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!

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!

Steampunk: Post your Contest Entries Here

This is it, gang! The time has come to share your Steampunk in 50 Bricks creations! Check the rules by clicking on the logo if you're unsure of what you need to post. If you're having problems, you can also email me and I'll help you get things entered.

Steampunk Contest scores guest Celebrity Judge

This just in! For those of you who were concerned about my possibly grabbing random strangers off the street to rate your Steampunk creations, worry no longer.

Jake von Slatt of The Steampunk Workshop has agreed to serve as judge for our LEGO Steampunk Challenge.

If you're not familiar with his work, I suggest you start out with his amazing Steampunk Keyboard Mod and continue reading with his interview with Wired magazine. You'll soon understand why we're so thrilled Jake was willing to get involved!

Steampunk Contest Reminder

No, I haven't forgotten about this contest, and neither should you:



I'll be making use of a suggestion from the comments and creating a NEW BLOG POST on the 1st where everyone can start sharing their entries. Later, I'll be taking those entries and compiling a standard entry grid like I've done for the past few contests (mainly for our judges' convenience.)

I'm looking forward to what everyone has come up with!

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.

Well, dang.

My Steampunk Falcon didn't even make cut to the second round of the FBTB contest. If the other entries weren't so great, I'd be quite depressed.

As it is, I'm bummed. But whatchagonnado?

*sigh*

Had a good time at the convention - still not home yet.

Here are two Bonus Strips I worked up for the Convention Booklet. It was the first time I'd ever been asked to contribute something like this, and I was more than happy to help out. For those of you looking for a RC fix before Tuesday, here you go.

Strip 1 | Strip 2

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... ;)

Falcon updates

Spent a couple of hours tinkering today. I think the results were worthwhile.



The link goes to a teaser page of new images - I'll work stuff into the main article tomorrow.

Steampunk: The Falcon of the Millennium

Here it is - my first big venture into Steampunk.



Click the link to begin the adventure! Then come back here and talk about it. :)

Steampunk Falcon in Action

Here's a short video of the Gearing/Engine of the Steampunk Falcon.

For demonstration/play purposes both pistons are linked together causing both propellers to spin when you move any part of the system.

In the "Real world" each piston would control a single propeller, allowing for better load balancing/lift configuration.



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