DeanFS

Wow! now... the rest of the building? In all seriousness, I think you could use this technique on a smaller scale to a similar effect for a more reasonably sized MOC building.

Wow! This makes me appreciate the Fabuland line more. Somehow, the kitsch reminds me of 80s nautical toy/cartoon imagery, which has always been very nostalgic for me. I don't know if we ever had any of these sets because they would have been with the "baby" LEGOs which seem to be gone now... If I only I had that walrus captain, such a great figure!

It's like a frame for the basic LEGO palette! I don't know what your competition looks like but this one seems like it has everything it needs to win: inspiration, structure and a uniquely LEGO take on the subject. Including each of the basic colors, black, white and some of the awesome 60s/70s printed bricks make this a quintessentially LEGO MOC. Great work! I will say there are two problems though: one white brick looks like it needs an additional plate underneath to meet the structure securely, and a few elements aren't completely snapped together. Some of the printed bricks are heavily faded and I would get replacements for those if possible.

Hah, you learn something new about how LEGO fit together all of the time! What a versatile medium... I love the nuanced build, btw. I have to say that it does look really nice from far away, but that some of the nuance is lost up close. You're really good at getting nice shapes by putting elements together in certain ways. This style really lends itself to large MOCs.

Very Cute MOCs, I like the first one better. The fire could be made with a brown clip of the same type - but in this case it looks like ashes & embers, so its still nice. What set is that map from? I try to collect the different lego 'documents' for library/archive/etc scenes, and I don't recognize that one! The tress & foliage are great in both MOCs. Dont forget that Foliage can be made out of many different elements, and even many different colors! You can even use colors like black, yellow and red if you have the right elements and context. Maybe putting black round plates under the leaves on the inside of the tree could provide shading that makes it appear more dense.

What an amazing MOC. I recommend one thing - diversify the colors! The black roofs could really add dimension to the MOC if they were another color, even brown or tan. I feel like you are really showing off some marvelous techniques but not taking advantage of the palette that LEGO offers. Some greater nuances could be applied to your brown pieces that are meant to be boards along the top of the city walls and the top of the tower that would make them look more like floorboards or planks rather than a flat brown surface. Maybe raising or lowering them 1 plate from the nearby stone (to mimic raised boards or boards secured by being slotted inside the stone structure)? You could also utilize brown 1x1 plates or jumpers and light bluish grey round plates to mimic fasteners holding boards down. This would really add a unified dimension to the wooden parts that would make their purpose much more obvious. I LOVE the arches set on the stone edifice. I really like that you added foliage in a very controlled way - so many MOCs put foliage on every inch of green, which makes the Minifigures look out of place - where will they be standing if they have to run across that field? Your MOC even has plenty of open studs littering the top of the towers so that more figures or furniture can be added. Keep up the good work.

What a beautiful theme, I really love the colors. I have to say that LEGO is probably looking at the architecture line to fit the market for these, however. The 3,200 piece count is just way too big. I'm not sure I could afford it, and I wish I could, because I love historical/architectural sets, especially Mediterranean. I don't think LEGO wants to make custom minifigs for cuusoo sets, and having 24 in one set is definitely a stretch. Just think about how much money it costs them to make minifigs, and how restrictive it would be to have machines / plates tied up for 24 minifigures that are all in a set which may or may not sell as well (bigger sets in unproven themes are probably the most volatile product LEGO can release). I don't want you to feel hopeless. If you can design one that is microscale, with multiple models you can build, THAT would be viable. You have great models, great graphic design capabilities, and the energy to put it all together. I expect to see one of your models on LEGO.com one day - but you have to get it within TLG's business model. Look at the cuusoo models they have chosen to release. What are their average part counts? How do they compare to current themes? What kinds of markets do they appeal to? How many minifigures? I think having multiple models for one set is actually a really great way to make your CUUSOO submission viable. It makes the customer feel like they are getting more models in one set, and for TLG it is a cost-effective way of introducing more value - especially if they don't have to pay as much in designing costs ( that's your job ;-) ). Now - please go make a microscale version of this, I'll be your first customer I just don't have 300$ for ANY set!

I love the sky tram.

You sure he's only 11? This is such a great MOC. it has great coloring and detail and yet it isn't too busy. I would have made stairs instead of a ladder, and the outside of the house could use a bit more detail. I know I've used ladders in the past because stairs can be a pain to work around - but when you have stairs in there, it adds a really good dimension to a house. Altogether, the technique is really well defined. Looking forward to the castle!

Great roof, I like that you used the log pieces to create the half-timber effect. I would have liked to have seen more variation between the two buildings.

What clever design! I love the fencing and roof techniques.

Clever technique; I like that you posted a tutorial / directions rather than just a picture of the finished model.

I love the cave and the nuances you used to capture the lines on the Horizon Express!

Stereotyping is not necessarily negative. Your's is a standard reaction when someone is trying to defend against the connotation of the term. The bottom line is that these are absolutely stereotypes, and sometimes, of nationalities. The Jalisco-inspired Maraca Man is a stereotype of Mexicans. Lederhosen and Kimono refer to specific roles within certain cultures and some narratives may interpret them as national stereotypes. In fact, just about everything that is done in LEGO minifigure form is stereotypical. The man and wife and dog in house / creator sets (but rarely just a woman). The naughty supernatural characters, damsels in distress, lightly-colored savior knights and darker colored baddie knights in the castle themes. However, I think that Super Hero and some other licensed themes are the worst for stereotypes and really show that LEGO is rather sanitary regarding negative stereotypes. Anything in the collectible minifigure line is rather light-hearted, but the racism in Lord of the Rings is rather overt. The role of women in Star Wars and Super Heroes is pretty lame. The ethnic makeup is universally narrow. You can't say "TLG didn't stereotype." They willingly admit to stereotyping girls' and boys' interests in their marketing imagery. What I think can be said is that TLG goes out of their way to insure that demeaning stereotypes are not used.

Thanks, and yes, that is from the PotC set Captain's Cabin (actually, one of the first sets I got coming out of the dark ages, for those beautiful ship-printed bottles!). Actually, that was the second set I built after leaving my dark ages - after my wife got me Lighthouse Island to reintroduce me to LEGO (I still think that is the best LEGO set I've seen to date). If this MOC hadn't met an explosive end, I would have it sitting beside MMV, but now its just an opportunity to build a much better half-timber. Sorry, I thought I chose the 800x600 size each time - can you let me know what the problems were? I wish I had noticed the truncation before I submitted the post! Can you change the title to "MOC: Half Timber Artisan House with Staggered Roof" ? Thanks for fixing my post.

Emerald Night takes the cake for me. What a beautiful set. I really hope TLG releases a nice period train again; I may get the new Lone Ranger set as a weak substitute (to be fair, having a full track and nice figures / figure accessories make it stronger) but I will always regret having let my own embarrassment keep me from LEGO during that period. I still feel weird leaving the LEGO shop with bags of goodies, but if I had the Emerald Night in tow, I wouldn't even care!

Beautiful! I love the innovative doorway technique, and the nuances of the wall damage. Can you explain more about the "art of dying" and how the images here symbolize the Christian concept?

"Half Timber Artisan House," Tudor-style An early post-dark ages MOC of mine, regular grey and brown parts abound because I was still working with a predominantly 1990s LEGO collection. Here you see three different ways to mount windows. The bay window at the top is mounted on jumpers to make it protrude (actually 8 jumpers that extend into the interior and a 2x8 plate extending 1/2 stud outward by virtue of being mounted on these jumpers). I intend to use a simpler version of this technique for a Tudor-style house rather than the above tan log bricks to achieve a flat daub. The lower right windows are each mounted on a 1x4 dark blue plate that can easily be detached (i.e. if you press down on the owl, the window will pop off) as it is mounted to the bottom of the tall slope elements. 2 brown 1x2 jumper elements are used for the window awnings. I was particularly happy with how the staggered roof / wall design turned out. I would have liked to have fixed some things (such as the bent glass goblet >_<, the boring detail above & under the door, the chimney colors and the rather uninspired side of the roof (where the brown logs are)). (see Wikipedia: Wattle and Daub for a nice rundown of the architectural material) Rear of the house: I could have worked a bit harder to make the color on the lower level more consisted; I was going for an aged stone wall made of different minerals. The thatching on the tip-top of the roof actually fits together perfectly, I just forgot to adjust one of the hinged roof plates for this picture. I realize now that the dark blue would have been a better contrast for the top level; it would have looked like painted wood while the black plates could look like iron banding for the stone walls on the bottom. Unfolded Interior (Side) This is the "story" shot. A sickly child sits up in bed (i never finished the other 2 bedposts before this MOC had an "accident"). His father angrily cleans while mother drinks their stock away (can you tell that they are brewers from the wine barrel in the closet?). The barrel moves freely and the chest pops out if you lift it up. Yes, I know that the fire pit is a hazard being beside the closet even if the house is closed up. I actually didn't have a brown staircase at this time so I used black (thanks to Grand Emporium, I know a technique to make whatever color stairs I want anyways though). Each figure is held in place by stud(s). The upper right hand corner betrays my environment for these pictures. Also note the hinged roof, completely open in this shot. That attic space could have been used... Interior (Top) This is more of an expositional view to show how some of the effects are done. If I had been able to redo this MOC, I would have made the 2nd level floors detachable so that one could see how the first level floors look folded together in this way. I would have fixed some of the easier problems with this MOC if it hadn't crashed to the floor some months ago! I've decided to disassemble the remaining parts to make something else, so I'm posting this one late. Also, I am a complete convert to the bluish greys and reddish brown; my newer MOCs only use the yellowing greys to contrast with the newer greys. Until they can make a pure grey that doesn't yellow, I will use the very pleasant bluish greys as a primary choice. Half Timber House Set on Flickr

Bricklink.com twitter as of 9:30 AM EST 6-7-13: "The site is up and running now from the new data center. (It actually has been for more than 2 1/2 hrs now. Thanks for your patience!" ...but the site is not up. I guess we know one thing isn't going to change I hope we don't end up having to buy "nexus cash."

What a great & comprehensive review! While I don't think I'll pick this one up (more partial to the Apple Tree House you rightly recommend here) the primary build is superb. The secondary builds seem rather poorly executed. The set could have been more versatile with more 1 x n bricks rather than the 2 x n style, but I realize that this is directed at younger folk (7-12 per the box) and including 2 x 3s and 2 x 4s is useful for that age group. The price point is nice, consistent with other creator sets as you say. Its always important to remember that the multiple designs add weight & value to these sets even though they don't count as parts. Unfortunately, the primary build is the only one I would be interested in replicating.

I'll agree that this is one of the best in this wave, but the pricing seems way off and the build is rather boring. The dragon has some nuances which are really disappointing: -the neck joints stick out more than they have to -the fire comes from the wrong place, as noted -not enough modifiable bits - a small hole on the head would be inconspicuous but allow for various modifications, such as putting a crown (some of the belville crowns would be perfect) or a bit on his head Worst of all for this wave are the red/black dragon knights. I'm not one for sentimentality (the latest lion knights and crown knights are definitely the nicest looking factions) but the 1990s dragon knights were far better than these. They only have two colors, which are rather jarring, and this also manifests in the piece value. A lot of us still need more of the new bley bits, but black and red are among the most common colors TLG has released since it started. This make the price point on the castle sets even worse. I got one of this set, but I am going to part out the tower, and I'm not sure I'll keep the dragon or the dragon knights. The crown knights are all nice, if a bit rudimentary and uninspired.

This is definitely a candidate for a Black Friday Lego Online deal (free ship 50$ or more, free set at 100$, 10% at 150$, all stackable). This year there is a free 109-piece set with 4 minifigs on Black Friday from Lego.com. I already took advantage of the VIP early black friday deal on saturday to get 2 of these holiday sets.

I'm surprised someone would put in the energy to attack you based on your grammar. As you can see, we're all happy to have you here, and we all speak "Lego"! I for one am always interested in seeing creations from people of different cultural backgrounds. Someone recently told a story with a "Russian Winter" MOC that was not only unique and beautiful, but informed us on that person's experience living in Russia. Not every creation will be that deep, but I think its that kind of expressiveness that brings these MOCs alive. I see a lot of expression in your MOC, as well. I like your resourceful use of paper to make columns (some people point out that there are pieces that do almost the same thing, but those elements are a bit thinner - paper adds another dimension to the columnar building). The statue is very interesting as well. The whole piece reminds me of the Apostolic Palace (Vatican). Is there a back story or inspiration for your MOC?

Hi Big Cam, would it be ok for me to use some of these images for BrickLink? I just added this set to the inventory there but I can't get anywhere near as good image quality as you can. I will cite your name when I add them to BrickLink, hopefully they will keep that listed so you get credit for it. Love this set and the review, btw - I was just recently wishing I had 3x3 plates, glad they added them finally.

Wonderful - I really like your usage of wedge plate shapes to achieve the wing effect. The scaly head/nostril area is very innovative. Overall the shape is great. I do have some specific recommendations: -The ball hinges should be black. They would then add a layer of depth to the dragon's frame whilst the dark bley seems out of place. -The eyes should stick out a bit more. Different colors or tile/jumper formats might achieve this effectively. The eyes might be more convincing with some kind of contrast (i.e. 2 different colors to give the eyes life) -The ridges on his/her (its?) back are great, and I would recommend extending them out a bit more, perhaps tapering as they go away from the torso. -The tan on the wings add a very unique marking, but their corners are jarring. Perhaps adding 1 layer of blue plate wedge above would make this a smoother transition, whilst adding depth to the wings. -The tail is a bit out of character for a dragon. Some kind of minor changes to make it sharper could really enhance this area (i.e. a 4x1 blue tile with an inverted slope on each side of the tail end). This is one of the better MOCs I've looked at today, keep us updated about the project you use it in!