When the Alberta Aviation Museum decided to take on the project of recreating our beloved Hangar 14 out of Lego, our aspirations were to see a miniature version of an Edmonton landmark. However, the project took on a life of its own, becoming bigger, more complex and altogether more than we bargained for.
The process of planning the hangar began on the computer. Using Bricklink Studio we were able to bring our vision to life. Planning the hangar took weeks, scaling down components of our hangar while still making them work within Lego’s parameters was a feat in and of itself. Hangar 14 is supported entirely by a modified Warren truss design that was build back in 1943. Trying to replicate the angles, beams and supports took days of adjustments and sometimes starting entirely from scratch.
The project also took on a much different look. Originally, the model would be a shell, a display to show off the impressiveness of the structure but simplistic in its nature. But the plans grew from that. We decided that an empty structure was not going to cut it. We split the hangar in half with one half representing the hangar as it existed in World War II and the other representing our museum today. But this change also meant that we had to fill it…
Hangar 14 in World War II was home to several models of Avro Ansons. These planes were used to train pilots back when the hangar was used as a training school. That meant we had to figure out how to build as many Ansons as we could get to fit. But that was only one half that would need to be filled. The museum today is home to over 30 aircraft; each one would also have to be meticulously recreated. Shrunken to scale but still recognizable to our visitors.
This meant back to the computer and more planning and recreating. We were lucky that some of our planes were popular enough that they had already been recreated with Lego. But many of the others we would have to create from scratch. Because we were largely creating the plans for both the hangar and the aircraft the planning we had initially anticipated almost doubled.
However, we could not be more excited to begin the build. The hard part is complete, and we get to have an amazing opportunity to showcase our progress. Each week there will be updates on the build, the history behind the work and how you can support the project. We would not be able to do this without the incredible support from the Edmonton Heritage Council, but public support is crucial.
We want to make sure everyone can help create this massive undertaking and we look forward to having you. Stay tuned for more!!