Giant Lego Sinterklaas!

34,819 Lego bricks make this larger than life-size St. Nicholas. He is seven feet (2.16 metres) tall!

Lego enthusiasts built one of these giant Sinterklaases for the 2008 Lego World exhibit in Zwolle, the Netherlands. They belong to De Bouwsteen (The Building Brick) Lego club. It took eight weeks to build Sinterklaas.

Wouldn't he be fun to see?

Look below to see how it was built. Click or tap for larger images.

Gathering supplies: Lego bricks and computer design

Building the first section, detail showing

Each section has interior bracing, built on base tiles to hold bricks in place
Five inner cross braces form the figure's "skeleton," making a lighter figure than if built of solid bricks

Getting taller: bricks glued, inner braces, temporary support for arms

Inside views

Arms are more complex!

Another section is ready

Taking shape

Face takes shape

Adding the miter

Tapping into place

Final pressure to make sure everything is tightly snapped together; joining the sections

Finished at last!

Dirk Plug, of Hoofddorp, and Ruud Woeltjes, from Nieuw-Vennep, built the giant Sinterklaas in Hoofddorp for LEGO Netherlands. It replaces the original Lego Sinterklaas, built around 1988 in Denmark. The original figure was worn and needed to be replaced. As it was built in Denmark, where Sinterklaas isn't celebrated, it wasn't quite accurate, either. The big Sint visits large department stores and toy shops. He also visited Lego World in London, which has 10,000 visitors each day. LEGO Netherland is having three of the giant Sinterklaases built.

The builders said, "This project is actually quite difficult and harder than we originally thought it would be." The 7-foot tall figure, made of 34,819 Lego bricks, took two months to complete.

Photos and information: Dirk Plug, Lego Sinterklaas Project. Used by permission>

Make a Lego Santa into a St. Nicholas Minifigure

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