The Launch

I official submitted my Kickstarter today. Now all there’s left to do is cross my fingers and hope its approved.

Odd Numbers

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These bricks and plates may look “Normal” but they are not.  Standard Lego bricks have a fear of odd numbers.  Sure, there’s plenty of 1x’s and a 2×3, but that’s the limit.  There are plenty of times when you think … Continue reading →

Custom Arches

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Some rough sketches of some arches I thought up during my last MOC that would have allowed for building more smoothly around the freak parts without being as obvious about it.  We can print it!

The Exterminator

This gallery contains 4 photos.

Finished version. Still not entirely crazy about the front bits, but that giant awful bug head was a tough work around.  I went with four legs (thought about even going with six) and no minifig. A variety of wings on … Continue reading →

Angels

Been screwing around with wings tonight, obsessed with making a Hawkman or Harvey Birdman or whatever.  In the above image you see my main project, the “dragon” wing on the minifig’s right and a much larger wing on the left based on the same print.  Needs work, but big wings are more fun than little ones.

Below you see another work in progress, minifigs wings based on traditional plates.

I had made very nice, very clean copies of both of these, and then screwed up on saving the render.  When I redid them, what’s left was inferior.  It’s okay, I’ll do them again and file them away and one day I’ll print off a thousand copies.

Custom Parts

I made more changes to the Wraith design, reloading it in LeoCAD and combining more bricks for more custom parts.  Custom parts are the key point, I want to be able to build with things that aren’t “found in nature”.  From here on out, I plan to demonstrate a lot of them.

Makers

The Maker I had my eye on has officially sold out which I believe in this case meant they are no longer available.  Sadly this raises the limit on my upcoming Kickstarter as now I have no choice but to go for the bigger, badder model.  The Replicator can print in two colors simultaneously, so water-soluble plastics could be printed out alongside the bricks as temporary supports, resulting in wicked-complex bricks that would otherwise try to fall over as I attempted to print.

Another great use of the water-soluble plastic would be a sort of Kinder Surprise deal; mystery objects printed off within a closed sphere (or any shape!) of the dissolving plastic.

The Ecstasy and the Agony

Dragged an old model from storage, “The Agony”.  I built it in, oh, 1997? 1999?  I’ve never been able to really dust any old models effectively, the pegs get in the way.  I dream of smoother shapes and vaguely aerodynamic wings, but of course with smoother shapes the models wouldn’t be able to stick together.  Unless you custom printed smooth wings with pegs in only in exactly the places you need it for the model to work.

I also have always wanted a model just like this but in gold with red glass, “The Ecstasy”.  Again, I can have that if I print it.  We can all have it if we print it.  Let’s find a way to print it!

It also occurred to me that there’s no reason to print off five hundred individual blocks for a mostly monochrome model like this.  I can combine multiple blocks in my editors and effectively reduce a model this size (it’s more than a foot wide!) into maybe 6 big pieces depending on the size of the printer I end up with (upside).  6 big pieces that are completely useless trying to assemble any other model (downside).  Or is it six big pieces that a clever modeler can use to make other models, a la classic Blacktron?  I love the future!

Drifting derelict a light-hour outside of Neptune’s orbit, lost thousands of years ago in the Solar War and nearly invisible to the human eye, the Agony waits.  The Agony, and her A.I. crew.  Near Mars, a second ship comes out of warpspace.  The Agony’s engines fire up without so much as a verbal command; the crew knows the mission.  Nothing enters Sol, nothing leaves.

The “Classic” Brick

I finished getting my first brick into a format for printing.  If I made it as is, it would come out the size of a loaf of bread.  Thinking it would make a good reward in my upcoming Kickstarter.

Also found this interesting essay from 1995 on Lego gears and drive-trains.  Recommended reading/skimming.

The Brickstarter

My goal with this site is to promote my new Kickstarter (Brickstarter?) project.  The goal is to set up a small business dedicated to making custom building blocks compatible with various in-store brands using 3-D Printing techniques like Makerbot.  Celebrity hairdos, science fiction gizmos, parts to make your vehicles more realistic, over-sized novelty blocks, and literally anything else we can dream up together.  I’ve got my eye on the MakerBot Thing-o-matic, but even better would be the MakerBot Replicator which is capable of printing in two colors and prints as big as a loaf of bread.  They run about $1200 and $2100, respectively, after shipping.  Rolls of the plastic used are about $50 per kilogram and are available in about twenty colors.  Additional funding can be used for 3D scanners, multiple printers, a dedicated printing computer, and maybe even someone who’s better at web-stuff than myself.  I’ll also offer additional printing services on demand but would like the focus to remain on building blocks.

Darth Maul in Anime Hair.