Grand designs and moving parts are nothing new at Canberra's Brick Expo, but Val Kim raised the bar playing his electric musical instruments for the crowds this year.
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The Isaacs resident built his banjo and guitar from scratch, with a narrow timber core surrounded on all sides by Lego.
"I was combining two interests: I was learning the guitar about four years ago and I have three boys with whom I build large Lego cities," he said.
The banjo took three weeks to build and the later guitar – which is his everyday instrument – a little more than a week. There was one key disadvantage, he admitted.
"It hurts your knees a bit if you're playing in shorts, but in jeans it's ok," he said.
Canberra's seventh annual not-for-profit tribute to the creativity possible with the iconic building block again delivered some impressive constructions.
A 1:160 scale version of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge was a standout, with the 13.4-metre wide design costing $3700 and taking about eight months from concept to completion, no minor commitment given the 1930s original took only four years to build.
Scenes from everywhere from fairytales to the Vietnam War were played out with the usual attention to detail, with cars, trucks and architect-worthy domed stadiums drawing the eye.
Helen and Phil Pellart, from Scullin, surprised their grandchildren Jasper, 5, and Hollie, 7, with a visit to the expo, but found the siblings were soon at home.
"They're recognising quite a lot of bits, and the Minecraft piece, they know all about that as they play that on the computer," Ms Pellart said.
Expo secretary Mel Bezear said this year's three-day format had allowed for less crowded sessions, with children with special needs and many under school age taking advantage of the Friday option.
There were more than 100 exhibits and almost everything was new, she said.
"The Frozen castle is back but [its builder] has out-grown it, there's not much Star Wars, a lot of Avengers this year," she said.
Exhibitors had come from New Zealand, Sydney, Melbourne, Albury and Newcastle.
A small number of tickets for some sessions at the Hellenic Club site are still available for Sunday.
The organisers also gave a 3D sneak peek to those still deciding whether to come or who can't make it, with new Canberra business Photostat3D creating a virtual walk-through of parts of the expo.
Owner Matthew Cann said he was given access to the expo floor late on Friday night to scan the space to create the 360-degree view.
"It is our aim at Photostat3D to see this technology used by a large range of customers for everything from real estate to shopping to education, hotels to holiday apartments, even caravans," he said.
