A thing a week 2023, week 21

And now for something completely different. Last weekend was BricksCascade and as is typical for Lego cons, when I get back I want to build. This is a heavy space truck that hauls containers. It's at the same scale as my other freighters even if the containers aren't the same. It's fairly complex but not particularly parts intensive and I worked awfully hard to squeeze it down to the size that it is. I may do more work to get it even smaller so watch this space!

A thing a week 2022, week 40

As expected, the glamour shots have arrived! She shoots better than she looks in person and I was able to capture some of her best angles almost purely by accident. Usually it's the other way around but more glamour shouts can be found on flickr for interested parties.

This was a very challenging build and though I'm happy with the result, I'm far from satisfied. She ended up at about 73" at 96 hours in a month. There were 20 work days logged which averages to just under five hours per work day. That's nuts and what added to the stress of finishing. 

The good stuff first. She's awfully sturdy. The other giant build I worked on this year (not shown) taught me some very important things about building large and building sturdy which I replicated here. This was reciprocated since I'm using the same stands and the same connection type (slotted into the keel) and learned some top tips for doing it better. I also think I did some good shaping near the back and on the conning tower and some reasonable detailing in the middle area with the negative space. The engines in particular are good, and probably the best part of the build even though few folks at BrickCon ever saw those.

The bad stuff is too much to enumerate here. Because of her size and the time crunch felt nearly from the beginning, a lot of the details are off. The proportions of the aft section are wrong as are the nose bulby-things and the big fins. The nacelles need to be separated better from the aft section by structure or color. The color blocking isn't particularly good. All of those things have good solutions but not easy ones and not ones that I'm ever going to get to since I've already started disassembly. 

If this weren't SHIPtember and done at the last moment from BrickCon, I would have fixed all of those things and probably added more details, but we don't live in that world. I hit the point of "I just want to be done" too many times and too early in this build for it to ever have been great, but instead of dwelling on that, I think there are one or two angles that are legitimately good and I've taken away a couple really key learnings. The most important of which is "don't build so danged big for SHIPtember."

A thing a week 2022, week 39

Another week in the books and I'm both nearly done and feeling really nervous about finishing. There really isn't any space between those two points as it works out. BrickCon is Thursday so time is limited and I've got other commitments I have to meet. 

I do think it's shaped up well. Not as well as I'd have liked, but well enough nonetheless. Assuming I get things finished and shot, we should get glamour shots and show shots next week.

A thing a week 2022, week 38

A week of effort can make a lot of difference although it doesn't show here. I spent most of the last week pulling the sides in and reworking the internals some. Most of the stuff on the left is also reflected on the right which is also nice. Obviously there's a lot more to do and I pulled in the total length by about 32 studs though it'll still wind up around six feet.

"But wait!" you say, anonymous reader, "100 studs is less than 32 inches! Why is your SHIP so big?!" To this I have two answers: yes, 100 studs is 31.25 inches or about two and a half feet, but why would you stop there? I guess that's a question. Whatever. I am not known for my restraint and I like building at stupid scale. Need proof? Check in sometime next year.

A thing a week 2022, week 37

It's September and that means it's SHIPtember. The goal: a 100+ stud long ship in a calendar month. This offers those of us in the greater Seattle area an opportunity since it ends right around when BrickCon starts and I've brought home a trophy from such efforts. 

I've been mostly unmotivated to take on a big building project for the last two years--mostly (details later). BrickCon was virtual in 2020 and I wasn't able to attend last year due to work which further sapped any impetus I might have had. So heading into this year I knew I was going to finish something and it worked out that SHIPtember would be it. Yes, I'm tempting fate. 

This is about 32 hours in and maybe 1/3 of the way through. There's some serious structure that keeps the spine in alignment and it's about as stable a thing as I've built at this scale. It started as 3x blow up of a buddy's build but as expected it's drifted pretty seriously from the original. Also true: my lousy shot here obscures a lot of the subtle shaping. Tune in next time to see how far I've gotten in another week and if my photography has gotten any better (hint: no). 

Nostalgia, it's a thing

I've spokentyped here about a few of the handful of things I've got nostalgia for. They're few and far between but for me, like I imagine a lot of you, they're special. Space Battleship Yamato, Star Blazers in the States, is one of those things. Some of my earliest memories of a childhood long in the rear-view are of watching this on the small screen in the early 80s. It colors how I think of sci-fi, epic fantasy, and ship design, and it shows in many of the things I build even today. "Is that from Star Blazers?" is one of the comments I fish for with my designs, right up there with "I can't believe that's Lego."

I've been told that 2199 was really good but I'd been disappointed at how poorly the original had aged when I re-watched it about a decade ago. At that time I'd moved hundreds of miles away from anything I cared about and it stood in stark contrast to Robotech which I'd revisited around that same time which had aged well. So I was hesitant and as usual, got swept away in a sea of other concerns. I purchased the complete series of 2199 on blu-ray months ago and for reasons I can't sufficiently explain, the box containing the discs sat unwatched on my desk. 

Star Blazers 2199 is almost everything I'd hoped and dreamed. It's the Star Blazers I'd always imagined existed but was in doubt ever did. It's the spiritual successor of the original but updated and embellished with some 21st century sensibilities. I finished the last episode about 30 minutes ago at a time that I desperately needed it without realizing it. It is a beautiful thing and by no means perfect but then again, what is? I expect to watch it again in the near future and I desperately want more. 2202 discs are on their way to me and by God I need it to be as good as 2199 is. 

Years ago when I started my Lego journey, I knew I wanted to build the Yamato but I also knew that I didn't have the skill yet to do so. In much the same way that the original Mass Effect pushed me to build my SR1, I feel that same compulsion now--a compulsion to do right by a thing that means a lot to me in ways that I can't adequately express. I think I have the skill and resources to feasibly do this now which would mark a thing off my bucket list. I'm hoping that in the months to come I can share that journey, one that I expect to be as meaningful as my first steps into the Lego world, and with a subject that I truly love.

I suppose that's the power of nostalgia and I hope it will carry me through to completion. Wish me luck.

BrickFair 2011

BrickFair 2011 is officially over.  This time I knew what I was getting myself into and went in better prepared.  For those who don't frequent my flickr stream, I completed SHIP #4 in July, the Jaguar-class BCL. She was built in about 300 hours over the course of about two months topping the scales at around 40 pounds and ~8,000 pieces. The ship deconstructs into about 100 large-ish pieces that all fit into the nice car which sadly I didn't end up taking. Five hours of reconstruction on site and she was ready for show. I also took four fighters: two of these guys and one each of these.

And what a show it was! It amazes me that Lego people are so goshdarned awesome, pretty much as a rule. I got to catch up with some old pals and got to meet some awesome new ones (do follow the links--those guys do amazing work). It was good times dampened only by being pretty hung-over from a bottle of expensive scotch that I shouldn't have bought. To top it all off, the Jag took the award for "Best in Space" which is both awesome and unexpected. I'm already thinking of all the fun-cool-sweet stuff that I want to build now that the event is winding down. Scheduling gods willing, I'll be back next year in good form.

BrickFair 2010

As you might have surmised from my last post, I attended BrickFair 2010 in Chantilly, VA. I was originally just going to visit on one of the public days and hang with some old co-workers, but ended up staying for a number of days and showing some pieces instead. On the right is a very fuzzy picture of the five MOCs I brought. It amuses (and dismays) me that just about every third party picture of my stuff I've seen is far and away better than any picture I've ever taken of them. There may be a new camera in my future.


The Normandy was nominated for two categories and won "Best Sci-Fi" against some very good builds. A very fuzzy picture of the trophy is on the right (also in the center of the above).  I certainly didn't expect to win anything but I'm super happy that I did. It sort of legitimizes the last five months of frantic buying/building--not that I need any legitimizing, mind you.

It was good times. I met a lot of cool people who I only previously knew from their work and online names.  I was very impressed by all the sweet builds many of which were way cooler in person than in photos.  It's a good show and run by a bunch of awesome people.  With any luck, I'll be back next year.

A Funny Thing Happened At BrickFair Today...

So picture this. I'm showing off the Normandy in an almost incessant crush of people when I hear a familiar voice...

Flashback to 2003 and I'm leaving my first job. I'm interviewing with the man who would later hire me. It's the dead of winter in a freak Virginia snowstorm. He's wearing a Hawaiian shirt and is walking around in sandals. "Is it cold enough for you?", was his first question.

Sure enough, it's my old boss standing there with his family who I've never met. I worked for him for two years before parting ways and he had no idea who I was. I told him my name (twice) and it still didn't dawn on him. I told him I worked form him at XXXX company and the lightbulb finally went off.

Filed under "I'm glad I didn't need a reference".

Why? Because I Can.

This is why I never eat in my dining room. There's too much firepower there!

Got Turian?

First year in Massachusetts: sick 4 times in 4 months. Year 2 started out better...until last week when I finally succumbed to the cold that went around the office. Seriously, everyone in my immediate area got sick about two weeks ago. I went all of PAX without getting sick but due to the insanity that is our HR policy of shared PTO and vacation, EVERYONE comes in sick. On the bright side, I took a day off and missed some office drama (yay) and did some building.

This is a Turian frigate from Mass Effect. I've been wanting to build one of these guys for a while but since you only ever see them a couple times in two games, I never had proper reference. A couple hours spelunking in the ME game folder and voila! Viewable models. Hacking does, in fact, sometimes pay.

One of the things that's been keeping me from building a hero-sized SR1 (other than lack of skill and bricks...and laziness) is a complete lack of experience building large models. It didn't seem like a complicated build on the whole when I started, but "50 inches long" didn't seem big either until I got the keel down.

I'm fairly pleased with how it turned out though it didn't seem like it ever would. There are a pile of hacks to make it work but it's fairly solid in spite of them. I wouldn't swoosh it around the room but I'm not dreading transporting it to the kitchen for final photographing either (I mean, come on, it's right in front of the TV).

All told, it's about 50 hours of work but that includes a lot of futzing around with stuff. Every piece that hangs off at an angle (as in: everything but the keel) was rebuilt multiple times to get a) the angles right, and b) the structure such that it wouldn't fall apart if my neighbors upstairs stomp around.

I've probably got two or three Mass Effect related builds left in me before it's run its course. I'll probably finish on the hero-sized SR1 which will hopefully be spectacular.

Edit: glam shots + final adjustments can be found here.

Because You Can Never Have Too Much Lego

In preparation for doing bigger and more complicated builds, I've done a couple warmups with (probably) a couple more on the way. This way I can justify my many trips to the Lego store. For whatever reason, blogspot isn't letting me directly link my pictures (lame) so if you want the full effect, hit my Flickr account which is right here. The backgrounds notes for ship classes etc. are for an ongoing project.

When I build these, I generally have a rough idea of what I want but not a lot of details. Sometimes I doodle some rough ideas on notecards, almost always in pen (so I'm not tempted to erase & rework). I try to keep the general idea to a couple of phrases.

Andraghi Jackal class destroyer

An Andraghi destroyer built out of bits of a Terran battlecruiser. Originally I wanted to build the entire battlecruiser but dropped the idea pretty quickly for the Andraghi warship which I thought was way more interesting.

The general idea was a "golden age of space" kind of style with no obvious symmetry. I also wanted to mess more with with n-sided wall constructions (in this case, 5). The engines and con boom didn't really come through in the pictures and the build was a little fragile. I'll probably do another hermit-crab like Andraghi ship in the near future because it was hella fun.

Kestrel class light cruiser

When I think "battlecruiser" the image that my mind conjures up is almost invariably either the Space Battlecruiser Yamato or an Imperial Star Destroyer. The Terran Confederation is the benefactor of those associations for better or worse. For this model, I wanted to work at a smaller scale and since I've always envisioned the Terran Confederation to use tri-turrets, that meant I had to build some teeny-tiny gun batteries. I'd be happier with them if they elevated and were a little less fiddly, but they look OK.

The benefit of building at that scale is that I can take advantage of the nice angled pieces I've been picking up. The down side is that most of the nice angled pieces I've got are now white and maroon which aren't my first choices (grey with blue highlights would be much more appropriate). So, um, it must be ceremonial colors then, right? Riiight....

The conning tower and windowed areas are unconvincing but I didn't have blue or grey transparent slopes. The nose isn't secured properly either, but the overall feel of the ship is what I was after: a symmetric and clean hull with a stark and angular engine section.

SR1

In case you hadn't figured it out, I'm a big fan of Mass Effect. The jury still seems to be out on whether ME2 is a "real RPG" or not (whatever that means) but I don't think it actually matters despite what the pundits might think. It's a great game with some great storytelling in a universe that's well realized and brought to life in one of the best presentations that this generation of hardware can deliver. Mass Effect isn't just a great not-quite-complete trilogy of games, it's great science fiction and Bioware doesn't shy away from tackling some of the big-ticket themes.



In case you hadn't figured it out, I also love Legos. In fact, I've dropped more than I'd like to consider on them this extended weekend. Massachusetts is, in fact, blessed with not one, but THREE Lego stores, two of which I visited. If you like Legos and don't want to mine them yourself in the hallowed plastic mines of Denmark, I can think of no better pilgrimage than visiting one of their centers of rampant consumerism.

You can probably already see where this is going. If not, turn on your images.


This is a fairly rookie attempt at modelling the SR1 in all of its pre-disintegrated glory. I do like the SR2 (leather seats!) but it lacks the spartan charm of the SR1. I was sad to see it go.

Sadly, I'm not super pleased with this rendition mostly because of the shape of the fuselage but I'm fairly limited in the scope that I can build by the available parts in my collection. My repeated trips to Lego stores this weekend (three trips to two different stores, in case you're wondering) might have something to do with said collection.


Lame excuses aside, it's by far the most technical of the (admittedly small number of) builds I've done. The wings are set at a very un-lego like angle both from front to back, and from top to bottom. The bottom thruster sub-assemblies are pretty sturdily attached to the wings with technic pegs. The (poorly executed) fuselage is a five walled construction. During its construction over the last six days (~40 hours) I've tried tons of different builds for just about every piece before settling on the build that you see pictured here.


Since I started, I've learned that there's an entire set of builders out there that are nothing less than phenomenal. They've gathered a palette of skills that are astounding. I've also learned that there are uses for pieces that I didn't even know existed (both the pieces, and the uses). So now, armed with a Lego VIP card and the ability to hit two separate stores in the same hour, I'm embarking on a quest to hone my Lego building skills to the point that I can build the Normandy in a more proper scale in a way that I'm pleased with.

...So I Built It Out of Legos

Carry on.