Swooshing through the vastness of trans-green cockpits....

QX-8 Anopheles, originally uploaded by Crimson Wolf.

That's what recent starfighter by popular Flickr user Kevin (Crimson Wolf) is. The use of dark blue is also nice in combination with the organic vibe coming from the wires, tubing, and other whatnot going on in this crazy, tight, little fighter.

Snip snip!

Maybe it's just me, but there certainly something Burton-esque about Arkov's latest creation, an Animé-style mannequin posing with large scissors. It's got a skirt, massive boots and a mechanical hand. What's not to like? Yah, OK, the scissors scare me a little too. But apart from that?

~John

Pirates Ahoy! - Interview with Luke Watkins

Ironically the same name as one of BrickSpace's previous admins I am pleased to introduce our second interview in the series with Luke Watkins (Derfel Cadarn). This builder is well known for his rapid creation of majestic and large pirate dioramas. And without further adieu let's get into the interview I had with Luke.
To start off describe yourself to the readers...
Im 26, and ive had Lego since the age of 5 when i inherited my older brothers collection of classic space, town and technic, and from then on i allways got sets every Xmas and birthday till i was old enough to start buying it myself. Ive never had a 'dark ages', as ive allways bought sets every year, just for collection purposes. If i saw a set that i thought looked cool i'd buy it, build it, then put it away. Its was only when i moved last year that i decided to go through my collection and start moccing, so im still pretty new to the scene.

Also as a follow-up to the first question, what communities or sites can you be found on? Where are you LEGO hangouts?
The first online Lego forum i joined was Classic-Castle, and i was active there for a few months as the first few mocs i built were castle themed. Then i went onto pirates and thats when i discovered Eurobricks which has an excellent pirate forum as well as other themes. Im a member of most Lego forums which i all use, but Eurobricks is where im most active.

Are you inspired by any other builders in the community? Maybe works of other that aren't LEGO even?
Theres a lot of great builders out there, but im mainly familiar with those who build in the pirate and castle themes. Slyowl always produces great mocs and i love all the new techniques he comes up with, plus hes also from the UK. Captain Green Hair and Bonapart make some of the best Lego ships ive seen, and I Scream Clone and Kris Kelvin have been producing some great mocs as well recently. I also have to mention DNL, as i think his castle mocs are some of the best as he likes to build with a lot of realism and detail which i myself like to do.

Your mostly know for you pirate builds which are quite impressive, but do you like to dabble in any other themes?
Pirates is my favourite theme to build in, but i am a big fan of Castle and i hope to build quite a few Castle orientated mocs this year. Im also quite keen to build some Town and Train mocs, and Western looks fun, so maybe some mocs there too.

What are your plans for the future? Will you continue with your massive pirate dios?
I hope to allways continue with my large Pirate mocs as theres still so many ideas ive got planned out. Allthough i wont be putting out so many this year as i want to fit in some other themes as well.

I know this may be hard to do, but if you were to pick a favorite creation of yours, which would it be?
My two favourite creations are The Legend Of Porthgwarra and St Cadocs Church, but if i was to pick just one, i would have to pick St Cadocs, as i think it showcase my typical style of history realism and detail, not to mention all the 1x1 round plates! Allthough it seems my most well known moc is For Whom The Bell Tolls.

On a final note are there any creations in the works that you'd like to share?
Ive got part 2 of my Myths & Legends series coming up, and i will be keeping that series going, hopefully tackling Sleepy Hollow for part 3! Ive been planning for a long time on bringing the 'Warlord Chronicles' by Bernard Cornwell to life. Which are the books i got my name 'Derfel Cadarn' from, so hopfully be starting that this year. I will still be fitting in my usuall Pirate dios here and there, and MAYBE a giant sailor pulling 9 or 10 pirate ships through the sea by their anchor chains :)

Thanks again to Luke for that great interview. Expect another more close to home interview coming in the next coming weeks or so. I hope you've enjoyed the start of this new series so far.

Bell Tower

If someone asked me to name the true undiscovered talent of our community, quy would pop up on the list quite near the top. He gets a fair amount of hits, but certainly not enough to justify his amazing building talent. Whilst his latest creation, the Bell Tower from the latest Pokémon games, is not his best work, I feel that I need to blog something of his and this is as good a chance as any.

Despite having a limited number of dark blue and red pieces, quy has created a bright, pop art-ish tower - and you don't need to be a Pokémon fan to appreciate it.

~John

Brickspace Dictionary: Double-stud cheese SNOT

Double-stud cheese SNOT (n.) (technique)

The double-stud cheese SNOT technique has recently been discovered by Lego Monster. A simplified version of it had also been conceived by Moko.

The idea works by fitting cheese slopes sideways into the space between a tube (found at the centre of four studs, on the underside of a plate/brick) and the corner of the piece. The cheese slopes fit almost perfectly, with some friction and little damage to the parts. This is a fully legal technique.

There are two ways of utilising this geometry. The first is where you fit cheese slopes into the bottom of one plate and put another plate on top. The construction is stable, but the exact height between the two plates cannot be measured in plates or half-plates. There is also a gap between the plates.

The second way of using the cheese slopes is by using a plate and a brick, as seen above. This option removes the gap, so there is a simple geometry: the resulting construction is 4 plates high. However, when using this technqiue, remember to fit the cheese slopes into the plate first, then fit that into the brick. Doing this the other way round will mean putting the plate will push the cheese slopes into the brick, and getting them out will be tricky.

This technique does not apply to 1xn bricks or plates, since they do not have large tubes, and don't have enough space in their underside. Contrary to what you may think, this technique can be used on a 2x2 brick/plate - but with two cheese slopes at opposite corners. This still provides ample clutch.