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....

A Nice Walmart Find

The local Walmart store had a nice deal this last week that I just couldn't pass up:

This is Classic box #11011.
1500 Pieces.
Wally World's price?
$34.76.
Even with added sales tax, the calculated price per piece came out to two and a half cents.
Not too shabby.
Upon opening the box and sorting, I was delighted to find all structural elements: many standard bricks, plates, and slopes with enough special parts and SNOT to make things interesting.
And not a single vehicle tire or axle piece. I already have scads of those. 
It took me an entire afternoon to unbag and sort 1500 parts, but the effort was worthwhile.
This set added a lot of parts to my inventory at a very reasonable cost.

Cheers!

Yoda Build, Part 10 - It's A Wrap !!

Here are the final pictures of the LEGO Yoda, wielding his activated light saber - grimly prepared to take on any threat from the Dark Side!

"Secret, shall I  tell you? Grand Master of Jedi Order, I am!  

Won this job in a raffle, did I, think you?"

Lastly, this set also comes with a display stand with an information plaque and a Yoda minifig.

All in all, this is a wonderful rendition of an iconic Star Wars character, and a great LEGO build.  This model should grace the display cabinet of any fan of both LEGO and/or Star  Wars.

I hope this series has been fun and informative for all of you blog readers.
In this light, I leave you with a final quote from the Jedi Master:

"Always pass on what you have learned."            - Yoda

Yoda Build, Part 9 - "Can You Hand Me That Flashlight?"

The 13th and final bag o' parts contains the elements necessary for building Yoda's green light saber, as well as the hands wielding it.

Yoda's fingers follow the same formula as his toes, with the use of hinged pieces that impart bendability so that he might grasp the hilt of the weapon.

The light saber energy beam is made up of stacked green trans-clear 2x2 round bricks.

So, a quick search on the Wonderful World Wide Web will reveal that there are some outfits out there that sell lighting kits for Yoda's light saber.

I will likely be retro-fitting such a feature into this build at a later date.  Since I have worked 40 plus years in the electronics industry, I have the means and know-how to go DIY on this at much less cost.

Lastly, the hand assemblies attach to Technics pins built into the robe sleeves earlier in the build.

"Give light or darkness, Padawan.  Be a candle or the night."  - Master Yoda

Yoda Build, Part 8 - Goin' Green !

For this post, I'm blowing through bags 9-12 in one sitting.
The contents of these bags are predominantly olive green, meaning that it's time to begin construcion of the grizzled head of this 900 year old Grand Master Jedi.

Let's get started....

Bag #9 contains the parts that constitute the support structure of the head and the upper portion of Yoda's facial features.  The large majority of the parts are quite small.
This part of the build abruptly moves from plate layering techniques to a more conventional use of bricks and slopes.
By far, the most interesting assemblies are the eyes.  Through clever use of 'radar dish' elements, rods, and clips, some very convincing recessed eyes are formed, complete with movable eyelids!

"Through the Force, things you will see." - Yoda

Bag 10 yields the parts for forming the lower half of Yoda's handsome mug.  Nobody knows this creature's species or planetary origins - not even Wikepedia!

Bag 11 - it's all ears. These prominent Yoda-features are nicely built up from assemblies of inverted and curved slope elements.

Bag 12.
These parts complete the top and back sections of Yoda's head.  A few white elements interspersed with the green represent the creature's wispy hair.

And, finally - de-decapitation!
  Before attaching the completed rear section of Yoda's head, the main assembly is affixed to the technic piece protruding from the neck.  A capped axle piece secures the head nicely.
Now the back of the head can be affixed in its proper place.

The neck mechanism imparts a little bit of movability and posing to Yoda's head.

"Feel the Force!"  - Yoda

Yoda Build, Part 7 - "Look, Ma - More Tan Parts !!"

Yep, that be the contents of bag number 8.

"Patience you must have, my young Padawan."   - Yoda

This part of the project, after much brick-clicking, completes the back side of Yoda's robed body section.  The outfit's hood is well-rendered and adds quite a bit of realism to the sculpure design.

Yoda Build, Part 6 - "Much To Learn, My Old (AFOL) Padawan!"

Marching right along with bag numbers 6 and 7.

Many more tan plates....

At least the set designers threw in a handful of bright colored elements to break up the monotony.  These are used as internal support pieces and will not be visible on the finished product.

Once this flurry of LEGO building frenzy came to an end, I found that Yoda now has a right arm and accompanying robe folds.

Here are the pics...

Yoda Build, Part 5 - "Once You Start Down The LEGO Path..."

"...forever will it dominate your destiny. Consume you, it will." -Master Yoda

How true this is.

Once this model is started, it's very difficult to put it down!

"Control, control, you must learn control!"
-Master Yoda

Today's build post covers set bag numbers 4 and 5.  These two bags are largely dominated by a substantial amount of tan plates.

When all is said and done, it is found that the figure now possesses the outer robe sections that define the left side and arm.

Moving on...

Yoda Build, Part 4 - "Do, Or Do Not - There Is No Try."

Parts bag number three features another large number of plates: tan colored this time.
This part of the build largely defines the front edges of Yoda's outer garment.

The sections that are built here attach to the sides of the previously built brown middle section.

The complete assembly is then affixed to the proper spot on the Technics support structure via the rows of pins.

Due to the weight of the front assembly, the model won't stand up at this point, so it had to be laid down for the photo.

Yoda Build, Part 3 - One Tunic, Coming Right Up !

The contents of bag number two consist of a LOT of brown plates.
The parts go, of course, to make up the bulk of Yoda's inner garment.
This build is truly going to teach a lot about how to render the non-linear folds and wrinkles of clothing using rectangular building elements.

One thing that I quickly found out in starting this part of the build: the necessity for sufficiently bright lighting at the build area.

Not only are we dealing with many, many small pieces all of the same color placed in an irregular arrangement, but the instruction book illustrations can be challenging to follow as well if the ambient light is too dim.  LEGO conveniently supplied the illustrations with lighter outlines of each new part added to the assembly, but even these can be dicey to follow at times, especially if lighting is not adequate.

One thing that any builder of this set can least afford to do is to get any of these plate layer elements in the wrong spot.  Back-tracking to fix mistakes can be time-consuming and lead to more confusion.

I know, I've done it a few times....

Another handy item to have within reach is a good magnifying glass.

Or better yet, one of those illuminated magnifying goggle/visor thingies.

Even better still... be a Force-sensitive individual ...

Here's a pic of the bag two assembly: