Doctor Sinister

James Wadsworth of LAMLradio asked me some time ago to put together a "how to" video on making LEGO comic strips. Not being a complete expert at such matters, I put it off for a while, but I had a day to myself yesterday and I had some funny ideas about how I could make the video more interesting...so I did it. Here is the piece on LAMLradio - the video is in two sections as it's about 14 minutes long in total and YouTube only allows vids of up to 10:59 (officially 10 minutes but they give a bit of leeway). http://radio.laml.org/how-to-create-lego-comics/ I hope you like the humorous opening I threw in there. I say "erm" and "now" and lots of other words too many times and in places I think I sound really camp (!), but it's a practical demonstration as to how I make a Grunts strip. Dr. S.

Really? I have that problem - except I got my CTT second hand and I'd perhaps mistakenly assumed the vendor had swapped the colours. Dr. S.

Impressive army Mr Penguin sir - but unless you have any vehicles to transport those droids, I am confident my Republic forces will win the day! Dr. S.

The competition is now closed, thank you for your interest and your entries. We will now proceed to the Judging stage having had 18 entries as follows: Edoskeleton273 Timothy Ratner Grakul tiberium_blue Jackal The Knight sawman0311 xwingyoda Huw General 62 Darth_Legois PalmDeville sqiddster Skinny Boy Wouwie13 mayhew0_1 Col-Brik samthelegoman1 Dr. S.

I've only made two so far. Dr. S.

It's a stinger! Very nasty - extremely venomous. One touch and you're dead. Mind you, these Triffids have been doing a lot of stinging today and their poison sacs are low... Dr. S.

A scene based on John Wyndham's famous post-apocalyptic book, one of my favourites. If you've never seen the 1981 BBC adaptation, which is very faithful to the book, watch it! Dr. S.

That's exactly what I did - to save my fingers being tainted any further. Dr. S.

As you'll see, my free LEGO sets from the Daily Mirror have finally arrived! Dr. S.

My Clone Army: Consists of two AT-TEs (sets 4482 and 7675), two Republic Gunships (sets 7163 and 7676), a Juggernaut/Clone Turbo Tank (set 7261), a Clone Scout Walker (7250), a Republic Fighter Tank (7679), a V-19 Torrent (7674), a V-Wing Fighter (6205), an ARC-170 Fighter (7259) and an AT-AP Walker (7671). There are a total of 56 Clones here. 4482 - 2 Clones. 7675 - 2 Clones. 7163 - 2 Clones. 7676 - 2 Clones. 7261 - 4 Clones (includes one on the BARC Speeder). 7250 - 1 Clone. 7679 - 2 Clones. 7674 - 1 Clone. 6205 - 1 Clone. 7259 - 3 Clones. 7671 - 2 Clones. Plus 34 ground troops. There are 22 old-style Clones, of which 14 are of the Clone Wars type with the new helmets etc, and 33 episode III style Clones plus 1 BARC Trooper. All Clones have the more recent SW style LEGO blasters - I upgraded all the older style weaponry. I've scraped together all my Droids so here is my Droid Army. This army isn't nearly as complete as my Republic/Clone army. Since this photo was taken I've added the Droid Gunship and two more Droid Battle Packs to the mix. This consists of two MTTs (sets 7184 and 7662), one AAT (set 7155), two Droid Fighters (7111 and one from set 7660), one Battle Droid Carrier (7126), two Droid Battle Packs (7654), one Hailfire and small Spider Droid (7670) and one large Separatist Spider Droid (7681). It also includes Droids from sets 7121 (Naboo Swamp), 7141 (Naboo Fighter), 7203 (Jedi Defence I), 7204 (Jedi Defence II), 4478 (Geonosian Fighter), 7163 (Republic Gunship), 7261 (Clone Turbo tank), 7675 (AT-TE). If you include the Fighters and Spider Droids etc, there are a total of 79 Droids here. A lot of them you can't see as they are on board the carriers etc - eg: there are 9 Droids on board the 7184 and 20 on board the 7662. Of the above, there are 4 Destroyer Droids, 5 Droids on STAPs of various style and design, 10 Super Battle Droids, 1 Spider Droid, 1 smaller Spider Droid, 1 Hailfire Droid and 2 Fighter Droids, leaving 55 regular Droids, some of which are the newer type with the modified arms (to hold new blasters) and some of which have various colour markings etc. I've upgraded most of the weaponry for the army, there are less than a dozen Droids using the old megaphone style guns, the rest all have new LEGO SW blasters. I'll upgrade the rest soon, I just ran out of guns! My Stormtrooper Army - this is probably about half the number of Stormies I own, I've not done a picture with all of them yet: Dr. S.

Chapter two. http://www.tabletownonline.com/stories/JK_1_Chapter_2.pdf Hope you like it. Dr. S.

Less than ten days to get your entries in! Dr. S.

Jek Tranter - the STORY! Before I give you this linky, I stress that this is very much a proof of concept - since I posted pix of the Ladybird yesterday and gave the back story, quite a few people have indicated they'd be willing to read about the adventures of Jek Tranter. I can't stretch to a full-on comic strip, but I can supply an illustrated story with my writing being the main focus - so here without further ado is Jek Tranter - P.I. Double-Cross on Demeter, Chapter One! http://www.tabletownonline.com/stories/JK_1_Chapter_1.pdf Dr. S. Part of the reason for the blockiness is a little task I set myself - I was ONLY allowed to use existing loose LEGO I owned - I would not permit myself to make any Bricklink orders, nor to steal from other MOCs or sets. As a result, it's using a lot of old parts. Dr. S.

Thanks chaps! Dr. S.

Not at this time. Something for the future. Dr. S.

Ministry of Defence! Dr. S.

I am proud to announce my latest project! Jek Tranter is an ex-Cop, busted from the Interplanetary Police Bureau for corruption, he was actually set up to be a fall guy for the Mob as part of a massive credit laundering scam. Wanted in several star systems, Jek travels the space lanes trying to find those who framed him and clear his name. To make a living, he takes jobs in outlying star systems - typically as a Private Investigator, he can also act as a gun for hire to correct injustices, or as a bounty hunter. His ship - registration LB-1 - is known as "The Ladybird" after its slightly insectoid appearance and its distinctive livery - Tranter's trademark black and red colour scheme. The Ladybird is an ex Police space cruiser, "borrowed" by Tranter during a prior escape from custody and modified to his own designs. The Ladybird now features an enhanced onboard AI - which means the ship can pilot itself and communicate with Tranter - although for combat a pilot is required. Rounding off the team is Tranter's sidekick, friend, mechanic and bodyguard Lindi McCallister. She is a crack shot with a sniper rifle and also on the run from the Police for crimes she will not admit to and will not discuss with Tranter. Dr. S.

In case the news story that has inspired this is lost on anyone... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7735507.stm Dr. S.

Is this the true face of the pirates who have seized the Supertanker off the coast of Kenya? Dr. S.

I think the makers of Mr Potato Head would have a real problem with LEGO making a toy of their toy - I'm sure they'd rather people were buying real Mr Potato Heads than a LEGO facsimile. In fact, the whole concept of LEGO making models of other toys - which could in many cases be seen as rivals to the LEGO product itself, makes my head want to explode in confusion - I think the market might get confused as well. Dr. S.

They are printed to order so there is only one in existence at the moment, however I have orders for about another 20 and I know some others have been ordered directly through the site. Dr. S.

That's right, the first 54 episodes of Grunts are now available in book form, courtesy of Blurb.com. All profits (I am only charging £1.00 over and above the normal listed price) will be donated to the Bovington Tank Museum, a registered charity in the UK, (No: 1102661). Copies are available internationally, I only mention the UK price as that's where I'm based. You can order your copy here. Here are some images of the sample copy I have had printed so you can decide if you want to order one: This is the front cover, obviously, with a Doctor Sinister minifig for scale: The rear cover, gives some idea of the content and refers to the fact that Grunts was on the BBC website. Copyright page and first cartoon: Sample internal page: Sample internal page: Sample internal page - closeup so you can see the print quality: Some notes. I didn’t intend for cartoon numbers at the top to be cropped but if I reduced the size of the strip much more, it will reduce the quality. The number also appears at the bottom anyway so it’s not a major problem for me. I only mention it in case someone picks me up on it. A LEGO disclaimer on the copyright page replaces the one that appeared at the bottom of each strip - the first line of credits remains, to allow me to mention those who have assisted with strips. Dr. S.

FYI, there's no absolute requirement to use Brickarms - just that anything you enter wouldn't be eligible for that half of the competition. However I understand entirely if you don't want to enter because you don't want any Brickarms stuff, that's a fair comment. Dr. S. Only one entry per person I'm afraid. Dr. S.

I have kindly been granted permission to mention this here - thanks Mr Sinner Sir! Announcing the "Terror in Tabletown" vignette competition, sponsored by Minifig For Life! Minifig For Life, official UK retailer of Brickarmshave offered two fabulous prizes to the lucky winners of a competition to build the best vignette that depicts "Terror in Tabletown". There are two categories: a) Best use of LEGO elements. b) Most novel use of Brickarms weapons. You can find the official Rules thread here. Entries can be posted here. Good luck! Dr. S.

I dunno - I couldn't find the T&C. Dr. S. Ah, found them - hidden link on the text. Aaaaannnnddd...I'm too old. Dr. S.