Truncated Icosahedron (Soccer Ball)

Truncated Icosahedron

This model is the geometric shape known as a truncated icosahedron. It is one of 13 Archimedean solids. For people who aren't too much into geometry, it is likely more recognizable as the shape of a soccer ball!

The shape is composed of 12 regular pentagons (in black), interspersed with 20 regular hexagons (in white).

This shape is also the molecular structure of buckminsterfullerene -- a molecule made of 60 carbon atoms first discovered in 1985.

The model is composed of very few different parts

• Hinge Plates (19954) in black and white
• "Rocker" Bricks (3937 & 3938) in black and white
• 1x2 Plates (3023) in white

Although somewhat fiddly to build, once put together the model is extremely solid. The angles come together naturally and help guide the build as you go. People with small fingers might be at an advantage when assembling!

The only real issue when assembling is that the hinge plates need to be half black and half white. These parts are used to connect the pentagons to the hexagons (there is no direct connecting part between adjacent hexagons). To do this required disassembling black and white hinge plates and reconnecting them in mixed pairs. If the model was created in a single color this would not be an issue, but I think it looks better with this color scheme.

The model should appeal to Lego fans who like math and geometry, as well as anyone who might like an interesting model of a soccer ball.