How to make a LEGO® T. rex
Watch your fingers – it has a powerful bite!
Our book How to Build LEGO® Dinosaurs takes you on an action-packed prehistoric building adventure, with step-by-step pictures showing you how to make all kinds of cool creatures. Learn how to build the colossal king of the dinosaurs from your own LEGO® collection!
Watch the video at the end to see the whole build from start to finish, or follow the step-by-step instructions below.
Steps to building the LEGO® T. rex
Follow the video and steps to be inspired to make your own T. rex using any LEGO® pieces you have.
Or, if you’d like to build this exact one, find a list of pieces you’ll need here.
1
Start building your T. rex by doing this
A real T. rex was about the size of two adult elephants, but a LEGO® version can be any size you like! Begin the curved underbelly of your beast with two inverted slope bricks and three small plates.
2
Wedge plates
Next, add two wedge plates and an inverted curved slope at the front of the body to mirror the shape you created at the back.
3
Begin the torso
Now place two layers of narrow bricks on top of the belly base to begin adding some meat to the torso. Include a brick with a hole at the front to connect the arms to later, and add a plate with socket at the back for the tail connection.
4
Sides of the body
Use small bricks to fill out the sides of the body, then place a layer of plates on top. At this stage, plan where your dinosaur’s legs and neck will go by incorporating plates with sockets where they will attach.
5
Keep building up the T. rex’s body
Keep building up the T. rex’s body by adding lots of bricks with side studs. Pieces will attach sideways to some of them in the next step.
6
Attaching regular and round plates
Now add some width to the body by attaching regular and round plates sideways. Also place a handy pin in the grey brick with a hole (you’ll see why soon).
7
Attaching tiles and curved slopes
Keep using sideways building techniques to make the T. rex’s body more muscular. This time, attach tiles and curved slopes for a smooth finish.
8
Top of the torso
Top off the tyrant’s torso with six slope bricks and two smooth wedges (one at either end).
9
Build the tail
A T. rex needs a long tail to help it balance on two legs. Start building out the tail, section by section. Make this big part first by stacking bricks, plates, and a curved slope on top of an inverted slope base. Include plates with balls to connect it to the body and other tail sections.
10
Sections of the tail for the T. rex
Now add three more tail sections, incorporating plates with balls and sockets to string them together. Each tail section gets smaller and smaller as you move towards the tail tip.
11
Connect the two sections
Connect the finished tail to the body. What’s next?
12
Start building the neck
The wide neck! Build it around a plate with ball, which will eventually connect to a plate with a socket on the body. Include a plate with bar to attach the lower jaw to at the next stage.
13
The lower jaw
Create a toothy lower jaw around a plate with two clips. Attach it to the bar on the T.rex’s neck.
14
Create the T.rex’s skull
Now build up the rounded shape of the T.rex’s skull. Include a plate with hole for the eye connections, a curved slope for nostrils, and more sharp teeth at the front. CHOMP!
15
Connecting the T. rex to the body
Finish off the head by attaching eye and cheek details sideways, then fit the neck section to the body. What’s missing?
16
Start building the arms
Let’s build two teeny-weeny arms! Each one is made in two parts that connect via a clip-and-bar connection. There’s a wedge slope hand at one end, and a plate with a hole for connecting to the body at the other.
17
Connecting the arms
Connect the arms, then it’s time to build this bulky biped two powerful legs!
18
Creating the legs for the T. rex
Create two wide feet with sharp claws, using plates and curved slopes. Then build a large pair of calves with more plates and inverted curved slopes. Fit the sections together with ball-and-socket connections.
19
Continue to build the T. rex's legs
Thicken the lower legs with stacked plates and curved slopes attached sideways, then start work on the T. rex’s mega thighs. They’re even chunkier than the lower legs because they use lots of bricks as well as plates.
20
Putting everything together
Finally, build some rocky-looking plates sideways onto the thighs to make them even more intimidating. Then fit the ball connections on the inside of each thigh into sockets on the sides of the body. This T. rex is now ready to stomp. ROOOOOAAAAAARRRRRR!
Watch the video for all the steps
Text by Hannah Dolan.
Tyrannosaurus model designed, built and photographed by Jessica Farrell.
LEGO, the LEGO logo, the Minifigure, and the Brick and Knob configurations are trademarks of the LEGO Group.
©2022 The LEGO Group.
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