For each issue of BrickJournal Magazine, the BrickNerd team creates instructions for a LEGO mini-model to go with the theme of the cover story. For their recent issue about landscaping, we partnered with LEGO Master Model Builder Joey Klusnick to create instructions for an upscaled LEGO pine tree. Building the Classic Tree Other than the 2x4 brick, perhaps no single LEGO element is as instantly recognizable as the LEGO pine tree. At more than 50 years old, the large pine tree (also called a spruce tree) has only ever been produced in green and bright green with frosted tips—and it has only come in 150 sets. Yet for how iconic the tree element is, it is shockingly “out of system” with an oversized circular base and no other standard connection points from top to bottom. Designing circular creations will always be a challenge, but certainly when all those half circles emanate...

