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Foldable backgrounds for LEGO displays

by Thita (admin) on October 18, 2017

in Useful Resources

I recently had a chance to try out an interesting new product called Bakku Backgrounds. They are basically a combination of a playmat and a backdrop, and can be used with LEGO, or other toys and collectibles. 🙂

Bakku Backgrounds was created by Brian Woodman from Canada, who watched his own children play with LEGO. He thought that it would be useful for them to have a decorative surface they can build and play on, and also have a backdrop when they want to display their creations. To combine the two functions, Brian came up with a unique background that can fold up like an origami to offer different options as a play and display surface.

Bakku Backgrounds are made of a fairly thick, but still foldable paper, printed on both sides with different images to give you more options. The surface is nice and smooth, similar to a paperback book cover. The backgrounds ship flat, and come with instructions on how to fold them. The creases are almost invisible, so if you want to use the backgrounds simply flat, or folded up only at the edge at the back (to add a bit of a backdrop propped up against a wall), you can certainly do that.

However, the real unique feature of Bakku Backgrounds is that it offers a free-standing backdrop by having the back panel slightly curved, and the edges folded under. That’s where the origami folding techniques come into play. The step-by-step instructions to fold the backgrounds are well thought out and include clear pictures, but with little origami-folding experience, I had some trouble following them. I found the video-instructions (see below) much easier.

Once you fold the background, it provides a horizontal play and/or display surface, and a slightly curved free-standing backdrop (each background has two sets of angled creases, so you can adjust the steepness of the curves). Because of the origami folding techniques, no stapling, taping or gluing required. There are also some additional creases at the sides, which help with attaching several backgrounds next to each other for an even wider display-surface (see second video in the playlist above). This might require a little bit of tape to keep the two pieces together.

Bakku Backgrounds come in two different orientation; portrait or landscape (think “tall and thin” or “wide and short”). Both backgrounds are 36×24 inches when flat. When folded, the landscape orientation has an 8″ backdrop and the front comes out 16″, and the portrait orientation has a 13.5″ backdrop with a 22.5″ flat section. And, as I mentioned above, both orientations can be paired with other backgrounds to make the surface wider.

The images on Bakku Backgrounds are computer-generated by Brian using 3-D landscape modeling programs. Some of the designs are simple, while others are a lot more photo-realistic; depicting, forests, beaches, deserts, and other landscapes. You can use either the front or the back of the backgrounds, as they have different images. For example, I got the forest/desert double pack in landscape orientation, and the low polygon patio/forest in portrait orientation.

Bakku Backgrounds wasn’t made only with LEGO fans in mind, so the images are not very LEGO-ish. And, while they are made of high-quality paper, they are still paper, and I don’t think they are durable or play-friendly enough for younger children. However, I could see them working well as a backdrop for certain displays, particularly free-standing ones on a table at a LEGO show/convention. They could also work well for teen and adult LEGO fans as backgrounds for shelf-displays, either by using them flat, or by adding additional creases (or cut to size) to make the front sections narrower to fit standard-size shelves.

Where I see Bakku Backgrounds being the most useful for LEGO fans is in stop-motion animation and LEGO photography. The curved background offers a nice, seamless backdrop for taking pictures, and the surface is large enough for a variety of shots from different angles. The prices are reasonable enough that you might find some of the imagery useful for your own brickfilms and photo-shoots, instead of using standard posters or printed images. If you are interested, you can visit BakkuBackgrounds.com for more information and plenty of example images. All currently available Bakku Backgrounds are sold via Brian’s Amazon store, which you can find here: BAKKU BACKGROUNDS ON AMAZON

What do you think? How do you like Bakku Backgrounds so far? Is this something you would be interested trying yourself? What other products and techniques do you use to create backgrounds for your displays? Feel free to share and discuss in the comment section below! Also, if you have any suggestions, ideas, or requests for Brian, you are welcome to add those as well. He is very eager to hear from the LEGO fan community and see what we think. I already shared my feedback, so now it’s your turn. 😉

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The evolution of the LEGO lawnmower man

by Thita (admin) on October 17, 2017

in Featured LEGO Creations

Jason Allemann (a.k.a. JK Brickworks) is a master of mechanical LEGO creations, and we have featured many of his models in the past (see links at the end of this post). Another LEGO fan who focuses on mechanical LEGO models is Josh DaVid, who’s LEGO Great Ball Contraptions we talked about here. Recently, there has been some great collaboration between these two builders, as they were getting inspired by each other’s ideas. 🙂

Josh DaVid is mostly known for his small, but very complex LEGO GBCs, however he occasionally also builds some mechanical LEGO sculptures. About a month ago, he designed a kinetic sculpture of a lawnmower that gives the illusion of cutting grass. The model uses a series of conveyor belts to move the cut and uncut grass in small repeating loops. The entire model can be run using a hand winch or a single LEGO motor. In the video below, Josh demonstrates how the lawnmower works, and will also show you the interior mechanism.

Jason Alleman saw Josh’s lawnmower, and he was so inspired by it that he immediately wanted to build his own. He also thought to add a slightly modified version of his previously built Sisyphus figure to endlessly push the lawnmower – sort of like a modern day Sisyphus. In the video below, Jason explains how it all works, and he also shares on his blog: “The figure uses the same walking mechanism as in my original Sisyphus model, called a Hoeckens linkage, though I modified the geometry a bit to give it a more upright stance and shorter stride. The ‘grass’ consists of two conveyor belts, one in front of the lawnmower with tall grass and one behind with cut grass, which is essentially the same as in Josh’s original model. The lawnmower is held down by gravity so that the conveyor belts turn the freely spinning wheels, and is loosely mounted on a LEGO brick to keep it in the correct position.I added some simple decorations on the base to represent what is happening on top of the model, with uncut grass on the left, the lawnmower blade in the middle, and cut grass on the right.”

In the meantime, Josh also decided to add his own version of the lawnmower pushing guy, using somewhat different techniques. Notice the different movement of the legs, feet and, arms compared to Jason’s model.

It is really interesting to see such mutual inspiration and cooperation between two great LEGO builders. While LEGO fans often get inspired by each other’s work, it is rare to see it documented so clearly. You can check the similarities and differences of the bases, the grass, the construction of the lawnmowers, the movement of the figures, and how each builder approached the interior mechanism. And of course, there is nothing to stop other LEGO fans (including you!) to take inspiration from both Josh and Jason, and take the model even further.

What do you think? How do you like these LEGO lawnmower man kinetic sculptures? Which aspects of each model do you like? Would you like to build your own eternally mowing guy? Is there anything you would change? Feel free to share your thoughts and own ideas in the comment section below! 😉

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

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Foldable backgrounds for LEGO displays

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