SlyOwl

Vassals can only put a maximum of 2 links and 4 pics in their sig - essentially to prevent cluttering up threads and to stop people joining for the sole purpose of self-promotion

A magnificent horse! The aesthetic certainly fits well with the TT figs, and looks great in conjunction with them. Certainly an innovative design; the join between the head and the neck (the gap) looks like it could be smoothed out with a bit of jiggling around, but it's only really noticable in the last photo. Having tried my hand at brickbuilt horses (centaurs), I appreciate how frustrating the lack of brown tools and clips is - I resorted to painting myself, but I think the way you've used black in areas where tackle (? - reins, saddle etc) should be works well.

Really really really nice work, I especially love the tramp and the swamp monster. I'm curious as to how you did these. Are they photoshop chop-and-build (with a lot of colourizing and print removal) from the renders of series 1 on the Lego website, with custom decals edited on (and some external stuff, like the Ginny hair and helmet)? I'm guessing it is, as the explorer has the same leg configuration as the zombie, the swamp thing has the diver's legs and the stewardess' hair is the same as the nurse's. I thought about doing some myself a couple of weeks back, but couldn't get it to work out properly.

Been really enjoying these, Hornbricker - thanks and keep them up! Pirates might have to strike sometime, as Derfel said!

Just an update on the Wood Green (North London) front: Toy City has a small range of Lego - mainly Town/City, some Atlantis and SW. It has around 10 collectible minifigs left (no cheerleaders ) WHSmith has nearly a full box of collectible minifigs left. Neither is behind the counter, so you can check barcodes and feel all you want.

Hehe, you'll never kill me! Thanks for doing this Hornbricker Reminds me of the How do you kill a Skeleton? contest here on EB a couple of years back (in relation to the Fantasy Castle enemies). I'd have liked to have had my method done to me - if killing a human involves turning them into a skeleton, surely killing a skeleton involves turning them into a human! - and thus piecing them back together...

I'd build it in MLCAD/LDD first. Then get a rough quote for the cost - LDD will give you one straight off, and using MLCAD in conjunction with Brickstore, you can easily get a quote using max/min/average Bricklink prices (does it all automatically). You can export from Brickstore directly into a Bricklink wanted list - and thus can order bricks relatively easily. It really depends where you can get all the parts - you could modify the design so it's completely buildable from S@H, and thus you can set a fixed price (bricks plus P&P), without the variability of Bricklink pricing. If I were you, I'd get the parts to build one more of the model (not necessarily every single one in the model - just the parts that you wouldn't want to lose from your collection short-term) and try and sell it. It'll reduce your collection short-term, but the bricks can be obtained again in the long run, using what profit you made from the original sale, via Bricklink - and thus reducing P&P costs - and also lets you get the best deal on parts as and when on Bricklink.

I always find a browse of the MOC Indexes a good source of inspiration and techniques - and then once I've got a concept, I take it from there. The Pirates Index has different sub-indexes; in particular, the Land-Based MOCs (third link) has around 700 different models in it. Similarly the Historical Themes MOC Index has lots of good castle stuff in it. Similar links can be found at the top of each subforum. Brickshelf has got practically everything; but there's a lot of clutter too. Brothers-Brick highlights some of the best MOCs out there - the blog categories on the right of the page can provide you with a specific list of MOCs from a certain theme. The Building Techniques Index covers the basics of more complicated building styles, across a range of themes. Classic-Castle has some good medieval buildings tutorials/galleries/links.

Definitely worthy winners, congratulations! I was very impressed by the standard of entries - and also enjoyed learning about battles I knew nothing of.

Argos, Tesco - they have the more popular sets. Or you could try a generic toyshop - but as far as I know there aren't really any good Lego-stocking ones in the area. Wood Green and the Angel don't really have much to offer, I don't think. The ELC at WG isn't very well stocked, apart from on the Duplo front, as I recall. There's Toy City (in Shopping City); haven't been in there, though. No way! I'm in Highbury

Some incredible entries. I could have easily voted for most of them. 4. Michaelozzie 1 point 9. Aalak 1 point 19. TinyPiesRUs 1 point 8. MrCool1804 - if I'd seen more angles, you would have got my vote. I know you did it from a painting, but a bit of artistic license to expand it beyond that would have been nice. But excellent job nonetheless, good to see a Civil War entry.

Brickstore is also worth a look. It is essentially the inventory aspect of Peeron for Bricklink - and has more besides, such as converting MLCAD models into a Bricklink wanted list.

Happy birthday Sieggy! Have a good one. Give my regards to Sledge as well.

+1 for Stash! Thanks buddy!

Excellent scene, I look forwards to its completion. Nice expansion of the wall technique into the arch. I considered doing a similar thing using printed tiles to get an ornate curved mantel. From what little I know about said battle (ie. from the description in Les Miserables), it was a chaotic, bloody affair. Lots of shrapnel, bullet holes and blood would be most welcome. What's the plan for the raised baseplate? Is that to be the hill that eventually gets a statue of a lion on it?

+1 for Batmayne, excellent transaction. and +1 for Polishguy, excellent transaction.

Same again buddy

Not to self-promote, but I've done a couple of these gritty-city MOCs recently, and experienced the same red-is-too-bright problem. I found a blend of dark red, old and new brown and normal red worked well, providing it was mixed with texture, such as log bricks and tiles-with-headlights. I can imagine old dark grey (and possible bley) and dark tan being good accents to change the tone slightly. As for add-ons, bins, newspapers, litter, bollards, tramps, graffiti, drains, drainpipes, barbed wire, CCTV, chains, grills, broken windows/paving stones, random stains... This picture from the Brick Testament also springs to mind -

I think I can get this for you. Should be £1.99 per fig, plus shipping. Let me know if you still need them, and I'll go buy them. Transaction completed.

a) Patrick from Spongebob already had shorts, even if they were only front-printed and fleshy b) Leg printing is becoming more and more common c) Woody, Jess, and the exclusive Max figure all have side printing on their legs Therefore, yes, I do believe at some point, there will be shorts. Perhaps just for one theme (eg. if there was ever a Jaws theme), and also perhaps becoming a minifig "staple". In regards to the football theme, I think that leg printing was quite uncommon back then, restricted nearly exclusively to SW.

I was hoping to see one of this battle, a great start! Are you planning on building up the sides of the valley and the Russian cannon batteries? I agree about horses being very difficult to pose well.

Thanks for the review, this set is a must-get for me at some point. The holographic radar dish is one of my favourite things about the highly underrated Exploriens, as well as the neat magnetic/colour changing tiles. The large panels are phenomenal - and I don't hear cries of <insert that tiresome argument> part, do I? Not at all, they've got a purpose, and are incredibly effective. I plan to pick some up to form full space domes at some point, so incredibly cool they are. As CP said, the way the vehicle fits into the base is also shown in the catalogue. Quite a cool feature, although for shooting purposes, perhaps not so good? Regarding the opening base, I always thought that just the trans panels moved, not the floor too. I guess my idea is also possible, as the panels only attach at the corners, so could be hinged outwards, without moving the floor. Lots of potential here I've always taken the arrow tiles from Classic Space to be, rather than pointing out rather obvious dangers to unsuspecting spacemen, a sort-of status symbol: "hey, my ship does this and this and this bling bling" - the more arrows, the more functions and guns, the better the craft!

At Bluewater a couple of weeks back they had shakos and Imperial torsos; no epaulettes, though. Normal quality plastic, as far as I could tell. It was £3.50 for 3 minifigs, or £1.50 each, as I recall.

Okie, it's either custom or a new mold. Look at the round bit where the pedals are - on the tan bike, it is slightly indented, on normal bikes it is flat, with the Lego logo sticking out.

From what I recall of the few roadplates I have handled, the actual road bit isn't perfectly smooth, like a tile is, but has a slight texture ("acorn", I believe it is called), much like slope pieces (some of the more recent ones haven't got the texture, but any older ones do pre-2007ish). The printing on top of this is therefore harder to get off, as it gets in the cracks in the texture. If a normal cloth isn't working, a brush of some kind may get into the cracks better.