woofmcmoose

Simply brilliant scene, the back wall has just the right level of greebles. Only one thing could improve it and that is if the hangar doors would open. If you worked for Mantis, chief accountant Long may have something to say about needing 8 people to launch a single seat fighter but they do really add to the scene.

Wow. Very cool build, the trail of debris and displaced sand is great and very convincing.

Location: B06 Tags: Vehicle, Land/Water vehicle, Military Henry Moose Personal Log 02 Augustali 3815 Well I guess whilst I joined MANTIS for the variety and excitement I didn't really expect this: Last week freezing on Terrial Minor and barely escaping intact; This week acting as chauffeur for some special ops guys on Sorn; a mix of marines and combat engineers. I at least expected some kind of fancy dropship to fly but no I get a floating brick of an amphibious assault vehicle; something about trouble taking down Kawashita air defences. So the plan was to go in on the water, to establish a beach head on an as yet unexplored and unexploited island chain north of Kawashita's main area of operations. Out of the water the amphibious transport handled just as badly as in the water; she was a real pig. Still we got there, feet dry, and nobody shot at us so I count that a success. Now we just need to level an LZ before we can drop in the Awesomnium harvesters. Spec ops should be opening a window in the Kawashita sensor and air defence coverage just long enough to land the heavy gear. Then the plan is to act like we were here all along should the Kawas come calling. Some more shots of the tank:

Location: D03 - Terrial Major Tags: Spaceship, Exploration Job: Pilot Cockpit Voice Recorder Playback Transcript Vessel: Survey Craft 039 Callsign: Locust 39 Pilot: Henry Moose Transcript Begins Locust 3-9: Control, Locust Three-Niner descending to begin aerial survey of Sector Charlie. Control: Locust Three-Niner, Roger, How's it looking? Locust 3-9: Ship is green, outside is white.... really white. Control: Roger, Three-Niner, keep your eyes peeled. Ground survey teams have spotted some nasty wildlife, some aerial photos would be useful as most of the teams were too busy running away to get any hard data. Locust 3-9: Ok Control, wilco, but I think this sector is pretty quiet; visual and infra-red scopes are clear. Locust 3-9: Control, Locust Three-Niner, checking in on the hour, nothing to rep .....uninteligible..... Megabloks! What the blok is that. .....uninteligible..... all over me .....uninteligible..... taking evasive .....uninteligible..... Control: Three-Niner, say again. Locust 3-9: .....uninteligible..... big claws .....uninteligible.... breathing ice .....uninteligible....can't shake it .....uninteligible.... Locust 3-9: .....uninteligible..... no option .....uninteligible..... crazy ivan .....uninteligible..... woohooo, follow this you .....uninteligible..... frost dragon Locust 3-9: .....uninteligible..... oh yeah! Control: Three-Niner, Control, come-in, what's your status? Locust 3-9: .....uninteligible..... That was close control. Some kind of flying predator, bigger than my ship, thought I was lunch! I'm bugging out unless you can give me some fighter cover. Control: Three-Niner, negative on the fighters, but you're cleared to return to base, the science boys will want a look at your mission tapes.

Greeting fellow employees, I'm here for the training and orientation... Name is Henry Moose, feel free to just call me Moose. Signed up as a pilot as I used to haul ore for a small time asteroid mining company but heard MANTIS has bigger pay-checks and much better toys.

Henry Moose Personal Log: Today I got my first flight in one of the newest MANTIS toys; the Hornet Class Gunship. If I'm honest my first impressions were that it looks to be more gun than ship.... The two giant particle cannons aren't exactly subtle, I doubt that if I come across any Octan or Kawashita vessels I could convince them my intentions were peaceful. Though maybe when your staring down both barrels you can be convinced of anything... The cockpit is hardly spacious, and the field of view isn't great, but at least the radiators on the particle cannon shield my eyes from the glare when firing. And despite the lack of subtlety she looks very sleek. The technicians assure me that whilst the drive looks like a re-purposed trash can, it is in fact a precision engineered pulse-fusion thrust chamber... and it just so happens that the most efficient geometry is identical to that of a universal standard waste disposal cylinder. She flies reasonably well, though is far better suited to space than atmo... And I'm all for efficiency and smart design, but really, using the nose landing gear as the targeting array....? Still, this is much cooler than the survey ships I would have been flying for Octan and it's only two days until my first larvae Friday. I can't help but be a little worried about what they are expecting me to have to go out and fight with this thing though.... EDIT: resized pics and added an extra shot.

Henry Moose signing on with MANTIS as a pilot. What can I say, it was the larvae Fridays that swayed me...

Here is My Cat B entry in the Space Pirate Contest. In both the past and the future contraband smugglers have been getting around the customs officers of the Brickish Empire. The pirate build is less than 500 pcs and the Space build less than 400. Lets have a look at some key features: Both sets have a 'dock' with a sneaky smuggler underneath heading directly under the customs booth and into the tavern behind: Space: Pirate: Lets take a look at each tavern: Pirate first: Then space (notice the parrot in the laser cage in the corner: Looking at the pirate build from the front- notice the monkey at the lookout post. Now in space, the lookout post becomes an observatory, and look! Space monkey-robot thing! Whilst the guard on the waterfront is pretty easy to spot his space counterpart is hidden away in my attempt at a sci-fi corridor along the front of the space station: Notice the Tavern sign (it does stick out a bit far)! Of course the whole exercise relies on misdirection; the classic pretty girl distracting the senior officers with the legal part of the shipment:

Wanted for Piracy: The Crew of The Flying Narwhal Captain Cornelius Blowfish From the planet Urch, Cornelius is a fearless and daring pirate. There being no Urchen-Standard dictionary in existence, his name is merely the closest sounding Standard words and it is unknown what his name actually means in his native tongue. The important thing is he has a large sword and a map of the galaxies major shipping lanes and he's not afraid to put either to use. Nebula Nebula only works in black; if it's good enough for space its good enough for her. Swift and deadly with her pistol and her charms she always gets the job done. Blinky Blinky envies the binocular vision of his crewmates. Having failed to correct this with a set of targeting goggles he bought over the internet, he resorted to space rum which at least gives him double-vision. Steely-eye-Joe Expert sniper and part time environmentalist, Joe lost his left arm and right eye liberating a shipment of space monkeys (and a considerable number of credits) from a McSpaceBurger factory. Wilson Found shipwrecked on an asteroid after 100 years, Wilson is not quite right in the circuits and is absolutely convinced he's human. It's not clear where he obtained his hair and beard but he claims to have had them all his life. But would you really want to argue otherwise with the inventor of the FishSabreTM. AVA-5T AVA-5T was cobbled together by Wilson and Blinky from various space junk. Part robot, part rum barrel with a cannonball for a 'head' and a very fancy hat; AVA-5T can double as a cannon in a pinch- high proof space rum goes up as well as any gunpowder.

Do you need Lego stair pieces or 6x5 girder panels? If not, I'd definately go for another 60050. My only complaint about 60050 is the use of the giant sloped windscreens in the Lego shop portion, but the rest of the set is a good collection of multi-purpose bricks for MOC/MOD work. 7937 was just not as satisfying to build.

Launch Evac 1 Set #: 6614 Year Released: 1995 Piece Count: 119 Minifigs: 1 RRP: $9.25 Another throwback review as I continue to sort through my tubs of childhood LEGO. The space side of town in the 1990s was one of my favourite sub themes, though this is the only "Launch Command" set I owned. Interestingly whilst part of the "Launch Command" sub-theme the set include both the LC shuttle logo and the "V" logo from the earlier 6346 Shuttle set that was part of the "flight" sub-theme. So lets take a look at what the Launch Command fire department has to offer. The Box Unfortunately I no longer have the box for this set, so imagine the art from the front cover of the instructions with a thin blue border and a triangular "Launch Command" title and logo in the top right corner and you've pretty much got it! Instruction front cover: Being and early 90s set the box would also have had a few alternate builds on the back, one of which we see on this back of the instruction leaflet. Instruction back cover: The Instructions Well, I've already shown you the front and back, so what's inside? The pages feature a green, grey and blue background which seems to evoke a foreground of grass, background of hills then clear skies. Despite the many coloured background it does not interfere with the model, differentiation of parts and colours is good throughout. Being the 90s, they also happily throw on a good number of parts in most steps, though do provide call-outs when additions are hidden or easily missed: On this page you can see the biggest issue with 90s sets- the gauge sticker across multiple grey parts at the back of the engine. The Minifig We get a single minifig in a grey fire-fighter's uniform, which in contrast to the black town fire-fighter's uniform of the same era looks a lot more like actual crash kit worn by airfield fire-fighters. The torso print includes a contents gauge for his breathing gear which is a nice touch; no back printing of course. The fire helmet in black isn't as rare as I first though, having been the default for early 80s sets and used in 'specialist' fire sets (boats and airport) in the late 80s-early 90s. Our fig has also cultivated a very angular moustache. The Parts Here's the full set: Nothing that unique and all the patterns/details are stickered. This was my first encounter with the 1x4x4 doors though, and they do look pretty neat. The Build & Model It's the 90s, don't expect lots of SNOT or novel parts use. However there are some notable features; the wheel surrounds are all brick built (no mudguard parts) and the interior is somewhat asymmetric. The asymmetry is there to fit in the breathing apparatus behind the left hand door, the right side gets an axe and hammer. Note how the guage sticker at the back fits perfectly on the side of the 2x3 brick and thus can be saved when the model is later dismantled (thank you 11 year old me for realising this!). And finished: From this angle a good looking fire truck, though being only a 4-wide, it possibly looks a bit tall. Also notice there are no cab doors; a sign of things to come perhaps. The roof mounted monitor (water cannon) is a nice play feature, though there's not a lot of room in the chassis for a water tank to feed it- an issue I never even considered as a child. The utility lockers are also good play features: Oh No! I've lost my axe! Quick! Get the breathing gear on. Er...wait...I have to take my head off first? Finally, you get a rear mounted (string) hose for when you have to get up close and personal with the fire. Here saving 6673 Solo Trainer (http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=94941) Having brought up 6673, I realise this is another set with naming issues "Launch Evac 1" It's not really an "evacuation" vehicle; perhaps "Launch Rescue 1" would have been better? And before the final verdict, a quick bonus shot of the alternate build from the back of the instructions: It's some kind of fire pick up truck? Whilst much less convincing as a useful fire-fighting appliance Its still good to see what can be accomplished with so few pieces. The Verdict Build & Model: 8 The end result is a nice little fire engine and getting there is not dull. Points are lost for the stickers across multiple parts, though as you saw this can be avoided. Fundamentally, it looks the part when sat next to similar era sets but would be dwarfed in today's 'city' scale. Parts: 7 A reasonable parts selection but nothing unique to this set. Figures: 8 For the era, this was a new and novel minifig, it still doesn't look terrible next to today's figs, aside from maybe the moustache! Playability: 9 As long as you have another set to go save from fire then plenty of playability here. The hoses, equipment lockers and monitor pack a lot into such a small set and it is fun just to vroom round the carpet. Value: 8 I certainly remember being happy spending my pocket money on this at the time! Overall: 8 A very good set in the context of the era. Good looks, plenty of play features, but urgh....stickers!

Bulldozer Set #: 60074 Year Released: 2015 Piece Count: 387 Minifigs: 2 RRP: £24.99 ($39.99, E29.99) My first set from this year's Demolition range I present to you 60074 Bulldozer. In checking if this set had yet been review I came across 7685 (http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=24589), which appears to be the only comparable set Lego have done. I unfortunately don't own 7865 but to me 60074 looks smaller despite the larger piece count (352); probably as these pieces are spent on the accessories and the set is scaled for the smaller Technic treads. "Call in the heavy-duty demolition Bulldozer! The dynamite has done its work and it’s time to demolish the remaining part of the old building to make way for new. Help the demolition experts finish off the job. Jump aboard the powerful bulldozer with its huge, moving blade and ripper, and tear down the remains of the old building! When you’re done, help the experts to clear up the rubble using the bulldozer’s powerful blade!" The Box Front: The front is all action with the 'dozer smashing through the remains of someone's home, presumably so the Octan Corporation can build a new coffee chain on the site? You also get a peek at the additional worked and accessories in the bottom right. The rickety fence in the immediate background looks somewhat giant when compared to the 'dozer in the foreground. Clearly we are in some suburb of Lego city as the skyline is some distance away over a nice green field. The Large blue border has changed from the left side, as on previous city sets to the top, and now encompasses the slightly fatter city logo. Back: The 'HEY!' graphic has been combined with the modular build graphic, leaving more of the area for action. You get a good view of the 'dozers ripper at top left and bottom left and centre you see the other worker setting dynamite with a sledgehammer; safety first folks! Top: The other sides are dull, just blue and text. Our top edge though shows of the accessories again (no 'dozer) and gives a 1:1 of the 'dozer driver, which got me excited as I spotted new headwear! The Minifigs Two figs in here; one in the new 'demolition' Hi-Viz and hoodie print which includes a printed utility belt with radio on the back print.. I must say the detail is a step up from previous Lego Hi-Viz wear and even puts Emmett to shame. Speaking of which our demo lady uses the same hard hat and ponytail as the Gail CMF from the Movie. The guy's blue shirt and harness with tools combo, whilst still good, has appeared before in the mining range so wasn't that exciting. The guy's hat on the other hand with it's integrated ear defenders is new and just looks great compared to the baseball cap and ear defenders combo seen in various cargo sets as there is no gap between the ear defenders and ears (well minifig head sides; only elves have ears in legoland). No 'hourglassing' on either torso so the fig parts are completely interchangeable too. Front: Back: The heads we've seen before, not sure why the guy is sweating- maybe the 'dozer doesn't have air con, or maybe he's concerned about his co-worker grinning whilst wielding explosives and a giant sledgehammer. The Parts Plenty of yellow bits, which as with many modern light coloured parts means some poor colour matching: Some interesting parts though; Technic cogs and wheels in dark bley, my first ever 3x3 plates, a castle window, 1x1 round tiles in pearl grey, clip on triangular sign with cool (albeit stickered) exploding brick sign.We also get a minifig chain, a pair of light bley teeth, light bley 1x2x1 'brick' elements and (not pictured) a fair few dark red brick elements. The Instructions Two booklets of equal size but not thickness, number 1 for the 'dozer, number 2 for the ruins and accessories. Both have the same cover though so you have to open them (or guess based on thickness) to find out which builds what. Inside, colour differentiation is good and the light blue background remains exactly that and doesn't ever interfere. Part callouts, mini-steps and 1:1 reproductions all make the instructions very easy to follow: The Build and Model The build starts with a very robust chassis frame build, though I don't think it really needed to be 4 sub-builds as shown here: The chassis just keeps getting heavier; 3L techinic axles go in for extra strength: Possibly the only fiddly bit is adding the inner wheels, which serve to keep the tracks turning and allow skid steering. If you have very large fingers this may be tricky but I found no issues: My only dislike about the chassis base was that the tracks seemed very slack when added: You could take 1 element out but then they become very tight and slightly 'toe-out' at either end. The base chassis finished and end of Bag 1: Yes the rest does just attach to the base by those two 2x4s but the clutch power seems sufficient and I didn't have any unplanned disassembly events even with fairly robust handling. You may notice that due to the slack in the tracks one end appears to have 'flopped' away from the cog which damages the aesthetic somewhat. Bag 2 builds the upper half of the 'dozer and the 'dozer blade. Here's a part way shot so you can see the cab and the moderate engine detail compared to 7685 (though why 7685 needed jet engines I don't know). The sticker on top adds some detail but again suffers from poor colour matching: Out driver gets two levers to drive around like an old school tank. And the 'dozer is finished (with the rubble laid out precisely per the instructions): The blade is a 6x12 with studs on 3 edges if you hadn't guessed. Overall I think the look of the machine is good and probably on par with 7685. A view from the back, showing the ripper; note the final stickers for the set number and warning stripes (on two sides of the same 2x4 brick). My only complaints are the exposed studs at the sides of the cab (a 1x3 tile would add strength and looks here) and that the tracks have again 'flopped' away from the drive. You do notice after picking up the model that sometimes the tracks don't quite re-seat either and you get an grind than click as you drive before they pop back into place. The Cab, whilst it looks nice requires at least on windscreen removing to get at the driver. As suspected, clearly the driver doesn't have air con, as he has the windows open! The blade is a lot more articulated than 7685 appears to be and can go all the way up here: I'm still not sure what the chain is for; dynamite wheelbarrow surfing perhaps? The accessories build goes quickly with nothing really to note, except the size of the warhammer (er...I mean sledgehammer)! The walls attach to the building base by a limited number of studs for easy demolition. A quick shot of the whole set together: The clutch power on the building though reduced is still significant, it does not just push over easily when you drive into it; demolitions can be quite high energy affairs when the studs let go: Or perhaps the parts flying everywhere is due to someone leaving behind some dynamite: The Verdict Build& Model: 7 The build was quite fun with enough variation to keep me interested throughout including some technic and a little bit of SNOT. The 'dozer looks good and feel about right for city scale, though I think a few refinements and extra detailing could have been accomplished without much change in price point. I wouldn't trade out the accessories for extra detail though as that would impact playability 'out of the box'. The slack tracks really bug me too. Parts: 7 A good parts selection but I don't think anything is unique. Figures: 9 The new hard hat pieces are great, printing on the Hi-Viz and hoodie combo is very detailed and the parts are all interchangeable. Playability: 8 Knock down the house, knock it down again, push the rubble around, blow things up. Plenty to do at first but it may get repetitive after a while. Value: 7 £24.99 just feels a little steep for this set. Although the price per piece is around 6.5p (8c) most of these parts (84) are the tracks. Overall: 7 A good model and build but not quite 'great'. The figs and accessories do however, make up for some of the minor issues with the 'dozer. If you can get it for less than RRP you'll probably be very happy with it.

I like your rig, pretty clever and I like the along the roof shots. May have to try something similar, though my layout has a few to many low height clearance areas at the moment. For comparison this is my rig for the Garmin Virb filming out front:

So I told myself when I bought 60036 last year that I wouldn't buy any more Arctic sets, and that I didn't need 60034 because I probably had all the parts anyhow. But then I went into Smyths, and they had a sale, and well....err... here is my review of 60034: Arctic Helicopter Set #: 60034 Year Released: 2014 Piece Count: 262 Minifigs: 2, plus 4 dogs RRP: $39.99, £24.99 I must admit the first time I saw images of 60034 I was quite excited; a lego helicopter not in police or fire colours. Not only that but clearly based on a real helicopter; the Sikorsky S-65 (CH-54) Skycrane, and almost in the livery of a real operator; Erickson Air-Crane. Also the huskies looked awesome! So did the set live up to expectations? The Box: A surprisingly compact square number: The front shows the helicrane doing what it does best, coming to pick up a crate under radio direction from the explorer on the ground. The husky team stand firm despite the rotor downwash and somehow avoid an unplanned swim. A nice touch is the pilot visible in the cockpit as this pose is not really possible in the actual model and he just disappears in the dark behind the trans-blue glass. Note the city skyline hiding just behind the mountains at the back. The back of the box is extremely busy as the left half is entirely taken up by the modular build and city online adverts leaving the right side to demonstrate the action/play features of the set: Take your husky team, detect the crystal block, call in the chopper, then race it home. The top edge is less action, more science with the team photographing and sampling the ice. A 1:1 pic of the helicopter pilot is shown for reference at 90° to the rest of the image as the box is barely a minifig tall. The Contents We get 3 bags, two booklets and a sticker sheet which between them pretty much fill the box (it barely rattles when you take it off the shelf): Sorry no printed parts in here! Here are the contents of Bag 1 which makes the crate, minifigs and dogsled: The ice block and crystal (in this colour) are unique to the theme, there are some 1x1x2s in light bley, we get a couple of ice picks and this is the first time I have seen the new style radio and metal detector pieces. Compare for example the new parts on the left with their classic equivalents on the right: I think the older radio looks much better, I'm also slightly disappointed by the loss of the stud on the detector as this reduces the MOCing potential of the part. Bag 2 & 3 give us too many parts to photo so here are my highlights: 3 2x2 round tiles with hole, 1x2x2 orange windows (though only 1 piece of glass), some orange Technic arm pieces and grey 1x2 plates with Technic axle holes. The Instructions The first booklet is about half the size of the second and covers the husky sled and crate build from bag 1. The cover shot is exactly the same as the box, but removes the helicopter and photoshops in the pilot: The second booklet cover also replicates the box art the same but photoshops out everything but the helicopter. The instructions are clear with good colour differentiation and a wavy pale blue background. My only possible gripe is that, as with 60036, the 'sticker' icon is missing from some steps so stickers magically appear on parts such as: The shot below shows the good colour differentiation between dark bley and black and light bley and white which is occasionally poor in other sets (including 60036). The instruction steps are all very clear and provide part callouts and plenty of pointers so your are unlikely to miss anything. The Minifigs Here we have our pilot with standard smug aviator sunglasses face and the Arctic pilot torso; I still love the leather jacket and parachute printing even if it is identical to that for the 60036 pilot. The explorer fig is the same female fig found in 60036 with the, in my opinion, unnecessary torso hourglass print; the details of the rest of the print are great though as noted in my 60036 review the goggle print limits use of the head to winter MOCs. A view from behind, I do very much love the Arctic logo: The Build and Model: Dog Sled and Crate The crate comes first and there is not much to it- plates over the base stack 2 bricks per support then add the roof, done: It does look quite effective, though lacks some realism in that the contents are not secured in any visible way. The sled is a very similar size to that of the one in 60036 though featuring some design differences. Oddly the sled features a much larger radar screen than the 30036 offering but no visible radar dish. Believe it of not this shot is the sled finished except for accessories and dogs: With everything on the sled looks quite good, and as ever the huskies are brilliant with each having a slightly different appearance due to the grey/white plastic mix: Although it looks good the sled has some drawbacks over that of 30036. Firstly there are no 2x2 round boat studs or similar on the underside to reduce friction so it tends to get caught in carpets. Secondly the camera attachment is rather flimsy and as the equipment in the crate is loose you tend to lose pieces if mushing too vigorously. Finally the crate attached direct to the large orange piece and so has a low of clutch power, so changing loads to the ice block (as shown in the instructions) requires quite a bit of effort and can lead to unplanned disassembly of other parts. 30036 got around this issue with jumper plates though that resulted in some loads being offset due to the different footprints of the 3x4 crate and 2x2 ice block (a problem this set does not have). Here is the sled carrying the ice block: The Build and Model: The Helicopter The helicopter starts with the spine, I was slightly confused at this point about the two 1x2 plate with hinge facing each other: It tuns out that these are a clever method of holding the engines (which I should note are the 2x2 stud versions not the older versions with the same shape but 1x2 pylon attachments): The spine grows very quick and suddenly you realise this model is going to be huge! Notice the winch, which passes through a gap in the spine: The cockpit is a separate build to begin with, and the reason for having 3 windows but only 1 glass element becomes clear: I assume this build method was chosen over using the equivalent 1x2x2 panels to reduce the overall number of unique parts required in orange. I suspect for this reason we also see 1x1 and 1x2 bricks used where we would normally see a 2x2 corner brick: You can also spot in this shot that I was mistaken, we do get 1 printed part after all, the instrument panel which is fairly common to city era aircraft. As with the 60036 helicopter the pilot gets a single control stick rather than the classic 90's two. The rather heavy build at the back of the cockpit gives the model some strength but unfortunately makes the rear window and spotlights feel a bit redundant as the pilot cant really get to them. The real skycrane had a rear facing operators station from which the winch operator could control the aircraft during winching operations. The snot plates of the cockpit are used to provide additional structural attachment to the spine via some 2x6 plates with a few bits of greebling: The landing gear is then built from a variety of Technic parts and some snazzy stickered wedge parts for decoration. The landing gear is probably the only fiddly bit where younger builders might need help (aside from sticker application of course) as parts have to be correctly aligned when inserting pins/axles: Finished, and my is it a big helicopter, although the crate just fits underneath. This is not helped by the fact the model actually sits a few degrees nose down as the nose gear is 2-3 plates higher than the main gear: As the winch is a single point attachment your loads will tend to swing around, though his can be temporarily fixed for the crate by attaching it to the plate at the bottom of the spine when winched fully in. And to justify having this set as well as 30036, well what happens if the mini helicopter from 30036 breaks down and needs rescuing: One last shot of the helicopter from the front: I think lego did a great job in capturing the feel of the skycrane in this model. It looks convincingly like a heavy workhorse and makes me think this model is what 60021 should have been (tilt-rotors don't make sense for logging operations). I must however, note two small deviations from the instructions I made in this build: 1 - I build the rotors with the opposite offset of the blades to produce an anticlockwise (Sikorsky type) rotor rather than the clockwise (Airbus type) the instructions showed. 2 - The rotor mast has an empty Technic pin hole behind the engines which I filled with a pin and 1x1 clear round tile from the spare bits in the set to simulate a gearbox oil sight glass. Finally a beauty shot of the whole set: Conclusion and Scores Parts: 7 - Good selection of bits but nothing unique except in terms of colour. The Figs: 8 - Very nice printing on both figs despite the unnecessary hourglass torso effect. If I hadn't already got the same figs from 60036 (admittedly different pilot face) I would be extremely happy so have rated accordingly. The dogs are simply great, very cute and the individuality of each due to the colour mix is a real bonus. Build & Model(s): 8 - The Dog-sled build disappoints slightly (until you get to adding the dogs) due to its simplicity. The helicopter has enough interesting techniques to please seasoned builder without being complicated; and when finished it just looks great! It would also be easy to use this helicopter in a city/forest scenario by simply swapping the skis for wheels. Playbility: 8 - Should be 10 but points lost due to the issues with changing loads on the dog sled and running it on carpet. A few extra parts could easily have solved these issues. The accessories (metal detector etc) allow for some play before the helicopter swoops in, but let's be honest, that's where the action is! The helicopter winch is easily controlled one handed whilst flying with the other and the model is very robust and swooshable. Value for Money: 8 - Though I think this score depend on whether you have any of the other Arctic sets as you could easily find yourself with many duplicate figs and vehicles fulfilling the same functions which will determine your view on the value of these element and also affect how long each particular set may be played with. Certainly for the sale price (£21) I was very happy, for RRP I would probably still be. Overall: 8 - Excellent helicopter, let down slightly by issues with the dog sled, but not enough to seriously affect the playability or enjoyment of the set. So what's your view?

Thanks for all the responses. The wedding venue was the Medieval Hall in Salisbury (UK); it was built in the 13th century as the banqueting hall for the Dean of the Cathedral. You can see it is pretty much dwarfed by the Cathedral and the red brick college buildings (now flats) nearby: Thanks, we were a little worried it would end up looking a little bit too much like a kid's birthday party!

Last month my girlfriend and I got married which, apart from being incredibly awesome in its own right , now means I can share some of the fun LEGO related things we worked into the whole process. We got engaged whilst on holiday last summer and almost immediately she suggested we use mini-figures as wedding favours/place settings.In fact we visited 5 LEGO stores during the holiday in a quest for useful bits from the pick-a-brick wall and build a minifigure bins. Coupled with good few ebay job-lots and some of my existing sets we ended up with a personalised figure for every one of our guests (here laid out on the actual table-plan): For some of our guests this was easier than others; there was quite a bit of Facebook profile checking to figure out the best features to work in to capture some aspect of each guest. Over the 7 months of prep we also had a good number of headgear (and head) swaps as various friends' beards and hairstyles came and went: I am so glad we did this as all the guests seemed to love their figures; for the next 5 days my facebook news feed was almost entirely filled with friends changing their profile pictures to pics of their figs. After searching a while for a venue we found a Medieval Hall which then of course led to an excuse for me to buy some Castle sets and produce this vignette for the save the date cards: With the Medieval Hall booked you could perhaps forgive us thinking it was fate when we spotted a 3ft tall 1980's Black Falcon promo statue on ebay nearby. Shortly after he was living in our lounge (and being hidden away every time a relative or friend came to visit). Of course we had to give him a job to do on the day so we made him a banner and stood him outside the venue: He also appeared in the venue on our Ceremony booklet: (His normal minifig self was hidden in several places throughout our invites too). The invites had a vignette for each page of information; for example the menu: There was also a liberal splattering of Pratchett-esque olde tyme rightinge throughout to fit the medieval theme. The reception was actually at another venue a 10 min walk away and we had one of our friends lead a procession between the two with the banner and another carrying the knight on a sack truck. With Becky leading on the production of minifig favours, I set about creating a not-so-mini-figure table plan. Each of the 10 tables had a Lego minifig torch or alarm clock to identify it (excluding the top table which got the giant black falcon), for example here is the 'fire' table: The figs were also given the jobs of holding a set of 'instructions' detailing who on that table had ordered what food. The front side of the instructions were stolen straight from the LEGO movie: Finally to find their seats the guests had to find their name under a list of themes then cross reference it to a minifig scale map of the hall featuring the relevant characters (by the way, the 234 pcs is a reference to the total number of dishes being served, not the number of guests): Ably assisted by the overstaffed LEGO police department: And of course no wedding would be complete without cake (made by my parents): ...or indeed without fancy wedding shoes for the bride : Becky and I got some real enjoyment out of the whole planning side of things and the day itself was just superb; I think we managed to put plenty of 'us' into the wedding whilst keeping it fun for everyone. Hopefully you have enjoyed seeing the LEGO related bits! P.S. My brother in his best man speech also noted we must be perfect for each other as she let me do this (http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=95715) to our spare room.

Smyths have a bunch of reductions, mostly on last year's city sets. Most notably the cargo train for £99.99. Police, fire and arctic bases around £55. Train station at £36.

I also have a high level layout on shelves around my computer room, though with 24cm from the ceiling. I have done much as those above are suggesting with the modular pet shop, with the pet store modded to 2.5 floors (about 21cm, http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=95715 for pics) and the house next door MOC'd into a small 2 story restaurant (http://www.eurobrick...topic=96935&hl= for pics). I plan to do something similar with the Detectives Office when I can afford it later this year. If you do go the modular route I recommend build to the instructions first to see what techniques are used the modify from there and see what details you can preserve/reuse whilst reducing the height. If you want to build only to the instructions then 60026 Town Square will have suitable buildings, though the majority of parts in that set are in the crane which may not be so useful for your layout. 30126 (3-in-1 Bike Shop & Cafe) is also a good one to consider and unlike 60026 has minimal superfluous action elements (only 1 small car). Some of the other creator buildings may also work as most are 1-2 storey, though some are lacking in depth and features of may look out of place depending on the theme of your layout. Hope this helps!

Superb! many congratulations.

So somehow in the process of making some vignettes for wedding invites, I ended up with minifig analog of myself building a microscale city, whilst dino-suit guy turns up to wreck the place! It is vaguely reminiscent of my childhood where I would be constantly re-building parts of Lego town, after minifig riots lead by my older brother!

Very nice retro carriage. My brother had that carriage as part of his 00 gauge rail layout back in the 80's. Is it on a drop car base (like the metro club car)? Any pic of your other rolling stock- I like the livery on the black/red train behind it.

One more entry from me; the TIE-tle. I had this built almost as soon as my first entry was up but I was holding on hoping to get hold of some grey/black wedges for the wings. Oh well since I'm away on holiday from tomorrow they're staying orange- hi vis you see because its experimental and Darth Turtle (awesome entry btw ) would surely be disappointed if his newest weapon was lost? (Dammit just though of doing a death star turtle, so many turtles, so little time!) Edit by Rufus: Sorry, Licensed entries aren't allowed.

Smyths have similarly reduced all their TLM sets, which meant with my £6 voucher from last months 10% off day that meant I got Benny's SSS! for £57.

I run a 5 car (2 engine, 3 pax) HE set on just one motor, and without even replacing the technic bogie on the 'dummy' power car it can still run quicker than feels safe on my layout. I'd think you'd only need two motors if you have a lot of continuous curves (i.e. few straights in which to pick up speed) or any inclines. That said $10 is small change to give you the option to add more cars or more speed! Adding the second motor to a single car takes some effort as, in addition to to cramming all the cable and connectors in you also need to find someway to fit in a polarity switch (or cut and reverse the connectors on the motor [see the train tech index]) as your motors will be facing opposite directions.

The TR-3L shielded recon droid may look like it has 4 legs, but actually they are anti-grav thrusters which allow it to float gently over rough terrain. To protect the droid from hostile environments (and life-forms) it has on-board shield generators which give its 'shell' and 'head' a glowing orange look. The 'head' contains 4 cameras, each sensitive to a different part of the EM-spectrum and the 'tail' is a high bandwidth short range data-link antenna. Due to the high power demands of the sheild system and anti-grav thrusters the TR-3L is powered by a fusion battery which makes it rather heavy and slow, but no droid fares better when scouting out hostile environments. More photos here: http://s1087.photobucket.com/user/mrwoof3/library/Lego/Turtles