioned on the project pages), but you can use any other picture frame (or even make your own picture frame from any material including LEGO) as long as the sizes match.
These are relatively easy projects, but if you need instructions, they are available at Rebrickable.com. And once you get the hang of it, you can turn pretty much any LEGO set into a 3-D style picture and display them in much less space. They would also look neater than the cluttered shelves and tables many of us struggle with.
What do you think? How do you like this alternate version of displaying LEGO sets? Are you planning to give it a try? Which sets would you like to turn into a 3-D picture? Feel free to share and discuss in the comment section below!
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I have been thinking about doing something like this, but I thought of building them a Lego frame, similar to what the Lego mosaics have. However, these look great even with wooden frames. Especially the black ones. It would certainly be cheaper.
The Hogwarts Express looks really good like this! So is the Flintstones and Sesame street! Great idea!
I like the added sky and clouds and the three dimensional layout. I could see this working really well in a hallway or something. You could probably even build them in those frames with the glass door at the front to keep away dust. I think they are normally used for displaying kids’ artwork.
I really like this idea. I even have some deep picture frames that I didn’t know what to do with. I think I will give it a try.