I have one more small set in the collection that I built last Spring, that I completely forgot about.
This is the Creator 3 in 1 Fire Dragon, set #31102.
The set, of course, allows two other models besides the feature 'creature'.
These are a sabre-tooth tiger:
And a scorpion:
With this addition, I now have a pair of pretty cool dragons in the display cabinet.
Cheers!
Let alone a hunnert of 'em!
When I cut open the bag of unused 'cherry blossom' parts from the Bonsai Tree set, I was surprised to note that a number of the elements comprising the model's detail were in the form of pink frogs!
What can I possibly do with all these critters?
The first order of business was to consult the Wonderful World Wide Web to see if there are any pink frogs to be found in nature.
Indeed there are!
A quick online search yielded a couple right off the bat:
First is the Pink Red-Eyed Tree Frog (Agalychnis callidrus) found in Central and South America.
A second is the pink variation of the Strawberry Poison Dart Frog (Oophaga pumillo), also found in Central America. These little buggers are characterized by spots on the back and highly toxic skin. They only grow in size to an average of .75" long, not much bigger than the LEGO pink frogs!
I won't post any pictures here because of possible copyright concerns, but if you wish, you can Google Image them and see for yourself.
So, back to my 100 pink frogs.
I think I will make it a challenge to find creative ways to feature them in various vignettes, photo setups, and other MOC builds. I might even make it a habit to place one on all of my upcoming set builds and MOCs - sort of a "Where's Waldo" scenario except that it's...well..."Where's the pink frog".
Stay tuned....
I am finally caught up on posts detailing builds from last Spring, so today's offering is of a build from just last week - the LEGO Bonsai Tree, set #10281.
This is a delightful build that uses a a lot of clever techniques to render an organic subject out of LEGO bricks and elements - not an easy task for the designer.
This particular set includes the parts to allow the builder to construct the model in one of two different forms - a green pine version, or a pink 'cherry blossom' variation.
For this build, I chose the former.
To start off, the bonsai container is built. It is a very attractive rendition of a 'classic' Bonsai shallow tray, complete with 'stones' made from various colored 1x1 round tiles.
After that, the tree trunk is assembled. This uses a number of curved elements, horns, and flexible cable to equip the tree with a gnarled, aged look, with just the right 'Bonsai' shape.
To my delight, a small little outgrowth on the trunk was represented by a brown 'frog' figure! You have to look really closely to identify it as such.
Finally, the tree's leafy canopy sections are rendered with standard flora elements in light and dark green tones.
The final part of the build is the wooden platform on which to set the container and tree. This also, is rendered in a very authentic style. From a distance, it is very hard to tell that this Bonsai tree is made of LEGO - a hallmark of great design!
Finally, I still have this bag of leftover parts.
These are the elements included in the set for building the pink cherry blossom version. It is very likely that I will never do the conversion, so the contents of this bag will be parted out into the general stash for use in future MOCs.
Cheers!
Today's post is about another set I finished up in early Spring, but am just now getting around to putting up on the blog.
This is the Star Wars T.I.E. Fighter Pilot Helmet, set # 75274.
The set was fairly straight-forward with no real surprises. Like other helmets in the series, this one also features a Technic / SNOT interior, with the details built up around it.
I especially like the way LEGO designers rendered the air tubes. These are built up with 'radar dish' elements strung on a flexible cable. Very ingenious!
A note for all of you SW fans: Even though the TIE Pilots look very sinister in these helmets, they were just a bunch of regular guys that happened to work for the empire.
At one point, even Han Solo was in the Imperial Academy training as a pilot. His rescue of Chewbacca led to him being booted out of the Academy, and the rest is Star Wars history.
Here are some pics of the various stages of this fine build:
Last Winter, I got hold of the Minions -The Rise Of Gru, set 75551.
I'm a major fan of these characters, so it was great that LEGO featured them in a very cool offering.
Also included are the Minifig versions of the Minions three.
A very cool set.
I've truly been a slacker about posting on this blog as of late. The primary reason is that I've been very busy with my model rocketry activities as well as music practice.
That said, I have still managed to knock together a few LEGO sets in the last couple of months, along with completing a major organizational overhaul of my ever-growing parts stash.
So, for the very few brave souls who visit this blog once in a while, I will be spending time this week putting up a string of posts detailing what's been happening in my little nearly-insignificant corner of the brick world.
Stay tuned...
Sheesh...It's been a long time since I have posted here!
Anyway, I happened to be browsing around the LEGO aisle at the local Wally-World the other day and found another juicy Classic box, set number 11717.
A whopping 1,504 parts for $39.97 !! That breaks down to 2.6 cents per piece. Not bad at all.
The set includes a nice little bonus: four 16 x 16 plates, that will make nice display bases for smaller builds.
A very welcome addition to the ever-growing parts stash.
On another subject, I will be soon posting several recent set builds here at TFTDDC. A couple have been built since shortly after Christmas - I've just been lazy and neglected putting together posts.
Stay tuned....
