touthomme

Yeah, I never made instructions for it, and unfortunately I don't really plan to. It's pretty time consuming to make instructions, especially for a complex models such as this. I have been getting a few requests for them though, so I'll think about revisiting it. J

It'd be a challenge for sure, and it might have to be done a larger scale. You'll notice it was one of the few models where they didn't present a real world version. The mechanics for getting the body and tail to rock back and forth look pretty intricate. Not really all that complex, but very small relative to all of the other linkages. It would definitely be interesting to reproduce in LEGO, though I would personally go for a less comical look. :) J

No worries John. I certainly don't expect everyone (or anyone really) to know all the models I've made! I thought it was cool that you mentioned Muybridge photo sequences. I must of spent hours looking at those photos (and the corresponding animation) trying to get the motion of the horse down. Thanks to everyone else for all the great replies. I'm glad you all like it! J

A couple of months ago someone pointed me to this fascinating video from Disney Research – (someone even posted it here last month). It's an amazing video, full of inspirational motion achieved via mechanical links and gears. Of course I was immediately inspired to build my own version of the Sisyphus model (which itself was inspired by ).I definitely wanted to add my own touch to it and, in addition to tweaking the geometry to improve (in my mind) the motion, I decided to add a boulder and extend the motion to it as well. I also wanted to give it a really nice base, decorated in a Grecian relief style with scenes from Sisyphus' life. You can see it in action in the video below. I have also put together building instructions for the core model for anyone who would like to build their own. You can find them on my website: http://jkbrickworks....etic-sculpture/ Hope you like it, J

Haha, well, I wouldn't have too much sympathy for him. According to the mythology he was a pretty evil dude. J

That first video is awesome. I'm actually building a Sisyphus kinetic sculpture based on the first model right now! Here's the second prototype I built for it....

Thanks for all the congratulatory messages! I have to say I was just as surprised as everyone else. I mean, let's be honest, most people find the original wooden version to be a very annoying and frustrating game, so I definitely see this set having limited appeal. Some people are really excited about it though, which is really cool! I mean, it did get 10,000 supporters on Ideas, so obviously some people are interested in it. :) I fully expect it to be labeled the 'worst Ideas set ever' by a lot of people, and definitely won't be flying off the shelves (just go read the comments on the Facebook announcement to see the overwhelming disappointment). But I'm actually really impressed that LEGO decided to give such a niche project the green light. It gives me hope that we might see more special interest projects coming out of Ideas in the future. Anyway, I'm obviously super excited that they chose it, and I can't wait to see what they end up doing with it! J

Great work so far! This is something LDD sorely needs. Any plans to add support for LDraw models? J

Thanks! No, I haven't made LEGO versions of those, but I did run across them when researching this project. I might try to build them at some point. They look pretty cool too. J

Thanks! Yeah, I have all these grand designs to build more often but they just never seem to work out. :)

I've been tinkering with these guys for a little while and finally got them to behave properly. :) They are based on traditional wooden mechanical toys, which have been around for a long time, but I figured they would translate pretty well to LEGO. It was actually a bit frustrating and required a lot of trial and error to get the center of gravity of the bodies such that they looked decent and were still able to walk. The video pretty much explains how they work, and you can find instructions over on my website if you are interested in building them yourself - http://jkbrickworks....alking-animals/ J

This guy is super cute. Love it!

Thanks for the comments! Glad you like it. J

Hey everyone, It's been on my list for a while to try to build a working ballista, and I finally took the time to do it a few weeks ago. It turned out a lot better than I thought it would. The torsion springs are built by twisting LEGO strings with studs on the ends. It can fire a 2x4 brick (or anything that fits in the channel) up to 15 feet. I also put together instructions for it for anyone that might like to try and build one themselves: http://jkbrickworks.com/ballista J

Thanks!

I don't even know what to say about this. I was putting the finishing touches on a working ballista around the same time that Kristal had her flying elephant out to take pictures. This is what ended up happening. Enjoy! J

Thanks! My girlfriend saw all of the windows in the set and kind of jokingly suggested I build a glass factory. That kind of got me thinking along the lines of construction, and that just kind of naturally evolved into this. J

Really late in posting this. :) I also participated in this challenge, and received this set to build something with. I ended up building a little construction site, with a functional tower crane and some fun play features. The biggest challenge was figuring out what to build with all those tall bricks and windows! J

Sad to see I didn't make it past the judging round, but there were a lot of great entries! Here are my votes... Category A: #2 #4 Category B: #4 #2 Category C: #4 #5 Best of luck to everyone! J

Thanks again for all the comments! After several requests, I have put together instructions for the basic ring and acclerator, which you can find on my website along with a follow up video showing more footage and how it works. http://jkbrickworks.com/particle-accelerator-instructions/ I also received a lot of requests to submit it to LEGO Ideas, so if you would like to see some sort of set based on this idea your support would be awesome! https://ideas.lego.com/projects/86253 Thanks! J

Thanks for the replies everyone. Glad you liked it! J

Thought you all might enjoy my latest model - a 'working' particle accelerator. Had a lot of fun creating the corny video for this one! A few details on how it works can also be found on my website: http://jkbrickworks....le-accelerator/ J

Haha, awesome! Thanks for the comments guys. Glad you like it! J

I've been lucky enough to find a partner that has embraced my LEGO hobby, and though she doesn't build as often as I do, when she does it always blows me away. Her latest model is no exception, and though I helped her out with the opening and closing mechanics, the concept, sculpture and detailing is all hers. It is a look at what might be inside the mind of an artist. Aptly entitled 'The Artist', by my girlfriend Kristal. You can watch the video to get a closer look at the details and how the mechanism works, or you can check out more pictures on my blog. Enjoy! J

What a great contest! I've never built an alternate model using a Technic set, but I'll have to give a try if I can find the time. Hope I can participate! J