New Record-Setting Tower

Name of Model: Record-breaking Tower in LEGOLAND Windsor

Created by attendees of the LEGO Club event

Found at: see links below

Details: We've all seen glamourous record-breaking towers before. There was the Canadian record-breaker last August, and the far more popular Pirate-themed ship's mast tower last June, but they are both a good metre below this one in height. The structure of this one looks a bit more sturdy too, but they decided to use support cables (just in case, I'll say). Variations on the The Daily Mail's coverage have been making their way through the blogosphere, but this was actually broken as news the previous day by a blogger who was displaying some of his own LEGO models at the same event. I like the miniland-scale flags and character on the top in the Daily Mail's photos, but since it looks like they take down their photos over time, I'm featuring the Tabletown coverage for the photo above. The animators at Paganomation win the "perspective" award here, though, for digging up an article from the Winter 1990-1991 BrickKicks magazine that discusses the early days of the record-breaking-tower tradition.

The Contortion

Name of Model: The Contortion

Created by: Nannan Z.

Found at: http://mocpages.com/moc.php/55660

Details: This clever abstract sculpture tries an unusual twist on the many-angled-bricks-can-make-a-curvy-line trick by using 2x2 corner plates to make minifig-scale paths. Some supports are used for sturdiness, but I suspect that similar designs with solid tops wouldn't need supports. Hmm, I guess I sound silly talking about these things before sharing my own similar models. It should suffice to say that watching your center of gravity while trying these techniques can lead to some surprising freestanding results. Of course, there are some other things here I haven't tried, too - making a curve switch directions, and the use of black Martian-arms pieces for the spindly curves near the center (for those of you only familiar with the current "Mars Mission" line, there was another Mars-themed line with an unrelated storyline called "Life on Mars" a few years back, and that's where that part was introduced. Of course, that part has since gone on to do a variety of surprising and awesome things, but they were fairly boring arms when they first came out). Using one of those clear mosaic baseplates to make the bottom look like it's not really the end of the paths was a good idea, too. Oh, and if you don't mind poking around on YouTube, there's a panaromic video too. Beyond that, though, all 15 photos that are appearing on the various photohosting sites are the same ones posted at the MOCPages link above.

David Stott Building

Name of Model: David Stott building, 1929, Detroit. First 3 stories displayed at GTE 2006. Completed as a 31 story skyscraper for NMRA 2006. Completely rebuilt in April 2008 to make it more accurate with 37 stories.

Created by DecoJim, Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/decojim/ Brickshelf: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?m=DecoJim

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/decojim/sets/72157604761140171/ and http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=170584

Details: That picture to the left really is the model and not the life-size building. I think it's safe to say that when you take a model this size outside and find a camera angle that good, you're probably as much of a photographer as a builder - not that this looks like it was easy to build at all, but you know what I mean. Obviously, quite the dark orange collection was required here. It looks to me like a half-stud offset for the windows and inner archetectural elements, and those windows look solid black to me (which isn't a technique I'd think to try, but it looks good here - although those could just be smoke-colored windows too, which do occasionally appear in sets). While the scale is a little bit lower than many other minifig-scale models I've seen (6 bricks high per floor versus 7 in most sets or 10 in Cafe Corner), this is still technically minifig scale. The life-size David Stott Building in Detroit, Michigan, USA, is 133.1 m (437 ft), while this LEGO® model stands 2.286 m (7.5 ft) tall. This is one of several buildings featured in the Flickr gallery above - the whole gallery is a beautiful representation of what must be some of Detroit's finest buildings. The Brickshelf links above include work-in-progress pictures. This is the second version of this model - it was first built for a show in 2006, but this April 2008 revision features some improvements in scale and accuracy.

Geminated Ruby spaceship

Name of Model: Geminated Ruby

Created by: Zach Moe

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7969176@N03/sets/72157604804711609/ and http://www.classic-space.com/plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?69697

Details: This spectacular spaceship is based on some unique angle tricks that have been discussed recently at the Classic Space forums (The "classic" LEGO® Space line came out in the late 70's and was around through the 80's. It remains one of the most popular LEGO® themes and there's an entire fansite devoted to its discussion and to new original models based on it). Perhaps more notable than the unique shapes, though, is the rare parts and colors used here. The UCS X-Wing windshield (or whatever they're called in space) is put to good use on the cockpit, a variety of interesting parts in various shades of gold show up, there are a few parts I don't even recognize, and a Cafe Corner was parted out for those dark red slopes and curved parts. I really like what he did with the flaps too. Don't miss the modified Exo-Force sticker either. I asked about some of the special parts and colors featured in this model during my appearance on this weekend's LAMLradio podcast - surprisingly, none of the special parts or colors had to be ordered specially.

Minor Delay

Sunday and Monday's models have already been picked, but I'm still trying to dig up some links for them, so they might be showing up a little late. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Scooby Doo, The Mystery Machine, and Those Meddling Kids

Name of Model: Scooby Doo and the gang.

Created by: Proudlove

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/proudlove/tags/mysterymachine/

Details: Sometimes the colors and parts you have handy really dictate what you should try to build. In this case, the builder's wife saw the colors he was sorting, noticed the familiar "Mystery Machine" color scheme, and suggested he build it. Proudlove wasn't familiar with Scooby Doo before trying this, but the model still came out really well. To make it possible to do all the people accurately, he used the same "miniland" scale that is used at the LEGOLAND parks. The only problem is that he didn't build an enemy to deliver that famous line to them: "...and I would've gotten away with it, too, if not for you meddling kids!"

Cave Racer: Sea Turtle's Mate

Name of Model: Cave Racer: Sea Turtle's Mate

Created by: Shadow Viking

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowviking/2454576834/in/pool-727410@N21

Details: While I was away last week, a new building craze based on cave racers set in. Cave racers are underground race vehicles that apparently have no relation to the official Rock Raiders theme. A more thorough discussion of the origins of the Cave Racers can be found on flickr. My "don't post the same theme twice within the same week if you can avoid it" rule means that it could be quite a while before I get properly caught up on the theme, but you can check out the Cave Racers pool on flickr for more fun in the same theme. Personally, I like the color scheme and clever engine on this one. These are all a bit small, so it can be a bit hard to really do something distinctive (I doubt many of these top 50 pieces). There are, of course, a variety of other surprising, clever, and colorful models in the pool too, but you only get one a day here - unless you click the pool link, in which case, there goes 200 photos and more of your Friday than you want to admit.

Robots for Blogging Against Disablism Day

Since there's already a partially new model up for today, and I thought it would be fun to try jumping on a blog-on-a-specific-topic-day bandwagon, here's an interesting report about how the University of Alberta is working with St. Gabriel Catholic Elementary School in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to help severely mobility impaired children express themselves. Of course, what makes it relevant material for this blog is that the robots used as assistive technology in this school are (like many robot prototypes that are built to allow for easy on-the-fly changes) built out of LEGO® MINDSTORMS components. While the technology here is cool, and certainly something I'd like to hear more about, the important thing here is that this is really making a difference by helping someone to have more control of their own life. Too often, disabled people who don't have access to assistive devices like these find that other people are trying to speak for them and make snap-judgments about how capable they truly are. This type of technology is really important because it lets people speak for themselves - and let the world know that they really are "in there" as much as anyone else.

UCS Slave I update

Name of Model: UCS Slave I

Created by: Junsier

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/junsier/sets/72157604141953924/

Details: I had highlighted this Ultimate Collector Series-style model in January, but apparently a newer version has been built and the links to find the UCS Slave I have changed. Thanks for giving me a heads-up on that, Junsier! There's also a flickr gallery that I believe is entirely new. The current Brickshelf link is http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=299211 , and you can still catch up on Star Wars at Amazon.

Trophy (with instructions!)

Name of Model: Big Trophy

Created by: Dave at BrickPlayer.com

Found at: http://brickplayer.com/blog/2008/04/30/big-lego-trophy-plans/

Details: Here's a good one for all of the college kids in the midst of finals season - a victory trophy sculpture. I like the version shown in the instructions, but the partially translucent one built for the winner of a contest looks even better. Both this large trophy and the smaller trophy have complete building instructions posted at the site above. There's also a parts list in addition to the directions. While the translucent parts can be hard to find, this project should be pretty easy for anyone to try in slightly different colors - those are all basic bricks in this one (not even any plates!)