Welcome to the ultimate Portal 2 Lego® set. GLaDOS, Chell, Wheatley, turrets, working test chambers and so, so much more await. So I’m super excited to show you this model in full, in this post. Enjoy!

The model is intended to be all-encompassing, reliving the most iconic parts of the game through fun, inerconnecting sets with loads of working parts. To this end, the model is a complete aperture science facility in it’s own right that Chell and Whetaley can move through with a working story narrative! Lets have a look at the whole thing.

There are 5 individual sections to the facility:

Extended Relaxation Center with Chell’s apartment chamber and adjacent Aperture areas

GLaDOS’ lair

Intermediary / ruined Aperture admin areas

Incinerator room

Test Chamber

Hidden bonus area (read on!)

Each section is it’s own fucntional module, or submodel. These combine to form a cohesive single facility. Now, I’ll take you through the individual sections, in the story’s chronological order.

Extended Relaxation Center

This is where it all begins for Chell. So too, this is where it begins for us.

We start with Chell asleep in her paprtment chamber, far from the main Aperture complex. The apartment is suspended high up, with the faccades of other apartments and greebling below. Inside, Wheatley enters on his management rail – see the video above.

The epic part of the story here is that Wheatley moves the apartment towards the fascility, crashing it into everything and wrecking it in the process. I really wanted this in the model, so the entire apartment chamber slides towards the facility, getting wrecked in the process!

Once stopped, Chell can proceed to the old, wrecked Aperture Science facility and collect her portal gun.

Using the exposed panels, Chell can access the platform at the top of the room, which leads out near the Aperture offices (more on that later), on a one-way path to GLaDOS!

GLaDOS’ Chamber

When Chell gets to GLaDOS for the first time, everthing has been decaying for years. GLaDOS is dormant. Weeds and vegetation cover the tattered remains of GLaDOS’ lair.

In a bid to escape, Chell plugs Wheatley into the breaker column, who awakens GLaDOS!

I reallly wanted to make this entire moment playable – and as a working part to the set. The layout of the stage forces you to walk through GlaDOS’ chamber, in from the left and round past GLADOS to the stairs on the right. The stairs then lead down to a lower platform accessing the breaker column.

Once Whetaley is in, the platform raises up, emerging in GLaDOS’ lair in time for you to wake GLaDOS. I built a locking mechanism into the platform, so it can be easily held in place once up to the main level. From there, GLaDOS awakens and agian, I really wanted all this playable. Even when dormant, GLaDOS stays attached to the set, so her teather can be pulled from the top and latched at the back, hoisting GLaDOS into place, just as she woke in the game.

I even included her claw that can be deployed to pick up Wheatley and Chell, then throw them into the Emergency Intelligence Incinerator! The arm features 7 points of articulation along its length, giving it plenty of articulation. When not in use, the arm tucks neatley into the set, blending in with the structure.

Emergency Intelligence Incineration Chamber

The Incinerator sits at the far side of the complex, running along the underside of GLaDOS’ chamber and up towards Aperture’s test environment. In the story, the area is a key chapter opening, whereby GLaDOS begins reconstructing Aperture and forces Chell to test, so I inlcuded it as a means of progressing across the facility in my build.

The stage features a lava-like surface with small planks for Chell to cross, as well as an old Panel frame GLaDOS can move out of the way, giving Chell access to the main stairs. From this point in the game, Chell moved into the test environment.

Test Chamber

WORKING PORTALS!!! – And not just a hole in the wall!

Ok, so this is one of my favourite sections of my Aperture Labs build. I’ve seen some really cool Portal Test Chamber MOCs that are beautifully realised, but personally I needed functionality in my test chamber. Checkout the video below.

This chamber is not one from the game specifically, but rather one of my own design. The level features a light bridge and multiple levels. Both the lower and upper levels are guarded by turrets, with a companion cube on the middle level alcove.

If Chell proceeds across the light bridge, she’ll get shot by the turret on the top level. Open a portal behind the turret, then another underneath the companion cube. The companion cube drops through the portal, instantly emerging on the upper level to knock off the turret!

Looked cool? The best thing is that what you just saw is all mechanically done, so pull the levers to open the portals and it all happens exactly as you saw it in the video! The cube goes in the bottom and comes out the top.

Aperture Laboratories Offices

Once through the test chamber, Chell heads back to GLaDOS for a face-off, via the Apeture Labs admin area. In my build, this are isn’t functional, so much as to complete the feel of a fully fledged facility.

Inside the offices are old computers, as seen in the game. The walls and floor are degraded, with sturtuctural damage giving access to the pathway Chell originally used to find GLaDOS’ chamber. This is the full circle of the facility. But read on – remember the bonus area I promised…

GLaDOS’ Chamber Restored

When Chell finds her way back to GLaDOS, GLaDOS’ lair is fully restored. This just had to be a part of the build, so GLaDOS’ lair easily transforms into a pristine, restored area. The walls You can keep Wheatley and GLaDOS in place while the stage changes configuration… to this.

Face off with GLaDOS and Wheatley! Good luck!