New Contest: Pigs on the Wing

From the Mind of Tim "Gambort" Gould came the cave racers.
From the strangeness of Reasonably Clever came the concept of making animals the pilots.
From the magic of Brickforge comes some swanky swag.
(And Prizes from Reasonably Clever and Tim as well!)

Click to read all about it.

Pumping Iron: Winners Announced

The wait is over! The results are in, the creations have been ranked, and it's time to reveal just who walks away with the prizes from the Pumping Iron contest!

As usual, the top place models were all within a few points of each other - although this time the first place finisher had a good 20 point lead.

I've listed the rankings for the top 20 models - if your model didn't make that grid, you can always claim that your build captured spot #21. I won't argue.

To jump to the winner's grid, click the logo!

I'll be contacting the winners in the next few days to arrange for shipment of your prizes.

Thank you again to everyone who participated! I hope to see all of you again when we announce our next contest! (Probably next week sometime)

Pumping Iron: GRID IS FINALIZED

The Entry Grid is now FINAL! We have an amazing SEVENTY ENTRIES for our judges to sift through - I'm working up the spreadsheet to be sent out now, and hope to have results back in a week or so.

In the meantime, talk about your favorite entires here - anything inspire you to try your own version? Anything strike you as particularly clever?

(Just don't bash anyone's effort - all our builders deserve respect.)

Pumping Iron: The Final Hours

The Entry Grid has been updated again - we're almost at 60 creations! You still have a few hours to get things submitted - but personally I'd rather be out watching the Iron Man movie.

(Remember, you HAVE TO SEND ME AN EMAIL following the entry instructions to get on the grid. Don't just post a comment, it won't count. And it has to be in my inbox by 2:22am Eastern Standard time on May 3rd.)

I don't envy the judges this time - there's some really funny and creative stuff on the grid. Picking the winners is going to be a tough job.

Pumping Iron: More Entries, BETTER PRIZES

The Entry Grid has been updated again - we're now at 35 models! (We'd be closer to 40, but you HAVE TO SEND ME AN EMAIL following the entry instructions to get on the grid. Don't just post a comment, it won't count.)

I also heard from Will at Brickarms today - amazingly, he's upped the coolness of the Brickarms prize packs!

First through fifth place, in addition to the Exo-Force prize, will now receive a
Brickarms SILVER SERIES III Pack!

The special Brickarms Grand Prize is now a SILVER Ultimate Pack!

What are you waiting for? Go build something!

Pumping Iron: Grid Updated

The Entry Grid has been updated with all models submitted so far. We're up to 17 models at the moment.

If you'd like the bragging rights of winning a prize in a Reasonably Clever building challenge, this looks like a good contest to enter - lots of prizes and not that many builders to compete against. (Although there are some really nice models in the running already...)

Why do so few of you share my love of Iron Man? *sigh*

Remember, entries must be in my mailbox before 2:22 AM (Eastern Standard Time) on May 3, 2008.

ETA: Sigh - Blogger not updating again. Note to self: Research MoveableType this weekend.

Serenity: Bracing

Another minor progress update. Last night I spent time figuring out how the side engines are going to mount to the larger model.

Of course, I'm going to try and follow the detailing of the movie as close as possible - but there's a big difference between a CGI model and a LEGO model that has to support its own weight...

First off, though, was building a stronger base for the plates that will make the "skin" of the engine. (Remember- it has a hollow interior to try and keep things as light as possible.)

Basically I just enhanced each 1x2 click-hinge pieces with a 2x3 plate and two 1x2 bricks - the skin will seal these blocks with plenty of strength for what they need to support.

The larger blocks with the half-stud offset also got a redesign not shown here. Rather than using the very hard to find 1x2 click-hinge plates with offset tabs, I found a way to mount things to the support beams with a common 1x2 click-hinge brick. This is key, as I still need to build a second ring at the bottom of each side engine to complete the bracing.

Speaking of bracing, here's the first part of the mounting bracket. The red bricks are a solid pillar of 2x6 bricks that connect the front and back braces. The grey 2x2 underneath is what will have to become the main support line - the "twist and turn" nature of the side engines means that when in "normal out the sides" mode, 90% of the weight is going to rest on those bricks. (The piston like brace seen in the movies is the real world analog)

I'd like to build some technic gearing to allow the brace here to rotate - allowing for real world posing. Not my strongest building area, but you have to learn sometime...

Serenity: Small update

Just one small picture today - the completed revised flap ring. Of course, I've run out of 1x4 gray tiles now - time for another part order or two.

It also looks like I'm going to have to find a way to reinforce the "skin". Now that I've got the plates very close to gapless, it's a real pain to fix when one pops off - and they seem to be popping off more and more frequently. I don't know if that'll mean adding a second ring of click-hinges further down or just enhancing the connection at the existing join.

Something to putter with tonight, I suppose.

Serenity: Eye for Detail

Another small update, but one that demonstrates why I have to be in the right frame of mind to work on this project.

I was reviewing my archive of source photos and thinking about those flaps at the front of the side engines and my recent attempt to duplicate them.

As you can see in these two photos, I'm not too far off...

However, there was some real room for improvement. I also wasn't overly happy with the seam/join line between the cowling and the ring of flaps. So...after another stint in the workshop...

The final of about six tries at various shapes and methods - the two flaps on the left are original, the two on the right are the upgrades. (I had no idea how much grey and blue-grey I had mixed until I adjusted the contrast on these photos. Yikes!) The shape of the flaps is much more accurate - and the new join-line helps fill in the gap between the cowling and the rest of the "skin".

The biggest challenge was finding a way to go from 2 to 3 studs in width without going more than two plates in thickness. Once I had that figured out, the rest of the design came together pretty quickly.

Next step is to replicate the new design for both copies of the engine - then get to work on that connecting bracket.

Serenity: More side engine work

As requested, here's an update on the work on the Mini-fig scaled Serenity.

When last we left my workbench, I had just completed a draft of the side engine cowling. The scale was too large, however - putting things at Belville or even Mini-land scale. Too big for my target, anyway.

So...I spent several hours trying to find a way to reduce the number of fins in the cowling while still keeping a technic ring as a base for rigidity and stability. And trying to keep it as "gapless" as possible. This, as it turns out, is not an easy task.

The final result halved the number of fins, while still leaving a pretty clear "cone" effect.

(You can click on images for larger views if you want.)

Changing the scale of the nose meant redesigning the back end exhaust area - here's the new arrangement with "end cap"

Next, I decided to work on the area just aft of the front cowling. This area presented some new challenges - to create the gapless look I had to design a sequence of alternating 2 and 4-width plates attached to a ring of 2-stud click-hinges.

The advantage of that layout is that I was able to attach the click-hinge ring to the six support struts connecting the cowling to the exhaust. It's quite stable, although I'm worried about the overall weight of things, even with the hollow center. I didn't want to have to prop up the side engines with support struts, but I may not have a choice in the long run. (I suppose I could just make them stay in the down "maintenance angle", but where's the fun in that?)

Oh. There's one cool feature I built in already - as seen in the movie, the gray ring has working airfoils/vents.

The next step will be to build the mounting bracket that will eventually meet up with the side of Serenity. That needs to be sturdy enough to hold the weight of the completed engine - hopefully. After that, I'll finish up with skinning the rest of the midsection.

I've been taking some pretty intricate construction shots; I'd share them here but this post is already huge. If you look in the background of the shots above you can see that I'm building two of these engines at once. The idea is that once the design is finalized, I'll have one to keep intact and one to dissect, document, and rebuild. We'll see how that works out.

The final shot for today shows the three-bears approach to building. In this shot you can see the Mama-Serenity Side engine (too small), the abandoned cowling from my first pass (too big) and the new engine as it sits at the moment (just right.)

LEGO: Revised Mach-5

I spent a few hours over the weekend revising and enhancing the Mach-5 from set 8158.

I took it from this...

to this...

Click here to read about this "Work still in progress."

LEGO: Scotch and S.O.D.A.

I wasn't sure if I should post this under "comics" or "LEGO", but since it's more about building I went with LEGO.

Anyway, I've gotten a couple of requests for instructions on how to build Scotch's new mech suit, pictured here:

There's really not enough there to justify actual instructions, but I have two "exploded" views that should answer all your questions:

• View 1
• View 2

The parts you'll need are:

• 2 Mini-fig mechanical legs (Silver)
  
• 2 Minifig Mechanical Arm with Clip and Rod Hole (Silver)
  
• 1 Minifig Mechanical Torso (Dark Bley)
  
• 2 1x2 plates (Green)
• 1 1x2 plate (white)
• 1 1x1 plate (white)
• 1 1x1 plate w/Clip (white)
• 1 1x1 brick w/studs on four sides (grey)
• 2 1x1 slopes (Trans_clear)
• 2 taps (white)
• 1 1x1 tile with Four Dots pattern
• 1 1x1 Colored Globe for Lights & Sound (Green)
• A Frog

18 Parts total.

Pumping Iron: Second Grid Update

I've just posted the next four models (#8-11) to the the Entry Grid. Like last time, I've started creating multiple pages for the entries - 10 per sheet - to help with load times.

Remember, entries must be in my mailbox before 2:22 AM (Eastern Standard Time) on May 3, 2008.

Pumping Iron: First Grid Update

I've just posted the Entry Grid for the models submitted so far. Remember, entries must be in my mailbox before 2:22 AM (Eastern Standard Time) on May 3, 2008.

Set Review: 8158 Speed Racer and Snake Oiler

As promised, here's my review of one of the new Speed Racer sets: 8158: Speed Racer and Snake Oiler.

In my review, I talk about how this set seems to have been stripped down to reach the $20 price point. Has anyone else picked up this set yet? I'm curious if others ended up with the same impressions that I did.

Would another 50 parts have changed the feel and look of this set enough to justify a higher price? Too bad I have a contest underway already. I'm tempted to do a "no prize" contest to see who can "Fix the Mach 5 in 50 bricks or less". I have a few of those Toa Jallers left, after all...

Speed Racer Review on the way

Stopped at TRU on my way home - they had most (3) of the new Speed Racer sets. I wasn't willing to pay TRU prices on the big sets, but I had to take the basic Mach 5 set home with me.

Review in the works - look for it tomorrow.

Serenity: A fresh start

This is "Workbench" post - just thought I'd share the results of a couple of hours of tinkering last night.

Ever have one of those moments where you look at someone else's work and see a new application, a new creation just waiting to be built? Well, that happened to me when I was browsing the work menatarms did on his Elven Village.

After waiting for a couple of part orders to come in, I was able to start roughing in one of the side engines for Serenity.

(Click for larger view)

My plan is to make as much of the interior structure Technic as possible - with a think "skin" of plates on top, just like a CAD rendering. That should keep things light, yet sturdy.

The scale here is a bit larger than mini-figure - I'm going to make a call on that very soon. Plus the framework needs reinforcement along the middle and one side (where it will hook up to the ship) . I think I'll probably modify things to have a more rigid cylinder from the front to the midpoint (where the grey technic connectors are) and then slope things down from there instead of keeping the larger "V" shape for the full engine. Most of it will be hidden by the engine cowling anyway, and I think the cylinder will offer more support.

Anyway, it's a fresh start.

And, I have to say, it looks pretty shiny.

LEGO: Speed Racer!

As excited as I am by the upcoming Iron Man movie, I'm just as stoked about Speed Racer. (Mmm. At IMAX. May 9th. I'm so there.)

For those of you who feel similarly, or just love the thought of a race car's ballast consisting of a young boy and his monkey companion, LEGO has made the 2008 Speed Racer sets available on-line.

You've got to love some of the new parts in the sets like the curved windshield on the Mach 5 and the monkey-face torso on Spritle.

Hosting LEGO creations - some thoughts and questions

I've received a few emails in the past week asking about free hosting for LEGO images, and for more places where they can post about their own creations.

To that end, I'd like to offer my own couple of pieces of advice, and then see if you guys have anything to add or suggest.

First, image hosting. If you don't have your own website (or prefer to use someone else's bandwidth...) the best LEGO solution is probably http://www.Brickshelf.com. They don't allow HTML uploads, but they do offer a very nice, structured, and FREE storage space for your images.

If you're looking for somewhere to write up your creation, though, you'll need to move to something more advanced.

MOCPages.com seems to be very nice, but I don't know much about setting up things there. Any gurus feel brave enough to post an email address were we could direct questions?

Beyond that, the solution would seem to be to start your own blog and post about creations there. This blog is run via Google's Blogger service at http://www.Blogger.com. It has a few hiccups, but works okay for me.

If that seems like too much, you might look at joining some other LEGO forums that allow and encourage people to post their creations. Lugnet, Classic-Space.com, and From Bricks to Bothans are a few examples - there are tons more. You'd probably need to combine forum membership with a brickshelf account to host your photos, though.

Well, that's my off-the-cuff advice. Anyone have something else to suggest?

New Contest: Pumping Iron

Iron Man. You know him. You love him. You wish LEGO would pick up the license and make toys based on him. But you also know that just isn't going to happen.

Iron Man. Cooler than Batman because he's completely bullet proof. And he can fly.

Iron Man. The basis for this month's contest. (So if you honestly don't know who Iron Man is, here's the Wiki on him.)

Over the years, Iron Man's armor has undergone a number of changes. It's been rebuilt, streamlined, melted-down, rebuilt again, modularized, customized and optimized.

One of the coolest ideas about Iron Man, though, is that he has prototype armor designed for special missions. He has a Deep Sea armor. Stealth armor. Space Armor. An armor designed to fight the Hulk. Heck, there's probably even a prototype somewhere of his EZ-Bake Oven Armor.

Your challenge this month is help Iron Man tackle a tough job by designing and building a Special Mission Armor Set.

What special mission? That's up to you. Maybe he's on an Ice Planet. Or fighting Ninjas. Or
Pirates. Or Pirate-Ninjas. Maybe he's just having trouble cashing a check. Surprise us.

This contest runs from April 1st until May2nd - just in time for the US opening of the new Iron Man film!

Sound like fun? Well, we're just getting started!

When it comes to Custom LEGO Weapons there are none better qualified to judge than Will Chapman, founder of
This Tony Stark of LEGO builders will be rating all entries on the key quality of Special Mission Functionality.

Will has also donated weapons from his new mold, not available to the public until mid-April!

Want to learn more? Check out these links!

• Full Contest Info, Including the PRIZE LIST
• The Entry Grid! (with a Sample Entry to get you thinking!)
• Brickarms - because you know you need to know more about them.

Steampunk Winners Announced!

Reasonably Clever's LEGO Steampunk in 50 Bricks or Less contest has reached the end and the results are here! This was an amazingly close contest - and once again everyone who took part is to be commended!

Here's what our Celebrity Judge Jake von Slatt of The Steampunk Workshop had to say:

"Thanks everyone for giving me this opportunity! I was amazed and surprised at the number and variety of entries, when I first read the contest rules I thought 'what can you do with only 50 bricks?' Turns out you can do a lot! The top cluster of entries were pretty tightly matched, and on a different day any one of them might have come out on top. But it's clear that everyone put in a lot creative effort and I'm pleased to see that the Lego-istas (Lego-folk? Lego-nattii?) are such a vibrant part of the Steampunk world!

Cheers,

Jake."

• The Top 13 Models
• A listing of all the entries

I'll be contacting the winners over the next couple of days to arrange for prize selection and distribution.

Once again, a hearty "Thank you" to all who participated, and I hope to see you all again in our next contest. Details on that will be announced April 2nd!

New Clearance at Shop@Home

For my US readers, LEGO Shop@home has some new goodies on clearance.

In particular, the 4916 Mini-Animals, 8146 Nitro Muscle, and several of the mini-fig scaled Bionicle Sets (8925, 8926, and 8927) have joined the lineup.

This is in addition to the recent drool-worthy cuts on the UCS Star Destroyer and Death Star II...those marked down to a mere $199 each. (Still out of my price range at the moment, but it's fun to dream.)

I'm not up on what other nationalities have had on clearance before today, but there's probably some new stuff showing up for everyone. Post info in comments if you care to...

LEGO: Whence Serenity?

There's been a recent batch of posts and emails wondering if I've abandoned the Serenity projects. It's true I haven't had a lot of time to work on things in recent months, but that's all about to change.

I just placed an order for an updated set of Serenity Blueprints - once they arrive, I'll be putting in some serious work on the mini-fig scaled Serenity. The plan remains to build that monster one set at a time; to finish with a modular construction that has plenty of play areas and remains as slavishly devoted to the series/film as possible.

First up will be the cargo bay - a necessary point of origin as all the other sets/hull exteriors will have to fit around it.

And, yes, I'll still be trying to document the build in MLCad. It goes against my building style, but I know if I don't I'll never hear the end of it.

As to the new mid-scale version, I've been staring at the half-completed drive section for a while now and I'm really just not happy with it. I'm going to be taking another swipe at designing it soon as well.

Hope that satisfies some of you.

Steampunk: Grid Update - Honorable Mentions

In order to help load times, I've broken up the entry grid into nine parts, with around 10 creations per page.

The final page contains the entries that didn't make the final spreadsheet for one reason or another. I still wanted to showcase the effort those builders made; I consider all of them "Honorable Mentions".

Thank you once again to all the builders - this contest couldn't have happened without you.

Steampunk: Final Entry Grid is Up

I've just uploaded the final entry grid for the Steampunk in 50 Bricks or Less contest. We had a grand total of 83 legal entries* - a record for Reasonably Clever. Thank you to all who participated!

I'll be mailing off the scoring spreadsheet to Jake von Slatt shortly - winners will be announced once he's had a chance to complete things and send it back to me.

*Unfortunately, I did end up having to remove a few models due a lack of parts list/grid as the rules required. We had over 90 models enter the contest.

Steampunk: Problem entries

I'm working up the spreadsheet that I'll be sending to our judge - and I'm marking the entries that haven't met the "show your parts" requirement. Remember: If you don't have either a shot of the parts spread out or a text list of the elements your entry will not be counted. I'm being lenient on this - if you've made an effort to show/list you'll be fine, but please check the list below, just in case. Just giving a total part count IS NOT ENOUGH.

I'll be updating this post as I build the chart in hopes of catching the attention of any problem builders before the entry deadline. Which is tomorrow at midnight (EasternST). Just sayin'.

All entries submitted as of 9:00am on 3/14 have been posted to the grid. If I missed your entry somehow, please let me know asap. Thanks.


Part lists needed:

• Entry #13 By: ArielJ (Mobile Missile Platform (MMP))
• Entry #14 By: ArielJ (The Fabulous Flying Thing)
• Entry #15 By: ArielJ (When Themes Collide (AKA Pohatu on steam))
  
• Entry#16 By: ArielJ (Imperial Army Landing Ship)
• Entry #18 By: Yellost (Jet pack Flier)
• Entry #21 By: takua777 (a steam suit )
• Entry #22 By: takua777 (steam chair)
• Entry #54 By: Roren42 (speeder)

Requests:

• SirNadroj, would you break your flicker stream into a few sets (one-per-entry) so the judge has an easier time of finding the right photos?
  

Post your entries here: Post #2

The first entry post is really quite full - so, to keep from missing anyone, here's a fresh post to enter in. (Previous post is now locked)

Steampunk: Grid Update

The Entry Grid for the Steampunk contest has been updated with ten more creations. This brings the entry total to an astounding 49 models - with more on the way, I'm sure.

A couple of rules clarifications - if you're wanting to cut up the rigid hose that LEGO makes, that's okay, as LEGO does that themselves. Each individual snippet of tube counts as its own element.

The 2 part lever (base and handle) counts as a single element, as that's how LEGO counts it. If you break it up to use the parts in different places, then count it as two parts.

Same thing with the 1x2 hinge brick - for the purposes of this contest, if you use it as a complete assembly then it's one element. If you break it up and use each part individually...then it's two parts.

You have until midnight EST on the 15th to submit your entry. There are some great LEGO kits awaiting the winners!

Steampunk: Entry Grid Update

The Entry Grid for the Steampunk contest has been updated with seven more creations.

Just a reminder, but please include a photo of your creation in "a grid of parts" style, or provide a text listing of the pieces you used. If I can't find either when I'm putting together the Judgment Spreadsheet for our Celebrity Guest Judge, you'll be disqualified. Just sayin'. (I'm going to start compiling that spreadsheet this week, so I can post a warning for anyone who's already entered. But I expect there'll be a rush of last-day entries, and those folks won't have a second chance to provide that part list...)

You have until midnight EST on the 15th to submit your entry. There are some great LEGO kits awaiting the winners!

Steampunk: Grid Updated

The Entry Grid for the Steampunk contest has been updated with eight more creations. This is really shaping up to be a tough competition!

Remember, you have until midnight EST on the 15th to submit your entry. There are some great LEGO kits awaiting the winners!

Steampunk: Entry Grid

Due to technical issues (like, oh, my not confirming you could post images in blog replies...) we've had to tweak the entry process for the Steampunk in 50 Bricks contest.

The only change is that I dropped the "post a sample photo" requirement. All you need to provide commentary and a link to your photos in the entry thread - I'll be taking care of making up a grid of contest entries as I've done for other Reasonably Clever contests in the past. If there's a photo you want to be sure I use as your sample, please make sure I know. (And if you need changes to the way things are displayed on the grid, also just drop me a line.)

It looks like it's going to be a very tough competition - I've just compiled the first 23(!) entries.
You can take a look at them on the Official Entry Grid.

If you've entered and I didn't include your creation, please email me again - I don't think I missed anyone, but it's been a busy couple of days.

Remember: You have until the 15th to post or email me with your entry!

LEGO: Nifty Keen Part O'the Day

In today's webcomic, Donut is checking out a nicely detailed map. It's an official LEGO piece, direct from one of the new Indiana Jones sets.

The cool thing about this piece is the teeny-tiny details that are printed on the brick. Check it out:

If you click on the image above you can see a huge scan of things. Not bad at all for a piece less than an inch on each side, no? I was trying to see if I could figure out any of the text - sadly at super-huge resolution it's revealed just to be scribbles. (There was actual text on the newspaper tile they released with the Spider-Man sets a couple of years back. I'll have to find one to scan in the near future. )

In these days of cost cutting and sticked parts, it's nice to be able to spotlight a piece like this. It shows that, given a chance, LEGO designers can still produce amazing things.

Workbench: The Bean There, Done That

This week's comics let me take advantage of a setting I built years back for the Cups Suit of the LEGO Tarot. For today's strip I had to add on a new section (with a door).

I thought some of you might be interested in seeing the whole layout, so here it is:



If you click on the image, you'll open up a new window with a much larger view.

The yellow tabs along the top of the wall are joins where I can remove sections of the outer wall for easier photography.

Workbench: Scout thingie

I was inspired by the engine on the 7672 Rogue Shadow and thought I'd try my hand a a "vertical half circle drive". This build is about 60% complete - at this point I consider the basic shape roughed in, but all the detail work needs serious help. Plus, I need to build an actual cockpit. Still, I did say I'd post my workbench in-progress photos from time to time, so here you go.

Rear view showing the drive design copied from the RS. Of course, I'm using a larger half circle, so the styling isn't quite the same. The side engines are for atmospheric flight - I may ditch them as they really ruin the thin saucer shape I was going for.

Side view.

3/4 view - you can see the pilot is just sort of stuck to the floor. Controls will be added soon...

The cockpit does open, though.

LEGO Steampunk: Sample Entry

Geoffrey H. isn't entering the contest, but that didn't stop him from putting together a great mini-model. I'm going to use it as an example, and to answer some questions people have had about the contest.

The first thing you'll want to share is a photo of your creation:

This photo can be up to 640x480 in size. (The shot above is 366x462)
Yes, this is from LEGO's digital designer. Virtual models are allowed provided you use only parts issued by LEGO. (And in color that have actually been produced!)

Next, you'll want to include a link to any additional photos you have of your model. These can be any size, and as many as you like. If you don't have anywhere to host them, I'd suggest signing up for a free account at Brickshelf or Flikr.

You'll want to use the additional photos to show off your creation. Here's two more that Geoffrey submitted:

One of your shots should be of the parts displayed so we can see all of them. Alternatively, a text listing of the parts you used is welcome. Whichever is easier for you. Basically, we want to see what goes into your model - and keep an eye on that 50 part limit...

Finally, you'll probably want to include a bit of text talking about your model. Here's what Geoffery wrote...

I'm not entering the contest so I figured I'd see what I could throw together in 50 pieces using LDD for the SteamPunk contest.

It's a little blocky, and lacks some decent detailing, but it's an example of what one can throw together using the 50 piece limit.

The boiler assembly was tricky to get as there wasn't really that many elements larger than a 2x2 round brick in the entire LEGO palette. So I opted for a multi-stage boiler with the blue 1x1 rounds representing an input from the reservoir hidden in the base of the vehicle and the output
driver pipe is from the tan 1x1 rounds leading out the other side of the boiler.

Straightforward studs-up construction has been used, no hidden tricks.

I couldn't provide some lunch for the driver, perhaps I could rework it but this is what I came up within a half an hour time limit I set myself - hey building the contest entries shouldn't take much free time out of your day.

I also don't have a name for it. Suggestions welcome.

Cheers ...

Geoffrey H

And there you have it. A nifty non-entry to get your own creative ideas flowing. If you have any more questions about the contest, please post 'em here.

LEGO Steampunk in 50 Bricks or Less

Keeping the steam going from the FBTB Steam Wars contest, Reasonably Clever is pleased to announce the following:



This contest will run from February 1st until March 15th - click the logo above to read the full details, rules, and list of prizes!

Workbench: Ian's Steamwheel

Partly as a gesture of goodwill, partly just to see if I could, I spent some time last night trying to convert Ian's Steamwheel from a LEGO CAD file into reality.

Its going...okay. Some of Ian's color choices haven't been released by LEGO so I'm having to tweak the color scheme a bit. There are also a couple of small design glitches (gears not meshing, parts not fitting exactly right) that I don't think anyone could have spotted in the LCAD environment.

Still, it's an interesting challenge. Of course, if this wins over my Steampunk Falcon over in the FBTB contest, I'm going to demand choice parts from Ian's prize set... ;)