John

First of all I would like to say a big thank you to Guy (New To Trains) for making my family and me welcome and showing us around the bits you don't normally get to see, it was like having our own VIP personal guided tour

Here's a few pics I took in what I guess you could call Guy's office
legoland_01.jpglegoland_02.jpglegoland_03.jpglegoland_04.jpglegoland_05.jpg

If you have never been before it's well worth going, even if you don't like the rides, I only went on one and I struggled to get in to that with my belly getting in the way, I think I need to loose some weight

But full credit to Guy and his team for the Lego village, I took loads of pictures of it far too many to attach so I've uploaded them here, www.scale-models.co.uk/legoland_windsor/ it's really quite amazing what you can do with Lego.

The weather was great, I don't think we could have got a better day if we tired, the only thing that spoiled it was coming back we were stopping in a Travelodge off the M4, we were 5 mins away but the junction to it was closed due to a accident and it took us an 1 1/4 hours to travel round it but I guess that was just unfortunate.

Great day out and made better thanks to Guy

new to trains

pleasure was mine... glad you had a good day !- glad the weather was fine too... it seems to make the colours brighter !
sorry about the M4 nightmare- i got held up too- on my way home .....

lets see the creations you make with the bricks in due course !- you can post them on here !!!!

great to meet you john, keep up the good work with this forum !!!

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just gotta keep building !

wonwinglo

Wow,what a day you had John,looking at the outstanding models the place is quite unique,how on earth does Guy create those faces ?

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'And there I was oil on my goggles from a broken pipe,then I looked at the altimeter,all I could see was the makers name !'
www.wonwinglo.scale-models.net/

new to trains

start at the bottom and work up !- but no seriously you start on outer proifle in the 4 main axis and then in fill by eye....

so you create a profile from forehead, down over the nose to the chin, an another profile from the crown of the head down to the ears, the jaw and down to the neck, you then line the two profiles up to form a cross and four axis ( eg north , south, east and east, then infill by eye !

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just gotta keep building !

new to trains

will find some pictures in the next 24 hrs and post them to explain....

Bunkerbarge

I have to say Guy I am very envious of someone who makes models for a living. I can't think of a more rewarding way to earn your keep.

I love the 'office' and all the wealth of interesting artifacts it contains.

wonwinglo

Yes I agree Richard,and once more it is great to have such a professional onboard who is prepared to share his invalueable knowledge with us,cannot wait to see how he does these figureheads.

__________________
'And there I was oil on my goggles from a broken pipe,then I looked at the altimeter,all I could see was the makers name !'
www.wonwinglo.scale-models.net/

new to trains

right the figure heads........

the heads are built in the same way but in differing styles, and different bricks,

but the procedure is always the same, firstly we would try and get a side view ( profile) of the person we are trying to create, we also try and get a front on facial view...
these images are then enlarged to the required size on a photocopier, we then layover a tracing film with a grid printed on it.... these grids are and sqaures on the paper have the same dimensions as a LEGO brick, in both plan and elevation....

we then trace major outlines/ profiles into the film, basically we snap to a grid ( drawing like a computer does, from point to point )

we then build that outline/ profile in bricks this gives us a final outline to which we can work to..... we do these profiles from front to back as well as left to right, this gives us cross shape when viewed from above ( like darts flights !)

we then slowly but surely build into the spaces in between these cross sections- creating eyes, cheeks, chin, and the contours of the face....
this process is just a case of building and then dissmantling and re building until we are finally happy with the end result......- so its just a case of sticking at it until we are done !

we often build only half a head in this way.... and we then put this creation up against a mirror to use the reflection to create the symetrical look of the final model.....

its a slow build but some figure heads are just easier to build and are more recognisable than others, - we also build heads in different styles of bricks, - this is to show how different styles of brick effect the outcome and the overall style of the face.... the idea is we can inspire our guests/ visitors in different ways of build......
the pavarotti head is made in standard bricks and so looks quite stepped and chunky..... the churchill is built in smaller bricks and plates so there are finer contours so the overall appearence is finer and more realistic, the einstein head is a mix of the two styles !

the queen victoria head is also a good mix of the two build styles, the Queen elizabeth head is solely in 'roof bricks' these are sloped and angled bricks, - quicker to build but very limiting in many ways- but they also can be used effectively in the build of a lifesize head.....

in terms of time to draft, design and build a head like churchill then we look to have final completed bonded model within 40 hours- about a weeks work for one of my modelmaking team....

pictures will follow....

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just gotta keep building !

wonwinglo

A very novel use for LEGO,thanks Guy for this fascinating explanation and really look forward to seeing the photographs in due course.

__________________
'And there I was oil on my goggles from a broken pipe,then I looked at the altimeter,all I could see was the makers name !'
www.wonwinglo.scale-models.net/

new to trains

ok here are some pictures to try and explain some of the above !!

the first images show the half design and profiles for albert einstein- see the internal framework and the actual profile.....this modelat this stage.... is a protoype and is not a fully bonded dispaly model...so modifications can easily be made....



once we are happy with the final outcome we build the final display model, this is done in the correct colours and also the dispaly model has each brick cemented in place to form a fully bonded display model....

here he is completed !



here are some others built in a similar manner, but look closely at the bricks used in the builds, pavarotti is in a basic brick style, quite stepped in appearence and blocky, but realistic all the same !, queen victoria uses both brick and thinnner plates in the construction ,so details are starting to become more refined........
queen elizabeth uses sloped bricks in construction, - very limiting in many ways but it highlights a different method of build.... and finally the highly detailed and multi layered build of winston churchill, the higher number of steps and smaller dimensions of bricks lead to a more realistic build, and better defined features, its a more time consuming and expensive method of build but the improved results are clear to see ....... construction time for this is around 40 hours from design to completion.

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just gotta keep building !