Posted by
Dan
at
2:56 PM
| Name of Model: Pop-Up Book |
| Created by: Nathan Sawaya |
| Found at: http://www.brickartist.com/large-sculptures/popup-book.html |
Details:
 Printing on LEGO bricks is an interesting grey area. Technically speaking, it's not entirely a purist technique. On the other hand, the LEGO company does print on parts themselves and has all but explicitly encouraged the work of brick printers and engravers like Tommy Armstrong. A big problem is that many things we would like to print aren't entirely legal - if you wanted to print a billboard for your LEGO town, or various company signs and logos to add realism to your creations, you'd have to get permission in writing from whoever actually owns those designs. Popular sculptor Nathan Sawaya has found a very clever way to use this technique, though - he wrote an original poem and had it printed on LEGO tiles. He was then able to build the tiles onto a sculpture of a book, and build a scene in the middle to make it look like a pop-up book. The result is magnificent, and one of the most easy to relate to creations in Sawaya's catalog of sculptures - that Castle is near minifig scale! |
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Posted by
Dan
at
4:00 AM
| Name of Model: not given |
| Created by: RyanMugs |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dp3/galleries/72157623180696401 |
Details:
 This year at BrickVention, one model truly stole the show. From this angle, it just looks like a large plane model - impressive already, but not particularly unique. The backside, however, shows a realistic cross-section of the plane - the entire QF A380 has been rendered in perfect minifig-scale, interior cabin and all. There are easter eggs (characters, movie references) and accurate details (three floors, chairs for first and second class, bathrooms, a cockpit, landing gear, etc). A mix of NXT and Power Functions components automate some of the features. Did I mention that the jet engines actually spin? |
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Posted by
Dan
at
4:00 AM
| Name of Model: Washing Machine |
Created by:
Zemata |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zemata/tags/washing/ |
Details:
 Front-loading washing machines sound easy enough to build until you realize how difficult it is to build the round front at a decent scale. A simple studs-not-on-top technique handles it here - if you look closely, you'll notice that the bottom of this model is assembled with the studs on top of the LEGO bricks facing downwards. A 3x3 dish element on a pole fits nicely with the arches to complete the front-loading mechanism. The result is a bit too large for minifigs, but is at a decent scale for Miniland, Scala, or Belville people. For those of you trying to build this at home (you know your dollhouse needs one!), take a close look at the photo I've featured here and make sure you have enough of the 'Bracket 1 x 2 - 1 x 4' element on hand. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
4:00 AM
| Name of Model: Obama Mosaic |
| Created by: Todd Webb |
| Found at: http://www.top40db.net/Other/ToddWebb/Lego-ObamaMosaic.shtm |
Details:
 Here's another interesting way of building LEGO mosaics - building "jigsaw" puzzle pieces. The challenge here is that the top layer of plates must create the mosaic design, but you need to have the structural integrity built into the "pieces" you build with some additional layers of plates. While this is still a relatively new way of building mosaics, it's gaining traction as an interesting new building challenge. Personally, I think it's important to keep the piece size small in order to make it feel like a real puzzle. Impressively, this puzzle manages to make the parts just three plates (one brick) tall.
Sticking with our attempts to make these posts a bit more topical, I decided to feature this puzzle (which I do believe is the first such mosaic puzzle) today since it is State of the Union Address day. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
11:28 PM
| Name of Book: Tora no Maki |
| Created by: ISOGAWA Yoshihito |
| Found at: http://www.isogawastudio.co.jp/legostudio/toranomaki/en/index.html |
Details:
 This isn't exactly a "model" for today, but it's an excellent resource that should help spur on some interesting ideas. Tora no Maki is a book in PDF format that is graciously offered as shareware - you can download it and evaluate it for free, but the author has asked that you pay $10 for it if you use it. Only the opening pages have text (in English and Japanese) - the rest is all full-color photos that clearly show off a variety of techniques. While it's intended to be an educational resource (and is certainly great for beginners - many of the techniques are straightforward and can be built with very few parts), it's still of use even for fairly advanced Technic builders. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
7:40 PM
 
In spite of my best attempts to add this advertisement unobtrusively to the site's layout, I was not able to accomplish that task (what's considered "good enough" for the layout parser on Blogger is not the same as what's considered "good enough" for a regular blog post). So here's the ad as a post (scheduled to stay on the front page until they end this offer). Go ahead! Take advantage of it! There are exciting new 2010 kits there!
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Posted by
Dan
at
11:09 PM
| Name of Model: Modulex Modular Buildings |
| Created by: Brixe63 |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/35385165@N05/sets/72157621787448381/ |
Details:
 I know I've blogged many models based on the Cafe Corner kit before (I'm also a contributor at Brick Town Talk, where we've previously featured today's models). These are different because they're actually really small - just 5/8ths the size of standard LEGO bricks. They are built with Modulex bricks, which the LEGO company manufactured for use in architectural models (they were not sold in venues where LEGO bricks are generally available). Building with Modulex is an interesting challenge - the part selection is radically different from what's available with standard parts, and even the colors aren't standard LEGO colors (although some of them are quite similar). In spite of all that, Brixe63 was able to successfully render these two popular LEGO kits (Market Street and Cafe Corner, both recently discontinued) in Modulex form. |
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Bricks Adventure 2010 is currently underway in Hong Kong. The exhibit will be running through February 12th, 2010. Today's "featured model" is this gallery of photos from the event.
