Vee Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 A question that has been bugging me. It is about the bricks with masonry profile. Usually when we build anything, it is wise to "cross" bricks, I mean, you don't lay bricks on top of others that are the same size, in the exact same position. I don't know the English word for this so I am calling it "crossing". Even with bricks of different sizes, you avoid that a brick on top of another brick have any of its ends ending on top of the end of the brick below. That will ensure you have an overall strong connection for whatever you are building. But then comes the masonry profiled bricks. They are always 1x2 so there are only two ways to lay one atop the other: either crossing them or not. If you cross them, that is the ideal thing to do, the pattern of the profile is wrong. If you lay one atop the other without crossing, that is the wrong thing to do, the pattern created by them is just perfect. So, what am I supposed to do if I wanted to build a big wall only with these bricks? Quote
Louie le Brickvalier Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 (edited) - Edited October 19, 2017 by Louie le Brickvalier Quote
jodawill Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 I've never noticed that before. Now it's going to stick out to me every time I see it. This year, they're releasing a 1x4 masonry brick. That will solve your problem, but I'm willing to bet they'll be very expensive on Bricklink for a long time. I wish TLG would just put those masonry bricks on the Pick-a-Brick walls. There's no reason for them to be so rare and expensive (although they have gotten a bit more common over time). It's one of the most awesome pieces ever, and it's one of those things everyone wishes they had thousands of. Quote
elleana Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 Also you would expect these to be available in reddish brown or some brick-ish color. I get that the greys are used in castles, but medium flesh?? Quote
Fikko3107 Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 How about if you lay a long 1xX plate, build a non-crossing Masonry Bricks wall and lock them in with another 1xX plate? Quote
antp Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 (edited) cross = offset maybe? If I translate the French term that I know for that ("en quinconce") to English I get "in staggered rows" Edited January 13, 2014 by antp Quote
Vee Posted January 13, 2014 Author Posted January 13, 2014 ... this castle based on the Age of Empires game ... can provide some good inspiration ... Thanks but the pics are too small for me to figure out any new technique. I've never noticed that before. Now it's going to stick out to me every time I see it. This year, they're releasing a 1x4 masonry brick. That will solve your problem, but I'm willing to bet they'll be very expensive on Bricklink for a long time. I wish TLG would just put those masonry bricks on the Pick-a-Brick walls. There's no reason for them to be so rare and expensive (although they have gotten a bit more common over time). It's one of the most awesome pieces ever, and it's one of those things everyone wishes they had thousands of. Sorry for spoiling your fun. . Masonry profiled 1x4?! THAT would really solve the problem! Another of my conspiracy theories is that TLG has a secret agreement with Bricklink sellers to never make the rare pieces (that are a lot) not rare so they can always be certain they will not lose money by investing in Lego sets to be parted out. Also you would expect these to be available in reddish brown or some brick-ish color. I get that the greys are used in castles, but medium flesh?? I like medium flesh... cross = offset maybe? Agreed, Offset is a much better word. To offset or not to offset, that is the question for the masonry bricks. How about if you lay a long 1xX plate, build a non-crossing Masonry Bricks wall and lock them in with another 1xX plate? That's one way but still not the ideal. What I have noticed is that Lego uses them very sparingly, just a few here, a few there, like "ornaments" of a wall, certainly to avoid the offset conundrum. Quote
62Bricks Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 (edited) A question that has been bugging me. It is about the bricks with masonry profile. Usually when we build anything, it is wise to "cross" bricks, I mean, you don't lay bricks on top of others that are the same size, in the exact same position. I don't know the English word for this so I am calling it "crossing". Even with bricks of different sizes, you avoid that a brick on top of another brick have any of its ends ending on top of the end of the brick below. That will ensure you have an overall strong connection for whatever you are building. But then comes the masonry profiled bricks. They are always 1x2 so there are only two ways to lay one atop the other: either crossing them or not. If you cross them, that is the ideal thing to do, the pattern of the profile is wrong. If you lay one atop the other without crossing, that is the wrong thing to do, the pattern created by them is just perfect. So, what am I supposed to do if I wanted to build a big wall only with these bricks? I also noticed this problem. If you think about it, it would be a difficult puzzle to design a profile pattern that created the correct offset masonry pattern when the 1x2 bricks were also connected in the correct offset masonry style. It would either require two versions of the brick, or each brick would have to have an odd number of patterned masonry rows. If they imprinted three rows on brick on each 1x2 instead of two, it would work for example. One partial solution is to use the same technique actual bricklayers use and change the pattern from time to time to break up the visual monotony of the offset pattern. You could do this by flipping the masonry brick around to the other side and offsetting them. Still not ideal as far as strength, but does increase it over building long columns of 1x2s. Edited January 13, 2014 by 62Bricks Quote
Vee Posted January 13, 2014 Author Posted January 13, 2014 . One partial solution is to use the same technique actual bricklayers use and change the pattern from time to time to break up the visual monotony of the offset pattern. You could do this by flipping the masonry brick around to the other side and offsetting them. Still not ideal as far as strength, but does increase it over building long columns of 1x2s. This is beautiful, I like your idea. The 1x4 masonry profile brick that jodawill mentions as a future release would solve the problem. We would use an offset of two studs between layers. But then there will be the cost... Quote
dr_spock Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 I sandwiched mine between some plates and tiles. Vampire Rec Room by dr_spock_888, on Flickr The 1x2 masonry bricks are/were available at my local Lego store PAB wall. They were bley in color. Quote
62Bricks Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 The 1x4 masonry profile brick that jodawill mentions as a future release would solve the problem. We would use an offset of two studs between layers. But then there will be the cost... Yes, that brick will be useful. I was lucky to buy a 12-pound lot of bricks on ebay that had many parts from a Winter Village set, including 40 of these masonry bricks. Quote
Ritsz Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 When they opened the new Lego store in Wijnegem Sopping center (Belgium). They had those masonry bricks in the PaB-wall. I didn't needed them myself, but there were lots of people filling their cups with those. One guy I can remember had like 20 cups filled with those. Other people bought whole boxes. I think they had plenty boxes in the stock room. If I knew they are so wanted I would definitely have bought a few cups of them. What I'm trying to say is that if you are a bit lucky you'll find them in the walls Quote
Junpei Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 The 1x2 masonry bricks are/were available at my local Lego store PAB wall. They were bley in color. You lucky son of a megablock. I would buy 10 cups of them if I could ever find them at PaB... Quote
Hrw-Amen Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 Finding them in a PAB wall would be wonderful, but the need to buy many cups or a whole case wouldm prove expensive. I have also come up against this problem and have ended up using them just a few columns of them then sandwiched between different bricks or plates. I think a 1 X 4 will help, but what would be really useful would be a 1X1 version for the ends of overlapped walls etc. I like the one from 62Bricks though, that does look good, but still we need a 1X1 at the ends, at the moment we just have to use a plain one. The same problem occurs when building the wooden type walls such as in western forts or buildings. There we can get around it sort of with 1X1 round bricks, but it is not the same really. Quote
dr_spock Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 You could ask the store manager if you can buy a box of them instead of trying to fill so many cups. Quote
Lego Otaku Posted January 14, 2014 Posted January 14, 2014 sorry about OCD attack but one glaring irregularity got on me: Quote
dr_spock Posted January 14, 2014 Posted January 14, 2014 sorry about OCD attack but one glaring irregularity got on me: Megabloks. How did I miss that one? Blame it on the bi-focals. Quote
eurotrash Posted January 14, 2014 Posted January 14, 2014 Cross? Offset? How about over-lapping? Quote
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