JSN

Not sure if the Scottish Mirror are doing this but the Daily Record are. You can claim them in TRU and RS McColls

All three sets are built on 2 16*32 plates, dark bley for MS and CC, green for GG. If you are making a Market Street style building you need this as the set splits in two but for Cafe Corner and Green Grocer you could build both on a 32*32 even though they use 2 16*32.

Real football: Also Scotland rugby and Kansas State in American football

Sorry to hear about the natural disaster hitting your town. I know what that kind of destruction is like. In the case of my little town the hurricane was a drunken friend who I allowed to sleep on my floor since he couldn't get a taxi and didn't want to walk several miles to get home. Soon after the event my town was reconstructed in a different part of my room as far from the door as possible.

Good topic and as a minifig lover its really hard to pick but here goes: Town -The early 90s policeman, he has been a favourite of mine for years and before anyone starts complaining about Town Junior I made one like this several years before that was released so he was all classic Castle nearly picked the maiden from the MMV but the Jester is just too cool to ignore. Pirates - So many to pick but I am really liking the new Redcoats but there must be an honourable mention for the Mermaid and Governors daughter Space - Never really been a huge Space fan, in fact I almost cheated and put a Star Wars one here but I did quite like the Ice Planet guys. Other/Licensed - This for me is really hard for me to pick since there are great figures in the Western and Adventurers lines and I really like the old Aquanauts then there are so many great licensed figs - Indy, Darths Vader and Maul, Yoda, Han (the yellow one from the first Falcon), Dr Jones Senior, I could go on for ages but if forced to pick I will still sit on the fence and go for a tie between R2D2 and the Studios Vampire and a last honourable mention to the lovely Agent Trace Sorry for the links instead of pics, its late and I'm feeling lazy and sorry for cheating by going for other and licensed but I struggle to pic favourite minifigs

Thank you Sandy for a great review of a great theme. I missed most of the original Adventurers line due to the dreaded dark ages but managed to get a few of the Indian/Himalayan Orient sets including the Temple of the Mountain, Elephant Caravan and Aero Nomad after my return to the Lego fold. Unfortunately as I was a poor student at the time I missed out on the larger sets which I would love to get hold of now. While I have broken up most of the sets I have the Aero Nomad can still be seen floating above my city layout

My last sets of 2008 were the Dwarves Mine Defender and Tower Raid (both bought after deciding to get back into Castle sets thanks to the Medieval Market Village) while my first sets of 2009 are a large S@H order including the aforementioned MMV, Brickbeards Bounty and the Coast Guard Platform. Unfortunately since MMV is backordered I may have to wait a while to get these

Thanks to Sinner for organising this contests and all those who provided prizes and congratulations to the winners. Can I also apologise for not sending my address till now as last time I looked I missed the fact I had won anything so sorry to Sinner for the hassle and thanks for the kick up the a***!

Hi guys, I have tried printing out decals on various types of white paper but have never been satisfied with the results so I have gone and bought some decal paper (I just hope its the right stuff) and want to try it out. The problem I have is I can't work out what colour to make "invisible" ie if I am printing a decal for a red torso how do I print all the colours except red so this comes from the torso I am applying the decal to? At the moment I am trying to make torsos in paint and print from word so I can resize them correctly but if this is not the way to do it please let me know. Many thanks, John

While searching the BBC News website today I came across this story about unusual ways of spreading the message of the bible (including one in Cockney rhyming slang) and was happy to see that the Brick Testament was featured in it. I'm sure the Brick Testament itself isn't news to most EB members especially as its creator Brendan Powell Smith is one himself but I think it is great to see his work featured by a major news outlet like the BBC and show his wonderful creations to a wider audience.

Sounds intruiging...I think its worth a shot!

I think the great thing about the cottage is its very reminiscent of classic holiday home type houses that Lego used to make like this one from the late 80s which a lot of people (me included) believe Lego need to make more of.

Wow! Managed to find a pic on Brickshelf and this is a great set. Hope it going to be released properly and not just a promo. One thing though, would it not be quite noisy if you lived in that house

Thanks Eilif. I have to say that is one of the best compliments anyone could pay me. Zepher, I am not sure what to make of your comment. The only other creation of mine I have shown on Eurobricks was an earlier and, in my opinion, inferior version of the same town so I am not sure how this is not "my best work". I have some plans to make my city better but because of the aforementioned space constraints this is probably as good as it will get for the foreseeable future.

I voted buffalo as it is the iconic animal of the Wild West but I would love to see any new official moulds. I agree cows would have more use in other themes but as so many people have said if you think of the Wild West and animals you think buffalo. That and Brickforge already do awesome cows (and pigs and sheep ) but you never know, if LEGO did decide to revive WW as a full theme they might treat us to a couple of animal moulds. Here's hoping!

Thanks legotrainfan. No problem with a little constructive criticism. I think the crane is ok where it is when you see the actual city as it is next to the 2 tall towers so it doesnt stand out as much. The ship I will either replace with a smaller brick built ship or expand the port and add more large ships. I also have a couple of ideas for things to do with that large hull but I need to think out the plan I have in my head and decide which parts I need before I give it a try.

Thanks for all the comments guys, glad you like it. As far as trains go I would love to add a station and some track to the layout but as you can see there is very little space left especially for something like a rail system that takes up a lot of space. Between that and the cost of train sets I won't be adding to this until I move things to a bigger location but it is definitely on the drawing board.

Great work once again Raplh. Your pub is really nice and I like the slightly cramped look of it familiar to those of us who frequent British pubs. Makes me fancy going for a pint! I like the way you made the upstairs into cramped student flats, again great realism. I'm still amazed but how much detail you have managed to get into such a small space. I can't wait to see more of your creations.

Last time I was home I somehow managed to squeeze Market Street, Green Grocer and Town Plan into my already overcrowded layout and took some pics to show you guys so here is a little tour. First up is a shot of the whole town. To fit everything in I sacrificed a bit of water and some parking behind the police and fire stations so I was able to fit in another row of 32*32 plates. I also shifted 6397 into the middle of the layout so my figs no longer had to use a petrol station as a main road. Next is a shot of the road into town with the Town Plan sets and you can see into the back of the tower blocks. As you can see I need to buy myself a road plate for this bit. Here is a shot of the towers from the front. Both are 10 storeys tall built in a very plain style due to my limited architectural skills. Inside the white tower there is a bank, some offices and a penthouse lounge while the black tower has a small museum, a display of scary creatures, some offices, a bar and a viewing deck. Between the towers there is a bungy jump platform and the white tower has a window cleaner hanging off it. Outside the towers there is a pizzeria and restaurant for the hungry figs and a crazy wizard shouting at the evildoers inside. There is also a small but busy park for the citizens to relax in which has a war memorial, fountain, benches and a table for people to play chess. Here is the new modular street. I would rather have Cafe Corner at the other end but it clashes with the port at the end of the street. The busy port with ships and trucks loading and unloading. The crowded local beach with a villa that is now empty since its owner moved to his new house above the Green Grocer. You will need to be quite rich to be able to move into such desirable waterfront property! The local marina with mechanics hard at work and a large building site behind it. Whats going in the building site? No idea, probably nothing since I really like that crane! And finally a shot from higher up showing the police and fire stations, towers, crane and some intrepid flyers. Full gallery with a few more pics For now I don't see any major changes being made to the town as I have to accept I can't fit anything else in without it coming crashing off, in fact some the balance on some things is a bit dodgy as it is! Because of this when I am home I will mainly be concentrating on small changes and making interiors for the modular buildings. When I finally get somewhere of my own that has a decent sized space I can put my town in I am planning a large expansion with a bigger harbour and beach area, more houses and shops and some specialised buildings like a church, hospital and courthouse and I am also planning a large modular office building for Octan's headquarters. I hope you have enjoyed the tour and I would appreciate any comments you have about it.

According to this it will be released but there is no word on when yet. I can't be more help than that I'm afraid since I don't know anything about the actual molding process involved in making these kind of items but good luck if you try it your self and I look forward to seeing your results.

If you don't mind waiting a bit BrickArms are going to be releasing a Brodie helmet at some point. There is a thread on th BA forum here including a picture of it from Brick World. No word on a release date though.

Thanks for the comments guys. To be honest the reason I don't post much here is the same as it is for a few forums I visit, laziness! I just tend to read things and move on but I am going to try and be more active from now on. ImperialShadows: I think I can add Pirates to my list of favourite LEGO as well. I had a few sets when I was younger but they are all broken up now. I loved the theme back then but just concentrated on my town more. I would love to see the them brought back though. One of the projects I would like to do when I have time/space/money to expand my town is build a Black Seas Barracuda and put it on my seafront as a museum to combine two great themes in one. If I have time on my next trip home I will see what I can do about reviews of some of my older sets. Over the years most have been broken up for other things or changed in some way while the figs are scattered all over town but I will review what I can for you guys.

Hi guys, I've been a member of Eurobricks for about a year and a half but I have not really posted very often. I tend to just lurk and read the news/reviews and marvel at people's MOCs so apologies for not introducing myself sooner. I'm John, 25 from Scotland. I have been a fan of LEGO for as long as I remember with a brief dark age toward the end of school and the start of uni which unfortunately coincided with the Wild West theme which I love but mostly missed out on but thanks to Star Wars I was brought back to LEGO mid-way through uni. My favourite theme is town although unfortunately mine is still in my parents house which is several hours from me now so I don't get to do much with it these days but hopefully I will soon have somewhere of my own to move it to. There is a thread for it buried deep in the Towns and Train forum which I will revive once I get round to uploading the pics of my last trip home. I am also trying to turn my hand to minifig customising. I have some army troops I made years ago and dug out again thanks to the mighty BrickArms and I am trying to make some custom figs with torsos from the EB torso library and I will post the results if I can ever find any I am happy with! I look forward to being more active on EB from now on. John

Great MOC Ralph. Looks great with Cafe Corner and has an excellent interior, especially the shop itself. As another Brit I am familiar with the often cramped inside of a corner shop and think you have captured it perfectly. Can't wait to see the pub.

Thanks. I actually remembered your band when I saw you ID pic. Love the way they look. How did you make the bearskin?