LEGO Techniques - Window Inserts

TLG produces two main types of window inserts for their window frames.  The first obvious one is glass.  These are generally some transparent color, sometimes printed or stickered, and produced for every square window frame size.  They pop in and are almost always fixed.  The other type of insert could be called shutters.  While this generally includes most classic shutter types, it also includes a few other pieces.  These pieces mostly swivel about a pivot point, either horizontally or vertically.  One exception to this grouping is the slanted window and it's cousins.  They're having a bit of an identity crisis.  Are they a window piece or roof piece?  Why is their insert transparent AND moveable?  It's almost as if we've finally found a Darwinian transition species.


A bigger difference to be noted is thickness.  As minute as it is, there are two different thicknesses that can be found.  The window glass is generally 1.6mm thick.  This can be demonstrated by setting into a grill tile.  The 8mm width of the grill tile is broken into 5 equal parts, three grills and two voids.  8mm/5 = 1.6mm.  In thickness, two of these are the height of a plate.  If you were to create a one plate thick void with a tile directly underneath, you could insert two of these horizontally.

The shutters are a touch thicker.  Most are 2mm thick.  They don't fit into the grill tile but you can test their thickness another way.  If you stack 4 of them loose, they will fit right in between two bricks.  8mm/4 = 2mm.  These shutters will also fit within the groove of door rail plates.

In both cases, you should not expect that these pieces are perfect sizes of studs.  They are made to fit inside window frames which ARE perfect sizes.  A 1x4x3 window frame will have a piece of glass that is slightly smaller.  Generally there will be 1.6mm of wall and header, and 3.2mm of sill.  In millimeters, the window frame is 32mm wide and 28.8mm tall.  It can then be inferred that the interior would be 32mm - 1.6mm x 2 by 28.8mm - 3.2mm - 1.6mm, or, 28.8 x 24.  Perhaps I got lucky on this piece's measurement.  Turn it sideways and it'll fit into a 3x3 space.

Alright, how about 1x4x5?  This would be 32mm wide and 48mm tall.  We already know the 32mm will become 28.8mm.  The 48mm tall height now becomes 43.2mm.  This is 13.5 plates tall or 5.4 studs wide.  Not quite as beautiful.  A 2 stud wide window frame would hold a glass that is 16mm - 1.6mm x 2, or, 12.8mm.  Hmm, four plates tall.  How charming.