I designed this version of the eponymous character from James Cameron’s landmark movie The Terminator (1984) in collaboration with Build Better Bricks (B3). When B3 initially approached me about recreating the famous cyborg in bricks, I’d actually never seen any of the Terminator franchise films… and, embarrassed as I am to admit it, I still haven’t seen the original movie all the way through!
However, I didn’t have to watch more than a few clips of the original T-800 Terminator to refresh myself on just how iconic of a design I was dealing with. Of course, I already knew Arnold Schwarzenegger’s accented catchphrase from the movie, “I’ll be back,” and would’ve recognized the Terminator’s distinctive metallic endoskeleton anywhere. But there’s something beyond just fame that sets this character apart and captures the imagination. Its menace, its strength, its doggedness, its humanoid teeth… The Terminator is just intimidating, no question about that!
I spent a lot of time studying the myriad facets of the T-800’s design, and did my best to capture as many of these as I could in a replica at this scale. At the same time, I had to balance intricate detailing against the requirements of stability and poseability inherent in a figurine like this. Despite its thinness and hollowness, my finished LEGO-built Terminator endoskeleton is actually nicely durable. On the whole, I think all that work and revision paid off: this an awesome and dynamic version of the Terminator, and I’m pretty proud of it.
Determining Scale
I find that it’s important to really nail the head of a character replica; it’s nearly always the first bit of a figurine I take a stab at, just to ensure I’m headed down the right path. Beyond this, a finished head can actually determine overall size for a character. By following human proportions (where a body is 7.5-ish heads tall), a simple multiplicative equation can be utilized to determine height for a figurine, just from its head design.
I recognized early that I’d have to build the T-800’s head 3+ studs wide, which was larger than the head on my most analogous figurine to date, my Iron Man, whose head was 2+ studs wide. Just one stud of difference actually put me in a slightly different scale than I’d ever built in before.
Once I realized the smallest distinctive head I could build would be ~1.75 inches (4.45cm) tall, I followed the math and discovered that the finished Terminator would have to be around 13 inches (35cm) tall, placing it in a roughly 1:6 scale. So I determined the size of the different body parts and got to work!
Sculpting With Color
Given the 13” height I was shooting for, and given the skeletal structure of the T-800, I knew that I’d have to lean on the strength of the LEGO Technic system to create a stable and durable frame for the body.
Although the T-800 appears onscreen in The Terminator as chrome silver, LEGO’s vocabulary of parts appearing in silver—let alone chrome!—is quite limited, especially when it comes to Technic elements. So for my primary color, I turned instead to light grey, a hue with plentiful representation in the part types I expected to use.
To add extra depth to my LEGO-built T-800, I used not just light grey, but also dark grey, black, and silver. Since it was impossible to replicate every detail of the T-800 at this scale, I chose to draw focus to the bits of my design that were most “correct” using subtle highlighting/shading.
Building the Body
I think I did a good job of capturing the layered, machinery-filled chest cavity of the Terminator by using a few well-chosen elements. Most visible of these parts are the rubber stretcher holders, the flexibility of which I exploited to accomplish the distinctive hosing that runs from the T-800’s chest to its shoulders and head. I’m not sure if these tubes are meant to carry fuel, pneumatic fluid, or something else… I just knew I had to include them to get this part of the body right!
I do wish I’d made the shoulders a bit broader; even though the shoulder placement I’ve designed is anatomically correct for a real human body, the T-800’s shoulders are set a bit wider, impossibly wide, in The Terminator. I wish I had opted for accuracy to the film, rather than accuracy to a human skeleton here, but it’s a minor issue.
Back and Pistons
I especially like how the upper back turned out. Almost all of that area’s anti-studs are masked by inverted slopes, tiles, or hinged elements, and so the area presents a clean, smooth finish. I don’t mind the exposed anti-studs on the lumbar; I think they add texture to an area that, on the T-800, is characterized by segmentation anyway.
The sacral portion of the pelvis turned out squarer than I would’ve liked; those 1x4 modified plates—which tie the lower body together in the back—jut out at a sharp, ugly corner. However, as these parts were essential for the sake of stability, I had to let them stay.
Of the challenges presented by this model, the trickiest—and the most satisfying to solve—was the figure’s midriff. Inspired by the pistons on the T-800’s obliques, I sought to design LEGO pistons that responded dynamically as the abdomen flexed, bent, and twisted. After fiddling for a while, I accomplished just this! Twin pistons tie the T-800’s shoulders to its pelvis, and compress/lengthen depending on body position.
Arms and Joints
The upper arms were the body part that I revised most often on this model. They had to change frequently, as I revised the shoulders numerous times.
I initially attached the arms to the body with a Technic friction pin. However, even when I added a rubber piece next to the pivoting wheel to create friction against shoulder flexion/extension, I couldn’t solve the problem of floppy abduction. I decided to scrap this more accurate “industrial joint” shoulder in favor of a traditional ball joint.
My “white whale” on this build was designing a forearm comprised of numerous little spars which would still be stable… I just couldn’t solve it at this scale. However, when I had to reinforce the elbow with a second set of hinges, I was presented with an opportunity to add an extra bar, giving the Terminator a radius to go with its ulna.
One of my favorite part uses on this build is actually the thumb! I think the rounded bottom of that “coffee filter” looks perfect as a thumb joint.
Legs and Base
Another tricky part of the body to get right was the Terminator’s shins. I knew I’d have to use a ball joint at the knee for stability’s sake, and by using this part I was able to mask them pretty well. It took a lot of experimentation, however, to land on a way to build skinny, slightly tapering calves like you see now, especially since the attachment point I had to start with was a flimsy “o” instead of a sturdy “x.”
Initially, the T-800 had three identical toes on each foot. I loved the shape of these bar holders for big toes, though, and while that brick doesn’t come in light grey, I decided shaping was more important to me than color in this instance. It’s the one part of the model I wish were a color other than what you see.
My T-800 figurine needed a base to stand on. It can hold its own weight, balance, and maintain body positioning without one; the base just helps it hold more dynamic posing, and I wanted to be considerate!
Head Design/Head Designer
I consulted a bit with my fellow LEGO Masters contestant and B3’s Head Designer, Tyler Clites, to nail certain details of the model, especially on the head. Using macaroni bricks to lend both external and internal curves to the side of the head was Tyler’s idea. He and I worked together to figure out how to add these without overbalancing the skull.
One of the trickiest problems on the head was to mask the red taps, used as the T-800’s eyes, from profile view. I finally settled on a pair of 1x1 brackets which, unadorned, were the most economical solution to providing coverage without adding extraneous lateral bulk.
My other favorite part use on this model is the truncated cone as a chin. This, more than any other brick, totally captures the Terminator’s distinctive facial structure for me.
Weapon and Grip
The final portion of my T-800 replica to come together was its futuristic weapon. I designed a first version of the rifle pretty quickly, especially the cool angled siding and the upper barrel. That barrel, with its slight inset at the tip, lent itself perfectly to replication in brick form by using the underside of a 1x1 round brick.
However, as I realized I wanted the weapon to be easily removable from the T-800’s hands, I had to adjust my design a bit to incorporate—and hold solid—an angled, Technic handle. There are a few extra connections inside the rifle to give it that essential strength. I did my best to hide these, but do quite like how the 3L thin liftarms slot perfectly into the corner-cutout tile.
Thanks for reading! And thanks to my fiancée Sarah for helping me with all the correct medical terminology. If you have any other questions or thoughts about this model, feel free to leave them in the comments below.