Boba Fett Mandalorian Helmet

I've  had this set finished for well over a month now - I'm just now getting around to posting it here.

The Star Wars Boba Fett helmet, set #75277, is a very enjoyable build that produces a nice looking model for the display cabinet.

Spread out over 5 parts bags, the set uses all standard parts, with some Technic pieces in the display stand.

The overall helmet shape is built with plate layering over a framework of familiar SNOT elements.

Bag 1: The internal structure. Lots of pretty colors that won't show in the final model.

Bag 2: Display base and helmet top.

Bag 3: Side left...

Bag 4: Side right...

Bag 5:  Helmet front and final details.

Thanks for looking!

ISS Build - Finished !

The sixth and final parts bag(s) of the International Space Station focuses entirely on construction of the solar panel arrays.

For me, this represented the least difficult part of the project because it resulted in eight identical components.

By laying everything out and building assembly-line style, the job was done in less than half an hour.

The final step called for merely snapping the panel sections in place on the model.

All in all, the ISS is a very detailed and impressive model.

It now resides proudly in the display cabinet right next to the Apollo Saturn V.

ISS Build - Parts Bag 5

Today's post covers the remainder of the highly detailed main structure of the International Space Station.

Once completed, the craft is now fitted with the end sections of the truss that will hold the solar panel arrays in place. 
Also, now are attached the various radiator panels and the Canadarm2.
A very fun and satisfying build, indeed!

ISS Build - Parts Bag 4

This portion of the International Space Station  build gets increasingly interesting, as this is where more of the intricate detail is added: laboratory modules, node sections, Soyuz 'lifeboats',  microwave dish antennas, and myriad other gadgets.

Not knowing much about the ISS, I had to go online to the NASA website to take a crash course and educate myself about this remarkable craft.  Luckily, I found several detailed diagrams identifying the major components, as well as project construction timelines, and many other details.
In the process, I learned a lot and gained quite a bit of respect for the designer of this LEGO model.

ISS Build-Bag 3

Still progressing with the International Soace Station.
The contents of bag number three consist of the parts necessary to render the central truss of the Station.

No special techniques here - mainly standard plate, brick, and slope construction.
The remainder of the bags will get into the nitty-gritty detailing.  Stay tuned....

ISS Build - Parts Bag 2

This is a short post.
Bag two of the IDEAS ISS set is all about the display stand.
Interesting mix of standard and Technic elements, complete with a printed title plate.

Moving along....

ISS Build - Parts Bag 1

The first bag of parts in the International Space Station set yields a number of interesting small builds.

Foremost is a nicely rendered micro-scale shuttle orbiter.
This is followed by a pair of satellites, a standard space capsule, and a trio of microfig astronauts.
The parts list calls out two of these, but it appears they throw an extra in as part of the 'spares' supply of small parts.

Moving on to bag 2.....

A New Set Build: The International Space Station

This past weekend, the Father's Day family get-together netted me several more LEGO sets from the kiddoes. 
How things have changed since the old days: kids buying toys for their parents!

The first of these builds I am going to tackle is the IDEAS set 21321, the International Space Station.

The set comes packaged in seven bags, two of which are labeled 6.

I was instantly delighted to see that all of those solar panel pieces are printed rather than relying on stickers.  Not that I wouldn't have particularly minded affixing stickers to that many parts, but the pre-prints will make the build go a bit quicker.

Good to see the 16+ age range on the box. 
This shows that LEGO is serious about us old fogey AFOLs.

Tomorrow, I tear into bag 1....

A Brick Built Stop Sign

I have a two year old grandson who is infatuated with learning and reciting the alphabet.  He has learned to read the letters spelling STOP, and has become intrigued with any Stop sign he sees.
So, I sat down yesterday afternoon and knocked together a STOP sign from LEGO parts.
I'll  keep this hanging around the house for him to see whenever he visits.

Fun!

No More Monsters !!.. A Brick Comic

This was a very fun MOC comic strip to build, photograph, and edit.
Just for the record, the monsters featured in this strip are the three iterations of  Creator set 31032-Red Creatures.
Some of you astute observers might note that Emmet's green jeep is one of the 2015 Pick-A-Model offerings from the PAB wall.
The vehicle which Batman is working on is from DC Super Heroes set 76000-Arctic Batman vs. Mr. Freeze.

More of this kind to come...

A Trio Of Small Set Builds

This past week, I've taken a short break from MOC-ing in favor of sitting down to knock together a few small sets that remain from last fall's yard sale haul.

The first is the Ultra Agents Riverside Raid (#79160), featuring a quad bike/jet speeder vehicle.

Two minifigs are included: Agent Max Burns, and super-villain Adam Acid.  Two small toxic material crates complete the scene.
Not really my cup of tea, so the set will be parted out.  The boxes may prove useful in a future MOC, and, course, any various minifigs are always welcome to the collection.

The next set is a bit more ineresting:
Galaxy Squad Space Swarmer (# 70700).

This offering features a unique space craft and interesting minifigs: Galaxy Squad Blue Robot and an Alien 'Buggoid'.  The robot wields an impressive looking laser cannon weapon. I will probably keep this one assembled, as it might prove useful for a future MOC or comic strip that calls for an alien invasion.

The third set is the City Great Vehicles Logging Truck. (# 60059).

The truck is complete, but the set is missing the two lumberjack minifigs.  I'll keep this one together as well, but it won't be entirely immune to parts purloining.

Cheers!

Little Waldo's Nature Lesson

Today's post is a brick rendition of a cartoon I drew many years ago.....

Here is a different angle showing the structure of the build...

This is a close-up of brick-built 'Dad'......

And 'Little Waldo himself !.....

The spider legs and web piece were generously lent for this 

vignette from the Harry Potter 'Aragog' set.

Thanks for looking!

First Attempt At Serious Sculpture

Ever since I began putzing around with LEGO and became an avid AFOL, I have always admired the incredible work of brick artist, Nathan Sawaya.

I wondered if I could pull off building a reasonably realistic human face.

So, out came the boxes of standard red bricks and a ready made base plate assembly.

Here is the result:

The model only depicts the front half of the head, but it turned out reasonably well.

It was definitely adequate enough to fool my cel phone when I took this picture - the phone put up the human face focusing indicator!

This relief head is roughly 3/4 the dimensions of an average human head.

Just might have to play around with a little more of this kind of building....

March Of The Many Emmets!

As a fan of the first LEGO  Movie, I have accumulated a number of the themed sets that the film spawned.
As a rule, most of the sets contained an Emmet minifig.  By far the most common one is the version with attached 'Piece of Resistance'
All told, I have six Emmets on hand.

I'm sure there will be several more as I track down and acquire additional LEGO Movie sets.

Anyway, the ones I own were partially responsible for the inspiration of yesterday's hole digging MOC.

What else ya gonna do with a whole herd of 'construction guy' minifigs?

Unfortunately, I've only got one hard hat between them all.....

"Yep, It Definitely Is A Hole!!"

Today's post subject is a MOC cartoon vignette that I've been meaning to put together for quite some time.

It is a depiction of the stereotypical scene of a city construction crew doing maintenance on a street.

There is always one guy digging the hole, while the rest are standing around looking into the hole.

The two building fronts are pretty plain and basic.  I didn't want to get overly detailed with them because they are intended only as background scenery.  I did embellish them with greenery and lamp posts.

Overall, it was one of those fun builds where I just grabbed some parts boxes and went to town (very punny!).  Build time was approximately four hours.

Cheers!

MOC Build of Sungnyemun

The latest project for the Double Decker Couch blog is a MOC (finally).

This model is a scale rendition of Namdaemun
(Pronounced  nomm-day-moon) in Seoul, South Korea.  It is also called Sungnyemun.
This is the South Gate of the wall that used to surround the city in the time of the Cho-seon dynasty.
The gate dates back to the 14th century.

My wife is from South Korea, so I have visited the country several times, and have had the opportunity to see this impressive structure up close and personal.

The gate features two distinct sections:
The base structure, made from hewn stone, and the upper pagoda section, made of ornately carved and painted wood.

I chose to model the gate as it appeared up until 2008, when a deranged man who was upset by the government set fire to the upper wood section, destroying it completely.  The structure was rebuilt between 2010-13, featuring a new section of adjoining walls that  are closer to how the old original walls once appeared.

The scale of this model build was based on one LEGO element: a 1x6x2 arch brick. This part defines the top of the stone entryway arches, and establish the scale of the model at approximately 1:88.

By utilizing photo scaling techniques using pictures found on the internet, I was able to derive the major dimensions of the building.

The stonework base construction was fairly straight forward, consisting of four walls, a parapet, two side doors and a flat roof.

It wasn't until I got to the top structure that things started to get dicey.

It took me no less than six build/tear-down cycles before I was able to get the roof sections to exhibit the right slope and upward curvature of the edges.  I was finally able to pull it off using creative plate layering

Pagoda details....

The original building is incredibly detailed.
Far beyond what can be modeled with even the smallest of LEGO elements.

The undersides of the roof structures are filled with highly ornate carved wood beams and panels, all intricately painted in bright reds, blues, greens and oranges.

In the LEGO world, these details can only be hinted at with judiciously placed small elements.

Same goes for the myriad small intricacies of the tiled rooftops.

As a final touch to the main building, I found a photo of the plaque over the gateway that reads "Sungnyemun" in Chinese characters.  I reduced the image on my printer to the size of a 1x2 tile.  The sign was attached with double sided tape, and the tile mounted at the proper angle with small clip and bar elements.

Finishing the model required building the side wall segments, steps, and vegetation areas.
Lots of plate elements required here.

All in all, I am very pleased at how nice and remarkably close to scale this model turned out

I didn't keep track, but I estimate well over 800 parts in my model.  I was very lucky to have on hand most all the elements in nearly the right colors to pull the whole project off.

Lastly, here are some pictures I took of Namdaemun during my first ever visit to South Korea in May of 1980:

Cheers!

A New Use For LEGO Bricks

With the ensuing shelter-in-place order gripping Colorado because of the COVID19 pandemic, life activities are now being conducted within home confines.

Part of the daily regimen my wife and I have adopted consists of morning exercise.  This includes going for brisk walks around the perimeter of the basement in our home.

After measuring the 'course', I found that 10 circuits equaled approximately one-third mile.

Of course, the walk takes us ten times through my workshop space where all of my LEGO building, model rocketry building, and woodworking takes place.

It just so happens that I have a random box of 2x2 blue bricks setting on the workbench.
Yesterday, each time we passed through the area, my wife would grab one brick out of the box and set it on the corner of the bench, using them as 'lap' counters for our walk.

We've continued doing this during each walk session conducted three times a day!

Perhaps I could modify this practice by setting out ten parts of a MOC build and clicking on a new piece to the model each time we pass by.....

A Small CITY Set Build

After taking a few days off following all the recent binge-building of larger sets, I sat down last night and knocked together this small offering that came in last fall's yard sale stash.

This is the CITY "Holiday 4x4 SUV Off-Road Rover and Jet Ski Surf set (#60058).

Basically, it's an easy to assemble set that consists of the SUV, a trailer, and a pair of jet skis.  Two unremarkable minifigs wearing life vests are included.

Not the coolest set in my collection, but it was a good way to pass an evening.

There are still several sets from the yard sale lot that I have yet to assemble. These will be getting done over the next couple of weeks.

After that - its time for some MOCs !

Loads Of Dino Bones...

This week, I finished up the LEGO Ideas Dinosaur Museum set.
What a great build and display grouping!

The set includes a lot of elements I have never encountered before, and a number of interesting construction techniques.

The skeletal figures are spot on accurate as far as I'm concerned.

I also like that they included a minifig skeleton display, and a paleontologist complete with working magnifying glass and a comprehensive set of tools.  These latter will definitely make an appearance in several future MOCs I have in mind.

I have really grown to be a fan of the Ideas series, having already built the Apollo Saturn V and the Yellow Submarine sets.

The Dino Museum makes a wonderful addition to the growing collection. It also screams to have a museum setting MOC scene...

Enough blabber - here are the pics:

Lord Business' Evil Lair

No sooner had I completed the Yoda build, than I ripped into this interesting set that came from The LEGO Movie.

This turned out to be an easy, straight-forward build in comparison to the previous project.

The Lord Business minifig in 'tall shoes' configuration had been built a couple of weeks ago, just so I could have his ominous presence looming over my workbench.

The remainder of the build concentrates on the main structural 'montage' that highlights several scenes from the movie.  Here are some pics:

Lord Business' Board Room, where all of the diabolical and sinister plans are hatched.  This section features an interesting conference table complete with swivel chairs.

The 'Think Tank', where captured Master Builders get the creativity removed from their heads.  The set came with a wrestler Minifig to occupy one of the cells.  It would have been cooler with Superman and Green Lantern like in the movie.  I just might have to find those particular minis and substitute them into this set.  I also envision a future MOC embellishment that would feature a large wall of 'Think Tank' cells.  It would make a great minifig display setting!

"THE KRAGLE !!"  

The tube of glue that will transform all of Bricksburg is held in a claw-like fixture atop this set.  The brick-built glue tube is very well rendered, complete with stickers providing the worn markings.

The KRAGLE Nozzle section, located below the tube, utilizes a Technics mechanism that serves to open the doors and retract the nozzle.

The TV Studio.

This section, which represents the "Where Are My Pants?" filming set, is fairly sparse: a couple of truss pieces, two lighting fixtures, a movie camera, and a sofa.  Not overly exciting, and begging for a good MOC upgrade.

The Minifigs:

This set comes with a decent set of minifigs.  Another Emmet, of course; the aforementioned wrestler; Ma and Pa Cop, complete with Kragle bases; a 'Business-Version' Uni-Kitty; and Vitruvius.  They also thought to include a President Business leg section and hairpiece.

Overall, a nice set that covers a lot of scenes from the movie: a must have for the LM fan.

I'm already thinking of lots of ways to improve the set to appear closer to the movie scenes.

And, perhaps a few judiciously placed lighting effects....