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I see that CuuSoo has updated its rules, etc... see http://blog.lego.cuusoo.com/ they are now weeding out the projects that don't fit. While I don't think this will impact Sheepo's Land Rover Defender, it may impact other projects of interest to this forum, especially Micro Power functions http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/576, as these are new parts, no longer allowed. Are there other worthy projects that might get axed? (But I am mildly amused that the Apple store project should get deep-sixed)

DarthKy and I have been working on a modular based on the Wayne Manor and using the Modular footprint in order to restrict the design to a reasonable scale. We have also tried to fill it with various references from the comics, movies, animations, and the 60's TV show. To make the design more fun we have have built it up on four quarter baseplates allowing the design to be opened up. Batman References I hope the true Batfans out there will appreciate the various references we have integrated. I have here two images of references followed by their descriptions so if you are of the mind to try to figure these things out on your own, go ahead. I admit, some of them are a bit esoteric. Image one references A. Grandfather Clock A Grandfather Clock is in almost every incarnation of Wayne Manor. In most continuities it is the access to the Batcave as well. In this case, we are not able to use it as the access as a figure is quite broad. Note that the Clock is set to 10:48. Setting the clock to this time unlocks the entrance and is the time of day the fateful mugging occured. B. Man of the Year Award In the Lego Batman 2 Game, Bruce Wayne beats out Lex Luthor for the Man of the Year Award. C. Painting of Bruce Wayne on a horse with a dog at his side This is a double reference both to The Dark Knight Returns and Ace the Bat-hound. Bruce Wayne is rarely seen with horses, but he does have horses in The Dark Knight Returns which grants Batman a significant advantage at a critical point in the story. So this is a just a subtle reference to one of Batman's epic tales. Ace the Bat-hound is, as the name implies, is a dog who aids Batman. He originated in the 1950s but did not transition the Crisis. He has re-appeared in Batman Beyond, Krypto the Super Dog, and Batman: Brave and the Bold. D. Armor and Sword Display We have based this build off of a display in the 1989 Batman movie by Tim Burton. Hopefully the picture speaks for itself. E. The "Waynes" Of course everyone has their favorite Robin. We have tried to include an acceptable presentation of each in this wall portrait. The line up from Left to Right: Dick Grayson, Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake, and Alfred Pennyworth. It does not play though 100% but I tried to make the ties and kerchiefs color compatible with the super hero personas. The above image was generated using Mini Mi as a base followed up with photoshopping. Image Two References A. & B. Gray Ghost Fedora and Action Figure Batman the Animated Season 1 Episode 18 "Beware the Gray Ghost" is one of the greatest episodes of the any Batman cartoon. . It introduces a childhood hero of Bruce Wayne, the Gray Ghost who is voiced by none other than Adam West. It also includes voicing by Bruce Timm, the series co-creator. Batman's Gray Ghost Collection To further expand the significance of the Gray Ghost to all things Batman, the Fedora re-appears in Batman Beyond, utilized by Bruce Wayne as an impromptu disguise when Inque catches a ride to the Batcave...That's right, we even have a Batman Beyond reference. Bruce Wayne dons the Gray Ghost Fedora as an impromptu disguise C. A Foil The Wayne's are returning form "Mask of Zorro" on that fateful night. Zorro is also one of Bob Kane's inspirations in the creation of Batman. D. & E. A Book of Gotham Nursery Rhymes and Blueprints to Building by the Alan Wayne Trust These are references to the Court of Owls. F. Shakespeare Bust A Shakespeare Bust with a "pez action" head conceals the button that opens the Batcave in the original television series. G. Man of the Year Award In the Lego Batman 2 Game, Bruce Wayne beats out Lex Luthor for the Man of the Year Award. (I realize I mention this twice. I will update the picture to get rid of it shortly) H. Detective Comics #27 in Plastic Case The issue that introduces Batman to the world! The Batcave Our Batcave design is much more conservative than most you see: The "left" quarter of the batcave is dedicated to Batman's infamous trophies: The T-rex The Joker Card The Giant Penny Mr. Freeze's gun Green Kryptonite the "right" quarter of the batcave showcases Batman's equipment including a chamber for his suit. It you like the design please consider giving your support to our Cuusoo project. We realize the scale is a bit...impressive, and the license is, of course, in play, but we would sure like to get this concept to review regardless of production possibilities.

Hello everybody, my good friend Captain Furo published two very cool cars on Cuusoo − have a look at them if you're interested, and please support him if you like what you see. They're really good IMO. Land Rover Trophy: http://lego.cuusoo.c...deas/view/52964 Chaparral 2J: http://lego.cuusoo.c...deas/view/53643 All the best, LL.

The CUUSOO project for this build is now up. You can support my project clicking this link: http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/53350. I’m a huge fan of the Iron Man Hulkbuster armor and when I started to collect Iron Man minifigures I’ve decided to create one to add to the armory. My first attempt to create a Hulkbuster armor that can be piloted by an Iron Man minifigure is when I got my hands on a Kai’s Fire Mech set from the LEGO Ninjago line. As you can see in the first picture I only modified the hands and ditched the gun right hand design. I was already happy with what I came up with but I was not satisfied with my final design. After looking at the other Hulkbuster builds from other LEGO enthusiasts in different forums I’ve decided to rebuild the armor, this time using an additional Fire Mech set and parts from the Iron Man Ultrabuild set. My challenge now is to create a sleek Hulkbuster Iron Man build using only parts from these 3 sets (2 x Fire Mech, 1 x Iron Man Ultrabuild). Thanks to the additional parts from the Fire Mech the minifigure is now fully enclosed except for the head. I'm also quite happy that I was able to add more design elements thanks to the Ultrabuild's chest armor and the curved blocks and vents from the mech sets. The reasons for me not adding more parts are: 1. I want to keep the costs to a minimum (cheaper to produce and at the same time more (again, budget friendly to consumers) 2. I really want a design that doesn’t tower too much from the minifigures. 3. I want to use parts that are already available to the market (again, cheaper to reproduce. No need to create new blocks). Please support this CUUSOO project if you want this set to be produced by LEGO. This set would look great next to your Iron Man minifigures. For my next project I'm thinking of building an armor for Captain America or War Machine just for the fun of it. It may not be comic book canon but I just want to see a mech with integrated designs from the Captain America Ultrabuild.

Greetings! Thought of sharing my latest MOC. Some people might already know about this, as it's on CUUSOO and also on my Flickr page. A Douglas DC-3 airplane in Buffalo Airways colors: Some of you might remember my first DC-3 MOC, also on CUUSOO: http://lego.cuusoo.c...deas/view/17534 Well it happened that Mikey McBryan (https://twitter.com/mikeymcbryan) of the Buffalo Airways, a company operating an entire fleet of real DC-3s and other classic planes, found that project and then contacted me with his idea that we could make a Buffalo Airways DC-3 project on CUUSOO, me taking care of the model and he focusing on the promotion business. The Buffalo aviation family and their planes star in this TV show Ice Pilots NWT as well. I confess, I have never watched it myself - I don't watch anything on TV, since I don't have a TV. This DC-3 design is smaller than my first one, that is, more affordable and easier to handle, in order to have better chances in the CUUSOO Review - if this project gets that far. Maybe FOLs here on Eurobricks like to help? We've seen how IP-connected licence-requiring ideas tend to succeed at getting 10k supports on CUUSOO far more easily than all-original ideas. So I was thinking, if they gotta be licenced stuff, at least be something that makes sense as a Lego set idea, and can appeal to others too (regular kids & dedicated FOLs) and not just the particular special interest group. So I'm thinking, a cool airplane with both display & play value, can't go wrong, right? A few more pics: Some pieces are not yet available in colors used (especially green) so I had to PAINT them! Like my bigger DC-3, this too has retractable landing gears, operated from the knob: And of course some essentials for playability, like the luxury of interior accessible via detachable top sections (a pilot can sit in the cockpit, passengers and/or cargo space in the back): If you liked this project to have its chance in the final CUUSOO Review, please support - or just check out for more information like piece count and measures: http://lego.cuusoo.c...deas/view/51472 Anyway, my MOC ain't mine no more. As a part of our deal, Mikey paid for the model and I shipped it to Canada. Bye bye baby! But I'm sure she'll be loved there at her new home. And just a little note if there are some new folks here who don't know about my other projects on CUUSOO and might be interested. http://lego.cuusoo.c.../Ssorg#projects

Hi everyone, Of all the things made with Lego, my favorites are inevitably the Great Ball Contraptions. GBCs, as they are known for short, are Rube Goldberg-style machines designed with the sole purpose of moving tiny balls through a circuit. The GBC is an elegant ballet of Lego, and the ultimate contruction feat of these balls as well as their robotic NXT counterparts. The mechanisms that move the balls through the loop are generally as complex as possible, using clever actions that are reminiscent of the workings of a factory right out of How It’s Made. I think, the Great Ball Contraption is just about the greatest feat of Lego engineering that there is. So I mostly make LEGO GBCs with in particular GBC-plans with more modules mixed in one big great ball contraption. I only publish the final videos on youtube. So subscribe if you don't want to miss anything. For interim updates you must visit my facebookpage or my website. So make sure to check them out as well! If you like what you seeing, please support the CUUSOO-projects (links are below), like my facebookpage and subscribe to my channel. My latest projects: LEGO GBC 5: LEGO GBC 6: LEGO GBC 7: Contact: Website: http://pv-productions.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook...206638589482664 Youtube: http://www.youtube.c...op?feature=mhee Support site: http://lego.cuusoo.c...deas/view/43300 NOTE: I usually publish a video once a months or even longer. Keep in mind: quality costs time and I do not have always time;)

Sorry if i have posted this in the wrong category, but I wanted to share my first moc creation published to Lego Cuusoo entitled Modern Modular Furnished Beach Front House. It is a displayable and playable piece meant for adults and children alike, both boys and girls. Please do not let the pink colour put you off; I have proposed this in many different colours including neutrals like grey and white. I designed it with the intention of making this house as flexibly integrative as possible with all types of Lego scenarios. This house is bifold; it can open in the middle on hinges like the Monster Fighter's haunted house, and the roof is removable in 3 parts. It also has originally designed furniture and assessories. I am currently working on the landscaping. A complete set of updated photos are available at the following links: thank you for your interest and your vote!

EDIT: Accidentally uploaded this too early. I'm excited about this one. Lots of good projects this quarter. I wish they'd all become sets! -Sci

It's hit 10K! yay! (pic is link) Frankly, I like these figures better. Can't wait to see the results! -Sci

Like much of New Mannum has been posted on Cuusoo including my Landmark Store.....titled "Farmers Hardware Store". But since I have a new Landmark building for New Mannum, my old Landmark store was lonely.....so a bit of a redesign and simplification along the way.....i.e. less stickers....just five and here we are......my redesign.......(okay, mostly on the interior ) I actually glue the 1x2 and 1x4 panels in the front of the bottom shelf......I wish I had some white 2x2 corner panels. I made my ballcock float valves again, tossed in some floats and shovels.....and my original water pump from a few years back. Now for the support link......http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/13998.........it's only scored 36 supports since the original design was posted there almost a year and a half ago....so I hope the redo might help.

Hello LEGO community. I am an avid LEGO collector as I'm sure all of you are. I wanted to ask opinions on my latest project. It includes 5 minifigures; Archeologist Shop Girl Security Guard Dino Kid Cave Man I've also made a T-rex and Brontosaurus like the real natural history museum in London. Includes 7 functional rooms; Dinosaur Exhibit Aquactic & Mammal Section Precious Stones Room Creep Crawlys Botanic Laboratory Study Room

Hello LEGO community. I am an avid LEGO collector as I'm sure all of you are. I wanted to ask opinions on my latest project that I have listed on Cuusoo. Has anyone got any tips in how to get my idea seen and whether or not you like the set? Please head over to the Cuusoo website and search for natural history museum. I look forward to all your feedback

Hi guys. I know this is a is a little unorthodox for such a new member to post. I did search the forums to make sure no one else has posted this. Please go and support the amazing BrickQueen in her current Cuusoo project. It's an amazing piece of work that should make an amazing set in everyone's collection. *link removed* She also has a second set, Jurassic Park: Triceratops Encounter. *link removed* Please join me in supporting these great sets!

The Antarctic Snow Cruiser was a vehicle designed late 1930's, intended to facilitate transport in Antarctica. It has a very interesting and adventurous history. Cruiser (known as Turtle), a very innovative vehicle, designed to operate at extreme conditions. Plane (known as Eagle), a Beechcraft D17 Staggerwing type airplane mounted on the roof of the cruiser. (To get the airplane on or off the Cruiser, a ramp of snow was to be built-up to meet the sloping aft deck of the "Turtle".) This set presents the Arctic Snow Cruiser with a correct minifig scale. All the parts connects fine, the whole vehicle is very stable to grant great playability. With tons of features the set offer a very good playing for everyone. You can find it at: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/46670 If you like it, please support it. Thank you. More to read about: http://www.joeld.net...nowcruiser.html or at the project's page: http://antarcticsnow...er.blogspot.com

It was a long journey of advertising, but it made it! Congrats to Jeff Kinney! I bet his will pass the review stage. It's fitting as a LEGO set, and the presentation was fantastic! I love the Dr. Hare figure! What do y'all think about it? Will it pass? Do you like it?

Woo, 10k! Though I still want Poptropica to win... and this too. Hopefully Portal turns out successful and the same thing can happen with this and Poptropica. Exciting! -Sci

Here's a short BTTF animation of Marty and Doc Brown building the Delorean. What do y'all think?

I recently built this MOC of Winterfell courtyard from the Game of Thrones TV series. It's part of a CUUSOO idea for Modular Castle sets, which features well known castles, both fictional and non-fictional. This is the first proper moc I've built. The model comes in easy-to-assemble sections, which can also be moved around. The first section I built was the ravenry. The walls are removable, and the plan is to fit hinges on to the roof later on for full accessability. The ravnery also has cages to store the messenger birds. Please support on cuusoo here: http://lego.cuusoo.c...deas/view/36041 :classic: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ned Stark entering the castle: The castle entrance: Full view: Here are some images of the actual thing: Thanks for looking! Please leave some feedback and constructive criticism in the comments! Also, please support the project at: http://lego.cuusoo.c...deas/view/36041

'If my calculations are correct, when this baby reaches 88 miles per hour ... you're gonna see some serious shit.' Dr Emmett Brown, Back to the Future So here it is! The long-awaited Back to the Future LEGO CUUSOO winner - and the first 'mainstream audience' model to pass the dreaded CUUSOO review stage. Few people can be unfamiliar with the iconic DeLorean Time Machine, and the lead characters of the BTTF movie franchise, Marty McFly and Doc Brown; despite having originated in the 1980s, with its fashion faux-pas and wildly inaccurate predictions of the Earth of the future, the trilogy is still surprisingly popular today, and is the sole reason why many have ever even heard of the unreliable stainless steel DeLorean car. It is hardly surprising then that the BTTF CUUSOO entry was able to garner the support required to enter the review stage, and the popular and family-friendly nature of the model and its parent movie lend it extremely well to conversion to a LEGO set. On paper, it should sell well; however, early leaked images have led to certain amount of disappointment, partly at the apparent lack of figures, and partly at the difference between the final version and its CUUSOO-winning original. Rest assured that Marty and Doc do indeed feature as figures in the set; as to the redesign: well, let's see .... Thank you once again to The LEGO Group for allowing us this early set review. Review: 21103 The DeLorean Time Machine Set Information Name: The DeLorean Time Machine Number: 21103 Theme: CUUSOO Back to the Future Release: 1 August 2013 (According to some members, it appears to be available already in some places) Parts: 401 Figures: 2 Price: GB £34.99 | US $34.99 | EUR 39.99 - 49.99 | AU $69.99 | CA $44.99 | DKK 449.00 Links ... Shop@Home ... Brickset ... Bricklink ... Peeron ... CUUSOO The Box Click for a larger full-frontal image As I pulled the set from the plain outer cardboard box it shipped in, I was momentarily disconcerted to think I had been sent an Architecture set by mistake, and I'm sure you can see the resemblance. However, here the usual Architecture austerity gives way to the colourful Back to the Future logo, and a blue-white clock and lightning motif that will be familiar to anyone who has seen the movies, and which continues onto the upper surface of the box. Any doubt about the inclusion of minifigures is quoshed with a little inset of Marty and Doc against a background which nicely matches the BTTF logo. The DeLorean itself is pictured in 'flying' mode, as seen at the end of the first and most of the second movie; as we shall see, I don't think this is her most flattering pose, but it isn't helped by the angle of the photograph - click the picture for a square-on view. The back of the box is rather busier, but demonstrates beautifully the full variety of the set: Click for a larger image The DeLorean versions of all three movies can be created from the set, though - as you might expect from the piece count - not at the same time. This is highlighted by the white-on-red text at the bottom right: itself rather amusingly resembling DYMO punch-labels that will be familiar to anyone who lived in the 80s. Small insets detail the wonderful printed parts which are included in the set, accompanied by explanatory text in English and French. This latter point - coupled with the inclusion of the piece count on the box front - makes me wonder whether this particular box is designed for the the North American market: the third language, visible on the right side, is Spanish. French will continue to feature prominently, starting on the left-hand side: In case you're not convinced that French is important in North America, the proof is on the box top, along with a wheel that provides the 1:1 scale here. The bottom reveals the licensing agreement with Universal Studios. The box is as wide as the Big Ben box is tall, but it's deeper and taller; in fact it's the exact same size as the similarly-priced Leaning Tower of Pisa. The contents are rather more colourful than a typical Architecture set, however: Sadly, we aren't encouraged to enjoy our building experience. Inside the box are five polybags, three loose plates, and a substantial instruction booklet that we'll look at presently. The Instructions The Architecture resemblance continues with this high-quality booklet, printed on sturdy paper with thick cardboard covers. The cover image is identical to the box front - minus the text - and affords us a clearer view of the car with its controversial front end. Inside the booklet, we are treated to a plethora of information related to the movie and the car, replete with pictures, and text in English and French (the latter on the facing page). Further 'DYMO' headers set the scene; the smart black background unfortunately shows up the dust. 'What - what the hell is a "jigowatt"???' I wondered at first whether 'jigowatts' is a mistake; according to Wikipedia, it's in the original movie script. I always thought the figure was 1.21 gigawatts, though with a soft leading 'g', in these times before the prefix 'giga' was rather common. My prized BBC Microcomputer from the same era ran games like Elite on as astonishing 32 kilobytes of memory; nowadays my 4 Gigabytes is still too little. Moving onward, we encouter further pictures from the movie with accompanying factoids, and occasional quotes. I'm not going to spoil all the contents of the booklet, but it is worth showing this wonderful rear-end shot of the 'real' DeLorean ... ... replete with its time-travel modifications listed as 'Highlights' (or 'Points Forts' if you're French, or Canadian). Architecture fans will be familiar with the black background of the instruction steps, and with the intermittent 'factoids' which accompany them: It can be a little tricky to make out the black parts against the background, but I didn't encounter any problems during construction. The build is nicely paced, with occasional sub-builds, as shown here in one of the later steps for the alternative movie versions: Here we build 'Mr. Fusion', with its complementary informative text. I can't wait to get my own Mr. Fusion in two years' time! The rear of the booklet contains the obligatory set inventory; page one in the inside front cover, and page two on the rear cover itself. Also towards the rear of the book are a page dedicated to the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, and the following dedicated to the CUUSOO winning design team: It should be noted that 'Team BTTF' have decided to donate their share of the profits from the set to the Michael J Fox Foundation. If I were ever to have a set pass CUUSOO review into production, I'd be more than happy with just a page like this. The Parts The 401-strong part selection consists mainly of plates - there are only about twelve regular bricks in there. I've managed to fit them all into one picture: As expected, black and light bluish-grey dominates the colour palette. 'Useful' pieces - a highly subjective concept, I know - might include the black and bley headlight bricks in reasonable quantities, a sizeable selection of 1 x 'n' plates, jumpers and clippy-hinges; it's nice to see the older-style hinge-bricks with 1-wide top parts in both black and bley. Greebling fans will approve of the binoculars, and the metallic silver 1x1 round plates and grille tiles; plain tiles appear in reasonable quantities, and they haven't held back on cheese wedges. For me, the stand-out parts are the 8.5L hoses - the modern version of the Classic Space original is becoming more common, but no other set contains more than three. Incidentally, I had expected that the red wheel hubs would prove to be an example of an existing part in a new colour; I was mightily surprised to find that it has been included in two sets previously - and Brick Buckets of all things! Though they are from 2009, and not widely available today; certainly there aren't currently any such wheels available in red on Bricklink. Taking a closer look at the metallic silver grilles, I noticed a mold difference: Some have squarer, thicker edges. This is hardly a disaster, but the difference is particularly obvious in this shiny colour, and requires you to be careful where you place them if you're particular about symmetry. Finally, the pieces de resistance - the printed parts: The detail in the prints on these 1x2 tiles is astonishing - look at the 'OUTATIME' licence plate with its 'California' logo replete with setting sun. I was a little surprised to see the 'destination' date on the time console - I don't recall 28th January 1958 featuring in the movies - but it's all there in the manual: it's the date the first LEGO brick was patented. Maybe I should have known that. And here's the 2x1x2 panel bearing a print of the heart of the DeLorean Time Machine itself: the Flux Capacitor: It's a beautiful design, although in my case the print quality isn't perfect. Note the white-on-red text, true to the movie, that has clearly inspired the 'DYMO' headings in the instruction manual - a lovely touch. And by the way, LEGO, it's 'i' before 'e'. I wondered if the typo in 'SHEILD' was true to the movie, but it isn't: see here. To be fair, I didn't even notice the typo until CopMike pointed it out after member Kez noticed it from the high-res pics sent out by TLG. The Minifigures 'Hey, Biff! Get a load of this guy's life preserver. Dork things he's gonna drown!' Here are Doc and Marty! They are the characters of the original film's 1985: Doc in his radiation suit, and Marty in his jeans and 'life preserver'. (I am reliably informed that this garment is properly called a 'gilet'.) Marty has his trademark skateboard. It's funny to think that skateboarding was a bit of a fad in the mid-1980s, and I doubt the film-makers expected it to continue to be such a widespread phenomenon today (your mileage may vary). I was a little excited to see a purple skateboard - it's the first I've owned - but it's also available in the new Town Square and one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle sets. Doc wears 'vampire' hair which is new in white for this set. I had half-expected a variant on this, but the style they've chosen is possibly the best existing mold for Doc's flyaway locks. He has a new, double-sided face print, in flesh for this licensed set; they've captured his expressionn pretty well for the 'surprise/shock' look, which Christopher Lloyd does a lot. Great Scott! The radiation suit torso has some nice detailing including a stopwatch; I love the big trefoil 'RADIATION' logo on the back. It's a shame, though, that we don't get Doc in more 'everyday' wear; but I bet you could improvise. Marty's multi-layered clothing is captured beautifully, though he looks strangely like Spiderman from the back: His new face-print is again double-sided, with a little smirk on one side and a good 'fear' look on the other. His hair is a reasonably choice; the dark brown is a little too dark for my tastes - in the films it looks almost fair in some shots, and I'd probably have gone with reddish-brown. It's also perhaps a little too neat and short; 'Anakin Skywalker' hair might have been better. His legs, like Doc's, aren't printed, but this part in Medium Blue is surprisingly rare. Here's what they should look like: Picture from Futurepedia I think TLG have captured the pair pretty well, all things considered - particularly Doc's 'surprised' face. I'm also pleased with the choice of torsos; Doc's radiation suit would probably be the most difficult to recreate from existing parts (though the 'future' garb would be a close second); and it does allow recreation of the scene where we first meet the DeLorean. Marty's outfit is a no-brainer, and if you want him in a rad-suit, all you need is a Hazmat Guy. The Build The DeLorean is essentially a big stack of plates, with some minor Technic reserved for the wheels; however, there are some interesting techniques thrown in here and there. The chassis is built around three long 2x16 plates sandwiching two black 4x8 plates; four identical Technic wheel apparati occupy the four corners: Note the red and blue round bricks sitting atop similarly-coloured 1x1 vertical-clip plates: these restrict the movement of the wheels around the car's longitudinal axis, and are vital for the conversion between 'driving' and 'flying' modes. The surprising use of red and blue has some logic; throughout, 'red' signifies the front of the car and 'blue' the rear, and it can be tricky to distinguish end from end without this visual clue. In the second panel, 1x8 plates have been added above the 3L Technic liftarms, allowing them the be built upon; there are gaps adjacent to the wheel mounts, front and rear ... ... into which are placed clippy-bricks. Black 1x2 cheese wedges form the appearance of seat-backs, and again note the use of red and blue for front and rear. In the inset, behold one of my favourite ever LEGO techniques: the foot of a headlight brick sits on the side-stud of another, allowing in this case the SNOT-mounting of a round plate and the inversion of a cheese wedge. Granted, it's not as impressive as Svelte's use (see it in situ here), but it's great to see this technique feature in an official LEGO set. Next, the dashboard is added onto hinge bricks, and some Technic pins will enable the SNOT-mounted front to sit at a half-stud offset, at the expense of a bit of wobble. Clippy-hinges at the rear allow the attachment of the rear vent-things, shown in the second panel to be constructed from slopes, hinge-bricks, black headlights and tiles. I'm surprised they didn't elect for the Nice Part Usage of black minifigure legs for this build; however, the lower set wouldn't fit into the slope, and I'm more than happy about the eight headlight bricks. The light bluish-grey jumpers here don't do anything, except add some hard-to-see greebing, perhaps. The yellow 1x1 round is where the Plutonium goes. Plutonium not included in set. The rear-end is almost complete, as we add the Flux Capacitor on its 1x2x2 panel piece, and some SNOT-mounted taps which represent some arcance tubing or whatever. You can see some similar blue things here. Meanwhile, controversial tiles have been sneaked onto the front whilst you were distracted, and the diminutive roof is added. Clippy-hinges will help to slope the sides; the silver grille tiles represent the strips around the sides which glow blue when the car time-jumps. Finally, the SNOT front panel is attached, and the 'gull-wing' doors are added ... ... followed by the SNOT rear, sloping hinged tiles for the windscreen, and wheels. The last touch is the tubing around the sides, which utilises the various clips and O-ring plates we've been adding, and is surprisingly trouble-free to attach. And we're done! The Complete DeLorean 'Time circuits on. Flux Capacitor ... fluxing. Engine running. All right.' (Engine cuts out) First things first: however you feel about the stepped, tiled front, I hope you agree that from this angle the car doesn't look nearly as bad as the rather unflattering views of the preview picture (or indeed the box front). In 'driving' mode, she has a sporty, low profile, and the slanting pillars forming the 'windscreen', coupled with the narrow roof, help to slope the sides in a manner very difficult to recreate in LEGO at this scale. I will deal specifically with the question of the redesigned front end later in the review, for now, let's look around the model carefully. The front end's seven stud-wide SNOT panel helps to taper the car's nose; from this angle, the tapering looks a little severe. Note that 1x2 trans-black tiles are used for the headlights instead of separate 1x1 tiles; these latter parts are somewhat rare. The model does reasonably well with the 1x2s, helped by the studs of the light bley plates behind; I was tempted to replace the light bley with dark bley to mimic the darker front panel of the real car, but that would spoil the effect of the headlights. From the front, the wheels protude a little uncomfortably far from the sides of the car. I noticed one or two complaints in response to the revealed catalogue picture about the use of 1x2 and 1x1 cheese wedges for the front panel; this does cause asymmetry, but helps to strengthen the panel, as the 1x2 cheese connects the 2x3 and 2x4 plates behind. You could easily replace it with two 1x1 cheese wedges with little loss of strength if you desire. The rear view is one of the best, helped in no small way by the 'OUTATIME' licence plate tile. It's by no means a perfect representation of the original, seen best in the instructions picture above, but it is probably as good as you could achieve at the scale whilst avoiding tricky and fragile techniques. The big vent constructions help here, though it's difficult to line them up perfectly. They should overhang the rear lights (and have four layers rather than two), but even the CUUSOO original doesn't do this. The sporty look is particularly in evidence from the side: The rake of the 'windscreen' is suitably shallow, if a trifle awkward at the base with the 1x1 clippy tiles looking unaccountably large. This version lacks the rear sloping stanchions of the 'real' car, but dark bley cheese graters compensate somewhat. You can see here how the tubing at the sides creates the illusion of wheel arches: one of the few features carried over from the CUUSOO original. They work surprisingly well, and compensate for the protruding wheels, in most views. This is a good place to admire the contour provided by the inverted cheese wedges at the rear - a lovely, if subtle, touch. Seen from above, the car has a chunky outline which reflects the feel of the model in your hand. For the most part, she's very sturdily built, and at 190 grammes (6.7 oz), surprisingly heavy. As I've already implied, the roof is perhaps a little too small; you have to imagine the side windows would fill some of the gap here; a six stud-wide roof might be better, but it would make the door opening mechanism look odd, and I don't think it's possible to create the gull-wing doors any other way at this scale. Underneath are the only visible remnants of the 'red and blue' scheme which assists in the build: these clippy plates are as essential part of the wheel mechanism. The long dark bley plates make a significant contribution to the strength of the model; some of the light bley plates aren't strictly necessary, but I'm not going to complain. This rear high view is one of my favourites: The bulky rear end features a number of small greebles packed into quite a tight space. The vents take up a lot of room, but they are the most important feature. The blue taps sit above two barely-visible red 1x1 round plates; an offset cheese wedge in the centre provides a little contouring. The 'Plutonium Chamber' sits between the vents; it probably ought to be mounted slightly more forward, but that would leave a big step behind the tap bit. Note the binoculars on the roof; I didn't recall from the movies what this is meant to represent, but you can see whatever it is in this picture, or here (thanks CopMike!). The Interior The doors, of course, open in the gull-wing style of the original DeLorean: The mechanism works well: it is smooth, and doesn't require you to remove any parts of the model. It isn't without its problems, though: as you can see, the 1x2 male clippy hinges connect to the door using only a single 1x1 black clippy tile, and that is a source of weakness. Be prepared for the doors to fall off at regular intervals. Indeed, the weight of the door itself tends to disconnect the parts here; also, the closed door sits slightly higher than the body, and as you close the door it is natural to put a little downward pressure on the door, making the problem occur more frequently: Also, the triangular gap behind the door is a little unsightly. This is caused by the use of a 1x1 clippy brick and cheese wedge rather than the single 1x2 slope that the CUUSOO original employs. The clippy brick is necessary here to keep the black tube in the correct position. I can forgive this gap; it's not too noticeable on the model as a whole. Let's take a close look at the passenger compartment. With the roof removed, we get to good view of the Flux Capacitor in its intended place. For such a vital feature, it's a little hard to see from the outside, but it looks great. Moving upwards, you can see the banked black 1x2 cheese wedges which I presume are meant to represent seat backs, not entirely effectively: Their positions, and the studded floor of the cabin, imply that the diver is meant to sit just left of centre, which would make it tricky to place both figures inside ... ... however, the steering wheel is mounted half a stud to the left of this position. Th dash is otherwise very pretty, with the time console and a dial sitting at an attractive angle thanks to the hinge bricks. There's another dial to the left of the steering wheel. Note the light bley cheese wedge on the floor, which makes sitting the driver a stud further to the left problematic, but not impossible. Here's Marty sitting in what is (I believe) the intended position: He has to lean back a lot in order to fit his head under the roof, but for a sports car that is probably a realistic seating angle. With Marty sitting here, you cannot (easily) fit a passenger in ... ... but if you move Marty a stud towards the door - which involves a bit of a struggle as his leg interferes with the bley cheese wedge - you can: In this position, you have to sit both figures a bit more upright, else their heads prevent the doors closing: look at Doc's head to see what I mean. However, the roof here no longer necessitates them leaning back so much. The sloping 'windscreen' stanchions obscure the view a little, which in Doc's case is exacerbated by the angle of the shot. Note that in either position, Marty isn't sitting directly behind the steering wheel. Ideally, there should be some jumper plates in there to allow them both to sit at a half-stud offset; modifying the model to achieve this shouldn't be too difficult, but it would involve removing the long 2x16 light bley plate which runs the length of the car (see here). I don't think that this would weaken the car too much. Flying DeLorean - Back to the Future II Actually, the Flying DeLorean first makes her appearance at the end of the first film, but she features most prominently throughout BTTF II, and is instrumental in Marty's getaway from Biff in 1985-A. To convert model one to model two, all you need to do is replace the 'OUTATIME' licence plate with the orange 2015 'barcode' one, add Mr. Fusion, and flip the wheels for flying mode. Note that I've left the yellow 1x1 round 'Plutonium Chamber' plate in place under Mr. Fusion; the instructions aren't particularly clear on this, but it might be better to remove it and have the white dome attached directly to the 2x2 round black plate. Flipping the wheels is simplicity itself. Here's the mechanism with a wheel removed: The red (or blue, at the rear) clippy plate keeps the wheel mount from over-extending in either position, and explains why 3L frictionless pins have been used. The set also comes with two trans-clear slopes and 1x2 plates to use as stands: Roads? Where we're going, we don't need ... roads. This view is similar to the promotional catalogue shot that caused such a lukewarm reaction when revealed. To be fair, firstly, there were no passengers inside, leading many to think that no figures were included; secondly, this really isn't the set's most flattering view. With the wheels folded, she loses a certain something. Partly, this is the width caused by the protruding wheels, but it doesn't help that the wheels don't pivot around their centre, as the original's do. Achieving such a result isn't impossible, but would require a vastly more intricate mechanism, with resulting fragility and probably a too-difficult build. I'm going to leave the car in 'driving' mode. 'Western' DeLorean - Back to the Future III This is the car that Doc accidentally took back to 1885, then hid so that Marty could rescue it in 1955, in order to take it back to 1885 again, and cause your head to explode thinking about it. It's meant to have '1950s' wheels - big red rims with whitewall tyres - as the originals had decayed over time, and the time circuits burned out during the lightning strike, necessitating 1950s Doc to build an alternative using valves as transistors hadn't been invented yet. Check your head. Still intact? Good. Conversion requires removing a 1x4 tile from in front of the 'windscreen', then adding the greebled orange plates that represent the 'valve technology' time circuits, then replacing the bley wheels with red. There's only one set of tyres included, so you have to switch these too; but if you're anything like me you'll have quite a few spares lying around. You should also leave Mr. Fusion on. This is probably the car's best looking guise - the front box disguises the stepped front, and the red wheels rather counter-intuitively add to the car's attractiveness, even if they don't recreate the over-sized 50s wheels perfectly. I'm not sure why orange was chosen for the 'box'; I'd have thought either dark orange or dark tan would be better choices; certainly the latter isn't hard to come by in 2x4 plates. The red wheels don't quite match up to the big 50s whitewall tyres of the original, but I don't know how they could be better represented at this scale. Here are all three versions of the 'real' DeLorean for comparison: Pictures from here, here, and here respectively. Comparison to the CUUSOO Original Model If you've seen the original CUUSOO entry, you might already have noticed that the final version is a vastly different kettle of frogs. The most obvious difference - noticed and commented on, mostly disapprovingly, as soon as the catalogue picture was revealed - is the shape of the front. The LEGO designer has chosen to create the front end from a stepped construction of tiles, rather than using the more obvious solution of a 6x8 sloped tile as the CUUSOO entrants chose. Why did they make this change? Part of the reason may be the difficulty in recreating the third movie DeLorean. Here's the CUUSOO version: There isn't an existing LEGO part that would allow the attachment of parts to its upper surface whilst retaining the shallow slope. The CUUSOO team must have used an adhesive substance here. I can forgive TLG for not wishing to create a unique, specialised mold just for this set, so an alternative solution would be necessary. Is this the sole reason? To answer that, I had to examine the original CUUSOO entry a little more closely ... so I built one, using the LDD instructions the CUUSOO team thoughtfully provided. I've had to substitute a few parts; my 7676 Republic Gunship is packed away, so I've used 1x2 smoke tiles rather than the four 1x1s the original uses, but you'll get the impression. Immediately you can see that the CUUSOO version is bigger, and taller; it isn't wider, but the straight-mounted 'windscreen' stanchions make the cabin more boxy. At the back, the rear bumper is the same ... but that's about it. The CUUSOO version has replicated the dark grey area around the rear lights, but the light configuration is no more accurate than LEGO's example, and looks a little fussy. The vents are similar, but LEGO's are individually tilted; the original has rear slanted stanchions, but, like those of the 'windscreen', they are square to the body. Mostly, the SNOT-mounted white tiles - which represent the blue-glowing time-travel whojimaflips of the original, and simulated in silver on the LEGO version - stand rather too proud of the model, and look uncomfortably square. They're also flimsy: attached only via a SNOT stud at the bottom and a 1x1 clip at the top. The choice of white for the time-travel thingumajigs explains the white front bumper. It's interesting that the white bumper has carried over to the LEGO version, even though its side whotsits are silver. I'd have preferred silver for the front bumper too, but the 1x2 bows don't exist in this colour. This is more apparent in the top view. LEGO's answer to the silvery stripes does result in discontinuity, but it's more subtle, and doesn't affect the lines of the car. As you can see, the CUUSOO version is far longer: a good four studs. This does allow more room for rear-end greebling, but at the expense of realism: the DeLoraean is a two-seater sports car, and it's dinky. CUUSOO's roomy cabin has lots of room for detail - there's even a keypad for entering destination dates, a gearstick, and the Time Circuit switch - the last two mounted centrally on jumper plates, and which interfere with each other. To be fair, this is a plot point in the original film. The seats are placed at positions 2 & 3 and 6 & 7 of the 8 stud-wide cabin, giving no ambiguity as to where the passengers sit, but they have to sit bolt upright in order to close the doors. Opening the doors requires you to lift the windscreen stanchions; the 1x1 clippy tiles I've used here are incredibly stiff, making this no mean feat. Marty and Doc have to keep their outboard arms raised in order for the doors to close, but they sit in there quite happily. The steering wheel is correctly mounted for the chairs. There is, of course, no Flux Capacitor print in this version. The CUUSOO version is much bigger, but at 214 grammes, only slightly heavier - its destiny density is less. This is the result of quite a flimsy structure: There's acres of space in there - I'd have strengthened it; perhaps the CUUSOO team decided not to in order to reduce the piece count. I strongly suspect that the model is originally conceived would not have passed TLG's stringent quality rules. It's also rather over-complicated; look at the wheel mechanism for an example. Note that I've substituted a few parts (eg. light bley clippy hinges for black; two 4x4 plates for one 4x8). Despite being lighter by 24 grammes, the LEGO version feels more heavy, and more sturdy. 'There's that word again: "heavy". Why is everything so heavy in the future? Is there something wrong with the Earth's gravitational pull?' The LEGO version is a vastly different model to the CUUSOO original - there are very few features carried over. Having built both, I can fully appreciate the redesign, and the reasons behind it. What results is a far sportier, and far sturdier model; it better resembles the compact DeLorean, and even though the smooth slope of the front end is lost, the result is more gently tapered in both vertical and horizontal directions. If you are thinking of replacing the front with the 6x8 slope, it isn't as easy as it looks. The windscreen stanchions will have to be moved, and the slope will overhang in an ugly way at the front corners. Mostly, the slope is too steep: the DeLorean's front end is nearly flat, and using the slope will result in a much bulkier front end than is desirable. It is because of this - and the excessive size of the CUUSOO version - that to me makes LEGO's version look the part of a stylish sports car converted into a time machine; while, in comparison, the CUUSOO original - despite its extra features - looks more like a Volvo. I'm glad they redesigned it. Conclusion I've been looking at, handling, and playing with this model for some four weeks now, and I have to say that - despite initial misgivings about the stepped front, I really like it. Having also built the CUUSOO original, I feel LEGO's version is a far better representation of the DeLorean: more accurate to scale with the minifigures, and much more in keeping with the lines and style of the iconic 1980s sports car. It has its flaws: seating two figures inside, while possible, requires some manual dexterity, and the doors have a dispiriting tendency to fall off (a problem shared with the CUUSOO version); even when you inevitably come to accept the stepped front, the use of two 2x4 tiles in the middle section looks a little odd (easily rectified with a simple modification). However, the overall result is a delightfully compact, sturdy, and playable sporty roadster that you can push around the table, flip the wheels, then swoosh around the room. Just don't do that above 88 miles per hour... Marty and Doc are fine representations of the characters, and have unique torsos and head pieces (and hair, in Doc's case). Add to that the 'Architecture-style' box and manual, and the very reasonable asking price of £35, and you have an affordable playset and collector's piece in one. I heartily recommend it. Design & Build 8 Whatever your feelings about the stepped front, I think you have to agree that the designer has captured the sporty feel of the DeLorean well, and succeeded in upholding TLG's quality standards in the process. I think the car is attractive, and fun, and I would choose the sleek, low-profile design over the Volvo look any day. The build doesn't exactly set the world on fire, but it is pacey, and involves a few interesting techniques - the headlight-brick attachment; the use of clippy-hinges for the doors; and the combination of clippy- and brick hinges on the vents are the highlights here. Parts 8 I'm sure many of you would be able to build the car from your own collection, but you'd miss out on the gorgeous printed parts; and the black tubes aren't common in quantity. I don't think the parts selection would be a major factor in your decision to buy it, but I'm not complaining about the headlight bricks. Figures 9 Doc's and Marty's torsos and faces are unique, and Marty's wearing the iconic 1980s gear. You might question the choice of the Radiation Suit for Doc, but it makes some sense - it's the first thing we see him wearing in the films, and you could recreate most other costumes from existing parts (with the possible exception of the 'future suit'. I'm sure these figures will be sought-after. Play & Display 10 The opening doors, swiveling wheels and the ability to change the car to match each of the films give rise to plenty of play options; you can push it or swoosh it to your heart's content. Or, it looks great on the shelf. I'd also like to include 'collectability' in this section - something I will consider for future Architecture reviews: the attention that has gone into the box art and instruction manual easily rival that of the Architecture range, and truly make this set a collector's dream. Value 10 Even purely on a parts to pennies ratio, this is good value, even though the parts are mostly plates; add in the licence, the collectability, the figures, and the car's design, and I think the price looks very reasonable. Overall 90% My Score 9/10 I'm delighted with this set, and if you're a fan of the films, you will be too. I urge you to look beyond the stepped front end; if you can't, well, maybe you guys just aren't ready for this yet. But your kids are gonna love it. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the review. Please let me know what you think! Rufus Resources Back To The Future wiki: Futurepedia Buy a REAL DeLorean! DeLorean.com LEGO CUUSOO Winner: Back to the Future(BTTF) - DeLorean Time Machine My flickr set Endpiece (I should have used the Lone Ranger train for this. ) If you like my reviews, and would like to learn how it's done, please consider joining the Reviewers Academy:

BOLD PREDICTIONS ON THE FUTURE OF CUUSOO... WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN THEY FINALLY "GO LIVE"?! As you may know... Cuusoo began the first phase of testing (the Alpha Phase) in late 2008, and that lasted for about three years. It was limited to Japan, with a small number of people, and the number of votes needed to pass was much smaller. All the projects that are older than late 2011 are legacies from the Alpha Phase. The current phase (the Beta Phase) began in late 2011 or so, and will probably go 3 years or so until 2015. Naturally, the goal of the Beta Phase is to test it with the most solid fan-base, get feedback, work out all of the kinks, and to finalize the rules, before they go live and start advertising the site. Wow, so what will happen when Cuusoo finally "goes live"?! 1) First, if GlenBricker's stats are right, then by that time, 15 more projects will have passed 10,000, and then the top projects will be ones that have just about 2500 votes as of right now. 2) Next, once it goes live, they will likely start to advertise it on their main site, bringing many many more visitors, viewers, and voters... At that point, it seems likely that the strategy for winning will start to shift away from relentlessly spamming social networking sites, and more towards attracting votes from casual fans and casual visitors. 3) Most importantly, if there are so many more people visiting and voting, and if all of the good-quality well-designed projects that are posted now will have 1000 or more votes to grow on, doesn't it seem likely to think that ***ALL*** of the good-quality well-designed projects that are posted there now should hit 10,000 surprisingly quickly after that, with all of the new visitors and voters around? So far, there have been about 3 million visitors on Cuusoo... When they go live, that number should jump up to the tens of millions surprisingly quickly... SImply put, if there are 5x as many people on the site after it goes live, then a "five-year slog" suddenly becomes a "one-year victory lap"...! If there are 10x as many people on the site, or more, then things will start to blast forward at warp speed! In fact, I am starting to think that when that day comes, then hundreds of the best-quality projects will rocket to the 10,000 mark within the space of a few months, and LEGO will love it, because it will make a lot of fans happy after years of struggle, and it will give them tons more options when it comes to deciding which set they want to make. Most likely they will also adjust by making more sets per quarter. And so what do you think? What will happen when they finally "go live"?!

Hey all, I would like to share my new LDD MOC with you, a scale model of the entrance to Legoland Germany. I had a lot of fun building it in LDD and would love to see it realised as a real set with CUUSOO. That's why I decided to upload it: The Legoland Germany Entrance on CUUSOO Imagine taking this home as a souvenir from the park. Feedback is more than welcome, thanks for reading!

Yeah, this one came out of nowhere! Congrats to 'SaMe'! I don't care too much for these science projects. What do y'all think about this one?

I’ve been making an effort to look at more of the different sites FOLs can post their MOCs on lately. And one that caught my eye on ReBrick was a medium-sized bust of Darth Maul with his probe droids. And I thought, “Wow, that’s really nice shaping.” So I clicked on the link back to the builder’s photostream and saw… 4-LOM! Bossk! Dengar! Zuckuss! IG-88! White Boba Fett! Some Clone Wars bounty hunters I don’t care about! ( ) All beautifully sculpted and detailed. Excellent work using a variety of shapes to sculpt instantly-recognizable characters at this scale. Look at the bandages on Dengar. Look at the expression of Bossk. But he’s also made two other characters in addition to the nine bounty hunters and the pilot Luke Skywalker at the beginning of this post, and one of those really caught my eye. The head, especially the mouth, on this Greedo: Incredible. The models are also on CUUSOO.

The Female Minifigure Set on Cuusoo reaches 10K! Congrats 'Alatariel'! I like the project. The structures are cool (loving the dino one) and the idea is understandable. But, I think it's time we need a racial diversity minifigure set. I can't really judge if this will pass review, but I would definitely pick it up if it does. What do y'all think? Will this pass the review stage?

The League of Legends Cuusoo project has finally reached 10,000 supporters! Congrats 'Addam'! What do you think about this project? Will it pass? I really love this project, even though I don't care for LoL. It looks lovely, and I love the purple. The Summer 2013 review may be the best lineup of Cuusoo projects to get 10K!