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Our Lego Organisation Solution (2014-2021)
In this article, I describe our ever evolving storage and easy access strategy. It put the joy back into our (MOC) building. As an AFOL, the one thing that I really disliked about scratch building is part searching. Initially sorting by colour was our first attempt. However this sometimes slipped us into a bad habit of building in a monotone or in a single colour scheme. Arguably sorting by part ‘type’ regardless of colour, is a system favoured by the true professional builders, as picking between colours is easier than choosing between shapes. We feel this approach is a bit OTT for the average serious hobbyist. So we think this is a more practical and effective solution... |
Learning the Language of Lego:
Lego have their own names for each piece, learning this makes communicating with your building partner so much easier, while it’s cute to have your own terms, it's best to learn the correct names, to properly communicate within the lego community.
This PDF covers most of the lego bricks made, and if it’s not here, you can justifiably call the piece a ‘widgety slopey roundey thing-a-mabob’.
BrickArchitect.com's
LEGO BRICK LABELS CONTACT SHEET.pdf |
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As we are stuck for space:
We made up a workstation from old offcut timbers. It has a raised edge on the back and sides to hold boxes/trays. We made it with a frame underneath that sits between cushions of a small Pool Table. We add side tables to access more trays.
Ideally an all together L or U shaped counter is better, indeed a H shaped counter for a pair of builders working and facing together is truly ideal, with racks of labeled Tupperware and/or parts bins that are near to hand.
We created a double sided parts bin unit on castors. These plastic 'parts bin' boxes are removable to be emptied into a tray when in use.
Cutlery drawer inserts and similar trays are available from IKEA and similar retailers. |
Horses for Courses:
I’m writing this purely based on our needs and our volume of parts. If you are an enthusiastic junior builder, some sort of workstation and storage can be constructed relatively cheaply using Ikea TROFAST range of plastic bin drawers. It’s a rather basic solution that suits parents to scoop everything quickly away.
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For example we separated trees, flowers and plants into a ziplock bag.
Separate mini figures and their accessories into a big container for sorting later. |
Tackling the daunting task:
It will take days, but IT IS worth it. The first thing to do is get a good size box and pick out the larger ‘precast bits’ (like boats, dingys, duplo, base plates, bionicle robot torsos, horses, crocodiles, sharks, castles etc.) and other oddities that somehow accumulate.
Of course each creator is different, if you plan to build a stables then keep the horses handy! I’m just suggesting to remove the big chunks that get in the way and/or pieces that would be seldom or never used again.
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In an ideal world we'd all have oodles of lego and a separate container for each line in LEGO LABELS Sheets. However these are the groupings that work for us...
1) Technic Pins
2) Technic Bushes
3) Technic Cogs etc.
4) Technic Pneumatic, Motors, Lights etc.
5) Gates & Railings Grilles etc.
6) Technic Axles
7) Technic Connectors
8) Technic Liftarms Light Grey, Grey + Black
9) Coloured Technic Liftarms
10) Click Wheels (City)
11) Click Wheels (Small Technic)
12) Click/Axle Wheels (Medium Technic)
13) Axle Wheels (Large Technic)
14) White Technic Liftarms and Panels
16) Track & Track Cogs (Inc Micro track, chainlinks.)
17) Current Project [A] Shortlisted Parts
18) Unsorted Pending Parts
19) Windows and Doors
20) Current Project [B] Shortlisted Parts
21) Misc Odd or Rare Parts
22) Clip parts inc ‘door rail’ parts (also in tupperware)
23) Printed on parts and Spare stickers
24) Coloured Clear Parts
25) Dark Red
26) Misc Odd or Rare Parts
27) Clear Blue/Clear/Tinted Clear Parts (Windscreens etc) 28) SMOOTH tiles and smooth curved slopes etc.
29) Brown
30) Yellow
31) Yellow Technic
32) Light Greens
33) Green
34) Red Technic (Will be just Technic not shown there.)
35) Orange
36) Pink + Purple
37) Light + Dark Blues
38) Red
39) Cream + Tan
40) Blue
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We treated white, light grey, grey + black parts differently grouping them by type rather than by colour.
1) Grille Tiles + 1x1 Rounds
2) Lego City Vehicle Parts (baseplates, mudguards, doors)
3) Click (Inc Plates and Bricks with the ratchet type clip, retired hinges and finger ended hinge parts)
4) Small Technic Holey Bricks (-Batman!)
5) Grille, Palisade, Masonry, Wall Grooved & Corner L Bricks
6) 2x2 Round, Shooters, Hinges, Turntables etc.
7) Small Ball & Sockets, Dishes
8) Socket Click & ball click
9) CLIP Related Parts Assorted
10) Wedge and curved Plates (inc. curved and wedge bricks)
11) Angle Sloped (inverted / going up)
12) Angle Sloped (inc corners and wedges)
13) All SNOT Parts
14) Useful Precast Pieces (Rocks, Vehicle Baseplates etc.)
15) Tall / Brick saving parts and panels
16) Arches and Misc Pieces
A large box of mixed greys and black Bricks & Plates and a box of white Bricks & Plates.
Vital - a tray with a funnel corner, there are other types, but we found the 'Rockler' one to be the best for lego. The best price we could find, with reasonably priced shipping outside of USA, was here at rockler.com ours cost €10.70 inc. P+P.
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That’s all very well, you say but give it a month and it’s back to bedlam?
Indeed it does take discipline to maintain. However if you are working on a project, separate those parts into a 'project' box. Then when finished open all the boxes and bins and re-distribute the remaining unused pieces, likewise dismantling a model.
To take this further:
You could divide each of the main colours into Technic / Basic Bricks & Plates / Other Parts of that colour. Indeed taking the headings for our tupperware treatment of the white+grey+black, you could do the same with the other coloured parts sorting by grouped types.
| Before setting out to do it, make your own parts grouping plan, customise to what you mostly like to build. Logically we think railings, grilles and fences grouped makes sense. Plan your strategy by how you build, for example grouping all the 'clip' together parts as they are usually used together in combinations. |
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Mini Figures:
Some fans of lego display their mini figure collection. However small parts organizers are ideal for spare parts. Sorting into categories: Hair, Hats, Helmets, Heads, Backpacks, Neckworns, Torsos, Hand Held Accessories, Legs, Friends, edged weapons, guns, horns, hand tools, etc. The important thing is to choose one with curved bottomed compartments for easy picking and that the lid seals each compartment to avoid cross mixing! Whole figures could be bagged into; Starwars, City, Medieval, Space, Ninjago, Super heroes/villains, miscellaneous etc.
I mentioned at the start, overall this is just a snapshot of our constantly improving solution, it suits us, it's not ideal. Organised Lego helps your head think more about creation, than rooting around to find parts.
We hope this might be of some help to you, if you have other tips and tricks, or useful boxes or sorting tools please let us know!
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This is not in any way a commercial website to promote Lego,
this blog is solely intended as a portfolio showcasing our personal projects to fellow builders.
We welcome any comments, questions and suggestions: andre@allmono.com
All images are copyright of Andre Devereux and may not be used or reproduced without prior permission.
The Lego Labels are not ours, we just provide a link to the brickarchitect.com website for your convenience.
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