Building Tanks with Lego Bricks

Description

In this course, we're plussing (+ing, amping up, enhancing) our Lego brick built tank models.  Designing our creations to precise measurements, to be historically accurate and sized to minifig scale.  After a brief introduction and review of what we learned in the course "Building from Blueprints with Lego Bricks:  Vehicle Edition" (we will again be using our printed blueprint as a template during the building process) we'll discuss the anatomy of the tank.  Defining all the most important parts of a tank, for example:  the Main Gun, the Turret, Glacis, Hull, Armored Skirts, etc.  We will then discuss design and building strategies for each important part of the tank (each part becomes a sub-model of the entire build).   After we source and resize our blueprint image, we'll use it as a useful building template.  The course will also include a discussion about key building parts and how to source them including Bricklink wanted lists.  And after a brief summary, we will include a how to build and attach a custom oil drum tutorial and a complete set of step-by-step instructions and parts list for the WW2 British Comet A34 Medium Tank (including more Bricklink wanted lists).  By the end of the course the viewer will have gained perspective, enhanced building and parts knowledge (specifically for the building of tanks), many useful techniques and have a better understanding of how to design and build the important parts of a military tank tracked vehicle.  And by including a full set of instructions along with a discussion of how to build the Comet tank, the viewer will gain understanding of how the key parts of a tank integrate together (form of a tank!).

• Introduction to building tanks with Lego bricks

• Blueprint template review and preparing to build different parts of the tank

  • Sub-models, silhouette and one stud connections

  • The anatomy of a tank

• Designing and building the hull bottom, selecting wheels, wheel spacing, bouncy suspension and attaching the tracks

  • Basic vs. FWSS (floating wheel support system) and CPSM (chassis parts stacking method)

  • Choosing the right track link

• Designing and building the armored skirts, glacis, upper hull, fender flares

  • A discussion about how reactive armor works

  • Why angled armor?

• Designing and building the turret and the main gun

  • Adding an external turret control

  • The parts of the main gun:  the barrel support, mantlet and barrel

  • Adding an external barrel control

  • The bore evacuator/fume extractor

• The building process & course review + sourcing parts

  • Find wanted lists here!

• Tiny Tutorials:  Building Tiny Tanks - Building a Custom Oil Drum

• Building the Comet - A five (5) part discussion

• Uploading and Using Bricklink Wanted Lists Tutorial

What You Will Learn!

• Building strategies for how to design the hull, the glacis and armored skirts, how to determine the layout of the wheels and how to apply tracks to your build.
• How to design and attach the turret including the main gun, mantlet, side armor, rear assembly and hatches etc.
• How to use technic gears and axles to add external controls to rotate the turret and elevate and depress the barrel/main gun.
• How to determine the layout of the wheels, add the correct track size track, add a bouncy suspension to your tank and source parts.
• Learn about key parts of the tank - The difference between Tanks and SPG’s - The effective use & importance of easy to remove sub-models and angled armor.

Who Should Attend!

• Custom Model Beginners are welcome! Builders of every skill level will find the concepts, techniques and suggestions discussed in the class helpful and illuminating.
• The Lego model builder who likes to build their own custom models and wants to take their designs to the next level.
• The Lego modeler that wants to precisely build historically accurate real vehicles in minifig scale or 1:35, 1/35th scale - the information contained in this class can be used to model vehicles, planes, ships, buildings or any other model type no matter the size.
• The MOC or display builder that wants to build models all in the same proportion.

TAKE THIS COURSE