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(Written by William)

In this Brick Breakdown series I review official LEGO sets, from the perspective of looking at interesting building techniques we can all learn from. Today we will be looking at the #70807 The LEGO Movie MetalBeard’s Duel. You can also check out the previously discussed LEGO techniques found in official LEGO sets at the end of this article. 🙂

#70807 LEGO MetalBeard's Duel Review

There’s nothing quite like two giant robots fighting. On one side you have a larger than average Micro-Manager, and on the other side you got MetalBeard – the half pirate half machine contraption. This is probably enough for quite a few LEGO fans to make the #70807 The LEGO Movie MetalBeard’s Duel an instant buy. And LEGO goes even one step further and gives us three unique minifigures, including a robotic skeleton.

#70807 The LEGO Movie Set

The #70807 The LEGO Movie MetalBeard’s Duel set is all about having an extreme battle, so if you like to build mechs and strange robots, you are in for a treat. However if fighting between big machines is not your cup of tea, I would pass on this set and go for one of the 2-in-1 models from The LEGO Movie line, simply because they are much more interesting. There is little in the way of profound building techniques in the MetalBeard set, nor are there a whole lot of rare elements, but let’s see what we got…

COMBINING THEMES IN LEGO CREATIONS

The pirate-robot is clearly a blending of the pirates theme and steampunk. The question is how do you, as a LEGO builder, approach a concept like this? The simple answer would be that you would use one theme to create the dominant shape, while the other is used for accenting. This does not mean there will be no input from both themes in either category, but to make a model more successful one should be the primary.

#70807 LEGO MetalBeard Details

In the case of MetalBeard, the steampunk theme is used to define the shape, which is that of a steam-powered robot. The secondary theme of the pirates line also helps a bit to give the robot some unique features with the peg-leg and single arm. Once the shape is determined you can move on to decorations. Here the pirates theme gives the primary defining character; the shark, double-cannon arm, treasure-chest, cannon-foot, anchor, mast with flags and parrot, pistol, and giant cutlass all point to this fact. Here the steampunk theme is free to make just a few embellishments, which in this case happens mostly in the form of adding standard steampunk coloring with shades of brown as well as metallic colors like gold and silver-ish grays. There is also a steam-pipe and gears for shoulder-armor indicating the steampunk style, but note how all these elements are secondary to the pirate decorations.

And that’s mainly it, if you want to use this technique in your own LEGO creations; break your model down into two phases of shape and decorations. Then decide which one will be primary and which secondary in these two categories. This gives you the flexibility of adding as much or as little of each of the defining themes as you like.

PLANNING SPACE FOR MINIFIGS IN LEGO VEHICLES

The fact of the matter is that if you don’t plan from the beginning for enough space for your minifigures while you are building LEGO vehicles, it could get tricky to create that space later. In The LEGO Movie MetalBeard’s Duel set if you open up the hatch at the top of Micro-Manager you’ll find the most generic measurements to fit nearly any minifigure inside it. As you know, a minifigure stands roughly four LEGO bricks high. However, since you don’t want hats or hair-pieces running into the roofs of vehicles, it’s a good idea to make the inside space of a vehicle at least five bricks high if the minifig will be standing, or four bricks high if sitting. Also, it couldn’t hurt to throw in an extra LEGO plate’s worth of height.

#70807 LEGO MetalBeard's Duel Micro Manager

The other aspect of the minifigs we need to find space for is the arms. They obviously don’t fit in the 2×2 space that the legs and torso can fit into. So this means we need to extend the space to a 2×4 area to make sure there is enough room for the arms. But this still doesn’t take into consideration other attachments that can bulk up minifigures, like long arms, armor pieces, etc.

So then have to clear out another 2×2 space directly behind where a minifigure sits or stands. This area doesn’t have to go all the way down to the floor since most minifigures back or hair pieces stop around hip level. This space arrangement can be fully seen inside the Micro-Manager, giving you a perfect example of what the most generic space needed for sitting minifigure inside a vehicle.

APPLYING WHAT YOU LEARN

Creating mash-ups between two completely different themes is at the root of many novel LEGO designs. A robot-pirate, a ghost-train, a ninja-mech have all been recent creations that LEGO has produced. Studying these sets is a good way to learn how to create interesting LEGO designs and also how to use LEGO elements that you would not normally use together.

The reason why it is so important to include minifigures in our vehicles – aside from the obvious need for a driver – has to do with putting things in context. We get a sense of scale and dimension when we use LEGO’s iconic minifigs to represent people. It also allows us to compare and even combine our LEGO designs with others’ more easily since what they have in common is the scale of the minifigure. It is not always necessary to have minifigs in a LEGO model, but it’s a nice way to give ourselves common ground when building with LEGO.

Shop The LEGO Movie Sets

So what do you think? How do you like the MetalBeard’s Duel set and the techniques we discussed here? Have you every tried combining different themes for an unusual effect? Ever have trouble fitting minifigs into your LEGO vehicles? Feel free to share your own experiences, tips or ask questions in the comment section below! 😉

And you might also like to check out the other reviews in this series:

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LEGO Minecraft: The End is coming!

Interesting piece of news for LEGO Minecraft fans; the latest set in the LEGO Minecraft series has been revealed at the LEGO Minecraft Facebook Page. They have been hinting at the new set at various teasers, but this is the first time we have a chance to see the actual set. It’s the LEGO Minecraft Micro World: The End. 🙂

LEGO Minecraft The End

Below you can see LEGO designer Steen Stig Andersen, with the new LEGO Minecraft Micro World: The End set. This is the only image we have right now, but it looks like everything is there. The set is made up of tan pieces, which is accurate to the look of the End Stones in the Minecraft game. The Obsidian pillars are on the top level, although they are quite smallish, and there is a portal (the gray thingy on the top level). And of course we got an Ender Dragon and lots of Endermen. 😀

LEGO Minecraft The End Revealed

The LEGO Minecraft Micro World: The End set is modular (meaning it is made up of four removable and interchangeable sections) like the other LEGO Minecraft sets, although it is quite an open design compared to the previously released sets.

LEGO Shopping - LEGO Minecraft

In case you are not familiar with Mincraft, here is some info from the Minecraft Wiki about The End: “The End is a dimension with a stark, empty plane containing a single floating planet-like island made of a unique material known as End Stone, dotted with Obsidian pillars. These islands float in the Void. This dimension is populated by a vast number of Endermen, who spawn considerably more often than in the Overworld, and a lone Ender Dragon, the boss of the End.” Killing the dragon cues the game’s ending credits. Players are then allowed to teleport back to their original spawn point in the overworld, and will receive The End achievement.

LEGO Minecraft The End Reference Image

So far the response from LEGO fans has been quite mixed in regards to this set. Minecraft fans are mostly happy with it, however LEGO fans who are not that much into Minecraft are only looking at it as a poor selection of mostly common LEGO elements. I’m definitely getting this set as I really like all of the previous LEGO Minecraft sets and wouldn’t want my collection to be incomplete. I don’t think this set is exciting as the previous LEGO Minecraft sets however; no interesting colors, pieces, etc., but it does represent a very desolate place, so I’m not sure how it could have been better. I do like the look of the Endermen, and those trans-purple pieces. I’m not sure about the dragon yet as it is hard to see on this picture. I think this set won’t be so interesting on its own, but will ride on the popularity of the previous LEGO Minecraft sets. What do you think? 🙄

LEGO Minecraft

The LEGO Minecraft Micro World: The End set will be available sometime this summer. There is no final piece-count or price revealed yet, but I assume it will be similar to the other LEGO Minecraft sets. In the meantime you can check out the three previously released LEGO Minecraft sets at the Online LEGO Shop.

Shop LEGO Minecraft Sets

What are your thoughts on the LEGO Minecraft Micro World: The End set? Do you think it is accurate to the game? Could it have been made better? Are you planning to get it? Feel free to share and discuss in the comment section below! 😉

And you might also like to check out the following related posts:

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