Here are a couple of custom figs I’ve seen from the LUG that are noteworthy:

@randomdan: The Brictator, or that loner terraforming guy. Or finally build William Howard Truss!

@tfdesigns: Does Whitetron have a named character?

Maybe I could update Buckley “Buck” George…

This size lends itself to the Xtra line quite well, and every City/Town needs some small green spaces where figs can interact doing…Read more

With the most recent car completed, I’m not sure what to work on:

* Beginning the Great Refit for my original MOCs, the G-Fighters, so I can fly in a new version of the FS-38G Paladin for our 10th anniversary.

* Refining the Vic Viper I got back from Dan Walker and entering it into NNoVVember 2022.

* Building another alt car for…Read more

I need to boost my 1×1 tile options in black.

Here is the research on the DOTS set I bought. The 1×1 round letter tiles are printed well, tricky to get perfectly aligned, precisely because they are round.

But, for the same reason, lend themselves VERY well to arched arrangements of letters and marquee signs, because they can be…Read more

CAR CONSTRUCTION

I’ve decided that Marcella gets the alternate #2, and this car is a LOT more complete than I remember it, at about 80%. I should be able to finish it today.

This car is in a very appealing color combination of black, lime and bits of white and red. Parts from sets 8192, 8133, 8119 and 8154.

Primary sponsors are R…Read more

@knb112 I have completed the alternate #7 V8 Racer, in blue and yellow, complete with driver.
Primary sponsors are ENGyne and Car Glass.

Secondary sponsors are many: Zenzora, eRav, Hevado, Yubihama, GIR BOX, and DarX. Nearly ALL of the LEGO car part companies they made up.

Parts are from sets 8124 and 8151.
I chose a blue and yellow…Read more

This video describes a method for removing large amounts of tile from a baseplate efficiently using the orange brick separator slightly differently. This builder does large, advanced City displays, so I tend to believe it works.

NEW ALTERNATE PLANNED

@knb112, yours is up next alongside the rebuilds I’m doing. If you’d like, I can post an idea of which cars are coming no matter what for you to choose from.

ANY LUG member can request one of these alternate cars. Just ask.

NEW CAR COMPLETED

This is the alternate #18 car, earmarked for @randomdan. This is another case, like all alternate cars before this, where the alternate fits among the regular field in terms of quality. No drop off here!

Built two paddock stall facades, 20 studs wide to match a pit lane stall, and only 2 studs deep with an overhanging 4 stud shelf well above the cars. In this way I can plug these on, still have a 3 stud space between the stall and the necessary pit wall.

They’re sturdy enough that I can pull them right off the baseplate and plug them…Read more

TRACK CONSTRUCTION

This is a general idea for minimum paddock stall width, even though each pit box must be 20 studs long for the car to fit.

This is also the format for the Winner’s Circle sign I want to be able to plug on and remove.

I’m also thinking about these patterned parts as the corners of one half of the pedestrian bridge,…Read more

CAR CONSTRUCTION
* Adding version 2 cars to Flickr. There are now 17 of 44 posted there in their version 2 form.
* Sponsors added to several cars.

CAR DESIGN
* I will attempt to rebuild the #38, #55 and #21 entirely with the discovery of leftover sticker sheets.

TRACK CONSTRUCTION
* Tho halves of one paddock stall are finished, so I…Read more

CAR REFINEMENT

* The final refinement is underway. I’ve been posting the version 2 cars one by one on Flickr. This process is much faster. I have 6 of 44 done already.

CITY CAR CONSTRUCTION

* Rebuilt two taxis. Two figs now fit in each car, but without seats and jammed directly against each other. I need to rebuild them again to make them at least two studs longer: one in back to accommodate the passenger and driver more comfortably, and one or two up front to make this vehicle balanced front and…Read more

CAR / TEAM CONSTRUCTION

I got the #46 posted on Flickr, and got to take a look at the pit crew organization more closely.

It turns out that 8 figs with matching printed torsos that match the car is what I need, as these teams are the only ones I want to place in the paddock. Here’s what 8 figs I need:
* A driver in the car. This…Read more

CAR CONSTRUCTION

I’m going through mu MOCs one more time, taking new pictures after I edit gas caps, cockpit height, and minifig heads. It turns out that very few of the cars I built had drivers or faces to go with them, so I can select from the 40 or so minifig heads that I bought.

I’ve also started putting the version 2 car photos…Read more

CAR CONSTRUCTION

* Now that I’m pulling cars out one by one, I noticed right away on the #96 that the sides of the car are built high enough that the side window of the car is only 2 tiles high. I need to raise the cockpit are of this one, and probably others. The #96 is now in pieces again on my LEGO work area.

CAR DESIGN

* This…Read more

THREAD STATUS

Yeah, this has turned into a blog. I’ve found it useful over time to keep this thread updated not just as a motivator for myself to keep going, but to go through and keep track of my creative thoughts and process.

WHAT DID I LEARN?

First, I’ve found that I waffle a lot on design based on the parts available, the scope…Read more

Short version is: the information we stumble upon might also be fake, incorrect, an awkward prototype,…Read more

PARTS ACQUISITION

This is one of the parts I plan on adding to the #89 car, and the set is now on order through BL, along with the 1 x 3 lime curved slopes that go outboard of them.

CAR DESIGN

I also have a Nick Nitro on the way for the #88 car, which may trigger a redesign into a scaly looking livery, as there are plenty of…Read more

CAR CONSTRUCTION

The #30 and #80 are probably a two car underfunded team. The end is in sight!

20 89
TWO CARS REMAIN

2 4 5 6 7 8 27 66 (96?)
ALTERNATES POSSIBLE

3 18 46
ALTERNATES EARMARKED OR GIVEN

All five BL orders arrived.

* Pit crews for the #4 Vita Rush and the #23 SpinWear partially filled.
* A copy of Nitro acquired for the alternate #18.
* New driver for the #6 Dragon Dueller in Devon Daredevil.
* New driver for the #84.
* New driver for the #89.
* More dump cans completed.

CAR CONSTRUCTION

* Continued to build the…Read more

Me, for example in the case of orange CS figs, I’d recommend an orange stripe maybe at fig head height, since orange isn’t a color a lot of builders have in bulk. Maybe black-yellow-black within that line to…Read more

By the way, *thumbs my lapels* I am the winner of the Maximum Verbosity Trophy. We sometimes build in joke / accomplishment trophies to hand out during our quarterly meetings. We build them just for fun too. Anybody can…Read more

* If we decide to try Moonbase, it doesn’t have to be directly related to past efforts, mostly because we probably won’t plan to connect to other LUGs any more than we have done so with City/Town efforts over the years. That said, it sure is nice that the Moonbase standard is built with older bricks that most…Read more

White-blue-yellow-red-black is all LEGO core colors. Some of the fun in designing and building a GBJ, even a simple one brick tall maze, is thinking about the parts as obstacles and challenges for the ball to move over, and everybody has some of these bricks for sure.

Difficulty can change through the module, sure, and…Read more

A quarterly build challenge where the builds…Read more

As long as you realize that it’s about connecting the “airlocks” in between collaborative sections, and remind yourself that it’s okay to free up everything else from Classic Space.

I personally liked to match difficulty to color, so that blue was easy, yellow was tough, and red was downright hard. I built these in height, so that your ball had a chance to thump…Read more

* GBJ can also have elements of the video game Marble Madness in it, which is the original inspiration for me. This does include…Read more