I am into LEGO again. What next?

I have several friends who have started buying and playing LEGO recently. Assume you are one of them: you have bought a few sets, built them, built the B-Models too and you find it cool. The obvious question is: what next? You can buy more and do the same. Apart from financials, there are other bottlenecks: you will have to store them somewhere. And unless you are one of those LEGO Investors, this is going to become a problem.

So besides buying more, what other options do you have? Let's take a look. Some of the options is biased towards Technic, but I hope non-Technic fans can also get some starting points.

First, I would recommend watching the hilarious keynote by Hillel Cooperman from BrickCon 2012. It's 25 minutes, but worth it. (Not for your kids though.)

Ok, now that you have realized where you are on your path, let me show you some pointers. (Just in case you are wondering: AFOL = Adult Fan Of Lego, MOC = My Own Creation.)

Most importantly I recommend you try to build things yourself. Some of these places may give you inspiration:

Rebrickable. This is a site for people to share their creations. While it is not necessarily easy to navigate, the best thing about this site is that all creations have building instructions available, so this is a great way to get started. (Yes, some instructions cost money, but many don't.) For many creations you are able to download an LXF file that allows you to investigate a virtual model in Lego Digital Designer.

It may be helpful to look at what others have created. There are several sites specializing in this:

• The good old Brickshelf is probably the oldest site doing that.
• Mocpages is a bit more modern, but has good content too.
• Finally, the most vibrant place is certainly Flickr. Yes, I know, Flickr sounds a bid oldschool in todays Web many-dot-o world, but that's how things are. A good way to start is picking an interesting community and browse around. For example LUGNuts is all about cars, or this group is mostly about aircraft.

There are also some really good books around building that may give you more inspiration. My favorites:

• The unoffical LEGO Technic Builder's Guide from Sariel explains you how to do suspensions, gearboxes and all sorts of LEGO Technic magic.
• If you are wondering about non-Technic magic, The Unofficial LEGO Advanced Building Techniques Guide is a free download that sheds light on some of the magic.

There are some pretty cool magazines too:

• Hispabrick is a free magazine that is available in English, with really good content.
• Railbricks is all about LEGO trains. Premium content too.
• BrickJournal is something you have to pay for. But it's only a few bucks and really worth it.

TechnicBRICKs is a blog you may be interested in. It is mostly about LEGO Company products and specacular Technic creations. On the other hand Technicopedia is the encylopedia of our childhood's favorite Technic sets.

There are probably 1000 others that I have left out, but I am sure these will get you started.

It can be built by anyone

I had a plan was to share some of my own creations. In my opinion Rebrickable is a really great site to do this, so I started uploading. Luckily the past few days gave them just enough time do review all the stuff, so here they come.

First, I have the classic Mustang about which I even made a Youtube video a long ago. I was surprised to find out recently that someone else has downloaded it to make another one too :)

I managed to publish the micro MiG-15 and MiG-21 too:

Finally I have completed the upload of the MiG-15 too:

The instructions have been made with Digital Designer so they are not the best of my artistic career, but they contain just enough to build the models.

Happy building and don't forget to let me know if you build one of them, or you use them in a YouTube video! :)

Swiss, but not cheese

I may have an affiliation with Hungary, but I do live in Swizterland. Coincidentally, the Bf-109G has served in both the Hungarian and the Swiss Air Force. Hence, I decided to build a Swiss Air Force Bf-109 as well. The aircraft is almost identical to the previous one except for the color scheme.

More photos on Flickr as usual. Enoy!

Silver MiG reloaded

As I started building new aifcraft recently I wanted to choose a scale that fits an entire fleet, not just a single model. Finally I have settled with 1:48 which is smaller than most other similar planes, but still lets me add a considerable amount of detail.

When the Messerschmidt was ready, it was a no-brainer to start rebuilding my existing MiG-15 in a similar scale. This is how far I got.

It is quite similar to the original one. The underlying concept is the same: the fuselage is symmetric and the wing joins at a Pythagorean triangle. But this is a total rebuild from the ground up which is visible in some details.

I liked the previous variant quite a bit, but I like this one even more. Even though it is smaller in size, I managed to keep almost all characteristic features of the original. As it contains only about 200 bricks it is significantly lighter than its predecessor that contained over 600. The lighter weight means a considerably lighter load on the landing gears and the whole structure bends a lot less and sits more proudly on the runway.

You can find more photos on Flickr and in the Picasaweb album as well.

Build like a pro

Rebrickable helps you do something that I consider the essence of playing with LEGO: how can I build new things from my bricks? Not everyone is born as a talented builder and not everyone has enough inspiration to build cool new things. The idea behind Rebrickable is simple: LEGO builders share blueprints and building instructions. Quite good ones.

Recently the 500th MOC has been uploaded to the site: this beautiful Mercedes-Benz 540K roadster from Sariel. Since this is a remote-controllable car you need two motors as well. The full building instructions can be downloaded from Rebrickable.

There are many other great creations, even some Technic ones like this Sunbeam Corvette supercar with pistons, suspension, gearbox as one would expect. The instructions for Jurgen Krooshoop's model can be downloaded from here:

There are planes too. This Pilatus PC-21 has been covered on TechnicBRICK as well, built by Ismaël (Khan) Juhoor (download link).

These models are all very professional, but building them at home will need serious preparations. The part list is usually available, but it is quite likely that you will not have all the parts and have to buy new ones.

If you would like to simply play, Peter Sprogis has uploaded many models that can be built from a single LEGO Creator set, like the 4939, 5867, 6743or 6913. For example this pickup truck:

It is worth going through the list.

I think Rebrickable is one of the best things that have happened to LEGO during the recent years. The site itself is not blazingly fast and could be more helpful in discovering new models, but to see the instructions for many cool creations makes it one of the most interesting LEGO sites over the Internet.

Planes, as small as they can be

I hope by now everyone has built his LEGO sets from Christmas. To make January more exciting, Mainman has organized his own microscale build competition for plane builders. The deadline was last week, it is a good time to look at the best nominees.

tbone_tbl was the most productive one, he has built no less than seven planes. My personal favorite is this AV-8 Harrier. All details are in place: the wing is excellent, but I also like the canopy and its surroundings, not to mention the tail section.

The most grandiose plane was built by John Lamarck: this B-17 is definitely the biggest in the field - if this makes sense for a microscale aircraft:

It also has two P-51 Mustangs as escorts:

You are probably not surprised to hear that I have built something too. These two projects have been half done for a long time and the competition has finally gave me the final push to finish them. I already built a MiG-15 at a different scale, but I wanted to build a smaller one too. This is the end result:

All in all, I am not 100% happy with it. The overall shape is ok, but I think the final impression is a bit blocky. I am like this MiG-21 a bit more:

This plane is the most produced supersonic aircraft in the world. Compared to this it has hardly any versions built from bricks. I like how this turned out at this scale.

The field is strong, I am already happy just to be able to participate. It is worth looking at the others too, there are really good ones.

And if you would like to have more LEGO reading for the week, I recommend the newest issue of BrickJournal - the downloadable version is available for $3.95.

Let's build!

Interesting happenings in the builder scene. It is well known that Mainman likes microscale models, especially military aircraft: he has built an entire air force in 1:100 scale like this cool F-15. Now the plane itself has flown into air to let everyone know that there is a contest: everything that flies and is built in 1:60 or smaller scale can be nominated until January 22 2013. I myself am thinking about this and I encourage you to think about it too!

Something else has happened over the week: Mad Physicist posted another building instructions. This is only the fourth time in the history of the galaxy, so let us not underestimate the importance. Unlike the previous models this is a civilian helicopter built of relatively common yellow and red bricks, so it should not be too hard to build one at home.

Although it is more complicated than the sets you can buy in the LEGO shop, in the Mad Physicist universe this is a relatively simple one. If you have all the bricks (or LDD), I highly encourage you to build it. If you do so, don't forget to send me a photo!

The part list can be downloaded from here and the instructions from here (PDF, 7 megs).

The Messerschmitt story, part II.

Let's continue the story of LEGO Messerschmitt fighters. As I promised last week, today we look at models that have something unusual.

The plane of locolson is clearly larger than the others and sports two special features. The dimensions allow for more details here: it has a fully retractable landing gear. Many builders have this on their aircraft, but it is not a standard feature on other Bf-109 models. The list of unique features does not stop here, it also has a rotating propeller without any Photoshop: there is just enough room for the motor in the front of the cockpit and for the battery box right behind it.

ABStract/ did not fiddle with real bricks. The plane comes in three different versions. The first one has a classic "Battle of Britain" scheme. It has a retractable landing gear, but this one is hard to operate with your fingers. Nevertheless it looks quite decent:

The next version has almost exactly the same shape but a different color scheme: a tan-green combination, characteristic of the desert versions:

The third version has been significantly rebuilt. Unlike the first two "Emils", this is a "Friedrich" with a similar desert camouflage:

Lego pilot built his own plane on the computer. The propeller is worth mentioning, it looks quite different from the other planes. The fighter is just "finishing" an A-20:

Last but not least, take a look at this microscale Bf-109 from tbone_tbl:

The paint scheme is quite characteristic, the type can be instantly recognized from the yellow nose and wingtips. I think it would be impossible to build a Messerschmitt smaller than this!

Hungarian train collection

It was not until recently that I have discovered this blog (in Hungarian). While the trains are most recognizable to locals, the build quality may appeal to everyone. Most of them are built with Lego Digitial Designer, which is understandable - I certainly would not have enough bricks to build all of them. Let's go through the best ones.

We start with the M28 shunter, I think it looks awesome:

There are larger engines as well. The NOHAB has Swedish origins. In Hungary it has been known as the M61. It may be familiar to everyone who travelled around Lake Balaton:

There are electrical engines too. This is the V43:

We can see interesting trains in the capital as well. This is the Cogwheel train that brings you up to the closest hill:

Once you are up, you can take the Children's railway to take a trip amongst the hills:

As the image shows the minifigs are all well. But I am sure they get tired in the fresh air. The way home is quick and comfortable in this Combino:

I am totally flattered. Each one of these has been built in LDD but they are all original: the details are right and they are instantly recognizable, full of happy minifigs. On the blog you can find other engines too: there is a V63, an M41, and M62 "Sergey" as well.

Congratulations to depi for the cool creations!

Porsche love

Lego Porsche was, and I am sure it will be too. But this photo speaks for itself: the expressions of the minifig tell it all, no need to ask who the king of the road is.

This is a Porsche 911 Turbo. I am pretty sure it does not get any smaller or more recognizable than that. A small nit is that the body of the minifig does not fit into the car, but this is a minor detail. On the other hand there are building instructions on mocpages.

Congratulations, ZetoVince!

The Parliament Building, Budapest

I have finally managed to finish the Parliament Building. It was a long wait, I know, but it served its purpose: I have nominated it to a building contest! Keep fingers crossed.

One of the iconic buildings of Budapest, the Hungarian Parliament Building stands by the Danube giving visitors a perfect view from the Castle Hill on the other side of the river.

After Budapest was united from three cities in 1873, an international competition was held to establish a new, representative Parliament Building. Imre Steindl emerged as the victor. Construction was started in 1885 and the building was inaugurated on the 1000th anniversary of the country in 1896, and completed in 1904. During the communist regime a red star perched on the top of the dome, but was removed in 1990. The Hungarian Republic was declared from the balcony facing Lajos Kossuth Square on 23d October in 1989.

I chose the Parliament because it has a distinct shape that is easy to recognize. The original building has plenty of small details. To keep it all in LEGO I would have had to build in at a much larger scale. Instead I opted to keep it simple and manageable: I wanted to keep the distinct shape of the building but simplify many of the details so that it can be built at a reasonable scale. Even so it is larger than the typical buildings from the Landmark series: 36 studs wide, 19 studs deep and built from about 660 bricks.

More photos at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/bricksngears/ParliamentOfHungary02
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=500138

Something is about to happen...