Darkblane

The slide out interior is a really great idea and very well executed. One of the problems I had with my entry last year was the visibility of the upper floor, so this year I chose to leave out an upper floor completely, but a slide out floor is the ideal compromise.

Thanks for the comments, especially about the first floor. It was a hard decision not to do something there, but I really wanted to keep the detail of the ground floor visible. With my entry last year for the Winter Village II contest, one half of my Winter Village Bicycle Shop had two floors and in the end you couldn't see any of the details for either floor of that section. Even the official Winter Village Cottage set has a similar problem. I really like the detailed kitchen, but most of it is obscured once the bedroom is been added over the top (unless you look at it from a minifig's point of view). Probably the best solution for this sort of issue would be some kind of removal first floor ... If you look at the snowplough in the Winter Village Cottage set, you'll see that the hood / bonnet is a similar height (though I know this isn't the best example of a vehicle). These sorts of vehicles do have a high hood / bonnet. The cab is raised up higher than in a normal vehicle like a car, and the driver needs to step up into it.

11. by def - 1 point 12. by dr_spock - 1 point 19. by KZB - 1 point

Merry Christmas everyone!

Congratulations to all of the other winners and well done to everyone else who entered. I'm very pleased with 5th place considering the standard of the other entries. A massive thanks to everyone involved in organizing the contest, counting the votes and supplying the prizes.

If you're in London and just want a few, the best place to go is the LEGO store in the Westfield Shopping Centre. I was there last weekend and they still had plenty left.

Cloud City Cantina "Welcome to the Cloud City Cantina, the best drinking establishment on Bespin" (or at least that what I've been programmed to tell you, thought V-3PO). "I'm your host V-3PO and tonight your entertainment will be provided by FX-17" (assuming of course that the R4 unit in the maintenance area underneath us can keep the generator from overloading, V-3PO continued to think). "The balcony is open to anyone wishing to enjoy the Bespin atmosphere, but please bare in mind that you do so at your own risk, as we do not provide a forcefield around this area. Also please be aware that you will be liable for any of our R2 units which are lost over the edge either through accident or malevolence." "We hope you enjoy your evening and please remember the force is strictly forbidden on the dance floor." The bottles and the two glasses are from BrickForge. Cloud City Cantina on Flickr

B-OM-23B Museum of History Welcome to the Museum of History, founded in 1938 by the great explorer, Victor Storm, to house and display his vast collection of artifacts, acquired over many years of exploration. His likeness can still be seen watching over the entrance to the museum, though this is a later addition to the building added, in memorandum, by his daughter following his disappearance, whilst on expedition, three years later. His granddaughter currently maintains the museum, continuing to enhance it with new exhibits, such as those on the recently renovated second floor dedicated to the industrial age, space and underwater exploration. The museum is divided into a number of halls spread across three floors. Ground Floor To the left of the entrance you will find the Hall of Dark Ages and to the right you will find the Hall of Archeology. Please pay at the kiosk directly opposite the entrance to the museum. Guidebooks and souveniers can also be purchased from this kiosk. First Floor Standing at the top of the stairs, to the right you will find the Hall of Buccaneers and to the left you will find the Hall of Oriental Dreams. Don't forget to view the Minerals of the Earth exhibit in the hallway. Second Floor Standing at the top of the stairs, to the right you will find the Hall of Astronautics and to the left you will find the Hall of Oceanology. The model Traction Engine in the hallway was commisioned by a private collector and donated to the museum last year. Top Floor - No Public Access This floor houses the store room where additional artifacts and exhibits, currently not on display, are held pending restoration in the room across the hall. The movement for the clock visible on the outside of the museum can also be accessed from the hallway on this floor. This is actually a model I started designing and building last year, but it's been sat on my desk for a while and this contest was a great excuse to finish it, photograph it and get it online. This is my first attempt at a modular building and probably the biggest creation I've built so far. I originally decided to build a museum as it gave me a way to use an interesting selection of parts from themes that I don't usually work with. With the rules limiting the number of photos to five in this post and the building having four floors in total (it's about the same height as the Town Hall), it's quite hard to show all of the detail within each of the rooms, so I'd really advise you all to check out the full set on Flickr as there are a lot more detailed photos of each of the individual halls and exhibits: Museum of History on Flickr

When I first started creating the ground floor, I used bricks that I had available (I'd purposefully bought the City of Alantis set as I wanted to build something with columns using the round grille bricks), but as I began to develop the upper floors and redevelop the ground floor slightly (originally it was all white with no light bluish grey), most of the bricks I ordered specifically for the creation. The only exception to this was that I tried to develop the contents of the halls based upon some of the parts I already had, but wouldn't normally use, primarily parts I'd got from promotional polybags (like the white ninja) or duplicate collectable minifigures.

Having just felt my way through 47 packets, most of the minifigs aren't too bad to find, once you know what to look for. Tennis Player The tennis racket. Gymnast 1 x 1 bricks or 1 x 4 plate. Horse Rider The helmet is made of a different softer plastic and has a long ponytail. Archer The bow. Relay Runner The bar and the hair (it's spiky). Check for the hair (or lack of weights) if you find a bar, so you don't get this confused with the weightlifter. Weightlifter The bar and the weights. Check for the weights if you find a bar, so you don't get this confused with the relay runner. Boxer Find the torso and check where the hands usually are for the boxing gloves (which are larger and rounder than normal hands). Swimmer and Judo Fighter I found these two the hardest to differentiate between as they don't have any accessories. The only difference is the hair / cap. For the Swimmer , the cap is relatively smooth, though it does have ridges on the top. The best way to identify this is to check the base of it, which is completely smooth with no indents for ears, curls of hair etc. The Judo Fighter's hair in comparison has a more uneven base due to the indents for ears, curls of hair. It's also possible to feel the lump on the top of the hair which is the short ponytail.

My figures arrived yesterday and I'm very pleased with them. Thanks again WhiteFang.

Congratulations to all of the other winners as well as everyone else that entered. It's always great to see so many different entries and the techniques used in them as they're a great source of inspiration for future creations. Also, thanks to everyone that voted for my entries and thanks to the organisers especially WhiteFang.

Tower Bridge Landmark Series Tower Bridge is one of the most iconic buildings in London and the United Kingdom. Whilst LEGO have already produced an official Tower Bridge set, it was designed at a much larger scale than their Architecture sets and therefore takes up a lot more room. Not everyone has room for the offical set, so I thought I'd create a smaller microscale / architecture scale version. Like the official LEGO set, this isn't the full bridge as there's another section of road at either end which connects the bridge to either side of the river. If these were included, the overall length of the set would be doubled and other than a repetition of the blue and white railings and two more stone arches, these sections wouldn't actually add that much to the overall model. Maybe not the best photo of the real bridge, but this is one I took in 2009: There are more photos on Flickr: Tower Bridge

Finishing Touches Theme: City Minifig - Series 4: Artist Minifig - Series 6: Lady Liberty Architecture: Liberty Island / Statue of Liberty The artist stood back to admire his work. He'd been commissioned to create this scale model of the Statue of Liberty for the museum's new exhibition and it was nearly complete. He'd finally finished applying the base colors and now all that was needed were a few finishing touches. It should be obvious where Lady Liberty is supposed to stand ... but check out the complete set on Flickr to see photos of the vignette with Lady Liberty included: Finishing Touches on Flickr

My entry for Category B is built and photographed ... just need to sort through the photos and upload them when I get some time ... which should hopefully be within the next few days.

Gas Station Minifig: Mechanic Theme: Town The Mechanic stands on the single stud, whilst his toolbox stands on the two studs at the back. Check out the complete set on Flickr to see photos of the vignette with the Mechanic included: Gas Station on Flickr Also, if you're interested in the gas pump and the parts required to build it, details are here: Vintage Gas Pump

The only problem with using medium blue is the lack of certain parts like the plates with clips / hinges (for example Plate, Modified 1 x 2 with Clip Horizontal on End) which are needed on the railings. Also for accuracy, I don't think the River Thames has ever actually been quite so blue :)

Yes, the middle sections of road are connected to the towers via hinge plates at 90 degrees (which is why the distance between the two towers isn't a nice simple whole number of studs). The model with the road lowered can be seen here.

I'd say that the closest you could get at that scale would be one of the following bricks rotated 90 degrees (so the inside curve is facing out and up) and joined to the rest of the structure via SNOT: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=6005 (the back would also be curved) http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=88292 (the curve isn't quite right, but it has more studs for connection and the back would be straight)

That's one of the reasons I tend to stay away from the entry threads until I've got my own entries finalized (or at least past the design phase). That way I always build ceations that I want to build and that I'm happy with, without being influenced by or comparing them to other entries. This approach also means that even if I don't do well in a contest, I've still created something which I enjoy looking at as a standalone MOC.

That's awesome. I'm always amazed at how generous The LEGO Group is towards contests on Eurobricks (and not forgetting the generosity of the organisers supplying the original prizes of course). My entry is designed and parts have been ordered ...

Congratulations everyone and thanks to the organizers.

B-V-15D Another Day in the Diner This vignette was built in November last year (I've only just gotten around to sorting out the photos for it). It was inspired by the release of the bottles and spills by BrickForge (which at the time this was built were only available in trans-clear and trans-brown) and by the waitress minifigure I created as part of the custom collectable series I created for Category B of the Collectable Minifigure Series 4 contest (with the legs changed from dark green to dark blue to fit the color scheme). Another Day in the Diner on Flickr

What do you think was the cause of the waitress's surprise which caused her to spill the drink ;) Originally there was an orange croissant on the table instead, but the color clashed, since all of the other parts (which weren't black, blue, white or pink) were medium dark flesh and there aren't two many alternatives in medium dark flesh left to choose from, plus it added another 'character' to the vignette. I was actually thinking of the menu stands you get on tables when I added those two parts, but you're right, they do look like salt and pepper shakers and yes, as salt and pepper shakers, they would look better in black and white.

B-OV-21B Winter Village Bicycle Shop Approximately 820 Parts, 7 Minifigures This is my entry for the Winter Village II contest. It's an homage to one of my favourite sets growing up, the Motorcycle Shop. The complete set, features a bicycle shop, a bicycle rack, a motorcycle and lamp post. The bicycle rack is designed to be placed against the side of the shop, but is freestanding for additional flexibility. The shop is divided into three rooms, the main shop as well as a hallway and upstairs room. The interior of the shop features various bicycle relating products and displays. The bicycle rack, motorcycle and lamp post (as every official Winter Village set seems to include a lamp post). The minifigures include two motorcycle riders, the shop keeper and a hiker with dog (who really wishes he'd bought a bike) The hardest part of this contest was selecting only five photos ... so be sure to check out the full gallery on Flickr. This includes some close ups of the hallway and upstairs room as well as a couple of shots with the light brick illuminating the interior.