Virulence VV

Name of Model: Virulence VV

Created by: Legohaulic

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/legohaulic/6422265995/in/photostream

Details: Legohaulic has once again built an amazing and unique ship. The rare color sand purple is only available in a few parts, but they are used fantastically here. The interesting, curved shape is also neat.

Suitcase

Name of Model: Lego Luggage to Lug around your Lego

Created by: monsterbrick (Matt Armstrong)

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/monsterbrick/tags/suitcase/

Details: Every once in a while, you hear someone dismiss a LEGO creation as a variation on a box. I believe that this is the only counterargument necessary - it's indisputably a box, and yet it's still a distinctive and fantastic creation. The dark tan corners are an excellent use of the 3x3 wedge plate (I will never understand why a wedge plate is one of the few pieces LEGO makes widely available in that color). The use of a rope bridge as the handle is inspired - it also doubles nicely as a working latch. The parts made to look like latches are a rare great use of Vehicle, Base 4 x 5, with some nice pearl gold on the top. I don't know where the LEGO logo towel is from (I want one!), but the boat rigging holding it in (this piece, I think) pushes this over the top.

128 Pictures from LEGOLAND California at Halloween

Photos by: marcorbito

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcorbito/tags/legoland/

Details: If you liked last week's look at LEGOLAND California at Halloween, I have a real treat for you - another large photo gallery of highlights from LEGOLAND California in October in 2010. There are plenty more exciting scenes here, including many that weren't in the photoset featured last week. There are (of course) more trick or treaters (note the clever use of the large spider's web in the window), as well as a haunted house (seen above), an homage to Michael Jackson's Thriller, and a giant pumpkin sculpture. I had mentioned the funeral procession last week, but the view shown this week gives us an interesting look at hearse, people and musical instruments. I'm thrilled any time we get a good look at useful techniques at the LEGOLAND parks, but it only gets better when we see the extra seasonal goodies added in. Have a Happy Halloween, everybody!

LEGO-Theme based MOCs

Name of Model: Rise to the Wicked

Created by: Nuju Metru

Found at: http://www.bzpower.com/board/index.php?showtopic=351

Details: Nuju Metru has taken his building in an interesting direction here in that he built these MOCs as a LEGO theme. Instead of a detailed sculpture or gigantic, expensive creation that would never be marketable, he has created a line of playsets. Each and every model has several play features, mostly rubber band launchers (none of that cheap flick-fire stuff) and collapsing structures. The models - or should I call them sets? - cover a variety of price points. Tying it all together is a fantasy storyline. Pictured is the Siege of the Portal. Be sure to check out the different creative sets on BZPower and FlickR.

Cubans: the New CubeDudes

Name of Model: Cubans!

Created by: Owen S.

Found at: http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/284460

Details: The CubeDude craze has come and gone - well, not really gone, per se, but calmed down a bit - and we are left with a LEGO community lacking a cubic fad to match our cubic medium. But no more! Owen S. of MOCpages has made a slew of cubic characters with one unsymetrical eye and only the most basic features. Are they totally original? No. Are they even minorly complex? no. But are they cute and addictive? Yes! And, I think, a lot of the appeal is in capturing a character with a few cute, well-chosen details. Be sure to check out Owen S.'s collection and the MOCpages group.

Warscape: Vol 1

Name of Model: WarScape: Vol 1

Created by: Siercon and Coral

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/legocy/6262374104/in/photostream/

Details: To the non-Lego hobbyist, this may seem like merely eight individually epic modular builds that combine into an even bigger and better landscape. Although it is that, I found the real treat to be going in and gawking at all of the brilliant microscale NPU ("New" or "Nice" Parts Usage)! Interesting connections and builds abound, made only more impressive by the impossibly tiny scale. Note, for instance, the mermaid and catapults. In some instances parts of elements are hidden to allow the appropiate details to show, like the giesha-fan stairs, which, having tried and failed at before, I find particularly impressive. And, as a Bionicle fan, I have to commend the comprably huge kiina spikes in one of the towers. And those are just a few examples! You really should look through the photostream yourself - it's well worth your while. Via The Brothers Brick.

LEGOLAND California at Halloween

Name of photoset: LEGO Land California

Photos by: KaylynStar

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaylynstar/sets/72157625308418736/

Details: The LEGOLAND parks frequently enhance their displays with seasonal displays and in-jokes, adding an extra reason to come back. Around Halloween in 2010, the California park got in on the fun. Check out the trick-or-treaters seen in this photoset. Just in the one photo shown here, we've got some great dragon costumes, some great ghosts, a wizard, a pair of ballerinas, a knight, and several interesting figures without costumes. Elsewhere in the park, we can spot a coven of witches, a haunted cemetery, a pumpkin patch and hayride, a giant spider attack, and a funeral procession driving up to a zombie-infested graveyard.

New Contributor

Hey, this is Lego Obsessionist! I will be helping contribute to FLOMD from now on. Dan has made a fantastic blog, in fact, it was one of the first ones I started reading when I discovered the online Lego community, and I learned alot from it. I hope I can continue this awesomeness and give you readers more posts to enjoy and alleviate the recent lack of posts.

I'm a TFOL and and have been Bionicle fan from the start. My creations, which you can see here on MOCpages, are mostly Bionicle-based, although I enjoy system building as well. I realize that many builders think of Bionicle and the recent Hero Factory as being inferior in general to System or even Technic, and I hope I can show you how untrue that is through featuring innovative Bionicle MOCs. Of course, I am not limited to Bionicle, I will try to represent all themes or combinations thereof when a fascinating MOC catches my eye.

I hope you enjoy my posts, and continue to read this great blog!

Hiatus

We've been accidentally less-than-daily for a while now. I'm sorry about that, but with my schedule lately it just isn't possible to maintain the promised schedule here. If you are interested in helping out here in the future so we can prevent these gaps (LMOTD is back to being essentially a one-man operation, so this happens whenever I'm too busy to tend to it), please let me know by sending an e-mail to legomodeloftheday@gmail.com

National Building Museum Exhibit Damaged by Earthquake

Name of Photoset: LEGO® Architecture Survives the Quake

Photos by: National Building Museum

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalbuildingmuseum/sets/72157627398453375/

Details: I've previously mentioned the display at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC. Recently, shortly after an earthquake could be felt in the DC area, the museum reported that two of the LEGO buildings were damaged in the quake. In spite of the few glued parts I noticed while seeing the display in person last year, apparently most of the display is not glued. About one fourth of the Burj Khalifa and the top of the Empire State Building fell apart, but the display is currently open again for visitors. I have not been able to find any information on when Adam Reed Tucker will be returning to repair these two models. On a happier note, this exhibit will now be open an entire year longer than previously announced - you can now see LEGO® Architecture: Towering Ambition through September 3, 2012 (which would make a nice addition to a trip to BrickFair VA 2012). While you're there, don't miss the ongoing Washington: Symbol and City exhibit.

Grand Palace of Thailand

Name of Model: This is the model of the Grand Palace of Thailand. Any suggestions please email vslcheung@gmail.com

Created by: fvin

Found at: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=469432

Details: This stunning minifig-scale recreation of the Grand Palace of Thailand makes fantastic use of color and greebly bits as architectural details. Frequently, the colors don't actually come in the correct shapes to do a straight LEGO rendition of the original building, but here combinations of smaller parts are used perfectly to create a striking resemblance. Quite a few parts are used in surprising ways, but some that stood out to me were the gold flags used as trim on the roof, the use of 1x2 bricks bent into a curve over the main entrance, and the wheels used in the pediments over the first-floor windows. Of course, the gorgeous curves of the building's distinctive domes are the easy show stealer - accurately using lots of small, flouted gold elements to sell the look.

"Calamity Jane" Privateer Gunship

Name of Model: "Calamity Jane" Privateer Gunship

Created by: yoder42 (Michael Yoder)

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/yoderism/sets/72157625809993596/with/5349101705/ and http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=430852

Details: There are enormous spaceships, and then there are enormous spaceships that actually fill up all that space with plausible details. This ship is most definitely the latter - complete with an interior, weaponry, detachable pods, a cargo bay, container modules, and an easy-to-open modular design.

Moulding Machines

Name of Model: 4000001 Moulding Machines

Created by the LEGO company for participants on one LEGO Inside Tour.

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/si-mocs/sets/72157626759883253/with/5797067803/

Details: I've previously blogged about the LEGO inside tour and one of the exclusive kits given there, but as additional tours come up, each one gets a new exclusive kit. The most recent inside tour participants received the set I'm featuring today - 4000001 Moulding Machines. The person who took the photos featured here also made a video of the build and wrote a full review for EuroBricks. The set recreates both the current style of moulding machine and the earliest hand-operated moulding machine from 1949. There are even play features - you can press the mould together on the smaller machine, and the larger machine has a slot for a round 1x1 plate to go through as if it were a raw ABS pellet. You know you want it - and sure enough, someone has loaded it up into LDD and made building instructions.

This is Tuesday and Wednesday's models of the day

A Subtractive 3D Printer

Name of Model: LEGO 3D Milling Machine - "3D Printer"

Created by: Arthur Sacek for ZOOM Education for Life

Found at: http://www.youtube.com/user/arthursacek

Details: This "milling machine" is an unusual approach to the 3D Printer concept - instead of using an additive process that slowly stacks up, this machine uses a subtractive process by taking a block of floral foam and trimming it down. That "trimming" is actually even more interesting - a drill (the only non-LEGO component here) digs in over and over again, and the final shape of the printed object is only visible after using a vacuum cleaner to suck away the thick layer of floral foam dust.

Another Blog You Should Read: Mike Doyle's reMOCable

Name of Blog: reMOCable

Created by: Mike Doyle

Found at: http://remocable.blogspot.com/

Details: You may remember Mike Doyle from some his shockingly detailed creations. More recently, he's also taken to blogging, with an emphasis on the artsier side of the hobby. Models from a variety of builders (all credited) are presented as part of a coherent theme, and each post shows one theme. The result is an interesting balance between the of-the-moment feel of blogs and the more traditional feel of coffee-table art books.

Cowpoke

Name of Model: Cowpoke

Created by: Paganomation

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paganomation/sets/72157627332264629/

Details: This poseable figure, "Cowpoke", was created for LEGO for this music video: There are also two behind-the-scenes videos:

New Set Announced: 10222 Winter Village Post Office

Name of Model: 10222 Winter Village Post Office

Created by the LEGO company

Found at: http://www.fbtb.net/2011/08/05/official-announcement-10222-winter-village-post-office/

Details: The new Winter Village Post Office was unveiled at BrickFair: 10222 Winter Village Post Office Ages 12+. 820 pieces. US $59.99 CA $79.99 DE 59.99 € UK 49.99 £ Continuing the winter scene series, the Winter Village Post Office is the perfect snow-covered setting. In the cozy post office, the worker is hard at work sorting all the mail into containers and sacks, while upstairs, there’s just time for the postman to take a break before setting off in the traditional post car with all the letters and gifts. From the pavilion outside, musicians fill the air with music, while children take in the wintry atmosphere by the park bench before throwing snowballs at each other – the musicians had better get ready to duck! • Includes 7 minifigures: female post office worker, male postman, female, 2 kids and 2 musicians and a dog! • Post office features dark-green split roof with snow, fireplace, light brick, table, coffee mug, and lamppost and mailboxes outside! • Also features evergreen tree and assorted minifigure accessories Available for sale directly through LEGO® beginning October 2011 via shop.LEGO.com, LEGO® Stores or via phone: US Contact Center 1-800-453-4652 CA (English) Contact Center 1-800-453-4652 CA (French) Contact Center 1-877-518-5346 European Contact Center 00-800-5346-1111

New Set Announced: 10220 Volkswagen T1 Camper Van

Name of Model: 10220 Volkswagen T1 Camper Van

Created by the LEGO company

Found at: http://www.brothers-brick.com/2011/08/13/10220-volkswagen-t1-camper-van-rolls-out-oct-2011-news/

Details: We've had a few new sets pop up recently - one of them being the 10220 Volkswagen T1 Camper Van: 10220 Volkswagen T1 Camper Van Ages 16+. 1,322 pieces. US $119.99 CA $129.99 DE 99.99 € UK 79.99 £ DK 799 DKK This authentic camper van is a replica of the classic Volkswagen Camper Van from 1962. Every iconic feature is here! On the outside, the terrific detailing includes ‘V’ shape three-way color split at the front, rounded roof and window frames, opening ‘splittie’ safari windshield, opening doors, iconic pop-up roof with textile curtain surround, roof rack, rear side air intake vents and lots more! The detailing is equally impressive on the inside, from the authentic VW air-cooled flat four cylinder boxer engine, front cabin bench seat, gear stick, angled dashboard and iconic spherical speedometer, to custom LEGO® features like folding rear bench seat, folding dinette table, closet with mirror and even a painting! Features 11 windows, authentic plaid-print textile curtains and wing mirror! Rear door opens to reveal detailed engine! Interior also features rear bench seat that transforms into a bed, ‘Make LEGO Models, Not War’ T-shirt and rear shelf with plant! Measures 11.8″ (30cm) long and 5.5″ (14cm) high!

Club Tropicana on Golden Island

Name of Model: Club Tropicana

Created by: Frederik Normann

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/60001201@N04/sets/72157626585307326/

Details: This fantastic island resort layout was whipped up for LEGOWORLD 2011. Built in minifig scale with all the expected details - landscaping, docks, boats, interiors, waterfalls - you name it, it's there. You can't help but suspect most people didn't even notice the Jørgen and Kjeld minifigures inside - these rare minifigures are used by some LEGO employees like business cards and are highly collectible. Some of the furniture uses a technique with minifig hands and lever bases to make pieces that ordinarily wouldn't connect (such as coins or window panes) into perfect table tops. The stunning scope of this model distracts from such small details, though, and draws attention to the landscaping and water.

Publisher Needed for Book about LEGOLAND Windsor Miniland

Name of Book: Caught in a Moment

Created by: Craig Williams

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/12678461@N08/tags/caughtinamoment/

Details: If you've been following this blog for a while, you know we love Miniland. The LEGOLAND parks feature not just excellent models at miniland scale, but capture scenes, characters, and locations in ways that are often difficult to do at other scales. The faceless figures are very expressive, and all sorts of great techniques and in-jokes become clear with a close inspection of the models. In the photo shown here, for example, you can see partial minifigs used as puppets for a puppet show. There aren't that many photos in the part of this set we can see, but they're all excellent. The photographer has assembled them into a book and is looking for a publisher - anyone know someone that could make this book happen?

CNC Machine Demonstration

Name of Model: LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0 CNC mill

Created by: kabeltomten

Found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re9F6Tp-B_A

Details: Perhaps a demonstration of a concept isn't terribly exciting, but this dry-run of a CNC machine is captivating. The use of a large Power Functions motor to drive the "drill" component is a smart choice, but not as clever as the use of a separate speed computer so that the user can keep close tabs on it. Thanks to that, you can add a manual form of precision to the precision already offered by the NXT motors. The possibilities for combining this with actual power tools (or some capable LEGO equivalent) are endless. Since I'm sure it'll come up in the comments - yes, we have technically featured a sort of CNC machine before (Pancakes, anyone?), but that one worked by maneuvering the head on multiple axes. This one actually moves the platform for the x and y dimensions.

BrickFair 2011 Wrap-Up

Name of Event: BrickFair 2011

Found at: http://www.brickfair.com/ (note: link goes to upcoming event, click on "Other Events" on the top right to find information on BrickFair 2011 and other events.

Details: Here we are, nearly a week after surviving our third BrickFair. This was a low-key year, mostly because my own plans were made fairly last-minute. There were no LMOTD tile giveaways this year, and I brought fewer of my own creations that I've blogged - but it was still an intense weekend, thanks to all of the other things that were there to see. I'll be updating this over the next few weeks as I slowly get my feed reader back under control, but here's a partial round up of photos and coverage from the event. You can send your tips and photos in to legomodeloftheday@gmail.com. my 1,524 flickr photos ED́WW day_dae (esteemedhelga)™'s flickr photos (set 1) ED́WW day_dae (esteemedhelga)™'s flickr photos (set 2) Brickapolis' flickr photos New Scientist article unsupervised1's flickr photos jchanes927's flickr photos Brian's Bricks's flickr photos Bosta's flickr photos Mariann Asanuma pre-event commentary Mariann Asanuma post-event commentary Joe Meno's flickr photos (Thursday) Joe Meno's flickr photos (Friday) Joe Meno's flickr photos (Saturday) Joe Meno's flickr photos (Sunday) taygete05's flickr photos (including the one used above) AB Quest's flickr photos BrickFair group pool on flickr rhombitruncated's flickr photos pianoforte's flickr photos tehLEGOman's flickr photos pjmoyer's Brickshelf Gallery The Brothers Brick's Wrap Up -R8-'s flickr photos Shuppiluliumas' flickr photos CP5670's Brickshelf gallery scrope's Brickshelf gallery Classicsmiley's flickr photos Rob Bender's flickr photos idea.org article: NASA partners with community LEGO event for community outreach

Nxt2saurus Can Avoid Obstacles, Rotate in Place, Balance Self - With Only Two Motors

Name of Model: Nxt2saurus

Created by: Menno Gorter

Found at: http://technicbricks.blogspot.com/2011/01/week-techvideo-2011-01-biped-saurus.html

Details: Try wrapping your head around the mechanism behind this model. Using only two motors and a simple program, this robot can turn in place, avoid obstacles, and balance itself by shifting its center of gravity. The builder is intentionally not making it too obvious how it works, but I think it's possible to reverse engineer some of it. The "feet" actually spin, so the axles going down to them must be geared to power that feature. The shifting of the center of gravity could be worked in by providing extra friction somewhere in the gear train - conveniently, this design combines that with the task of lifting each foot to take steps. Some of the clever parts of this design don't actually involve gearing at all. Putting the weight of the motors low in the legs makes the walking motion much easier on the gear train. The combination of a touch sensor and an ultrasonic sensor handles obstacle avoidance in a way that should be easy to program - and since the ultrasonic sensor is mounted loosely, it sways from side to side to allow for more thorough detection of obstacles. This is a masterpiece of showing how to get a variety of features out of very few sensors and motors.

A brief note about this "of the day" blog: It just hasn't been possible to post daily lately. Among other things, last minute plans to be at all four days of BrickFair have eaten up time that would normally be spent posting. We'll get back on schedule after we come back with a full report from the event.

HAK Utrine

Name of Model: HAK Utrine

Created by: gordangrguric

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/49091484@N07/sets/72157624197803980/

Details: We first had a look at this model back at BrickMagic 2011 - where it easily won Best-in-Show. The unusual technique used makes the building mostly hollow. The walls are built with substantial sideways sections, allowing the model to more accurately reflect the look of the original. No detail was spared - door pulls and light fixtures are carefully recreated. Every 1x1 round plate in the roof garden is carefully arranged and attached in just the right place, and the inner atrium appears in perfect detail. Some careful BrickLink purchases got just the right colors and pieces to make every detail exact. Look closely at those doors on the top floor - fairly rare medium stone 6 x 6 tiles were used to ensure a clean, accurate, consistent look, unmarred by the more distinctive textures that 1 x 6 tiles or some combination of tiles would leave. Photos really don't capture all of the details of this model, but it's a masterpiece of architectural reproduction.

Life-Size LEGO Technic Control Center Made Out of LEGO

Name of Model: Control Center

Created by: Brixe63

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/35385165@N05/tags/controlcenterii/

Details: Back in 1995, LEGO released the (then-groundbreaking) Control Center II. As a "programmable" (through routines on a specialized console) tool for motorized Technic creations, it was a precursor to the more recent Mindstorms kits. One of the models you could build with the kit (the dinosaur) has been used as a flagship for the LEGO company long past when you could actually buy the Control Center II - giant sculptures of it can be found at LEGOLAND attractions. Here, we have life-size reproductions of some elements from the kit - the Control Center itself, and the European version of the power cable - alongside a 9V motor (a newer version than the one that came with the Control Center kits) and the end of a European extension cord.

Luxo Jr

Name of Model: Going to the movies?

Created by: The Slushey One (kyle slushey)

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kyle_slushey_is_awesome/5911253068/

Details: This version of Luxo Jr (we swear, this is really a much-beloved Pixar character) may be one of the most complex "simple" objects we've ever seen. The high amount of detail shown here was made possible by using various parts with clips the size of minifig hands and bars that fit inside of those clips. They're not as well-known as the standard LEGO bricks, but they've been becoming increasingly common over the past several decades. By the 80's, we were seeing those sorts of parts used not just for minifig accessories, but in Space robots and in various lamp models. LEGO didn't really make this into much of a standard "system" until the past 10 years or so - the unexpected popularity of the lightsaber element made it practical to think of these as elements you can build with and not just decorative accessories. Suddenly, what started as a coincidence of common measurements has become a real system you can build realistic models out of.

Angry Bird

Name of Model: Angry Bird

Created by: Sam Knavel

Found at: http://mocpages.com/moc.php/276140

Details: The birds are angry. The pigs don't stand a chance. Particularly if the other birds are also built out with studs facing every direction. The eyebrows are actually adjustable (the joys of mounting a 1x2 tile on top of small plate), but the really angry look captured here seems to capture the feel of the popular game surprisingly well.

A "War Machine"

Name of Model: War machine

Created by: Pjurkovi

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/47343879@N08/5880270395/in/set-72157626941434660/

Details: This "war machine" is something of a giant crossbow on wheels. Somehow, though, it feels almost too realistic. Even though it comes in near miniland scale and features immediately recognizable LEGO elements, it feels more like a die-cast replica used in tabletop gaming. Maybe that was the point. In a way, I actually don't want to know how this was constructed - tying the difficult to work with LEGO string around the very sloped dinosaur tails could not have been easy. Getting either side's string-tied-to-a-tail to stay put instead of sliding off must have been a difficult feat, and getting the string to appear taut as well is enough to make this seemingly simple model suddenly become an impossibly difficult "don't try this at home" model.

A "Starfighter" in Atlantis colors

Name of Model: Eridan starfighter

Created by: thire5

Found at: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=476699

Details: This beautiful spaceship accomplishes something many people think is impossible: it uses a bunch of very specialized elements to create a seamless and original look. Many of the pieces - not to mention the red and trans-bright-green color scheme - come from the 2010 Atlantis kits (speaking of which, the 8075 Neptune Carrier, which is where that cockpit piece comes from, is currently 30% off at Amazon). The way the slopes for the nose are combined is already surprisingly sleek, but then you notice that Technic/Bioncle element hiding under the tip. There are quite a few great details and uses of parts here, but don't miss the landing gear and greebled underside - which makes great use of a Bionicle Krana Holder, chairs, and a cargo train windscreen.

NXT-Based Pancake CNC

Name of Model: Pancake Bot

Created by: Miguel Valenzuela

Found at: http://makermig.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-pancake-bot-works.html

Details: This 3-axis (well, two axes plus a batter squirter) CNC prints pancake batter. The batter lands directly onto a griddle. Full details are on the website linked to above. I'll let you watch instead of spoiling the video for you.

Part and Set Patents

Name of Model: various

Created by: Erling T. Dideriksen

Found at: http://www.google.com/search?q=Erling+T.+Dideriksen&hl=en&tbo=1&tbm=pts&ei=_dLvTcK8HNT3gAfkx-iUDw&start=0&sa=N&biw=1440&bih=785

Details: Here's an interesting inside-look at the design process for new LEGO sets and pieces. Over the years, Erling T. Dideriksen designed many classic elements for the LEGO company. There are many parts, kits, and portions of kits that have been patented over the years for LEGO, but not all of them came to fruition, and of those not all have lasted for years. The patent for the 2x2 turntable was filed in 1977 (the same year that two-part element was released) and remains with us to this day (although LEGO started packaging it as two separate elements instead of one pre-assembled part years ago), but the motorcycle (filed for in 1982, released in a different form in 1983) hasn't been seen in a kit since the early 1990's.

BrickWorld 2011 Round-Up

Name of Model: BrickWorld

Found at: http://www.brickworld.us/

Details: BrickWorld 2011 has come and gone. Here's a round-up of some photos: Bill Ward's recap part 1 Bill Ward's recap part 2 Bill Ward's flickr photo roundup When lost in.....'s flickr photos marc_buehler's flickr photos martiger's flickr photos Joe Meno's flickr photos the rest of Joe Meno's flickr photos sidersdd's flickr photos Bisonfuehrer's flickr photos Alex Eylar's photos on MOCpages BrickWorld pool on flickr

LEGO Sets Designed by Mark Stafford for the 2010 line

Name of Model: 2010

Created by: Mark Stafford

Found at: http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/245506

Details: LEGO set designer Mark Stafford was kind enough to create a public portfolio of some of his work. The links above are for his contributions to the 2010 line, although he's also created similar pages for his contributions to the 2009 and 2008 lines. Although LEGO occasionally selects new designers from the LEGO fan community, they generally focus primarily on people with professional design or engineering backgrounds. Mark Stafford is one set designer who did come from the community. He has helped push LEGO towards ideas that are more attractive to adult fans as well as the kids who end up with most of the new sets. Many of his designs feature unusual parts and techniques that can expand the possibilities of what we can build. In a few cases, you can actually see trends from the fan community sneak into some of the kits he has designed.

Alternate Models for Set 5867

Name of Model: (various, but they are all alternate models for set 5867)

Created by: NK DeSign-er

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/32900512@N02/tags/5867/

Details: Remember the alternate models for set 4100? How about the 4939 Cool Cars alternate Oldsmobile? That same builder (and former LEGO kit designer) has struck again lately, creating alternate models for set 5867 Super Speedster - 11 of them by my count. One thing I particularly like is that there is a variety of sizes here - 8-wide and 10-wide are well represented, and each race car chassis comes in around 6-wide, and the truck comes in at 14-wide counting the side-view mirrors. Even though these are all cars, they show a good deal of variety.

A brief note about the current state of LMOTD: posts will be intermittent for the rest of the month, and we'll be getting back up-to-speed come July

A Bionicle Vic Viper

Name of Model: Ormurvík Space Superiority Racer

Created by: Patuara

Found at: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=474910

Details: This beautiful mix of Technic, Bionicle, and "System" elements makes a startlingly convincing vic viper. You can sort of tell where parts begin and end (with how much you can spot likely being a direct function of your level of Bionicle knowledge), but the parts gel together in a way we rarely see with elements that don't usually connect seamlessly. In those few places where a piece would normally create it's own gap, smaller pieces are used to fill those gaps. Don't miss the underside, which shows more traditional elements holding the craft together, providing greebling, and giving us sturdy landing gear.

8-wide Maersk Locomotive

Name of Model: Maersk locomotive

Created by: Mad physicist

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/madphysicist/tags/sd402/

Details: Here's a new take on the Maersk set released recently - a wider version in a different color. Unless you see them side-by-side, it can often be difficult to tell the difference between Maersk blue and medium blue - which can be used to your advantage if you want to use a wider variety of parts to get the exact look you want. In this case, the issue was size. The builder is very passionate about scale. "Minifig scale" is an inherently nebulous concept, and LEGO's habit of throwing minifigs into things at wildly different sizes makes it even murkier. Having decided that 8 studs wide is appropriate for a train, the next challenge was to work out the details (such as the brick-built lettering on the sides). Many of them are essentially unchanged from the design in the set, but elsewhere - such as on the windows - things look much better.

My apologies about the gap in lately - it's been a rough few weeks for me personally (a death in the family) and I haven't been able to make blogging a priority. We're trying to get back up to speed now. I won't be making up the missing posts.

NXT-Based Globe Plotter

Name of Model: The Globe Plotter

Created by: Mike Brandl

Found at: http://mindstorms.lego.com/en-us/News/ReadMore/Default.aspx?id=312580

Details: I've previously mentioned this builder's Egg Printer, but he's since made many more variations on the concept. This particular one prints a map of the world onto a round ball using three felt-tip pens.

Marriott hotels

Name of Series: Marriott hotels

Created by: Sean Kenney

Found at: http://www.mocpages.com/folder.php/28543

Details: LEGO Certified Professional Sean Kenney was recently commissioned to create replicas of eight different Marriott hotels. As you would expect from Sean's reputation, all of them are fantastic models. Built in microscale, they show off the architecture of the buildings nicely. Each model was presented to the matching hotel as an award for design, construction, collaboration, and and participation.

A Car for Micro-Figs

Name of Model: The Family Tourer

Created by: Karf Oohlu

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dragon55/5717797659/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/dragon55/5718360288/in/photostream/

Details: If you've picked up any of the LEGO Games, you may have noticed that many of them come with small characters that look only vaguely like minifigures - they're about half as wide. I'm sure that these little guys will only get more popular with time, and that we'll soon see tons of models based on them. Here, we see a small car - featuring a pair of horse saddles to make the seats. The doors attach directly to the saddles. Suddenly, four-wide seems like plenty to make a decent-looking, 'fig-ready classic automobile. For bonus points, see if you can figure out how the headlights and spare tire were attached.

Great War Tortoise

Name of Model: Great War Tortoise

Created by: Siercon and Coral

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/legocy/5712470390/

Details: The concept of this model is fairly entertaining, but easily overshadowed by the clever uses of pieces and techniques. The shell is made with the Rock Raiders roll cage element, which has been filled in with a variety of small slopes and brown triangular clip-on signs. The beak connects a Bionicle joint to a Knight's Kingdom visor and a Knight's Kingdom foot. The feet here are jointed (the joints make for a nice way to connect to the Bionicle shoulder armor) and make great use of sloped octagonal bricks and dinosaur feet.

A Clever Hardsuit

Name of Model: Clank, Clank, Clank, Clank, Clank, RATATATATATATATATAT!

Created by: Carpet Lego

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/carpet_legos/5680877076/in/photostream/

Details: While hardsuits (and mecha in general) are seemingly a dime-a-dozen on flickr, few of them seem to push the envelope on techniques. After all, once you've figured out how to build a compelling frame, it's tempting to create variations on it in every color. Here, though, we see a few unusual ideas. Plates with clips connect to radar dishes to make the feet. Flick-fire missiles on the arms connect to half-width Technic beams, which are then held on with half pins. The balance of greebling to smooth surfaces seems more like what we'd see on an actual robot. The hints of a roll cage near the minifig's head are another unusually realistic touch.

Dinner and A Movie

Name of Model: Galaxy Diner and Empire Theater

Created by: sonicstarlight

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26864031@N00/sets/72157626344290071/

Details: In a bit of a retro/deco-ish feel, this pair of Cafe Corner-standard buildings gives us something we don't see enough in this modular style. It's easy to get wrapped up in the time period that we see in the official sets, but these feel a bit more 1950's or 1960's. Many of the techniques used are what you'd expect (the cinema in particular seems to borrow a bit from set 10184 Town Plan), but there are some great surprises. Plates with rails give the diner a surprisingly convincing impression of texture. The mix of three different styles of mosaic-based lettering gives a realistic feel, breaking up the impression that you're looking at something whipped up based on one person's preferences - the combination of blocky letters for the "Galaxy" sign and curvy letters on the "Empire" sign is a brilliant touch.

Super-8 Movie Projector

Name of Model: Lego Technic Super-8 Movie Projector

Created by: Friedemann Wachsmuth

Found at: http://www.peaceman.de/blog/index.php/lego-technic-super-8-movie-projector

Details: Using Technic and Power Functions parts (plus non-LEGO lens, lamp, and reels), this projector can display movies as seen in the clip here. Sadly, this clip seems to be it for first-hand documentation of this model. The rewind transmission feature shown is pretty nifty, but I think I speak for all Technic nerds when I say I want to know how the geneva mechanism was implemented here.

A brief note about this past week: between recovering from BrickMagic and the Blogger outage, we didn't stand a chance at actually getting posts up in time. In the interest of not staying behind, we'll be skipping that week and picking up again with today.

BrickMagic 2011 Round Up

Name of Event: BrickMagic 2011

Found at: http://www.brickmagic.org/

Details: Now that we're beginning to recover from this weekend's festivities at BrickMagic, it's time to start rounding up coverage of the event. As previously noted, the new Pet Shop set was unveiled on Friday. I'll be updating this page as I come across more photos and other coverage - as always, you can send your tips in to legomodeloftheday@gmail.com my flickr photos Official group flickr pool Joe Architect's flickr photos Brickapolis' flickr photos tehLEGOman's flickr photos Photo above by Brickapolis, showing the speed build team next to their completed Tower Bridge set.

New Set Announced: 10218 Pet Shop

Name of Model: 10218 Pet Shop

Created by the LEGO company

Found at: http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=10218&cn=245

Details: You may have noticed the odd pacing of posts these past few days. We are at BrickMagic, and earlier today (erm, yesterday now) were present during the official unveiling of 10218 Pet Shop. I've been slowly uploading my photos of the event (including 10218 and a few great town and train layouts) to BrickMagic 2011 flickr set, and we'll probably put more of a round-up together sometime in the next few days. The high-res press photo pack has also been put on flickr. Here's the official info from LEGO: 10218 Pet Shop Ages 16+. 2,032 pieces. US $149.99 CA $199.99 DE 149.99 € UK 119.99 £ Available: Beginning of May Continuing the LEGO® Modular Buildings series, this highly detailed, 3-story Pet Shop building and townhouse with full internal and external detailing is the perfect addition to your LEGO town. Greet customers with a menagerie of pets and let them treat them with a selection of toys and supplies. The pet shop building features a hinged staircase for easy access, upper apartment with kitchenette and upper loft overlooking the open plan interior below. To the side, the tastefully appointed townhouse features a detailed ground floor with accessories and spiral staircase leading to the upper floor. The attic space features storage boxes and French doors leading out to an elegant front balcony, while the rooftop garden, complete with fresh vegetables, brightens up the rear of the building. • Includes 4 minifigures with accessories: pet shop owner, girl on bicycle, painter with paint roller and woman! • Pet shop includes dog, cat, 2 parrots and fish tank with goldfish! • Also includes 3 dog bones, ball, frog toy, birdhouse, bucket and brush! • Kitchenette features stone fireplace, stove, sink, coffee maker and small table and chair! • Upper loft features skylight, bed and lamp! • Townhouse features ground floor with mailbox and mail, hat rack, couch, telephone, toilet and access to basement crawl space! • Measures 11″ (25.5cm) wide and 10.5″ (26.5cm) high! • Combine with other modular buildings, like 10197 Fire Brigade and 10211 Grand Emporium!

Enhanced Spinjitzu Techniques

Name of Model: The Ninjago Turbo Spin

Created by: Family Vuurzoon

Found at: http://mocpages.com/moc.php/256447

Details: If you've tried to play the Ninjago game and had trouble getting the "spinners" to spin (it's OK, I can't do it either), you probably need one of these. This simple Technic device works like the top launchers we've seen before (with a rip cord) but can also be ran by a motor. The result is fast, reliable spinning. No word yet on whether or not this is considered cheating within the scope of the game, but it sure looks like a fun "spin" on the concept.

R2-D2 Sculpture

Name of Model: Star Wars Lego Artoo-Detoo R2-D2

Created by: SPARKART!

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/36161867@N08/sets/72157626425806979/

Details: It's Star Wars day again (May the Fourth be with you! Yadda yadda yadda...), so here is a sculpture of R2-D2 on a classy black stand. I'm not really sure what the scale is on this sculpture (it's a bit large for most of the popular ones), but the details come across very well. Perhaps the scale was chosen so that the markings on R2-D2 would be close to full stud widths. The signature angled posture is captured here beautifully, but he can be stood up as well. It's not easy to use this many small slopes to make something appear this round - although steam engine builders have mastered the technique at a smaller scale, the effect doesn't tend to come out as smoothly there.

Giganthor the Dragon

Name of Model: An extremely dangerous creature known as the Giganthor has escaped from the forbidden dungeons. It slaughtered civilians and soldiers alike but only one man stood his ground. If he is not careful enough he too might perish under the dragons wrath.

Created by: Unitronus

Found at: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=470544

Details: Although the tricky use of color, solid landscaping, and clever minifig placement could steal the show here, the focus is clearly on the monstrous dragon. A frightening sight with an even more frightening number of points of articulation, the dragon is shown here mid-battle, just after fatally maiming a minifigure. The combination of slopes and spikey bits is very evocative of a scaly skin texture. Don't miss the bits of Bionicle chain hanging down, making it instantly clear that the dragon has escaped.

Using the NXT and Kinect Together

Name of Model: A hands-free controlled robot

Created by: Mauro Brunato

Found at: http://rasomuro.org/20110326.html

Details: You may have heard that the Microsoft Kinect is ripe for hackers to use as input device for various robotics projects. Here, we see it used to create a gestural interface for steering a tribot. The Kinect is connected to a computer over USB, and the computer in turn uses bluetooth to communicate with the NXT. From there, it's apparently rather straightforward to hook up any NXT-based feature you want.

The Obligatory Royal Wedding Post

Name of Model: LEGO Wills & Kate

Created by: Justin Ramsden

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/justinramsdenphotography/sets/72157626594492540/

Details: We don't like writing this anymore than you like reading it, but it's time for the obligatory royal wedding post. I'm pretty sure we're legally required to have one. First up, we have a life-size sculpture of the happy couple. Built by LEGOLAND Windsor's youngest model maker for a TV spot, this pair of busts and classy stand shows the royal couple as well as any official LEGOLAND model - and oh yes, that tie is purple. Don't miss the technique used on the prince's hair.

Name of Model: (unnamed - it appears that they're passing on officially making a big deal of this)

Created by LEGOLAND Master Builders

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thorskegga/sets/72157626609839938/

Details: Speaking of LEGOLAND Windsor, they've also added a dash of the royal wedding into miniland. To round out the weekend, here's our attempt at rounding up coverage of that event (as always, we'll update this post instead of adding more posts as more links of note come to my attention - you can e-mail us at legomodeloftheday@gmail.com with your tips): BBC News article Mariann Asanuma's blog post Thorskegga Thorn's flickr photos Mostly Bricks also has a bit of a round-up, which also features the minifig-scale rendition of the wedding by the Brickish Association.

Pod Racing Goes Better With Coca-Cola

Name of Model: Coke Racer

Created by: Pepa Quin

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pepa_quin/sets/72157626279189491/

Details: No, we would never succumb to product placement. Never! We're like a popular 60's pop group, and just naturally suggest that Things Go Better With Coca-Cola occasionally without skipping a beat. In this case, we see Coke logos and iconography brilliantly added to a Star Wars-style pod racer. The technique for the roughly life-size cans is particularly clever - and fortunately for coke fiends like myself, well detailed in the work-in-progress photos of this model. Building a round mosaic with a size requirement is an impressive feat, even without working it into a complete model concept. Although this wasn't entered into the contest that inspired it, the challenge was to build a pod racer in a non-Star Wars theme that LEGO has licensed. Not only was this clear winner not allowed in the end, but the LEGO Star Wars fan community has proven itself unable to create even one pod racer based on Thomas the Tank Engine, Dora the Explorer, or Winnie the Pooh.