LEGO and dinosaurs and motors, oh my! It’s not an explosion at the Fun Factory (TM), but a new LEGO scene that’s going viral on YouTube. The scene, a brilliant brick creation sprung forth from the mind of fan builder Kevin Darke has everything a LEGO dino scene should have. Including a working “waterfall” that’s a real splash of genius. A LEGO waterfall!
Beyond the Brick, a channel and podcast that travels the world to showcase talented LEGO builders and their incredible creations, recently posted Darke’s build. For unfamiliar brickheads, Beyond is great place to get your fill of all things LEGO. Including some great reminders of just how painfully complex bringing to life unique builds can be.
Speaking of which, Darke’s “T-rex Jungle Scene” sounds—and looks—like an astoundingly difficult to make. As Darke takes Beyond host Joshua Hanlon through the build it quickly becomes apparent that there’s much more going on than meets the eye. The LEGO waterfall, which consists of 10,000 individual pieces of “water,” wraps around the whole build. It utilizes LEGO Technic pieces, motors, and electronics to keep the water moving.
Darke notes that he spent years figuring out the best way to create the moving waterfall. Apparently somebody told Darke that he should build a waterfall, but the expert builder thought it was impossible at the time. By solving one annoying problem after another, however, he was finally able to bring it to life.
The end product, which consists of 28 individual modules, is astonishing. Darke says he spent 8 months on the build and it shows in every detail. Including the felled tree over the edge of the stream that hides where the “water” drops from one conveyor belt to another. A detail as clever and nuanced as the T. rex tracks in the ground behind the monstrous dinosaur. Or the mouse in the beast’s mouth. A potentially inaccurate snack considering everybody’s favorite Jurassic Park character was likely a pack hunter.
