This project came to life as a center piece for my girlfriend’s son’s fifth birthday party. Like so many children, he loves LEGO and wanted to have a LEGO party. I am a huge fan of LEGO and have always wanted to build an over-size LEGO Minifigure figure. This was my opportunity to fulfill that desire.
Planning
I found the LEGO Minifigure patent on Google that included all of the dimensions for the figure in millimeters.
I decided to make the figure two feet tall, so I needed to calculate the large figure dimensions. A LEGO Minifigure is 4 centimeters tall, without hair, hat or what-not, and since there are 60.96 centimeters in 2 feet (1 inch = 2.96 cm), I divided 60.96 by 4 to get 15.24, this is my multiplier for the small figure dimensions.
60.96 / 4 = 15.24
I realized that, because I am building this in my apartment, the head was going to be the hardest part to make. Searching Amazon, I found a LEGO storage container in the shape of a LEGO Minifigure head. The small storage LEGO storage head. The storage head dimensions are 19.56 x 6.3 centimeters which is very close to the 17.33 x 15.54 centimeter dimensions of the calculated figure head. The difference is only a factor of 1.7 so it should be pretty unnoticeable.
I printed outline images of the front and side views of a LEGO Minifigure, that included the actual size dimensions, then added the target large size dimensions.
From that I drew up blueprints for each part of the figure on graph paper.
To verify my dimensions, I built a mockup out of foam core. Foam core is 1/4 inch thick so it was perfect to verify not only the blueprint dimensions, but to determine the cutting pattern of the final material.
For the materials, I chose:
- Torso: 1/4 inch MDF and PVC couplers (to mount the arms)
- Arms: 1/8 inch MDF, PVC pipe, florist foam and Smooth Cast 65D Liquid Plastic Casting Resin
- Hips: 1/4 inch MDF and ABS pipe
- Legs: 1/4 inch MDF and ABS pipe
Misc. Materials
- Bondo: Car body repair filler
- 5-minute epoxy
- Wood glue
- Primer
- Paint
The storage head that I purchased is made out of polypropylene. Not a material that I have worked with before, but still not difficult.
Construction
After a trip to Home Depot, I transferred the dimension from the blueprints to the MDF. I made the cutting pattern as close together as possible, adjusting certain parts to account for the thickness of the MDF. On the body, the front and back use the actual dimensions where for the sides I subtracted 1/2 inch (1/4 for each end) where necessary.
I used a small table saw and band saw to cut the MDF for the legs and torso.
Assembly of the torso was really straight forward. I glued all of the MDF torso parts together with wood glue, then I drilled holes for the PVC connector for 1/2 inch PVC pipe.
The PVC connector needed a little work first. I grabbed my Dremel and smoothed out the opening then wet sanded it to reduce friction, but not too much since the arms need to be posable.
At this time, I also worked on the 1/2 inch PVC pipe that would join the arms to the torso. On these, I used fine grit sand paper on the ends to round them a bit while smoothing out the butts. I followed that with 0000 steel wool to give it a nice shine.
The connector were then carefully glued into the torso with epoxy. Once the epoxy cured, I took a poser sander and leveled the coupler with the MDF then filled any gaps with Bondo.
Speaking of Bondo, this is a difficult thing to work with in an apartment. The filler is toxic in it’s putty form so proper ventilation and respiratory protection is a very high priority. If you have a balcony, patio, or any outdoor area that you can work in, use it. This stuff will make you apartment smell horrible for days if you use it indoors. The vapor that comes off of the filler will get everywhere so take it outside. By the way, this applies to epoxy too.
The legs were difficult to assemble mostly due to the curved top portion. I bought two ABS pipe connector for four inch pipe and about a foot of four inch ABS pipe. The pipe was for the legs, while the connector were for the hips. This ensured that the legs would fit perfectly in the hips.
I glued the MDF parts of the legs together with wood glue then cut the ABS pipe to so that they fit in the legs. The pipe was glued in place with epoxy. Once the epoxy cured, I sanded and filled the gaps.
The hips we pretty easy, just ensuring that the ABS coupler were aligned properly took time. Again, wood glue and epoxy here. I glued the ABS connector whole, no precutting, so that I would not have to worry about making the cuts twice. I just put the entire hip assembly on the table saw and cut off the excess connector. Worked perfectly. I also added a strip of MDF to cover the gaps and give me a better surface to sand down.
If you look at the hip photo you will see a disk that I cut out of MDF. The original idea was to allow the legs to move independently, however, this proved to be difficult since the torso and arms would make the upper body too heavy. It was decided that the legs should be attached directly to the torso for stability.
The arms provided a challenge that I was actually thrilled to take on. LEGO Minifigure arms have a flat side, I used 1/8 inch MDF to make the flat side base plate. With this one I did a lot of guessing when drawing out the cut pattern and just hoped for the best. I used my jigsaw to cut out both arms are the same time then cleaned them up on my belt sander.
The wrists are 1/2 inch PVC pipe reducer and ABS pipe, the hands will be made out of PVC pipe and 2 1/2 inch reducer. I had to get two different size ABS pipes so that I could keep the right diameter for the arm while proving a nice hole to inset the pipe coupler. I had to sand down one side of the ABS pipe so that it matched the MDF base plate then cut the forearm at an angle to help make a smooth transition from the ABS to the florist foam. I used pipe glue to secure the two pipes and the reducer then attached the assembly to the base plate with epoxy.
The main shape was made using florist foam. Florist foam is a great material to work with when you need to make rounded shapes. It is easy to shape with a rasp and sandpaper. The problem with it is that it does not glue very well because it has a week cell structure. It crumbles very easily. I used A LOT of wood glue to attach the foam to the base plates so that it would really work it’s way into the foam. Once the glue dried, I worked the foam until it looked like a Minifigure arm and filled in any gaps with Bondo.
I wanted the arms to have a plastic coating over them so I chose to cover them with Smooth Cast 65D Liquid Plastic Casting Resin. The resin is usually poured into a mold but I thought that it would make a great coating. The work time for this resin is very short, only a few minutes, so I had to work fast. I used a chip brush to apply the resin. I gave the arms two coats to give it a nice thick shell. I waited a day before I finished the arms with a light sanding, then primer and paint.
I also used the Smooth Cast 65D Liquid Plastic Casting Resin to make the neck for the figure. I mixed up a batch of resin, then poured it into the neck hole of the head that I purchased. It worked perfectly and even has the LEGO name on it for a nice touch.