Monthly Archives: August 2009

Get your flesh at the Monster Bar

If LEGO released Monster Bar instead of the upcoming Fire Brigade, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy it. But I don’t think the company would endorse cannibalism unlike Haung (rack911), the builder of this model. Take a look at the gallery to see what I mean.

LEGO bar

James May to live in the world’s first LEGO house.

It’s only been a month since Top Gear host James May announced that he’s building the world’s first life-sized LEGO house. Now, two-million bricks later, we see that the house is nearing completion. Would you have pictured a rainbow block in a vineyard? But then again I wasn’t expecting a mansion either. Nevertheless, this is quite a commendable effort and I echo May’s concerns that he won’t wake up in a pile of bricks, which I guess is the only case you wouldn’t want that to happen.

Thanks for the tip Mac!

The Meeting produces results

This month, several Neo Classic Space fans got together at Peter Reid’s house in the UK and called it The Meeting. They individually and collectively produced some great stuff, my personal favorite is the LL0505 Comet, a collaborative effort by Thomas Oechsner, Peter Reid and Stuart Crawshaw.

NCS Comet

Worth checking out the other photos of The Meeting for more detailed pictures of this creation as well as several others.

How to clean yellowed LEGO bricks to make Classic Space sets look new [News]

This is very old news for some of you, but I just realized that we never blogged the breakthrough discovery of a way to restore the original color of yellowed LEGO bricks.

LEGO discoloration experimentLEGO fans have discussed this problem for years, even concluding (correctly) that ultraviolet light can contribute to faster yellowing of colors like white, blue, and old light gray (some of the key colors of Classic Space sets). Fans like sugegasa have experimented with the effects of sunlight on the new grays, but nobody could quite figure out how to reverse the effect on older, yellowed bricks.

That is, until now. The same problem apparently happens with other ABS products, such as the casing on older computers and video game consoles. A group of gamers over at Retr0Bright have proved conclusively that the original color of yellowed ABS can be restored by using hydrogen peroxide.

Tim Goddard gave it a try on his yellowed LEGO bricks.

Cleaning yellowed LEGO bricks

Success! In brief, the problem isn’t dirt so much as a chemical reaction in the visible surface layer of the ABS plastic itself, caused by UV rays in sunlight. Immersing the LEGO bricks in a hydrogen peroxide solution permeates the surface and reverses that chemical change.

Learn how to get those Classic Space sets looking like new again at Retr0Bright.

Important: Standard disclaimers apply. Your mileage may vary.

VO-Eighty reconnaissance fighter by Dasnewten

The latest odd and awesome spaceship from Rob (dasnewten) is this unconventional “light fighter/reconnaissance type” vehicle.

LEGO space fighter

As different and equally cool as they both are, this could almost be from the same space force as Joel Larsson’s Sleipnir.

LEGO E-One Tower Ladder & Pierce Pumper by Steven Asbury

LEGO high-rise fire engineHaving built just about every fire apparatus in existence already, Steven Asbury is returning to some of his older designs and incorporating new parts and techniques. This gives us a great excuse to blog fire engines and ladder trucks that we didn’t way back when he first posted them to his Brickshelf gallery.

Steven’s latest includes an E-One tower ladder modeled after the vehicles used by the Boston Fire Department (below) and a Pierce pumper (above).

LEGO E-One Tower Ladder

LEGO Star Wars: The Quest for R2-D2

Though it does at times feel a bit like an extended ad for the current LEGO Star Wars sets, “The Quest for R2-D2” is a fun 5-minute video featuring some slick animation and funny moments reminiscent of the LEGO Star Wars video games.

Via Bricks3D.com.

Heavy Assault Vehicle/wheeled A6 Juggernaut

Sven Junga built the Clone Turbo Tank like I’ve never seen before. Measuring 120 studs, the model is the ground equivalent of a SHIP. The wheel construction stands out the most to simultaneously amaze and baffle. I wish I was this good when I was 15.

Joel’s Sleipnir Spaceship

Joel Larsson (ProfessorLarson) recently posted a new space ship. He calls it the Sleipnir. I don’t know what the name means, but I love the build.

Joel's Space Ship

He’s achieved some fantastic angles on this thing. I also absolutely love the use of crates for the guns. The sticker use is quite reserved, and quite excellent.

The Astounding Pizza-Man cures modern children of boredom

The Astounding Pizza Man is coming to print! Learn more at TabletownOnline.com.

A Mansion, splendid with finery

Brickshelf user ppoa66 posted this magnificent Mansion:

The details are incredible! The builder includes some amazing shots, like this darkened one detailing the stained glass windows.

Thanks to Johan for the find!

BrickCon 2009 is coming in just a few weeks! [News]

The deadline for online BrickCon ’09 registration is Sept 15th! After that you can only register at the venue. Also, if you register before the deadline, you are guaranteed your personalized brick badges and all sort of cool BrickCon swag.

Oh yes, hotels are filling up too, so get on the ball!

While you are at it, check out this cool promo video for BrickCon. You might spot someone or something you recognize….I did.

By the way, Andrew, Caylin, Thanel, and I will be attending. Other contributors may be as well. If you see any of us, make sure you introduce yourself!