Flickr user lisqr has built this wonderful microscale model of one of the most impressive architectural feats in mankind’s history, the Great Wall of China. While the real Great Wall was several thousand miles long, lisqr employs a nifty series of connected vignettes to capture the wall’s serpentine path.
The best trick to make a mecha model look really great, is to ensure it’s got as close to ‘human’ movement as is possible. Nate Descatro has achieved this in a very compact and very stylish design. It looks highly adaptable too.
It’s with a heavy heart that I share emerging news that fellow LEGO fan Heather Braaten’s body was discovered yesterday afternoon.
Thank you to everyone who helped get the word out last week that she was missing. For our global readers, we’re going to conclude coverage of this tragedy here on The Brothers Brick at this point. If you’re interested in learning about local arrangements for services, please join the SEALUG mailing list or keep an eye on news here in Seattle.
Our thoughts are with Heather’s family and friends. If you’d like to share something, please feel free to do so in the comments. As we’ve done with other members of our community who’ve died, we’ll pass along your thoughts to Heather’s family.
If you have photos of Heather or her LEGO creations, please feel free to add them to a new group on Flickr.
While I usually don’t blog LDraw part updates, I’m making an exception for the latest one since, as far as I can tell, it’s the biggest yet, with 601 new parts on offer. In addition to an increase in the number of new parts available, the library of 12V train system parts is almost complete. Many thanks must go out to all parts authors and reviewers, especially those who’ve recently started, and to Chris Dee (the Parts Library Administrator), Phillipe Hurbain and Steffen for the huge work they’ve put in to this latest release.
And to those who’ve never heard of LDraw, or are interested in checking it out, please visit the forums.
LEGO Marvel sets are coming out shortly (watch this space, as they say), as is The Avengers in movie theaters. LEGO has recreated the poster for the movie with the minifigs from the upcoming sets, plus some that aren’t currently scheduled for any sets.
I’m still not sold on Tony Stark’s Iron Man helmet/mask, which looks a bit huge in the photos I’ve seen, but it does look great here.
Via FBTB.
While Iain Heath and I were geeking out this weekend at a comic book convention, something strange happened.
Flickr user atarifan401 managed to marshall the powers of vintage Atari video game fandom to follow in the footsteps of LEGO Minecraft and LEGO Shaun of the Dead to reach 10,000 votes on LEGO CUUSOO.
To be honest, I think these designs are, well, not that great. It’ll be interesting to see what transformation they undergo as LEGO works through the design process with “atarifan401”.
Chris Hettinger (iNeedMoreBricks) has reproduced Iowa’s tallest building in LEGO. Chris’s model spans all 45 floors of the original, and is built from 2,774 LEGO elements.
Dave says, “One of the biggest hassles involved with building with Lego is sorting. Oh sure, I could keep all my bricks in a big tub, but it’s easer to work with them if they’re sorted. Fortunately, there are all kinds of gadgets and gizmos you can use to more easily sort bricks by size. Unfortunately, I mostly sort by color, and there isn’t an easy way to do that.”
Thankfully, Dave invented the Brick Sorter, a device that uses symbols written on glossy cardboard and a simple shake of an Amazon.com box to pull the target color out of the unsorted mess.
Hard to believe? I thought so too, until I saw the video:
Read all about it on Dave Ex Machina.
This little gem by Nathan Proudlove (Proudlove) seemed especially appropriate to post today. It’s also pretty impressive, considering it’s only 4 studs wide. Great job building the iconic stripe at that scale.
As you may or may not have heard, we’re well into MOCpages’ 2012 MOCalathon. There are some fabulous creations coming out of this, and the one below by Imagine Rigney is no exception.
I have a bit of a soft-spot for the old Fabuland minifigures, so that definitely caught my eye. I like the scattered bits of shiny things, but what really gets me is the caricature of Walter. Who is apparently a devourer and something of a tomb-guardian. I bet you he just wants to play. Cats are weird like that.
LDraw.org is proud to announce that we are teaming up with The LEGO Group to bring you a better LEGO Digital Designer product with full access to the LDraw parts.
LEGO Group Acquisition of LDraw.org Parts Library Announced
LDraw.org and LEGO System A/S jointly announced today that LDraw.org has agreed to sell its rights in the development of the LDraw Parts Library to the LEGO Group, the publisher of the virtual building software LEGO Digital Designer (LDD), for $5.35 million. The LDraw.org Steering Committee members have been offered employment by the LEGO Group, who will continue software development and operations from the former LEGO Universe studio in Louisville, Colorado.
“We’re excited about the integration of the LDraw Parts Library to fill the gaps of old virtual LEGO parts currently missing in LDD, but re-engineered by the fans and are happy to have the core of the community officially join the LEGO team,” said Søren Askildson, Senior Executive Vice President at the LEGO Software Engineering; Development Department. “This acquisition demonstrates our commitment both to the ongoing success of LEGO Digital Designer and to an overall strategy to expand our brand online.”
“LDraw.org’s focus is developing a solid easy-to-use library on an open document file format, and publishing the next generation of virtual building CAD systems,” said Willy Tschager, Member of the LDraw.org Steering Committee . “We’re proud of the library our community built, and are certain that it has a bright future. The transition of members of our team to the LEGO Group enables us to focus completely on internally-published, free-to-play software businesses.”
LEGO System A/S entered into a free-data-for-advisory relationship with LDraw.org as to build LEGO Universe in 2006. The acquisition of the rights to the library and the ability to transition members of the team to continue work on the library follows the fulfillment of the LEGO Universe development contract.
LDD as a virtual building experience attracts several million people each year to build a huge range of amazing creations. The LDraw System of Tools is a popular system of free software tools for modeling LEGO creations in 3D on a computer. The parts library that is central to the programs is under continuous maintenance and extension by the LDraw community since 1997.
Shaun of the Dead star Simon Pegg has thrown his weight behind a LEGO CUUSOO project by Belgian LEGO fan Yatkuu, and the project is nearing 10,000 votes.
UPDATE: The project has hit 10,000 supporters since I posted this last night. Congratulations to Yatkuu!
Even if TBB readers can help nudge this project from 9,608 votes to 10,000 votes, it’ll still take some doing for LEGO to a) secure the rights to the movie and b) approve a project based on a very violent, R-rated movie.
Still, Shaun of the Dead is one of my favorite movies, and this project certainly has my vote!