SlyOwl

Thanks everyone It did feel rather similar to last year; apple core, mice, even the knife idea was there last year (there was a knife block, as I recall) - so I was trying desperately to distance the two (like I really struggled not to put in a PaB cup in the background!). A carving knife was too hard to make! Besides, cleavers make a far more satisfactory sounds when one details mice (not that I have any experience )... It was quite a challenge, really: the cleaver slots into a SNOTed angled hole in the board, and I jammed it in with a trans red plate... hasn't fallen over once yet! Alas, other categories call my attention! But maybe some day... *Googles Braille decipherer* - thanks!

Three blind mice, three blind mice, See how they run, see how they run, They all ran after the farmer's wife, Who cut off their tails with a carving knife, Did you ever see such a thing in your life, As three blind mice? Before you ask, the cheese is Modulex, and the Braille spells out "home" For the 2011 MOCathalon.

Thanks guys Thanks for the blog, mate! I agree about the hatch; just it looked a bit too much like a plain hole in the wall without it! I had originally planned a two-levelled MOC, with some fancy spiral stairs, but I realised that a) I couldn't be bothered and b) the upper level would have obscured the lower one, so I reasoned that in the interests of progressing with the contest quickly, I wouldn't do so. But I do plan to do some nicer, more complete interiors at some point. That was one influence - in fact, that whole contest was! This was mainly based on the promo image I did, mixed with a bit of oo7's and ISC's entries. It's a bit cheeky, really. It's part of a technic figure's arm (push out the pin, and pull the forearm away from the elbow). It slots into the hole in the bottom of a 1x1 plate very nicely, though. I'm putting it down to his previous experience as a Gunner in an Imperial ship... but I just thought it looked nice! As for the Maeve Aulsebrook, it has been rebuilt bigger and better than before, and is awaiting an interior at present.

Check her signature But here it is anyway!

Congrats to the winners! I was very impressed with the standard of entries (on the most part ) - Stacy's and Inconspicuous' are the ones that spring to mind (the latter must be the engineer in me speaking!), but I was blown away by loads of them.

Barracuda is a true old seadog; originally a gunner aboard the HMS Falstaf, he soon grew tired of the lack of plunder, and jumped ship in Tortuga, no less. Encountering fierce native tribes and mysterious Eastern seas, he gradually rose to captainhood, as the years grew as long and grey as his hair. A meticulous - if verging on shambolic - type, he is an ept commander, valuing above all his tactical expertise and cunning. A man of fine taste, his quarters reflect both his character and past - functional and sturdy, but not lacking in glamour or flamboyance where indulged. Apologies if this seems familiar - but it was built at great speed for the 2011 MOCathalon!

It was good to meet you all today (however fleetingly, in some cases!), much enjoyed Thanks for the trade, Silentmode, good to get myself some Ninja stuff at last! Pinky, here's some of those roofing techniques I was talking about... yes, a lot of amputee minifigs around the place... I managed to get myself a bus, and that must have been at around 2:30 - and they still had a fair few in the box then. I had planned to try and get the display model if they'd run out, but someone knocked it onto the floor, and that was the end of that! Elf-wise, I think I'll be able to manage - the Sainsbury's near me has plenty of S3, and there's a WHSmith and a toy shop if they don't have one - but thanks for the offer to look out

I'm probably going to arrive at 1.00ish - I take it people will still be around -? Ah, I'm looking for these: x4 in dark bley x2 in dark bley To buy/trade, if'n you have? They come from Atlantis Seabed Scavenger, and I need double, but can't be bothered to Bricklink them!

Tesco and Sainsburys are now beginning to get the S3 figs in.

I'll be there for one day (not sure which) - but I won't need accomodation.

I seem to recall there being a court case against Lego at some point over the name Kahuka - as it was allegedly a bastardised Polynesian name. And there's the answer. Of course, the sets don't draw on just one source - there's clear elements of Easter Island in some, whilst in others it has a very Caribbean aesthetic.

The mouth does hold a bar, yes. You might not want to click this, but it does give a good impression of minifig scale! Indcidentally, MicahBerger has an excellent brick-built bear, complete with instructions here. More posable too - just a thought

I may well come along - not so much for the trading, but to meet you guys and see the store (which I'm yet to do!). It'd probably be more convenient to start an hour or so later for me, but providing I don't go on one of the earlier grand opening days, I'm there! As for what I have to trade... hmm... I have 5 turkeys, if anyone wants? Fixed the title, BTW

+1 for nzkiwiman Edit: and +1 for Whitefang

Welcome to Eurobricks, and into AFOLdom! Getting started out as an AFOL can be a high-intensity process, but I'll do my best to answer your questions. 1. That depends. I tend to spend about £15 a month on Lego, which isn't much - but some people will spend thousands. But then again, I tend to build stuff, rather than collect stuff. 2. I think you pretty much cover it with the BSB and Enchanted Island. You could try picking up some smaller pirate sets from the recent line, such as Cannon Battle, as they're cheap and nicely detailed. There's a Pirates of the Caribbean line coming out soon, so that might be a good starting point for expanding your collection. 3. Yes, that seems a reasonable price. I bought mine for £20, but that was after a lot of waiting on eBay for the best price - they tend to average a bit higher than that. But it is an excellent set, generally worth more than it is sold for. 4. Light and dark grey bricks (1x2, 1x4, 2x4). Blue plates. Tan plates. Green plates. Dark and light grey plates or tiles. Brown tiles. Brown 1x1 and 2x2 round bricks. Cheese slopes (1x1 slopes) in any colour, in large quantities. That about summarises the parts I use most - there's a link in my signature to my MOCs, which more or less are similar to what you described. I tend to buy what parts I need per MOC, rather than stockpiling bricks. www.bricklink.com is excellent for buying individual parts; it's a bit confusing to use, but once you get the knack, it's an invaluable resource. 5. MLCAD is an unofficial design program. It's harder to use, but more expansive - and in your case, uses less memory (I think!). From a personal view, I would recommend just building with Lego in real life first, rather than doing it digitally. Just my two cents, though Hope that helps!

I worked with Dieter closely for quite some time as part of Classic-Pirates. He was invariably friendly, supportive, enthusiastic and level-headed: the voice of reason and pragmatism. His generosity, in time and money, to the Lego community is not to be forgotten - and I do not doubt that his memory will live on. It is most fitting that one of his earliest achievements as part of Eurobricks was being awarded the Creative Critic prize - for providing consistent and helpful feedback for people's models on the forums. I had anticipated meeting him at a Eurobricks event some time in the next few years - but that is not to be. But I've certainly got a lot of happy memories of him. My thoughts and prayers are with his family. -Barney (England)

SOLD Hey all, I got a spare complete set of the Daily Mirror Promotional Sets from last year, all MISB. The 10 sets are shown below, along with a playmat and box, should you want! I'm looking for £15 + P&P - I'm not making any profit (cost of papers + mail offer cost). I'll ship internationally. Drop me a PM if interested

Thanks again everyone Here's a photo of how the wall works, in case it wasn't clear enough: I bought them a couple of years back specifically for the roof technique - at around 2c each, it was one of the best $5 I've ever spent!

Why thankyou everybody! I appreciate the feedback. Good, glad you like it. I wasn't really sure how to do the Ghost of Christmas Present, and was wondering how people would respond to the way I did it in the end. It's good to be back! (at least temporarily...). It's lots (and lots!) of headlight bricks, put together so there's an alternating half-plate offset. The bottoms of these towers are attached by some mind-numbing SNOT contraptions (between the outside wall and the inside wall, there is 3 or 4 studs worth of cavity, full of stuff holding various things in place - it's not pretty!), to make sure that the tiles line up with the floor right. I thought about doing it onto a plate, but it didn't give enough randomness or deep enough offsets. Ach, finally found a use for a fleshie! First time I've used Willie Scott for anything but mashed potato! Dark Ages, no. Just too much work and real life etc getting in the way! I have been building though - just a fair bit of what I have done hasn't been for public consumption (either yet or ever...). The headlight towers I mentioned to Josh can be rotated, whilst the tiles still interlock. And then it's just trying to find some way (SNOT, jumpers etc) to attach them in the right position to the base. I'll show some photos if needs be. I don't know, I really don't know. I'm quite fortunate that I have a bit of a mental catalogue of techniques (which haven't all been shown publically) - and then I suddenly recall them when needs be. I didn't feel I did any great innovations here, as most of it I've thought about before (which is why I was able to build this reasonably quickly). But where the ideas came from in the first place, beats me! Yeah, I'm pleased with how it turned out (although I think that if it were to be used on any larger wall, it might look a bit geometric...). Hmmm... I do have exams at the end of January... but the Lego calls to me! I might manage one or two for the JRC2, y'know; but I doubt I'll run for Master Builder. Actually, I am yet to photograph my re-hash of the pirate ship I did last time (which I rebuilt for STEAM) - so that'll probably come first. It was meant to be an owl, yes, although it didn't end up looking entirely like one! I really struggled with Scrooge's expressions in this (especially as I had to have 5 or so different ones, but with the same features ie. no facial hair/glasses etc). It was based on the Muppet Christmas Carol mainly, so I tried to replicate that - but Michael Caine's facial expressions in that were so weird that I didn't know where to turn. But yes, it is a little creepy! Thanks again!

Well, I watched the Muppet Christmas Carol - and take it away Ernie!

Thanks again all I have a feeling you might see one later today... much, much later today!

Thanks mate! Yeah, it's been a good day Alas, it's been rather (read: totally) lacking in Lego, but what to do! It's been great anyway. And happy birthday to you too! At last! "Now legally on EB" to quote Mr Mandalorian, I believe! Thanks! How do you know I love Les Mis? I've got a feeling I might have mentioned it, but I was planning on revealing all with a Les Mis barricades MOC sometime next summer (huuuge project which hasn't even started yet!). Got a Les Mis video for my birthday - and the CD for Christmas - all in all, a most Miserable festive season (as it were)! Can't stand the stuff anyway! Oh, it's going to have to be Facebook official now! Fingers crossed I can change it back!

Discontinued? Still, it's Lego - in London! That's good enough for me! Now, I happen to live in Islington, and on a whim had a look in WHSmith and ToysToysToys (in Barnet, as I was up there today) - in case of elves. And they both said there'll be no S3 until January at the earliest. So in terms of getting them yourself, you'll be hard pushed - Toy City in Wood Green doesn't have them either, when I last checked. Good luck with your search!

Aha, I'd been eagerly anticipating Westfields opening, but hadn't realised it had already done so. Thanks for the heads-up You need to have 10 posts to send private messages