GFLUG Moonbase at MegaCon 2014

Name of Model: MegaCon 2014 Moonbase

Created by: GFLUG and "Orange LUG"

Found at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/moctagon/sets/72157638835134784 (and more - see roundup below)

Details: Last weekend, I was out at MegaCon 2014 with GFLUG, "Orange LUG", and the Bonahooms (of BrickWorld fame, there promoting the upcoming BrickWorld Tampa event). The main group build was a Moonbase-themed display, although it ended up being more "moon" than proper, standard-meeting Moonbase. In spite of my post here about the moonbase standard being the top Google result for "Moonbase Standard", I had actually never built a moonbase module before - something I rectified with an Alien Conquest-themed build (not itself worth featuring here, although I'm happy with how the corridors came out). There were other MOCs on display as well - many small things, a large train display, a LEGO-movie themed section, a fantastic twist on the Great Ball Contraption concept, and many MOCs based on various movies and television shows. You can see all of those in the coverage roundup below. ...but you probably shouldn't. You should go build some moonbase modules, right now. Moonbase isn't dead! Moonbase is easy! Moonbase is fun! You should build moonbase! Go, now, stop reading this and build some moonbase! Coverage Roundup (trying to focus on LEGO-oriented coverage - there are some "interesting" cosplayers at this event, be warned that you're likely to see something Not Safe For Work in the background if you dig too far): Moctagon Jones' Flickr photos my (danny316p's) Flickr photos Orlando Weekly slideshow BrickRabbitt's Flickr photos (added 4/25) Todd Thuma's Flickr photos (added 5/5) As always, if you know of photos or other coverage I should have here and don't, you can leave a note in the comments or e-mail us at legomodeloftheday@gmail.com

About that Beyond the Brick Merger...

If you're reading this, you've probably realized that this post is at LMOTD and not at the snazzy new Beyond the Brick website. It's hard to believe that it was back in July of 2012 - fully 20 months ago - when I first announced that we were looking to change things out and relaunch this blog with a different format. Shortly after that, things were set in motion to merge with Beyond the Brick, with the intention of launching the new site in December of 2012. As I mentioned last March, that deadline became impossible due to numerous health and relocation issues. Fortunately, this time around, I don't have any problems of that sort to report - but unfortunately, progress on the site is moving very slowly. In light of the extreme delays that the Beyond the Brick website has faced, I've decided to start blogging here again. Originally, the plan was for me to not do any further blogging until the Beyond the Brick website was officially launched, but that no longer seems like a reasonable plan. It's not clear when some of the issues delaying BTB might be cleared up. Being known in the Adult Fan of LEGO (AFOL) community primarily as a a blogger gets a little more complicated when you haven't been blogging in a while, and don't know when you might get back to it. I'd still like to see LMOTD become part of a BTB website in the future - we're all on good terms, although I think we're all frustrated with the delays we've seen so far. For now, however, I feel it is important to maintain a voice in the community, fill my readers in on things they should know about, and blog some worthy MOCs and photo sets (in spite of not having an outlet in quite some time, I have continued to browse as many MOCs as I did back in the day). I'll be blogging here again for a bit, primarily focusing on my own projects that haven't been covered elsewhere. The Beyond the Brick videos on YouTube can still be found at brickpodcast.com - and you should plan on seeing more of all of us at various shows and conventions.

Galloping Horses in a Zoetrope

Name of Model: Lego Zoetrope #3 - Horses

Created by: ChadMealey / Lego Tron

Found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TR9Nvv3ul5A and http://www.flickr.com/photos/legotron/sets/72157629668225249/with/7015942181/

Details: In the early days of motion pictures, they didn't have film reels or real video technology. Early on, moving pictures were created by using series of still frames in a circle, with slits between each one. Looking through the slits at the image on the other side while the circle was spinning would make it look like the image was moving. If you remember what blog you're reading, this next part shouldn't surprise you - here's a an example of a zoetrope that works in this manner made out of LEGO. Much like the first example of this (based on a series of photographs taken by Eadweard Muybridge), this particular ones animates a horse's gallop. SciBricks has posted a little more detail about this model. Eadweard Muybridge would have turned 183 years old today.

Site Status

While we have no intention of becoming one of those blogs that always talks about how we should be updating more, I think it is fair to say that we owe you an explanation regarding the recent silence here. First, the big news: we are merging with Beyond the Brick. You may have seen their videos or podcasts in the past, and if not, you should check them out. We were trying to avoid announcing much about this until we were far enough along with the new site to be able to share some details, however, the deadlines we set for ourselves passed some time ago and left everything up in the air. There are a number of reasons for the delay, most of which we won't bore you with. In short, we've seen multiple LMOTD contributors relocate in the past few months, we've suffered a few technical setbacks, and I've had some disruptive health issues (when our December "deadline" passed, my hand was in a cast and I couldn't type). I am sorry about this, but there is only so much we can do. Ultimately, it would have been detrimental to all of us to prioritize LMOTD in light of the personal things going on these past few months. We are hoping to get back to this soon and when the new site is ready, we will announce it here. While the exact details still need to be settled, we can promise that we'll be featuring more models, reviewing more books, and interviewing more builders in the years to come. In other news, I'll be around as a visitor at Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire tomorrow. Find me milling about (I'll be wearing a LEGO brick name badge mentioning the site [update: apparently my LMOTD badge brick is still packed. I'll probably be the only person there with a giant brick-built name badge, so I should still be easy to find]) and you can score some of our LMOTD printed tiles. We'll be making these more easily available at various LEGO fan events and Maker events over the next several months (we'll be announcing most of those opportunities here as well).

Black Friday

LEGO Shop at Home's Black Friday sale starts in a matter of minutes and lasts through Monday the 26th. The promotion is similar to last year's: 10% off all orders of $149 or more Free Limited Edition Holiday set with orders of $99 or more. FREE Shipping on all orders of $49 or more. offers Valid: Nov 23rd - 26th Offers are Combinable (No Codes Required) Additionally, the following sets will be marked down: Product # Product Name Discount 8831 LEGO® Minifigures, Series 7 50% 8833 LEGO® Minifigures, Series 8 50% 9509 LEGO® Star Wars¿ Advent Calender 50% 850423 Minifigure Presentation Box 50% 5000215 Harry Potter: Building the Magical World 50% 10230 Mini Modulars 20% 2734 Straight Rails 20% 2735 Curved Rails 20% 3677 Red Cargo Train 20% 3841 Minotaurus 20% 3857 Heroica Draida Bay 20% 5609 LEGO® DUPLO Deluxe Train Set 20% 5945 LEGO® DUPLO Winnie the Pooh's Picnic 20% 5946 LEGO® DUPLO Tigger's Expedition 20% 7286 Prisoner Transport 20% 7346 Summer House 20% 7930 Bounty Hunter¿ Assault Gunship 20% 7962 Anakin's & Sebulba's Podracers 20% 9094 Star Striker 20% 5828 LEGO® DUPLO Big Bentley 15% 5885 Triceratops Trapper 15% 6869 Quinjet Aerial Battle 10% 9473 The Mines of Moria¿ 5% 850506 Card Making Kit 20% 853091 Keychain Police Man 20% 853195 Brick Calendar 20% 853393 LEGO® Friends Picture Frame 20% 853414 LEGO® Star Wars¿ Magnet Set - Jar Jar Binks 20% 853421 LEGO® Star Wars¿ Magnet Set - Clone Wars 20% 2850828 Darth Vader Kids Watch 20% 2853508 LEGO® Star Wars¿ : The Visual Dictionary 20% 2856081 Darth Vader Minifigure Clock 20% 2856195 LEGO Minifigure Ultimate Sticker Collection 20% 5000143 LEGO® Star Wars¿ Boba Fett Watch 20% 5000249 LEGO® Star Wars¿ Boba Fett Minifigure Clock 20% 5000668 LEGO City Sticker Collection 20% 5000671 LEGO Star Wars Sticker Collection 20% 5001050 Star Wars ZipBin Large Millennium Falcon Messenger Bag 20% 5001097 Star Wars ZipBin Toy Box and Playmat 20% 5001159 Darth Vader Light Keychain 20% 5001160 Stormtoorper Light Keychain 20% 5001252 2013 LEGO Calendar 20% 5001310 Yoda Light Keychain 20% 5001311 Darth Maul Light Keychain 20% 5001313 Darth Vader Light Torch 20% 5001314 Stormtrooper Light Torch 20% 5001352 Monster Fighters Mummy Clock 20% 5001353 Monster Fighters Lord Vampyre Clock 20% 5001354 Monster Fighters Mummy Watch 20% 5001355 Ninjago Kai ZX Clock 20% 5001356 Ninjago Kai ZX Watch 20% 5001357 Ninjago Cole Watch 20% 5001358 Ninjago Lasha Watch 20% 5001366 Ninjago Loyd ZX Clock 20% 5001375 Monster Fighters Lord Vampyre Watch 20% 5001376 Lunch Box Blue 20% 5001377 Lunch Box Pink 20% 5001378 Lunch Box Red 20% 5001383 Storage Brick- 4 Blue 20% 5001384 Storage Brick- 4 Dark Green 20% 5001386 Storage Brick- 8 Blue 20% 5001387 Storage Brick- 8 Dark Green 20% 5001388 Storage Brick- 8 Red 20% Most of these offers are also good at the LEGO store - if the item you want is out of stock online, you can try for the same pricing at the store. In the unlikely event that that doesn't satisfy your Black Friday weekend LEGO needs, you can also try the full round-up of promotions from other stores over at FBTB.

Amazing Forced Perspective Jousting

Name of Model: M.O. Round 3 - George G. vs P. Voranc

Created by: George G.

Found at: http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/344290

Details: This is the most effective and complex use of forced perspective I've seen to date. I can't even imagine trying to get so many scales straight, much less arrange them a natural-looking scene. Note the assortment of scales used on the foremost horse alone- very impressive. He could have built the jousters and left it at that, but the surroundings that appear as just a blur in the main picture are equally impressive. Be sure to check out all the pictures to appreciate all of the fantastic details and part usage, as well as microscale scenes that could be MOCs of their own merit!

Todai-ji and Daibutsu

Name of Model: LEGO Pop-up Todai-ji + Daibutsu (Buddhism) レゴで飛び出る東大寺

Created by: talapz

Found at:

Details: You may remember the spectacular pop-up model of Kinkaku-ji (the Temple of the Golden Pavilion) from a few years back. More recently, the builder has made another excellent pop-up temple - Nara, Japan's Todai-ji. This one also includes the Daibutsu inside the temple. Around the 1:52 mark, the video switches from a demonstration to CAD-based building instructions, complete with part counts for each step. All 8,816 pieces are accounted for, and there's a complete parts list with BrickLink part numbers at the end.

Small engine workshed and Signal House

Name of Model: Small engine workshed and Signal House

Created by: michaelozzie1

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/54395270@N08/tags/shed/

Details: Here's the start of a nice minifig-scale train layout - a shed and a signal house. I love the shed here - it's a very effective use of the "brick" brick element. This is a very classic use of the bricks and it works quite well. The simple ballast for the tracks is surprisingly convincing. I can't wait to see how the rest of the layout looks.

National Toy Train Museum Display

Name of Model: National Toy Train Museum WamaLTC Display

Created by: Cale Leiphart, WamaLTC

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/steampoweredbricks/sets/72157631931333354/

Details: There is a small LEGO train display at the National Toy Train Museum in Strasburg, PA. It recently got "refreshed", although I don't really know what it looked like before. It's a nice little layout - the buildings have that classic brightly-colored look, and it has a surprising amount of action for its size. Some of the trains are from kits, but more of them are original models. My favorite part is probably the subway tucked away underneath the street scene on the left side of the display.

The LEGO Adventure Book

Name of Book: The LEGO Adventure Book

Created by: Megs(Megan Rothrock)

Available at: Amazon and wherever books are sold. (Disclosure: LMOTD received a review copy)

Details: LEGO idea books turn out to be a surprisingly difficult concept today. Sure, there are many classics, going back to the 60's, but there hasn't been a new one since 1997. After all, since 1995, most LEGO lines have been short-lived play themes - it doesn't make sense for LEGO to publish great ideas for using parts that aren't likely to be easy for kids to find just a year or two later. That 1997 idea book was largely out of date by 1999. The rise of the internet hasn't helped either - usually an adult fan will post photos of great uses for new parts almost as soon as the kits come out. The LEGO Adventure Book, written by former LEGO designer Megan Rothrock, was pitched to Brickset as something of a sequal to the classic 6000-1 Idea Book. While the Adventure Book does have some things in common with the official idea books, it really doesn't feel much like one. This isn't a small book on magazine-grade paper - it's a solid, 200 page hardcover tome. The brightly colored photos are accompanied by English-language text, which continues an adventure story through the whole book. Of somewhat more interest to LMOTD readers, though, is the 14 sections dedicated to specific builders besides the author. Real names, screen names, professions, nationalities, and URLs are given for each builder before a grouping of their models are showcased. The list of builders featured (they have an index on the last page) should sound pretty familiar: Craig Mandeville, Are J. Heiseldal, Moritz Nolting, Jon Hall, Pete Reid, Peter Morris, Mark Stafford, Aaron Andrews, Mike Psiaki, Katie Walker, Carl Greatrix, Sylvain Amacher, and Daniel August Krentz. Page 8 introduces us to "Megs", the book's main character, and the next 8 pages show us how to build her "Idea Lab". From there we follow her through a number of "worlds" in her "Transport-o-lux". Megs is a minifigure version of the author, and all of the other builders introduced in the book are also shown as minifigures. It's hard to say how well the LEGO Adventure Book will stand the test of time - the biggest drawback with idea books. It does make use of parts and colors that may turn out to be short-lived. Right from the beginning, we see parts used that are new for 2012 and unlikely to be readily available to kids in any meaningful quantity. Many of the themes represented will clearly appeal to certain age groups (there are two sections that touch on the Yellow Castle, one classic Space-inspired section, and sections for both Power Miners and Friends). Page 15 shows a great bookshelf technique, but the ends of the shelf are a part that's already been discontinued. In some cases (like the zoo scene), hard-to-find and long-discontinued parts are a major part of a scene that can't easily be worked around. The concept behind idea books has always been to inspire kids to build with parts they already have, and it's likely that this book will have no problem inspiring builders in the future. Some of these models will be out of reach for anyone whose collection doesn't span a few decades, but most of the designs are workable or at least easy to modify to whatever parts are available. While featuring a variety of fan creations makes it easy to showcase great ideas and tie in with additional material online, it also increases the complexity of the models and the odds that kids won't be able to find the parts (or even be familiar with what sort of parts they're looking at). The various sections highlighting hobbyists and their MOCs are more like the official idea books, in that they largely show completed models that fit a particular theme (along with high-level instructions for a few of the models). While these sections are similar to what many LEGO blogs online already cover (ahem), they look great and serve to canonize a few models in a more concrete way than we can on the internet. However, the URLs are susceptible to the same time-sensitive issues as LEGO part selection - if any of these builders' flickr accounts cease to be accessible in the future, it won't be possible to view their other creations any more (of course, that's also the strongest argument for putting highlights of the hobby community into books like this one in the first place). I was impressed with the variety of themes represented. The official idea books were always somewhat limited in that they stuck with common themes that LEGO sold sets in, but here, unofficial themes fit in nicely next to the "real" ones. Steampunk and mecha have been staples of LEGO conventions for years, and it was about time someone showed them and explained them in a straight-forward, kid-friendly manner that could be perused away from the convention crowds. The techniques don't disappoint here either. A number of obscure and seemingly useless parts show up in clever places, all across the book. A "rock dragon" in the Power Miners section is a perfect excuse to show Hero Factory parts in a useful context, and probably my personal pick for the most clever model here. The written advice helps as well - concepts like "mirroring" sections of a model or cutting stickers for details can be explained quickly (as compared with in LEGO instruction books, where complete assemblies are pictures multiple times when they're largely the same). The LEGO Adventure Book is both a welcome addition to the "idea book" genre and easy to appreciate as a hard-copy document of some of the online LEGO community's best work. The story's ending is a surprising and satisfying twist, although I'm not sure kids will appreciate it as much as seasoned fans (I suppose that's what they generally call "fun for the whole family"). We are (admittedly) biased towards this book due to having covered much of the same ground here, but I was surprised by how strong the book is - after all, idea books are rocky territory. The LEGO Adventure Book is available starting today from No Starch Press. We've previously featured some of author Megan Rothrock's work. She was kind enough to join us at BrickMagic 2010, while she was still working for The LEGO Group.