Not really featuring this as a proper model, but I thought I'd share the news about the new Black NXT Programmable Brick. A limited edition of 1,998 of these has been made to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the LEGO Mindstorms series. Although programmable bricks existed before that, they were very hard to obtain and primarily sold to schools. The RCX was released in 1998, and the now ubiquitous NXT system emerged in 2006. The black NXT is a very interesting product - priced Apple-style (a "cooler" color will cost you more - in fairness, though, it's very unusual for LEGO to make such a small production run of a part/color combination and it does cost the company more in this case), you get only the programmable brick in the new color (as compared to a black version of the whole kit) - you still have to work around the motors.
Or maybe not. Check out this video of a tank built with the NXT, a HiTechnic (HiTechnic is a licensed third-party LEGO-compatible electronics vendor) IR link for NXT, and a variety of LEGO Power Functions parts. Granted, generally when you use an NXT, you want a certain level of precision and can't just crank up some Power Functions motors. When you're building a simple but fun tank? It's the way to go. Especially when you don't want it to be white.
Yep, running late again - this is what I get for trying to squeeze in multiple difficult posts in one day.
Details: This absolutely incredible vignette tells a complete story and acts as a virtual tutorial of interesting building techniques. There's only one photo for this one, but take a good look at the non-thumbnail version so you can have a good look at what's going on. Some things worth noting:
The woman's purse is made with a clip-plate and a flower.
The fence is built upside-down at the bottom, and a bunch of tops from 1x2 hinges are used to make a unique design that includes some studs-not-on-top effects. Plates that show the older paint color and the new paint color can then be placed on top of that fence design (I'd have to try this myself to see if it connects sturdily, but it sure looks great).
Note the use of a "two-face" torso on the minifig who was accidentally painted! Also, the loose bit of dripping paint on the ground is a feather (I believe from a Pirates set).
The dog (trying to steal the woman's purse) is made with two clip-plates, a modern click-hinge (I'm afraid that you won't recognize that unless you've followed LEGO® in the past few years...), and two round 1x1 plates.
The woman in this scene has one foot under a "dress", which is made with a special piece instead of the standard minifig legs. Her "crutch" is a wrench accessory upside-down!
The painter's pallette is two 1x2 tiles (one plain, one with a grooved top) on top of the top of a 2x2 turntable.
I'm having a hard time seeing the paint brush, but does that look like another standard minifig tool with a 1x1 round black brick attached to it to you?
