LEGO Part Substitutes: Creative Alternatives and Workarounds
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What to do when you are missing a LEGO piece, the substitutions that keep a build to scale, how to swap colours sensibly and where to get the exact part when a substitute will not do.
Most missing LEGO pieces can be replaced with parts that take up the same space. Because every element sits on the same grid, a stack of plates can stand in for a brick, two smaller bricks can cover the footprint of a larger one and a tile can stand in for a plate. When a substitute will not do, LEGO replaces pieces missing from new sets, and individual parts are easy to buy.
Swaps that keep the build to scale
Plates for bricks
A plate is 3.2 mm tall and a brick 9.6 mm, so three plates of the same size replace one brick exactly.
Smaller parts for a larger one
Two 2 x 2 bricks cover the same footprint as a 2 x 4, and two 1 x 2 tiles the same area as a 1 x 4 tile. The seam between them is a weak point, so let the layer above bridge it, the way a staggered wall covers its joints; the structural engineering guide explains why.
Tiles and plates
A tile is a plate without studs. Use a tile where the top should be smooth and nothing attaches; use a plate where something will be built on top. A jumper plate (15573), which has one centred stud, can stand in where a detail needs to sit half a stud off the grid.
Side-stud parts
Bricks with studs on their sides are not all interchangeable. The headlight brick (4070) has its side stud recessed by half a plate, while the Brick 1 x 1 with stud on 1 side (87087) has a flush side stud, and the Brick 1 x 1 with studs on 4 sides (4733) has one on every face. Swapping one for another shifts whatever is attached, so check the instructions. Our SNOT guide covers these parts.
Technic for strength
Where a substitution leaves a weak joint, Technic bricks such as 3700 let you add a pin through the layers to lock them together.
Swapping colours
- Hidden parts: use any colour you have for parts inside a model. Builders often reserve bright, otherwise unused colours for internal structure.
- Visible parts: a close shade, such as dark bluish grey for black or medium blue for blue, usually reads as intentional; a strong contrast draws the eye.
- Mosaics and art sets: a nearby shade in a busy area of the picture is far less visible than one in a large flat area.
Creative substitutes
Sometimes the substitute is better than the original part. Minifigure tools become valves and handles, plant pieces become flames or water, curved panels become roofs. Using parts for something other than their intended job is a technique of its own; our guide to nice part usage covers documented examples from official sets.
When you need the exact part
- Missing from a new set: use the missing pieces form on LEGO.com. It asks for the set number and the element ID, which is listed in the parts inventory at the back of the instructions. Pieces missing from new sets are usually replaced free.
- Not sure which part is missing: our Missing Piece Checker goes through a set piece by piece, flags look-alike colours and gives the element IDs you need.
- Buying individual parts: LEGO's Pick a Brick service and the BrickLink marketplace sell single elements by colour. See our guides to Pick a Brick and sourcing parts.
Building a stock of spare parts
A general-purpose LEGO Classic box gives you a range of basic bricks and plates to draw on when a piece goes missing.
Large Creative Brick Box: a broad mix of basic bricks, plates and special elements for substitutions.
Keeping spares sorted makes substitutions faster; see how to sort and organize LEGO.
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