Building Styles
‘What style of build?’ might not be a question you’d thought about, but there are a number of ways to approach a LEGO build.
The style of build can be closely connected to the colour scheme as well. Not all LEGO pieces are available in all colours, and although custom colours are available - they can dramatically increase the price. So it’s recommended that this page is read in conjunction with the colours page and also '‘LEGO-like’ or ‘Life-like?’.
Take a look at the two trains to the right. They both look great, but they use very different techniques. They are also very different sizes - with one almost 10 times the size of the other!
Which build style will work best for you depends on a number of factors include size and colour, so I’ve attempted to bring those together here. Remember that every project is different so what works for you will be unique to your project.
Olton Hall (better known as the Hogwarts Express), built ‘Studs up’
Flying Scotsman, a ‘Detailed’ build
‘Studs Up’
We’ll start with some brick terminology. There are a number of names for the part of a brick that sticks up and connects to the brick above. In the fan community, it’s generally called a ‘stud’. So, ‘Studs up’ means a way of building where all the studs point upwards. Think of this as your traditional LEGO building style. There are 2 variants of this approach - either built in bricks, or in plates which are 1/3 the height. The plate approach obviously provides for a much better resolution of model.
There are some distinct advantages of the ‘studs up’ approach. Firstly, the builds are very solid. This is why you see this style from the LEGO company and LEGOLand. Any model that is designed for visitor interaction (ie, being picked up) work very well ‘studs up’. Secondly, this build approach very obviously screams ‘LEGO!’ at your customers or visitors. So it can work really well if you want to lean into this approach.
The third benefit of a studs up approach is that it can be built with a very small number of different elements. This means that it’s feasible to look at using custom colours. As there is a high minimum order to have bricks made in a custom colour, it’s far less feasible to use any other method (which would require many, many types of elements).
Studs up builds. The ‘50’ and Anime figure are built at a brick resolution. The turtle and bow of the ship are in a plate resolution.
‘Studs out’
The ‘Studs out’ approach is a variant of the studs up approach. It still provides the LEGO look and feel, but uses a clever technique to increase the visible resolution of the build. This takes advantage of the fact that plates are 1/3 the height of a brick and 2/5 the width. So, turning plates on their side can increase the horizontal resolution.
A ‘Studs out’ approach in the mid-ground between a detailed build and a studs up build. Because of the nature of the build, more different parts are required. The models still retain that ‘LEGO’ feel though. It is possible to create a variant of this technique, which is ‘studs out’, but using tiles instead (the elements with a smooth surface). This works in certain circumstances, but it does loose the LEGO feel - so is only best used in a pure brick model exhibition.
‘Studs out’ builds. The steampunk submarine and monument valley model use tiles instead of plates, hence the studs can’t be seen.
Detailed builds
The style that we’re best known for are our detailed builds. These are often at ‘minifigure scale’, which means that they can be displayed with LEGO minigures and they look correct.
Detailed builds use all of the LEGO elements that are available, in order to add as much detail as possible. This makes for the most detailed model within a certain size. However, it also places certain restraints on the build. These builds actually look the least like a build from LEGO. So much so, that some people think the models aren’t LEGO - or use special pieces (which we almost never do). Because they use a large variety of different types of piece (likely hundreds), we also tend to only use pieces from one brand. This makes the colours consistent throughout. This can mean that certain models can only be build in certain colours. The Flying Scotsman below, for instance, could have been represented in Green, Bright green or Dark green. But the parts required do not exist in Bright green - so that was never an option.
Detailed builds of varying styles. These also range in size from 20cm to over 3 meters.
