FREE Instructions PDF https://www.mattelder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Chopper-C1-10P-Droid-Star-Wars-Rebels-Instructions-mattelder.com-.pdf Rebrickable Parts list: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-161380/TribalNobody/chopper-c1-10p-droid-from-star-wars-rebels/#parts G’day, LEGO enthusiasts! Welcome back to the Family Bricks channel. I’m Matt Elder, and today we have something truly exciting for all you Star Wars fans …
G’day Everyone, Matt Elder of Family Bricks here and in this video we are going to look at this London AFOLs collobarative white castle build that I was apart of. The castle is otherwise …
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In this video interview Caz Mockett gives tips on how to get your LEGO models in the LEGO House Masterpiece Gallery in Billund, Denmark. Caz currently has 6 base plates of her Micropolis LEGO builds in the LEGO House Gallery.
In this interview Caz talks about her approach to Micropolis, general thoughts around building, composition and working within constraints. We also get a discussion and tour of Caz’s Habitats and Brickheadz. We talk about her LEGO City known as Blockville with an extensive tour of her fabulous Ninjago District.
We also get an insight into Caz’s background with our usual rapid fire question and answer session.
Video Time Codes
0:00 Introduction 0:32 Micropolis – What is it? 2:32 LEGO House Getting in touch and asking to display 2:52 Travelling to Install Models at LEGO House – roadtrip adventure 3:48 Feedback since LEGO House installation 4:55 The story that goes along with the build and influencing the design 5:35 What does your inspiration come from 6:25 Tensegrity Micropolis 8:00 Selecting Micropolis builds for the LEGO House 9:00 Student of Colour and a Photographer as well – using framing and composition to select Micropolis buildings and how to structure them in a display 10:07 Micropolis at shows – compositing and staging thought process 10:34 Hanging out and Experience with other selected builders at Billund LEGO House 12:00 You don’t need many pieces to make micro-scale … really?! 12:50 Large parts you need to use as key features and get creative with 13:30 How did you learn the micropolis scale and design language. First building was terrible. 15:30 Looking at peoples work and builds 16:00 Caz’s Introduction to Micropolis and Tutorials 17:05 Thoughts on providing building instructions 18:30 Guided Tour of LEGO House 19:20 Tips for Getting your buildings into the LEGO House 21:30 Instagram vs Flickr for showing LEGO work 23:30 LEGO experience prior to a Dark Age – LEGO Classic Space 26:00 Little Landmarks Exhibition and not building from sets 28:05 Habitats and Brickheads – working best with restrictions 29:00 Habitat Standard 30:40 1st Habitat – Fox, Grain and Chicken Conundrum 32:10 Steve Guinness, Habitats and CMF 33:15 Spiderman Habitat example and developing it 34:09 Brickheads Collection 35:50 Red Dwarf Brickheadz MOCs and others doing MOCs of most licensed properties of interest 36:30 Caz’s LEGO City – Blockville, Modular buildings 37:40 Classic monorail 39:00 Ninjago City and the Dock 41:05 Mixing Chinese New Year Sets with own MOCs, and the less brick requirement 45:20 Using Friends and Disney sets in Ninjago District 46:30 Building up in Ninjago City 48:25 Tips for planning out a LEGO City 50:20 Why are there no roads in Blockville?! 51:25 Think about sightlines. The what?! 53:40 Using backdrops and backgrounds 54:00 Rapid Fire – Favorite Set 55:10 Theme You never understood 56:06 Like Technic or Not … and GBC 58:05 MOC that you are proud of 58:35 How much space do you have for LEGO 1:00:35 How Many LEGO Pieces do you have? 1:02:04 What is a theme you wish they’d bring back 1:02:31 Favourite LEGO Build of the Last Year 1:02:55 Favorite LEGO Resource 1:04:21 AFOL Groups you are part of 1:05:37 Best way to get in contact 1:06:25 Close up tour of Habitats 1:11:33 Brickheadz Tour 1:13:31 Shelving for Brickheadz
In this time lapse video, we take Star Wars Empire Strikes Back iconic Luke Skywalker vs Darth Vader Empire Strikes Back Lightsaber Duel at Cloud City climatic scene and LEGOize it into LEGO Star Wars Watercolor. We talk about the process to do so and offer a commentary on the timelapse.
Transcript from the Show:
G’day Everyone, Matt Elder of Family Bricks and in today’s
video we are going to have a look at this LEGO Mini figure Empire Strikes Back watercolor
illustration that I did. This artwork is of the climactic scene of Luke
Skywalker vs Dark Vader duel at Cloud City. This time lapse will show you from
thumbnail through to finish piece with commentary.
This is a Family Bricks video. Be sure to hit that like
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be notified of new videos as they are uploaded.
The process for this Star Wars piece is to start off with a
small thumbnail, about the size of a credit card. It’s a minute or 2 sketch just
trying to get a general sense of composition, guesture and how the characters
are going to work together.
From here I do a slightly larger drawing about the size of a
postcode. I’m really trying to get the LEGO proportions and the overall feel working,
while maintaining the energy that was in the credit card sized thumbnail.
Once I’ve done that, I then redraw a rough of the
illustration on the final watercolor paper – in this case A3 (which is roughly
11×17 inches). From here I’m just refining the pencil lines and really working
through all the little details. Nothing is really set in stone so will be
constantly erasing til I get something I’m happy with.
As you can see, I’m always spinning the page. Just helps to
see better and hit the lines in away that is comfortable. Onto Darth Vader’s
head and really want to get LEGO proportions for the helmet. This is an earlier
LEGO helmet version so the fact it always looks up, doesn’t matter too much in
this perspective up shot.
I’m happier with how Darth Vader’s lightsaber turned out and
will go back and refine Luke’s later to be consistent.
It might seem like a lot to have redrawn it 4 or 5 times but
if the drawing is solid, can really just have fun with the painting. If the
drawing is wonky, the expression I always think of is that you are just
polishing a turd. No matter how good the rendering/painting is, it just won’t
save the piece if the underlying structure is rubbish. To me, this will always
stand out in the final piece. Its like building the ideal house… on the wrong
side of the street.
Once the pencils are done, I’ll go through and ink it. I
remember not feeling great about inking Darth Vaders mask. It’s a really
complex shape with lots of different directions. But if going to mess it up,
might as well do it early and go from there.
I have a print out of some turn arounds for the LEGO characters
just so I can make sure the costumes are pretty accurate. I’ve just realized now
I’ve forgotten Lukes Firearm … oh well, it all gets hidden anyhow.
With hindsight I shouldn’t have inked the lightsaber blades
as they are just pure light. It helps to define the form but a problem I don’t
really deal with til the end of the piece, and throws out how the lightsaber
blades feel until then.
I’m always careful using a ruler with architectural
elements. To me it feels like the uncanny valley of illustration. It they aren’t
dead perfect, the drawing just feels strange. But if they are a little
consistently wonky, somehow it just works much better. That’s why a lot of the
circle and ellipse elements are freehand and not done with an ellipse template.
Now onto the painting part. I start off by squirting the
paper with water just to moisten it up and helps the colours to blend on the
page. I’ll apply color in many washes, slowly building up the colour and
variety each time.
The key focal element is the light coming from the lightsaber
blades so just conscious to try to get this to work first and halo out from it.
I haven’t been using watercolor for long
so still approach it like I do oils … which is admittedly backwards.
I can go for dark, moody and atmospheric lighting. Where as
water colour is better suited for bright, light and airy scenes. One day I’ll
play to its strength.
The platform I’ll start out with rich reds and browns, knowing
it will get pushed mostly to black. This helps give the black a warmth, rather
than a dead coldness which can make the image seem a bit off.
I think Empire Strikes Back is my favorite Star Wars film.
Star Wars was a trilogy I saw in reverse order but didn’t connect the dots til
later on. I didn’t understand how the ending could have a cliff hanger with Han
in the Slave 1 taking off … how could the film end there?! Ah what fun it is to
be young and naïve.
I think that is most of the background and environment
elements dealt with. Now onto the characters.
Again like the background, just build the characters up in layers
of wash. Pretty much knew they where going into full silhouette which is going
to obliterate any of the detail. That can be hard to put that much work into
the detail but Its just a safety blanket to know the structure is solid.
It also gives some flexibility in how I want to render the
characters and have them finished. So if you look at the finished original, you’ll
be able to see all that detail, and not just a suggestion of it.
This piece was done to be a prize to be given away to a donator
on LEGOLAMANIC’s 24 hours charity stream, raising money for the Snow Leopard
Trust (see links around the video as did some painting during that stream). He
built a 7,000 odd piece Executor Star Dreadnought MOC, so a Star Wars image
seemed to be fitting for the 24 hour live stream.
Very rare I don’t want to let go of a piece. As an artist, you
see the mistakes within the artwork, and happy to move on. That said, I work off
deadlines and had I not be in the 24 hour stream, I would never have painted
this anyhow and put in as much time.
Finally got around to addressing those lightsaber blade inks
and now they really feel like they are glowing.
Now just a lot of noddling and tweaking details. The paper
is now pretty rough with so many wash layers and can’t physically take much
more paint or water. A quick signature and date in the bottom right corner, and
think time to call it done.
Some quick looks at the final image – a LEGOised version of
Luke Skywalker vs Darth Vader at Cloud City, from the Empire Strikes Back Star
Was film for charity.
I like to have a pretty raw color blending style that isn’t
too delicate – just feel like it keeps the energy of the artwork.
I’ve had a number of people ask me about getting a print of
this. If you are interested, drop me a line at matt@mattelder.com or comment around this
video
There are some wonky things and less than perfect blending.
Always like it to have a rawness and an energy about it.
Works great as a gift for your significant other, friend or
even just yourself (as we AFOLs have been known to buy LEGO for ourselves
anyhow).
This is a Family Bricks video. Be sure to hit that like
button, share or if you want to be super awesome, subscribe! Click the bell and select “All”, to
be notified of new videos as they are uploaded.
Would you like to see this classic Frank Miller Dark Knight Returns Batman LEGOised? If so check out this video here for a quick time lapse.
Otherwise here are some other videos you might be interested in. That’s it from us here at Family Bricks, until next time when we talk about all things LEGO.
In this time lapse video, we take Frank Miller’s iconic Dark Knight Returns Batman image and LEGOize it into a LEGO Batman. We talk about the process to do so and offer a commentary on the timelapse.
G’day Everyone, Matt Elder of Family Bricks and in todays video we are going to have a look at how I created this LEGOized Dark Knight Returns Batman. It is based upon this classic image by Frank Miller in the seminal work, The Dark Knight Returns.
This is a Family Bricks video. Be sure to hit that like button, share or if you want to be super awesome, subscribe! Click the bell and select “All”, to be notified of new videos as they are uploaded.
This was the first time I’d really tried to take an iconic image and LEGOize it. So it is always going to be an interative process of working things out as you go along. So I had to initially figure out how much it would stay like the original Dark Knight Returns image, and how much it leaned towards LEGO constraints.
The biggest challenge was just getting proportions right. Usually when drawing superheroes, they are a heroic 7 heads high. LEGO figures are usually broken into rough 3rds, 1/3 legs, 1/3 torso, and a small 1/3 for the head. The Batman LEGO minifugre has an extra complication of the cowl piece being quite tall compared with normal heads.
So the first part of the video I’m really wrestling around with the proportions – the head starting off way too small and the body feeling too lanky and too lean. Then I’m bouncing between how the Frank Miller image looks, and how that translates into Batman LEGO – it is always much simplified. This then restricts movement but don’t want to lose that pose.
I have a Batman minifigure as reference but it isn’t the Dark Knight version so also having some artistic license in the interpretation. I’m also trying to keep the cape feel from the original Miller image but then wanting it to still have a feeling of LEGO cloth.
I’m bouncing backwards and forwards between grey and blue pencils, with the original rough in done in Prismacolor markers – it does make it all a bit of a mess and need to simplify this in the future. Once I’m happy with the general layout, I start tightening the linework and making it crisper with a standard felt tip. I’m continuing to refine as still not 100% happy with everything.
So once get the linework done, break out some watercolours to add some colour. I’m trying to keep it very much in the same realm as the original colorist Lynn Varley did, but lightening it a little as it is a LEGO mini-figure. The base colours are Batman’s blue and grey outfit. Then just add in some darker shadow colors.
I’ve always had a nostalgic connection with this image as when we were in junior high, the school let students paint a life size version of this on the hallway wall. Wasn’t til years later realized it was actually from The Dark Knight Returns. I believe it is were Batman is jumping out of the tank – my copy of the book is in storage so don’t have it to hand.
Then just constantly refining, noodling and tweaking detail colours. And of course adding in a signature in the bottom right. A few more tweaks and think we’ll call it done.
And there you have it. We’ll go in for some close up detail. As an artist, always see how it could have been improved but for a first attempt, think it is reasonably successful.
Just another look at the source image it was based off.
And back again one last time. If you’d like your own original LEGO artwork, or an artwork of your sig-fig, drop me a line at matt@mattelder.com
This is a Family Bricks video. Be sure to hit that like button, share or if you want to be super awesome, subscribe! Click the bell and select “All”, to be notified of new videos as they are uploaded.
If for some crazy reason you’d like to see the real time version of this, it was done as a 3 hour livestream here. Otherwise here are some other videos you might be interested it. Until next time when we talk about all things LEGO.
In this timelapse video we are going to have a look at this Mini figure SigFig illustration that I was commissioned by Greg of London Bridge Bricks to do of his own Sig-Fig. We talk about the process to do so and offer a commentary on the LEGOised timelapse.
Check out London Bridge Bricks Youtube Channel Here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5BTrPDK9zSe4lvhMfPXsfw
For your own original LEGO Illustration, works great as a gift for your significant other, friend or even just yourself, email: matt@mattelder.com
Transcript from the Show:
G’day Everyone, Matt Elder of Family Bricks and in today’s video we are going to have a look at this Mini figure Sig-Fig illustration that I was commissioned by Greg of London Bridge Bricks to do of his own Sig-Fig. This is ink and watercolour on A5 watercolour paper (which is about 5.5 x 8 inches).
For this, Greg sent me this photo of his Sig-Fig and wanted the popsicle changed to a telephone and include London Bridge Bricks Logo in it somehow. For anyone who doesn’t know, Greg has the London Bridge Bricks Youtube channel and live streams a lot. I’ve been on his stream a number of times and a great guy – check him out in the links below.
Process for this is pretty simple, I’m just roughing in with a pencil and refining. I’ll erase and redraw elements to make sure I’m happy with the proportions and the overall feel. Very much keeping to LEGO constraints but still trying to infuse a little life and movement by separating the legs. Then a pass with a felt tip to finalise the actual drawing itself.
Then into the watercolours. I like to build up the colour in several wash layers, where the colours are slightly different. The phone and headphones will start out with a blue base but end up with a dark bluey-black colour. I just find doing it this way gives a richness to the colours. Especially with black as it is an easy colour to feel very dead and dull.
Then it is just a lot of noodling and subtle adjustments, tweaking shadows, pushing some more sublte colour changes into it etc. And there it is all done. Just a close up so can get a better look at the colours and texture.
Works great as a gift for your significant other, friend or even just yourself (as we AFOLs have been known to buy LEGO for ourselves anyhow).
This is a Family Bricks video. Be sure to hit that like button, share or if you want to be super awesome, subscribe! Click the bell and select “All”, to be notified of new videos as they are uploaded.
Would you like to see this classic Frank Miller Dark Knight Returns Batman LEGOised? If so check out this video here for a quick time lapse
Otherwise here are some other videos you might be interested in. That’s it from us here at Family Bricks, until next time when we talk about all things LEGO.
In this video interview Richard Selby gives hints and tips on what makes for a great London AFOL (Adults Fans Of LEGO) meetup. London AFOL is a Registered LEGO Users Group (RLUG) and discuss the pros and cons of this. London AFOLs monthly meet ups have been running for 7 years and every meeting max’s out at 60 attendees with a waiting list. As with most things, the monthly meetup has successfully transitioned online during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Regular London AFOLs have passionate experts in Digital Lego, MOCs, Exhibitions, GBC, Spaceships, Micropolis, lightsabres, Technic, electrical retrofitting, links to New Elementary, dedicated LEGO Youtubers etc and at time of recording, even have models in LEGO House in Billund.
See below for time codes to various parts of the interview. Topics and Discussions covered include:
0:00 Introduction
1:40 What is the London AFOL Meet all about?
3:40 How Did London AFOLs get started?
4:45 How did it grow over time and LEGO as a hobby and LEGO Movie influence?
6:49 Its a group effort for a successful meet – unsung heroes.
7:28 Monthly Themes
9:20 Raising Money for Christmas Charity Meet
11:05 Registered LEGO Group (RLUG) and Official Relationship with LEGO / Billund.
12:20 LEGO Ambassador Network and offers that go to RLUGs only – House of Dots example
13:39 Is being a Registered LEGO User Group (RLUG) for every LUG?
14:14 How to start a LEGO AFOL local group meeting – things to consider, advice and tips
15:15 What is the main job / role of a LEGO meetup organizer?
16:20 The great skill … welcoming new comers
18:00 Tips for a successful meet
18:45 Door cost / annual membership
20:00 Storage and brick keepers
21:55 Communication and Slack. Who can access it, advantages and lack of flame wars that characterize other forums.
24:15 Why doesn’t Slack have payment options for non-profits?!
25:35 Taking part in other LEGO User Groups (LUGs), they are not exclusive groups
26:48 How to take part in London AFOLs if you’ve never been … and moving online while in Covid-19
28:00 Talented members within the group, knowledge share and amazing builds
29:10 Other AFOLs passing through London and meeting up.
29:45 Favorite Set
30:39 Favorite Theme
31:10 MOCs Richard has done
32:45 Favorite LEGO build in the last year
34:27 How to get in contact with London AFOLs
35:21 Structure of the group – formal vs informal – speed of decisions.
36:35 Lots of people help behind the scenes to make a meet successful.
This video is a time-lapse build of the LEGO Simpsons House Set 71006 from 2014. There is stop motion Easter eggs of The Simpsons Family up to no good … can you spot them all? Thumbnail has a couple of clues.
We also offer a general commentary on The Simpsons, why the line might not have done as well as expected (there wasn’t much beyond The Simpsons House, Kwike-mart and Mini-figure range).
What was your favourite Simpsons episodes / moment?
How do you think The Simspons will end?
Is The Simpsons appropriate for kids?
Is The Simpsons TV show still controversial or just Zombie TV?!
G’day Everyone, Matt Elder of Family Bricks and in todays
video we are going to have a look at a timelapse speed build of this LEGO
Simpsons House Set 71006. Really enjoyed building this set and for a more
comprehensive review of the set I’ve already done a video on that which you can
click here.
In this video, be on the look out for stop motion Easter eggs
happening at the same time the build is happening.
This is a Family Bricks video. Be sure to hit that like
button, share or if you want to be super awesome, subscribe! Click the bell and select “All”, to
be notified of new videos as they are uploaded.
Sorting
This is a relatively old set that was released in 2014 and it hasn’t been on sale for quite a number of years. We managed to pick it up off eBay second hand for a relatively good price. I came with a boxes that was in really good condition and a good set of instructions. The only downside is that it doesn’t come in prenumbered bags so you have to shift and sort through 2,500 pieces.
eBay Tips
From eBay, I got the seller to put the minifigs in their own little bag so when you first get the set, you can double check the minifigs cause those are the things you don’t find or if they are missing and you have to replace them, they are the expensive parts particularly in this sort of Simpsons set.
Sometimes the eBay seller won’t have completely broken down
the set and if possible, I get them to send it like this. Cause then when you
open the box, you can have a quick look and get a sense very quickly if parts
are missing. If it is coming in 1000 little individual pieces, you won’t be
able to get a good sense if any parts are missing.
The Build
As we were building and going along, there were a couple of minor pieces missing. That’s ok cause we can go into our own sets and supplement them.
The car was a nice little build and you can fit 2 in the
front and 2 in the back.
Initially the build felt pretty basic and you start to get a
sense that over the last 5 years they have really added in a lot more building
techniques into their builds and adding in a great deal of detail. Compared
with something like Welcome to Apocalypseburg from the recent LEGO Movie 2.
That said the thing I really like about this is the designer has really used the space really well. And it is a really smart way that it opens like a clam shell but still closes back up and still functions and feels like a proper house.
Kids Don’t know the Simpsons…. how can that be?!
The other thing that surprised me when building this was the
kids didn’t seem to know The Simpsons and the characters. They have watched the
show but we generally don’t have it on, so it isn’t something that they naturally
gravitate towards.
I know that other parents freak out at the idea of their
kids watching The Simpsons but do wonder if that opinion is stuck from the
initial controversy that the show caused when it first aired in the late 80s
and early 90s.
From what I can recall, it was the 2nd show that
had this dysfunctional family . Married with Children pre-dated it by several
years but was on the then fledging Fox network and I don’t think many people
generally had access to it. Going back and watching some of those married with
Children clips, it just wouldn’t be able to do it today.
Pacing of the Show
The pace of the Simpsons show today also feels much slower. Kids shows today like Teen Titans and TNMT Team up have really fast paced gags. They also too sometimes references 80s and 90s pop culture which kids under 10 today would have no clue about and it does make you wonder who the show is written for.
It was interesting building the set and thinking about early
memories of the Simpsons TV show. It had such an impact and remember in the
early 90s when it was on 5 days a week, which was a huge thing cause up until
then it had only been on once a week. They put it on at 6pm at night which bumped
the evening news forward an hour.
I was a pretty big fan of the show and had watched every
episode up until about the 12th or 13th season. Most of
the episodes up until the 10th season seem multiple times as they
just played them so much and was an easy show to watch.
Simpsons Memories
Do you have a favourite episode of The Simpsons? I don’t have a particularly favourite episode of the Simpsons episode but do like bits and pieces of the gags they did in different shows. Favourite gag would have been a Terminator 2 parody they did when they had Homer chasing after Ned Flanders in the car with golf clubs and doing that scene from Terminator 2 where he jumps and is trying to climb up the back of the car with his arms as the long stabbing weapons. Flanders was trying to get away from Homer because Homer was being too friendly.
LEGO Simpsons Licence and Other Possibilities
It’s a little odd that LEGO didn’t do too much more with the Simpsons license. They only did the Simpsons House, the Kiwke mart and a minfigure series. I would have thought the Springfield Nuclear power plant would have been a good one with Burns and Smithers and a whole bunch of other things.
Springfield Elementary School could have been another one. I
mean they did one in Hidden Side so don’t think there is an issue with it being
a school and kids not wanting to build a school because they don’t like school.
Moe’s Tavern could have been another one but would have just depend upon how
they wanted to represent alcohol and drinking to little children.
Maybe the line just didn’t do that well overall. Kids maybe
in general maybe just not have understood the Simpsons. Cause the early
episodes of the Simpsons that were really ground breaking were so long ago so
maybe the kids wouldn’t be seeing the Simpsons through older nostalgia ideas
like adults would be. Maybe the adult market wasn’t that big to be able to
carry a whole line.
At the time the set was released, the Simpsons would have
been into their 25th season
and its hard to sustain that level of interest for 25 years. Now its been going
for 30 years and you do wonder if it has just become a Zombie show where the
lights are on but nobody is home and they keep running it because it is easy
money.
How Will the Show End?
Does make you wonder though it and when they end the series, if that last episode, or the last couple of episodes get a massive viewership spike out of that interest to see how exactly it does end. It does make you wonder what that final episode will be, what will it feel like, how will they try to wrap the series up?
How do you think the Simpsons will end? How would you like
to see it end or how the storyline should go in that episode. It may just come
down to a natural attrition rate as they have made the point that as the voice
actors have died, they haven’t continued with those characters.
So what would happen if one of the main cast voice actors
died? I would imagine the co-stars of 30 years would have a hard time of
accepting anybody else into those roles.
And their you have the finalized Simpsons House. A great
little build. You can check out the kids video where they are having a play
with the house and really see all the play features that are there and they
enjoyed. <boy driving a car into the side of the house repeatedly>
This is a Family Bricks video. Be sure to hit that like
button, share or if you want to be super awesome, subscribe! Click the bell and
select “All”, to be notified of new videos as they are uploaded.
If you’d like to see our review video of the house, click the video here. Alternatively, here are some other videos you might be interested in. That’s it from us here at Family Bricks, until next time when we talk about all things LEGO.
Set Description
Recreate hilarious scenes from the classic animated TV series with The Simpsons™ House. Taken right out of Springfield, this amazing model is crammed with tons of LEGO® brick detail. Lift off the roof and open up the house to discover Homer and Marge’s big family bedroom including bed and Maggie’s crib, Bart’s room with his skateboard and Krusty the Clown poster, Lisa’s room with her favorite books, jazz poster and more, and bathroom with shower, toilet, sink and mirror. Lift off the top floor to reveal the fully-fitted kitchen with dining table, chairs, yellow and light-blue tiled floor and lots of pots, pans and other accessories. Then it’s into the living room with couch and TV playing Itchy and Scratchy, purple piano and more. Next to the house is the detachable garage, complete with workbench, tool rack, vacuum cleaner, broom, toolbox, tools and the family car, complete with dent (because only in a LEGO world are dents a plus!), opening trunk and ‘radioactive’ bar from the nuclearpower plant. Step outside onto the terrace and you’ll find loads of cool items, including a grill, wheelbarrow and air conditioning unit with ‘Property of Ned Flanders’ decoration, sausages, 2 garden loungers, flowerpots, a shovel, 2 fruit cocktail glasses, Lisa’s camera, Bart’s skateboard ramp with ‘El Barto’ graffiti and an antenna on the roof. The Simpsons™ House is the perfect collector’s item for fans of all ages. Includes 6 minifigures: Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie and Ned Flanders.
– Includes 6 minifigures: Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie and Ned Flanders
– First floor includes yellow and light-blue tiled floor, sink, oven and stove, drawers, cups, pot, pan, bowl, mixer, plates, cake tins, cutlery, dining table and 4 chairs
– Living room features TV playing Itchy and Scratchy, couch, boat painting, telephone, carpet, purple piano and staircase to the second floor with family photos
-Bart’s room features a bed, night lamp, desk with pin board, chair, Krusty the Clown poster,skateboard, shelves with books, radio and a cap
-Marge and Homer’s bedroom features a bed, 2 side tables, Maggie’s crib and Marge’s bag
-Lisa’s room features a vanity mirror with hairbrush, stool, bed, table with lamp and cup, shelves with books, magnifying glass, backpack and a jazz poster on the wall
-Bathroom features a shower, toilet, sink and a mirror
-Detachable garage features the family car, tools, workbench, tool rack, vacuum cleaner, toolbox and a broom
– Family car with space for 4 minifigures features a dent in the front and an opening trunk to store Homer’s suitcase and a ‘radioactive’ bar from the nuclear power plant
– Outside area includes a grill, wheelbarrow and air conditioning unit with ‘Property of Ned – –
– Flanders’ decoration, sausages, 2 garden loungers, flowerpots, a shovel, 2 fruit cocktail glasses, Lisa’s camera, Bart’s skateboard ramp with ‘El Barto’ graffiti and an antenna on the roof
– Can you spot all the items Homer has “borrowed” from Ned Flanders?
In this video interview Simon Dutton explains what LEGO Serious Play is and gives numerous examples. He discusses how a LEGO Serious Play workshop is presented, methodology, starting with delegates initially learning the building language, individually creating models, discussing those models with peers, grouping models together, making recommendations from the workshop, presenting the models and recommendations back to the business.
Simon discusses the 3 Imaginations and how building with your hands encourages this deep level of thinking, leading to different ideation within the workshop environment. Businesses he has engaged with illustrated here include financial, pharmaceutical, university, communication, customer service and a call center. Feedback from LEGO Serious Play team building activities is also mentioned.
A discussion is also made about the LEGO Serious Play starter kits and LEGO Serious Play connections kit.
Apologies. Very occasionally the video and sound may drop out momentarily, but you should still be able to get the idea that was being communicated (“technical challenges” of everybody using the internet during coronavirus period).
See below for time codes to various parts of the interview. Topics and Discussions covered include: 0:00 Introduction to LEGO Serious Play 5:30 Example 1 – Communication and ‘stair’ model 8:15 Initial Workshop Phase – learning the building language 15:35 Combining and Grouping – “can you live with that” 17:08 Models in the office and a feature 18:55 Example 2 – Customer Service 19:36 Example 3 – Call Center 23:10 Abstract into bricks 24:30 Example 4 – Academic projects by university students to get department to understand each others research projects. IT then being able to assist 29:22 Brick Kits – windows explorer bags, landscape kits, connections kit 31:46 Try Serious Play – 1 Hour Free Demo Offer by Simon 32:30 What do you know? The 3 Imaginations and building with your hands. Mobile phone example. 35:50 How LEGO Serious Play is received by and investigated by businesses? Pharmaceutical example 39:10 Same old, same old. Square wheels cartoon. 40:35 Very rewarding and workshop discoveries – best team build ever. 41:25 Award for team of the year – how was it achieved and with a plan? 42:15 Contact details for 1 Hour Free Serious Play Demo Offer by Simon 45:20 How do we bring people back together in a post Coronavirus world?
In this video interview Neil Marsden aka Pennyforge presents a primer masterclass on virtual/digital LEGO building (originally presented at London AFOLs April 2020). Neil discusses LEGO modelling, rendering and instruction creation comparing current software tools such as LEGO Digital Designer, Bricklinks Stud.io and LDCad. Other software touched upon includes Blender, MLCad, Modo, Sketchup and Maya
Neil gives an overview of taking a traditional 3D model and converting it to real LEGO via voxel data. Pennyforge also covers scripting and touches upon the opensource nature of ldraw, underpinning all this digital LEGO building. Scripting has also been used to build words and fonts out of LEGO. A discussion of machine learning is had (so if you are able to contribute, be sure to get in touch).
See below for time codes to various parts of the interview. Topics and Discussions covered include:
0:00 Introduction
3:50 Start of Digital LEGO Masterclass
5:45 LEGO Modelling – Lego Digital Designer
8:20 Stud.io and Bricklink Integration
10:10 LDCad – High end LEGO Cad tool which supports flexible
parts, power functions, custom decals => tool of choice albeit quirky. Work
through tutorials on LDCad website
11:30 MLCad – Good for minifigure design and custom decals
12:00 What is LDraw – basis for all the tools, open standard/source
for LEGO and has all the pieces
13:00 OpenSDraw – scripting model creations, powerful but
complex. Works with libraries of LEGO parts.
14:00 Python and Ldraw directly. Writing scripts to create
imaginary that would be difficult to make manually ie figure placement, models
from designs/fonts / voxel data. Built using python and creates lovely and
unusual images
15:00 Rendering … how to make it look nice.
15:30 BlueRender, works with LDD – LEGO Digital Designer.
Can leave areas grainny but works
16:20 Stud.io render – big button that says ‘render’
17:00 Stud.io – animation sequences. As move towards
animation, takes longer to create and render.
18:00 POVRay – Persistence of Vision – grand daddy of LEGO
renderers. Can be hard to configure and been superseded by other renderers.
Still good for rendering from a command line and auto-center LEGO models – LP3…
surprising hard to do.
19:30 Blender – comprehensive modelling and rendering
package that you can do just about anything with. Can import LDraw models
through a simple add-on.
20:00 Pumpkin – stud.io vs Blender Render
20:40 From Blender to Modo, Sketchup, Maya and Brickalo
(renders piles of bricks) – http://www.brickalo.com/
. Once moved model out of LDraw into a standard format, then can move around
lots of powerful standard 3D tools
21:00 LEGO and Unreal Engine – access to physics and
collision engines
23:00 Instructions – need to have built a digital model.
Make sure you build your physical model with the instructions you make before
distributing. Flexible parts always a challenge
24:30 LPub3D – can include flexible part elements.
26:10 Links from presentation
27:30 Digital to Physical … very expensive and cost
challenges
28:40 Mario and Yoshi – from 3D model to LEGO Voxel Pipeline
– High level pipeline
34:00 Virtual Background and building with no gaps
35:00 LEGO Letters created from a Font – Merry Christmas
36:45 Brickalo.com – mixing bricks and plates digitally –
surprisingly difficult. Computer building a pile of LEGO bricks were each piece
is connected by at least 1 stud, frame the pile of bricks and create a nice
render of it.
41:00 LDraw spatial arrangement
42:00 SNOT – Studs Not On Top in digital building
43:20 – Current & Future Projects. Extending letter
building code to create logos out of LEGO that are self supporting, with holes
and non-square designs. Investigating Unreal engine further due to the
underlying physics engine
45:50 Machine Learning and its ability to understand LEGO
shapes and studs. Give a machine a pile of LEGO bricks and put them together in
away that works would be a challenge
48:00 If anyone out there knows about Machine Learning and
wants to apply to LEGO, get in touch info@brickalo.com
49:00 – Autoframing/ Camera Centering of Models – really
difficult to do. Looking for a scriptable tool to be able to do. If you know
how to do, or the code, please drop a line info@brickalo.com
52:30 Robot Wars, working with kids in a teaching
environment / Scout Groups
54:20 Iterations and design development … and then smash
them up. Watching the evolutionary design process of kids designs
57:10 Tips for Rendering LEGO bricks in Blender. Add ldraw
pluggin / addon, use import function. Environment background setting that turns
everything pink. Remove the environment background. Soften shadows. Keep light
setup simple.
1:06:00 Transferable skill development from working with
digital LEGO – Python development.
1:08:30 Scripting and LEGO. Making it useable by others.
1:09:50 Rapid Fire Round – Favourite Set
1:10:50 Favourite Theme
1:11:30 Least Favourite Theme
1:12:40 Like Technic or Not
1:13:15 MOC that you are proud of: Hastings Peir. LEGO ideas
website, which lead to radio appearance. LEGO models that people have
relationships with.
1:14:45 How big a space for LEGO
1:15:35 How many LEGO pieces?
1:16:36 Any Theme you’d wish they’d bring back
1:17:55 Favourite LEGO build of the last year
1:18:50 Tron light cycle design by Syd Mead, who was the
visual futurist / concept artist on Tron, also Blade Runner. Originally a Ford
designer in the 1960s who recently passed away.
1:20:45 Favourite LEGO Resource
1:22:00 LEGO set you wish you bought but never did
In this video I react to the LEGO Mario Expansion sets that has just been announced by LEGO and Nintendo. I give my thoughts and little breakdown of what we are seeing – is it going to be too expensive.
Sets mentioned are: – Mario Starter Course (59.99 USD/EUR) – Piranha Plant Power Slide Expansion Set (29.99 USD/EUR), – Bowser’s Castle Boss Battle Expansion Set (99.99 USD/EUR)
In this video we review the just revealved LEGO Spots – the second wave to the highly successful LEGO DOTs range. LEGO Spots treats objects such as bracelets, pencil holders, photo holders etc as blank ‘canvases’ to apply LEGO Spots/tiles to. The second wave is going to consist of bracelets, 3 animals photo holders, a booster pack and a awesome skull pencil holder.
Each set is apparently going to be priced under $20.
Advanced orders can be made here: https://amzn.to/3bHfrGF (affiliate link so we may get a small commission from any sale which helps the channel out)
