The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

Just in time for the Chinook Lions' Divisional Swim Meet on July 22-23, Brandon Nissen of Brickcent$ will be unveiling what he is calling his "Mona Lisa." The masterpiece is an original design, scaled re-creation of the Chinook City Pool and Park constructed entirely from LEGO blocks. It will be on display at the Chinook City Pool during the swim meet and hopefully at the Montana State Fair later this month.

Initially planned as a 96 x 96 stud model, the finished product will be 122 x 128 studs pinned together and designed to break down into eight unique pieces for portability. One "block" features the pool; another the fireplace, a third the park bathrooms, Hellman house, and garage; and a fourth has all of the park playground equipment. Other structures include the Girl Scout House, a curly slide, and a bridge. The entire diorama measures 36 by 40 inches.

Borrowing ideas from other sets he has built over the years, Nissen began constructing the model on approximately June 16 and finished on July 9. The building roofs and landscaping were the last elements completed. As Nissen spoke about the process, he revealed that LEGO construction requires a considerable amount of time spent envisioning, engineering, and building with "plenty of trial and error involved."

In order to get all of the details right, Nissen dedicated several trips to driving around the Sweet Memorial Park complex-surveilling and collecting information that he would then implement in his design.

"Details are important," Nissen stated. "Given my comedic sense of humor, you'll see a deposit in the baby pool." He also hopes to commission some stickers that will serve as signage on the buildings.

Each of the blocks has unique features. For example, the pool structure has hot and cold water faucets in the shower room and even an electronic pin pad for entering a passcode to gain access to the pool. In the park, the swings actually sway, and there is a tire swing under the climbing bridge.

Nissen reports that the park's curly slide was especially challenging. "If I had wanted to build this in 2015, it would have been impossible since the piece I used had not yet been invented," he explained. "And those pieces were never made in orange until 2021."

The curly slide, tower, and steps presented a fair amount of difficulty with the pieces running into one another, defying scale, or otherwise just not matching. "Those steps turned into the stairway to hell," Nissen joked. "Maybe someday I can develop a kit with instructions so someone else can reproduce a similar structure," he added.

Although computer programs exist to help with such builds, Nissen has not used that resource. He prefers instead to work in the Modular Integrated Landscaping System (MILS).

Originating with HispaBrick Magazine, MILS is a system that describes how to build modular landscapes. By standardizing both how modules interconnect and the visual features of module boundaries, builders can combine their modules into collaborative layouts while maintaining consistency of style and appearance as well as giving stability to structures. Using MILS, Nissen started with a 36 x 36 plate and began building, adding on additional plates as the model took shape.

When asked what inspired him to create a diorama of the Chinook Pool and Park, Nissen stated that the endeavor is a good addition to his current projects. "Once I thought about the idea, I wondered: Can I even pull this off? This is the first time I have ever taken on a project of this caliber without written directions. It's a legacy piece; something with significance that I can leave behind."

Nissen hopes to enter his original design of the Chinook City Pool and Park modular project in the Hobby Department at the Montana State Fair in Great Falls, which will be held from July 28 through August 5. "Right now, it exceeds the size limit, but I am hoping they will invoke a 'Brandon Nissen Rule' and allow me to enter it in the LEGO Show Senior Division."

At the State Fair, dioramas like Nissen's will be judged on Creativity, Originality, Overall Appearance, Technical Difficulty, Workmanship, Structural Soundness, and Mechanical Ability.

With each project, Brickcent$ continues to expand. Nissen now has gift certificates available for purchase and a couple of additional ideas that he will unveil for Christmas.

Next on Nissen's schedule is to develop a LEGO User Group (LUG) in Montana. "If we get active, hold the required number of events, and meet other recognized thresholds, we can become an RLUG so LEGO will 'recognize' and pay attention to us," Nissen said.

Walking into Nissen's store, patrons are greeted by Darth Vader and Obi Wan Kenobi mosaics, as well as a wall of vintage buildings and other LEGO constructions. In fact, it resembles a museum of artistic talent and engineering.