Tereglith

Hi EB! I'm going on a vacation to celebrate my graduation this summer, and in early June I'll be in Denmark with access to Billund. Unfortunately the timing and finances don't work out for me to go on the Inside Tour, so I was wondering what other activities I might engage in. Obviously Legoland Billund is a good bet, but I was wondering whether the community here has any other suggestions for less obvious experiences. Thanks for any suggestions you might have!

By the fifth year of the Human/Buggoid War, the Galaxy Squad forces had no shortage of tiny vehicles to throw at their enemies, but few of them had any sort of protection whatsoever against enemy fire or combatants. In atmosphere, they take a while to get warmed up and thanks to their lack of control surfaces they are difficult to fly properly; comprehensive studies by the Galactic War Council found that in many cases, the standard-issue speeder so often used by Galaxy Squad forces offered no tactical advantages whatsoever. More often than not, their pilots were killed en masse during any sort of large battle, costing thousands of lives and (more importantly to the Council) billions of dollars. In order to rectify the problem, the Council immediately sought a new design to bridge the tactical gulf between the capabilities of the woefully inadequate speeders and the highly successful but inflexible and plodding larger vehicles. The cheapest and smallest solution was the ARRoW, or Armored Rapid Response Walker. The ARRoW was a major evolution of a design abandoned early in the war, that of the Mini Mech. Thousands were pumped off of production lines overnight and, thanks to their diverse and flexible capabilities, the vehicles were shipped to nearly every Galaxy Squad outpost and base in the Milky Way. The walkers are small and highly maneuverable, carrying a single Galaxy Squad Trooper into battle, reconnaissance, exploration, search-and-rescue, or nearly any other type of operations imaginable. The standard-issue walker possesses impressive firepower, boasting two plasma canons and two swiveling chainguns. Council scientists are working on changeable weapon/manipulator modules to be mounted on the front (in place of the chainguns-and-headlights emplacement that is currently standard) for more specialized missions. Despite their power, the walkers are small and sleek, barely taking up half the hangar space of a ship like the Swarm Interceptor. What makes the ARRoW special is how fully it opens up to allow extremely rapid entry and exit of its pilot. First the rear panels swivel back: Then the windshield and sides swivel down: And the pilot can step outside easily. The process reverses itself rapidly when the pilot is entering the vehicle; under combat conditions, a GS trooper can go from running towards his walker to running the walker out of the hangar in less than five seconds. The walker also features a small storage compartment mounted unobtrusively behind the cabin: Inside, the pilot can access field binoculars, a green rationkit/medipak, and a four-dimensional hyperwrench that can be used to make almost any conceivable repair should the ARRoW break down far from a base. The buggoids don't stand a chance! This MOC came about after I bought the Mini Mech polybag on a whim at Wal-Mart, and decided that while it was cute, it needed a little something more. The guy seemed way too exposed! So I added a bit here, and a bit there, until it was 101 pieces, barely similar at all to the original set, and looking pretty awesome, with a sweet opening transformation.Thanks for reading (or just looking at the pictures if reading my elaborate sci-fi backstories isn't your thing)!

Thanks! I like the fence too - up until I was building it I never realized that the two types of treads go together. I think at least part of the apparent 'business' is caused by the chaotic lighting conditions of the photographs. Before the month is out I hope to have some photos that more accurately reflect what the creation looks like in real life.

It took me a moment to figure it out, because the piece usage is so novel - that's the mudguard of a dirtbike chassis! The entire robot is built around a dirtbike piece! Needless to say, that robot is amazing. And the dog-robot-thing? is pretty cute too.

There's one word that comes to mind describing this creation: cute! (in a good way ) It gets at the non-glamorous side of sci-fi that we don't often see in big films or TV shows. It's a very clean-looking build with some nice lines, and that ship is pretty adorable, but it seems more like the start of great things than a finished product. You've got some time and some extra space within the 16x16 limit - why not try adding some more details to up the "wow" factor before the contest deadline?

Thanks! The tricycle was actually the last part I added, when I felt the ground level needed a little extra spice. I was just messing around with some parts left over from building the Elephant, but the trike became my favorite part of the build too. The idea with the crystal ball was that the firefighters needed a 360 panoramic view when fighting the fires. It think it looks a lot more distinctive than just a normal windscreen. Thank you! I was quite pleased with how the fire/lightbrick combo worked out. I always love coming up with fictional justifications for my sci-fi MOCs. It's almost as much fun as building them. I'm going to try to take some pictures towards the end of the month, when hopefully the sun will be more willing to cooperate. Thanks for the feedback everyone!

It may be 2597, but the fastest way to change a planet's atmosphere to something more breathable is still using plants. That's not to say that plants can't get a little help though; for nearly two centuries the Federation has been using the venerable AtmoTower, a vertical farm filled with greenery genetically engineered to transform carbon dioxide into fresh, clean oxygen with the utmost efficiency. Carbon-saturated atmosphere flows in through the front of the tower, is cycled down and around, and wafts out the back as a breath of fresh air. Sadly, the tower was so ubiquitous and dependable that after a few generations engineers stopped bothering to check their parameters before plunking a few down on any new world that wasn't quite M-class. Such a mistake was made twenty years ago when setting up the new colony on Aranak VII, a barren world with a nasty oxygen deficit, little indigenous life, and, most importantly, slightly higher gravity than your average colony world. The machinery of the AtmoTowers strained against the slightly heavier air. Nobody noticed the operational shortfalls: the towers were all ensconced in a barren industrial park, surrounded by decaying fences and rusted-out machinery. They still worked dependably, but all the while a pocket of volatile pure oxygen too heavy to be lifted to the top vents was growing in the bowels of the tower machinery. All it took was a single spark to set off the conflagration. Fire vehicles from the nearby town were quickly dispatched, but could do little more than hold back the blaze. The next morning all the HyperPapers on the planet bore the headline: "Fire At AtmoTower 15!" MSFC above by Tereglith, on Flickr (Click on any pic to go to Flickr and see way more details) MSFC Front by Tereglith, on Flickr It was lucky that the nearby fire department had recently received a brand-new Elephant-Class Flying Truck able to combat the blaze from above. Its old fleet, merely a bog-standard Hovertruck retrofitted with a tank and an ancient FireTrike from the 2400s, would have been completely overwhelmed on their own. MSFC Light by Tereglith, on Flickr (That's right - this baby has a LIGHT BRICK!) I built this over about 36 hours in a fit of inspiration, after seeing the clear windshield of my Swarm Interceptor next to the smoky windshield of my new A-Wing. Sadly, my improptu photo studio works way worse in the winter than it does in the summer, so please excuse the obvious shadows. I'll try to take better pics before the contest deadline is up. This is one of those MOCs that works way better in person than in photos, where you can't really appreciate the three-dimensionality of it. I would recommend clicking on any of the photos to see the rest of the pics in my photostream, because there's a lot of details I put in that can't be seen here, especially on the backs of the AtmoTowers. Thanks for reading/looking! Any feedback is appreciated!

That's a cute little creation. I always like seeing the ingenuity that goes into making alternate builds. I've been using this hair in dark brown for Tony. It looks pretty good on him.

I'm ridiculously excited for Lego Aquaman. My Justice League will start growing, slowly but surely, and Aquaman is one of my favorite members. Here's hoping that these are just the winter wave figures for Marvel, and that the summer wave will bring Iron Man 3 sets!

So now that it's not late at night I'm thinking that this has a stronger affiliation with Sci-fi than with Special Themes (I was thinking Collectible Minifigures, but the focus is on the space rifle... :P). Could a mod move it there?

The Space Marine - a genetically engineered supersoldier with muscles of steel, bones of titanium, and a mind like a tactical computer. Would such an agent of interstellar destruction be armed with a mere double-barreled pistol? Not likely. Enter the Mk12 Variable Assault Plasma Rifle, or VAPR, the Space Marine's main weapon of choice: Due to its bulk, the VAPR is generally used from an aerial tactical position, utilizing the Marine's built-in jetpack. However, its robotic adjustment arms connect directly to the forearm of the Marine's mechanical exoskeleton, enabling a soldier to heft the weapon one-handed even in a gravity well, and ensuring that it is never lost except in catastrophic unit failure. While the basic, unmodified VAPR boasts impressive destructive abilities (Standard shot is a self-propagating high-energy ionization pulse capable of vaporizing one-inch thick steel armor, with an accuracy of ~500 yards and a coherence rating of ~3000 yards), its true strength comes from the tactical rails on either side, which can hold an impressive array of add-ons for meeting the needs of any peacekeeping situation. By far the most common of these add-ons is the Telemetry and Analysis Unit, which sacrifices some of the weapon's power for greatly increased accuracy, precision, and range, intelligent targeting, and computer analysis of distant foes. With Telemetry unit by Tereglith, on Flickr The other standard attachment is the 3kHz Vibro-Bayonet, composed of a electromagnetically reinforced neutron lattice blade vibrating extremely quickly. While useful for melee combat, the Vibro-Bayonet is also an extremely handy multi-tool, capable of slicing through most known materials in under thirty seconds. (NOTE: Under no circumstances should one VB be used in an attempt to cut through another. Bad things would happen. Explodey bad.) With Vibro-bayonet by Tereglith, on Flickr If a soldier is certainly headed for close-quarters combat with opposing ground forces, the equipment of choice is a VB on the right and a CFI/E on the left. What's a CFI/E you ask? With pressurized combustible unit by Tereglith, on Flickr It's a Compressed Fuel Igniter/Emitter (a.k.a. a flame-thrower). The little bauble at the end of it keeps fuel at sufficient pressure to spew flames continuously for over three hours. The fire has a range of fifty feet in favorable atmospheric conditions, and the specially engineered fuel burns at about 3000 degrees Celsius, hot enough to melt most known materials. ...aka flamethrower by Tereglith, on Flickr On the other hand, if a marine's assignment brings him nowhere near hostile ground forces but instead has him staying far away from the action, he'll want to take of the VB and CFI/E and put on instead a Magnetic Induction Rail Kinetic Sniping Unit. Using powerful electromagnets, the MIRKSU accelerates a reinforced neutron-lattice slug to between 0.01c and 0.013c (several thousand kilometers per second). The 20g slug can create impacts equivalent to hundreds of tons of TNT being ignited, and with the help of the telemetry unit it can be aimed to within ten yards of its target over interplanetary distances, or to within ten centimeters of any point on a planet from the orbit of that planet. Certain missions carry a high risk associated with them. When there is a high chance of a more covert mission failing, and the most ideal failure outcome involves a marine who is certain to suffer critical failure destroying vast swaths of the area he has infiltrated, he will latch a Tactical Electrum/Explodium Nuke (TEEN) to the side of his VAPR. Utilizing new island-of-stability elements found during the Scientific Rennaissance of the 2150's, the TEEN houses an extremely small, extremely stable, extremely high-yield nuclear warhead capable of obliterating everything in a ten mile radius of its detonation. The TEEN does come with a launching mechanism, but the only way the shooter will be safe from the blast is if he launches it down to the planet from orbit (it's the only way to be sure). With Tacital Electrum/Explodium Nuke by Tereglith, on Flickr In addition to these standard attachments, Q Labs in association with the United Planetary Military has been working on some experimental attachments to the VAPR. These include: Project Kryptonite: An unwieldy bottom-mounted add-on, "Kryptonite" is code for a chemical agent capable of swiftly weakening hundreds of opponents in a vast swath in front of where the weapon is pointed. How the weapon does this is unknown, though it is suspected that prions are involved and that the reason progress on getting the weapon to the battlefield is so slow is because the scientists involved keep dying. With "Project Kryptonite" by Tereglith, on Flickr Project Lovecraft: Even stranger than Kryptonite, Lovecraft is a biological warfare add-on consisting of two semi-autonomous tentacles emerging from the right side of the weapon. Little is known about its battlefield applications, but rumors report that its operation is melee-based, and involves the tentacles lashing out and infecting opponents with a fast-acting biological agent, possibly viral or bacterial in nature, that overtakes the subjects' immune systems and destroys them in minutes. The advantage provided by this weapon is that the affliction is contagious; within minutes a Lovecraft-equipped VAPR on one end of a battlefield may have killed a thousand soldiers on the opposite end that it never would have reached otherwise. With "Project Lovecraft" by Tereglith, on Flickr Project Roy G. Biv: Only one test has been made thus far with a fully-powered Roy G. Biv add-on. A marine tester stationed on the Lunar research base took aim at an asteroid in the asteroid belt. The beam emitted appeared to most Earth-bound instruments to travel faster than the speed of light, and the resulting explosion of the asteroid was so bright that it was clearly visible in the sky for several nights afterwards. Attempts to determine what use, if any, Roy G. Biv may have on the battlefield if toned down slightly, are ongoing. With "Project Roy G. Biv" by Tereglith, on Flickr A marine faced with a mission... All attachments by Tereglith, on Flickr I don't normally go for collectible minifigures (the Series 3 Elf being my only previous exception), but when I saw S7 in my local shop I could resist feeling a few packages to attempt to find the awesomeness Space Marine. And then, instead of studying for my calculus exam like I should have been, I decided that he was a little under-armed to be taking on whole alien armies by himself. And then I got to thinking about interchangeable components, and a while later I had this. I've always rather liked the concept of modular weapons, and the absurd, exaggerated sci-fi badassery invited by a space marine figure is a great place to play around with that.

MOC? But I didn't design any of this... Did you mean review? Anyway, no, it doesn't contain the Cosmic Cube, another slight disappointment. However, that's just another tick mark in favor of buying Loki's Cosmic Cube Escape, which does have Hawkeye, the cube, another Iron Man suit (perfect for the Tony's Lab MOCs that I'm sure will be popping up any day now) and a very nice companion vehicle for the Quinjet. Looking it up on Bricklink I was surprised to see that the trans-clear 1x1 only appears in very old sets, and then two this year (aforementioned LCCE and the Town Hall).

I was thinking about how a second Marvel wave might go, and if I had my way I would make the next wave be all about the movies before the Avengers. If I were in charge of set development, here's what we'd be getting... Bruce Banner's Lab - $12.99 2008's The Incredible Hulk is the least marketable of the MCU films, so it would probably be stuck with the smallest set. Figures are Bruce Banner, a guard, and the big Hulk fig (sorry, people who bought the Helicarrier, but that's the way it hypothetically goes), with the substance of the set as a small version lab where Banner is treated with radiation. Probably in the 60-70 piece range. SHIELD Compound Battle - $19.99 Figures - Thor, Agent Coulson, big SHIELD guard, Jane Foster The substance of the set would be a small control room with hallways leading off on either side, and a dirt-styled stand with a releasable Mjolnir in it. The hallways could be done up with clear plastic like in the movie, and a play feature could be added in where you can launch the SHIELD guard through the wall. Probably in the 170-200 piece range. (if the set were bigger, it would, of course, include Stan Lee in his pickup truck ). Captain America Plane vs. The HYDRA-Mobile - $39.99 Figures - Captain America (1940's version w/ coat-of-arms-shaped shield), Peggy Carter, Howard Stark, Red Skull, Arnim Zola. The substance of the set is just what it sounds like - the plane that Steve has Howard fly him to the HYDRA base in, as well as an awesome, properly done version of the mighty HYDRA-Mobile. The two never meet in the movie, but hey, it's a set. Probably in the 350-420 pieces range. Tony's Lab and Stark Industries Playset - $89.99-$99.99 Figures - Tony Stark (unsuited), Pepper Pots, James Rhodes, Nick Fury, Obadiah Stane, Mark I armor, Mark II Armor, Mark III armor. Includes Tony's lab with his hot-rod, a display area for the three suits, his work area with the fire-extinguisher robot, and a little sitting area up above like in the movie, where Stane gives Tony Pizza and later paralyzes him. Possibly include a "suiting up" area. The other part of the set features a scaled-down Arc Reactor (possibly revive the X-pods part?) and surrounding structure, as well as part of Stane's evil lair and a brick-built Iron Monger suit. Probably around a thousand parts, and contains just about every LEGO-friendly thing you need to reenact the movie.

Wow! I think this is probably the most competitive contest I've ever seen on the forum! Great job, everyone - unfortunately I had to narrow it down to just seven, but there's a ton of great models here. 2) 1 point 12) 1 point 17) 1 point 26) 1 point 31) 1 point 42) 1 point (last time I was at KSC I was considering how I might build a model of the VAB - this is a great rendition) 45) 1 point I sort of feel sorry for whoever has to tally all these votes up

Same here. My ideal version of this line has this as an 80 dollar set with Hulk and Nick Fury (and a bigger back door), with the $50 price point not wasted on the thrown-together-looking Helicarrier diorama and instead being a down-scaled version of that big baddie vehicle we see at the end of all the trailers. It would be really great to have something bigger for the bad guys, because the entire alien "army" looks pretty pathetic facing off against the Quinjet. As for this... \/ He speaks the truth \/ There's a lot of donuts in the MCU. I'm not exactly certain which is supposed to be which - it might be that there's two footsoldiers and one general. It's not as if it really matters, since even though the figures have two distinct designs, they pretty much look the same. They don't exactly have rank insignias I know what you mean. That aesthetic is all over the place these days (It's really noticeable in, say, the helicopters and shuttles in Avatar), and I agree that this set is the one that best embodies it. Maybe not the S.H.E.I.L.D. of the comics, but this is an absolutely fantastic rendering of the ones from the movie: (By the way, check out the plane from Helicarrier Breakout chilling off to the left there.)

Review Updated! Full Set by Tereglith, on Flickr I was overjoyed when I saw a few Marvel sets on the shelves of my local Wal-Mart (which is usually about a month late to the party with new sets). If they had had the Wolverine or Cosmic Cube Escape sets, I never would have bought this one. I could have waited until they did have the smaller sets, but I felt that I just had to have something more substantial than Captain America all by his lonesome. Was my impulsive buy a good decision? Let's find out... Statistics Quinjet Aerial Battle Set Number: 6869 Piece Count: 735 (Box) Minifigures: 5 Price: $69.99 USD Box/Instructions The box is extremely large, the same size as those of sets twice its piece count, as evidenced by this comparison with the box of the Volkswagen Camper Van, which has a good six hundred more pieces. The front features a bright, kinetic aerial action scene framed in the line's dark Marvel red, and it certainly stands out on a shelf, especially next to the comparatively more somber DC sets. I was able to spot it from halfway down the aisle. Box size by Tereglith, on Flickr The instructions are packaged in the new premium standard first observed in the POTC sets, with sturdy cardboard backing and a plastic sleeve keeping them unsullied (Sorry I couldn't take a picture of this - I had already built it when I decided to do the review). The instructions are divided up into three books - the first one is tiny, and takes you through building the first bag. The second and third books are both standard large size, with the second being longer than the third. Color differentiation is strong and if there were any misprints I didn't notice them. Cap, Thor, and Loki pop up in the top right corner of the page to say hello every so often. Instructions by Tereglith, on Flickr Random Pages: First book by Tereglith, on Flickr The steps are usually fairly complex by today's standards, but you'll never be putting on more than six or seven pieces at a time, and there is the occasional useless 1-part step. Second and Third Books by Tereglith, on Flickr In addition to the instructions we have a large comic, which is rather nicer than the tiny ones I've gotten in my (smaller) DC sets. Still no words, though, and don't expect a riveting story. The back cover and a spread on the inside showcase all of the marvel figures, including Spider-man, Doc Ock, and Iron Fist (!). No Nick Fury to be found anywhere, though. Comic by Tereglith, on Flickr The sticker sheet is fairly substantial, and I think the model looks good with them on, though it would still look fine without them. They're all large and rectangular, which for me made them easy to apply accurately. At the very least I would recommend applying the large S.H.I.E.L.D. stickers, as they add a lot to the look of the plane and are big enough to be easy to put on. Parts Pouring out the contents of the box, it seems surprisingly full for its large size. There just aren't too many small parts in this construction, and a lot of big ones. Pieces of note include a wide variety of extremely useful new brackets, a ton of neat trans-blue grille plates, some useful fuselage parts, and a lot of curved slopes. With 735 parts it's well above the 10 cents/piece mark, and a significant number of the pieces are large and useful too. It's not often that a licensed set can be viewed as a good parts pack, but I think this set will be great for plane-builders, with many useful plates, wedges, and curves. Here's a few of the most easily-gotten-to interesting parts. The new upwards-pointing brackets have been sorely needed for a long time, and they ought to make SNOT building in tight spaces much easier. Unique Parts by Tereglith, on Flickr The trans-light-blue stud is included for comparison with the trans-blue(? I'm not sure exactly what color they are) grille plate. The grille plates look kind of icy and electric, and ought to be useful for all kinds of sci-fi MOCs. There's quite a lot of them in the set, too - 24 by my count. Minifigures Lineup by Tereglith, on Flickr We get five. In the order we're supposed to build them... Loki: Neat, but you can get an identical figure in Cosmic Cube Escape, and with the cosmic cube to boot. Because The Avengers focuses on one villain and not a rogue's gallery the designers were sort of forced to overuse him. Alien General: Identical to the one in Captain America's Avenger Cycle, but good for army-building. I got Cap at the same time, and putting the three aliens together with their vehicles/turret makes for a nice little phalanx. Black Widow: Lego has consistently had trouble making female minifigures that don't look like Rosie O'Donnell, and Natasha here is no exception. Her black catsuit has the traditional printed curves, and some lines were added on her face to try to make it look thinner, but they just make her look old. Still, the resemblance is there, and the orange hair is neat, though it looks like her hair in Iron Man 2 instead of her hair in The Avengers. It's a laudable effort, but I would have preferred Nick Fury to be the exclusive figure in this set, or at the very least to be another exclusive figure in this set. Five is a little anemic for a $70 flagship. Iron Man: Undoubtedly the best figure of the set. Also unique, though only on a technicality (check out the arc reactor in Cosmic Cube and this), Tony just looks great in real life. The helmet's size isn't distracting at all, and the shininess of the pearl gold printing and mask look phenomenal. The Tony-face underneath could use a little work, but it's recognizable. And why would you want to have the mask up anyway? The helmet looks excellent down, and I intend to keep it that way for display. The figure is interesting in that it's assembled with repulsor beams built right in - two trans-light-blue-studs on the hands and cylinders on the feet. They look pretty good as repulsors, but really I can take them or leave them. The figure look fine either way. NERD TIME: This armor works as the Mark III, Mark IV, or Mark VIII armor, while the triangular one only works as Mark VI or Mark VII, so when it comes to acting out scenes from all three movies this one is more versatile. Thor: Not unique, but still nice, Thor creates a sort of ying-yang with his brother. Green and red, helmet and no helmet, clean shaven and bearded - they are truly opposite in every way! Of all the figures in this set, Thor is probably the one who most resembles his movie counterpart. My only complaint is that Mjolnir is a little underwhelming, but at least it's approximately to scale, which is more than can be said about a lot of Lego weapons. Four of the figures have back printing and three have alternate expressions: Reverse by Tereglith, on Flickr deskp, ask and ye shall receive. One Black Widow with Dastan's hair coming right up: Agent Dastan Romanov by Tereglith, on Flickr The dark brown is a little too dark to look like the character; however, this same hair appears in regular brown in the "Jungle Guy" CMF, so if you can get ahold of that it might look okay. After trying this I also had to try some short orange hair. BEHOLD, AGENT NATASHA RONMANOV! Agent Ronmanov by Tereglith, on Flickr It... didn't work out too well. The build The build is divided up into five bags. It took me a little under two hours to complete it, with occasional breaks. Let's go! Bag 1 is the one that I see as the most likely target of pernicious "Single-Bag theft", because it contains a completeable model and an exclusive figure. Here's the contents: Bag 1 by Tereglith, on Flickr It also includes one of the new orange brick separators, which I never had to use during the build, but it's a nice thing to have. The cockpit is a nice little build all by itself. Check out the brick-built chair! Cockpit by Tereglith, on Flickr Loki's chariot is an odd craft, but it fits in well with the other alien equipment from 6865, the other set I got yesterday (I highly recommend buying them together). It's a simple build, but contains those exciting new brackets! Chariot side by Tereglith, on Flickr After that, Bag 2 creates the bottom of the fuselage, complete with seating area. Bag 3 builds up the fuselage and creates the right wing. Bag 4 makes the left wing and connects the different bits of the top of the fuselage and wings together. Bag five finishes off the top and the wings, and smooths everything out, and you end up with the completed model. The build is fairly straightforward. It never gets boring, even when the parts you're building are symmetrical (like the wings) and it keeps you interested with fun little features like a fire extinguisher in the cabin or a particularly neat method for a play feature. However, after my last two major builds (the new X-wing and the Volkswagen camper) I felt as though I'd just been given a building lesson. Here, I didn't feel that way. It's a fun built, but not particularly innovative or challenging. The completed model Quinjet diagonal by Tereglith, on Flickr The model is a sight to behold, looking like a flying tank (no, not like in the A-team movie). Quinjet top by Tereglith, on Flickr Even though it's an airplane and not a mech, it's very poseable. The wingtips, wing fronts, jet engines, and cockpit can be moved around on their hinges to convey different types of flight, from fast and predatory to slow and cautious. Quinjet predatory by Tereglith, on Flickr Quinjet slow by Tereglith, on Flickr It rolls quite easily on old-school landing gear (unfortunately non-retractable, but you can't have everything). Quinjet Bottom by Tereglith, on Flickr The model pulls off the balance between bulky and sleek quite well. It's very beefy for an airplane, but it looks aerodynamic enough that it looks as though it could fly. The very large jet engines on the back bolster that impression. Quinjet side by Tereglith, on Flickr The cockpit and upper deck open up smoothly, with the upper deck revealing a nice sitting area with room for two heroes (Cap and Iron Man are best, as Thor's cape gets rumpled). Note the little fire extinguisher. S.H.I.E.L.D. follows FAA regulations! Sitting area by Tereglith, on Flickr But what's this control panel in the sitting area for? Control Panel by Tereglith, on Flickr Well, that's up to the neatest play feature in the set to explain. Here we go... THE VIDEO WON'T EMBED SO CLICK ON THIS POEM INSTEAD It's the adorable SHIELD Drone! SHIELD Drone by Tereglith, on Flickr I'm not exactly sure what the SHIELD Drone does, seeing as it has no weapons or tools of any sort, but I'm sure we'll find out on May 4th. In the mean time, maybe let's just assume it flies around knocking people over? It's a pretty big robot, I bet it could do some damage. Agent Coulson, you've changed! by Tereglith, on Flickr Through the sitting area, we can see how the function works. The landing light presses the peg out of its hole, and the entire assemblage drops down on the two axles at the back. Going a little bit further back, we find a trap door on the top of the Jet. This might be a problem for some people, because if you try to have the Avengers do a barrel roll they'll find they've got a huge drop in cabin pressure on their hands, since there's nothing to keep the door from flopping open. It leads down into an empty storage area. Storage top by Tereglith, on Flickr The same storage area can be accessed from a click-hinged door on the back of the jet. Storage rear by Tereglith, on Flickr What's it good for? Well, it can store a nontrivial number of Avengers: Chillin' by Tereglith, on Flickr But it can't really store much else. Big Hulk won't fit in there - not that I own him, but I've seen other people's pictures. More importantly for me, Cap's motorcycle is too big to fit in there. The cycle seems like sort of the perfect thing to put back there, so it's a little disappointing that Lego didn't see fit to make either door big enough to accommodate it. My bike's too big again by Tereglith, on Flickr I'll probably wait until the movie comes out and then MOD that part to contain something from it. In all this concentration on the Jet, I nearly forgot about Loki's Chariot, but you don't when the model's on your table. It doesn't seem like an afterthought as many smaller enemy vehicles do. It's actually a fairly substantial model on its own, at a little over 5" long stretched out. It shares the same striking aesthetic as the vehicles from the Cap set, which make it stand out from the military look of the Quinjet. The splash of green that Loki's outfit adds only serves to make it pop more. Chariot above by Tereglith, on Flickr The midsection looks a bit spindly sometimes, but when you can't see that part the vehicle is rather intimidating. Chariot Front by Tereglith, on Flickr And when everything's put together, it looks excellent (and is also too big for my makeshift photo studio on my coffee table). Full Set by Tereglith, on Flickr Summary I suppose ratings are expected? All right, let's go... Parts: 9/10. The parts are very nice, and there's certainly a lot of them. The new brackets are a big plus, as are all the curved slopes. Still, there's not as many really neat parts as there could be, so only a 9 instead of a 10. Design: 8/10. The more I look at the jet, the more I like it. It looks just like the Quinjet we've seen in the trailers. However, I'm taking a couple points off for the uselessness of the rear storage compartment, the awkwardness of Loki's chariot from most angles, and the lack of retracting landing gear are in order. Minifigures: 7/10. Tony, Thor, and Black Widow are great, but the baddies are a little lacking. For me to give the set a ten, Loki would have to have a better face and torso, Black Widow would have to have movie-accurate hair, and the set would either have to add Nick Fury or Hulk/Bruce Banner. Playability: 10/10. The drone is fun to play with, its play feature is great, the heroes are fun to play with, the poseability of the jet is neat, the jet itself is extremely swooshable and sturdy, you can roll it on its landing gear, things open and close - you get the idea. Build: 8/10. Fun but unextraordinary. Price: 9/10. The price is entirely reasonable for the model, but when I pay more than fifty dollars I want to get more than five minifigures (I really want a Nick Fury, goshdarnit!) Overall: 8.5 rounded up to a 9/10. From the looks of things the Quinjet is going to be an integral part of the movie, but even divorced from the movie tie-in, this is a great model. It's the true center of the LEGO Avengers universe, it's really fun to play with and it looks great. If you have the funds, I definitely advise you to buy it. And to close us out: As the Avengers fight bravely outside the Quinjet... 100_2134 by Tereglith, on Flickr

Very nice! The modularity is really neat and gives a unique spin to your design. I love the technique you used with the grill plates to create the tiny windows in the watchtowers! One thing though - the contest guidelines state that you can only have four pictures of your model in the entry. You've got ten... They're all lovely though, so good luck narrowing it down!

Very nicely done! It shows great resemblance to the original building, and the intricacy of the design of the roof is impressive. One change I might suggest, though - find a way to avoid those illegal connections you're using. There isn't anything in the rules against them, but it does say "in the style of" the current architecture sets, and those never use illegal connections like sticking a plate vertically between two studs. Still, just a suggestion as to how you could make a great entry even better!

After a couple of bricklink orders and a few hours out of my Spring Break spent building, the castle is finally complete! I've edited the initial post to include the new pictures of it, and consider this to be my final entry into the contest (unless I make a change to the model, of course). I'm very satisfied with how it turned out, but I'd love to hear what you guys have to say!

Nice job! The model is instantly recognizable, and you captured a great amount of detail for the scale. Good luck in the contest!

Thanks for the praise. I would put it on Cuusoo, but unfortunately the recent change in submission requirements precludes that for another year and a half, as I'm a TFOL.

EDIT: THE CASTLE IS NOW COMPLETED "IN THE BRICK"! Facts: Name: ............................................................................Cinderella Castle Location:..................Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, Tokyo Disneyland Architect:....................................................Herbert Ryman and Associates Classification:..........................................................Theme Park Attraction Construction:.......Steel-braced frame with concrete work and gypsum plaster Year:........................................................................................1970-1971 Height:..................................................................................189 ft (58 m) Set: Theme: Landmark Pieces: 534 Cinderella Castle Front by Tereglith, on Flickr After the runaway success of Disneyland in Anaheim, California, Walt Disney set his sights on a grander goal: the construction of the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. And a grander park required a grander landmark to center it. Disney called upon Herbert Ryman, designer of the iconic Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland, to create a new castle to center the Magic Kingdom. Ryman drew inspiration from his own previous work, as well as the castle portrayed in the film Cinderella, and historical castles such as Castle Neuschwanstein and Alcazar of Segovia. Building in Florida presented a challenge that designers had not encountered in California: hurricanes. A common urban legend holds that the castle can be taken apart and stored safely during a storm, but the truth is actually rather more impressive. Imagineers designed the structure to be able to withstand winds of up to 110 mph (175 km/h), and more besides. It has proved its strength time and again, most recently in 2004 when it withstood the full force of then-Category-2 Hurricane Charley. In addition to serving as the public face of the Magic Kingdom, Cinderella Castle serves a number of other purposes. It contains a restaurant (Cinderella's Royal Table), a lavish luxury hotel suite, a zipline station at its pinnacle (for the actress who plays Tinker Bell in various stage productions performed in front of the castle), and it is a functional landmark for navigation. Its central location and great height allow park guests to use it as a "Weenie", theme-park jargon for an easy visual reference for their present position in the park. The castle is so recognizable that even the FAA uses it as a landmark - it serves as the easy-to-locate center for the federal no-fly zone over the entire resort. More than forty years after its completion, Cinderella Castle still reigns as the most recognized and beloved building in all of Florida. Its fantastic design allowed it to surpass older sister Sleeping Beauty's Castle as the quintessential Disney building, and its phenomenal construction will enable it to greet park visitors for decades to come. (This baby is staying together for a good long while, so C+C just might be acted upon if you care to give them. Thanks for reading/viewing! More and larger pics can be found on my flickr account.)

My mod referenced in a review of this high quality? I'm honored! In the process of making that mod I had to think about all aspects of the set, inside and out, and I must say there isn't a single thing you haven't captured in this review. Bravo! The genius comic is just icing on the cake

Thank you for all your kind words! It's nice to see some people appreciate my work, even if the people of Metropolis don't. Knees are indeed excellent. I highly recommend them. Unfortunately, I've found that they also make the powersuit WAY harder to drive. I suppose I should have added in a couple extra levers when I made it more complex... You DARE question the supremacy of the Lexbot? Surely I would defeat that upstart Inferno. His suit is designed to trade blows with puny agents, while mine can withstand hits from the Man of Steel himself! ... provided he's being nice that day... While the aspersions you cast on my original suit seem rather insolent, I'm glad you like the new model. And your suggestion is a good one; my solution was to install an automatic parka-applier inside the cockpit. It... it didn't work out so well. I'm also heartened that you recognize my foe's true colors. He's such a jerk, for serious. Indeed, I too was disappointed with the pieces' tendency to fall apart. I blame it on the manufacturer; Bruce over at Wayne Enterprises was supposed to send me those all-in-one joint constructs, but instead he sent me these shoddy conglomerations. It's almost like he knows what I'm up to... Would you guys believe that it stayed in that position for a good hour after I took the picture? Because it did. It was pretty amazing. Superman's head just fit right into the basin created by some of the top back pieces and it all balanced perfectly. In all seriousness, thanks for all your kind comments. This is one of the most positive reactions I've ever gotten to a creation, and for once my photography was passable as well!

Am I the only one who's disappointed and kind of frustrated by this? LEGO's current inability to make anything other than Star Wars, Hero Factory, or Ninjago last for more than one wave is really starting to bug me. Between these two licenses they have over a century of combined comics history to draw from, with dozens of recognizable and iconic characters they could make. Either a Marvel Universe or a DCU license could be a gold-mine on the level of Star Wars, especially since neither one is going to stop churning out movies, cartoons, or comics any time soon. Why can't we have a full Justice League, with Aquaman and the Flash and Martian Manhunter? Why can't we have some sets that focus on a film other than The Avengers, like the four incredibly successful MCU films that have already been released (and also The Hulk )? It just seems like there's so much wasted potential in current themes as they get discontinued. It started to bug me with stuff like Alien Conquest and Pirates of the Caribbean, which seem like they could have really hit their stride with second waves. But this, THIS really ticks me off. There is enormous potential here that's just thrown out the window if all we get is one wave per company and a couple exclusives. ... Unless I was reading this wrong and there's just no more waves coming out this year. In which case, I hope superheroes can be transmuted into a psuedo-evergreen on the level of Star Wars or at least Indiana Jones. (My points about AC and POTC still stand though. I am frustrated.)