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Showing results for tags 'ice'.
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A scene of a Land Rover Defender rescuing a fishing boat from the frozen waters of the Arctic. Bravery or foolishness? Originally an entry built for the "Show Us Your Land Rover In Heroic Moments" contest on LEGO Ideas. (To my luck, it won as a runner-up! ) I suppose the LEGO model speaks for itself, so I'll do away with the descriptions. More images can be found here.
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Ice, probably the weirdest good ever traded after the discovery of the New World: worthless for the ones who own it, but impossible to buy, no matter how rich they are, for the ones who don't have it. Nevertheless, frozen water is a quite useful commodity: ice and snow, stored in dedicated cellars during winter, have been used for centuries by the Halosians for the most different purposes, from preserving perishable foods to preparing slush and ice creams, from providing relief to the feverish people to cooling the drinks of the wealthiest nobles. Storing clean snow in a ice house. This is a common winter activity in the Old World, especially in Northern regions. All the ones who moved in the New World, however, had to reconcile themselves with a simple fact: the temperate weather of their motherlands is one thousand miles away, and here in the archipelago you can't collect snow and keep it for the summer, since there is no snow to collect. And, in the scorching summer of Breshaun, under the sun of Mesabi Landing or in the sultriness of Pontelli, you have no way to keep fish or meat eatable for more than a couple of days, unless you cover them with salt, or to drink something cold, unless you have the stomach to add some saltpetre to your grog. Starting from this problem, Charles Lautrec, an Oleander merchant, decided to start a new business, something never seen before: collect ice in Altonia, during winter, store it in insulated warehouses and then ship it to the archipelago. Charles Lautrec, the Ice King The first voyage was a complete failure, the cargo melted and monsieur Lautrec almost bankrupted. His enterprise, considered by most a complete insanity, was noticed by the René Duchamp, the financial administrator of Rimbaud family, who decided to finance the ambitious project: delivering ice to tropical islands. Huge profits are ahead for Charles Lautrec (the Ice King as people nickname him), for his supporters, and for anyone crazy enough to follow their business. (placeholder => ice cutting in Altonia) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Category A: Icehouses and warehouses Before ice can be delivered to a settlement, a dedicated infrastructure must be built: otherwise, ice would melt in less than a day. If you want to see ice in your settlement and keep it for more than a few hours, a storing place, owned by Rimbaud Family, must be present. Aim: build an icehouse, an insulated warehouse or something similar in your settlement. Requirements: it must be licensable as a small or medium build. Rimbaud Family (me) will buy it for twice its licensing cost and license the property. Gain for the participants: Twice the licensing cost of the build you submit. Opening a settlement for Cat B builds. Deadline: TBD, according to the participation. Prize for the winners: 1st 50Db+ 25% of the revenues for Cat A properties (for 4 MRCA turns); 2nd 25Db+ 15% of revenues (4 MRCA turns); 3rd 20Db+ 10% of revenues (4 MRCA turns). Winners decided with public voting; I will build something in Cat A but I will not enter the challenge (my builds will open settlements to Cat B, but will not enter the competition). Category B: Fresh fish and cold wine Now your settlement receives its monthly supply of ice. What to do with it, is completely up to you: build a super expensive ice statue to impress your guests, drink something cold, sell ice cream or slush (in Italy it was done since the Middle Age, using snow from Alps and Mount Etna), preserve fish or even try to send tropical fruit back to the motherland. Aim: use your fantasy and build something (more or less historically accurate/possible). It can be a commercial activity, a private use of ice or something different. Requirements: you don't have necessarily to build something in category A, but you can build only in settlements hosting a category A build or in Eltina (see later). The property can be licensed or not; if you don't want to license it, Rimbaud family will gladly buy it at 1.5 the licensing cost. EDIT: You can also build something not licensable in EGS terms. EDIT: You can also participate building in Altonia, provided that you build appropriate steps of the trade (ice cutting, the loading in ships, the transport to the port… or something similar) Gain for the participants: in this case, nothing but the possibility to build something unusual. Your faction or individual players, however, may decide to offer incentives for builds in specific settlements. Deadline: TBD, according to the participation. Prize for the winners: 1st 100Db; 2nd 50Db; 3rd 40Db. Winners decided with public voting; I will build something in Cat A but I will not enter the challenge (my builds will open settlements to Cat B, but will not enter the competition). Category C: Eltina Royal Project While ice trade is moving its first steps in the archipelago, the aristocrats and merchants of Eltina decided to finance something bigger, both for prestige and for economical reason. Eltina Ice House will provide all the ice needed by the elites, but will also allow the storage and preservation of valuable goods, in particular tropical fruit, imported cheese and fresh meat. Ice will also allow a more efficient brewing process for beverages usually requiring cold winter months for their production. Aim: building a Royal Commercial Property in Eltina, starting from the unloading and the transport of the ice, continuing with its storage, and ending with its uses, in particular to preserve goods. Requirements: The quality needed for Royal Builds, and some coordination with the others to reduce overlapping (for example, two ice houses would be useful, but showing storage of fruit in all the builds would be a little boring) Gain for the participants: Honor and glory: you are contributing to the glory of Oleon, our homeland won't forget your dedication. Each participant, moreover, will receive a flat of 50Db for each entry exceeding 1000 square studs (consider about 32x32 as reference, but also 950 studs will be fine; the cut-off is only to have an easier calculation of the overall size). Deadline: The completion of the project Prize for the winners: No winners for this category. If the build is completed and approved, each participant will receive an extra prize of 25Db. EDIT: Post your entries directly in this thread. Please specify the settlement and the EGS class. This mini-challenge is funded and organized by the Rimbaud family (that means with my personal funds), so I can't offer super high prizes, but I hope you will enjoy it anyways. If you have any question, feel free to PM me. Multiple entries are allowed (and encouraged), but you can win only 1 prize in Cat A and 1 in Cat B (your builds take the first and third places => you get the first prize, the third prize goes to the fourth classified). If you need inspiration you can look at wikipedia pages about ice trade and Frederic Tudor, the real Ice King. Voting will be opened at the end of the challenge.
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Trying to cross lake Lydall, a small expedition of Findia encounters a sudden mist and their boat hits an Ice berg, to make matters worse the Orcs from the Misty Mountains are attacking them, while they still have to save the rest of the cargo and crew. -- Set in the world of the Whispering Woods, see: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmW3WD4h Encounter in the North by Ids de Jong, on Flickr
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Breshaun, Le Bellan, August 622 Imagine you are an Oleander nobleman in Breshaun or a rich Eslandolan merchant in Weelond. You are having breakfast, and you would like a croissant or some butter on a slice of bread... but cows don't fare well in the tropical weather of the colonies, and the little imported butter is often almost rancid. You have lunch, and your servants couldn't find anywhere the seafood you wanted; still better than a few weeks before, when the Count's buffet ended up in a massive food poisoning. Soon it will be dinner time, but drinking anything colder than the temperature of your wine cellar is out of the question. Life in the colonies can be so unfair! But now, thanks to Rimbaud Shipping Enterprises, things are going to change! Fresh butter every time you want it, fish as good as in the moment it was caught, cold drinks in front of the tropical Sea of Storms are just a few doubloons far! Initially, the idea was considered halfway between clever, and absolutely foolish. Ice in Altonia is almost worthless, especially in winter; instead, there is no ice in the New World, so a seller could set any price. On paper, it would make sense, apart from the thousands of miles between Altonia and Breshaun. However, if you are brave enough to fill a ship with blocks of Altonian ice, pack them with sawdust, and sail South as fast as you can, you would arrive in Breshaun with almost two-thirds of the initial cargo. A ship used to transport ice requires more maintenance, and sailing during winter in the rough Altonian sea can be extremely dangerous, but the reward of a successful voyage is high. What in Altonia is worth a few silver guldens -the pay of the cutters and the cost of the transport- in Breshaun can easily be converted into a little chest of golden doubloons! The captains of the winter ships soon discovered that they could also make a fine extra profit by transporting perishable goods in the hold: deer meat, barrels of butter, or cheese would, in fact, arrive in Breashaun almost as they left the port of Ulrich. A little amount of ice is not unloaded from the ship: it will keep the hold cold enough to deliver some fresh products- mainly tropical fruit- to the motherland. Pineapples and bananas started to appear more often on the tables of Oleander nobles, even if they are still considered expensive luxury foods. The Ice Queen has just arrived in the port of Breshaun. With several tons of ice and a dozen barrels of butter, her voyage could be considered a success… provided that the goods didn’t melt in a few hours! The precious ice cargo melting on the piers would be a terrible sight for the captain! A few icehouses were therefore built in Breshaun harbor. These warehouses are built below the ground level and allow safe storage of ice and imported goods. At the same time, they offer the opportunity to preserve fresh fish, meat, and seafood for a longer time. —————————————————— The ice trade from Ulrich to Breshaun is organized and controlled by the Rimbaud Shipping Enterprises. The Rimbauds, as several minor families of the little Oleander nobility, invested their money in the New World, while the most important families remained more focused on their crops and estates in the motherland. The flow of gold and silver arriving from the colonies is now shifting the balance of power among the Oleander noblemen, with the most conservative families remaining behind. On the ground floor of Breshaun offices, the representatives of Rimbaud Shipping Company organize all the steps of the ice trade, from the cutting on Altonian lakes to the maintenance of the icehouses. Ice, however, is only one of the activities of the Company: gunpowder and silver on Ile de Zeus, gold on El Oleonda, and soon copper on Ile Dionysus... all these activities require supplies, workers, armed guards, transport ships, and even the building of infrastructures. Stacks of letters and accounting books are therefore required to organize the net of activities and trade routes. Here, a captain and a representative of the Company have just concluded a transport agreement for the next cargo of ice, that would be harvested in Altonia in a few months. This deserves a toast! On the upper floor, the director's office is far more comfortable. The most important agreements are discussed there, and the most important letters are written there. The destiny of whole fleets, and of hundreds of doubloons, is decided in this office. However, at this very moment, the director is relaxing for a while, enjoying a cold dessert prepared with fruit, sugar, and, obviously ice... one of the advantages of his position! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The other building dominating that area of the port is one of Breshaun commodity markets. Sometimes cargoes are delivered on commission but, more often, they are simply transported to the settlement and sold to the highest bidder. This process practically defines the price of any commodity in Breshaun and, as a consequence, in the whole Empire: wood and copper, silver and wine, fruit and spices... any good can be bought or sold in the largest settlement of the New World! The cargoes are sold with an auction system. The merchants should theoretically sit on the planks and place their bids with calm and order, but this is rarely the case. More often the buyers stand immediately in front of the auctioneer -where some of the goods are exposed- and yell their offers. Dozens of pieces of paper, where the merchants scribble numbers and calculations, must be collected every day from the mosaic floor! Upstairs, additional agreements are signed between merchants and captains. Not all of them are completely legal... in some cases, they involve trading with Lotii merchants, smuggling in Terraversan settlements, or delivering goods to pirate settlements. However, as an ancient proverb says, gold never stinks! Additional pictures: A fortune teller, reading cards in an alley. Overall view: Without the ship: The Ice Queen: -------------------------------------------- Writing the story took longer than expected, but I didn't want to lose the selected pictures. I had planned something similar years ago when I launched a (completely unsuccessful) minichallenge on the ice trade (The Ice King). I'm very happy with the result, even if some parts of the ship are still a little too blocky; I wanted to add sails too, but the masts are not stable enough. I tried to depict Breshaun as more "civilized" than other settlements I built into, with people wearing modern clothes (including servants wearing a livery), elegant musketeers instead of the usual bluecoats, and decorated buildings. About ice trade: I introduced it in a rich and important settlement, but I don't want to expand it too much. I think that ice as an expensive commodity for the richest, some expensive tropical fruit for the motherland, and similar things are perfectly fine in our time frame, while an era of refrigerated food and massive transoceanic trade of fresh goods is not. I hope you like the result!
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Sometimes I come across parts of which I think: "Hey, you can do so much more with those instead of using them for that specific purpose where they were made for." So when I saw the cloud tile pieces from the Unikitty! Collectible Blind Bags, I didn't think about condensated water high in the sky. Instead, I thought about a big bowl of ice with a heavy dose of whipped cream on top. With the help from a tutorial video on YouTube, I managed to create scoops of ice and a glass made from the large panel pieces from the Ship in a Bottle set was easily constructed. A little bit of Bricklinking later and eventually this MOC was born. I hope it looks as tasteful to you as it does to me. You can view a full set of photos of this MOC on my Brickshelf. And don't forget to like and share this MOC on Facebook.
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Hi guys, It's my first post on the forum, so I hope I'm not messing up with the system. Just wanted to show-off my first set on LDD and get your feedback and ideas to improve it. It's a polar convoy with a robust, four-belt truck pulling a mobile scientific base and a sliding container to park a three-wheeled snowmobil in. I submitted it to Lego Ideas, so you can get more pictures and details there: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/c9f30b38-796d-47b8-b795-b63ff6c0ed24 Enjoy!
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Hey all! For a while, I've want to build something for the frozen beyond, but I never made time for it. When I was building for a contest, with a mage-battle category, I decided it was time for a build for The Frozen Beyond. For those that are wondering, no it doesn't have purple roofs, so this isnt located in Kyrrath. This build is located somewhere in the land in south of Kyrrath. The reason I didn't go for purple roofs(wanted to do so, at first) is that I didnt want to use black in my build, and I don't have enough purple wedges for all the roofs. So in the end I went for the blue-orange colorscheme, to make an unrealistic color-combination, although I didn't want it to look 'weird'. In the end I'm quite pleased with the result, so now it's up to you to make your own opinion at my build :) I didn't really make a story, but my build shows that the algus is still slowly spreading over the guilds... It has even reached one of the 'hottest' places, far into the nocturnus' lands... But although they come close to these places, the algus isn't strong enough to capture the house of the fire-mage... This far from the north, the power of the Algus isn't that big anymore, and the icemage gets blown away by the firespells, used by the fire-mage... Here are the pictures: The build itself: The fire-mage: The Algus-mage gets a 'warm welcome'..... And here some other views at the house: And finally a shot from above, that shows the different angles in the build quite nicely.. I hope you like my build, And feel free to share your opinion :) Jaap
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Hi everyone! Fortunately I have the time to share here my newest creation! It's a train and it's the model of an ICE 3. It is 196 stud (157 cm) long and contains more than 3300 pieces, two IR receivers, two battery boxes and two train motors. Hope you like it! Oh, and another important information is, that it will be visible on Zusammengebaut 2016 in November and on Bricks am Meer in April 2017 in Germany!At first please watch these two videos! The first one shows a crash. The place, where I made the video, wasn't horizontal, and on the slope the train got a too high speed The records of the second one were made after I repaired the train. Well, I can say it is quite stable construction, despite the building techniques of the front. During the crash, only the boogies fell down! I'm really happy, that it is ready! It took me almost a year to build and become satisfied with the result. You may know, if someone build a train, the front is the most important thing. If it's not good, it's unnecessary to build the other sections. Everything started with an LDD model from a front-idea. I built something in the program, but I didn't like it. Later it came always into my mind and didn't allow me to be calm. So I started to develope the construction. Some month later it looked nice enough to order some parts and make it in real life. It contained so many interesting and strange techniques, that it was a real challenge to put the bricks together in the program, and with real bricks it was hard, too. And the real 3D model was ugly! But I said, that it has to be possible to find out something, which makes the model better. So I made some changes, and some more, and some more, and finally I liked it, and I thoght that I found the maximum! I stored the train (only the front section) and some other parts on the table in the middle of our house. And one night, I couldn't sleep. I woke up and went out to the table to do something. And I don't know why, but I put an element into the middle of the front. And I said 'wow'! It was perfect (for me of course, for you, I still don't know, but I will read the comments :) )! Some gaps disappeared, some sections got new positions. That element made so big changes on the overall look, that it was incredible! I felt high, but next day I was very sleepy. :D More pictures are available here: http://www.moc-pages.com/moc.php/433076 Thanks for watching!
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I'm happy to present to you my first modular building. I have put it on Ideas too, so if you like it, please support: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/106103. edit: It is now available on Rebrickable Some time ago my daughter got this Duplo set from her aunt: http://brickset.com/...ative-Ice-Cream That got me thinking I could use one of these cones for my own purposes, especially since my little one was very interested in throwing bricks across the room, instead of proper play (or maybe that was proper play ;) ). Anyway I borrowed four bricks from her (I honestly intend to give those back to her) and thought it would be nice to make a big advert out of this ice cream and make it rotate. Such an Ice Cream Parlor should have nice clientele drawn by this big sign of what's inside :) So power functions was a must. But since I was to integrate PF info a modular, why not go further and add some lights too? When I was young (long time ago...) I always liked things that moved and had lights :P so you can call it late compensation :P Later on I will present it module by module, but if you want to have a quick look at it in action, here's a video: Ok, so let's start with a view of all the modules separately: And now let's talk about the ground floor: As you can see, on the right there is the ice cream parlor with seating available inside and at the back of the building. You can buy ice cream, lemonade, donuts and coffee. The staff is taken from the Ice Cream Machine set :) I'm happy with the bench - it gave me some headache, but I wanted to have something distinctive. The lamp is also different to typical one, but it's nothing special. On the left there is an entrance to the owner's apartment. There is also a small storage room for bike. The top of it is removable for easier access, but you can get the bike in and out through the door (but it's tricky). Ok, now - the heart of the modular - the Power Functions module: All electronic components are here. That is: 1 Rechargeable battery 2 switches 3 sets of PF lights (so 6 sources of lights total) 1 M motor Of course apart from that there are also all the technic components to make it work. The motor is running the Duplo brick with a 1:9 reduction. The lights are provided for the ice cream parlor (4 of them), entrance to the staircase (1) and the apartment (1 for the table lamp seen above). My idea was to be able to control lights and motor separately, that's why I have 2 switches here. Look closely at the picture above. There are two holes for technic axles above. The one on the left is for access to the switch controlling the motor (advert). The hole on the right allows access to the switch controlling all the lights. Those go on/off simultaneously. You can't have just part of them on. That would require even more switches and there is simply no room for that. It's crammed inside already. Now, have a look at the bottom of this module where all the lights can be seen and the front of this module, which allows access to the rechargeable battery in case you need to recharge it (power cord access). Through the holes in the front section you can turn the battery on/off and change the voltage too. Now, the last two modules are the roof and the apartment of the owner. It's not much room inside - the advert required quite some space already, but it's cosy :P As you have seen already this apartment get light from the lamp on the table, which is actually part of the Power Functions module. Yes, I know the TV is kind of useless on that wall, but... hey, he wanted a TV so I gave him one :P So, how do you operate this thing? With a KEY :) and last, but not least - two pictures of it with lights on, and ambient lights off: Full gallery is available on my Bicksafe: http://www.bricksafe...ce_Cream_Parlor I hope you enjoyed this little presentation. Please consider support on Ideas: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/106103
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Howdy folks :) With the help of my children, I got back to Lego about a year ago, started to buy massively and then found my true purpose in life, Technic! ROLUG was a great help to me and I began to build various cars for local TT contests, then I found Eurobricks and I participated in the Bionicle contest, as well. Now, I consider myself a newbie in Technic and I mostly adapt existing models to my liking, but since recently I started to build my own MOCs from scratch. What I want to show you guys is my latest creation, an arctic exploration vehicle based on the famous Thunderbirds show, namely The Mole, in my own interpretation. This is my 2nd attempt at this, my first was ok for showing-off but could not actually move well on snow (lol), so now I am rebuilding it, with performance in mind. I am basically building a high-profile tank with a huge drill in the front and another cool function which I prefer to keep secret, until it's working as I want. My personal goal is to drive it head on into a snow bank and to pass through it like butter! (we can all dream, no?) See the photos below and let me know what you think. Any suggestion or comment is welcomed, thank you all for watching. If you are curious to see more photos and also what I have built so far, feel free to head over to my Flickr page. Enjoy :) https://www.flickr.c...th/16439896211/
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Skull Chiller, King of the Skull Army by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr Skull Chiller, King of the Skull Army by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr Skull Chiller, King of the Skull Army by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr Skull Chiller, King of the Skull Army by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr I really wanted to do my own Skull Villain (my skeleton MOC doesn't really count) complete with gearbox, so I decided to create Skull Chiller, the ultimate Skull Warrior, featuring 4 arms (which are all geared up to a gearbox so they all move when gearbox is used) and a general "armoured ice skeleton" theme. It's not really supposed to be zombified, but rather be an elegant but deadly undead warrior Be sure to click on the photos to view the large version (16 megapixels) And, in case anybody asks, that flat silver chest is a wiped Lewa Master of Jungle chest (I bought a spare one for the purpose, so don't worry I didn't mutilate my Lewa!). Positive and constructive comments are more than welcome, and I can probably provide a dissection of Skull Chiller should anybody ask for it. It's a little fragile though wth the rib bones which is why one of them appears to be missing in the last photo (it's there though)
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I can hear them. In the distance, the group of Rebels that shot us out of the sky and forced us into this gorge. It’s quite beautiful here, but something gruesome is about to happen. We don’t have a lot of time. “They have a laser cannon with them. I bet that was what shot us out of the sky. It slows them down though. They won’t attack until they have its support here.” [soNE Ep. VII] What you can't do by Bert.VR, on Flickr “I can take out those troops, but I won’t stand a chance with that cannon here. They will just shoot and make us an icy grave. Someone needs to take it out. Someone needs to find a way around that armour.” I already feel what’s coming. I’m the only one with a precision blaster. I’m the only one who knows how to handle it. “Tyrus and I will stay here. I’ll try to get those troops to leave the safety of the cannon. The bends in this gorge will prevent that cannon from shooting from a distance, so they’ll be without cover. Even though they’re Rebels, they’re not stupid, I guess. So they won’t go too far ahead. It only spreads their attack out, and what’s more, it will draw their attention. But whatever you do, officer VeR, stay low when you hide in the top floor of that building there. Wait until you get a clear shot at the gunner. You won’t get a second chance. And shoot before they do. That’s our only chance of survival. Now quickly, take your position. Tyrus, you stay here with me. Let’s give them a surprise.” It’s clear how agent An rose through the ranks so quickly. I can’t see a better way to save ourselves. But I have to do it. I have to pull the trigger. If I don’t, we’re dead. I have to do it. No time for compassion, no time for reason. What a beautiful building. I can see a haunting glow coming through the hallway, but that’s not the way I have to take. The ancient stairs take me to the place where it’ll have to become thirteen. Just as I squeeze myself into a dark corner with a good view of the bridge, agent An makes eye contact and starts shouting, starts shooting. And hides. [soNE Ep. VII] No time for architecture by Bert.VR, on Flickr The shouting grows louder, and a Rebel appears from around the corner. It’s the first time I actually see a Rebel trooper. I only took out fighters. He could be one of my comrades. But he isn’t. He wants to kil lus, and so do the other Rebels that start crossing the gap to examine the shouting. Soon, they will be no more. Agent An prepares to take them out. I can just wait, watch and shiver. There’s nothing I can do. Nothing I can do to avoid the killing. Nothing I can do to stop this war. Now, I can only do what I need to do to survive. The cannon is here. [soNE Ep. VII] It's what I can't do that makes me who I am by Bert.VR, on Flickr I have to do it. But can I do it? The shot is possible, especially with this particular blaster… A blaster that once was thrown away to save a life. A blaster that was used to talk about bravery in battle. A blaster that was given to me to be brave. To take this one shot. It was an object of battle, but the acts of a very special person made it an object of love. But that’s not how people saw it. That’s not how my parents saw it. That’s as I can’t see it right now. It has to become an object of horror once again. My finger is around the trigger. If I shoot, my shot will only make two victims. The Rebel will die, a part of me will die, for the thirteenth time. If I don’t shoot, my comrades will be killed. I will, eventually, be killed. One against three. It can’t be clearer. Do it. Make it thirteen. It won’t stay with one dead Rebel. The thought resonates through my head. If I shoot, not only the one Rebel I hit will be killed. Not only the others will be killed by my comrades. Hundreds, thousands, millions will die. If I kill, it will be yet another death in the long, interrupted chain of killings in this terrible war. It will hit the next homino and war will keep raging, the horrible killing will continue. Who knows where it’ll end. Don’t do it. Don’t make it yet another million. If I shoot, I’ll lose all hope of ever defeating war. It can’t be vanquished by always more killing and killing. It can only be vanquished by throwing away this blaster. If I shoot, no matter what someone will get killed and war will have yet another victory. And if I don’t… There’s an overwhelming chance I might die and war will have yet another victory. But if those Rebels decide not to shoot as well… If we, by some kind of beautiful Force, would now decide to throw our weapons down, war would be defeated. It can’t be clearer. If I shoot, I will lose all hope. If I don’t, I might lose my life. If I do, I will lose all hope. I’ll destroy everyone else’s hope that this war might come to a peaceful end, that all wars might come to an end right here, right now. It has never been so clear. It’s what I can’t do that makes me who I am. I can’t pull this trigger. But that gives me so much more power than someone who can. Finally, after months of ‘training’, of dedicating myself to this cause, I can’t kill. It’s something that a lot of people never learn. Everyone’s always busy to learn to do new things. No one ever wonders what they have to learn not to do. But I did. And there’s a minuscule chance it might stop this war. With what we can’t do, we can change the world. My thoughts never rushed so quickly as in this moment. And yet, I’ve never felt more enlightened. In these buildings, made by a civilization I believe was captured by that same light. Yes, that’s what these buildings were made for. But now, they’re going to be destroyed. The cannon still hasn’t fired. I wonder… But the gunner has his finger around the trigger. But I have hope. I’m prepared to die, because if I don’t, the world will be a very different place. [soNE Ep. VII] How to survive by Bert.VR, on Flickr __________________________ This blaster has become a symbol of love and hope once again. I called Alderaan my home. It’s where I was raised. It’s where my parents were raised. It’s where my great-granduncle threw this blaster away. To many people, Alderaan is the most peaceful planet possible. But not entirely. People of my planet always had that sense for opposition somewhere inside them. It’s one of the reasons they were the only ones to stand against this Empire, to no avail. That opposition was especially strong in my family. For generations, we stood against the rule of Alderaan. The reason why didn’t matter much. There’s always a fault to be found. There’s always the need for someone going in against the tide. That’s what my family stood for. That’s what they took up the weapons. Almost exactly a hundred years ago, the conflict culminated, and there were several coordinated attacks on the existing rule. They might have had their reasons, but that’s not of importance. Two brothers, my great-granduncles, fought in the army the opposition formed at the time. The resistance against the cruel acts of the opposition grew and grew, and a civil war broke out. The attacks grew more and more violent, more and more people died, and conflict without near end began. Both camps dug their selves in, with the occasional raid boosting the number of casualties. And in this conflict, the two brothers remained as close as two brothers can be. They looked after each other. When the oldest returned after a raid, only to found his brother hadn’t, it became apparent that they loved each other more than they hated the enemy. Ignoring the orders of his superiors, he threw his blaster away and ran back to the battlefield, to find his dear brother. War didn’t bother him, he only cared about his brother. He was killed, and found with the dead body of his brother in his arms. [soNE Ep. VII] Past - No blaster, no bravery by Bert.VR, on Flickr This story has been told countless times in my family, but not quite in this version. The only thing that mattered, was the bravery of the brother. Without fear of the enemy, he returned to the battlefield, even when it was not his to fight on. His blaster became the ultimate symbol of his bravery. It was passed on in my family. Until was passed on to me. The brother had no fear of the enemy. My family said because of his total hate for his enemy. I say because of the total love for his brother. I always opposed my family. But they only encouraged it. Opposition is key, they said. They didn’t see I wasn’t opposing what they stood for. I was defending what I think was right. The blaster came to me, and they got me a post in the Imperial army. It would give me the opportunity to oppose the opposition to the established order, what I liked to do according to them. I had nothing to say in it. And since everyone on Alderaan is gone, I had no place to go to, nothing else to do. But now I do, no longer armed with this blaster. It has become a symbol of love and hope once again. _______________________ Well, take a deep breath, that was it. I hope you enjoyed the story and please spare it some thoughts. Let me know what you think. This was built in quite a hurry, with the festivities and the exams. Because of that, the past scene isn't nearly finished. There should be more buildings in the background, and a more elaborate dropship. I hope you can see beyond those failures though, and enjoy what's there. This build and this story is a collaboration with fellow Imperials Lord Tyrus and goatman461. Thank you guys for all the inspiration! I hope there is still a lot to come. If you still can read, check out their topics here: Stranded, by Lord Tyrus (prequel to this story) War Hammer, by goatman461 (happening simultaneously with this story) Rescue Mission, by Commander Beltar (giving a glimpse how this story continues...) And to finish, as always, the LXF file is availble through this link. PS: the story of the two brothers is based on actual events. A hundred years ago, in the First World War, mygreat-granduncles, the Van Raemdonck brothers, went through a simular tragedy. Their act of love is used as a symbol of the Flemish movement to this day. So you see: my stories don't just belong to a galaxy far far away. I hope this is a proper tribute to them. Learn more about them on Wikipedia, and this page has a nice picture, and if you translate it, the whole story. PPS: here is a short version for everyone who has little time or trouble with English:
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This is the latest addition to my arsenal of microscale Batman baddie vehicles. My friend, Omar Ovalle made a Mr. Freeze microfigure (he also edited the first photo). I thought he needed a vehicle and this was the result! For ideas, I looked to polar research vehicles, past and present. That's why the vehicle is big and has treads. It is also functional; The front end is meant to look like a snow plow at first. But they can turn into hands, capable of capturing Batman! The Ice Crawler's trailer carries an icy prison. This was also made as an update to our LEGO Ideas project, "Mini Battle for the Batcave," which you can see here: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/120166 Who should be next in line for a micro vehicle?
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Sauna and an ice hole in the lake. Finnish people have some strange hobbies. One of these is swimming in the ice hole. After the short visit in freezing water it’s time to go to sauna, where usual temperature is about 70-100 degrees Celsius. We crazy Finns…
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Mr. Freeze is back! And no, this time he is not to freeze anyone, but to free his frozen wife Nora Fries, and let her enjoy the city like normal people. However, he must first freeze the entire Gotham first! His new machine Arctic Core is a hovercraft, and the turret-like equipment is actually a drill! Don't laugh at a non-rotatable turret because it is not really a turret, but a game changer! While it can fire freeze ray to straight-on targets, it can also freeze the ground, turning the ground into ice and letting the air drill crack the ground open. Then, his secret cryogeneration core can then be injected into the ground and let it slowly turn the surrounding into ice! Gradually, the Gotham city will finally become an ice world, where he and his wife can live forever without the cage or suit! Now Batman has to find a way to stop him! (Flickr: https://www.flickr.c...57648641659087/ ) Complete set, with Nora Fries in the cryogenics chamber waiting to be freed. The cockpit, in which Mr. Freeze controls the ship... This is the mobile mode. The two turbines (rotatable) can be flipped up and the ship can move at full speed now. Batman, run! View the ship upfront... From the side, Action Mode vs Mobile Mode The two sides of the ship are hovering devices. Moving on the ice or snow will never be a problem now... Batman this time has to deal with two villains, one of ice and one of fire. How is he going to prepare for the battle? Thank you!
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Hey there fellow Eurobricks members and Chima fans. I’m happy to present you my review of Vardy’s Ice Vulture Glider from the new summer wave. Hope it will help you decide whether to get the set or not, or just have fun reading it. Set Information Set name: Vardy’s Ice Vulture Glider Set number: 70141 Number of pieces: 217 Number of minifigs: 2 Age range: 7-14 Price: 19.99 USD / 6000 HUF Box Let’s start with the box it features the new design, with the icy chima logo and the blazing background, they make a good contrast together, also the dot on the ’I’ in the logo is a Fire Chi. This time we have the bad guy in the upper right corner, and I have to say it’s an amazing artwork. The frozen effect on Vardy’s face is beautifully done and very detailed. At the top left corner as usual the figures are presented, now they have fire and ice background instead of the regular blue/good - red/evil signs. I also made a pic with all Chima logos we have so far. Here you can also see that, the box is the same size as Lavertus’s Twin Blade and Lennox’s Lion Attack, however the latter has a deeper box, the other dimensions are the same. A shot from the top, Vardy is shown here in 1:1 size, and we can see the figures in a different pose. Now take a look at the back, the flame theme continues here and the play functions are shown. The main splitting function got a simple blue background while the flick missiles and Lundors flamethrower turret has a nice winter landscape. We can also get a little hint what the official website will look like with the new ice theme. Contents of the Box and Build With the box wrapped up we get 3 bags, one bigger (which includes a small one) and 2 from the smaller size, a thick BI and a DSS with 5 stickers. Here are the parts spilled from the bags, you can already see some great parts, like the dark brown feathers or the 2x2 inverted tiles and the trans light blue goodies. I did a shot with all the trans parts too, on this pic you can see the new spike and claw pieces as well, the spike looks like the same as the ones used for Spynlyn’s legs but they are bigger and got a technic axle instead of a simple pin. And a comparison shot with the regular (now it’s the Ice) Chi and the new Fire Chi. Okay now comes the greatest part of the set, the minifigures. We get 2 of them and they are both exclusive to this set! Lundor a cat guide among Phoenixes and member of the Leopard Tribe, and Vardy the leader of Vultures. Lundor is beautifully detailed, you immediately recognize that it’s a Leopard from the rosettes. (according to wikipédia Leopards are the smallest of the big cats, it’s good to know what ate you in Africa or Asia) He also has a little skirt and I really like the furry knees, those kinda look cute. He comes with a double-sided head on one side he has a grin smile on the other he is angry and ready to roar. Here he is with full armor and the new Fire Chi print on a 1x1 round plate. It looks very nice and you get a spare one. The headmold is great too, it makes him look bulkier and stronger, it has a serious expression. I really like this headmold and it’s great for Lundor and Tormak, but for Liella it gives a muscular look which takes away the feminity. He has a weapon called the Blazeprowlor, which is quite simple, but looks effective. Now let’s see Vardy the star of the set for me, he is my favourite from the Ice tribe members. He comes with a translucent left arm (thanks JEK-14) which looks great, it’s great to see that TLG begun to use trans limbs. Just look at the body print, sand green and gray, with a purple head. He also has exposed flesh and ribs which are glowing by the power of the Chi that resurrected him. I really like the bones used for knee prtectors, it’s a nice touch. Only the head print looks a bit off because of the beak section but that will be covered by the great head mold. He doesn’t have double sided head which looks like a tradition since the Outland wave, that bad guys don’t deserve a second chan… I mean face. Here he is in his trans light blue armor which is amazing, and he also has the wing pieces in new color. The head mold is printed nicely and has a freaky look. He has a weapon too called the Bonezythe. Before the build let’s take a look at the BI, it has the same image as the box itself. On the back side we can finally see that they got rid of the WIN kid and put a WIN Laval instead. There is a great picture at the end of the BI showing (almost) all of the summer wave figures. They left out all cat guide members, Foltrax and Vornon. An action shot can be found after the figure list, probably it’s going to appear in Lego catalogues. And a pic of all sets. Another with only the main system sets divided into the 2 factions. The build went smooth, there weren’t any problems with color differentation. It was enjoyable and fast. Here is the result: And the spare parts. The Set and Play Functions First take a look at Lundor’s little turret, the base is quite simple but it does it’s job, it has some great sand orange parts including the brick pieces, there is one extra clip where you can store his weapon as well. On the back you can see the Fire Chi attached which probably gives the power for the flamethrower . The Turret has legs and can be detached from the base and used as a little walker vehicle, however the front is very heavy and you have to lift up the „nose” of the structure, otherways it’s not stable. Now onto the Vulture Glider, I think it’s on of the best bird-like vehicles that this theme has. The color scheme contains mostly brown, dark tan and trans blue and they work really well together. The design is very nice and the vehicle has great ariculation. One of my favourite parts and a very essential one for the overall look is the head, and it’s done greatly, I really like the stickers used on it. As you can see the wings are attached via ball joints so you can fold or turn them into different positions. I show you the main function, the splitting, as you can see in the picture the little Glider is attached via clips to the Vulture, and that’s the only connection point between the 2 vehicles so you can lift it up for easier access, and detach the glider. It’s simple but cute, I have to say I like it very much, but with the feathers inverted. Like this: And the Vulture looks almost better without the Glider, it’s really a great build. The Mammoth stomper looks awful without the detachable aircraft, but this one is still cohesive and awesome alone. We also got 4 flick misisles 2-2 on each sides. Say hello to my little friend Rating and summary Overall I’m really satisfied with this set. I don’t have personal experiences about the other sets from the wave (yet) but this is got to be my favourite. A beautiful Vultue aircraft with a detachable glider and a fire turret, with 2 astonishing minifigures, who are both exclusive to this set. it has some minor flaws like the claws, it looks a bit weird on the foot that there is no claw on the inner side, but I’ve tried i and they would seize, so it’s better this way. Also Lundor’s turretchair is not a big deal but a great addition for playability. The only missing thing from this set is a clip to the vulture where Vardy can store his weapon but it’s not that necessary. Rating Design 10/10 It’s well deserved, the Vulture is amazing in any aspects and the little fire turret looks cool too. Parts 10/10 Lots of trans light blue parts, some new parts, recolors, mixel joints, lots of useful stuff. Minifigures 10/10 This is where all Chima sets stand out, beautiful prints and great molds, this is no exception. Price 10/10 I got the Lavertus’s Twin Blade for the same price (15% cheaper than the S@H price) and compared to that this set worth every ’penny’ Playability 10/10 It’s rather good for a set this size, 2 figures can battle, the Vulture has flick missile, articulation, split function, and the Fir turret has a Fire Chi mode and can be used as a little walker. Hope you enjoyed my review, it was quite objective because this set really grew on me. Feel free to share your thoughts and opinion about this set! -
So I'm sure we are all aware of the ongoing 'ice bucket' challenge. I have noticed many people have been nominating others from the Lego fan community to do this challenge, so I was wandering: how should we nominate Eurobricks users? Should we PM other users or have a topic?
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Ice Planet was always a great theme. I mean, it brought us the world of trans-neon orange! "Utility" "icewing" (cockpit from 6973 with a detachable wing unit) "Ice Defense" "APC" (expanded version of 6898) "Winged Defender" (smaller version of 6973, same cockpit and same rocket w/launcher)
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Hi Everyone! This is my first MOC here. Winter Christmas This in MOC Christmas with Power Functions. Technical: -Dimensions: Length: 112s Width: 48s -Extract 2x M motor 1x IR Receiver 1x Battery Box -Lamps 1x M motor 5x PF lights 1x IR Receiver 1x Battery Box Flickr Brickshelf Unusual situation Here I had some unpleasant situation, the transfer of work (unfortunately before the photo shoot). Movie: I invite you to comment :)
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Here's my build for the second Archery phase. I continued experimenting with cross braces, and took inspiration for the tower’s gables from Brickvader. As the spring weather causes the snow to thaw, archery drills continue at the range. You can see more pictures here. C&C welcome
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I thought the polar bear Chima figs fit well in Mitgardia, particularly the Frozen Beyond, so I built a ice/snow fortress for them. "Svellbjorn" means ice-bear in Norse. The corner stone technique was borrowed from Andrew JN. The Svellbjorn are natives of the Frozen Beyond in Mitgardia, though their tendency to rarely venture outside their territory keeps their existence relatively unknown. Some hunters are bringing in a shark. And a fun shot, with a bit of glare off the 'ice': There are a few more pictures on brickbuilt. I may do more with the Svellbjorn in the future, I imagine them to be enemies of the Algus. C&C welcome
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This is the second module for the collab that John and I are building. You can see the first, here. The hay cart has steerable front wheels, and the shelter’s gate can open and close. There are many small farms outside Nordheim’s walls, and cattle paddocks with lean-to shelters are a common sight. There are more pictures on brickbuilt. Thanks for looking, all your feedback is appreciated
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Four wheel drive on Lego Technic cars with small wheels is hard to realize, as they become relatively too wide (which is ugly) and the ground clearance is also compromised. The problem then is: how to get the same grip back with only rear wheel drive? Then you need to push something 'extra' in the back of your already crammed, small nice-looking vehicle... This concept is an approach to keep this 'something extra' as small as possible while giving awesome and unexpected grip to the car. (At least, I was astonished by what it achieved!) Instead of typing a lot, I've put it all into a video with the theory of how it all works at the back of the video to let the 7 billion minus 1000 viewers that are not interested into more advanced Technic stuff experience how it works in practice on a 2 cm (that is: inchy) thick ice floor. As for the car, it is built from Power Functions spares as all my L-motors (which have quickly become the main workhorse for every Technic builder) are ehm... in use. That is why you find me using a geared up XL motor, which gave me memories of the good old times when the poor knob wheel parts splattered around. Sharp images of the car and mechanism explanation can be found on: http://www.brickshel...ry.cgi?f=564319. On MocPages (beware, there is a piece of code there that simply destroys anything such as image resolution on .png files...) http://www.moc-pages.../moc.php/428881 Video: I finally have found PovRay so (with many thanks to all those who make that software) I can present a high-quality render: -
Hello Eurobricks Sci-Fi community, i want to share my latest space creation with you. This creation was something completely new for me as I have never built someting in Micro Scale before and for my first try I am quite pleased with the outcome of this creation. I hope you like it too. This MOC is inspired by the "Ice Planet 2002" and "Blacktron Future Generation" themes from the early 1990s. I first started with building the micro spaceships as an entry for my LUGs christmas raffle/advent calendar, I liked them so much that I decided to build a MOC for them. I also showed this MOC at a LEGO exhibition in Austria last weekend next to the very inspiring Ice Planet 2002 - Battle Tank from my fellow LUG member markus19840420. Blacktron Research Base on Krysto by Jonas Obermaier, auf Flickr More pictures on flickr and Imperium der Steine. I hope you like it! Jonas
