Thursday, April 29, 2010

Technic Power Functions Backhoe

Name of Model: Power Functions Backhoe
Created by: Coney
Found at: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=426651
Details: Ever wonder just how many motorized features you can cram into one small vehicle? This extreme backhoe seems to be pushing the limit with it's eight motors, two light units, four IR receivers, and six linear actuators. This is pure function, and still looks great in spite of that. This is another case of someone clearly knowing how to use new parts well - note how several linear actuators are powered by multiple 3-stud-long universal joints, and how a (new for 2010) 20-tooth bevel gear with pin hole is used in the back to allow rotation on a fixed axle.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Space Police Escort (Microscale SP1 Spaceship)

Name of Model: Space Police Escort
Created by: legoloverman
Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/38509565@N00/4560481720/in/set-72157622621432130/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38509565@N00/4560481474/in/set-72157622621432130/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38509565@N00/4559851321/in/set-72157622621432130/
Details: Here's another fantastic spaceship in the style of the original Space Police line. This is a pretty spectacular example of microscale building - many interesting details are achieved here by using minifig tools. Some pieces used cleverly to keep an eye out for: 4(!) Technic Hub / Handles in blue (a part/color combination that I don't believe was ever released in a set), 2 minifig binoculars, 2 minifig wrenches, 2 hose nozzles, 2 hinge brick tops, and 2 minifig hands. There are also some other clever parts uses in here too, with cheese slopes, that tilted cockpit, and studs-not-on-top parts hidden from view (probably this part in particular).

Minifig-scale LEGO Brand Retail Store

Name of Model: LEGO Store, Chandler Fashion Center 2010
Created by: Kevinhink
Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinhink/sets/72157623787901063/
Details: The manager of the LEGO Brand Retail store in Chandler, Arizona, USA recently built this minifigure scale version of the store. It includes custom minifigs (made with decals) for each of the employees. Although the store shelves aren't filled in in much detail, the various kiosk shelves and the Pick-a-Brick wall do a very good job of making this match the iconic LEGO store look. All of the LEGO Brand Retail stores (in the US) are fairly standardized, so this should look pretty familiar to you if you've been to any LEGO Store.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Robotics Monday: Tetris-Bot (TI DSP + Lego NXT robot)

Name of Model: Tetris-Bot (TI DSP + Lego NXT robot)
Created by: BranislavKisacanin
Found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY83EaE7svA&feature=player_embedded
Details: Here's an interesting idea - using the NXT tethered to another small computer to play a game on a PC. Apparently the builder had some custom embedded computer vision (CV) and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms in use. From his description:
Tetris-Bot is a Tetris-playing robot. Jay Leno would say "How lazy are we getting? Now robots play games for us!" Well, not exactly, but I agree, we are getting lazy. I made it in order to engage my kids in a fun and educational project. Tetris-Bot consists of a camera, a TI DM6437 DSP board (running my embedded vision and artificial intelligence algorithms), and a three-finger NXT robotic hand (that presses the keys on the computer keyboard). I was inspired by the NXT Rubik and Sudoku solvers and the Segway-like NXT robots. Unlike them, Tetris-Bot is not an NXT-only system, because the Brick has a limited input bandwidth. That's why I use a TI DM6437 DSP board to analyze the images coming from the camera, recognize the new shape, and find the best place and orientation for it. The instructions are communicated to the NXT robotic hand via LEDs on the board. HOPE YOU LIKE IT !!!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Vintage Advertisements

Ad scans by: combomphotos
Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/combomphotos/4542928832/in/pool-44124304756@N01 and http://www.flickr.com/photos/combomphotos/4382425888/
Details:
Here's more of a "moment of zen" for today - a pair of vintage LEGO advertisements. One is from 1964 and the other is from 1979 - fifteen years apart, and you can actually get an idea for how the possibilities were growing during that time from these ads. Both are from pretty meaningful events for the company - the 1964 advertisement is for the early town plan line (which still included road boards instead of baseplates and small die-cast vehicles that gave the sets a more traditional scale of 1:87, also known as "HO scale"), and the 1979 ad shows the early Technic line (then known as "Expert Builder"). The Technic sets would later become a much bigger deal, as we all know - and all of the vehicles we see in the early line have since been redone in many new and exciting ways.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Scripps Encinitas Critical Care Center in Minifig Scale

Name of Model: Scripps Encinitas Critical Care Center
Created by: Mariann Asanuma
Found at: http://modelbuildingsecrets.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/the-big-secret-revealed/
Details: Scripps Encinitas Critical Care Center has been built in minifig scale - even though the "real" thing hasn't been finished yet. Five weeks of work from a former LEGOLAND California Master Builder and her assistants resulted in this permanent model for the hospital. This model debuted at a recent event, but I don't know if/when it's still available for the public to see. Since this is just the kick-off of the expansion, we'll have to wait a few years to see how well this captures the final building.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Events this Weekend

Just a head's up - we've been a bit late updating the BrickJournal Shared Calendars lately, but there are two newly-added events coming up this weekend. One's in Tarrytown, New York, USA, and the other is in Durham, North Carolina, USA. We'll be at Maker Faire NC, displaying our own models for once. Expect a full report next week. We're hoping to finish scheduling the next few days' worth of posts in advance, but bear with us if a few posts end up coming up late.

Size Matters

Name of Model: Size matters
Created by: crises_crs
Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/33774513@N08/4538367269/in/pool-44124304756@N01
Details:
After featuring several models in a row with a fairly large footprint, it's time to feature a small vignette. A small, short, tiny, very self-conscious vignette, because you shouldn't feel bad about building something clever that isn't large and dramatic. We all build something small once in a while - it happens to everyone. Particularly everyone who isn't trying to show off how many parts they've bought (while we try to avoid showcasing models that seem to exist purely to show that their builder can afford to make them, there are quite a few of them out there). Sometimes, someone builds something small that is just as clever and worth sharing due to building techniques, or it's something small that could be part of something bigger. Then there are cases like this, when someone manages to capture something perfectly without breaking 10 inches (or ~25 cm) across. It's not easy to put together an accurate bit of constructive criticism in LEGO form, but here it is - proof that we need to keep looking at smaller creations, which are often just as great as (or better than) larger models.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Medieval Market Village Diorama

Name of Model: Medieval Market Village Diorama
Created by: PigletCiamek (Piglet on Brickshelf)
Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pigletciamek/sets/72157623766166583/ and http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=428577
Details:
The Medieval Market Village kit is one of the best current LEGO sets, but the lack of a baseplate in the kit immediately poses a challenge to you when you're done building it: What will you put the buildings on? Here's an answer - make the goodies in the kit part of an enormous full-fledged medieval village. This large, modular diorama is one of the most well-documented peasant villages I've seen in the past few years. There's even landscaping (with a forest's edge and cobblestone), a map, and a full cast of characters.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Mont St. Michel in Microscale

Name of Model: Mont St. Michel
Created by: Arthur Gugick "torgugick"
Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10321180@N08/tags/france/
Details:
The Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy, France is one of seven landmarks that Arthur Gugick deemed unbuildable. In spite of that, though, he has built it and it came out well (and quite small). The technique for the water is closer to what he's done for mosaics before - round pieces on a solid background to allow for more color. The village in the front features a surprising amount of variety at this scale - lots of little roof pieces make the distinctive roof lines. On the cathedral itself, we see large amounts of hinge pieces used for the architectural details. There are only 4 photos of this model (which comes in at a mere 64-studs square at the base, and is only 20 bricks tall), but they're all worth a look - even with little space and relatively simple techniques, there's a surprising amount of detail snuck into this model.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Robotics Monday: NXT Moonbots Challenge

Name of Model:
Created by: various sponsors and partners
Found at: http://moonbots.org/
Details:
Ever wonder why there aren't more FIRST LEGO League style challenges? Well, now there's one more: the Moonbots Challenge. Entries have already closed for this, but the competition was kicked off at this year's FLL World Festival in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Full info about the contest is at the links above, but you can also see pictures of the kickoff event and the rest of the FLL World Festival in Joe Meno's flickr set. There are hundreds of photos there, but don't miss the Moonbots challenge layout.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Bricks By the Bay Round-Up

Name of Event: Bricks By the Bay
Run by: Bill Ward
Found at: http://www.bricksbythebay.com/ (photos at other links below)
Details:

The first Bricks By the Bay LEGO convention happened last weekend (no word yet on when or where the second such event will be). If you've been following this blog for a while, you know what that means - it's post-convention round-up time!
Bricks By The Bay Flickr group (with any luck all of the BBTB photos will find their way here eventually)
Recap on Bill Ward's blog
Recap on Mariann Asanuma's blog (part 2)
Flickr photos from Model Gal (Mariann Asanuma)
MOCPages wrapup by Alex Eylar
Adrian Egli's flickr photos
CNET Slideshow (with audio)
SuperBagel's flickr set
karlongchan's flickr set
Gravit8's flicker set

In the interest of not duplicating photos, I've tried to skip mentioning flickr sets of photos that are accounted for in the Bricks By the Bay Flickr pool. Feel free to send any links I've missed in to legomodeloftheday@gmail.com

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Single Kit Pneumatic Walker

Name of Model: Pneumatic Walker From Only LEGO Set 8049
Created by: Dan (yours truly)
Found at: http://projectsbydan.blogspot.com/2010/04/pneumatic-walker-from-only-lego-set.html and http://www.flickr.com/photos/dp3/sets/72157623662754193/
Details:
I've previously blogged a few interesting walking machines here, but the fact of the matter is that many of those models are a bit out of reach for most LEGO fans. The availability of various parts (specifically motors and pneumatic elements) leaves a bit to be desired. However, there's one current kit (the 8049 TECHNIC Log Loader) that is widely available and actually includes all the parts you need to try out simple pneumatic circuitry and walking machines. Naturally, I took this as a challenge - can a decent pneumatic walker be built out of only the parts in that one kit? You can see the results (and full building instructions!) at the links above. Spoiler alert: it can be done, but it took me a few tries to get it working smoothly.

Friday, April 16, 2010

LEGOLAND Windsor on Google Street View

Name of Model: LEGOLAND Windsor (official site)
Created by LEGO master builders
Found at: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=legoland+windsor&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF8&hl=en&hq=legoland+windsor&hnear=&ll=51.464002,-0.651981&spn=0,0.002401&z=19&layer=c&cbll=51.463973,-0.651837&panoid=XRJqwFcq_2nztA5zCm0jWA&cbp=12,18.2,,0,0.04
Details:

View Larger Map
Remember last year when Google made LEGOLAND California available on Google Street View? As of this week, they've now done the same for LEGOLAND Windsor. I'm not sure what's different, but I seem to be having an easier time getting around this park and finding interesting things - perhaps they've worked out some kinks since they first started trying to do park tours on their street view trike. As usual for these Google maps based jaunts, various photos from other sources of the park can be seen alongside the photos taken by Google.

Those of you not running flash are seeing a standard map embedded here - you'll want to open the link above in a web browser with flash to take this tour of LEGOLAND Windsor.

Spotted through Google Sightseeing, who also mentioned additional non-LEGO easter eggs found at the park.

Lit Realistic Underground Station

Name of Model: Underground station based on the Stortinget station in Oslo
Created by: matija
Found at: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=427352
Details:
This is a fairly surprising model. At first glance, you can't really tell what's going on. It's a reasonably realistic model of a subway station. Except that it's not just an underground station - it's actually lit up, and the train itself is a functional 9V train. It looks like the lights are actually bright enough that no other lights were used for these photos (needless to say, I'm assuming that these are not LEGO lights and are actually just wedged into LEGO pieces, by either modification of the lights, of the bricks, or both). Of the five photos here, two are inspiration photos that show how close of a likeness this is to the original. Even the signs and advertisements are replicated in LEGO form.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Nnenn's Vic Vipers

Name of Model: Vic Vipers
Created by: nnenn
Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nnenn/4192324139/
Details:

The LEGO fan community was recently shocked to learn of the passing of Nnenn. Nnenn was primarily a space builder, and his influence is seen in the Vic Viper craze (which he started singlehandedly). For today's model, I'm featuring this set of Vic Vipers he made in NoVVember 2009.

We've featured Nnenn's work several times over the past few years. While he didn't build in that many genres, he was very prolific, and his spaceship designs have been surprisingly influential. The high quality of his photographs made him stand out to the fledgling LEGO blog community, and once he became more established he was featured frequently on a variety of blogs, allowing him to influence a broader set of LEGO fans than most of us do. He will be missed, although it appears (looking over some of those other blogs today) that we will be re-naming the rubber band holder piece after him.

Previously featured models by Nnenn:
Tiny Batman and Robin
Microscale Star Wars Fleet
NeoClassicSpace.com Celebrates 30 Years of LEGO Space with 30 Models in 30 Days
Cockpit Box

EDIT 4/15: An even more definitive wrap-up of the community's thoughts can be found at http://swooshable.com/nnenn/

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Futuristic Unmanned Robotic Transport

Name of Model: FLEA
Created by: teikjoon
Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/teikjoon/sets/72157623664478762/
Details:
I'm not entirely sure if this is supposed to be minifig scale, but it looks like the train tracks are at the "normal" distance. The way the parts are used here is both clever and evocative - it actually does look like it could be an autonomous robot that's supposed to use whatever train tracks it can find. The x-pod in particular is attached through an interesting technique. There are also a few flick-fire missiles used to hold up the wheels and to look like suspension springs. The mix of Technic elements and various elements with clips with various "normal" bits works well here - in a time when it seems like most people don't know about some of these techniques, this is a model that really goes all-out in using them well.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Robotics Monday: Sorting Balls by Color

Name of Model: Robin Newman’s Lego© Mindstorms© Page A beginner’s journey
Created by: Robin Newman
Found at: http://r.newman.ch/lego/index.html
Details:
The NXT 2.0's color sensor and disturbingly large quantity of Bionicle zamor spheres makes the kit perfectly suited for machine guns and machines that sort balls by color. The builder I'm featuring today decided to try a few ball-sorter designs from the Internet and a few original designs. You can see four of Robin Newman’s designs at the link above, along with videos, code, building instructions, and information about what sets and parts you would need to build each version.

I know we're already running late, but in celebration of National Robotics Week in the US, we will be featuring additional robot-themed models this week.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

LEGO World Show Programs

Name of Model: LEGO World Shows 1-8
Created by: LEGO-employed master builders, including Kirsten Kristensen
Found at: http://www.brickset.com/miscellaneous/LEGOWorldShows/?folder=LEGO%20World%20Show%201%20(1981)
Details: Recently, Brickset announced that they are hosting LEGO World Show programmes from the 1980s. Photos and English-language descriptions are included for a variety of models from LEGO World Show tours in 1980's. So far all of these are from Australia. These cover a variety of themes, but most of the models are large sculptures. The sculptures themselves are to the usual standard of quality we've come to expect from LEGO's models shops, but the colors are much simpler than what you'd see at today's LEGOLAND parks - the color palette is limited to what was actually available in the 1980's. This means that the trees use large bricks intended as baseplates (green LEGO bricks weren't available until the mid-90's, and even many now familiar leaves and plants weren't available yet), brown creatures are built in bright red, people are yellow (tan wouldn't be available for another decade, never mind the flesh colored bricks that the model shops have exclusively today), and in many places details look chunkier than you'd expect because more specialized parts hadn't been manufactured yet. In a weird way, it plays up the nostalgia element of how some people think of LEGO - all bright colors and blocky creations. The photos aren't too easy to link to, but all of the (many! - this is a "Sunday edition", after all) photos are worth a look.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

LEGOLAND Billund and Headquarters Photos

Name of Photo Set: Legoland
Photos by: ford302_91 (models by LEGO employees)
Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mvetting/sets/72157621340096749/
Details:
Now that the LEGOLAND parks are open again for the season, we're beginning to see a wave of new photo galleries from inside the parks. There are some pretty great photos out there, but as per our "daily dose" style we're not going to be blogging these too quickly. This particular flickr set is actually of photos taken in June 2009, and it also includes some interesting photos from LEGO's world headquarters in Billund, Denmark. Highlights include a LEGO logo mosaic made of minifigs, LEGO chandeliers, and a floppy skeleton sculpture. There are 51 photos here overall.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Minifig-scale "Elm castle"

Name of Model: Elm castle
Created by: gearcs
Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/45079829@N07/sets/72157623754281048/
Details:
What happens when you combine clever landscaping, Tudor architecture, a guard post of a Castle, and the classic 1987 Forestmen LEGO theme? This Elm castle, that's what! The tower itself is just gorgeous, full of minor architectural details. You can see turntable bases attached with clips to create the appearance of an ornate fence, plates with teeth used to add realistic dimension to cross-struts, and even the walls are tiled on top to avoid showing LEGO studs. The inlaid mosaic water, while a common technique, looks excellent here. A log bridge provides access across the river. The heavy use of lion gargoyles and arches on one side is an unusual choice that actually works really well. If the big details weren't enough for you, look down into the fully tiled interior of the castle walls, smoothed out entirely with 1x1 tiles. lets While this may be a bit too visible near the edge of a forest, the castle itself is quite impressive and fully featured (Did I mention the drawbridge and mottled dark grey for a brick texture?)

On that last drawbridge shot, another interesting technique you can see is the use of a panel where the chains go into the wall - the result is a smaller and smoother spot for the chain to pass through.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater in 1:40 scale

Name of Model: Fallingwater
Created by: Matija Grguric
Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/matijagrguric/sets/72157623778661188/
Details:
A while back (we didn't mention it because we don't feel comfortable recommending it due to the extremely high price per part ratio), LEGO released an official Fallingwater kit that is very faithful to the original structure designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The trouble with the official sets in the Architecture theme and other kits that build landmarks (such as the Taj Mahal, which is currently $50 off) is that the limits of currently available parts and acceptable pricing ensure that no matter what the LEGO company can sell in a kit, it'll be possible for a fan to do a better job with the same source material. In this case, we see Fallingwater rendered at a 1:40 scale (roughly minifig scale, although minifig dimensions are blurry enough to not really fit any scale exactly) instead of the microscale of the original kit. Also interesting about this model is that this one is clearly in a wintery season - note the spindly, leafless trees and the dark icy water.

In the interest of being thorough and giving you all of the display and construction details, I'm stealing the description of this model that appears with most of the photos:

Building info:

Fallingwater, also known as the Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr. Residence, is a house designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1934 in rural southwestern Pennsylvania, 50 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. The house was built partly over a waterfall in Bear Run at Rural Route 1 in the Mill Run section of Stewart Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, in the Laurel Highlands of the Allegheny Mountains. For the rest of the information regarding the house please visit Wikipedia.

Project:

I've had thoughts about this project since I've built Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye. I finally made up my mind in September 2009. when I began planning and working on some early designs. Scale of the building is minifig, or approximate 1:40. One of the issues was how to make the stone walls of the building. The result here is made out of 4 different shades of grey (old grey and bley). Other was the terrain and vegetation. In the end I decided to make it in winter atmosphere. Snow is something I always enjoy, and I was always more of a winter type of person, so here it is - my first snowy MOC. :)

Building process spread over total of almost 7 months, and the structure is made out of more than 15000 bricks (just an approximate guess). It is placed on 6 48*48 baseplates, and measures 115 x 80 x 50 cm. It weights more than 20 kg. This MOC will be displayed in Technical Museum in Zagreb on "Kockice EXPO 2010", in May and June this year.

I would like to thank dear Klementina for her help and support during the rough times - multiple structure collapses. ;)
Check it out at the links above and/or at the museum in Zagreb in the coming months - this is an excellent model.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Tomakon starfighter

Name of Model: Tomakon starfighter
Created by: thire5
Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thire5/4390479608/ , http://www.flickr.com/photos/thire5/4390479660/in/photostream/ , and http://www.flickr.com/photos/thire5/4390479726/in/photostream/
Details:
There are plenty of fairly rare colors that seem to be all-too-common in pieces that aren't terribly useful. Sure, we all find uses for various strange parts once in a while, but it seems like there are always some parts that you can't find uses for. People who don't like buying new kits with lots of difficult parts (like the Bionicle theme is for most of us) just don't try these things out. Then there's thire5, who used some dark green and dark bluish grey Bionicle parts from a Toa Mahri Kongu to build this awesome spaceship. Single-seating fighters are a popular subject of LEGO creations, and many of them strain to properly fit a minifigure ("fits a fig!" is a common cry among "spacers"). This model cleverly uses various wedge plates with cutouts (it's a strange part to describe, here's an example of it) to make the edges of the cockpit and leave enough space for the minifigure's arms. Between the really little Space Police II cockpit (I can't recall an official set that used it for an enclosed cockpit that fit a 'fig) and the well-used Bionicle detailing, this is easily the most innovative original spaceship I've seen in some time. Did I mention it uses the fairly rare and difficult to use color of dark green?

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Brick-City Waterfront 3.0

Name of Model: Brick-City Waterfront 3.0
Created by: Tim M.
Found at: http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/156687
Details:
We've previously blogged about Shannonia, TwinLUG Micropolis and LowLug Micropolis. There are, of course, plenty of other microscale cities out there (and there's nothing stopping you from building your own). This one is interesting in how it attempts to show part of the countryside along with the the small city. A landscaped cliff with rocks, a castle, and a small cave stands out, as does the water made entirely out of trans-dark-blue 2x2 bricks. The bridge leading out to where another waterfront city could be build is a clever touch too. Did I mention that there's also a city here with lots of microscale goodness?

Monday, April 5, 2010

NXT/RCX Snakes and Ladders Game

Name of Model: NXT to RCX LEGO Snakes And Ladders Robot
Created by: Mike Dobson / RoboticSolutions
Found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-duo_Zgv0AU&feature=channel
Details:

This robot plays the game of Snakes and Ladders (or Chute and Ladders, if you prefer). Light-sensors are used to allow the RCX and NXT to communicate (a clever trick that we're seeing more and more frequently as a cheap alternative to third party IR modules for the NXT). The NXT is the brains of the operation, and the RCX handles most of the motion in the game. Pieces are moved by a robotic arm (with well-placed pneumatics) mounted on gear racks, and there are even appropriate sound effects.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

LEGOPalooza 2010

Name of Show: LEGOPalooza2010
Created by: NCLUG
Found at: http://www.nclug.us/index.php/2010/03/more-legopalooza-photos/ and http://www.nclug.us/index.php/2010/03/legopalooza-2010-coverage-round-1/
Details:

The North Carolina LEGO Users Group (NCLUG) recently put on their annual show at the Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill, NC. For the first time since this annual tradition's first year, this show actually featured a few FIRST robotics teams and the Richmond area LEGO Users Group (RichLUG) as well. While there were fewer displays than in previous years, the show was a hit and over 3,000 people attended. Full coverage (including photo round-ups) at the links above.

Those of you who are in North Carolina can still see NCLUG represented at two other shows in the near future - Maker Faire NC (featuring yours truly bringing the LEGO fun) is coming up April 25th, and convention/festival BrickMagic is coming up Mother's Day weekend. While there won't be Palooza-style group layouts at Maker Faire NC, there may be some at BrickMagic and the sheer size of BrickMagic is drawing in LEGO hobbyists and professionals from around the world (in addition to our friends at NCLUG).

Photo above from Dan Larson.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Radio Sculpture

Name of Model: Gilligan - The Radio
Created by: Dave Shaddix
Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shaddix/sets/72157616544807371/
Details:
This is an old-fashioned radio styled after one from Gilligan's Island. The front features jumper tiles to get just the right texture, and there's no arguing with the more traditionally sculpted handle either. Don't miss the back: this has properly removable batteries and a properly adjustable antenna.

Friday, April 2, 2010

MC Daly Building

Name of Model: MC Daly Building
Created by: Bisonfuehrer
Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bisonfuehrer/4401683924/
Details:
Another micropolis masterpiece. While using translucent parts isn't exactly a new technique, it's used to great effect here. The trans-black color works really well with the black plates. If you study this design closely, you'll see that there are a few places that don't line up quite the way you'd expect. Those details are achieved by using the flat side of log bricks - since those are a little narrower than normal bricks at the ends, they can be used to add a bit more texture.

April Fool's Roundup

Many LEGO fan sites decided to get in on April Fool's day antics this year. I even got in on the act by announcing an official "LMOTD Store". That was just a gag (I make a point to keep this blog separate from that store), but if you placed an order in that store on April first, you will in fact be receiving free LMOTD printed LEGO tiles with your order.

NXTStep got into the act by leaking NXT 3.0 info that is almost certainly false (although many of those ideas would be welcome in a future NXT release).

http://www.classic-castle.com/ - a popular website and forum for fans of classic LEGO Castle themes - decided to rename itself Classic Cattle. This is probably the most subtly brilliant April Fool's gag I've seen. The fact that it's completely believable and well-researched is a testament to how much effort went into it. I'm hoping they archive this somewhere so we can mention it as an example of "how it's done" in years to come.

YouTube had added a new feature called TEXTp which rendered videos in the form of ASCII art. At least one of the videos available this was was a BrickFilm. As of this writing, this prank seems to have been completely removed. If you know a way to cause this effect again, let me know.

EDIT April 5th, 2010: Forgot about the various EuroBricks jokes (a few readers called me on this) - the LEGO Tron theme gag, the Bionicle Visual Dictionary gag, and finally the Mandalorian Pride gag.

On the more "adult" (read: dimwitted and salacious - these posts are not recommended) side of things, The Brothers Brick claimed to have lost a member to drug use, granted a rare and scandalous interview, tried to convince us that a knock-off Hello Kitty line was legitimate, and claimed to be taking over the Star Wars / LEGO fan site From Bricks to Bothans.

Do you know of any other LEGO-related gags? Send 'em in to legomodeloftheday@gmail.com

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Announcing the LMOTD Store!

Since we never did make that much money off of the ads on the site, we're now opening a BrickLink store! You can buy individual LEGO parts on BrickLink, and if you shop at the LMOTD store, you'll receive a free printed LMOTD 2x2 tile with your order.

Working Belville Scale Recliner

Name of Model: Fully Funtional Recliner Chair
Created by: J0n4th4n D3rk53n
Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/j0n4th4n_d3rk53n/tags/chair/
Details:
Your Belville/Scala/Technic characters don't have enough nice furniture. The sad fact of the matter is that it's impractical for most of us (although it is possible) to build a proper house with walls and furniture at that scale. Even rarer than nice furniture this size is functional furniture this size. This recliner is an interesting start, and it looks like it works fairly well. You can see more of how it works by looking at the photos at the link above.

Take this as a challenge, too: this recliner really reclines, but the foot rest is always in the up position. Can you build a recliner that has a moving foot rest as well as a reclining back?