Subject:
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Re: SCLTC Sets World Record for Largest US Flag
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains.org.scltc
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Date:
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Wed, 20 Jul 2005 17:17:44 GMT
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Viewed:
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5624 times
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In lugnet.trains.org.scltc, Brian Pilati wrote:
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So how much time and planning went into creating the pattern?
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David, Thomas, and I built some sample stripes using some 14 gauge Romex wire as
a flexible contour guide. We locked the wire down in place using bricks on 10
48x48 stud baseplates and built the sample stripe next to it. When we got
something we liked, David came up with the idea of making the master pattern
using inverted bricks (to save tiles and to make it totally obvious where bricks
belonged and where they did not belong). We transported the pattern in pieces.
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What about the supporting vertical iron supports? Whose idea was that and
did you just do it or engineer it? With the posts in place is the flag held
tight or does it have some play or sway?
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The 6 foot long 3/4 inch diameter galvanized steel pipes seemed like an obvious
choice. They come threaded at each end and are often used to make pipe clamps
for woodworkers. We designed the flag base with holes in the tops for the pipes
and bolted threaded flanges to the inside bottom of the base. The base was
designed in two 6.5 foot long pieces with a cubic insert that held the halves
togther using 4 12 inch long 5/8 diameter bolts. After we set up the base, we
installed a 6 foot pipe for the flag pole and 4 4-foot poles for the stripes.
The idea was to replace the 4 short ones once the flag grew to their height.
Short poles made placing stripes easier. We quickly decided on site that we
wanted the flag pole supported all the way to the top againsthe top 30 rows of
bricks and the ball getting knocked off. This was done by placing a
cut-to-length piece of PVC over the 6 foot pipe on the morning of Day 2. To keep
the flag pole from rattling against the PVC, we added some 4 constricted cross
section layers to the flag pole. The flag pipes fit in 4 x 4 stud openings,
which left only about 1/8th inch gap. This was a useful tolerance and motion was
not a problem. At the end of Day 2, we decided we wanted the poles in the flags
to go to the top of stripe 13 (they barely reached the middle of stripe 11), so
we added an extension of 3/4 inch PVC pipe cut to length using an inline
coupling that was threaded on the iron pipe side. The coupling was a little too
big to fit inside the 4x4 stud openings, so I used a stationary belt sander to
trim each one down on 4 sides. When we installed them the next morning, we used
a wrench to align the sanded down sides with the flag sides as we slipped stripe
11 back on.
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The reason, I asked about the interior design was because I thought it looked
like 2 x 4 bricks (and the recently posted picture confirms that 2x4 bricks
were used to maintain structural strength) but the flag was made entirely of
2x2 bricks? So how did you count the bricks in the flag? Does it include
the 2x4s inside or just the 2x2s on the outside?
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No, the interior was done entirely with 2x2 bricks just like the exterior. There
are a few 2x4 bricks laid on top of each stripe (they have orange 2x2 steep
slopes on them). These bricks position the stripe inside the one above it.
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How did the crowd participation work out? Did a lot of people stop and help
you build or did you find that the LUG did most of the work? What was the
most people you had helping at one time?
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The crowd on the first day was so-so. We have some members in the club who
really enjoy working/talking with the public and they got some good work out the
visitors. Some of us did quality control, knocking off bricks that were
improperly placed (you could do this with you eyes closed, often, because a lot
of people would stack bricks and stacks were easy to knock off). Things took off
on Saturday, especially in the afternoon. We were visited by numerous (if
unknown to this LEGO community) talented builders. I was struck by a couple from
Austrailia: The man walked up, looked around, said G’Day to me and in 10 seconds
was building with both hands. So was his wife! We had a group of 3 girls without
any seeming LEGO experience who were told to place a brick across any 2 long
crack between aligned bricks. They covered every crack as fast as it appeared.
Our plan for the day was 5 stripes. We pretty much left this group on their own
- they even caught and fixed their own mistakes and made measuring sticks on
their own. We just inspected the final product. We fed this building machine a
6th stripe (they would have done all 13 if we had given them the chance) and
went home early (leaving only 3 for Sunday). Flush with Day 2’s speedy success,
we deliberately started late on Day 3 only to find the visitor caliber was back
to Day 1. Still, 3 stripes was not much work.
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Question: It seems the pattern alternates (for structural strength) between
rows (that is what gives the flag a rough, (almost punctured) feel instead of
being smooth)? Was the alternating pattern hard to maintain with a lot of
people building at once?
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We like to say it gives the surface texture. That was a deliberate decision. And
a good one, we think. Some people never “got it”. The construction rule was
really simple: Place a brick in the same location as the one two bricks below.
Match color. Match horizontal position. For people who couldn’t deal with that,
we told them to put a same color brick across any crack between aligned bricks.
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Did I see that you had 6 stripes, so about 60lbs per stripe?
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No, the US flag has 13 stripes! So 360/13 pounds per stripe.
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Since the flag is so long are you planning on “fractioning” the stripes so
they are in pieces too? Or are the fractionalized stripes as far as you are
going to take it?
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Right now, the bulk of the flag belongs to the OC Fair. We own the stars and
various non 2x2 bricks. The current plan is to take it down and remove our
bricks. The fair plans to auction their bricks on eBay. We are investigating
other ideas. I like the idea of taking it BrickFest. We could certainly pack it
for shipment, but we would want someone to foot the shipping bill.
-Ted
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: SCLTC Sets World Record for Largest US Flag
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| (...) I stand corrected, though from the picture, I can't tell there exists a seem between those 2x2 green bricks (must have been those Australian builders, huh? :) ). (...) Awesome. I love it when the crowd participates. It does sound like it could (...) (19 years ago, 20-Jul-05, to lugnet.trains.org.scltc, FTX)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: SCLTC Sets World Record for Largest US Flag
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| Starts reply by wiping a tear from my eyes ... beautiful. So how much time and planning went into creating the pattern? What about the supporting vertical iron supports? Whose idea was that and did you just do it or engineer it? With the posts in (...) (19 years ago, 20-Jul-05, to lugnet.trains.org.scltc, FTX)
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