Flying Ace

Haven't read the books but did see several episodes of the series, it was very well done. Looking forward to seeing the MOCs!

I just got the Mini Mech, Space Swarmer, Swarm Interceptor, and Vermin Vaporizer as birthday gifts yesterday. This is my first LEGO fix since getting the new Sopwith Camel last June, so I am excited to get these. And US Amazon has great prices on the two largest sets. I have built the Mini Mech and Space Swarmer so far. These are such cool models...it's amazing to me that they are LEGO sets (yeah I have been away from LEGO for a long time). It took a little while to figure out how to make the Swarmer stand up on its legs. The Swarmer is my favorite of the bug ships in wave 1. I really like how the cockpit tile has a silhouette of the Swarm Interceptor, as if it has one on radar, or maybe the human ship is in some kind of identification database. I also like how the scope on the robot's weapon lines up with his right eye. It's those little touches that show how much care the designers put into these sets. I am really looking forward to building the other two sets over the weekend! I also want to try to rework my old Alpha 1 Rocket Base into some kind of GS command center...combining the oldest and newest of LEGO Space!

Legogal, My family visited LEGOLAND FL just under a year ago. It has a large City-themed area with both junior and regular driving schools (the "normal" driving school has a very long wait). They also have a ride/game which involves being a firefighter or police officer, a show that did we not see, the Flying School coaster, and the Boating School ride. There is no dedicated Friends area, but there is a Friends shop. I didn't see any large Friends LEGO sculptures when I was there but maybe they have added some. Also, the 4D Clutch Powers ride has lot of LEGO City elements (police, firefighters, vehicles, etc). A Legends of Chima themed area is opening this year. I should add that LEGOLAND FL also has a pirate water-ski show with a human female lead character (which my wife and daughter really appreciated) and the original Cypress Gardens (which we did not have time to tour as a family, but I have seen them before, they are beautiful). The overall ride experience is good, queues are covered. The Boating School and Joust rides both have a very long wait time. The biggest disappointment is that they close pretty early for a theme park in FL. If you plan to go to the water park, definitely plan for two days at least. What I personally love most about LEGOLAND is the pervasive sense of humor and whimsy. Unlike other parks that need to take certain themes seriously and create an illusion of reality (superheroes, the old west, Harry Potter, etc), here it's all made of out LEGO (or looks like it is), so it's really all connected to one big joke that everyone is "in on." They don't have to convince anyone that a LEGO car, dinosaur, octopus, giraffe, dragon, person, etc is real, so they can spend their creative energy on just making it all fun. It's hard to describe, it really has to be experienced. Especially Miniland, it will blow your mind. Hope you can make it down to FL! Regards - Greg

Well, after watching this LEGO Galaxy Squad video, I give in. Let it be Ameribricks. Yee-haw.... The voice in the video made me think of this scene from Dr. Strangelove, and Kong's character in general:

To get away from all this back and forth, here is a little philosophizing from a US citizen: On Monday, our famiily visited the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine. This impressive masonry fort was built by the Spanish over 300 years ago and has been, at various times, under the control of the Spanish, the British, the United States, and the Confederacy. Although it is now owned and maintained by the US National Park Service, its history and heritage are openly discussed and demonstrated. To the north of where I live (Jacksonville, FL), there is also Fort Caroline, which was for a time a French settlement. We also just finished reading, as a family, a biography of Noah Webster, who wrote the first American English dictionary, a 25 year life's work. Although he wrote most of it in the United States, I found it intriguing that he really felt like he could not complete it without spending time studying in the great libraries in Paris, France and London, England. Even though he was born in colonial Connecticut and had lived through the Revolution (and even served briefly under General Washington), he knew where his culture came from. The USA probably would not have won independence without the aid of Spain and France. The Statue of Liberty represented in the banner above was a gift from France (and by the way she's flipped, the torch should be in her right hand). Of course, there are many more influences from these and many more countries. The United States may not be part of Europe, but Europe will always be a part of the United States. Now back to the fun...

I am so hoping that this is still a joke. The stereotyped banner gives me hope. I am a US citizen and live in the USA, but I could care less whether a great forum about a great hobby is "American," European, Asian, or anything else. Why Eurobricks is a fine name for the site: LEGO is a European-based company and their product is still made largely in Europe (can't say that for most 'Murican companies). Much of US culture comes from Europe (as much as we try to pretend otherwise). Heck, most of us are only a couple of generations away from immigrant ancestors. I cannot imagine a US citizen AFOL who would not be open-minded enough to join an English-language LEGO forum called "Eurobricks" and if they were not, they wouldn't really belong here anyway, would they? If it's not a joke, at least tone down the banner please! We don't all wear cowboy hats and watch football over here! Hey, it's time to feed my ostrich...

That scene was in the JLU animated series a week ago Saturday! Except it was Flash saying it, in Luthor's body. Also, I think I see the Spear of Destiny on Grodd's wall - the one he had stolen from that island of retro-futuristic WWII weapons (also in the animated series). I don't know how many storylines the series borrows from the comics, but it's very good. As is your MOC. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Great CG MOC! As for the Disney Haunted Mansion, whether the floor of the "stretch room" goes down or not depends on the park. In Disneyland California, the room bottom is actually an elevator and it take the audience down so they can go under the railroad and berm around the park to get to the show building (yes, that entire huge ride does not take place in the cool mansion you can see! Hope I'm not spoiling the magic...). In some other parks, the roof goes up. There is a fan website called http://www.doombuggies.com/ that has more info than you ever needed to know about all the Haunted Mansions.

Well, now that I see the fuselage is mostly white, it no longer looks so similar to the silver H-1. The box art looked more silver to me. Still, many WWII planes used radial engines (The F4U Corsair and Grumman Avenger, for example), so there is still potential to modify this into something like a real warbird. And it's a nice-looking plane as-is.

The primary model for Aviation Adventures actually bears a strong resemblance to Howard Hughes' famous 1935 H-1 Racer, which had a radial engine (but not a two-place "bubble" canopy). With a few mods it could probably be made into a passable replica of this plane. The H-1 Racer is generally regarded as the origin of the classic WWII fighter plane configuration. The original is in the Smithsonian. I saw it as a boy but I didn't really realize what I was looking at at the time. From all accounts, flying the H-1 was definitely an "adventure." An exact replica was sadly destroyed in 2003, and its pilot (Jim Wright) killed, when it crashed due to a propeller gear malfunction.

Especially since the design of C3PO was inspired by Maria. Great MOC. Makes me start hearing "Cage of Freedom" in my head!

Zodiac Coma = Amoco Cadiz. I hadn't heard of the ship before this, but I was able to extract "Amoco" from the name and Cadiz was the most likely spelling of the remaining letters. For the US market, an anagram of Exxon Valdez would be a much more accessible reference. Or Deepwater Horizon. I really like the design and thought behind the theme. I think presentations of environmentalism are always going to be subject to criticism but that's not a reason to avoid them. The recent Lorax movie is a good example. I read a lot of the criticism but when I saw the movie I thought it wasn't really justified. The movie is not an improvement on the original book and shorter TV special, but it's not awful either. This theme reminds me of an animated show in the USA on PBS called Wild Kratts that features two brothers putting on suits/accessories that mimic what animals can do (dolphins, bats, etc) and fighting against villains who are rather broadly comic anti-environmentalists (similar to the "villains" in Disney's Kim Possible), while presenting lessons in biology and ecology in the process. It's a very entertaining and engaging show and it has a lot of cool vehicle/item designs that would work well in LEGO.

I agree, battle robots would definitely need to be large and tough. As long as they are programmed with the "three laws," of course.

Right outta the Beach Boys song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3l3VzIQa4w Suicide doors - awesome.

Thanks Rufus for an outstanding review. You hit the high points of this set very well. I grew up with Snoopy and the Sopwith Camel, so this is a dream set for me. Here are my comments, based on my "American" version: My aileron strings were just the right length, but I did have to move my elevator string studs forward as you did to add a little bit of slack. I also added spare black studs under them to keep the height consistent. My roundel stickers are perfectly centered. I probably would have contacted LEGO had they not been, due to the price/nature of the set. I scanned the large roundels into my computer and printed copies, which I trimmed and added to the bottom wings with double-sided tape. It doesn't look too bad. You mention that the cockpit looks cramped. This is true to the real plane, based on the writings of Richard King, who flew a reproduction for Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome. I can fit a Belville figure in mine, but it's a girl - any recommendation on the best male Belville figure to acquire as a pilot? My research indicates that the actual correct number of cylinders is nine, but eight looks good enough for me! Finally, those two small circles behind the cockpit appear on at least one blueprint I have found, but I can't find any description of them. As noted, filler caps for fuel and oil seem the most likely function.

Whoops! I Friended up my avatar but forgot to post it here! At least I still have a chance in the drawing...

I remember that same article, and that is how I also first heard about LEGOLAND! I remember the LEGO Mount Rushmore and the fishing village and boats. It took until this year for me to finally get to visit one! There is a slim chance I might be able to get my hands on that issue. I will check and post back.

I love this model. I loved building it and I love displaying it. I also have a somewhat smaller RC Fokker Dr.1, too bad they cannot really dogfight. I am sure that TLG was reading my mind when they conceived and designed it. About the only other model that would rate this highly for me would be one of the Nautilus from Disney's 20,0000 Leagues Under the Sea. I did have the problem with the elevators having too much upward deflection. I moved the string studs forward one row to correct this and now they work great. My only other minor complaint is that the propeller blades will come off if they are "flicked" too hard. I also would have loved to see an information brick/sign about the original to use for display. I know it's not 100% accurate, but that does not bother me at all. I think it's part of the "charm" of the model. A plane with studs all over the wings will never be completely accurate anyway. Of course, I am glad some owners have the skill and spare parts to make it even closer to the "real thing" and I look forward to seeing their efforts. To add a little more interest to the bottom, I scanned in the large roundel stickers and and printed out two more to stick on the bottom wing with double-stick tape (they are not full circles due to the aileron hinge components). I have been trying to find out what the two 1x1 silver circles are behind the cockpit. I am assuming that they are filler caps, one for fuel and maybe one for oil, but I have not been able to confirm this yet. I would like for it to have a pilot. My daughter's Belville horse jumping girl figure fits into the cockpit just right. There is not much room for her legs, but from what I read about the real thing, that is about right. Can anybody suggest a male Belville figure I could use? I have looked at the ones on Bricklink but I am not sure which one would work. Cheers!

Cool vehicles. I like the interior of the Speed Car. Overall it kinda reminds me of "Death Race 2000."

I received this set set along with the 10226 LEGO Sopwith Camel for Father's Day and it is a very neat little plane. I think the best reason to get this is to have something to play with while building the large version, which for me took a few days. Also I can give this little guy to my four-year old to play with and he can do minimal damage to it. I did do one mod: I moved the propellor up one level so that it is more centered on the front of the fuselage. It breaks up the color scheme but I think the improved prop location is a good trade.

Beautiful and atmospheric. The Gotham City storyline stands on its own quite nicely, but the mood you have created also reminds me of "The Fog Horn" by Ray Bradbury, as well as a famous old story/radio drama called "Three Skeleton Key."

Hello! I am a 40-something father of three who is finally coming out of his "Dark Ages." Until now I have just watched my kids play with LEGO blocks and helped out on the occasional build. It seems that it took a trip to LEGOLand Florida last Friday to wake me up! LEGOLand is incredible! I am so happy that I now live within three hours of one. Anyway, I bought a modest Creator set while I was there (6913 Blue Roadster) and thoroughly enjoyed the short build. I almost bought the Technic 8068 Rescue Helicopter, but something told me to keep it small. Now I know why: while surfing the web looking up the original Lego Sopwith Camel 3451 set (which I saw once at a train show in Jax), I found news of the new 10226 set, which I received for Father's Day. It is a great set. The Camel is one of my favorite planes from childhood (largely thanks to Peanuts) and Snoopy's "alter ego" of a fighter pilot inspired my screen name. I briefly had an account here with a screen name of GLVBrick which I did not like, hence the change. Keep on building - Greg