Minifig Collection - Wave 2!

Remember the Minifigure Collection? The one that hasn't been released yet? Well, it seems that we now have images of the second wave, to be released in September this year. Talking about getting ahead of yourself!

Courtesy of Dano as always, this picture shows the first wave of minifigs on top of the podium whilst the second wave - including a mime, a Vamire, a pop singer and a Mexican - are standing around the base.

This second picture gives us a close-up of some of the second wave's figs. Most notably, the Roman centurion - TLG's way of politely saying 'up yours' to BrickForge. Then there's a remake of the Vampire 'fig, the perilously un-PC Mexican (plus maracas and poncho) and some guy with new skis. I seriously can't wait for these to be released...

~John

Space Police III 2010

Dano's got his Animé-loving claws on yet another batch of leaked images - this time of the Space Police III summer sets. There's some big 'uns as well...

First up there's 5985, a Space Police base and we all knew was coming eventually. The quarter-domes are huge - so there's opportunity for some big cockpits there. And hey, don't forget the little truck!

Another addition to the Space Police's fleet is 5983, a set which a Flickr user called, very rightly, the Space Police Turbo Sub (it's certainly shaped that way). In this set you can see the new alien, which features in all three new sets. They're clearly trying to get the new fig out there as much as possible.

Then there's the alien's ship, set 5984. It's pretty much an alien-styled duplicate of the Space Police ship, with the same alien plus some purple-suited fellow.  This set looks decent enough.

So there we are, here's the completion of the SPIII line for 2010. We've had the small sets, and now here's the big ones. These aren't licensed - so it looks like we'll get some big sets that are actually affordable nowadays.

~John

Building the Forth Bridge - and how Lego inspired the Falkirk Wheel

This video from the BBC looks at an amazing model of the Forth Bridge, built by British AFOL Warren Elsmore. You may also know Elsmore as being the creator of the fantastic St Panras station MOC shown at STEAM last year. 

There's also a short interview with the designer of the Falkirk Wheel. In it he talks about how Lego inspired the design of the wheel and also helped to solve engineering problems... so please check out the video here!

Here's a snippet from the BBC journalist's interview with AFOL Elsmore, about the Forth Bridge MOC:

"The parts they had problems building on the real bridge were a problem for me too," said Mr Elsmore. In particular, he said, the point where the pylons and bridge supports meet on the base were very tricky to render in Lego.

Just as in the real bridge, some parts of the Lego model are in compression and some in tension. The structure even flexes when under load. The bridge is regularly shown off at Lego shows and some bits of it have to be replaced when Lego trains have been running across it for a few days.

When nature calls...

... I Scream Clone's Itchycrotch Creek Outhouse answers. There's a great rickety look to this otherwise simple outhouse that I really like. Oh, and don't forget the stream round the back!

Whilst we're on the topic of I Scream Clone, it seems he's been up to a lot of Wild West building recently. Here's his stagecoach - second only to Sir Nadroj's. There's some great parts to it - note the tumbleweed and the hawk, based off Legohaulic's design.

It seems I Scream Clone is on a roll - let's hope he continues with this Wild West series.

~John

The Mistral II (+interview!)

One of the most popular MOCs this week is the Mistral II - a massive flying Steampunk ship drawing inspiration from the Eiffel Tower. It's Nathan Proudlove's remake of his original 2006 creation The Mistral. So sit back, and enjoy the pictures whilst reading a short interview I took with Nathan...

John: The Mistral II is the second version of the Mistral, the first version of which was made a few years ago. What gave you the inspiration to remake such an old project, and why now?

Nathan Proudlove: I decided to remake the Mistral on the way home from a show in which it had been displayed. Mistral I was packed loosely in a box in the back seat of my car, (I didn't have very far to drive) when I heard a sickening sound from behind me at a stoplight. The ship had completely disintegrated! I had only had the thing completed for two weeks when it just ceased to be. Structural integrity wasn't exactly a priority with the first one. So I knew it would have to be rebuilt eventually, I just wasn't sure when.

J: This second version is very different to the first, yet keeps some of the unique features. How did you go about redesigning the Mistral I? Did you start from scratch again?

NP: The rope bridges that I had used for trusswork on the original were actually loaned to me by a friend, so when I returned them, I knew I had to come up with something different for the new version. The idea came while sorting, as it so often does, to use the dozens of dark grey struts and large Insectoid legs I had collected, to loosely replicate the iron work in the Eiffel tower as the base of the Mistral II. The command structure above the deck went through many redesigns, and I consulted with a few of my steampunk peers along the way. They gave good solid critique along the way and got me to pay attention to detail in areas I might have otherwise missed.

J: The Mistral II is clearly a Steampunk creation. Did you use any Steampunk pictures or concept art for inspiration? For example, what gave you the idea for the glass house?

NP: The concept for the first version of the Mistral was mostly inspired by the flying aircraft carrier in the film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. The design of the ship itself was almost exclusively mine though. I simply imagined what a flying aircraft carrier would look like if it were placed in a steampunk setting. The Mistral II, however, took many more design cues from specific sources. I've already mentioned the Eiffel Tower, and the Palais d'Industrie from the Paris World's Fair in 1855 is the source for the glass dome. Mistral II was designed to be elegant, refined and symmetrical, qualities of which the first Mistral possesed none.

Well there you go: anything you ever needed to know about the Mistral! Many thanks to Nathan to answering my questions. I'll [hopefully] see you next week for another interview!


~John