Hampton Roads LEGO User Group

(established 2002)


Next Meeting: Sunday, 10 November 1pm-3ish

NEW NBG LOCATION:

Norfolk Botanical Garden, Administration Building, Garden Auditorium 

Usually we  we meet on the 2nd Sunday of the month, but occasionally we need to reschedule to avoid conflicts with Norfolk Botanical Garden events.

(be sure to tell the friendly person at the gate why you're there when you enter the Garden)

Recent Events:

This summer, our members supported BrickFest Live in Hampton , the Model Train Show at Chesapeake Central Library, a STEAM event at the Hampton Public Library, and the NBG Butterfly Festival, Honeybee Festival, and Mushroom Festival

Several members also hit the road for BrickUniverse in Raleigh and Richmond, and BrickRodeo in Texas.


Our City/Town collaborative build, Hardlug Hollow, made its final appearance at the big annual convention, BrickFair in Chantilly, Virginia, August 3rd and 4th.  Also, lots of other cool builds from the club.  See our photos on FaceBook.

BrickFair Fredericksburg was a resounding success, especially our introduction of Hardlug Hollow in all its bright, shining glory.  Thanks to everyone who contributed in this enormous city, airport, and railroad display, and with the utility work which went into making sure it had a functional power grid!

Thanks to everyone (all 5,000 of you!) who came out to see us and our friends from the Hampton Roads Naval Museum at Brick by Brick LEGO ShipbuildingIt was amazing to see 58,000 square feet of the the Virginia Beach Sports Center devoted to LEGO fun.

Also already in 2024, BrickUniverse came to Chesapeake, Virginia!  There were numerous play areas for expo attendees to build to their hearts' content, and HaRdLUG showed off some of our own creations alongside our new friends from RVA-LUG and around the Mid-Atlantic region, not to mention the amazing creations from expert builders Rocco Buttliere and Jonathan Lopes.

Here are some other things we've built recently:

280 Gallon Fish Tank

Medieval Village

About us:

HaRdLUG is a group of adults and older teens in the cities of Hampton Roads, Virginia using LEGO to connect with our local community and each other and celebrating that play is something you never outgrow.

We share our passion for LEGO by displaying what we build at public events throughout our region, and are always looking for fun new partnerships which match our volunteer members' interests with the goals of organizations hosting community events.  

We have monthly meetings where we usually share some of the projects we are personally working on, plan for future events and collaborative displays, and occasionally have a building challenge or activity.  

 

HaRdLUG Fish
Instructions to make a simple LEGO fish

Where to Find us:

(details and participation subject to change)

BrickUniverse Richmond, VA


Old Dominion Building at Richmond Raceway

West Laburnum Avenue Richmond, VA 23222 

26 October 2024

BrickUniverse Augusta County, VA 

Augusta Expo

277 Expo Road Fishersville, VA 22939

19-20 October 2024

Honeybee Festival

Norfolk Botanical Garden

6700 Azalea Garden Rd, Norfolk, VA 23518

17 August 2024

Funky Fungi Mushroom Festival

Norfolk Botanical Garden

6700 Azalea Garden Rd, Norfolk, VA 23518

08 September 2024

What We've Done Lately:

HaRdLUG has been active in southeast Virginia since 2002.  If you visit the Norfolk Botanical Garden (NBG), you can see our architectural models in the Baker Hall Visitor Center showing two exciting new structures coming as part of the "Garden of Tomorrow" campaign.  In addition to previously having our monthly meetings at NBG , we were also part of their Butterfly and Honeybee Festivals last summer.  We displayed at Tidewater Comicon and celebrated the NASA Artemis mission with a LEGO building event at Norfolk's Slover LibraryWith the Hampton Roads Naval Museum's Brick-by-Brick LEGO Shipbuilding event back live and in person in 2023, we built and brought all of our best boats!  

At last year's BrickFair in Chantilly, Virginia, we built a 560-square foot LEGO display (that's 28 big folding tables!) including a collaborative build of a huge medieval village and seaport, two enormous airports, a 280-gallon Lego aquarium, the battleship Arizona, a F4U Corsair, motorized Dragonboat Race, Adventurers scene, WWII battle, 10x-scale Deka Bricks, Pout-Pout Fish, microscale Newport News Shipbuilding, Yellowstone's Grand Prismatic Spring (with real water), and a lot more!

Some of our partners for past events include:

Did you hear?  The new LEGO STORE is now open at VIRGINIA BEACH TOWN CENTER!

Also, our local used brick store, Brickin Bad, has recently expanded.

And a LEGO FACTORY is under construction near Richmond, VA!  Their Visitor Center (in the big yellow bricks) is now open at 1400 Meadowville Rd, Chester, VA

Want To Be A Better Builder?  

There are a lot of great ways to up your brick-building game.  The best one is to just start building.  The key to doing anything well is being willing do it poorly, over and over, until you get better.  Your first new creations you make might not look like some of the impressive builds you've seen online, but keep on building and you'll learn and get better each time. 

 "Do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are HaRd." - John F. Kennedy