3DStudent you were on the correct path. Here is a link to a video capture of the way I would build that 2x4 lego. It is sped up to fit into 10 minutes. But I think it will give you an idea of how to do it.

This is a new annotated version and I removed the annoying TOC...

lego tut 4x notated hd - YouTube

Here is a render of the final lego...



Looks simple, but looks can be deceiving.