Morgan19

The bits of tape holding it all together are pretty funny! m19

Fantastic, thanks! m19

Coming from someone (i.e., "me") who almost never builds anything with actual bricks, I would also like to tip my hat to the contest organizers. I had such a blast creating not only the figure but also the vignette to go along with it. This was a lot of fun! m19

"Kevin Chen, rookie cosplayer and avid droid fan, is about to ride the subway to his very first Star Wars convention in his homemade R2-D2 costume!" Click here to view the full Flickr gallery: Kevin Chen as R2-D2 Theme: Star Wars Character: R2-D2 Costume Cost: $0 (Each image clicks through to its Flickr page.) The goal here was to not go overboard with an overly-customized-looking final product. I wanted to make a cosplayer who seemed like he could actually be released as a figure in a LEGO set, so I decided to not use any non-LEGO materials for the costume. Although the final product looks simple, Kevin's costume was deceptively tricky to make! If you flip over standard R2 head and torso pieces, you'll see there's a quite a bit of internal strucuture to them-- all that needed to get removed while still keeping the pieces stable. I began by carefully hollowing out R2's head and body pieces with various tools including an xacto knife and electric drill (I would've used a dremel if I had one). Leaving the bare studs on top of the droid body looked too unfinished, so I cut them off and drilled a perfect hole for the minifig's head to fit into. The short minfig legs fit perfectly into the bottom of the torso once all the inner structures had been trimmed out. Because the holes in the side of the droid body are too large for a minifig's arm pegs, I trimmed a toothpick down to the right size and attached both arms to it so they're connected to one another, allowing them to remain snugly attached to the body while still maintaining their full range of movement. The vignette itself is meant to be a subway platform, which was very loosely modeled after pictures I found of Tokyo's subway stations. Apart from Kevin, the only physically modified parts in the vignette are the rat (painted black) and one of the silver grill pieces (cut in half). All told, the actual costume was developed and refined over a little more than a week while the vignette was completed the following week. Because I used only official LEGO pieces and stickers for the costume, the total outside cost was $0. m19

Like this: Here's the code: [img=http://images.mocpages.com/user_images/43027/1287065682m_SPLASH.jpg] (EDIT) Ha, bizarre. Almost the exact same post, posted at the same time. ;) m19

Yah, the extension is awesome, thank you! I hadn't even see the contest until last week so I was feeling a bit pressed for time. Again, thanks! m19

Nevermind. ;) m19

Last comment, I swear... I think I chose the wrong words in previous reply. I didn't mean to say that the vignette wasn't crucial to an entry, but rather was expressing understanding that the figure was MOST important and that the rules were't locking down WHERE the vignette needed to be depicting (home, convention, etc.). I didn't mean to imply I thought the vig wasn't an important aspect. :) Hopefully that makes sense... m19

Okay so the vig's not the focus, it's just something to have the figure exist in. Sorry if that'd be clarified before! I swear I went through the thread and didn't see anything that addressed in that specifically. Thanks for the reply. Message received, idea genereated. Now off to do some creating. :) m19

Quick question... The rules say "Create a new custom minifigure depicting someone who is going to take part to a cosplay meeting", making it sound like the figure isn't at the convention yet, but maybe at home getting ready for example. But then in a later answer you mention "Ideally, I mean you have to make a vig in which your minifig interacts with other LEGO elements as if it was at a cosplay event. But you can make it other ways..." which sounds like the figure needs to be shown already being at the event-- but then "make it other ways" comment makes it confusing again. Is the vignette supposed to specifically show one scenario or the other, or does it matter? Thanks, m19

Well, it's October so I'm up to my eyeballs in Halloween figures again. :D This year I'm doing a "calendar" approach and releasing 31 figures throughout the month, one on each day: And here's a link to the entire gallery as well: Halloween 2010 Gallery m19

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Thanks for the review... I see your note about the cameraphone but if you have access to them, a tripod and macro mode on a regular digital camera would improve the images greatly. If you're serious about doing reviews, something more than a cameraphone would help. :) m19

Just my head and using the pieces I had spread out on my desk at the time. :) That area's actually a bit misleading. It's not a hat but rather a metal detector piece, a 1x1 cone, and a black claw. But now that you mention it, a hat probably would've been easier. :D m19

I'll see if I can snap a picture of the torso broken apart for you-- it's pretty simple, just a couple clip plates and pins. m19

If it's September, that must mean that Halloween isn't too far off...! Here's a bit of a brick-built departure for me to kick off the season. (Click an image below to go to its respective Flickr page.) ^ Edited version ^ Unedited version m19

The helmet is from Cobi's medieval sets, turned around backwards and painted black. :) m19

(This multiquote function is wonderful! ) I Sharpied around all the non-yellow parts to be on the safe side; if you're decent with fine motor skills it's pretty easy to do. You could just Sharpie over the black details, but it'd probably turn them a yellow tint that wouldn't look quite right. And I imagine any office supplies store would carry Sharpie or its equivalent. If you wanted to try, just look for any fine-tipped permanent yellow marker. The Sharpie I bought was around $1.50, so it should't break the bank. I forget the brand (Cobi, I think?) but it's a medieval helmet turned around backwards and painted black. Yeah, that's an "oops" on my part– I was so intent on torso details and how great the head worked that I overlooked the gold color. D'oh! m19

Here's a little something for my UK brethren across the pond... :) The Queen's Guard figure was created using a customized headpiece, decals, and head (fleshie SW head Sharpied yellow). The gun is by BrickArms. ^ Regular version ^ Graphical version (Photos link to Flickr pages.) m19

Speaking of... Have you seen my King Graham? :) There're also a few Quest for Glory figures in the Games set. m19

(Here's some info on Maniac Mansion, for those not familiar with the classic LucasArts game. :)) Click the image above to go to the group shot page; individual characters are below: Dave Syd Michael Wendy Bernard Razor Jeff m19

(Xaelus, the Steel Angel) • (Zaras, the Forged Angel) I'm getting ready to pack up all my stuff (LEGO included) for a cross-state move mid-July and probably won't be building again until August, but wanted to share these guys for those interested in the meantime. I imagine Xaelus and Zaras as opposing forces in some angelic war, with designs/elements focusing on distinct feelings for each: Xaelus is cool, technological, and futuristic, while Zaras is warm, mythical, and ancient. (Interesting design note: both Xaelus and Zaras use almost the exact same background collage. The only difference between them is a single graphic layer and a color shift.) m19

Maybe it's the Pale Masque's cape design? m19

Gratze. :) That's one of the things I like about minifigs-- it's both easy and challenging to look anywhere for parts to use, then try and integrate them. An upcoming series will revolve around using parts from dime-store toys (like the cheap plastic toys you get out of vending machines) combined with minifigs. m19

Found a good use for my bronze BA order freebies (for a figure to pair up with the Pale Masque and Marauder soldier). Marauder Autogunner (Click image for its Flickr page) m19