Time For A MOC-Fest !

This past week, the Missus and I took a trip to visit out-of-state family. 

Our five year old grandkiddo is just getting started in the world of LEGO building.  He has this small Classic building set as well as a rather large pile of LEGO Dots.

One of the afternoons during our stay, I had some idle time, so I commandeered the set and began building random MOCs out of the very limited selection of elements. 

This is actually a great exercise for any LEGO builder, as it takes a bit more creativity to render models utilizing a very sparse set of available parts and colors.

I managed to knock out nine different MOCs... building them....photographing them...and dismantling them to start immediately on the next one.

Here goes....

Grampa / Grandson Project

 A couple of weeks ago, one of my grandsons visited the TFTDDC home. As usual, when asked what he wanted to do, the answer was, "Go to the basement"!

On this venture into the sub-terrainian vault, I broke out every box of red LEGO I owned.

The mission: build the coolest red tower ever with as many of the parts as possible!

Here are the results...

I made sure to include plenty of ledges and platforms on which to place a number of minifigs.

A great way to spend an afternoon with a grand-kiddo.

Final note:  It took nearly as long to break this model down and re-sort the pieces as it did to build it!

Cheers....

An Estate Sale LEGO Score

 Last weekend, a family in my neighborhood conducted an estate sale at their home.

Perusing through a table full of kids' toys I was delighted to run across two gallon-sized zip-lock bags full of LEGO pieces.

$8 per bag was a huge steal, as I estimated there were well over a thousand parts in the lot!

When I got the bags home and perused through them, I did find a fair amount of 'not-LEGO' pieces in the mix, but there was still a ton of the real stuff.

Lots of standard bricks and plates, plus a lot of random different parts that I don't have in my massive inventory.

I even found enough minifig sections to piece together six new mini-dudes!  There was also a Star Wars BB8 minifig in the mix.

Here are some pics of the overall stash after disassembling many random built-up sections.  I've sorted out all of the dark gray elements at this point.  

A lot more to go....

Cheers!

Jedi Training - Lighting Things UP !

 This is the final post covering the Degobah diorama.  This one concerns the addition of a touch of LED lighting to Yoda's hut.

The lighting device of choice comes from one of those flicker votive candles.

The LED used for this item has built in circuitry to produce the flicker effect, making it the perfect choice to simulate a fireplace flame in a LEGO set.

After carefully extracting the LED from the candle base, it was only a matter of wiring it up along with a limiting resistor, a battery, and a small two-position switch. 

A 270 ohm resistor was perfect for achieving the right brightness for the LED, and the whole thing is powered by a 3 volt lithium battery.

The LED assembly was hot melt glued to a black 2x2 plate to facilitate its mounting inside the structure.

I had to disassemble a substantial portion of the model to reach the area where the LED would go.

The unit was originally installed in the section where the original trans red and orange tile 'fireplace' resided.  This detail was buried way off to the left side of the hut and was not even visible from any angle from the outside.

Once I had the entire set re-assembled, I switched on the lighting feature and saw...nothing!

The LED was too far buried behind other interior elements to shed any light at all.

So, the model came apart a second time....

On this round, the LED was moved to the very center of the hut, out in the open.  I also sealed the large opening at the back of the diorama with white bricks that would reflect more of the light forward.  

Of course, this now prevents the interior details of the hut from being visible, but I am willing to sacrifice that in order to have the lighting effect, instead.

Engineering always involves some degree of give-and-take. 

Once the model was re-assembled and switched on, the results were very satisfactory. The lighting effect has a nice orange glow that flickers as if there's a real fire burning inside.

The Degobah Jedi Training diorama is now completed!

Thanks for looking.

'Filming Jedi Training On Degobah' Comic Strip

 OK, blog readers.

Now that I've finished building the official 'Jedi Training' set, it's time for a bit of a whimsical photography session featuring the mini-figs and an additional cast of characters.  

Enjoy....

CHEERS !!!

Jedi Training - The Final Touches

 Bag number six of the Degobah set consists of the parts necessary to add all the small details that will complete the diorama scene.

Of course, the first thing to do is to knock together the R2D2 minifig.

This one is notable because of the added pre-printed mud splatters obtained during the droid's little dip in the pond and subsequent rejection as food from the large denizen of the deep that captured it.

The rest of the parts add in various items such as the shoreline swamp plants, a couple of reptilian and amphibian creatures, some of the tech equipment that Luke extracted from the X-wing, and of course, the protruding wing tip of the submerged ship.

The latter is the only feature in the entire set that includes any kind of Technic parts.

The Final Analysis....

Overall, this has been one of the most satisfying and enjoyable LEGO sets I've put together to date.

In an 18x34 stud base, the set designer managed to put together the complete essence of the Degobah sequences from the film.

As I was building this set, the detailing brought back vivid images of the movie.

As soon as I stuck the last part on this diorama, I ran downstairs to the basement La-BOR-atory to fire up the big screen TV that resides therein, and re-watch the entire Degobah section of 'The Empire Strikes Back'!

It's uncanny how closely the set so superbly mirrored the onscreen action!

 An Added Bonus...

When the diorama is turned around to show the back side, one discovers that the rear of Yoda's dwelling is open to show the detailed interior!

Here can be found a low sleeping mat, a cooking surface complete with a kettle of "good food, yes?", and above, attached to an overhead shelf, Yoda's light saber!

Hidden behind the low wall is a small fire pit.

Methinks this would be a good place to plug in some LED lighting to illuminate the interior.

Be on the lookout for a future post.....

Jedi Training - Parts Bag #5

 This part of the build finishes off the top of Yoda's humble dwelling, and completes the hoary old swamp trees that serve as a backdrop.

Yoda's hut and the trees are perfect examples of the set designer's mastery of creating irregular and organic objects out of LEGO elements - not an easy task. There is not a blocky, squared off corner to be found anywhere, including in the shape of the swamp shoreline.

The trees are a work of art, with the gnarly forms and multiple root features rendered with various arches, slopes and log bricks. The placement of the deep green leaf and moss elements adds  just the right atmosphere to the set.  

Included in this bag is the Yoda mini-fig. 

This version is different than the Yoda figs from other sets. The Degobah Yoda's homespun attire is adorned with printed  tears, stains, and spots acquired from his exile's life in the swamp.  Yoda also carries the famous walking stick that he used so expressively in the film.

Tomorrow - the final bag....