The Switch Brick Website is complete ! Yay ... my first attempt at web design and I think it turned out ok :)

http://www.SwitchBricks.com

Mini-photo shoot

 The final stages of the Switch Bricks website are coming together. We had a mini-photoshoot last week for some images for the site... here are  just a few. Unfortunately the zoo and pirate mocs are still far from finished so they had a few quick snaps as they were.  Designing a website has been an exciting challenge - i even worked out how to link to my blog from the site. Can't wait to hit the publish button and get things rolling!
Today we're off to pick up the material for the custom made free-build tables...i've picked out the paint colours too. Such fun ! Watch this space for pics

The LEGO room re-fit is well under way! A second lot of shelves (like those pictured above left) for LEGO display will be fitted this weekend and a second custom built timber shelf system (photo above right) is being cleared ready for more parts. The parts pictured are currently categorised into colour and type (for parts in higher amounts or mixed colour like parts) And this little piggy sty (to the right) is the " MOC build area" looking very cluttered with LEGO waiting for space elsewhere. Once it has a home my pirate MOC (preview below right) which is in progress on the dining room table at the moment will move into the LEGO room for more work to continue towards its completion.  Down in the other half of the room a desk is planned for my day job (oh yeah that too!) and some more shelves on the wall for more display space. VERY exciting to see it coming together but a bit overwhelming at the same time - all that LEGO to build with so little time to devote to it !

You can't stop progress....

My LEGO life goes in phases/cycles ... one minute I'm putting together sets, the next I'm dreaming of MOCs, the next I'm listing on ebay, or buying off gumtree, the next I'm ordering parts from Bricklink & putting together mod-mods (my new name for the classic modulars that I re-brick from scratch using parts vaariationds as I'm too cheap to build or buy original !) I clean off the dining room table every couple of week vowing to keep my LEGO contained and my building processes downstairs... lasts for about a day before I start coming back up stairs with tubs in hand ... This week I have taken over the dinner table to start my pirate MOC. Unfortunately I have run out of cliff-worthy slopes and base plates so I have kind of hit a brick wall until I can get more - some slopes are on order from USA at the moment so hopefully they may arrive before the weeks out but the baseplate issue is more pressing at present. I've requested a quote from a seller for postage but they are sloooooooooooooooow with responding which kind of makes me wonder what they will be like in posting - thinking i might have to re think that one and in the mean time pick up a few boards at retail price just to keep momentum up. But anyhow the above info was not the topic of todays post given that its largely about a lack of progress... Yesterday hubby and I made a giant leap forward in the set up of my LEGO space, About 8 months ago now we built in under our house with the intention of creating a space for hubbys drum habit and my lego habit (plus a space for visitors from OS). The tiling of said space has finally been finished and during the process of using the space in the last 8 months it has evolved in form and function - to cut a long story short - what once was my office corner in the main room (for my actual day job) is now hubby's drum corner and what was once the drum room/ guest space is now my office/lego room. So yesterday we popped up a few shelves and mapped out a plan of attack for the necessary furniture (allegedly to be completed this weekend) for me to start populating the space with my ever-multiplying supply of all things plastic brick ! Can't wait ... promise once its done I won't take over the dining room table again !!  

And down they come again

Quiet week on the blog front... but been busy putting together some sets ready for planning around  the configuration for a pirate MOC/display for Switch Bricks. I have learnt a valuable lesson this week - never raid your personal stash for a new project (AKA chop shop moc and florist moc) unless you have finished putting together all your other sets  first as you are inevitably robbing from Peters brick supply to pay Paul so to speak... where is that black 1x8 brick , duh... MOCS about to be disassembled - will have to buy new bricks to put them back up again ;(

Back to the pirate moc... I wish I was as clever as MadLEGOman so I could make a kick-butt Kracken to do some attackin in my high seas ! I will try some lame attempt and post pics once it's done. I have started building cliffs and shore lines to accommodate various piratical buildings and still have a few ships etc to put together. The hunt for more bricks/plates in dark tan, tan and transparent is on too - i want to make shore line in the same way as this awesome work from Walt. http://www.flickr.com/photos/55084317@N08/7107672559/null

Gnome adventures #1

Spidee ...what mischief have you found now ?

... each adrenaline hit became more addictive and
spidee found himself taking bigger risks with each adventure

Darn...

Spidee resolved "I'll rid this world of cheap impostors one by one if I have to"...

Figtography

He found the Empires new spacecraft design department amateurish ...  I mean who drafted the plans for this thing ... Mr Squiggle ?

I've long admired the work of Mike Stimpson and Kevin Poulton and always get a good giggle out of their minifig themed photography. I have started carrying a little box of figs around with me (my camera was already a permanent appendage) just in case the perfect moment for figtography arises. It is actually pretty darn tricky to get a good shot ... makes me realise I need to learn more about my camera and getting the most out of it - I'm sure you can only fluke Stimpson or Poulton quality if you don't understand the fancy settings on your camera !! Anyhoo  - this is one of my first attempts of many to come... hope you like !

Cafe Corner - built from bricklink

Cafe Corner has LONG been on my list of most coveted LEGO sets - lets face it - its beautiful ! The one thing about it thats down right ugly though is the price tag. It rarely sells complete for under $700 second hand and fetches around $1300 BNIB. Lesson 1 - always keep $ aside to buy modulars when they are first released !

I'm not quite sure what started me in the direction of collecting pieces to build it from scratch but I'm glad I did. Pictured is my complete version (took around 6 months to muster the bits). I can't say exactly how much it ended up costing because I collected pieces for other sets at the same time but as an estimate it wouldn't have been any more than $300. BARGAIN. Now I've included a pic of my version ... and a pic of the original so you can play spot the difference if you want ...or you can just read on to hear about the differences and it might just inspire you to build one of your own !!

Starting from the ground floor up: 

1. I added flower urns (yellow minifig goblets) and flowers to emphasise the appearance of yellow in the rest of the building (and because i ran out of Dark Bluish grey 1x2 tiles to finish the pavement)
2. the front entry door - a little black gridded number averages around $7.00 plus to buy so i used a white door (which i think looks pretty good anyway at around $1.70 to buy - mine came from my collection)
3. the side entry door - this is one of the most expensive pieces to buy in original colour of light bluish grey - $17.00  is the cheapest ... its average price =$35.00 used (I could get a real door from Bunnings for $24.00 !!) so being the thrifty little miss that I am, I used a black door from my collection (these average around 64 cents for a used one in decent condition)
4. Any dark blue pieces were replaced with alternate colours - the columns either side of the door are black and square instead of round, the arch above the side door also black, the bricks that were supposed to be dark blue are mostly internal so I used good old medium blue at a fraction of the cost instead 
5. The black hose that is used to create the curved decorative feature at the front of the building proved a little elusive in a lot of stores that had parts i needed, so I found it in yellow in one store and figured it would fit well, given the appearance of yellow elsewhere. 

The second floor ... looks pretty darn close to the original... no mods I hear you ask  ? Just 1 - those hideously expensive 1x2x3 white panels that are used twice for every window, average around $4.83 per item - to find someone who had enough and at a low price was impossible, so I figured I could use a plain old 1x2x3 window pane with flat front x2 for each window space and it would work just as well at 17 cents a pop !!

The 3rd floor:

1. $1.27 vs 8 cents ... hmm easy enough to justify when you need just one piece... try multiplying that by 36 pieces and and I can give you around $42 worth of good reason to consider a colour change for the roof tiles !! Add into that the fact that no-one had that many tiles at a decent rate so you'd be paying  for multiple lots of postage, and you quickly begin to imagine how good a cafe corner with a reddish brown roof will look ! While it's different to the original I think its easy enough to get your head around and doesn't look abnormal !
2. once the decision to change colours of tiles occurred the need to change the other dark red pieces emerged and fortunately I was able to scavenge these bits in reddish brown from my own collection (all except the 1x1 plates around the tops of the roof which i didn't have in brown and the modified 1x2x1 1/3 brick with curved top which I had already ordered in a dark red
3. i ordered white shutters for the windows but for some reason the ones i got didn't fit so again i raided my own collection rather than face a wait for the pieces from the other side of the world so close to the end of the project. Fortunately because of the yellow that appears elsewhere i don't think my version seems too out of place

The Roof Top
Those little stubby dark bluish fences from the original CC were not easy to find in lots of 6 at a justifiable expense and by that stage I'd made so many substitutions that the lure of six little black fences sitting in a tub downstairs not somewhere in Alaska meant that I could live with the colour variation. I may eventually stumble across the fences in a store i'm buying something else from but until then they stay black !

So thats it.. my cafe corner... here is a pic of the original to compare with. For those who are purists I've probably just committed some kind of terrible sacrilege but for those who have always wanted this set but could never afford it hopefully this has helped. Cheers to all my fellow Bricklink buddies all over the globe who unknowingly contributed to this little puppy coming to fruition !

Watch this space for my cheapy versions of the green grocer modular (which is currently under construction and looking like a very white grocer !!) and market street which is 80% collected!

Sculpture Art

Sean Kenny - LEGO artist... A-M-A-Z-I-N-G... dare i even suggest that once i conquer modular MOCS I am SO going to try sculpture ... my brick collection may have to expand ever so slightly to image below proportions.. (did i mention I love my hubby ;-P)

Seeing pics like these sculptures makes me even more excited about our upcoming trip to Legoland California later in the year to see more sculptures like these- life long dream coming true thanks to the in-laws - the fact that the trip is timed to occur around my birthday means they are DEFINITELY up there for best birthday present EVER!

Wrinkledog you rock !

http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/16735
I would love love love to have more animals for my LEGO zoo project ... AFOL Wrinkledog has posted these brilliant animal MOC's on Cuusoo - if you haven't supported this project already please drop by Cuusoo and show your support.  Hopefully the LEGO Group will continue to release more and more animals as time goes on ( I just had to get a brown bear that was released this year despite his $12.00 price tag!!) but it would be SUPER awesome if they looked at releasing an animal pack just like Wrinkledog's designs - no city / farm / country/ zoo MOC would be complete without them (plllllllllllleeease TLG!!

As for my Zoo progress so far - here is a sneak peak:

• the outer fence design has been chosen (thanks to the haunted house due for release in September in USA), pieces have been purchased (big shout out to House of Logo's on Bricklink) and so far about a metre and a half of fencing has been built - this baby is gonna be a big MOC when its done !!  I am still tossing around ideas for the internal fences of each enclosure
• many animals have been collected and are being housed in temporary accommodation (AKA a bucket) including ostriches, polar bears, camels, a brown bear, monkeys and an elephant which will all have their own themed enclosures and , sharks, octopus, sting ray, fish for the aquarium, dogs, pigs, goats, chickens for the petting zoo/barnyard enclosure, birds for the aviary and reptiles for a reptile enclosure. Still need a few cats and some cows too.
• The alligator enclosure has been swamped up and I've built a rickety old board walk through it for those daring minifigs who like to walk on the wild side and have their own close encounter of the snapping variety with its three cranky residents. 
• Every bricklink order gets padded out with plants, trees and BURPS to make realistic scenery for each exhibit - don't think i will ever have quite enough but you've got to start somewhere. 
• AND Yes that was probably me you saw feeling all the series 5 minifig wrappers in search of some zookepers for my zoo, pushing small children and old ladies aside for the pursuit of hunting glory !
• Speaking of minifigs... no self respecting zoo would be complete without giant roaming animal costumed minifigs for photo opportunities - thanks again to the series collectibles bunny, lizard and ape suits.
• As for the layout - i am planning each exhibit to be kind of modularised in a way - so they can be built individually and shifted about as the design morphs and grows. I was going to include the zoo in my city layout but it may end up needing its own table at this rate

I anticipate the Zoo project is gonna a take a long while yet as i have been collecting animals for well over 12 months now and the building phase has only just started in the last week. 'twil be a regular topic for update here i guess so.keep an eye out for updates

How cool is this

My ebay find

This is my favourite ebay find of the past few months... I'm letting my son "borrow" it on his wall for a while - it stands about 1.2 metres tall and takes duplo bricks as well as the letter tiles. Twas virtually impossible to find how much this was worth - I searched and searched and eventually found an obscure reference to it costing about $ 310 USD on lugnet so I was pretty stoked to have won it for $69.00. Look what else I found there while hunting... surely giraffe needs a blue elephant pal !!! Pretty sure these are the only 2 animals released but it made me curious about using some MDF and creating more animal shapes for Switch Bricks Duplo play area ! Surely it couldn't be that hard ??? Watch this space !

Want it !

Petals Florist/Gift and Garden MOC

My second MOC - again no interiors as yet, and some tiles for the pavement still to arrive, but I'm happy with this as a second attempt at modular MOC. Again a little tweaking probably needed down the track but aside from the centre decorative piece in the top level, which still needs to be added (or another window), I think it will stay as is for the city display. The MOC is placed between grand emporium and my cheaper cafe corner version (will leave the explanation about that for another post !)  

Chop Shop MOC

So it's definitely no "Cafe Corner" but it's my first official attempt at a modular MOC. I completed it 2 weeks ago and have not torn it down in shame as yet, so  as it is symbolic of the beginning of a new journey, it must be immortalized in electronic print to look back on and laugh at!!! I've still got tiles to go on the sidewalk and interiors to finish but they'll come with time - for now my brick building energy has been channeled into the next project.
I must say it's amazing how much you pick up by just having a go and experimenting - once the decision is made about the theme, colours and size of your building and the first few bricks are placed, the rest just kind of flows and is awesome fun!!  This took me about 5 hours to pull together (in between housework, nappy changes and play time for bubs) so I reckon its not a bad first attempt. I think I'll add more detail to the roof top as I come across more bricks... a never ending quest I am yet to master. I am unbelievably jealous of my fellow USA LEGO fans who can pick up 40 + pound lots of bricks and pieces in bulk for around 10 dollars/ pound. Oh to have that kind of potential at your finger tips ! If anyone ever reads this and wants to offload their unwanted collection at a reasonable rate you will always have a listening ear here !

To MOC or not to MOC

This was the start of a beautiful life-long love affair - my very first LEGO set ... I think i was about seven at the time! Nothing has ever out weighed that little rush of excitement and joy when you shake a present to hear that tinkle of brick on brick- even as a big kid I would quite happily accept LEGO as a gift above everything else. My hubby learnt this very early on and got me the LEGO passenger jet for our first valentines together (awwwww he's a keeper).

The sentiment attached to some of my sets surprises me... And now I have a dilemma- I managed to retain every piece of this little beauty but I pulled it out of storage last week and was a little dismayed at the discolouration of the white bricks. I have just started exploring the world of modulars and have built 2 of my own creations (MOCS) in the past month and loved the process and outcome. I have some red windows on order from Bricklink and I'm kinda thinking that it might be time to let sentiment morph into a creative opportunity and pilfer the rest of windows from my first set and use them in a new hospital MOC. I'm thinking red, white and grey colour scheme maybe over a 32 x 64 stud base. I guess I eventually need to move past the feeling of betrayal when I take from a complete set if I'm serious about building a MOC, or face the fact that I need to order enough bricks windows etc to build the MOC from scratch (and start saving for this too). So big deep breath in ... I think its time to take the plunge and pilfer... watch this space for the hospital  MOC as  it unfolds !!!!!!!!!!!

and so it begins...

LEGO ... I've been hunting for it, buying it, selling it, building it, rearranging it, photographing it, drawing it, wearing it, googling it, reading about it, dreaming it and basically breathing it for months now (if not my whole life).  My life long love affair with the little plastic bricks has reached a point of no return... time to try and run with the big boys or fade into obscurity ! I've decided to bite the brick and start a bricktastic business venture in January 2013 - Switch Bricks is coming...still in prep phase but its going to be awesome so look out world (or at least sleepy old little Ipswich!)  

With my business plans underway and my hobby reaching fever pitch...  blogging about it seems to be the only natural progression from here. Will anyone read my blog ... who knows ... but I think hubby is finally and secretly getting sick of the word, the incessant chatter about parts and which bit I "just need to order from Bricklink to finish" which set...not to mention shifting boxes and baggies and bowls which have taken over every spare surface of our home (seriously its stacked to the roof of the spare toilet and in the laundry tub down stairs!!!). 


SO... maybe me blogging into cyberspace may give the poor chappy a break and make him feel a little less a LEGO widower !


So for all those out there, who like me, have a brickdiction that they do not wish to recover from, please feel free to check back in from time to time to see the progress of the journey to Switch Bricks 2013