Building with 45 Degree Angles - Question

[Defaultsound]

So recently I've been working on a project which has 45 degree angles. Now little did I know that the beams parallel to one another wouldn't be inline with the studs. So I found that these two ways worked to get it back inline.

However I was wondering if anyone knew of better ways to align it or shed some light on building with angles (I found some information but it didn't prove useful) , since I can only seem to see that when building the shape I have with angle plates it creates odd alignment

Thanks

[Aanchir]

Well, I'm not an expert at building with odd angles, but some of the Modular Buildings that have 45-degree segments built onto the corners use some different techniques than just hinge plates. The Café Corner, for instance, uses turntables. This could possibly be more reliable than hinge plates because your main walls could be built with regular spacing, with the 45-degree segments attached in such a way that the corners of the main walls hold them in place.

If you want a connection with more friction than just a turntable, consider having 45-degree segments attached to the floor by a single stud. The Taj Mahal uses this technique. The only issue with this is that unlike with a turntable, which will give you a very sturdy connection, a single-stud attachment (whether using just a 1x1 plate with tiles around it or a 2x2 jumper plate) might require additional connections ABOVE your 45-degree sections to "lock" them into place.

The Palace Cinema's marquee is attached using clip-and-handle hinges, which is another technique that shouldn't be ignored. As with a turntable, it's easiest if your 45-degree segment only has to be attached to the main walls or floor via one point rather than two. This might be a part to consider using. Stack multiple clips of this sort and your connection can be very sturdy indeed!

Overall, hinge plates are not the most reliable way of angling walls unless you are working with Pythagorean triples, which don't yield perfect 45-degree angles.

I recommend watching this video, which discusses the use of turntables a little bit, and this one, which various angled wall techniques including the use of hinge plates, though it doesn't deal with 45-degree angles.

[Andy D]

I like your solution using 2 hinge pieces per corner. It looks very stable. This should be added to the resource on advanced building techniques. (google - lego advanced building techniques)

Andy D

Edited July 10, 2013 by Andy D

[Defaultsound]

Thanks for your input, I didn't think of the turn table (Will do in the future though) However in this case it seems that for my model I've decided to stick with what I've got. So far I've ended up doing something similar to the top which works best, since using the first way made it too high up.

As for this roof I'm working on, it seems that a jumper plate works and just hinging the angle at 45 degrees.

[Erik Leppen]

A 45 degree angle often includes the number sqrt(2) (square root of 2) which is approximately 1.41421 and is not close to a nice fraction (7/5 and 10/7 are best estimates) so when using these angles things often do not line up. I noticed immediately in your first drawing hat the diagonal 2-stud distance between the hinge-points of the produce a 1.414 stud offset in both directions. To circumvent this, "merge" the two hinges so they have the same point of rotation (meaning in this case, the two straight walls are simply connected, and the diagonal section is hinged from the exact corner). In any case, having the diagonal sections be separate from the rest, means the problem of things not aligning will concentrate on the diagonal sections and not "contaminate" the entire structure.

Either that, or prepare to do some math beforehand ;)

Or use tiles ;)

[caperberry]

Won't work for your project I imagine, but here's an interesting and robust way to start some 45 deg building. The 2X2 round brick with grilles can be set at 45 deg by placing the tube onto a stud.

It only works with the grille version of that brick. Seemed too neat to be coincidence, so I discussed it with a couple of TLG employees and after some head scratching they agreed it is probably a legal connection. But not one you'd ever see in official instructions as it is not the regularly understood method of connecting pieces.

Another thing I like about it is that you can also use it to set a vertical axle at 45 deg.

[Etzel]

Won't work for your project I imagine, but here's an interesting and robust way to start some 45 deg building. The 2X2 round brick with grilles can be set at 45 deg by placing the tube onto a stud.

That is a really interesteing technique that I hadn't seen before. Thanks for sharing with us, caperberry!

[62Bricks]

The 3x3 plate with a 45-degree corner cut out has an angled edge that is very close to 3 studs long, enabling you to make a sturdy, seamless 45-degree corner.

Here's the technique I came up with. It's fully interlocked and sturdy.

[62Bricks]

The 8x8 plate with a 45-degree corner has an angled edge that is very close to 10 studs long. A similar technique would let you build securely out from it at 45-degrees.

Here's another view:

[dhc6twinotter]

There's also this new part:

[TheOrcKing]

There's also this new part:

What the? Which set was that intriguing piece introduced with?

[splatman]

There's also this new part:

I just tried looking it up at LEGO Online PaB, and at Bricklink; no dice. What on Earth is this thing called?

[LEGO Historian]

Back in the 1980s TYCO made a few very interesting pieces that produces a slightly different angle than the 45 degrees needed for this usage.

These are 3 parts that would have been awesome had LEGO come out with these... they are a equilateral triangle with each side the width of a 2 stud brick. Also produced were these triangle bricks with a 1x2 attached to 1 and 2 sides of this part.... now granted these produce 60 degree angles, which would not work in a 45 degree world... but these parts would be so awesome for producing castle walls that go off at odd angles (baseplates are literally not useful with these), as well as castle towers and other structures that are 6 sided. A really cool group of parts that go very much against the 90 degree grid of LEGO elements...

Tyco also made some red and gray castle sets with these parts, that really were cool to build with.

Edited December 25, 2013 by LEGO Historian

[zux]

What the? Which set was that intriguing piece introduced with?

Here is some information on New elementary.

[62Bricks]

Not being very familiar with Modulex elements I had not seen these "turntables" before I happened upon a picture on eBay. They look useful:

[dhc6twinotter]

What the? Which set was that intriguing piece introduced with?

I just tried looking it up at LEGO Online PaB, and at Bricklink; no dice. What on Earth is this thing called?

Sorry, I should have included more info. The only name for the part I've seen is LEGO Plate A-Frame 45° (15706). There are two or three 2014 Ninjago sets that have the part, and I'm sure more to follow. BrickOwl has a few for sale: http://brickowl.com/catalog/lego-plate-a-frame-45-15706

[TheOrcKing]

Here is some information on New elementary.

Sorry, I should have included more info. The only name for the part I've seen is LEGO Plate A-Frame 45° (15706). There are two or three 2014 Ninjago sets that have the part, and I'm sure more to follow. BrickOwl has a few for sale: http://brickowl.com/...-frame-45-15706

Ah sweet, another brand new part added to the roster! I can hardly wait to see what combinations will stem from such a unique brick.

[Aaron]

Here's another way to do it.

[George0]

I tried 62Bricks's method using 3x3 wedge plates but found that it was too fragile to hold on to anything much at 45 degrees.  So I used another method I had used earlier, successfully:  I made my angles using plate hinges (BrickLink part no. 2429c01) .  These can be adjusted to any angle up to and including 180 degrees, have relatively high friction, and can be obtained in a variety of useful colors more easily than 3x3 wedge plates.  Their disadvantage is that they may be difficult to adjust to specific angles;  in my case, I made an octagon using 4 of the wedge plates and 62Bricks's idea, then fitted the octagon inside the one I had formed using the plate hinges (this works since the angled sides of the octagon are slightly less than the length of a 3-stud brick), to obtain the correct angles.

[AndrewH7]

I've what I wanted...but I don't what it! Brick with 45°, good, but it is not Lego, bad.

village church has 8-sided tower + steeple, so 45° corners, thinking 1:1 roof bricks on their side, but then stud on side/top, so 45° 1×1 + plate, but I've only a few of these. Then inverted, hole on side/bottom.

Tower brick creation website gives how to use almost right 5,5,7 triangle & others  to get 45°.