Book review: “The LEGO Engineer” by Jeff Friesen

Affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3BN1S8o

Non-affiliate link: https://nostarch.com/lego-engineer

Disclaimer: I received a free pre-release review copy from No Starch Press.

I highly enjoyed The LEGO Engineer, by Jeff Friesen. The book consists of high level categories of engineering (Bridges and Tunnels, Trains and Beyond, Things That Float, Flying Machines, Amazing Buildings, Space Travel), with various examples of each category. These examples have detailed explanations of the mechanics behind them, as well as instructions for a LEGO model thereof. 

A large part of engineering is dealing with tradeoffs; there is rarely one perfect design, and this book does a great job of explaining the pros and cons of each design. For instance, with bridges the author gives the example that cantilever bridges can carry heavier loads with wide spans, but they’re complex to build and more expensive than simpler designs.

Each example flows logically from one to the next; generally the design that’s introduced builds upon or improves on the one that was just shown. For instance, the steam train is followed by diesel-electric (hybrid that seems virtually strictly superior to steam), which is followed by Shinkansen train (much lighter than diesel-electric because they get their electricity from overhead lines rather than heavy engines, allowing them to be more efficient). The examples also include dates of introduction or service, which gives a nice historical overview of the developments.

Each engineering example comes with a micro-scale (not precisely defined in this text, but in such a scale the typical minifigure would appear like a giant) model, parts list, and instructions. The parts list includes the exact piece numbers so that you can order them from a site like bricklink.com. The introduction to the book points out that if you don’t have the exact pieces, you can often make substitutions as long as the dimensions are the same (e.g. if you need a 2×1 piece, it doesn’t matter if you use the standard 2×1 or one with a brick texture); in cases where this isn’t true or it’s likely you’d get confused, the author helpfully calls out a warning. For instance, in the Cruise Ship, there is a non-standard jumper plate that would not behave the same way as the more common model; the two plates look identical from above and differ only in the bottom.

Here’s a screenshot of Bricklink.com illustrating the difference:

The models are generally of high quality and aesthetically pleasing. There are some clever parts uses, such as a feather to represent smoke:

Or a small technic gear element to represent the cutting head of a tunnel boring machine:

From just these two examples you can see the high-quality photos (or renders, I can’t really tell). The tunnel boring machine is a good example of micro-scale – whereas a typical LEGO car would be at least 4 studs wide, here a car is reduced to 1 stud wide and 2 long. When done successfully, it provides the ability to cover huge areas in small models.

Not every model works for me, particularly the Titanic model. Here is the finished product:

And a diagram of the Titanic from the previous page:

The distinctive elements are all present (4 smoke stacks, 2 antennae, color scheme), but in my opinion it is not a very good likeness. I believe the problem is in the proportions of the model. This model appears to be about 16 studs long and 2.5 studs wide, for a length/width ratio of 6.4. The real Titanic was proportionally much longer – approximately 882 feet by 92 feet, or length/width ratio of 9.6. 

Contrast this example with the International Space Station, which is much smaller in real life, yet much bigger as a LEGO model. This extra space allows the author to achieve a much more convincing likeness:

There are many helpful (non-LEGO) illustrations throughout the book; I found them consistently high quality. Here’s an example of how a submarine ballast tanks work in order to allow the ship to dive and later surface:

Perhaps the most interesting parts of the book to me were the examples of engineering challenges that were solved in unexpected ways, or cross-pollination across disciplines. For example, the Shinkansen train was initially shaped like a bullet, which caused problems exiting tunnels. Eiji Nakatsu developed a new nose shape inspired by the bill of the kingfisher bird; the text indicates this solved the tunnel problem and reduced air resistance substantially. Another example is that the hovercraft was invented by a radio engineer.

Overall, I think this book is a good purchase for anyone who is interested both in LEGO and engineering. The positives (logical sequencing, interesting engineering explanations with diagrams, by and large aesthetically pleasing LEGO models with detailed instructions) far outweigh the minor complaints I have (a few models which suffer from scale issues or otherwise don’t look convincingly like the thing they are trying to portray).

Book review: “The Art of LEGO Design: Creative Ways to Build Amazing Models”

The Art of LEGO Design: Creative Ways to Build Amazing Models

by Jordan Schwartz

No Starch Press

http://www.nostarch.com/legodesign

Disclaimer: I received a free review copy of the book from No Starch Press.

While there are many books that feature amazing works of art using LEGO as a medium, few delve into the techniques and thought processes used by the builders. Jordan Schwartz’s “The Art of LEGO Design” tackles this subject in a remarkably successful way. Mr. Schwartz’s background as a designer employed by LEGO make him an authority on the subject. His work has been featured in some of the books I alluded to, including Beautiful LEGO.

The book starts with the assumption that you will not be building enormous models like those featured in a LEGOLAND park, and that the standard size 2×4 bricks are far too large to use as the basis of your models. He shows how there are some tremendously versatile, smaller pieces that allow you to create amazingly intricate scenes, and illustrates the use of pieces in unconventional ways. A few examples spring to mind:

• p. 25 (Minifigure chapter): by using a Technic ball rather than a minifigure’s head under a helmet, the head can be posed at many more angles than would otherwise be possible.
• p. 60 (Patterns & Motifs chapter): by arranging so-called “cheese slopes” in various configurations, you can create amazing mosaics and stained glass windows using shapes and angles that are very different from the standard blocky LEGO mosaic; see for instance Katie Walker’s “Flower Petal Study”
• p. 85 (Texture chapter): by turning rubber tires inside out, you get a much different look and feel, which in some cases is more appropriate for the era being modeled
• p. 249 (Science fiction chapter): in “The Paradise Syndrome“, the designer Keith Goldman uses minifigure hands stuck through the holes in the plant pieces to form yellow flowers. It’s a beautiful technique and one I never would have thought of.

Another valuable section in the book is that of composition. LEGO is an interesting medium in which to work because of its dual nature. On the one hand it is a physical medium, having depth, volume, and weight. On the other hand, it is primarily presented to the audience through photography. As such you can use the tricks of photography and cinematography to create stunning scenes that wouldn’t actually work or hold up if viewed in person. There are two striking examples of this in this chapter.

The first is the use of perspective in “This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Two of Us“, by Tyler Clites. The scene is built at different scales to suggest an enormous sense of depth. In the image we are looking through the legs of one figure and see a confident man ready to duel. The legs through which we view the scene are built at a large scale. The figure is a standard minifigure. A few studs behind him is a house that is rendered only three studs wide, suggesting instead that it is many hundreds of feet away. In the far distance are objects made of just a few pieces, showing mountains and other landmarks. It is a brilliant composition, and Mr. Schwartz’s analysis of the scene goes into more depth on things that aspiring builder should learn from it. I’ve since found that there are groups on Flickr devoted to this technique, such as “LEGO Forced Perspective“.

The second example is David and Goliath by Nick Vás, which positions the Goliath character closer to the camera in order to make him appear enormous compared to David. This technique was used in the original Lord of the Rings trilogy to make the hobbits appear tiny in some scenes; see TXFilmProfessor’s video for more details.

The “Art of LEGO Design” has some great practical advice for those looking to model creatures that exist in the real world – don’t start with the head or you’ll end up making the model far too large for minifigure scale. Conversely, for fantastical creatures that could exist at any scale like dragons, he recommends starting with the head before moving on to the rest of the body. He also shows clever ways of blending fabric elements from various LEGO sets in with the plastic bricks to create intriguing textures and styles. For instance, the model of Maleficent (p.147) uses capes to form the sides of the dragon’s mouth, and some sort of fabric for the wings. It’s a technique I would not have considered before reading this book.

The book covers some topics which I haven’t seen addressed before, namely how to create realistic (or fantastical) trees and foliage. He shows how one can interlock the prefabricated leaf pieces to form much lusher and more realistic trees, and how to use non-traditional pieces like Technic connectors and levers to form realistic trunks and branches.

I found this book a pleasure to read. The prose is well written, and the illustrations are of high quality and well chosen. The topics follow a logical progression from conception through implementation to photography and publicity. The interviews with various master builders are insightful and informative. If you are a fan of LEGO and aspire to improve your building skills, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.