‘Is that really made out of Lego?’: The epic build inspired by a classic franchise

Its creation was inspired by the beloved dinosaur film franchise, and building the Queensland Museum’s latest exhibition Jurassic World by Brickman turned out to be an adventure in its own right.

With calluses on his hands, Ryan “The Brickman” McNaught recalls the long hours he spent piecing together the giant prehistoric creatures out of more than 6 million pieces of Lego – enough to fill three shipping containers.

The Tyrannosaurus rex is five metres tall and 12 metres wide, weighing 9000 kilograms. It took 1235 hours to build and is made up of 278, 366 Lego pieces.Credit: Anna Kucera

At one point a T-Rex tooth hit him on his head, injuring him so badly he needed stitches in hospital.

The concept was McNaught’s COVID baby, but for its execution he enlisted a team of 36 who between them clocked up 11,000 hours of Lego building in a Melbourne warehouse.

Each had their own specialty, such as animals, vehicles, or landscapes.

The process is not as easy as it might seem. Working with Universal Pictures, the Brickman crew were sent images that they converted into 3D, then turned into Lego models.

“The sheer logistics of making sure you’ve got the Lego, they’re what you need to make those particular animals or creatures, and then the hours to put them all together is bonkers,” McNaught said.

The 9000-kilogram T-Rex is the result of 270 hours of building and tweaking – even before the construction of a steel frame that keeps the Lego dinosaur safe to display.

McNaught said each type of dinosaur presented its own challenges.

The baby dinosaur enclosure has a Brachiosaurus that is incorporated into the roof and walls of the exhibit.Credit: Kristen Camp

“The flying dinosaurs are really hard because you’ve got to think about their really thin wings. How do you do the wings?” he said.

“How do you move 1.6 tonnes around in a museum and ship it in between cities?”

Visitors to the exhibition start at four-metre-tall gates to the island of Isla Nublar. From there, they travel inside the lab where, according to Jurassic World lore, dinosaurs are genetically engineered.

They walk under a Brachiosaurus that weighs over two tonnes to view the baby dinosaur enclosure, and pass a flock of Pteranodons, before learning how to track dinosaurs on the island.

There’s also the opportunity to for guests to channel their inner Brickman, building their own Lego dinosaurs and islands, and to take a photo recreating the famous scene where a vehicle is chased by a T-Rex.

McNaught wanted people to leave the exhibition inspired.

“The ultimate compliment for us is if people who see our creations go: ‘Is that really made out of Lego?’” he said.

“I want them to go away thinking that’s really cool … but importantly, when they get home, and they look at their Lego collection, they pull their Lego bricks out and start playing themselves and make their own stuff.”

Queensland Museum chief executive officer Dr Jim Thompson said it was an excellent exhibition for the school holidays.

“Lego has taken off in the last two years, and we’ve been part of that with a number of Lego exhibitions,” he said.

“This one in particular is very true to us. We’ve had many dinosaur exhibitions earlier in the year, so it’s only fitting to end it with Lego dinosaurs.”

Thompson especially enjoyed the exhibition’s portrayal of scientists in a lab developing dinosaurs.

“I’m sure that this exhibit will draw the movie lovers in as well as our usual family audience,” he said. “It’s got all the makings to be popular.”

The exhibit is open from this Friday until July 14 next year. Tickets costs $29.90 for an adult, $27 for concession and $19.90 for a child between 3 and 15 years.

Get the inside word on the news, sport, food, people and places Brisbane is talking about. Sign up for our City Talk newsletter here.