Bill Ward's Brickpile » Micro Scale

Micropolis Buildings

Bill — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 04:00:32 +0000

I built some Micropolis buildings according to the TwinLUG standard. I made four modules, which I named for what the residents of Micropolis would use them for: Live, Play, Shop, and Work. Take a look at the pictures on Flickr as a set or as a slideshow.

MicroBricks Blog

Bill — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 23:52:59 +0000

Bruce, aka “Bricktales,” writer of one of my favorite LEGO blogs, VignetteBricks, has a new blog. It’s called MicroBricks and features all the latest and greatest microscale LEGO creations being made today. Here are some examples of the models featured there:

Check it out today!

(via Brothers Brick).

Technorati Tags: lego, blogs, blogging, microscale

Micro Moonbase Monorail

Bill — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 09:14:42 +0000

At long last, here is the blog entry about my micro moonbase monorail. Last January, I got together with other members of BayLUG to install a “microscale space” display at the Valley Fair Mall LEGO store. I posted pictures and a description of that on my blog back then, but I always meant to post details about my model that was featured in the display. So here they are, eight months later – sorry!

Here we see two buildings connected by a monorail. At the right is a sort of office building which has an opening for the monorail to enter the building, inspired by the way they do at Disneyland (or is it WDW) where the monorail goes into the hotel (or at least, I think it did when I was a kid – does it still?). At the other end is a standalone station with a micro moonbase connection. In both cases, the monorail fits into the building closely enough that you can imagine it is an airtight connection (something that matters a lot on an airless moon…).

For the track I am using the straight 16-stud long track of the type originally produced for the 4.5V and 12V trains from long ago, but which has lately been available at the LEGO store Pick-A-Brick (in New Grey, natch). I designed a monorail car that fits nicely on the track. The only problem with the design is it would never be able to take any turns, so it’s a good thing I only have straight track of that type! :-)

Click the photo above to see more, or click to look on Flickr (slideshow) or on Brickshelf (pending moderation).

BayLUG Display at Valley Fair Mall

Bill — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 22:51:16 +0000

On Sunday, May 28, we (Bay Area LEGO Users’ Group) installed our first-ever display at the LEGO Store in the Valley Fair Mall, Santa Clara, CA. Our display, changed out about once a month, was previously at the Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton (such as the Microscale San Francisco in January and the Aquarium in February), but that LEGO store was closed in May and we were given permission to have our display in Santa Clara instead.

The theme for this display was “micro-scale space.” Several of the contest entries at the meeting on Saturday are featured along with a few others that were built just for this display. Participating members include Russell, Bruce, Charles, Adrienne, Jim, Justin, and myself.

We used several methods of displaying the flying models: some are taped to the back wall, some hang from strings attached to magnets, which are stuck to the underside of the shelf above, others hang from strings that are taped to said shelf, and still others are attached by wire which is wrapped around the shelf bracket above. Last time (the Aquarium) we used magnets and strings to suspend models and many of them fell down, but that was probably due to the construction in the shop next door. When this exhibit is over we’ll see which method(s) worked best.

My contribution to this display was the monorail you can see in the foreground, which commutes between an office building and a micro moonbase compatible station. The track continues off to the left out of the scene. When the display is over I’ll post an entry highlighting just that model, with photos showing how it was done, as I have done with entries from earlier store displays (TransAmerica Pyramid, Lombard Street, and Fish). I also provided the moon crater baseplates, which date back to the early 1980′s Classic Space LEGO era.

View all the pictures on Flickr or on Brickshelf (once moderated).

Technorati Tags: lego, baylug, space, microscale, legostore

BayLUG Meeting, May 27 2006

Bill — Mon, 29 May 2006 19:38:54 +0000

This past Saturday, we had a Bay Area LEGO Users’ Group meeting at the Museum of American Heritage in Palo Alto. The theme for the contest was “micro scale space” with two contests, one for micro moonbase models and another for micro scale spacecraft. The term “micro scale” refers to any model built to a model where instead of using LEGO minifigs, the size of a human is taken to be about the height of a LEGO brick, or smaller.

Technorati Tags: lego, baylug, space, microscale

Lombard Street, San Francisco

Bill — Mon, 15 May 2006 00:20:17 +0000

Along with the TransAmerica Pyramid , this was built for the display that my LEGO club, the Bay Area LEGO Users’ Group, had at the LEGO store in Pleasanton, CA. In January 2006 we used “mini-scale San Francisco” as the theme for our display.

More pictures of the model can be found on Flickr and on Brickshelf (once moderated).

Technorati Tags: lego, lombardstreet, sanfrancisco, mymodels, microscale

TransAmerica Pyramid

Bill — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 00:16:26 +0000

The TransAmerica Pyramid is one of the most distinctive structures in the city of San Francisco. In January 2006 my LEGO club, the Bay Area LEGO Users’ Group chose “mini-scale San Francisco” as the theme for our display at the LEGO store in Pleasanton, CA. I built this model, along with a scene of Lombard Street, for that display.

More pictures of the model can be found on Flickr and on Brickshelf (once moderated).

Technorati Tags: lego, pyramid, sanfrancisco, mymodels, microscale, transamerica