In the world of LEGO enthusiasts, BrickFair Virginia at the Dulles Expo Center is the ultimate proving ground. In 2025, the Front Royal LUG officially made its mark by participating in our very first collaborative activity on a convention scale.
The Collaboration: The Trail Project
For our debut, we decided to build a “Trail” display. We settled on a standard size of 32×64 studs per module, allowing each member to design a unique environment that would connect seamlessly to the next. Together, these four modules created a sprawling, continuous landscape that caught the eyes of thousands of attendees.
As a centerpiece to our area, Even also brought along his Front Royal Gazebo model. Seeing a local landmark positioned alongside our collaborative trail gave our display a unique sense of place and hometown pride.
Engineering for Transport: The 16×16 Strategy
One of the biggest challenges for any AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO) is “Logistics”—how to get a fragile, complex model from your workshop to the convention center without it shattering.
For my section of the trail, I came up with a modular solution. Instead of building one massive, heavy base, I broke my 32×64 footprint down into smaller 16×16 sub-modules. This offered two major advantages:
- Portability: The smaller sections were much easier to pack and transport safely in the car.
- Reconfigurability: I could swap the order of the 16×16 plates to change the look of the terrain or the path of the trail, giving the display a fresh feel throughout the weekend.
A Growing Presence
Stepping into the Dulles Expo Center as an exhibitor was an incredible experience for our group. It’s one thing to meet in the library conference room, but it’s another thing entirely to see your work displayed alongside some of the best builders in the country.
This first collaborative effort was a success not just because the models stayed together, but because it proved that our LUG is ready for bigger adventures. We learned a lot about “clutch power,” transport logistics, and the joy of sharing our hobby with the wider AFOL community.
Front Royal may be a small town, but our creativity is definitely “convention-sized.”
