Sleigh and Reindeer from Advent calendar with 8 tiny reindeer added (based on the Rudolph from the calendar build, but with black noses) and a harness of my own design.
Bill Ward
Flat Santa
Inspired by the adorable Platecraft Snowman by Chris McVeigh I came up with this design for Santa Claus in a similar style.
Dumpster Fire 2016
Celebrate the end (at last) of the year 2016 with this lovely ornament. Let’s hope 2017 brings us some kind of better news. Based on a Dumpster design by Bruce Lowell.
Book Review: The LEGO Christmas Ornaments Book
Chris McVeigh has long been one of my favorite builders. His models of everyday objects writ small in LEGO bricks are cute and inspiring, using some very clever building techniques, and every year he posts Christmas/holiday themed models on his website, along with building instructions … and now he has a book! The LEGO Christmas Ornaments Book is a collection of 15 of his best models with instructions for each one.
Congratulations Chicago Cubs
In honor of their historic World Series win, breaking a 108-year long streak, I decided to try my hands at the Chicago Cubs team logo.
Hillary for America logo
On November 8, 2016, Americans face a very important decision – Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton for President.
Book Review: 365 Things to Do with LEGO Bricks
365 Things to Do with LEGO Bricks is the most original and useful LEGO book for kids that I’ve seen yet. Unlike most of the DK LEGO books it is useful and interesting for all ages. In fact I would say this book is perfect for an adult who is somewhat unfamiliar with LEGO but would like to get started with building their own original creations, such as a parent or spouse/partner of a LEGO hobbyist.
Teddy Bear (2015)
I’m afraid I haven’t built much in a while – this is my latest major model, and it is over a year old! But I never posted about it here until now. It’s a teddy bear.
Black Lives Matter Sign
In light of the recent spate of police shooting African-Americans in the USA, I designed this LEGO sign declaring my solidarity with the victims and their loved ones.
Book Review: Chronicles of the Force
DK Publishing has a new book on LEGO Star Wars, Chronicles of the Force. It includes an exclusive minifigure of Unkar’s Brute, one of junk trader Unkar Plutt’s thugs from The Force Awakens.
One-wide trains by James Mathis
If you’ve been a LEGO Trains fan for as long as I have, you know the name of James Mathis very well. In the late 1990s and early 2000s he was a major player in the world of LEGO Trains, and he was one of the first AFOLs recruited by LEGO to design official sets – he designed the much-coveted LEGO Santa Fe cars (LEGO sets 10022 and 10025) which came out in 2002. But recently he has become the king of one-stud-wide trains!
Lego Diagonal Connection Points
A common question in LEGO creations is “how do I build on a diagonal?”
New Article: Grey, Bluish Gray, Stone Grey, or Blay?
On some LEGO Facebook groups, I’ve seen posts lately from people who are new to the hobby and confused by the names used for the shades of grey that LEGO makes. So I wrote an article explaining what happened in 2004 as LEGO rolled out the new colors which many people call “bluish” greys. (They’re not bluish! The old ones were yellowish!)
New article: Becoming a MOC Builder
I’ve just published a new page on the site on Becoming a MOC Builder.
LDD Not So Dead After All?
After the news broke yesterday about LEGO Digital Designer (LDD) being discontinued, the following message was apparently posted on the Ambassador forum by LCE Team manager Tanja Friberg:
LEGO Digital Designer to be discontinued
Update 1/21: It appears that rumors of LDD’s death have been somewhat exaggerated.
The LEGO Digital Designer (LDD) software, available since 2004, is soon to be discontinued, according to reports. The following statement was issued by the LEGO AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO) Relations Team:
New page: LEGO Train Types
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.
Happy New Year 2016
I hope you had a safe and happy New Years celebration, and wish you happiness and success in the coming year.
Merry Christmas 2015
I used parts from the City, Advent, and Star Wars Advent Calendars to build this little scene.
Advent 2015
2015 was another year of three LEGO Advent Calendars: City, Friends, and Star Wars. I barely made the Day 1 deadline, posting at 11:46 PM! 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 2015 edition.
Each year LEGO produces several advent calendars, featuring 24 mini-models, one for each day of December through Christmas Eve. For several years I posted these entries each day on my blog.
If you haven’t gotten your Advent calendars yet, here are some links to them on Amazon: Star Wars, City, Friends.
LEGO Christmas Star
I designed and built this for my Christmas Tree. Instructions are included in case you want to build one too.