18 Pounds Of Lego

Streetsweeper

Paul — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 18:39:53 +0000

I am in a dry point of Lego inspiration. Nothing I attempt seems to grab me these days.

Recently, I was in a toy store and saw a European model of a street sweeper. I figured that would be something easy to get me back into Lego building. This piece turned out to be tougher than I imagined it would be. I like how upside down wooden tubs make pretty good sweeper brushes. I think these turned out OK. The problem was figuring out how to attach them. Lego is just not designed for SNOT (Studs Not On Top) building. There are no plug-to-plug or jack-to-jack pieces. Those tubs as brushes took a lot of experimentation. I did it, though, using axles and round bricks. It works, but it’s very fragile.

Overall, I am satisfied with this piece.

S is for Sentinel

Paul — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 03:30:08 +0000

White Speeder

Paul — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 03:07:24 +0000

Here I am, building in white again. My goal was to build a wheeled vehicle that used discs instead of traditional Lego wheels. I’d seen a picture of a streamline motorcycle somewhere that had covers over the wheels, and I thought it looked pretty nice. It took a lot of experimentation to get this piece built. Somewhere in the experimentation, I decided I wanted a three-wheeled vehicle – maybe influenced by that streamlined motorcycle. Originally, the third, single, wheel was going to be in the back.

That single wheel proved to be the trickiest part of the build. One disc by itself didn’t look right. Two discs together looked right, but weren’t a standard studs’ width. After trying various axles, and off-stud configurations, I stumbled upon the idea of three discs together – which turned out to be exactly two studs wide. I put a gray stud between two white ones, and came up with an interesting tread pattern. Once I got that problem figured out, the rest of the build came together fairly easily. The two wheels somehow moved to the back of the design, and the driver’s compartment became enclosed, and it ended up slightly less than minifig scale.

I like the way this turned out. Phillip says it looks like something from THX 1138, and I agree. Once again, I’m not sure how the driver gets in and out of this vehicle.

Another Personal Hovercraft

Paul — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 06:32:09 +0000

I started off building a small hovercraft with a checklist of things it had to have. It had to have a snub nose. It had to have attention paid to the sides of the cockpit. (In other words, no flat sides.) It had to have curves as well as many unexpected angles. It had to have either three or four arms for the vertical lift jets. (Obviously, I decided on three.) It has all of these things and more. I am very happy with this creation. In fact, I love this little hovercraft. I have nothing negative to say about it.

Independent rudders deflect the thrust for maneuverability

Flying Rocket Scooter

Paul — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 17:19:53 +0000

I’ve noticed that, very often, when I build a spaceship, I tend to wonder, afterwards, how the pilot is supposed to climb in and out of the ship. So, I set out to build a scooter-type ship with a skinny middle section that the pilot could easily hop onto and off of. The nose of this scooter ended up being bulkier than I had envisioned, but, overall, I think this turned out very well. It went together quickly, except for the handlebars. A minifig’s arms don’t have much flexibility, and it took a lot of experimentation to come up with something the pilot could hold with both hands at the same time. (At one point, I considered cheating and having the pilot waving with one hand in the air.)

Waiting For The Orange Line

Paul — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 05:21:17 +0000

I love the way this piece turned out. I started out looking at those brown arch pieces and thinking that they would be perfect as roof supports at a light-rail station. I envisioned the station, and started building. There was just the right amount of experimentation along the way to make it an enjoyable build. This station came together quickly, and the overall shape turned out exactly as I had wanted.

If I had to find something to quibble about, it would be that I didn’t have enough gray plates to make the platform surface a little more uniform. (Oh, well.)

Someday, I’m going to buy some tracks so I can build a train for these folks.

R is for RV

Paul — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:35:40 +0000

Motorized Wheelchair

Paul — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:16:23 +0000

For a gentleman requiring the use of a wheelchair, this latest model affords him the utmost in mobility. By harnessing the ultimate power source – steam – this wheelchair provides all the self-sufficiency such a gentleman should need. All that is required of a hired helper is the initial input of coal or wood, and then the gentleman is free to go as he chooses. Recent technological breakthroughs have allowed this wheelchair to be equipped with the smallest steam engine ever built, and has reduced the overall weight to merely a few tons.

Ye Olde Falling-Water

Paul — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:00:03 +0000

After a long, long bout of the Lego equivalent of “writer’s block”, I came up with this: My answer to Phillip’s request that I build something “in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright”. Even after I started building it, there were long periods of time when I’d set it aside. I just wasn’t inspired to build. Then, I had a burst of energy and finally finished it. It isn’t exactly in the style of Wright, and it predates him by several generations, but I like how it turned out – very much.

The nagging question is: How does that cow get in and out of there? This house makes clever use of its limited space and free-flowing layout through the use of sliding panels, hidden doorways, and recessed stairs. After a string of cow thefts in the area, one such hidden doorway was incorporated into the barn. Where that doorway is located is, of course, a secret.

Park Maintenance Truck

Paul — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 23:48:42 +0000

It took me a very long time to build this little truck, because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to build. I kept putting together parts of things that didn’t quite work. Finally, I came up with this truck, which is so small I figure it must be used for maintenance workers in a park. I like the way this finally turned out very much.

I am proud of the fact that this truck was built in such a way that by rearranging a few existing pieces, the doors can be set to open the standard way, or to open “suicide” style, seen here. I’m not sure why, but the suicide doors look better on this vehicle.