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#2440 BEGINNER SERIES: Lesson 6 - Circles & Spheres

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In today’s lesson plan, Professor Tipsen will teach you the basics of adding near-perfect circles and spheres to your list of LEGO skills!


Number 2440 BEGINNER SERIES: Lesson 6 - Circles & Spheres. In today’s lesson plan, Professor Tipsen will teach you the basics of adding near-perfect circles and spheres to your rolodex of LEGO skills! Use this series as a resource if you are new to building, or if you want to refresh your skills and knowledge!

2D Circles with Plates and Tiles. It’s difficult to create round shapes in LEGO. The easiest way to build a 2D circle is to use round plates or tiles! There are also 3x3 and 6x6 corner plate pieces that are more squared off to create a boxy circle.

Hinging a Circle. 28 pairs of overlapping hinge plates form a perfect 20x20 stud circle. Layers of alternating 1x2 bricks with 1x1 round bricks can bend to form circles of varying sizes. These make great bases if you want to build a tower for a castle!

Thick 2D Circles. If you want a thicker 2D circle, try using this SNOT technique! 1x1 bricks with stud on side can attach to curved slopes to build on 4 sides. You can make a 7x7 or a 42⁄3 x 42⁄3 brick circle using this technique.

2D Circle to Sphere. ​​Turn the 4 2⁄3 x 4 2⁄3 flat circle into a sphere with more SNOT bricks and the 3x3 Round Corner Brick! You can also forgo the Round Corners and use the circle with SNOT bricks as a round base.

Lowell Sphere by @bruceywan. This technique involves 1x1 SNOT bricks with studs on 4 sides that angle the plates sideways. Specific part placement with plates and jumper plates gradually builds up a sphere. Here, no rounded pieces are used to round out the sphere, but the result is reasonably smooth due to jumper plates that allow for transitions that are not so steep. This technique by Bruce Lowell has become so famous that it has been named the “Lowell Sphere.”

Lowell Sphere examples. This technique can be adapted to fulfil other shapes that are not just spheres. Practically anything that needs to be rounded can be achieved with the Lowell Sphere! @swandutchman builds Kirby, and @bruceywan makes an M&M and Yoshi’s nose. Also try tiling off the Lowell Sphere for a completely smooth surface.

Small Sphere. This sphere by @uma8x8 has only 13 pieces and is perfectly smooth and round! A retired part 33291, Round 1x1 Flower with 4 Petals, slots into part 2654, commonly known as a Boat Stud. This creates a super tight stud reversal! That’s all for today’s lesson. Stay tuned for Lesson 7, all about using Clips, Bars, and Rails!

7x7 Circle via @bradyjoynerbricks on Slide 4

Lowell Sphere by @bruceywan on Slide 6

Lowell Sphere inspired MOCs by @bruceywan and @swandutchman on Slide 7

Small Sphere by @uma8x8 on Slide 8

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