Second Annual Micropolis Building Challenge

Name of Contest: Second Annual Micropolis Building Challenge - The Sands of Time

Found at: http://www.reasonablyclever.com/?page_id=5181

Details: Remember last year's Bad Day for Micropolis contest? This year, TWINLUG and Reasonably Clever have teamed up again for another contest. The Second Annual Micropolis Building Challenge - The Sands of Time takes advantage of both the new Micropolis 1.1 standard and a Time Twisters theme to encourage people to build micropolis standard compliant models that are a bit different than what we're used to seeing. The new version of the standard includes rules for building waterfronts and bluffs - so now micropolis standard cities even have a sort of landscaping.

Bad Days For Micropolis

Name of Contest: Bad Day For Micropolis

Created by various contest entrants

Found at: http://www.reasonablyclever.com/lego/contest/badday/index.html

Details: One of the more interesting contests to have gone by recently was Reasonably Clever's "Bad Day For Micropolis". Based on the Micropolis Micro City Standard developed by TwinLUG (the LEGO Users Group for the Minneapolis / St. Paul region), the idea of the contest was to build a Micropolis module that was being destroyed in some way. The micropolis standard is already fun on it's own - it's a pretty straightforward standard, that's small enough to allow people with even fairly small collections to build interesting modules (the base is only 16 studs square). Many of the modules entered into the contest are exciting even without the "bad day" element - but add in a few alien attacks, construction fiascos, and natural disasters, and suddenly things go from adorably clever to fiendishly exciting.

BrickFair Virginia 2014 Round-Up

Name of Event: BrickFair Virginia 2014

Found at: http://www.brickfair.com/

Details: This was an absolutely fantastic event this year - as always - and I'm going to probably write much more about it over the next few months. I'm still recovering from what was an amazing and exhausting 7 days (yes, 7) at BrickFair Virginia. It could take weeks for me to process everything that happened there, and I could write pages of thank yous to everyone involved who helped to make it a magical experience. I recently finished uploading my photos to Flickr. There are fewer than 4,000 this year, which we should all consider a scandalous disappointment. Personally, I love this event too much - between the giant exact-map Mini Con layout and the 4 games/seminars I was in charge of, I spent most of the event running around setting things up. I didn't have time to photograph everything, and I actually never properly worked out where I needed to add an additional magnet to my badge (I ended up not wearing it much because I needed to make sure it didn't fall off). The photo to the left is from Joe "Unhalfbricking" Miserendino of this year's Micropolis collaboration, after the invasion of some Exo-Suit sets. Micropolis is always a large fixture at BrickFair Virginia, but the decreasing popularity of the micropolis standard at other events means that BrickFair Virginia now represents the largest ongoing Micropolis display at a convention. As always, if you have or know of photos or other coverage of BrickFair Virginia 2014 that I don't have here (I'm sure there's something I'm missing - I'm starting with fewer links than usual in the interest of not putting this off any longer), feel free to mention it in the comments or send an e-mail to legomodeloftheday@gmail.com so that we can add it here. my (Dan's) Flickr photos JustJon's Flickr photos Black Six's Flickr photos Kreativ Snail's Flickr photos Bob Hayes' Flickr photos ajfeist's Flickr photos TJJohn12's Flickr photos DJ Quest's Flickr photos and videos Official BrickFair Flickr group (goes back to 2008) AgeOwns.com's Flickr photos ajfeist's Flickr photos BrickFair 2014 Flickr Group (130 photos as 9/1/2014) ToaMeiko's Flickr photos Brickset posted about the event shortly beforehand. ExclusivelyPlastic (Caleb L.)'s Flickr photos Bosta's Flickr photos bhrome's Flickr photos and videos Rob Bender Cale Leiphart's Flickr photos Beyond the Brick's Joshua Hanlon finally made it out to BFVA and BTB actually have published their own playlist of videos by made Beyond the Brick at BrickFair VA 2014 - but before they went, Josh and Matthew interviewed the event organizer (Todd Webb) and a frequent volunteer who plays a role in coordinating some collaborations (John Rudy). Interview with Todd Webb Interview with John Rudy Beyond the Brick Guided Tour (2.5 hrs) playlist of shorter on-site videos (including 12 more that I haven't singled out here) Beyond the Brick's Flickr photos EDWW day_dae (esteemedhelga)™'s Flickr photos are split into multiple sets this year: Pre-Show & Showtime BrickFair VA LEGO 2014 BrickFair VA LEGO 2014 I BrickFair VA LEGO 2014 II BrickFair VA LEGO 2014 III The Fox 5 videos seem to be a bit better this year, although their anchors still keep trying to put an 'S' at the end of LEGO and pretend that's a real word. My understanding is that there were four segments aired live Sunday morning, although only two appear to be online: 7:20 AM: Mini Con interview with Mariann Asanuma and Daniel Pikora (hey, we know those two!) 8:40 AM: Charity minifigures interview with Ben Spector 6:24 PM: Evening recap Fox 5's Kellee Azar also gave BrickFair some positive coverage on Twitter: https://twitter.com/KelleeAzarFox5/status/496374700570705920 https://twitter.com/KelleeAzarFox5/status/495916112291594240 https://twitter.com/KelleeAzarFox5/status/495888337677586432 We also rounded up coverage of BrickFair Virginia in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. I'm not sure why 2012 was skipped - I still intend to catch up on BrickFair 2013.

Micropolis Central Station

Name of Model: Micropolis Central Station

Created by: Erik Smit

Found at: .eti's Photostream

Details: Erik Smit just can't seem to stop building amazing creations. Over that past couple of weeks everything that he has churned out has been exceptional. His most recent creation built in the "micropolis standard" is no exception. I was really taken aback with this model. You look at it the first time, notice a lot of things. Look at it a second time, notice some more minor details. Then you look at it a third time, and you notice things that make you (or me at least) say "oh wow" out loud. One of the great things about Erik's creations is that they all incorporate a mixture of very new parts and older parts. This is evident with his use of cheese slopes, a part which first appeared in 2004, and trans clear macaroni bricks, which first appeared in the 1950's. Another aspect of the creation that I really enjoy is the fact that the trains submerge after leaving the station. This is great seeing that with a micropolis layout being collaborative, this "module" can hold its own and does not require other modules to have track to achieve an overall coherent appearance. Just a wonderful, wonderful piece of work. I've been inspired.

Micropolis Bank

Name of Model: Small Bank

Created by: Rakanishu1024

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/40485587@N04/5355227444/

Details: At first glance, this building looks pretty simple and straightforward. This small tower packs in some great techniques, though - each of the four corners of the building has studs facing in four directions (besides the standard stud facing up). The sides facing outward are covered with tiles - which looks great, but can be easy to confuse for a row of stacked 1x1 bricks if you're not looking closely. The other sides, however, connect to the lattice fence elements that form the distinctive windows on the higher floors. It looks like some clear plates may be connected to those fences to properly sell the window look. Interestingly, the geometry of this fence/window arrangement works out to each side of the building being seven studs wide (note the round 1x1 plates at the top) - this allows for the inner columns on the first floor to be spaced perfectly evenly without using any offset techniques. It's a great place for citizens of micropolis to be eaten by giant flowers! do their banking.

Shannonia

Name of Model: Shannonia

Created by: Shannon Young

Found at: http://www.mocpages.com/folder.php/16332

Details: Microscale cities these days tend to be of the micropolis variety. It makes sense, really - it's a large, easy to manage standard that is great for building city blocks, and it's the only way I've seen to manage a collaborative microscale layout. Before micropolis, though, there were still plenty of people building microscale cities. One that attracted a bit of attention was Shannonia, a sprawling resort town. Since there are a large amount of photos available of the various incarnations of Shannonia available at the links above, I will leave it at that.

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?

Citigroup Center, New York

Name of Model: Citigroup Center, New York

Created by: Spencer_R

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/51130204@N04/sets/72157624372848782/

Details: This microscale model of the Citigroup Center in New York (more specifically, downtown midtown Manhattan) is surprisingly recognizable for its small size. The scale of this model is actually smaller than the micropolis standard - in the LEGO world, a term like "microscale" is really a blanket term to describe a variety of sizes that are very small.

Minifig-Scale Chandelier

Name of Model: Chain Challenge 11: Swashbuckling!

Created by: Joe "joeseidon" Miller

Found at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/96739476@N04/16220294503/

Details: In the past few years, there's been a proliferation of seed-part based challenges in the wake of the popular "Iron Builder" contest. I (Dan) did my part by finding a way to make such a game fit in at BrickFair, but most of these challenges revolve around Flickr. Sometimes, like in this case, it's just a couple of builders taking up the challenge for the fun of it. This particular challenge is based around the current small, 5-link chain element. Surely a silly piece, it's much too short to be useful and was originally used for Ninjago weaponry when it first came out. They've found plenty of clever uses for it, although some of them make use of the classic "everything is more useful in quantity" trick. Joe's entries so far have included this great chandelier, a microscale scene with a great truck, chairs and curtains, an octopus, and even a house. His competitor, Leopold "Legopold" Mao's entries so far include a roller coaster, a server room, a Micropolis prison complex, and a goblin family with a pet human. In a just world, I'd have blogged more of these models separately, but I've given up on that.

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.

Some FAQs about the LUG

Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I haven't explained very well the recent news that I'm starting a LUG. Here's something of an explanation, in hopes of answering some of the questions people have brought to me so far. Feel free to send in any additional questions you may have - for now I am coordinating this from the blog's current e-mail address: legomodeloftheday@gmail.com Why start an online LUG? Because location-based LUGs don't cut it for an alarming amount of people. There are many reasons for this - maybe your nearest LUG is quite some time away, or has few members and never really got off the ground. Perhaps you've left a LUG because of some disagreement with other members of that LUG. Maybe someone or something in a LUG has scared you off. Maybe you're too young to meet an AFOL cut-off, or you prefer to build in themes that people near you are not supportive of. Maybe you just want to be more involved in "big things" at conventions and your LUG isn't interested in collaborative convention displays. The fact of the matter is that there wasn't a catch-all LUG that could cover everyone who feels left out of traditional LUGs, and there needed to be one. One online LUG that has been successful is BioniLUG, which is part of BZPower. I joined that LUG some time ago and have found it to be very well-run, and an excellent way to connect fans across the world for the purposes of participating in group builds, coordinating convention activities, and the support of a LUG. The only "problem" is that it's very much a part of the Bionicle community, which unfortunately does not include all that much of the general LEGO fan community. At some level, that's a strength, but it means that BioniLUG can't be the catch-all LUG that everyone without a LUG should join (although if you do build with Bionicle elements, I highly recommend joining both BZPower and BioniLUG). Why now? Truthfully, this is a really bad time for me. I probably shouldn't be doing this now, when my personal life seems to be bottoming out and my main LEGO-related blogging outlet is in disrepair. This sort of LUG is something that the LEGO fan community desperately needs, and I'm very passionate about making it happen. Additionally, the community team at LEGO is in the process of rolling out improved guidelines for becoming a registered LUG. Under the new system, a LUG must be around for a full year before LEGO will recognize it and consider providing any support to the LUG. That was a major incentive for starting sooner rather than later, even if it does mean a bit of disorganization upfront. So what's this LUG called? That's our first order of business - figuring out an appropriate name that gets the point across without being antagonistic towards traditional LUGs. Sure, I'm launching it from LMOTD, but I'm not vain enough to make this about me (DanLUG?) or this blog (LMOTDLUG?). Other suggested names include USA LUG (too national) and ANTI-LUG (too antagonistic), but I'd like to see us settle on something a bit more neutral. Do you have a mailing list? Yahoo! Group? Google Group? Facebook group? Some other kind of group? That's our second order of business - deciding what to use for internal communication. I am certain it will not be a Facebook group, because many people (including myself) have very firm negative beliefs about that company's behavior and approach to the web. Beyond that, I'm not sure what we'll settle on - it'll be something accessible and easy to browse the archives of. So how do I get involved with this nameless LUG without an internal group yet? For now, make sure I have your e-mail address. I'll keep you in the loop as things move along. So far, you haven't heard much because things have not moved along much. You can probably help push things along by shooting me an e-mail with your opinions and advice on the name and what to use for internal communication. Until the LUG has a proper website of its own, I'll keep posting any announcements about it here at LMOTD. Seriously, though, how will the LUG work? There will be some form of internal communication, and some sort of collaborative build for large events (which will probably be just US LEGO fan conventions at first). There will be dues - likely $10 the first year and $5 per year after that (we're still copying ideas from BioniLUG), which will primarily cover the costs of mailing things to LUG members. That higher price in the first year will cover the cost of a pretty engraved or printed brick with the LUG name (or logo) for your name badge. Since I'm mostly planning this as a service to the general AFOL community, expect group builds to lean (at least initially) towards existing collaborations - Great Ball Contraption, Micropolis, Moonbase, Mini Con, Cafe Corner-standard town, etc. We'll likely pick one theme per year, and then try to transport as many modules as possible to various conventions. This does mean that LUG members will need to focus on building things to be sturdy and easy to set up, but that should be manageable. Meetings will take place whenever it makes sense to do so (maybe you'll luck out and meet other dedicated LEGO fans who are local to you), but will primarily happen at/around existing conventions. Some sort of opt-in exchange program will be arranged to transport original models to smaller shows, to better allow individuals without the support of a local LUG to run LEGO displays (say, at their local library or a Mini Maker Faire). This will allow Joe AFOL in the middle of no where to run larger displays (augmenting his own creations with models on loan) and to advertise his/her displays as the work of a LUG instead of just being "Joe AFOL". Should a solid local group emerge from such events, members will be encouraged to start traditional regional LUGs (either instead of or in addition to being part of this catch-all LUG). Materials given to the LUG will be distributed in as fair a manner as possible (with the exception that priority will be given to members involved with displays) - think raffles for sets and "everyone gets a bag" for loose brick. This will be handled in a transparent and democratic manner on the group's internal forum. Items will be distributed at conventions when possible, and will be mailed in other cases. Some additional benefits for members will be arranged for but not announced outside of the group. This is partly because LEGO does not allow information about any pilot programs to be shared with the general public, and partly because offers made to a LUG are intended to support the LUG and LUG displays (and not be used for personal enrichment). Are there any ground rules? Not really, because we want this to be as open as possible. I guess "void where prohibited" - for instance, in the US, there are privacy laws against collecting personal info from people under the age of 13. We want this to be fun and open to as many people as possible, though, so if you're too young, ask a parent to get involved on your behalf. If there's another obstacle you know of, let me know and I'll see what I can do to help. To the extent that rules are needed, we'll firm them up as we go along. Any idea is a good idea, except for the not happy ones, right Unikitty? We will encourage members to be active in the LUG's internal communications and strongly encourage members to get involved with displaying original LEGO creations in public settings. Understandably, not everyone is comfortable with displaying their models publicly, but running LEGO displays is the most important thing a LUG does to grow the hobby. For the sake of tracking LUG activity, promoting events, and preventing abuse of the LUG's name, any display run in the LUG's name will need to be announced internally to members of the LUG. We'll also expect that all members will abide by the inclusive spirit of the LUG - we want to unite all LEGO fans who are not already in a LUG, and encourage everyone to get more involved with the larger LEGO fan community. What's a LUG, anyway? It stands for LEGO Users' Group, and if you didn't know that, you might not be ready for one. The standards for what makes a LUG are fairly loose, but generally it's a group of LEGO fans who do LEGO-related things together. Common activities include running LEGO shows, assembling group builds, and drafting out sets. LUGs often also run collaborative layouts at conventions, support individual efforts among their members, and participate in other activities to grow both the LUG and the larger LEGO fan community.