Posted by
Dan
at
9:42 PM
| Name of Event: LEGOPalooza 2011 |
| Created by: NCLUG |
| Found at: http://www.nclug.us/2011/03/06/legopalooza-2011-photos-and-coverage/ |
Details: 
I'm still pretty exhausted after a long, strenuous weekend at LEGOPalooza. I stepped up to coordinate the town & train layout, and pretty much everything that could go wrong did - the final result came out well, but I was surprised we managed to pull it off at all. Since I already wrote up a proper round-up on the NCLUG (North Carolina LEGO Users Group) website and would rather not have to keep track of this in two places, I'm going to direct you there for photos and coverage of the event.
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Posted by
Dan
at
5:12 PM
| Name of Model: Katrina Cottage-inspired Wisconsin Home |
| Created by: SoftaRae . |
| Found at: http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/244127 |
Details:  I'm actually breaking my "no WIPs (works in progress)" rule with this one, but since this model is substantially done and already incredibly impressive, I think it's justified. The only things left to do are adding furniture and patching up the roof. Inspired by a Katrina Cottage design originally by Marianne Cusato, this light yellow (!) house adds a basement, fireplace, and loft to round it out to more of a full-size family home - specifically of the sort you might find in Wisconsin. The faithful-to-the-original architectural detailing and spectacular use of that rare color would have been enough to impress me, but there are also some fantastic interior details: floors covered in tiles (with a different pattern in each room to capture different textures), a largely furnished kitchen and bathroom, staircases, and the insides of the windows. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
11:20 PM
| Name of Model: LEGO LUG Showcase Model for Rockefeller Center January 2011 |
| Created by: notenoughbricks |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/notenoughbricks/sets/72157625591250103/with/5311001736/ |
Details:  It's hard to believe that 2010 is coming to an end. We've shared one model here for each of these past 365 days, and it looks like we're good to go for another year. I'm sure that most of my readers are familiar with the popular New Year's ritual of watching a large object dropped near a crowd in a large city - you may also be aware of the annual TV special that features the "ball" dropping in New York City's Times Square. Here we see the best part of that captured in LEGO form (sorry, Justin Bieber fans - most of us only tune in for the countdown). The "ball" here looks great, thanks to the mix of clear plates and translucent 1x1 round plates - apparently it's a variation on the design that Legohaulic provided instructions for. This model will be on display in the Rockefeller Center LEGO store for the month of January, 2011. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
7:55 PM
| Name of Display: LEGO® Architecture: Towering Ambition |
| Created by: Adam Reed Tucker |
| Photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dp3/sets/72157624700188398/with/4881577498/ |
Details:  During my recent trip to BrickFair, I took a short detour to visit the National Building Museum. As I've previously mentioned, they currently have a display of Adam Reed Tucker's work entitled LEGO® Architecture: Towering Ambition. The LEGO display is one of several kid-oriented activities there - some of the other highlights include a separate building area and an arch-building exercise out in the middle of the museum.
The LEGO exhibit features a selection of large landscape models - most of which have some portion intentionally left out so you can get a good look at the internal structure. One model, the White House, was left unfinished so that it can be periodically built during visits from Adam Tucker. The models themselves are mostly noteworthy for their size - the exhibit was well named in highlighting the ambitious heights of the models - and not for their construction techniques. If you look closely, you can even spot a few pieces that are not attached to any other LEGO brick, but rather were glued into place. In our book, that's considered cheating - but I guess it was given the OK since LEGO seems to be supporting the display. About half of the display is devoted to a large play area where kids are encouraged to make buildings and put them on a "map" (the parts, partially donated by the LEGO company, are clearly current to what you can buy in 2010). There's also a gift shop area featuring some of the Adam Tucker-designed LEGO Architecture sets. This exhibit started on July 3rd and runs through September 5, 2011 (yes - you can make it part of a 2011 BrickFair trip).
The National Building Museum is itself an interesting historical structure - it's the "Pension Building" completed in 1887. In my flickr photo set, you can see a few photos of the original building and a minifig-scale LEGO rendition of it - complete with offices. The builder of the LEGO version isn't explicitly credited, but I'd assume that it was also Adam Tucker.
To be honest, I preferred the non-LEGO displays - after seeing landmarks by Arthur Gugick and building part of the new Tower Bridge set at BrickFair, Adam Tucker's large-but-simple-except-for-glue models looked a bit disappointing. Maybe I was getting a bit LEGO'd out after the long weekend of all-LEGO-all-the-time, but I was thrilled to see some of the other displays. If it weren't for the tourist draw of bringing in LEGO fans (and inevitably, families) to see the LEGO-specific display, I actually think a better display would be a larger portion of their construction toys collection.
There were also some great non-LEGO displays (sorry, no pics - photography is prohibited in the non-LEGO exhibits). Cityscapes Revealed: Highlights from the Collection showed a little bit of the collections not open to the public, including photography, bricks (of the fired-clay variety), steel, construction toys, and more I'm certainly forgetting. Washington: Symbol and City was a great treat, featuring historic displays about DC's city planning alongside history of various landmarks and even parts of some of the buildings. Not being able to make time to see more of the city this year, I was thrilled to get to see some of the actual details from various landmarks showcased in the museum - this display is so well-done, it almost justifies not being able to fit in many of the other landmarks during this trip. Drawing Toward Home: Designs for Domestic Architecture from Historic New England was a great look at architectural styles in New England and at how architectural sketches evolved over time.
Overall, it was a great trip, and the "Washington: Symbol and City" exhibit in particular was fantastic. If you're reading this, you'd probably enjoy the LEGO display (especially if you want to try out the play areas), but I'd definitely recommend getting a more thorough look at the museum. The exhibits apparently swap out fairly often, so check the National Building Museum's website to see what's going on before you plan your trip. The museum itself is free (suggested donation of $5) and the LEGO exhibit costs $5 for a scheduled ticket. I have no idea what the schedule is to see more of the White House model being assembled.
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Posted by
Dan
at
11:49 PM
| Name of Model: Gamble House |
| Created by: The Brick Scho |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/50502540@N08/tags/gamblehouse/ |
Details:  This gorgeous microscale rendition of the Gamble house in Pasadena, California, USA is fantastic. While the source material is an exciting bit of architecture, this LEGO version actually looks even better - the brighter shades of tan and reddish brown really pop, and the dark green here looks phenomenal. The balance of techniques is just right - the windows are flashy enough to stand out but still fairly faithful to the source material. When trying to capture a landmark in microscale, you sometimes need to make a bit of a caricature by emphasizing certain features. In this case, I think that the details where picked out as well as can be at this scale.
Please check out the builder's flickr photostream for additional photos of this model and other spectacular microscale models of real buildings. I tried to add the tag "Gamble House" to all of these photos to make them easier to see here, but for some reason that option wasn't available on a few photos of this model - including one of the better overview shots and the photo showing how the roof sections line up.
From the builder:
Built: 1908 Architects: Brothers Henry & Charles Greene Pasadena, CA
I hope that this has captured the look and feel of the Gamble House.
The Gambles considered selling it, but soon changed their minds when prospective buyers spoke of painting the interior teak and mahogany woodwork white! The Gambles realized the artistic importance of the house and it remained in the Gamble family until 1966, when it was deeded to the city of Pasadena and University. Enjoy! |
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Posted by
Dan
at
4:00 AM
| Name of Model: Creatures of Habitat |
| Created by: Sean Kenney |
| Found at: http://www.seankenney.com/portfolio/philadelphia_zoo/ (additional photos and information at the other links below) |
Details: 
I put off blogging this one in favor of getting some photos and news coverage in addition to what Sean Kenney wrote for his own site. That decision paid off, since I can now offer you a round-up of coverage of this exhibit, which lasts for several months. The particular picture above is roughly minifig-scale, and is one of three showing a rainforest in various states (healthy, destruction, replanting). The rest of this exhibit (running from April 10th to October 31st at the Philadelphia Zoo) features large, life-size sculptures. Here's a round-up of links covering the events:
Sean Kenney's page for the exhibit (same link as above)
TV commercial for the exhibit
Official press release
Courier Post photo slideshow
uwishunu post
Jonathan Bender's interview with Sean Kenney, part 1
Jonathan Bender's interview with Sean Kenney, part 2
In addition to the long-term display, there are also two "Build with Sean Kenney" events scheduled for visitors to the zoo (both events are free with zoo admission). One is next weekend, the other is in September. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
4:00 AM
| Name of Show: LEGOPalooza2010 |
| Created by: NCLUG |
| Found at: http://www.nclug.us/index.php/2010/03/more-legopalooza-photos/ and http://www.nclug.us/index.php/2010/03/legopalooza-2010-coverage-round-1/ |
Details:
The North Carolina LEGO Users Group (NCLUG) recently put on their annual show at the Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill, NC. For the first time since this annual tradition's first year, this show actually featured a few FIRST robotics teams and the Richmond area LEGO Users Group (RichLUG) as well. While there were fewer displays than in previous years, the show was a hit and over 3,000 people attended. Full coverage (including photo round-ups) at the links above.
Those of you who are in North Carolina can still see NCLUG represented at two other shows in the near future - Maker Faire NC (featuring yours truly bringing the LEGO fun) is coming up April 25th, and convention/festival BrickMagic is coming up Mother's Day weekend. While there won't be Palooza-style group layouts at Maker Faire NC, there may be some at BrickMagic and the sheer size of BrickMagic is drawing in LEGO hobbyists and professionals from around the world (in addition to our friends at NCLUG).
Photo above from Dan Larson. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
4:00 AM
| Name of Show: SXSW |
| Created by: TexLUG |
Details:
This past weekend, as part of SXSW, TexLUG put on a LEGO show. By all accounts, it was a raging success. Photos have popped up in several places - here are a few of them (as usual feel free to send in links to more if you have them):
SavaTheAggie's flickr set (photos from 10-03-12)
Photo sets from TJ Avery:
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Posted by
Dan
at
8:11 AM
| Name of Model: Pennybacker Bridge |
| Created by: TJ Avery |
| Found at: http://www.texbrick.com/model_pbridge/ |
Details:
 The Pennybacker "360" Bridge in Austin, Texas, was re-created in LEGO form for this year's SXSW festival (more coverage of that coming Sunday - we're highlighting this one model separately today). A few minor modifications were made to the original design to make it fit a minifig-scale town layout better - the roadway was flattened, train track was added, and the asymmetric parts of the bridge were made symmetrical. This actually features a complete Technic support frame - a few thousand Technic half-pins were used to attach the dark red plates on top of the structure. The link above has all the information you need on this model, including photos of the model's construction and of the life-size bridge in Austin that this is based on. Here are some basic stats (for those of you not yet convinced):
Model Specs and Facts:- Start date: 31-January-2010
- Date of completion: 13-March-2010
- Nearly 14,000 pieces used
- 35-40 pounds in weight (estimated)
- Total bridge length = 384 studs (aprox. 120 7/8 inches = 3.1 m)
- Free span length = 347 studs (approx. 109 1/4 inches = 2.8 m)
- Height (from bottom of abutments) = 37 3/8 inches = 0.95 m)
- Total width = 67 studs (approx. 21 1/16 inches = 0.53 m)
- Deck width = 48 studs (approx. 15 inches)
- Made of 100% LEGO pieces, and no glue was used
- Scale = approx. 1:64*
* (could vary between 1:62 and 1:71 depending on reference taken)
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Posted by
Brickapolis
at
8:52 PM
 Judging by the copious amounts of fun that was had in 2008, 2009 is looking to be even better.
I'm eagerly awaiting photographs from the convention to see what kind of fun/craziness is taking place. And Brickcon always seems to have alot of that.
And yes, Steve Witt will be there in all of his Nerf gun wielding glory. He was in Atlanta catching a flight to Seattle earlier today.
Sadly, I have to report that Nannan will not be at Brickcon this year. Something to do with DNA and splitting I'm told.
On another note, I'm wondering if we will see a set revealed to the world for the first time, as was done at the convention in 2008.
So here's to everyone enjoying themselves at this year's Brickcon. Held, as always, in the Emerald City.
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Posted by
Lego Model of the Day
at
12:53 PM
| Name of event: BrickFair 2009 | | | Photos found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brickapolis/ | Details:
LEFT: WAMALTC setup on Thursday evening at BrickFair.
Brickapolis and I (Dan) are both at BrickFair for the weekend. Public hours have started for today, so we'll be a bit slow in getting photos of original creations online. Photos of the line this morning, and some of the insanity of the first two days are online at Brickapolis' flickr photostream. Highlights include set-up images, pictures of the lines at the LEGO Store and to get in to the public expo this morning, and images from Arthur Gugick's LEGO Architecture seminar on Thursday afternoon. At least, we hope they do - the 'net connection at the hotel seems a little on the slow side, so even though we're trying to upload all of the 400+ photos I took, only about 100 of them are live so far.
We both have bags of tiles to give away (about 100 remain as of this writing) - we're thrilled to finally have something to give back to the LEGO fan community thanks to the ads we run on this blog. To claim your LMOTD 2x2 tile, just find me (Dan) or Brickapolis and ask for one. We're handing these out like business cards, and as far as I know it's the only free LEGO parts available during the public days. Brickapolis' nametag has his flickr avatar on it to make it easier to find. My nametag just says "Dan" (without a last name) and I'm also one of several people walking around wearing one of the LEGO Model of the Day 2x2 tiles.
I'm sure you can understand why model coverage here is a bit off-kilter this weekend, but we're hoping that the enormous amount of photos of the convention will make up for it. |
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Posted by
Lego Model of the Day
at
10:37 PM
Two very different events this Saturday, both being featured here on frighteningly short notice. I'll be following both projects to see how they turn out - both present unique engineering challenges.
In the US, in Washington DC, we have From Spark to Click: Celebrating National Inventors' Month hosted by the American History Museum. From the blurb above (which has all the details except for how long this model will remain built and accessible to the public), it sounds like this is being co-sponsored by the company and will be similar to the build events occasionally held to promote LEGO stores. The light bulb being built at this event is a very unusual choice for such an event because of the balance issues involved.
In the UK, in Dorking, Surrey, England, Top Gear presenter James May is attempting to build a 1:1 scale model of a house - and then live in it for a few days afterwards. This has been something of a media frenzy in some areas over the past few days, but it appears to me that the BBC has the definitive article on the event. The engineering tasks here are obvious: plumbing is not something LEGO is made for (trust me, no matter how hard it may seem to separate a pair of bricks, it's still not waterproof).
...I have a feeling it will take more than one day to build a full-scale house, but I guess we'll have to see how many volunteers pitch in (and how well said volunteers can build!)
EDIT 8/3/2009: Surprisingly, neither of these models is currently visitable. The light bulb was taken down shortly after completion, and James May's house has had its LEGO chunks set aside so that a concrete foundation can be poured (I don't think I need to explain that concrete is not made by LEGO and thus is technically a form of cheating). From what I gather, both events were quite busy. You can send in your first-hand accounts from these or any other events to legomodeloftheday@gmail.com to be shared on this blog.
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Today's featured model is actually the LEGO company's booth at last weekend's Comic Con, in New York City. Creatacor has photos of both setup and the completed booth. This is the first year that LEGO has had an official presence at this event - in the past they've stuck with the larger Comic Con in San Diego. LEGO was there to announce next year's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series - you'll notice the turtles and a large TMNT mosaic in many of the photos.
