Jeramy Spurgeon and the team have just released a double issue edition of RAILBRICKS magazine covering all things LEGO trains. It has in-depth articles on a few models we’ve featured here on TBB.
This 100 page issue was a long time coming, but features an interview with UK
builder Carl Greatrix, more Steam tips & Tricks, the Indiana Jones Circus
Train MOC by Brian Williams, Billund’s Miniland Trains, and much more!
Check out the website to download or read the magazine.
With my latest model I went public with what I usually keep private: my building stages. Since the photos and comments were up I thought it might be interesting to share this process with TBB as an example of how I (and I imagine many other people) build something.
I then made an LDraw rough draught of the building to try to get the basic layout and proportions as well as the most prominent details. I also wanted to get an idea of how many dark orange bricks I would need to build it to see if I had to order any.
Following comments from ‘the commitee’ I proceeded to make a slightly more refined model with some of the details included. You can see that the roof has been vastly improved and the entire model has become one brick taller.
For my final work-in-progress (WIP) stage I substantially altered many of the details and added still more. It should be noted that at all stages so far the model doesn’t have a back. At this stage I also learnt that the model was a) not a model of what I thought it was and b) not at all valid in its current form. I then conspired (away from the commitee) to remedy this for the final, secret, version.
Finally I spent many hours of back-ache transferring the CAD to brick and adding on all the final details (as well as a back). I changed the design from a coal drop to a small railside warehouse as I’ve always wanted to build one and it made more sense. I also altered bits of the design to allow various components to pop out for added playability.
And thus a model was born. I hope I satisfied the commitee as well as everyone else. Have fun spotting what has remained throughout the design process.
I suspect most of us with an interest in town layouts eagerly await Jonathan Lopes’ latest updates. It’s been a very long wait since his last one which seems to be because of a major redesign. While Jonathan’s LEGO buildings and cars may not always be perfect (whose are?) are very good what sets his layout aside is his attention to all the gritty details you see in a real city. There’s no shiny plastic perfection here, just the dust, decay and dirt of a real city. Check it out and check it out closely.
Edited for clarity
I’m marking my return to blogging (been global and busy) by posting this lovely work in progress by Peter Norman (swoofty). I’ve tried weathering myself and it’s very difficult to pull off but I think Peter is well on the way with this one. Note the mixed blues.
As part of the National Train Show on July 10-12, 2009 in Hartford, CT, Jamie Berard, set designer of the newly released ‘Emerald Night’ and employee of The LEGO Group (TLG), will participate as part of the show. Jamie will be giving a talk on both July 10 and 11 (Fri. and Sat.) about the design process and thinking that led up to the final ‘Emerald Night’ set, and about the Power functions components that support it. Fans are encouraged to participate to offer their views on the new platform. Jamie will also be available during the show for any questions you may have about his other excellent creations – Fast Flyer, Cafe Corner, Cool Convertible, Green Grocer, and newly announced Grand Carousel.
Also as part of this year’s show, Steve Witt, LEGO Community Relations Coordinator for North America, has graciously offered to host the traditional ILTCO pizza party at LEGO corporate headquarters in Enfield, CT after the show on Sat. July 11. Along with pizza and hanging out with Steve, Jamie and some of the LEGO Master Builders from Enfield, other events such as tours of the model shop and parts of the campus will occur. All AFOL train show participants are invited to attend.
Posting a heads-up for those on the East Coast of North America. If the pictures of past NMRA shows are anything to go by this promises to be a very impressive display of LEGO.
Cybernetic trolls by Aaron Andrews (darkspawn). They have optic feedback units. No more needs be said.
Once again Ralph Savelsberg and I seem to be on the same wavelength.
Ralph made an ambulance and semi-trailer.
And I made an ambulance and trailer (the actual truck was made a while back).
And I promise it was totally coincidental.
I don’t think I’ve ever blogged a technique before but since this one is fast becoming one of my most ‘favorite’d pictures on flickr I thought I might share it more broadly. I came up with the idea after seeing Peter Norman (swoofty) post these incredible (and complicated) stripes. As I am lazy I wanted to simplify them.
Many of you will be familiar with studs-not-on-top (SNOT) techniques and many of those will actually know what it means (for the rest it means building with the studs not pointing vertically, not building a smooth model). Commonly this is achieved using certain popular bricks such as headlight bricks, bricks with studs on two or four sides and brackets as well as plenty of others.
What many of us forget (myself included) is that bars and clips provide an alternative way to change stud directions which is sometimes more compact and simpler than using bricks. It can be easy to get caught up in trickery [1] and neglect the simple answer. I would guess that set designers more often use these techniques than AFOLs and I suspect that part of this is that they are working to harsher constraints than we are. Their models must be simple.
Anyway, the point of this rambling is that LEGO so often provides many different ways to achieve the same result and that sometimes looking outside your usual tricks can be a good way to find them. You never know, it may save you an hour of work.
[1] On the topic of overcomplicating things I can remember one memorable occassion where I spent about an hour trying out various SNOT techniques for a train windscreen. One of my friends then pointed out that a windscreen piece would do the job perfectly. It did.
It would appear that both Ralph Savelsberg and I have been busy building aeroplanes this weekend. I assure our loyal readers that this was a total coincidence and not a cunning ploy on my behalf to cut down on the number of blog posts.
Ralph has added to his military collection with a BAE Sea Harrier for a presentation with Ed Diment at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry.
I’ve kept myself civilian (or at least sort of) with a De Havilland Otter.
Holger Matthes breaks some rail speed records with his amazing ICE 3. As one of the ‘fathers’ of SNOT techniques Holger is no stranger to rendering complicated designs but the techniques on this are mind-blowing.
We usually don’t show photographs taken on grass or other busy surfaces but I’m making an exception for this beauty by Steven Locke (legoavon). Like his other work Steve has really gone all out in getting both the shape and the texture perfect. And it works so well.
