greg3

It's been a while since the last update (don't you just hate when real life work eats into your Lego playing time!!? ) but now I've got a few weeks off so it's back to business in Ballabreek!! First off I decided it was time to replace the bank but why just close it down when I can use the opportunity for... Ballabreek's first ever bank robbery!? The first the residents knew of it was when an explosion shattered the peace in the early hours of the morning. Daylight revealed the extent of the damage, criminals had used explosives to blow the cash machine from the wall, before entering the bank through the resulting breach and making off with what the police have described as a "significant amount of money" in gold bars and 100 pound tiles. The area has been sealed off and a full investigation is now taking place... Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Police officers secure the area and deal with curious onlookers. Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Damage to the building and the nearby bench reveals the force of the explosion as forensic teams begin the search for clues. Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Photographs of the scene and samples of explosive residue yields vital evidence... Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr As does surviving CCTV images which show that the infamous Red Hood Gang might be responsible... Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr ...as a result detectives from nearby Gotham city (where the gang are believed to have originated) are called in to help with the investigation. Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr So is this crime wave going to continue? If so who will stop it? Watch this space to find out... (maybe) Thanks for looking... comments are always welcome!!

This is brilliant!! A great concept and perfectly executed!! Great use of the balloon parts....Now is it just me that thinks it looks like a futuristic version of Penelope Pitstop's car in "Wacky Races"? Hmmm.... a "Wacky Runners" theme? Nice work!!

That is fantastic!! I love Lego boats and this is an excellent example. The details are spot on and the fact the lower hull can be removed is a great idea!! The rest of the boats and the harbour itself are just the icing on the cake!! Excellent stuff!!!

Great photography on these - especially the close ups!! An interesting story too (nice to see Vanto playing a part... The recent Thrawn book was a great read!!)

I'd hoped #2 would win too.... But then I did build it !! Seriously though, there were so many good entries and the winners are all well deserved.... Well done to everyone who took part!! Now when's the next contest?

Thanks for all the kind comments (and votes!!) I have to say I really enjoyed building this and creating the background story - Thrawn being one of my favourite characters (oh and sorry to any ET fans out there!!!) Thanks again to those involved in organising the competition and providing the prizes.

Star Wars meets Ninjago!! I love it!! I. Like the way you've linked their ninja skills to the force!!

Awesome stuff!! The landscaping in the second build is great... The creature and the walker are fantastic too!! Excellent use of Mixel parts too in Thrawn's study!! A well deserved prize winner!!

Great couple of builds - I really like the Star Destroyer interior ones (love the "thinking Thrawn" pose too!!) A well deserved winner!!

Great couple of builds... I love the gold/black piece of artwork and the story idea is excellent too (Classic Thrawn... I can just imagine it coming from one of the Zahn novels) A well deserved prize winner!!

The "artwork" in that first image is amazing!! Great use of balloon parts and the pillars are nicely designed too!! Excellent stuff!!

Great idea for a story... Nicely executed too despite your lack of bricks!! Nice work!!

Nice work.... The museum looks great - I can imagine Thrawn spending hours in there!! The second build is very clever too.... The holographic ships are a great idea (and who doesn't like a giant Thrawn!?)

I really like that second build - it has a cool underground vibe with the rock walls and tunnel!!

Nice builds... I especially like all the detailing on the wall in the first one!!

That looks great!! Really like the statue but the stained glass window is my favourite bit!! Nice work!!

They are fantastic!! Excellent use of the transparent bricks (I especially like the ice dragon with the mix of white/blue) Nice work!!

That looks pretty cool!! I do like learning about ancient weapons like this!! (Good use of the spring loaded launchers!!) Might make a version with real bricks just to see what happens when you fire it!!

Excellent looking buildings... Great colour choice and a nice range of styles (just like a real town!) Think my favourite is the corner building!! Nice job!!

I liked the first one but this one's even better!! Great combination of colour/textures on the building!! Nice work!!

While waiting for my Ideas Saturn V to arrive, I've been getting into the mood by looking for other 60s/70s space vehicles to make - the result is this microscale version of America's first space station - Skylab!! Skylab was launched unmanned in 1973 on a modified Saturn V rocket (it was the last use of the Saturn V launch vehicle) Unfortunately, the mission got off to a bad start as, during lift off, a section of the shielding broke away taking one of the station's 2 solar panel arrays with it and damaging the other one; preventing it from deploying once the station reached orbit. As well as having no power, the lost shielding also led to the station rapidly overheating. A repair mission was hastily planned and astronauts were able to deploy the remaining solar panels and install a replacement heat shield. In all there were 3 manned missions to the station and it was occupied for 171 days during its lifetime. As well as it carrying a space telescope, the crews carried out a number of experiments and gained valuable experience in living in space. The station remained in orbit until 1979 by which time its orbit was beginning to decay. NASA had intended to use the first Space Shuttle missions to reactivate and reposition the station but when the Shuttle project was delayed, it was decided to let the station re-enter the atmosphere where it was assumed it would burn up. Despite trying to redirect the station to re-enter over open water, some parts of the station survived re-entry and landed in Australia!! (I remember as a kid seeing all the news reports about it at the time!!) My version... originally I was going to make it in scale with the Ideas Saturn V but a lack of suitable parts led to it getting smaller!! Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr A close up of the docked Apollo Command/Service Module (CSM) that was used to ferry crews and supplies to the station. Launched using the smaller Saturn 1B rocket, the CSMs used for the Skylab missions had white painted Command modules but otherwise looked the same as those used for the moon missions. During the manned Skylab missions, a rescue craft was kept on standby back on Earth. This was a CSM modified with 2 extra seats - in the event of an emergency requiring evacuation, this craft would launch with a 2 man crew to bring back the 3 men from Skylab. Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr A quick guide to the station. From Left to Right... Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr CSM spacecraft Docking module (2 docking points) Apollo Telescope Mount (above the docking module) This was a solar observatory consisting of 8 instruments gathering images and other information on the sun. It had its own solar panels which would prove vital as NASA engineers were able to use them to keep the station running long enough to repair the damage to the main solar arrays. Airlock module - airlocks for EVA missions (the least accurate part of my model (the dark grey cone) - still looking at improving it!!) Orbital Workshop - the main living/working area. At the far end were waste tanks, fuel stores and a radiator. You can clearly see the replacement parasol sun shield which had been designed, made (literally sewn together by 2 women with sewing machines!!) launched and fitted to the station 11 days after the incident during launch!! I think the station came out looking pretty good... there's still a few areas for improvement (mainly the Solar Observatory and airlock module!) but I'm pretty pleased with it!! Comments are always welcome!!

Thanks... I'd had a picture in my mind of a cockpit with lots of steel framework and exposed pipes/tanks etc. I actually looked at pics of large bomber cockpits of the 50's as well as Fireball XL5 and the Thunderbirds craft and a guide to the ships of the Dan Dare comic stories for a few ideas!! It's my favourite part of the build too!! I did originally have it a brick taller but then changed it... I used it in my Lego town layout and it didn't fit on the transporter!! I'll probably increase the height again if I get round to redesigning it. Oh and unfortunately Space Squad isn't related to Police Squad - it's far more serious!! (I was going to call it Space Patrol but found out that that was an actual US TV series... watched an episode online... seemed to be a half hour long breakfast cereal advert!!)

Thanks for the comments... I live in the Isle of Man where our buses are still run by the government and are currently a silver/grey colour (not very exciting!!) My town is vaguely based on local towns and villages but with a large slice of artistic license so I'm quite happy with the green/yellow for the time being - especially after going through the hassle of finding a suitable door to convert it to drive on the correct side of the road!!!

Hi After getting the recent CMF "Rocket Boy" figure, I decided to create a retro style rocket. Inspired by Murdoch17's version I based the design on the Spongebob rocket from a while back but made it shorter... and created a vague backstory with it being a Patrol Ship from a totally made up TV serial "Space Squad"!! Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr The pilot and star of the show... Captain Richard "Booster" Jackson Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr The cockpit... Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Ready to blast off on another adventure... Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr To "infinity and beyond"!! (oops, wrong show!!) Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr As with all cult TV, Space Squad quickly developed a large fan following and plenty of merchandise - most sought after is this child's costume from the 1960s... Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr This was a lot of fun to put together and I've got several ideas for adventures and stories for Captain "Booster" Jackson to embark on (who knows I might even share them one day!). I'm still toying with the design - I'm working on extending the fins along the body and rotating them 90˚ so the ship can land horizontally with the cockpit on top. I'd also quite like a recoloured version to go with the CMF retro spaceman but that might have to wait.... I have a Saturn V to put together!!! Anyway, thanks for looking... comments are always welcome.

Hi This week has seen the new Summer wave of Lego sets appearing in my local toy shop so the next few updates should see some new additions to Ballabreek... First off, a new bus company has begun to operate services linking the village to nearby towns/cities. They've invested in a new bus shelter and of course a new "fleet" (can one be a fleet?) of buses. Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr After a delay while the bus was converted to drive on the left (left train doors in black are surprisingly hard to find!!) the service is now up and running!! The buses themselves are the latest environmentally friendly hybrids and are fully accessible for prams and wheelchair users. They can even carry bicycles on the back so people can get the bus to Ballabreek and then enjoy the surrounding countryside on two wheels. Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Also this week sees the opening of a small newsstand selling papers and drinks. Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr As you can tell, I've recently bought the new Bus Station set... as well as changing the bus to right hand drive, I MODed the bus stop slightly to make it lower and I got rid of the ramp (in my "world" the buses have retractable ramps for wheelchairs/pushchairs). Anyway, thanks for looking... as always comments are very welcome.