find a brick from description only

[Dr Badger]

Dear all, I'm new to lego design, starting from zero basically. I have an ambitious plan to make a large building I used to know. But I have quickly realised the hard part will be finding the parts, without the part number, but only from my description. I have already tried to find plants under signs, but can't find them there or anywhere, using LDD.

What is the best tool to use for this? Is one programme or website better than others at this? Browsing through the LDD palette looks like it will take ages. I can think of pieces for such obscure purposes that I couldn't possibly name them!

yours Robin

[SylvainLS]

Short answer: you need to browse and get acquainted with the available parts and their categories.  There’s no map, there’s no shortcut.

LEGO’s names aren’t consistent, and often don’t describe anything (“Animal NO. 2 - 2013” is a wolf mask for a minifigure head).  Some categories (like the “sign post” (24th icon)) would answer better to names like “miscellany” or “others.”  And one can’t even search for simple words like “plant”: too many results that are not plants, too many plants that are not named as such.

If you want more consistency, you need to look at other catalogues, like BrickLink’s (more complete) or Rebrickable’s (which has a slightly better categorisation and references LEGO’s names).  But you’ll still have to learn what kinds of part exist, and how they are named and organised in each catalogue.  For instance, you need to learn that “bars” are “bars” (not flexible) or “hoses” (flexible), not “shafts,” not “poles,” not “sticks,” not “axles,” but also that “axles” are cross-sectionned Technic bars.  You need to learn what a “L” or “M” is (the distance between the centres of two studs), what’s a “slope,” a “wedge” (not a shoe)… and so on and so on.

You need to learn colour names, LEGO’s and BrickLink’s.  You need to learn about IDs (“numbers”) to cross-reference the catalogues.  And you need to learn the shortcomings of every catalogue and of every tool (and LDD has many).

[Dr Badger]

Sylvain thanks for your swift reply. It makes a lot of sense. What if I were to browse completed models that architecturally are like mine, either in LDD or other programmes or websites, like Bricklink's or Rebrickable? Could I then see a part I like, find out the ID, and then search for that in LDD?

[SylvainLS]

Yes, that works.  You can also look at official sets’ inventories.

Here’s an explanation of IDs I wrote yesterday on the BrickLink forum.

[MAB]

I find that bricklink's naming scheme is somewhat consistent if you learn the basics. So if you know a part is a 2x3 part just typing that will help filter to a more manageable list. But you still need to learn the language, as well as when a 2x3 is different to a 3x2, for example (a 2x3 slope is different to a 3x2 slope, and so on).

[Dr Badger]

Sylvan and Mab, thanks for your advice. I just know this is going to be frustrating at times, but really rewarding,I hope! I'll share my success here.

Robin

[Dr Badger]

Hi guys, I thought I might make a model of my house (attached) to start with. And the first stumbling block I met was the windows. I searched parts on both bricklink and rebrickable and couldn't find the exact window frames. I also searched house in parts, but no dice. Am I expecting too much? 

Yours Robin

 

[Stephan]

Hi, I suggest you first open each category to see which parts are available. The more you use it, the easier it gets. Try searching by keyword less, and  more by designID or alias ID.

[SylvainLS]

You won’t find windows exactly like that.  It’s LEGO, you need to be creative¹, and also a bit more tolerant, less “perfect” and more “good enough.”

¹ Look out for SNOT (Studs Not On Top) techniques.

[Dr Badger]

Sylvian, I'm very happy with less perfection. Those windows were a kind of tolerance test, if you kn..ow what I mean. On megabricks I found a very good window. I''ll show you but my pc is playing up. I read your guide on IDs, and tested the digits in various progs and sites. Good practice. Studs not on top makes sense from when I was a kid. I'm slowly getting there, comparing two different progs really helps. basically megabricks and LDD.