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Subject: 
The Mantis - To take apart or not take apart?
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.build
Date: 
Fri, 8 Mar 2002 16:32:11 GMT
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Guys, It's been a whole year since I have had the Mantis Standing. It's
really busted. It's dusty, broken, sun bleeched, and loaded, loaded, loaded
with useful parts.
I have already raided parts from it.

Most of the legs have literaly broken, the technic beams have snapped in two
in places.

The wings are almost a creamy color from the sun and light.

I've been thinking about taking it apart.
I would make something better from all the good stuff locked up inside and out.
I don't think I'll ever fix it completely. The Mantis has an older style of
building and I don't feel it really shows my current thinking. Just like the
Hexapod Armature It could be so much more.
I could make two Red Robot sized Mechs for example. There is so much Black
technic inside, plus all kinds of colors.
I'm thinking that the expense of a new Major Mecha is something I can't
afford for awhile, I mean a long time!

Of course these are my reasons for taking it apart.

Then there is the fact that this creation single handedly got me alot of
recognition. Big Time. Almost a name sake.
I worked for three years to complete it. The legs were a masterpiece and
took a year and a half to replicate all four of them at $600!!!

The mantis never stood the right way, I could remove the prop and place one
finger on it as a balance. I could stand, but it wanted to start leaning and
going places and fall over.

I dunno, I'm sick of it sitting all busted, but the thing is almost beyond
repair. I want it remembered the way it was and not as a creation that I
struggled to mantain because I neglected it or dragged it all over the place
to NYC clubs and Hoboken poetry readings, or how I ripped the legs off of it
because I could'nt find my needle nose plyers at 4am after a show.
(seriously I did)

Face it It could be better. I could do alot with the materials, but I feel
bad about it.

Also, there is this; I built the Mantis to force me in the direction of
taking Lego serious as an art form, now, I know where I'm going. Before it
was like a dream, I knew what I loved to do, but now after meeting all of
you and also finding in myself the desire to build and create Robots, now, I
see the direction, I know my place. The mantis was supposed to take me
there, and now here I am.

*if* I take it apart, it will be sad, there may never be another like it.

But I say to myself, look at the Hexapod Armature, and look how it became
the Super Mech-bot.

Funny, My Mantis and the Mech-bot are featured on the Lego.com Web-Site.

Wow.

Well, in closing, using the Mantis to make the next generation Mecha would
be great. I just feel like I would be losing something. And, I purposely
make my Mechs for keeps, it still pains me to know the Hexapod will never
exactly be ever again.

Flip side, I better make something just as kick a$$ or the Greatness that
the Mantis was will be, ho-hum.

In this picture March 2001, I couldn't open the wings for display because
something was wrong with the pneumatics inside the body.

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=84476
(March 2001)

See what I mean!

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=119089

Legomaster

Help.

Thoughts?
This ones tough.

Thank you.



Message has 8 Replies:
  Re: The Mantis - To take apart or not take apart?
 
Take it apart. Lego, as a medium, is designed specifically to be recycled into new creations (where other artwork mediums are more permanent). I look forward to seeing what else you can build with those pieces! Good luck Adrian -- (...) (22 years ago, 8-Mar-02, to lugnet.build)
  Re: The Mantis - To take apart or not take apart?
 
(...) *snip* (...) *snip* (...) Hi, How is this a tough decision? You have clearly put a lot of thought into taking it apart. You have bleached it for parts, and it doesn't work anymore. You sound very unhappy with it as it is now. Sounds like you (...) (22 years ago, 8-Mar-02, to lugnet.build)
  Re: The Mantis - To take apart or not take apart?
 
Hi Legomaster, I'm not sure what you would want to do with the Mantis, but I can tell you how I deal with taking my creations apart. I've build a bunch of things which I was really proud of, and my first big creation was an automated turret which (...) (22 years ago, 8-Mar-02, to lugnet.build)
  Re: The Mantis - To take apart or not take apart?
 
(...) How about this: I've been edging towards taking FdG apart for the last two months. In solidarity with your impending disassembly, I'll begin in earnest this weekend. Hey, you can build a Classic Space factory with that stuff! :D best LFB (22 years ago, 8-Mar-02, to lugnet.build)
  Re: The Mantis - To take apart or not take apart?
 
In lugnet.build, Eric Sophie writes: <SNIP> (...) Hey Eric, I say disessemble it. I know that my dragons will one day be taken apart, mainly because they monopolize half of my lego collection. Admitedly, I won't take apart their heads, they'll just (...) (22 years ago, 8-Mar-02, to lugnet.build)
  Re: The Mantis - To take apart or not take apart?
 
ug, this is the bitter sweet part of Lego for me as well. I'll put myself into the Lego, it's what part of what makes the end result so cool. But, I also know, no matter how cool, there's something else that needs to be built. Something inside titan (...) (22 years ago, 9-Mar-02, to lugnet.build)
  Re: The Mantis - To take apart or not take apart?
 
Poor Eric! I understand your pain. I've just restarted into LEGO a short while ago and really can't imagine taking apart one of the things I've built. But all the nice LEGO-parts used in the models are too important to leave them "unused", so be (...) (22 years ago, 9-Mar-02, to lugnet.build)
  (canceled)
 

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