What’s the brick with the smallest angle? If you know your LEGO, you would say the 2×4 Slope Brick w/ 18° angle. Then you might add that it’s pretty hard to build a smaller angle than that, without using clip & bar pieces, and a bunch of other parts to stabilize it. What if you found a simple, stable way to make a 12° angle? Well, you just did! Here’s how…

Introduction

Pins and holes are one of the most versatile brick combinations. They are the basis of any Technic build. Take a 1×4 Brick w/ Pin Holes. Stick a pin in one of the end holes, and put a 1×2 Brick w/ Pin Hole on the pin. As you can now see, the 1×2 has 360° capabilities. We’re going to use this versatility to our advantage, to make our 12° angle.

Construction

Take the brick off. 1) Place a 1×4 plate on top of the 1×2 brick, like this:

2) Then, put a 1×2 plate under the 1×4 plate, like this:

3) Finally, put another 1×2 brick next to the first, on the underside of the plates. Now, you should have a pair of 1×2 bricks with pin holes, offset by 1/3 brick height. 4) Put a pin in each.

5) Grab the 1×4 brick you just tossed aside, and put it on the 2 pins. It fits perfectly, doesn’t it?

Now you have your 12° angle. Here’s how it looks with a 18° slope brick, just as a comparison.

Application

So what now? You can use this trick for a lot of things. For example, I used it on a ship. Notice the angled wings; that’s our little trick at work. Imagine how many possibilities this has!

Building Technique by Brickster_Tim