jFox

Agreed. The detail on that axe is superb! I especially like the little nicks on the blades. I can see myself picking up quite a few for my dwarves.

Try searching for "Bar 4L" or use this: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=30374

+1 to darkdragon

I think I've found a solution for the problem of the color rubbing off. I put the yellow sharpie on the same torso I tried before, let it sit overnight, and then sprayed it with a clear coat spray. Let it sit for a couple hours and voila! Hasn't rubbed off so far. Haven't tried it on a head piece yet, but on the torso I linked to earlier, so far so good. Here is the spray I used: http://www.krylon.com/products/crystal_clear_acrylic/. I got it at my local art supply store, but I'm sure they carry it in craft stores like Michael's, or you can get it online.

Just got some silver parts in the mail yesterday, and they're pretty nice indeed! Muscled cuirass, rhino helmets and a celestial crown, all very nice! They go well with the steel-colored items as well.

I will occasionally remove arms and swap them to another figure. Usually its to get rid of "bare" yellow arms on a figure and give it some sort of shirt/armor. The same goes for hands. Sometimes a torso has the right colors but needs some non-yellow hands for gloves or gauntlets, so I'll swap them out. I worry a little every time I swap them out, but haven't had any major issues yet.

Based on some feedback here, I decided to try and add some more details to what I already had. First, based on Wardancer's suggestion I changed the torso and legs to black. I don't know how I feel about the dragon chain armor poking out from underneath so I might see if I have an all-black torso to use instead. I painted a gladiator shield, added some silver to the armor pieces, and also recolored the gold using my paint marker. This makes it easier to do small changes, and the color is consistent across the board. Spraying takes a while to set up, dry, and if I'm not careful the humidity outside can cause problems. The hammer is a BrickWarriors Skull Crusher, and here's all of the gear: Rear shot A golden axe for a more offensive mode. RAWR! *Chop chop smash chop* I really like these results, and feel like I might have the "bug" for customizing. I do like purist options though, because of their consistency across the board. This is really fun, however, and pretty rewarding afterward... at least if it comes out okay!

Those look pretty good. What's that sword in the dual-scabbard on his back? My only gripe with those holders is that only the LEGO katanas fit there. Is that a LEGO sword, or a custom from somewhere?

I agree, the LotR license will probably keep fantasy themes at bay for a while. Though there are a lot of cool pieces and figures from the LotR sets that are useful in a fantasy setting. There are great printed torso and leg pieces; the reuse of pieces like the detailed spear/pike that was previously only available in the Roman Soldier/Spartan figures; and some figures like the orcs (Moria or Mordor) could fit into a fantasy theme quite easily. Even the Uruk-hai, I suppose, though personally whenever I see their gear I immediately think of the movies. I think it would be interesting to see a fantasy theme from the non-human point of view. Build up some mountain/cave sets for minotaurs or the evil dwarves, some forest structures for elves and fairies etc. Hell, even the series 5 Lizard Man could be turned into a tribe. Just replace his yellow head with a red or black head, and he's got an angry mouth. Personally, I've already collected quite a few of those figures for just such a purpose. (Although that S8 fairy looks pretty ugly, so maybe I'll pass on her.) If LEGO were to ever turn those into official sets I couldn't give them my money fast enough.

I would say it's a good price indeed. I already have one and am tempted to buy a second at that price.

To add to what Faefrost said (in general and about that Jedi Shuttle), take a look at BrickLink to find sets for sale without minifigures. Many people will sell a set as "new, but without minifigures or accessories" for significant discounts. The Jedi Shuttle, for example, is being sold for $29.99 with no figures or box. This can be a good, cheap way to acquire parts.

I tried this myself just the other day, but unfortunately the yellow rubbed right off a day later. I was trying to color this torso: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=973pb595c01. I colored the flesh bits and let it sit for about a day. The next day, when I gripped the torso to pull off the hands my fingers streaked yellow all over it. I washed the piece in the sink and found the yellow washed right off with no fuss at all. I imagined the yellow might rub off or fade over a period of time and need to be recoated, but not after only a day. Not so easily, either. Looking for a solution just revealed that people have the opposite problem. They have a hard time getting it OFF, whereas I can't get it to stay ON. Has anyone else had this happen? If so, did you find a good solution for it?

I agree, there could be a lot of cool sets to come out of a World of Warcraft theme. Unfortunately, Mega Bloks has got the WoW license already: http://warcraft.megabloks.com/

+1 to Super Goblin

I just read this the other day, and I must say it was pretty entertaining. A 15-minute read sounds about right, and for a $.99 download on my Kindle I can't complain about not getting my money's worth. There were one or two points in there that made me think "Aw crap, I AM addicted!"

Thanks! Though I can't take ALL the credit... it was the spray paint that did much of the work. That, and some paint markers I used on the spiked ends of the maces. The paint is very thin and goes on very smooth, almost like ink. I don't think I would try to hand-paint anything detailed on a flat surface though... my hands aren't steady enough at this small a scale. Ooh, I hadn't even thought of that, but now that you mention it I like it even more! :) That was my favorite armor set in Skyrim. I think anyone would have trouble killing this dwarf. That was what I was trying to go for. An unstoppable, (tiny) mountain of metal. Maybe another 3 or 4 of these to make an elite force, king's guards or the like.

Off the top of my head, I would look into some of these: A wizard hat (maybe black or brown) A skull or a pumpkin head http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=3626bpb388&in=S One or two ragged troll capes. Maybe one of the peasant torsos from the medieval market village? Looks kind of torn and ragged. Pluck out the arms, see if you can put some bars in the holes for sticks? -Or if that doesn't work, maybe one of those 1x1 bricks with 4 studs around the sides. Turn it so you can have the head on top, bars on the sides, and stud on the bottom for another pole/stick. Throw in some skeleton bones/arms here and there for hands or feet. Let us know what you come up with, I'd love to see the results.

I ordered a couple of centaur pieces from BrickForge, and must say they're pretty darned cool. Here's what I've done with them. First, a centaur courser. I'm using the CMF Gladiator's torso and head, and the Highland Battler hairpiece. A fierce warrior, he wields an elven spear and hero sword from Brickforge, which I've painted: I'm really happy with the way the sword turned out. The detail of BrickForge (and BrickWarriors) weapons is fantastic, just begging to be painted. A little bit of tape, a little bit of spray paint, and voila! Next up, the centaur stormer. The flowing pattern, and the feathered pouch on the right side made me think this would be some sort of shaman, medicine man... err, horse-person. I've used the BrickWarriors wizard staff topped with a gem, and a pinky ponytail piece from BrickWarriors (would have liked it to be paler, like the centaur body). I may try to paint the base of the ponytail. Maybe silver or gold, like a ring or bracelet around the hair. The torso is from the CMF Cave Woman, and the head is from the bounty hunter in Star Wars: Episode II, Zam Wesell. The head has dual-printing with a changeling/alien face on the back. I read somewhere that toothpaste could brush off printing. Sure enough, some toothpaste and a little elbow grease and it was gone. The shoulder pauldron is from someone on eBay who makes custom cloth accessories. Custom Pauldrons Both of them together, ready to take on anything! Thanks for looking, comments and critiques welcome.

I really love the dwarves from the Fantasy Era sets, but felt they could be a little tougher. I set out to create an armed, armored, unstoppable juggernaut (in miniature form), and here are the results! Like the title says, it's also my first attempt at customizing figures by modifying parts. The armor is from BrickWarriors. I bought it in brown, and it never seemed to look right anywhere. So I spray-painted it gold, and when paired up with the gladiator's helm it looked pretty badass, though the color was off. The gladiator's helm was almost copper-like, so I sprayed that to match. He needed some weapons, so I painted some spiked maces I got from Brickforge, as well as a shield: Ignoring the fact that he can't lift his arms very high, this guy is not to be messed with! I wanted to give him a really big tower shield. I tried the roman shield on the right, but didn't like the red. So I sprayed a shield, and the color is fine, but it's missing something in the middle. A spike, a stud, some emblem, etc. Maybe I'll try to find a stencil that I like and spray a silver pattern on it. More shield shots. It's not bad, just plain. And here are some armored dwarves using only purist options. I really like these too, and will build up a few more. If only that gladiator helm were in pearl gold it would be perfect. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the results. He looks like walking, talking armor, and the gladiator helmet is so huge and goofy on him, I love it. I keep worrying about the paint, even though I sprayed some Krylon sealer on it. Comments and critiques welcome!

Wow, looks like a lot of others have gone this route as well. Nothing wrong with more Millennium Falcons! I've finally started to overcome my phobia, and since then have ordered some used parts! Some have been perfect, others... not so much. Had a used minifig head show up with several bite marks all over... poor bastard never stood a chance against whatever beast or child attacked him! Agreed! Unless you've built it (or are building it) and know they should be a different color, you won't notice it (or care). I think the same goes for the rigging pieces in the back. I know they should be grey, but the black works just fine for me. Keep at it, guys! The end result is definitely worth it.

I too just started doing this, as the US/North America was running out of some parts I needed. For smaller orders shipping can be very reasonable from other countries. Those customs you have in your signature are really cool (especially the elven prince). Do you have any pictures of your elven army? I'd love to see them, as I'm building up a small one of my own. I keep finding new ways to customize them, though I've only stuck with purist options so far.

Great looking Rohirrim and Uruk-hai armies! I support your use of Eomer as just another grunt; as a minifigure he doesn't stand out much from the other soldiers (unlike Theoden and his armor). It would be a waste to keep him out of the army just because technically he's unique. I wouldn't want to be the one who has to tell him that! Anyone who isn't Lurtz: "Um, excuse me... Mr. Lurtz? Maybe you should, uhh... wear some armor into battle?" Lurtz: "Rawr! Puny thing, Lurtz needs no armor to smash and chop!" *Proceeds to smash and chop the poor victim* "Anyone else want to see me wearing armor?! RAAAAGH!"

Not sure where you're located, but on BrickLink there are sellers who have tons of new, dark green capes for less than MMCB charges. The cheapest on BrickLink would be $29.23 for 25 of them (shipping not included). 25 capes from MMCB would be $37.50 before shipping.

Looks good! I like that, even though it's small, there seems to be a lot of pieces hinted at in this fort. The tower, the jail itself, and the smaller structure in the back. Rest area? Blacksmith? Could be any of those, really. That brave Dragon knight sure does have his work cut out for him, though!

I remember having this set as a child. Though in my memory it was HUMONGOUS, and could fit an entire army inside it! As an adult... maybe it's not quite so big, but still a good size. I feel like I've seen this design (or similar) in several member creations in the forums here. It is a fairly basic ship design, and just swapping a couple of colors here and there can easily change up the "faction" of the vessel. I agree, I would like to see some middle-of-the-road options for castle-themed ships. I recently picked up a troll warship, and while it is very impressive, it's also enormous! Trying to build a fleet of those would require additional rooms in the house. With the Sea Serpent style, you could build three or four of them, pack in ten to twenty soldiers and build a nice fleet that takes up about the same size as one troll ship. I vaguely recall another ship or two from the same theme as the Sea Serpent, but they were very small, one- or two-man boats, maybe even rowboats?