My Process
Overall, creating this 4×2 Lego brick was moderately simple. Being a beginner with Fusion, I obviously ran into some issues. However, these challenges were solved by either just playing around with different tools in the workspace or watching one of the many extremely helpful videos that other users have published on YouTube. Either way, my problems were solved fairly quickly. The biggest challenge I ran into was creating the underside of the lego brick. I played around with different tools for about 30 minutes with no success before I headed over to YouTube to sort out my troubles. The video I watched first recommended using the shell tool to hollow out the bottom of the brick while leaving a thin border along all four sides. Then, it prompted me to use the line sketch construction tool to find the midpoints for one circle followed by the circle sketch tool. Next, the video told me to utilize the extrude tool to create the border of one cylinder. Finally, I applied some of my own knowledge and used the rectangular pattern tool to create two additional, symmetrical hollow cylinders.
I was really eager to throw a “LEGO” logo on the side of the brick, but unfortunately I was unable to find a quick, trackpad friendly tutorial. Although normal Lego bricks do not feature the brand logo on them, I felt like this would have added an additional layer to this project which would have taken it up a level.
Humanistic Uses of 3D Modeling
While not one of my main interests, I have been developing a growing curiosity about world history. 3D modeling can be used to reconstruct culturally significant historical spaces such as ancient ruins or destroyed buildings. Being able to study intricate parts of these reconstructions gives researchers a whole new perspective, allowing them to gain information on these historical sites that was not possible before.
Tips
The most useful tool I learned how to use during this project was the rectangular pattern tool. This tool is especially useful when creating many duplicates of a certain object. It essentially acts as a copy and paste tool, but you are able to paste as many objects as you would like at once and fit the spacing to your needs.
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This is a great work and I appreciate all of the details you included in your design. It’s really cool that you persevered through the challenges of working on the underside of the brick as it really adds to the final product and makes what could have been a simple design more interesting. I also wonder how 3D models like this could be used to create digital, interactive LEGO builds that could increase access to these creative tools or be specifically educationally tailored to encourage audience participation.