blackpyre

Thanks, The hardest thing about it was figuring out a nice tripod design. Then I recalled a bipod design LEGO used in a Mandalorian Battle pack. The rest was fairly simple. Of course, I originally wanted to use a light blay tap to go right behind the dish, but I only had black. Either way, it worked! Will

I'm just impressed they fit that much text onto a tile.

Hey all, Got my first Super Heroes set put together and was curious about the newspaper. For those of you less familiar with the piece I'm talking about, it is the two newspapers in the Catwoman set. Here's a link to the specific piece on Bricklink for reference. Now I have a machine that can enlarge text and got the following: (Upper Right 03.26.2011 or 08.26.2011) THE LEGO NEWS Volume 3 (To the far right: 1 with breaking news) The Greatest LEGO hero ever! Interviewed the hero after helping the old man. It was a quiet afternoon in the LEGO city. The minifigure have walked through the streets and heard the old man shouting for help. Like every other minifigure the old man tried to protect the world against the evil. He just forgot that he was old and not that fast anymore. After running through many streets the evil master of the universe surprised the old man and lifted him up in a tree. The LEGO hero **** when he heard the shouting captured the villain and saved the old man in the tree. He only had one comment, “I will do whatever it takes to save minifigures.” Journalist A******* Now from what I can tell it's not very good grammar. I was unable to make out a couple of things. I was wondering if there were those with better eyes that could help figure out what these missing sections are. Thanks, Will

As I said before, I'm glad the sculpture turned up in the photos as good as they did. And that old musty feel didn't come easy. I had to hand build all the moth balls. ;) I'm glad that you said you'd like it bigger. Means I'm doing something right for people to crave more of it. :) Hopefully I can plan for larger MOCs in the future. This time around I was a bit crunched for time with the holidays, a LUG Showcase display in January to work on with my wife, and trying to sort through a massive haul of grab bags at the LEGO store. Plus, we had part of a train display to take down from a train show our LUG was participating in. All in all, I wish I had a bit more time to work on the dress shop. I think my original idea was at least twice the size but had to cut things down if I was going to get it done in time. *sigh* Will

I have to thank my wife for the coloring. She had stock piled a nice selection of these particular colors for a project she decided not to persue. So I had a rather nice selection to work with. The spinning wheel took some time. I studied a variety of pics of spinning wheels trying to boil them down to their base elements. Once the issue of mounting the wheel was out of the way I then wanted an angled table, three legs, and a needle. Oh, and if there was room a pedal. Fortunately it all worked out and it only took weeks of lost sleep to come up with. Actually, I had plans for a spinning wheel for a Castle type setting long before this contest popped up. I'm just lucky the contest gave me a reason to seriously try it out. :) And I have no idea why there were a good number of ice sculptures in this contest. I think we were just trying to find something classy that LEGO had not already done. What can I say, "Great minds build alike." :D As for the cloth, well that came about by one of the clever uses my wife used one for. I believe we put up a MOC thread called something like "Elven Tree Shrine" in the Historical section. When she was helped me with decorating the interior she used one as a blanket and another as something that filled up a treasure chest. Since then, I've been looking for any opportunity to use a cloak in a non-cloak type situartion. I'm glad it happened in this contest. :) Will

Thanks all, The 1x1 round plates on the arch were chosen for two reasons. First, I really like the colors and Second, I really don't have to many other colors at present. ;) And that spinning wheel was created only when I accidently stumbled across a very interesting piecein a grab bag I picked up at the LEGO store. Didn't even know the piece exsisted until early this month. I did my best to keep the feel of the Winter Village theme as true to the official sets as possible. This included the tall roof at the very top while filling the set with objects from a time gone by. As for the ice sculpture, I wish the clear elements were easier to take a picture of. Mainly because you always feel like you miss something. I just like the callenge of trying to use very few types of pieces (since there is not that many elements in trans-clear) to look like something easily recognizable. I think I was originally debating between the sculpture and possibly doing snow angels. Problem is I couldn't figure out how to make the right shapes with the pieces I have on hand. I think it came down to my preference for simple designs that look more complicated than they really are rather than complicated designs for a simple effect. Take for instance the holly hanging on the building. It's nothing more than cherries wrapped around a small leaf, but it has a very natural shape and complexity that goe against a blocky look. I think that's the type of thing that won me with the official sets. Take for instance the Jack-in-the-box from the Winter Toy Shop. I think that small creation alone forced me to make some very different approaches in this contest. To which ends, I'm very grateful. :) Will

Thanks, I spent several days beating my head trying to figure out how to make that camera look just right. Needless to say, I was extremely satisfies with the final result. It almost didn't make it in the set. As for the dress, I let my wife select just the right minifigures. She tells me brides often find themselves cold no matter what dress they get married in. Plus, You're not supposed to mess with the perfect dress especially when it comes to taking pictures. ;) I just tell myself they just arrived in town. Or maybe they're doing a photo shoot for the Dress Shop's catalog. Thanks for the comment! :D Will Thanks, In order to get all the color right I ended up using lots of 1x1 bricks. I think I might have blown the piece count out of the water just to get things like the flowers on the side of the building to work and all the clear and blue lights. Still, it really challenged my skills when it came to fine detail work. Will

Here is my entry for the Expand the Winter Village II contest. I've created a dress shop. I borrowed a number of designs from some of the other winter village sets. Namely the wreath at the top and the chimney. I did this mainly to give it a bit of cohesion with the other winter village sets. I also did my best to have that mixture of timelessness that many of the other sets showcase. Hopefully I've done this in my selections. Enjoy! The dress shop is a busy place with a customer leaving with a neatly wrapped dress, a newly married couple getting their pictures taken beneath an arch, a man shoveling snow and an ice sculptor carving a statue of a man. The interior of the dress shop. The first floor is for showcasing dresses and the second floor is where the dress lady spins her thread. Here's a close-up on the spinning wheel on the second floor. I chose a spinning wheel since it evoked, in my opinion, a sort of old-world rustic feel. There's also a small basket with yellow thread and a simple chair for her to work from. A bride and groom are getting married and commemorating the moment under a festively decorated arch. To fit the old-timey feel, I built an old fashioned camera complete with drape cloth over the photographer. Close-up on the Ice Sculptor, Ice Statue, Lamp Post and Snow Shoveler. Don't forget the little white cat that almost blends into the snow. Here's the folder on flickr with the rest of the photos, including close-ups on some of the elements.

I would like to point out that TLG is more likely going to make decisions based on what children want first then try to fit in what adults are after. The only exception to this is the really large sets. Therefore, to get a better understanding of where LEGO would be more incline to go we'd probably need to poll fans 16 and under. I really hat to say that since I love the Castle/Kingdoms lines in all their forms but looking at TLG's business model I know I fall well outside their decision making process. :( I don't say this to discourage anyone from voicing their opinion. In fact, one of the reasons why the adult community gets heard at all is due to our very vocal approach to LEGO. I just know I'm very curious to know what the kids in LEGO's biggest target market think about Kingdoms. Will

Since slapping a new crest on some knights seem a bit dry to me, I'd probably suggest a merchant's guild line or a Scottish Highlander theme. I think a Brave Heart feel would give a good story line while providing lots of cool parts. That's assuming the LEGO universe has a Scottland like place in it. I don't see why not. Will

This is a very interesting discussion. It's a little odd to me since I really don't look at Castle/Kingdoms or even LEGO in general under these same criteria as what has been presented here. I will admit I'm a big fan of LEGO Castle in general. I never really even thought of this line to be based on Earth. Rather it was always a fanciful landscape that existed in children's imagination. For example Lion Knights and Dragon Knights don't seem like historical representations of the past but a personification of Good and Evil blown up to abserd levels. Although the pesant entries did surprise me since they are probably the closest thing to reality I've seen from LEGO. Put simply I like Kingdoms for the fact that it gives me all the parts I want. I choose to build like an adult but play like a child. I'd even be okay with playing with things from KK2. Don't get me wrong. KK2 had no concept of what a color pallet is for. And it helps that I'm legally blind, but they did make things that were interesting to play with. Now I do think Kingdoms was a good move for LEGO since it allowed fans who missed out on conventional designs to pick up some sets. I wouldn't count on the theme to go in a path we can predict since I believe is more interested in capturing imagination rather than following a train of logic. Sometimes this imagination gets a bit more colorful than other entries. And as always, if they still haven't made that one thing I really want. I'll just build it. Will

Although (I can't believe I'm saying this) if you want to customize your minifig with acid damage nail pollish remover might be what you want. I think there's a book out called The Forbidden LEGO that covers all the gluing, cutting, and other devious activities you can think of. Not sure if the book covers painting though. I just figure if you have no problem customizing you may consider what all your options are. I know I'll respect your project whatever it is. *cringe* Just don't make me watch while your making the changes. Sorry, I'm just having a Purist reaction. ;) Will

Glad I could help. When I did the redesign I wasn't making a ship, I was outfitting The Mill from POTC with a motor. It's interesting the new combinations you can find by putting your own flavor on a set. One thing I've been thinking about trying is to take two completely unlike sets and seeing what I can create between the two. That's probably the same mentality that gives us things like steam punk. Hmm...a steam punk pirate ship. That would be something to see. But I like where your going with swapping sails. Now that you mention it, I don't think I've ever seen that either. Good luck with your project. Will

ROFL, man Mythos that was hilerious! But seriously getting back on track. Assuming you go through your parents or properly aged individual. You can also try places like Brickarms if you don't mind custom pieces. Otherwise you're kind of stuck with Bricklink with that type of order. On very rare occassions the official LEGO stores will break down big displays and put them in grab bags. I recently missed out on ship hulls, masts, and sails at my own store. :( Honestly, what I do in situations where I have a fairly big project before me I set out a monthly budget to get essential pieces over the span of months. This means one month you can pick up some sails, the following month you get some hulls and so on. Then I spend the time in between rethinking all my design choices for the rest of the ship. Trying to balance interesting details with stability. More or less pace yourself. It's kind of a different way to build. Will

Woah! I didn't really expect to win much less place 2nd. There was some very good critics out there giving some really great feedback. I don't know what I did creatively critic wise but I'm definitely not complaining. Loving all the piratey goodness and looking forward to more. Arrr! Oh, and Silva. If you just try submiting your form it will reset the form with the "Claim a Prize" option in the subject combo box. Will

I just got my prize today! I have to say, that was some excellent packing. I kind of feel that a blog should be writen about some of the best techiques for shipping LEGO products. By the way, wre there any winners for the Creative Critic? I know during the contest I recieved some excellent feedback which brought my story up to the level it was. :D

You know, I did notice that sawfish. In fact it was that feature that made me wonder about the name in the first place. And truthfully, it does fit the name Oberon as well.

Well, in some ways you are playing with a cheaper version from China since LEGO is subcontracting to make some of their elements over there. Not all the sets will be like this though. They still make a large amount of pieces in Denmark, but I understand what you mean. A model builder may advise you to take a light sand paper to it, but that would most likely mess with the clutch power of the stud where many of these imperfections are found. I would advise to contact LEGO about this issue. Even if you don't ask for replacement pieces you can still lodge a complaint. This is the type of information they use to help run their company. If they know generally where your pieces are being manufactured based on where you purchase your sets, they may be able to isolate some quality issues on their end. Will

Well, I have to say the "Nelson" does have a nice ring to it. At least, it's much better than my other choice "The Sassy Dutchess." BTW Finished building it today. Boy, this is one massive ship. I can see why no one really bothers with a name, you're too busy marveling at it! Will

Actually there have been a rash of lower quality parts produced by LEGO. Many of these complaints are seemingly traced back to the production plant LEGO subcontracts with in China. The process costs them much less but the overall quality has been noticably worse by fans. Just remember, if you get any pieces you feel are bad or just plain wrong LEGO will replace those pieces. For example, the gold pieces in the POTC sets are shown as chrome gold. In addition, there are supposed to be different numbers on each of the four coins. What originally came out was peral gold pieces with a number 10 on all the coins. I talked with my local LEGO Ambassador and LEGO admitted to some people that this was a mistake they were aware of but decided not to correct when releasing the sets. So, if you're one of these people who have Pearl Gold treasure you can ask for chrome. This is just the easiest example I can think of where LEGO has no intention for you to get stuck with defective parts. Hope that addresses your question. Will

Aanchir has it right. TLG was getting financially in trouble because of all the expansions they made. The condencing of the colors was just one change they made. I believe they went from roughly around 150 colors to around 80. I personally like both colors since it looks much more convincing of a weathered look with multiple shades than simply a single color. And as far as I know that promise not to significantly change certain colors goes both ways. They will neither make further changes nor go back to an older style.

One thing I haven't seen is some sort of privy. I think the sewers idea comes closest to this. But it could be as simple as a small closet like room with a bucket and a small slit for ventalation.

Wow that just seems kind of a waste to me. Every time I saw the name I thought its AN Imperial Flagship. It never really crossed my mind that it was THE Imperial Flagship. This name seems like if Her Majesty's Service gave names out like the HMS Boat or the U.S.'s Navy called things the U.S.S. Battle Ship. *sigh* I guess I'll nickname mine "The Imperium's Heart." TLG you make me sad this day. Will

These are some nice ideas. Although I'd expand the concept out a bit. I think an opera house is good, but if I were to build a Royal Fort I'd include a large dinning hall one for the soldiers and one for dignitaries, several salons, a library. music room, and parade ground. I think the idea of a governor's house is good, but I'd go beyond that. I'd also like a small town that is placed to the side of the fort. This handles all the supplies for the fort and gives the soldiers a place to go. Perhaps a fish monger or two, some civilian homes, a general store, a drinking establishment, perhaps some sort of fine metal smith, a small livestock area, and so on. I'd continue the ideas of the others with a storage room, dock are, look-out/signal tower, cannon batteries, jail, even an additional office asside from the governor's one. I'd say three of the four sides woul be rocky faces. Perhaps a small dock for fishing boats in addition to the one that handles warships. As for size, I'd probably start with 16 large gray baseplates laid out 4 x 4. Of course I'd work on it piece meal over the course of years, but that's what I'd dream up given the chance. Did I mention sleeping quarters? There would probably be the berricks next to the armory for the soldiers and large seperate bedrooms in the governor's house for the special guests. Oh, and definitely throw in a treasure room. Perhaps even a hall that just displays art. hmmm.... Will

Recently, my wife and I have been assembling our copy of the Imperial Flagship. We got to the bow where that sawfish shark thing is placed and I realized something. I don't think this ship really has a name. Or at least, I don't know what it is if it does have one. Imperial Flagship is more or less a designation but does not constitute a name. For example the BSB and QAR are both named ships with no designation to their class of ship in the title LEGO gave them. So, does anyone know if the Imperial Flagship actually has a name? Will