I’ve been an admirer for some time of Polish LEGO fan PaweÅ‚ “Sariel” Kmieć from Warsaw, Poland. He builds some of the most brilliant LEGO scale model vehicles I’ve ever seen and is a wizard with TECHNIC mechanisms. One of his models, the Shelby GT 350-H, has been made into a book, Build a LEGO Mustang. As of this writing, Amazon offers it for US$13.99, discounted from the cover price of US$19.95. Here are the front and back covers:
Bill Ward
Book Review: LEGO Holiday Ideas
This Christmas, you might consider picking up a copy of the new book from DK, LEGO Holiday Ideas. The list price is US$14.99 or CA$18.99 but you can get it for less and support my blog by using the Amazon link provided:
Caltrain Gallery Cars
This isn’t a new model, but it is one that has never been featured on my blog before, even though it was first built almost a decade ago. It’s the Gallery Car used by Caltrain commuter rail service on the San Francisco peninsula, to go with my Caltrain F40PH locomotive.
LEGO Masters Casting Call
There is a new LEGO-related competition reality show coming to FOX TV in the US, based on the LEGO MASTERS show that has been a big success in the UK and Australia. They’re looking for contestants. If you’re interested, read on.
Bricks by the Bay 2019
This year’s edition of Bricks by the Bay, the annual LEGO convention in the San Francisco Bay Area, happened last weekend. It seemed like I wasn’t going to be able to go due to illness, but thanks to the miracle of antibiotics, I was able to go! Here are some of my models (Teddy, Kermit, Owl and California Flag) on display:
Micropolis Canal
I’ve built some new Micropolis modules, running a canal through the city. It’s not an original idea, but rather one that I borrowed from photos I saw online, and decided to make my own versions of.
Follow me on Social Media / Micropolis Houses
I’ve recently been trying to up my social media game, and want to post an update and reminder. I’ve started being a bit more active on Instagram and Twitter, and I’ve been posting on my Facebook page for a while now, but if you’re not following those then now’s a good time to start.
BayLUG June 2019 Meeting
Yesterday, June 9th, we had a meeting of BayLUG at the Museum of American Heritage in Palo Alto. Click any of the photos below to see the larger version from Flickr, or click this one to see the whole album on Flickr:
RIP Art Gugick
I learned this week of the tragic death in a car accident of Arthur Gugick, beloved LEGO artist from Beachwood, Ohio.
Advent 2018
In 2018, unlike the last two, we don’t have a 24-in-1 set (“Christmas build-up”) to play with, unfortunately, so we’re back to just the basic Advent calendars in City, Friends, and Star Wars. As usual, each post was originally a separate blog entry, starting with Day 1, and continuing with a daily post about that day’s advent models. However, to clean up the site, I’ve condensed all those daily posts to a single post per year. Here’s the 2018 edition.
Amusement Park Train
I made this cute little train earlier this year. It’s meant to represent a cheesy fake train that you might find at an amusement park to ferry passengers between the parking lot and the rides. It features three cars and an 0-4-0 locomotive, built on the 9V train motor base. The cars use the smaller diameter wheels so that they can be low to the ground.
Bricks by the Bay 2018
This past weekend was the 9th edition of Bricks by the Bay, the bay area’s local LEGO convention. I was a co-founder and President from 2010 through 2015, until I resigned and skipped the 2016 event. I returned last year to repair my relationship with the local LEGO community and am feeling very happy to have been accepted and welcomed back into the fold.
Short C-23 Sherpa
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.
Talks at Bricks by the Bay 2018
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.
Maker Faire 2018
This past weekend my local LEGO club, BayLUG, participated in the Maker Faire Bay Area, which they’ve done every year since the Faire started in 2006. I participated in every one from 2006 to 2013, and this is my first time back since then.
Bricks Cascade 2018
Last March I went up to Portland, Oregon and attended Bricks Cascade, their annual LEGO convention. While I was there I got some bad personal news, and it’s taken me a while to get around to posting my photos of the event–sorry about that. But better late than never, right?
Sewing Machine by Niklas Rosén
Check out this adorable and very lifelike sewing machine designed by Niklas Rosén.
Happy New Year 2018
I came up with this little sign to commemorate the new year, and made instructions for it.
Advent 2017 MOC Instructions
For the first 24 days of this month, I posted my Advent 2017 posts with images of the three Advent Calendar models as well as that day’s Christmas Build-Up model. Also each day I built a MOC (My Own Creation) using the remaining parts from the Christmas Build-Up set. I made directions for each of these models and posted them in each day’s post, but in case you want to see them all in one place, there’s a gallery at the end.
Advent 2017
The time has come once more for the annual LEGO Advent calendars! This year we have once more the same three themes – City, Friends, and Star Wars – and like last year there is a 24-in-1 “Christmas Build-Up” set 40253. The latter was a freebie that you got in November for making a $100 purchase from LEGO – it’s no longer available from them, but you may find them on Amazon. (The Advent calendars may be sold out at your LEGO store as well, but using the Amazon links above helps support this blog and is most appreciated.) Once again I designed a MOC from the leftover Build-Up parts each day – you can find instructions for all of those in a separate post. As usual, each post was originally a separate blog entry, starting with Day 1, and continuing with a daily post about that day’s advent models. However, to clean up the site, I’ve condensed all those daily posts to a single post per year. Here’s the 2017 edition.