Brick 2014

It's a bit late in the day, but still in time for those that missed this year and were wondering about going next year. Here are my thoughts on Brick 2014.

Now I can write this not only from a Lego Lover POV, but as a father of a three year old too. And my reaction from both sides is WOW!

We booked to go on the opening day, Thursday, in the hope that it would not be too busy. Our tickets were for regular people, we could afford the VIP ones, which allowed you 10 o'clock entry and a VIP gift bag.

The bag included an exclusive mini-set and lanyard and other such things I believe. Regular ticket holders could enter any time from 11 o'clock onwards. There was a free Batman Minifig available to all those that entered though which was a nice touch.

Arriving on the Thursday we found that it was the day for school groups (wish I went on trips like that when I was at school), but they were segregated off to have their tickets checked and the entry went swiftly and smoothly.

This was where I was torn. My three year old daughter had been travelling for four hours. She saw one of the four Lego pits and wanted to dive straight in. I, on the other hand, wanted to go straight to the exhibitors.

The father in me won out and we went to the red pit. A brilliant idea of creating many 'zones' of soft play areas just filled with 2x4 standard bricks. All of a certain colour. The one we hit first was red. Build is the only instruction and looking around some of the older kids had made some impressive stuff.

Once we had satiated my daughter's desire to play, we had a look around. The center of the show was about the games. And they had done really well in setting up lots of PS4s, xBox 1s and PS Vitas. All showcasing the new Lego Batman Game. All open to be played with. I was happily surprised that there were so many consoles to use that even with all the school groups there wasn't the rush and squeeze of children desperate to have a go and needing to wait.

She features in the DLC!

A little further around were the stalls. You like to buy custom Minifigs? They're here. Opened Minifig bags? They're here. The Lego shop from Denmark were even there with a tub of Minifigs that didn't quite meet quality control, selling for cheap. Brickarms had a stall selling what they do best, custom weapons and their new Inspector Q range. Matt Smith's Doctor Who for those that recognise him.

My daughter clocked the Anna and Elsa from Frozen almost instantly and so we purchased those and Olaf. All the stalls were well laid out and the sellers more than happy for you to browse and rifle through their stuff.

True some of the Minifigs were a bit on the pricey side, but there were so many pieces and accessories on sale that were within children's price range also that you wouldn't leave wanting.

Best find of the day was the cuddly Lego Man. Bought as a first toy for new baby that's on the way! (Yes I dragged my non-Lego-Loving pregnant girlfriend along as well!)

Soft Lego Man and free Batman were good, Lego Doctor Who was better!

Just be prepared to take lots of cash as none of the stalls seemed to provide card payment. However, there is a free cash machine just outside in the ExCel concourse. The use of hand stamps also lets you exit and return should you wish to go outside for lunch.

There were a couple of food outlets inside and toilets, but they were pricey. Even for London.

Being so close to Christmas, there was a Winter Wonderland type zone. A soft play area with white bricks, my snowman instantly snapped up by some boys when we departed and turned into a zoid-tron. What ever that is. But that's the beauty of Lego! There were some sweet stalls there and a huge play area for slightly older children in the corner.

A section of the room was set aside for a mosaic. Where you can build a tile and it be used to form a larger mosaic at the end of the Show.

Then there was the main attraction. The Exhibitors. If, like me, you follow Lego bloggers such as the Brothers Brick and BrickNerd, you will recognise some of the models on show. It was amazing just what these guys had created and managed to transport as well. They were all protected by barriers and seemed so happy to talk to anyone that wanted a chat.

My daughter struggled looking at these for any period of time, but she is only three and a lot of the models hold no interest for her. Ones that had Doctor Who TARDIS in or any of the MARVEL heroes (I've taught her well) did excite her.

Ones that I enjoyed were the Steampunk scene with flying cows and the stall that had one model from every Lego space range dating back to way before I got into Lego. I recognised a few of the sets and got excited to the point my girlfriend started rolling her eyes!

Quicker than waiting for pigs to fly I guess!

On the whole, the show, for me was a great success and cannot wait to go next year. I would suggest that if taking a child, be prepared with snacks and allow plenty of time in the building sections. I think we were lucky with my daughter as she loves Lego a lot, but at three she did struggle a little.

They had provided a lot for customers, the event was very well organised and there were lots of people milling around ready to help if needed. If you like Lego and seeing what can be done by fans go. Go now. Well, next year when it opens.

If you have any more questions on my experience of Brick 2014, then please do not hesitate to get in contact!

Minifig Series 13

Here it is! Minifig Series 13!! Out Jan next year for us Brits. I can't wait to get them all. Favourites? The space guy, hotdog man and the king.

Which do you like the look of? My daughter is going to want the Unicorn for sure!

The Alessia

”She’s not the prettiest ship I’ll grant you, but she’s robust. Never-fail engine in her too, well, once you get it going...” The large salesman dry washed his hands. The heat from the two suns in orbit was not the only reason for the sweat running down his face. He had been trying to get a sale for months, and this off-worlder looked like he knew little about ships. This was going to be his ticket of the planet.

“I don’t think that I could ever have need for such a large vessel.” The customer said, rubbing his chin, appraising the junk parked in front of them.

“Come now, sir, size means more cargo space. More cargo space means-“

“More for raiders to steal?” The customer cut in.

“I... er... The main shipping lanes are very safe these days, thanks to the GEG, I’m sure you’ll find that her hull plating will be more than sufficient for the few remaining raiding parties.” Another lie, but he did not want to lose the customer. “For the price you’ll admit it's a lot of ship.”

“For the price yes.” The customer replied, not really paying attention. The light from the larger of the two suns was glimmering off the canopy of a vessel parked a few mantras to the rear. Not even in the main line up of ships on offer. To say she had been parked was a bit of an overstatement. Crashed looked more apt a word, but there was something about her that called to him. “What about that one?”

The salesman looked around the ship he was gesturing to, to the outdated mining craft the customer was looking at. “That?” He almost laughed. “That is about five minutes away from being towed for scrap. The drill bit alone would get me-“

“Let us have a look shall we?”

“I really don’t think this is the ship for you, sir, do you know anything about vacuum mining?” But the customer was already striding off. “I thought you were looking for a cargo vessel, this one has very little room thanks to all the-“

“Room can always be made.” The customer smiled as he reached the ship. To many she would have looked cumbersome and clunky, but to him it looked like home already. “A Spiner Class is she not?”

The salesman was taken aback slightly. He had not really taken the time to research the ship she seemed that outdated and obsolete. “I think so yes.” He lied. He quickly rattled through what he did know;

“She comes with the externally mounted vacuum drill. Hardest material known to man, that will pierce any asteroid you can land on and never go blunt. I hear they gave them a life time guarantee! Same side, further down, your escape pod, probably wouldn’t take much to convert that into luxury living quarters...

“On the other side,” The salesman continued, walking the customer round, “are the engines. The side mounted configuration was to balance out the weight of the drill with the Jump engine centrally at the rear.”

The customer ran his hands down the external paneling and realised that the forward section was glazed. “Nice for looking out at the stars.” The salesman said, noticing the customer’s actions. Maybe he could get a sale after all. “Shall we take a look inside?”

The large, sweaty salesman motioned towards the front of the ship. Below the elevated cockpit was a bay door leading inside what looked like a dumping ground for all manner of junk. As they manoeuvred between scrap metal and old engine parts the salesman mentioned something about having the ship gutted on sale, but the customer wasn’t really listening.

The interior of the ship was dark and grimy and it looked beautiful. Where the salesman saw broken cabinets and battered panelling, the customer saw a kitchen, living quarters and a home. The side viewing dome that allowed the control of the drill was also covered in so much dust that visibility was near zero.

“I’ll take her.” The customer said, holding out his hand. The salesman eyed him suspiciously.

“You do know that to sell you a mining ship, even one this old I’ll need to see a license. I can’t be giving something like this to someone without proper zero-gee certification or proof of intent. The GEG would have my sales permit torn up. Especially with some people not believing the war is over.”

“I have more than adequate training, trust me.” The customer said, almost too gruffly. “And as for my intent, I want nothing more than to simply disappear and make a small living for myself.”

“Yes but,”

“Maybe this would help?” The customer responded pulling out his credit chip from his coat pocket. The Salesman recognised the GEG emblem immediately and licked his lips. “I’ll pay you what the ship is worth in it’s current condition, the price you would have got for the drill, and you wont have to clear out the junk.”

The salesman dry washed his hands again, he felt hotter inside than he did out and mopped his brow. “Deal.” He said, wiping his hand on his dirty trouser suit before accepting the customer’s. “And your name?” he asked as he took the credit chip and scanned it.

“Skylar, Ryjax Skylar.”


<<>>


An extract from the story I'm in the process of writing, but obviously as a Lego blog you may be wondering why I've given you this. Well, it's simple, the Alessia is my latest creation, the ship, and the main character is inspired from one of the minifigs in series 12. The Space Driller. But first, before the ship, let's meet the crew!

From left to right, Ryjax Skylar. The captain of Alessa. Pippin, the engineer. Commander Temperance Sol, scientist. Jason Vista the pilot. Larry, trainee chef, but photographer wannabe. And Merlin. Yes, Merlin. It will become clear in the story why he makes an appearance.

They each have their normal attire, and space suit capabilities. Well except for Merlin. Should he ever need to spacewalk he can easily cast some form of bubble spell around himself.

They each have their own accessories also, pertinent to their role in the story.

But that's enough of the crew, the ship is why I started this post! And here she is, the Alessia!!

Scale wise she should be about 4 times the size, but lack of bricks and sheer weight on completion made this a little hard. Let's start at the beginning, the drill bit. Made from the hardest material known to man, you may recognise it, and a few other bricks, from the miners sets from years back. The two lower sections are contra-rotating.

 

The whole drill bit lowers and raises on the angle arm, for when the Alessia has landed on the asteroid or planet on which it wishes to mine.

The controls are situated inside and to allow maximum visibility there is a glazed bubble for Ryjax to be able to see what he's drilling.

Moving around the ship, next to the viewing bubble, you have the escape pod. Within the story Ryjax converts this into a small shuttle which we shall look at in more detail in a second.

Continuing around, counterbalancing the weight of the drill bit, the two engines are mounted one above the other. You may recognise the rear mixer from the cement truck being used here. Again, this was due to weight and number of available pieces. However I like how they look and I got inspiration from the large tank/ship from the Galaxy Squad model.

The central rear engine is the 'hyperdrive / warp' engine. I haven't decided what to call it yet, but that's the gist of that one.

The other side has the glazed viewing window that gives you a lovely vista from the dining area inside. And then a bit further forward there is something I'm still a bit unsure about. It's a fully glazed compartment. At the moment I'm toying with it being a stasis chamber...

 

Using the Agents canopy was tough to get right due to it being connect on its top at the 'base' and the bottom at the 'top'. I always struggle when getting the measurements of length when matched to height of stacked bricks.

If anyone has a good rule of thumb for how many studs length fits exactly to stacked bricks that would be awesome.

From the front you, like many in the universe I'm creating, may think that the Alessia looks a bit ugly, but I, like Ryjax think she is beautiful.


The unsymmetrical, clunkiness of her, the fact she is designed more around use than aesthetic enamours her to me.

 

As mentioned, she is not scaled correctly as per the story, but the cockpit still has room for two side by side.

 

They can both sit upright and minifigs can have hair or hats on and still not be impeded by the cockpit. This is a must for me in all models I make, sometimes makes it harder, but I dislike how Lego do, on occasion, just have the character laying down with no visibility out or method of control.

The corridor to the rear of the cockpit as with the elevated cockpit itself was inspired by Serenity from Firefly. And a little from the Millennium Falcon.

 

My aim was to allow the player to see that there was a way in and out and that the cockpit was a part of the ship as a whole, and not some segregated section for a pilot to sit.

The cargo bay door, as described in the story, is at the front. Again, inspiration came from Serenity here. It is 10 studs long and 6 wide, so pretty good for a cargo compartment. Had the ship been at the correct scale there would have also been a set of steps up into the main ship as this is situated partly beneath the floor.

Now what does every freelancing cargo ship need? That’s right! A smuggling compartment. The Alessia has one at her centre. The hatched top of a tomb from the Adventurers sets fitted perfectly in the square ‘bracing’ piece.

 

 

Next we have the top view. I wanted to make a ship that was not only playable, as in internally and externally, but also could be ‘covered’ so it looked like a complete ship when being zoomed around the living room. This is the first time I have created a model with removable panels like this, and the large Police Seaplane roof sections helped greatly. It is connected by one stud at the rear, two in the centre and two at the front.

 

The yellow Technic brick is used to brace the top half of the ship, as when its lifted the walls may collapse in on themselves. It allows you maximum visibility into the ship while still zooming.

I wanted to give each crewmember their own designated space. Due to the smaller scale actual living compartments are a dream more than a reality.

 

Larry has the Kitchen area, with bench table for group meals, cupboards for ingredients and the prime view out of the window for his photography.

 

 

Pippin obviously has engineering!

 

 

Merlin is given the rear ‘living’ area. He has a shelf for his potions and space to test new spells.

 

 

Captain Skylar has his control seat for operating the drill. You can see behind him the accessories tower. Everything that the minifigs ‘own’ and need for space missions is stored within the Alessia!

This is Larry’s view from the outside. You can see the chainsaw accessory attached to the rear of the ship for those missions that need a little more than a huge great drill!

 

 

Underneath where Merlin stands is the the compartment where their space suits are stored. I like to be able to keep everything n one place for a complete set. It’s not the easiest to access, but it keeps everything internal.

 

And lastly, the shuttle craft. Converted from an escape pod, the controls now mean that is it just a one man craft and detaches as below;

 

 

The flight controls are very basic to keep the size down, but a minfigure, complete with accessories and space attire can fit in there. Or in this case, Temperance Sol with her big hair!

 

 

Other than that I tried to make the Alessia look as industrial and beefy as possible. She is by no means a fighting craft, but a mobile space home for the crew that find themselves put together.


Let me know what you think, I’d be very interested to see your thoughts. Just please try to keep criticism constructive.


Have you liked any of the Minifig series characters more than the others? Did any of them inspire a set just for them? Do you like to write and use Lego to build your inspiration? Let me know and leave a comment. I would love to hear from you!


Until next time!

A Rebellious Mod

OK, so when I think of rebels, as a lot of science fiction movies have as their underdog heroes, I think scrap. To me, rebels are underground factions or groups that have to scrape by on what they can get a hold of unnoticed. The overbearing corporation they are fighting against has the latest technology and systems and they wouldn’t, in my eyes, let that out of their sight.

When the Star Wars Clone Wars Rebels sets were introduced I was a little excited. I am a fan of Star Wars, even though they seem to reproduce models a lot with only minor improvements, the space ships are generally quite good.

Now I’ve not seen any of the series, but I do love an underdog and so their space ships interested me a lot. Specifically the Ghost and Phantom ships. With the Ghost a bit out of my price range for a ‘on the spot’ purchase I started with the Phantom.

This was my first set with the new missile launcher brick, but I also liked it because of its cargo hold which could hold the accessories that weren’t being used such as the helmet or hair. Also at £20 I thought it was pretty reasonably priced.

Now, do not get me wrong, I think it is a very good model and from what I’ve seen of pictures from the upcoming TV show it represents it very well. So please do not think that I am bad mouthing the design from what you are about to read. Everything to follow is just my own opinion.
Here is how mine looks now;

To start, I was a little disappointed that this was one of the sets that Lego has produced where they haven’t really taken the size of the mini figure into account. By that I mean the cockpit. They have had a few sets where to actually make the mini figure sit inside, especially if they have hair or a neck attached accessory, the character needs to practically be laying down.

That is where the inspiration came from to start modding this set, getting the character to sit up.

If you do not want to change the set too much – and I understand that a lot may not want to as it does lock into the larger Ghost ship – there is a simple mod you can do to give you an extra ‘flat’ height. That doesn’t affect the over all external dimensions.

These bricks are already coloured from my changes, however, once built you can remove the 6×4 panel quite easily from the base of the cockpit.

The instructions have the blue 1×4 strip two studs to the left, with the two 2×1 strips in the gap (one stud to the right).

set up as shown in the picture you will end up with a 2×2 square where the character can sit, one ‘flat’ lower.

This does not allow the character to sit up straight, but it helps. There is now also room to add a steering wheel or handlebar piece within the cockpit so as not to rely on the decal inside for the controls.It is now I should probably go back to an earlier statement of mine, in that I always imagine ‘rebels’ to have to salvage scrap to make what they need under the oppressor’s noses. Which is why I always like to randomly colour the bricks and to make the design un-symetrical. To me it makes it look like the ship has been repaired / constructed by whatever the rebels could get their hands on.

The rear, removable, cargo section of the ship in this sense has not changed from the original design, it’s just had the white bricks replaced for a different colour.

The biggest change is in the fore cockpit section. Another of my grievances was that if the cockpit was meant to be a small craft in itself, should the cargo section be jettisoned, there were no engines of any kind.

Now the ‘real’ ship might not be able to fly without the rear section, but I wasn’t happy with that as a concept. So in making the cockpit bigger it allowed me to add some bricks that have the Technic holes through them. Not only did this let me put some light bricks at the rear for engines, but also some bricks inside the cockpit for a head rest.

I had to increase the depth of the cockpit by another flat to ensure a mini fig could sit up straight. As you can see from Emmet being inside, this now means a mini fig can not only sit up, he can also have hair and a neck attachment without impeding the shutting of the canopy.

This did raise another issue though. The angled side plates of the original model covered up the gap around the base of the canopy. Now my canopy was essentially one flat higher, the gap was now visible. This was unacceptable to me. So I delved into my work desk (as this is were a lot of my modifications happen) and found two hinged 4×4 bricks. as you can just about make out in the picture above.

When opened these allow you better access to the cockpit, but when shut the angle into the canopy giving the cockpit shape.

Purely by happenstance, the re-use of the angle panels being angled in themselves now makes the whole cockpit look like it has one clean edge from top or bottom;

The cockpit then had to become longer as being one flat higher made it look stunted, so i elongated it slightly. I also did not really like the length of the front blasters (again, this is a personal opinion) so i flipped the ‘sticks’ around and pushed them in fully.

I understand that a lot of what I have done here may not be to everyone’s tastes. And trust me, it is one of those models I shall continually go back to and tweak for many months to come. It surprised me just how far from the original I strayed, and although this will never fit into the Ghost ship I still really like the outcome.

What started with just being able to get the mini fig to sit up right turned into a model that ANY mini fig can sit in, even one with body armour on, and, for me, a more playable set with the addition of the engines to the fore section.

I really should start doing some real work at my desk one day…

Let me know what you think? Have you got any bug bears about Lego sets, such as laying down minifies or bad brick use that keeps popping up? Do you modify sets, keeping them as close to the original as possible, but making them more playable? Or are you a hardcore fan that leaves as is? I find myself a bit of both. There are some sets I will not betray in the slightest, but some, like this I like to tinker with.

Let me know if you would like any more details on what I did and I shall help you out as best I can.

Until next time!

A Mini Build Mk2

So, after my first mini build – seen earlier in the blog – I had a second bike sitting on my desk courtesy of my nephew picking it for me for Christmas. Loving the first hover/space bike so much I decided to make another. Here it is!

Some of you may recognise Star Lord from the recently released movie Guardians of the Galaxy. This mini model was once again made from pieces I had in NAND around my desk at work, apart from one. I had to steal a Harry Potter wand from Hogwarts in my office at home.

I actually prefer this one as it has pieces taking up the locations of both wheels thanks to a lot of what I call scarab legs. This is purely because all the ones I’ve used are from the scarab model I had. The actual piece part number is 4294997;

Four in total were used with the aid of a grapple hook and ariel piece they do quite well at taking the place of the wheels I think…

You may recognise the ‘wing’ used is the other from the set of two which I’d previously used on the first mini build, however this time the rockets come from a modified jet pack from the ninjago sets. There is a free clip at the back for an accessory too.

What do you think? Do you prefer this one or the first one? I feel the mods I did to the first gave me a head start on what I needed to make this one a bit more technical. Either way I think it just looks cool!

Have you made a mini mod recently? Where did you get your inspiration?