SlyOwl

It will, yes. I would recommend you crush the loop, and remove the head. You can then pull out the pin, or just cut it off (hacksaws work best). The cut doesn't have to be right up to the neck - the pin can protude a little without interfering with the head. You don't need to cut around the hips if you don't want to - I just did that to free up the torso for use with different legs. Hope this helps, and good luck!

Crow's feet - 4-pointed twists of sharpened wire. These date back as far as Roman times, when they were used to great effect against cavalry. I've tried making these using minifig hands, but to no avail so far... I also recall that, in tropical waters, crews would fill pots with poisonous snakes and throw them aboard another ship, whence they would break, throwing angry snakes everywhere, causing chaos. I believe Hannibal came up with this method.

The site looks great! I think you've just about covered everything Fabulandy on the web. That Dolphin looks really nice. I'm unsure about the actual concept (as, unlike official Fabuland animals, dolphins aren't quadrupeds, and so the body doesn't quite fit), but the execution and presentation are outstanding If it's ok with Shadows, I vote that Fabfabuland becomes an FBG member! You know, if you go to My Controls (top toolbar, below the site banner) > Edit Signature (Under Personal Profile, 4th box down on the left-hand Menu), you don't have to paste this every time, as it will appear automatically

We have news of a pirate advent calendar for this year. Which other themes have had calendars? Town/City and Castle, the two longest lasting themes. Makes me think we'll see be seeing some more pirates at some point, otherwise why bother?

A great start! I do enjoy white-hulled boats, rather than brown. I can't give any improvement suggestions, apart from that an old-style skeleton arm instead of the half-pin between the 1x1 brick and 1x5 arch in the prow would eliminate the gap caused by the half pin. (Put the arm into the brick first, to stop it getting stuck inside the arch )

The jellyfish are great, as is the transition from pre-fab hull to timbers I also like the spattering of coral and various sea creatures integrated into the wreck. A few cross-timbers (between the arches) would have been nice to see (even something as trivial as a jumper plate on the inside), and the pre-fab hull could have done with a bit of development. Shipwrecks are some of my favourite MOCs, and this one ranks highly by me, particularly when underwater

I wasn't aware of those transparent car cases before The first sets you showed are quite familiar to me, as they feature in a catalogue my uncle has in his old Lego box from that era. It's surprising to me that they used the plate/tile between 2 studs SNOT technique back then, as nowadays it is considered an "illegal move", as it stresses the bricks over time, as the gap between the studs is (microscopically) too small. More on Modulex can be found on page 6 of this article Thanks for sharing

Feel free to start it when you want. Of course, the longer you leave it, the more people may be recruited...

I'm going to have to agree with everyone else, this has stolen my vote. Fantastic all-round stuff, especially on the sets. The landscaping on the watermill is a bit un-TLC, but all the great details make up for that. Yes, it would be nice to see a reversed 32x32 Egypt baseplate I love all the decalling on the bishop, but can't help thinking his staff is a bit curly

Teddy did a city on a window sill here. It's deeper, though. It's a nice idea (make sure the shelf is attached properly, though! ), something which I may consider doing with my pirate stuff (although I haven't really got enough to spare for a display). You could probably split the bricks from each of the modular buildings into 2 smaller facades each. Personally I would go with an 8-stud wide toad, so you can have more building in there. Unless you've got a serious traffic-jam, most of the road will be empty, so the space could be put to better use on deeper buildings. You could also put in 1 brick-deep mini skyscrapers e.t.c. behind the facades, to give a skyline.

Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince. It was fun and hilarious in parts (Bellatrix was sooo funny), but overall a bit mediocre (like the book itself, in comparison to the others in the series - disjointed with no unifying plot). Trouble was, I saw the making-of documentary a few days back, which showed all the best bits in it - the Millenium Bridge, Harry, Ron and Ginny on the sofa, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, so they were a bit predictable. Greyback was really cool, but could have done with a more prominent part, rather than just looking round menacingly. The horcrux cave scene was alright - Dumbledore waving his wand around in a swirl of fire wasn't quite as dramatic as it should have been. A couple of Gandalf groans could have done him good (particularly given the Gollum-like things that came out the water)... You also need a good grasp of the other books/films to understand it. Had I not recently re-read the 5th book (haven't seen the 5th film yet), I would have been completely stupefied in places. The ending was weird - Fawkes flying around a bit, but not overtly stated as Fawkes - it looked like an eagle. Nonetheless, my friend cried during the wand-raising after . Worth watching, but not as good as I had anticipated. That said, the Quidditch was awesome, and the book wasn't as good a starting point as the others.

It was fun to read, yes, but as Erdy said, it was waaaaay off topic. There's no problem if you like that kind of thing in your "own" thread, but doing it to a relative lurker isn't so fair. Let the fun happen in the Red vs Blue thread - there's no limits in there.

Now this is something that I'd have liked to see on the Viking sets and the Troll Assault Wagon! Instead of a football-base, turn a wheel! Much better, and a fine job on the build too! The flick-fires are a better choice than technic axles by far. I too have considered doing a gatling gun style missile launcher using a large wheel hub. However, making it rotate the right distance for each missile fired is difficult - and I don't want to spring-load it (i.e. rubber band pulling the wheel round, so that any present missiles lock it in place, but when fired the wheel turns until the next missile locks the wheel in place). Any thoughts? It's very hard in Lego to do a similar mechanism to that of a 6-shot cap-gun (revolver) - with a wedge-shaped lever which pushes the ratcheted lever round...

Pirates had a surprising amount of rules and codes. But in those infamous words - "they're more guidelines" - it doesn't matter that we're off topic here, as the main discussion has ended. We're also continuing the conversation in a helpful manner - not debating whether a redcoat could kill a shark or not...

You could do a piratey entry for the MCW Contest, or the seed-part contest on Forbidden-Cove may satisfy your needs for the time being.

It'll be all over the CP and EB frontpages, and perhaps on other blogs at the time - you're unlikely to miss it. 1st October, be there! Depends. If it's a full MOC, give it its own thread. If it's a baseplate with Armendariz, Zuloo and Blackmoor on it fighting some redcoats, put it in the red vs blue thread. There's no problem with some off-topicness, but when it develops into sig campaigning and many posts of off-topicness in multiple threads, it really is out of hand.

Each contest has a different objective - the PTV was to show what pirates do best - pillaging e.t.c. The winners, rules e.t.c of all the contests can be found in the links at the bottom of this page

Um... There will be a big contest this October, so be prepared for that! Normal pirate MOCs are more than welcome before then, though In the meantime, you could do a pirate-y entry for the MCW Contest, or the seed-part contest on Forbidden-Cove may satisfy your needs. This doesn't seem to be going anywhere, so closed...

The legendary 6286 Skull's Eye Schooner has a mistake in the instructions In steps 17 and 18, one face of a grey 2x2 corner brick is filled black. Beneath the 2x2 black slope in the left foreground. Go to stage 16 or 19, and it is normal grey.

These look really, really good! I especially love the king. But the Russian Naval Officer's hair is a different colour from his beard!

Alpha Team fell short of its potential due to incredible juniorization in nearly all the sets. However, it paved the way for Agents and an improvement in the storyline-comic section in the manuals (which I like, if no-on else does ). It had a super-villain, drones, orbs, specialised secret-agents, each with their own vehicles (although the transformer stuff in Arctic was a bit too far), and all across a variety of terrains. Jungle wouldn't have gone amiss as Alpha Team 4... I liked it at the time, enough to buy 2 of the smaller sets. The bionicle-esque arms and blades that appeared in some of the sets were cool at the time, but have lost their appeal since.

Thanks for the review But it doesn't come in any packaging, apart from the cardboard tag? That's cheap, especially for a chromie... Keychain removal here also - basically bend off the chain links, and pull the pin out the top of the head. They glue the hips though I know, I used to use Majisto as a keyring - he broke both his hips and his hands, and his beard got ripped up and dyed pink, as a result of an accident with a red pen...

I buy smaller sets for the figs and accessories, and just use what grey I have for the main construction. If anything, I would go to a PaB or do some heavy Bricklinking for bulk basic parts, but small sets are cheaper for the basics than big ones. Currently I'd recommend Tower Raid as the best parts/minifigs/pieces set around, but the Medieval Market Village could be worth a try (although it is more of a long-term investment). Troll Assault Wagon and Crossbow Attack (if you can still find it) are good cheap sets too.

Congrats on the win! The fleet sure looks impressive in a line (do you ever arrange them in battle formation, if that is appropriate - I don't know much about naval tactics, particularly after the advent of steampower...?)! But who is this Pherd you talk of?

Redbeard for me - it fits in with Bluebeard, Greenbeard, Blackbeard, Redbeard... Roger is a bit mudane. Besides, Roger Runner doesn't sound nearly as good as Red Beard Runner.