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 Organizations / United States / DelVaLUG / *44 (-20)
Subject: 
DelVaLUG to exhibit at Wizard World Philadelphia
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.events, lugnet.org.us.delvalug, lugnet.loc.us.de, lugnet.loc.us.nj, lugnet.loc.us.pa, lugnet.loc.us.pa.phi
Followup-To: 
lugnet.org.us.delvalug
Date: 
Thu, 31 May 2007 13:16:16 GMT
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19409 times
  
DelVaLUG, the Delaware Valley LEGO Users Group, will be exhibiting at the Wizard World Philadelphia pop-culture expo on 15-17 June, 2007. The event is held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

Featured elements of the display will be custom models tied to three of this summer’s action movies: “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer,” “Spider-Man 3,” and “The Transformers.”

Behind the scenes: This is an event that DelVaLUG members first proposed before the 2006 show, but we finally approached Wizard Entertainment this April. You have to be diplomatic when cold-calling, and cite the right advantages; but they were very happy to have us. After all, the company isn’t just comic books -- it does publish the magazines ToyFare and ToyWishes, so a toy-based display that can adapt itself to the show’s themes is definitely appropriate.

We’ll be using this event for AFOL promotion and club recruitment; the product literature distributed at BrickFest will be used. Since I’m deeply involved with the Philcon SF convention, I’ll also be promoting that. It’s not a big segue; a matter of “Oh, and we’ll be appearing later this year at Philcon -- different theme, much more convivial, and you get to build with the parts.”


Subject: 
Re: LEGO events at Worldcon 2007
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.org.us.delvalug
Date: 
Tue, 19 Dec 2006 05:35:52 GMT
Viewed: 
5797 times
  
In lugnet.events, Phillip Thorne wrote:
   Since I’ve successfully run LEGO-based events at the Philcon SF/F convention for the past three years, I’ve been asked to investigate doing the same for the 65th World Science Fiction Convention -- Nippon2007, the first Worldcon to be held in Japan, in August of next year. But I need your suggestions and tips! Thanks for your help, everybody; and remember, this is still a feasibility study.

Who? First I’d have to locate American (etc.) AFOLs planning to attend.

I will be attending.

But, if you search my name here on Lugnet and look at my stuff, you’ll find it’s not science fictional.


   Japanese AFOLdom can contribute even if its members don’t attend -- they can mail-in MOCs (assuming I get some assistance with Japanese parcel post). But actually contacting Japanese builders is, we all know, difficult. (I can get recruitment announcements posted via the website and hardcopy progress reports.)

What events? An exhibit is easiest, with MOCs provided by Japanese and overseas attendees. An open build would be trickier to organize, because a parts supply would be needed -- and although I happily loan mine to Philcon, and the Worldcon will be shipping a bunch of stuff from the U.S., I’m not in a rush to send my own pieces halfway around the globe.

I agree, I don’t see how to get big things there.

  
What theme? It’s an SF convention, and it’s in Japan, so the most obvious models would be mecha -- replicas and original designs. But fans everywhere build everything, so there’s really no “distinctive local flavor” to that -- is there? Models inspired by the author and artist GoHs (guests of honor) would be topical -- that’ll require some research.

Dave Brin is a guest, as well.

  
(Obviously fantasy castles? “Final Fantasy”- and “Miyazaki”-esque flying contraptions? Gojira & Co.? Mindstorms robots?)

Where? Any suggestions as to where else I should make this announcement? Mecha Hub and Classic Space are the first that come to mind.

Followups to DelVaLUG since that’s my home club, and it’s low-traffic. Other discussion elsewhere as necessary.


Subject: 
Re: LEGO events at Worldcon 2007
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.org.us.delvalug
Date: 
Tue, 15 Aug 2006 21:30:06 GMT
Viewed: 
4582 times
  
Comments intermixed below

In lugnet.events, Phillip Thorne wrote:
   Since I’ve successfully run LEGO-based events at the Philcon SF/F convention for the past three years, I’ve been asked to investigate doing the same for the 65th World Science Fiction Convention -- Nippon2007, the first Worldcon to be held in Japan, in August of next year. But I need your suggestions and tips! Thanks for your help, everybody; and remember, this is still a feasibility study.

Who? First I’d have to locate American (etc.) AFOLs planning to attend. Japanese AFOLdom can contribute even if its members don’t attend -- they can mail-in MOCs (assuming I get some assistance with Japanese parcel post). But actually contacting Japanese builders is, we all know, difficult. (I can get recruitment announcements posted via the website and hardcopy progress reports.)


I might be interested in sending stuff(but I’m skittish about this sort of thing, any assurances I could get would be helpful). I’d certainly be interested if I could get some help to get over to Japan! Bryce, Soren, and myself have some experience contanting Japanese builders.

   What events? An exhibit is easiest, with MOCs provided by Japanese and overseas attendees. An open build would be trickier to organize, because a parts supply would be needed -- and although I happily loan mine to Philcon, and the Worldcon will be shipping a bunch of stuff from the U.S., I’m not in a rush to send my own pieces halfway around the globe.

Ahem, see what I was saying above?

  
What theme? It’s an SF convention, and it’s in Japan, so the most obvious models would be mecha -- replicas and original designs. But fans everywhere build everything, so there’s really no “distinctive local flavor” to that -- is there? Models inspired by the author and artist GoHs (guests of honor) would be topical -- that’ll require some research.

(Obviously fantasy castles? “Final Fantasy”- and “Miyazaki”-esque flying contraptions? Gojira & Co.? Mindstorms robots?)

Where? Any suggestions as to where else I should make this announcement? Mecha Hub and Classic Space are the first that come to mind.


Certainly posting to MechaHub’s forums would help you out and would be a good idea.

Mark Neumann
   Followups to DelVaLUG since that’s my home club, and it’s low-traffic. Other discussion elsewhere as necessary.


Subject: 
LEGO events at Worldcon 2007
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.events, lugnet.build.mecha, lugnet.space, lugnet.loc.jp, lugnet.org.us.delvalug
Followup-To: 
lugnet.org.us.delvalug
Date: 
Tue, 15 Aug 2006 18:38:32 GMT
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Since I’ve successfully run LEGO-based events at the Philcon SF/F convention for the past three years, I’ve been asked to investigate doing the same for the 65th World Science Fiction Convention -- Nippon2007, the first Worldcon to be held in Japan, in August of next year. But I need your suggestions and tips! Thanks for your help, everybody; and remember, this is still a feasibility study.

Who? First I’d have to locate American (etc.) AFOLs planning to attend. Japanese AFOLdom can contribute even if its members don’t attend -- they can mail-in MOCs (assuming I get some assistance with Japanese parcel post). But actually contacting Japanese builders is, we all know, difficult. (I can get recruitment announcements posted via the website and hardcopy progress reports.)

What events? An exhibit is easiest, with MOCs provided by Japanese and overseas attendees. An open build would be trickier to organize, because a parts supply would be needed -- and although I happily loan mine to Philcon, and the Worldcon will be shipping a bunch of stuff from the U.S., I’m not in a rush to send my own pieces halfway around the globe.

What theme? It’s an SF convention, and it’s in Japan, so the most obvious models would be mecha -- replicas and original designs. But fans everywhere build everything, so there’s really no “distinctive local flavor” to that -- is there? Models inspired by the author and artist GoHs (guests of honor) would be topical -- that’ll require some research.

(Obviously fantasy castles? “Final Fantasy”- and “Miyazaki”-esque flying contraptions? Gojira & Co.? Mindstorms robots?)

Where? Any suggestions as to where else I should make this announcement? Mecha Hub and Classic Space are the first that come to mind.

Followups to DelVaLUG since that’s my home club, and it’s low-traffic. Other discussion elsewhere as necessary.


Subject: 
LEGO events at Philcon 2006
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.events, lugnet.build.mecha, lugnet.build.microscale, lugnet.castle, lugnet.space, lugnet.org.us.delvalug, lugnet.loc.us.de, lugnet.loc.us.md, lugnet.loc.us.nj, lugnet.loc.us.ny, lugnet.loc.us.pa
Followup-To: 
lugnet.org.us.delvalug
Date: 
Sat, 29 Jul 2006 20:50:04 GMT
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30118 times
  
Philcon 2006, the 70th edition of the annual Philadelphia Area Conference of Science Fiction and Fantasy, will run this coming November; and for the third year, I’ll be conducting a set of LEGO-themed events. Here are some pics of the 2004 event and 2005.

There will definitely be an Open Build and a MOC display with pre- and at-con-built SF-themed models, and maybe a Space-themed train layout. I might run a couple of QuikWars games, or arrange a screening of SF/F-topic brikfilms. There may be slideshows and building technique workshops.

How can you help?
  • Do you want to come and present on a topic such as Bionicle, Castles, Mecha, Micro, Moonbase or Space?
  • Want to contribute images and anecdots for such a slideshow, run by someone else?
  • Itching to run a game of BrickQuest, BrikWars, or QuikWars?
  • Got a fancy new Mindstorms NXT bot to demo?
  • Have a MOC you can send by mail?
  • Have MOC plans you can send by e-mail, that I’ll recreate locally and display under your name?
  • Got a brikfilm you’d like to screen?
Why should you help?
  • To show off your building prowess to an audience outside AFOLdom: over a thousand people from DE, MD, NJ, NY, PA, and VA.
  • To expand the awareness of advanced LEGO building, and AFOLdom.
  • Because you need another collaborative LEGO fix two-and-a-half months after BrickFest.
If you’re interested, please contact me at kids2006@philcon.org for details and planning. Thank you. (Philcon is a copyright of the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society. Philcon 2006 runs the weekend of 17-19 November 2006 at the Sheraton Center City, located near City Hall. LEGO activities at Philcon are considered a sub-track of the Children’s Program only for organizational purposes. This message has been cross-posted because... well, there are lots of reasons you might logically be interested.)


Subject: 
Re: Merry Christmas 2005 pics finally posted:)
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.trains, lugnet.town, lugnet.org.us.delvalug
Date: 
Mon, 16 Jan 2006 16:02:05 GMT
Viewed: 
8282 times
  
Wonderful!

The skating pond is so simple yet so effective. All the details throughout the
scene are wonderful.

Did you drill holes in the 1x1 transperent rounds to make the Xmas light
strings?

I didn't get a chance to do one this year but you have given me some wonderful
ideas for next year!

Thanks!


Subject: 
Merry Christmas 2005 pics finally posted:)
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.trains, lugnet.town, lugnet.org.us.delvalug
Date: 
Sat, 14 Jan 2006 14:56:47 GMT
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6626 times
  
Happy belated holidays all!
    Just wanted to share some pics of my holiday diarama and spread the cheer
with my favorite bricks:) hope you enjoy!

     come see them at: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=162367

Happy holidays and happy building, chris:)


Subject: 
DelVaLUG at Philcon 2005
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.events, lugnet.org.us.delvalug, lugnet.loc.us.pa.phi
Followup-To: 
lugnet.org.us.delvalug
Date: 
Tue, 27 Dec 2005 01:50:57 GMT
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PHILCON is a three-day science fiction convention held annually since 1935 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. As an AFOL and operator of the con’s Children’s Program (since 2003), I initiated a LEGO sub-track in 2004. (Report to LUGNET.) This year it had a slightly different location and a much greater turnout.

Although GardenSLUGger Eric Sophie was unable to return this year (his giant robots are always crowd-pleasers), I instead had the assistance of fellow DelVaLUG member Joe Cook. (The rest of DelVaLUG was exhibiting at a train show the same weekend.)

Being an SF con, the sensible model themes were Space, Space Replica, and Mecha. Since I had to carry everything to the hotel (models, bulk brick, other Kids Prog supplies) the sensible scale was Micro. (Castle would also be compatible, but it’s not one of my own themes.)

In addition to 20 of my own models, and 3 from Joe, I had 14 “virtual” contributions from 3 well-known SF micro-builders -- that is, I recreated their posted designs with my own brick supply, and identified the originators with MOC cards. (To wit: Jason Allemann, Brian Cooper, and Chris Deck of Germany. My plan to build a copy of Chris Doyle’s “Snack Sized Serenity” fell through.)

Over the weekend, some 20 attendees (both youngster and adult) built 28 models (more if you count individual customized minifigs), some of them drawing upon leftover fragments of my own models. There’s more exuberance than skill in many, but that very separation from AFOLdom resulted in some very interesting parts use.

Photos of the display, at-con MOCs, and happy builders are in this Brickshelf gallery. It also includes a spreadsheet (MS Excel and CSV versions) detailing the models.

The Display and Build were located in the front of the large room dedicated to Gaming, just off of and visible from the con’s Registration and Info area, resulting in lots of foot traffic. They ran all-day Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday it was adjacent to a contingent from the FIRST Robotics League. To prevent the display of micro-ships from resembling a tabletop parking lot, I built a “docking spire” of Znap pieces to elevate them.

Activities:
  • Display
  • Open Build
  • “LEGO Gaming 101”
  • “BrickQuest”-derived “Harry Potter”-themed game
  • “LEGO Builder X-Treme” board game
Activities that did not happen:
  • Micro Moonbase Themed Build fell through (I didn’t get to build any explanatory samples)
  • Impressive MOCs slide shows (returning item)
  • Stop-motion film fest (returning item)
  • Large-scale space combat sim (the con’s semi-theme was Mil-SF, thanks to Author GoH David Weber and Artist GoH David Mattingly, his cover artist)


Subject: 
Re: SF LEGO at Philcon 2005: call for participants
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.org.us.delvalug, lugnet.events
Date: 
Fri, 9 Dec 2005 23:33:53 GMT
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In lugnet.build.mecha, Phillip Thorne wrote:
LEGO programming will be returning to the 2005 <http://www.philcon.org
Philcon> SF convention!  This will be the second year with an official
exhibit and events.

-snip-

Good luck this weekend Phil!

I am unable to attend. Please let us know how things went.
Highlights, thoughts and how the Lego events go.

Thank you!

Eric Sophie


Subject: 
DelVaLUG at NBC10 Consumer Expo 11/12-13
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.org.us.delvalug, lugnet.events
Followup-To: 
lugnet.org.us.delvalug
Date: 
Tue, 15 Nov 2005 18:20:57 GMT
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6175 times
  
What: The NBC10 Consumer Expo was the latest incarnation of an annual event conducted by Philadelphia TV station WCAU. DelVaLUG’s first public event was at last year’s Halloween-weekend Tech & Lifestyles Expo (Brickshelf photos) (and we still don’t know how the organizers learned of our existence). This year the hall was shared by America’s Videogame Expo. (If we’d known that beforehand, we might’ve built some themed arcade game MOCs.)

Where: The Ft.Washington Expo Center is located just off the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Route 276), to the northwest of Philadelphia. It also hosted the Greenberg train show (Brickshelf photos) at which DelVaLUG exhibited this past February.

DelVaLUG’s parcel was located in the Lifestyles & Entertainment portion of the show, the rear-left quadrant, near the Future City Competition, the Amateur Radio Relay League, and various vacation providers. It was also proximate to the “Videotopia” section of vgXpo, filled with three dozen 1980s arcade games (relatively quiet) and various dance- and guitar-simulators of more recent vintage (indisputably loud). (By “loud” I mean “84 decibels” -- I measured it. That’s not only “strain your voice to be heard,” that’s “hearing damage with prolonged exposure” territory. Ouch.) The FIRST Robotics kids, with tabletop and lawnmower-sized R/C robots, were on the other side. (The FIRST LEGO League, as seen at BrickFest, is the 101 level of FIRST.)

When: Saturday 11/12 and Sunday 11/13, 10:00-17:00, plus setup on Friday afternoon and each morning, and breakdown Sunday afternoon. Breakdown proceeded very quickly -- starting at 16:45 all the MOCs were packed away within 30 minutes (into Ziploc bags, cardboard boxes, purpose-built wooden trays), and Tim’s ILTCO-standard tables were dismantled and toted away by 18:00.

This isn’t like BrickFest -- seven hours of standing, answering questions, and standing poised to answer questions is tough on the feet. Fortunately, this year our parcel came with two chairs instead of one. (We didn’t need to bring out the two I’d brought in anticipation.) (OTOH, it’s not like the LEGO Road Show, either -- it’s air-conditioned.)

Who: Saturday was crewed by Jim F., Phil T., and new DelVaLUG member Roy F. Sunday added Tim C. and Jeff S., plus (for several midday hours) two members of PennLUG.

The usual assortment of hundreds of attendees tramped past the display: casual glancers, wide-eyed youngsters, “LEGO makes trains?” incredulites, and a small number of YFOLs and dark-age potential AFOLs. We handed out a great many informational mini-flyers, plus various Shop At Home back issues (“Where do I buy trains?”) and catalog-request cards; also (to likely prospects) cards promoting the LEGO program at Philcon this December (one of two DelVaLUG events that weekend).

The vgXpo attracted a dozen college-age cosplayers (Saturday only, for some reason), and some vendors had booth bunnies. Few of them managed to drop by.

MOCs: Ten ILTCO-standard table-modules, featuring: two train loops, Tim C.‘s giant sandy mountain with tunnel, Jeff S.‘s train station, and more -- I’ll address this in detail in a follow-up post. A first batch of 25 photos is now on Brickshelf. (I apologize for those that are dim or blurry -- the hall’s lighting was much worse than it seemed.)


Subject: 
Microscale EDD Starfighter from "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century"
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.space, lugnet.build.microscale, lugnet.announce.moc, lugnet.org.us.delvalug
Followup-To: 
lugnet.space
Date: 
Thu, 10 Nov 2005 19:52:28 GMT
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The primary fighter craft of the Earth Defense Directorate, as seen in the 1979-1981 Glen A. Larson TV series. (The two-hour pilot was briefly released in 1978 as a theatrical feature.) Used to defend Earth and attached to the exploratory vessel Searcher.



The key to the nacelles is the “droid” cylinder. Unfortunately it’s not an integer number of plates tall when it’s combined, which required some adjustment on an axle core to match the fuselage and wings. The fins consist of SNOT slopes instead of wing panels, because I couldn’t defise a way to attach them without clunky adaptors; the ventral fins are mounted to the deltas with 1x2 hinges because there’s nowhere on the droid-cyls to do so.

I’m planning to print some decals to add cockpit windows to the 2x4x1 slopes, plus EDD insignia. (Or maybe I’ll just mount 1x1 round plates in the droid-cyl holes.)

Background:

The starfighter consists of a two-seat cockpit embedded within a vertically-flattened fuselage, flanked catamaran-style by a pair of nacelles housing the engines and weapons (two pairs of fixed, forward-firing “pulsar” cannons). Attached to the nacelles are two pairs of aft fins: horizontal delta-shaped surfaces, and ventral cranked dihedral fins. Landing gear is tripod in style, consisting of the weight-bearing ventral fins and a single retractable nose skid; the combination produces a nose-down posture. Secondary equipment includes a tractor beam that can be focused forward, aft, or ventrally. Cockpit access is by steps that fold down from either nacelle. Typically painted white, with the the shield-shaped EDD insignia towards the forward tip of each nacelle.

An variant model has side-by-side seating in a wider cockpit, and is painted a sand-yellow color.

(And that’s about the most one can say about it. Disentangling the TECH of this show, especially the second season, is a hopeless task.)


Subject: 
Micro lighthuggers from _Revelation Space_
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.space, lugnet.build.microscale, lugnet.announce.moc, lugnet.org.us.delvalug
Followup-To: 
lugnet.build.microscale
Date: 
Wed, 9 Nov 2005 16:33:04 GMT
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From the SF books written by British author Alastair Reynolds: Revelation Space, Redemption Ark, and Absolution Gap...



...With only 13 pieces (plus two for the exhaust beams) it’s exceedingly micro, since the original is some four kilometers long; about 1:80,000 scale.

The gallery includes one in authentic-but-tough-to-see black, and another in Irken red and purple. (The probability of these Invader ZIM aliens successfully taking a fully armed lighthugger is remote, even if they do have conquered Vort scientists on their side -- these are the people who unsuccessfully exiled Zim The Easily Distracted. Twice.) The Irken model has two shades of purple, which don’t look so good in the photo; also pulsed exhaust.

This ship (plus a bunch of other easily-transported micro-models) will appear at the Philcon SF convention this December in Philadelphia. I think I’ll build a vertical docking spire from Znap, so they’re not all crowded onto a horizontal table surface.

Background:

The majority of lighthuggers are operated by the Ultras, a faction of humanity that eschews planetary surfaces in favor of deep space, and which provides interstellar transport of passengers and rare artifacts. Their ships bear names like Gnostic Ascension, Madonna of the Wasps, Nostalgia for Infinity, Silence Under Snow, Third Gazometric, Transfigured Night, and Zodiacal Light.

Lighthuggers earned their label from the high relativistic velocity they attain; thanks to mysterious sealed engines manufactured by the Conjoiners (another faction) they can maintain a one-gee acceleration indefinitely. To survive the erosive effects of the interstellar medium at those speeds demands a streamlined shape, and an ablative sheath of water ice reinforced with hyperdiamond. The standard hull form is a pair of cones, base-to-base, with the twin engines on raked-back pylons rooted near the ship’s midpoint. (The cover illo for Revelation Space has been overcomplicated by the artist.) These ships are massive, four kilometers long, millions of tons, equipped to carry hundreds of thousands of passengers in cryonic reefersleep. With AI-driven internal maintenance and redesign systems, they can operate with just a handful of human crew. They’re heavily armed to assist in trade negotiations.

Conjoiner-built lighthuggers (and smaller classes) usually have ink-black stealth hulls, sometimes equipped with cryoarithmetic engines that cool them to match the cosmic microwave background.


Subject: 
"Optimus Prime" with Vahki parts
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.build.mecha, lugnet.technic.bionicle, lugnet.org.us.delvalug, lugnet.announce.moc
Followup-To: 
lugnet.technic.bionicle
Date: 
Tue, 8 Nov 2005 17:46:22 GMT
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Everyone’s favorite mid-‘80s Autobot leader, rendered with Bionicle Vahki parts...



...courtesy of the $20 Bionicle Bucket found at TRU. It contained enough parts for all six Vahki, plus numerous Rahkshi feet and hunchbacks. Thank you, TLC.

Atop the Bionicle skeleton I added tires, smokestacks, torso with windows and radiator grill, etc. The three-digit hands were inspired by the Technic Pit Droid model.

The figure’s one accessory is an orange Energon Axe, made from a trans-orange dragon wing. I haven’t built a Laser Rifle yet (although I do have Megatron’s fusion cannon waiting for a body, hmmm...) I did build a mini Autobot Matrix of Leadership, but there’s insufficient room behind his pop-open pecs to store it.

Why is Optimus bionicle-ized? Well, after that unfortunate business with being repeatedly killed, resurrected by Quintessons, reformatted, turned into a Nucleon-powered non-transforming Actionmaster, and so forth, he stumbled into the Web of the Visorak. (Idealistic, inspiring, noble, yes; but sometimes not so very smart.)

In other photos, Optimus meets Vahki Omega Supreme, and a domesticated Martian Floater (from the 1953 War of the Worlds movie). Everyone wants the sparkly green lump of gummy sugar POWER!

I still need to print some custom decals -- then V-Optimus can spit Spinning Gyro-Discs! Of Autobot! Justice!

(Transformers, Autobots, Optimus Prime, Omega Supreme, etc. are trademarks of Hasbro.)


Subject: 
Microscale replica "Liberator" (in progress)
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.announce.moc, lugnet.space, lugnet.build.microscale, lugnet.org.us.delvalug
Followup-To: 
lugnet.space
Date: 
Sat, 5 Nov 2005 21:26:33 GMT
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In microscale: a replica of the hero ship Liberator from the 1978-81 BBC SF drama “Blake’s 7” (sometimes spelled “Blakes7”).



The BrickShelf gallery includes reference pics and numerous prototypes. The final version must wait until I acquire necessary parts in white and/or grey. (OTOH, with the parts I have now I could do an 3vil-themed version in red and black.)

I made a few compromises in this model:
  • The nacelle pylons are tapered in the wrong direction -- to actually duplicate their angles would require a larger scale, which I attempted in some of the prototypes.
  • The cylindrical nacelles each have a 10-sided collar, which is nicely implied by one type of hard-plastic tire (as seen in one proto) -- but that element is too big for the smaller version.
  • The obvious elements for the green-glowing aft globe thingy would be a pair of 4x4 faceted domes, but there’s no way to mount them base-to-base; so instead, I use a single dome and a pair of Bionicle tooth pieces to imply the tapered lip.
The small version’s nacelles rely on the droid-body part. Longitudinal strength for all four hulls relies on 12-long axles (and if they existed, even longer ones would be handy).

The completed version will be appearing in the SF-themed MOC display at the Philcon SF convention this December.


Subject: 
Microscale Zen monastery
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.announce.moc, lugnet.build.microscale, lugnet.org.us.delvalug
Followup-To: 
lugnet.build.microscale
Date: 
Fri, 4 Nov 2005 15:44:30 GMT
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A generic Tibetan Zen monastery/abbey, hidden deep in the Himalayas:



I built this for an entry in the short-animation contest at the Katsucon anime convention -- it would provide the establishing shots, and I’d then cut to a room with minifig guru and disciples. I didn’t quite finish the script, which relied on trading increasing inscrutable Zen koans until a head exploded in enlightenment. (Exploding minifig heads are always funny.)

Conveniently enough, we had a heavy snowstorm that weekend. Some shoveled snow, some artfully placed rocks, and -- voila! -- no need for BURPs, and no sign of the green baseplate.

Pretend the yellow is gold, pretend the tan is yellow, and pretend the 1x1 green rounds atop the trees aren’t Mega Blok brand. :)


Subject: 
Microscale "Honor Harrington"-style space warship
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.announce.moc, lugnet.build.microscale, lugnet.space, lugnet.org.us.delvalug
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lugnet.build.microscale
Date: 
Fri, 4 Nov 2005 03:31:50 GMT
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BrickShelf gallery includes ongoing prototypes and alternate sizes, but no reference images yet:



David Weber is a prolific writer of mil-SF novels, including the dozen-volume “Honor Harrington” (HH) series published (in the US) by Baen Books. (On Basilisk Station, War of Honor, etc.) The warships described therein have a distinctive shape that I haven’t seen produced in brick.

I haven’t decided what class or allegiance this represents, because all warships in HH look very much alike, from destroyer (DD) to superdreadnought (SD): a double-ended spindle (i.e. cylinder with tapered ends), tipped by the “impeller” rings (that produce the gravitic drive fields) and “hammerheads” that contain “chase armaments”. The widest part of the cylinder contains the broadside armament (depending on the class, several decks of lasers, grasers, missile launchers and energy torpedo emitters) and small craft bays (including numerous LAC bays for a CLAC).

Cylinders are, of course, a challenge in brick; this is a SNOT-based compromise between shape and durability, since I prefer my MOCs to be pick-up-and-SWOOSH!-able. The sides of the tapered sections are panels swung into place with free-hinges (click-hinges don’t have the right angle). The impeller rings are represented with 36-tooth gears (from the “G-60 Gigamesh” Spybot).

The model is semi-schematic in nature, designed as a gamepiece in a tabletop (or floor) sim game. I.e., surface features can be popped off and replaced with damage markers. “We’ve lost Grasers 3 and 4 and Gravitic 2!”

This particular combination of colors (blue, blue-grey, grey, white, black), isn’t representative, it’s simply the bricks I could most easily access at the time (some discounted “Alpha Team” sets were atop the pile). In the books, the ships are variously grey or white, with red hull numbers. (But most space navies, and some merchants, use a nano-based paint that can change color.)

Official image references are limited, so there’s room for interpretation. The more recent books have diagrams in the back, and these show both hammerheads as the same shape (except for SD(P)s, which have a large after hatch), but I like to know which end is which. The recent CG-based cover illos by David Mattingly are fairly accurate, but earlier ones often pasted random superstructures atop the hull, or featured generic blobby ships with multiple reaction engines.

FWIW, Weber and Mattingly are the Author and Artist guests at this year’s Philcon and probably we’ll have Ad Astra Games and its tabletop HH combat sim; yours truly is responsible for the Children’s and LEGO programs. AFOLs from the region (the con draws most of its attendees from the NYC-to-DC corridor) are welcome to attend and join in the SF-themed MOC display.


Subject: 
Meeting on Sunday September 18th
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.org.us.delvalug
Date: 
Wed, 14 Sep 2005 00:43:29 GMT
Viewed: 
4115 times
  
The meeting will be held at 1:00 pmin "The Court" section of the King of Prussia
Mall in the seating area across from the Pottery barn located in the end of the
building by Borders and The Cheesecake Factory.

- Jim F.


Subject: 
Correction to DelVaLUG meeting date....
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.loc.us.pa, lugnet.org.us.delvalug
Date: 
Tue, 10 May 2005 14:55:17 GMT
Viewed: 
8679 times
  
When I posted the meeting for this month, I mistakenly stated that the meeting
will be on May 14th at 2:00pm...

The correct date is May 21st at 2:00pm.

I apologize for any inconvenience.

- Jim F.


Subject: 
Re: Next DelVaLUG Meeting....
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.loc.us.pa, lugnet.org.us.delvalug
Date: 
Fri, 6 May 2005 01:34:51 GMT
Viewed: 
8676 times
  
In lugnet.loc.us.pa, Jeff Stabile wrote:
In lugnet.loc.us.pa, Jim Foulds wrote:
Just wanted to let you know that we will be having a meeting at the Lego store
in Bridgewater, NJ at 2:00pm on May 14th, 2005!!

Thanks,
  Jim F.

Oh high exalted one, is there an agenda for this fine gathering?

PITA Jeff

I suppose there could be,  I just thought we were getting together to have fun
and chat about all things Lego.  But I suppose we could discuss upcoming events
that the club is goign to do :)

- Jim F.


Subject: 
Re: Next DelVaLUG Meeting....
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.loc.us.pa, lugnet.org.us.delvalug
Date: 
Thu, 5 May 2005 02:32:49 GMT
Viewed: 
7692 times
  
In lugnet.loc.us.pa, Jim Foulds wrote:
Just wanted to let you know that we will be having a meeting at the Lego store
in Bridgewater, NJ at 2:00pm on May 14th, 2005!!

Thanks,
  Jim F.

Oh high exalted one, is there an agenda for this fine gathering?

PITA Jeff



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