This Short C-23 Sherpa is an Army surplus cargo plane that has been converted for use by the US Forest Service as a “smokejumper” plane – firefighters jump out of a perfectly good airplane into a burning forest! I built this model as a commissioned kit for one of the USFS pilots, including instructions.
For the first time in a few years I gave my Brick Geometry and Studs On All Sides talks at the Bricks by the Bay LEGO convention in Santa Clara, CA. I updated both presentations for this event by adding a few new pages in each one. Here are the updated versions of the files if you’d like to look at them:
Let me know if you’d like to see me deliver one of these talks at an event near you! Enjoy the information, and happy building!
I wore a Lego brick badge to Maker Faire today, and two of the bricks feel off somewhere. One says “www.brickpile.com” and the other says “BayLUG/BayLTC”. Since one of them says the URL of this site, I thought maybe someone would find it and look it up. If that’s you, please let me know–I’d like them back. Thanks!
Bill.
I’m catching up on my backlog of unsorted elements that have been building up over the past few years, and wrote an article about the process. Check out Sorting Time to read about it.
A celebration of the spring equinox (in the northern hemisphere at least).
I’ve just published a new page on the site on Becoming a MOC Builder. If you’ve ever wondered how to go from building your first LEGO set to building fabulous original creations, this may serve as a useful guide along that journey. Let me know what you think, and post comments below. Thanks!
I’ve added a new page to the Reference section of my site, LEGO Train Types which outlines the various types of train sets LEGO has produced over the years. Did you know the first LEGO electric trains came out in 1966?
I’ve set up a Facebook Page for BBTB, so if you’re more into Facebook than blog reading these days, you can find me on there. I’ve started sharing my blog posts on Facebook and also a few other LEGO-related things I come across. Go check it out and Like, comment, share, etc. if you enjoy what you see.
Have you ever been talking about LEGO with someone who said “LEGO didn’t make those specialized parts when I was a kid”? It happens all the time at shows. Whenever we have a BayLUG exhibit at a model train show or museum or Maker Faire, or on the public day at Bricks by the Bay or other conventions, there are always adults coming through who look at the clever uses of parts in our MOCs and make a comment like this. Continue reading “LEGO didn’t make those specialized parts when I was a kid”
You may have noticed this site has been down a lot lately.
The machine that hosted the Brickpile, along with BayLUG and Bricks by the Bay, along with some other personal domains that I and some friends owned, was hacked back in January, and then we got another site up briefly and it too was almost immediately compromised. But now this is the third try, this time hosted on Amazon EC3. Wish me luck.
Speaking of Bricks by the Bay, we’re ramping things up for the convention this year and I’m really excited about it. Come down to Santa Clara in August and spend a weekend immersing yourself in LEGO fan culture! The convention is Thursday through Sunday, August 7-10, 2014, with a Public Exhibition on Sunday. I’m putting the final touches on the registration system for this year now, and we’ll have it open shortly. Check out the Bricks by the Bay website for more information and I hope to see you there!
P.S.: I’m also going to be at Brickworld in Chicago this year, and later in the year BrickCon in Seattle. If you’re going to be there, look for me.