LEGO Batman and Robin Sculptures

I really love these two LEGO models. The first time I saw them was at the San Diego Comic Con and then again at the LEGO Batman Video Game Launch Party in New York. I did not build them, but I am really impressed by them. Although it may not seem like it by just looking, these two models had to have been difficult to build. Its easy enough to design a LEGO Minifigure that is posed like real Minifigs can move, its pretty straight forward actually.

As you can see in the above picture from the new SeaLife, the LEGO Friends (that’s the official name by the way) are pretty much straight up building. Each “movable” section is actually individual models that are built onto a steel frame that can be posed.

I actually designed and built several of these LEGO Friends at my time in the Model Shop at LEGOLAND California. Most notably were several of the Driving School Minifig models including the “Fancy Lady” (Her official name) with the white hat and pet poodle and the Pilot that ran out of gas.

Fun Fact: There is a Minifig in Driving School that is holding the newspaper. The date on the paper is the one when they officially renamed it Volvo Driving School and the “writers” of the articles on the paper are the two Graphic Artists that worked there at the time and who made the newpaper.

Any how, back to where I was.

No, what makes the Batman and Robin Minifigs different is the fact that they are made to look like the LEGO figures in the Video Game. The game figures are able to move more like a normal person, so to be able to fully capture this “movement” is the really tricky thing. Its also really difficult to make any sort of pattern such as Robin’s belt when it is not on a flat surface. I had to make the Flute Playing Pirate in the Pirate Shores area with a checkered patch on the back of his pants, trust me, its hard.

Now I don’t doubt that they were partially designed using LEGO’s Brickbuilder program, its a computer program that helps design 3D sculptures by first creating them in a program like 3DSMax and then transferring them over. The program basically makes a virtual model as many bricks high as you tell it to. But its not straight out instructions on how to build a model. Its more like a rough sketch of what the model will turn out to look like, an outline if you will. There are still curves that have to be fixed virtually on the model and you still have to design the steel frame that will go inside as well as a lot of other details that I won’t go into at this time.

But even with the program, there still was a true Master Model Designer behind it and who ever that was, I commend their skills! 😉

P.S. I’m going to do some checking and see if I can find out exactly who designed it. If I find out I’ll let you know (actually I have a pretty good idea who designed it already, but I don’t want to say until I know for sure).

Tags: Batman, Comic Con, Driving School, LEGO, LEGOLAND, Master Model Builder, Minifigure, Model Shop, New York, Robin, San Diego, Sealife, Video Game