Subject:
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Re: How to use Lego bricks...
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Fri, 18 Oct 2002 15:22:23 GMT
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Reply-To:
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Adrian Egli <adr.egli@worldnet*stopspammers*.att.net>
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Viewed:
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1793 times
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"Kerry Raymond" <kerry@dstc.edu.au> wrote in message
news:H43rIu.AvC@lugnet.com...
>
> Well, having learnt this as a kid in the 60s, I now find myself as an • adult
> having to un-learn it.
>
> Being thoroughly trained in the overlapping brick technique, I build large
> (1000+ piece) structures in the overlapping style out of habit. Then I • decide
> "oooh, maybe I'd like a bigger window" or something in the middle of the
> structure, or I finally get the parts I was waiting on from a bricklink • seller
> and need to incorporate them. So then I find myself unpulling almost the • entire
> structure (thanks to the overlapping) to get to the section I need to • change
> and then rebuilding the whole thing again. Then I decide to change • something
> else and the whole process repeats. All very inefficient.
>
> Given that my training in IT teaches me the benefits of modularisation and
> loose coupling etc, it is strange that it has taken me so long to realise • that
> I can modify a Lego structure much more easily if I don't do as much
> overlapping in the first place. Given that a large structure is rarely • built
> right the first time (and rarely do you have exactly the right parts to • being
> with), inevitably any large structure will be modified many times.
Ya know, I kinda went through that same thing last summer when I built that
behemoth Study 5 of the bridges,
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=232218 (hey, I only used
6000 2x4's); life's little annoyance of having to order stuff and then
ripping apart the model when you get them (All those 1x1's were a royal
pain!) The trick is knowing where it's worth to do the overlapping
> So therefore I now try to NOT build long overlapping walls. Instead I • built
> wall segments (which are overlapped internally) but are not connected • directly
> to adjacent wall segments. Instead I rely on the floor/roof to sandwich • the
> wall segments together. If I know I have used the wrong parts (pending a
> bricklink order), then I do sometimes resort to just stacking bricks on • top of
> one another as I know I am going to have to modify this section when the • order
> arrives, and removing stacked bricks to get to the problem area is a cinch • in
> comparison to removing overlapped bricks. The aim is always to build • sections
> and then use overlapping to connect the sections, but not overlap at the • level
> of every brick.
Agree, with walls, it can be much of a pain. Esp. if you KNOW you're doing
a zone that's going to be subject to some degree of change (could be a
little, could be a lot) and one hasn't quite reached the "Final answer?
Yes, final answer." stage.
> Of course, building by this technique is not as structurally rigid as the • fully
> overlapped technique, but it is still fairly rigid (e.g. can survive • transport
> as a built model), so I theorise that the fully overlapped approach is in • fact
> over-engineering in many circumstances.
>
> One area were overlapping is more important is building roofs or other • large
> sloping structures, as the downward forces are not evenly distributed over • the
> whole brick as they are in a wall. So I was initially unable to apply the
> modular approach to roofs etc. However, thanks to observing Dan Siskind's
> guarded church, I have learnt that the trick to building a large roof in
> sections is to reinforce each section with inverse slopes on the • underside. Of
> course this uses a large amount of inverse slopes, so the poor man's • solution
> is just to reinforce parts of each section, particularly the section ends.
Well, I'd like to add overlapping when building columns isn't much of an
overkill, esp. large ones. Those that I've built for bridges I can
transport much the same as a wide tube. Generally, I don't put in cross
beams within but prefer to just keep it hollow; it's a good, well thought,
overlap that'll do it. I've found if you use a clear, managable pattern,
you can easily calculate the exact number of bricks needed to whatever
height you're aiming (makes those LD and BrickLink orders easier).
One more area where you DEFINITELY want to some serious overlapping are
curved or arching structures. One thing I told myself when I built Study 5
was to avoid the use of plates w/ the exception of the edge railing on top.
By that, if I had used plates in the arch, I would have violated the prime
directive. I'd say much of the overlapping there came out a winner.
> Of course, the other practical benefit to modularisation is that if there • are a
> number of identical modules, then it makes life simpler if you are using • LDRAW
> (or similar) and/or producing instructions.
>
> So for big structures, DON'T automatically overlap!
>
> Kerry
Yea, just think before you do!
Adrian Egli
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: How to use Lego bricks...
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| (...) Well, having learnt this as a kid in the 60s, I now find myself as an adult having to un-learn it. Being thoroughly trained in the overlapping brick technique, I build large (1000+ piece) structures in the overlapping style out of habit. Then (...) (24 years ago, 17-Oct-02, to lugnet.general)
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