tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31224325510678185312024-03-13T15:43:07.880-07:00Random BitsRandom Bitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18162618734617280654noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3122432551067818531.post-33200716839531439372017-10-01T12:37:00.001-07:002019-09-03T23:52:37.709-07:00Converting LDD to standard 3D model filesI've wanted to make Lego Digital Designer files into 3D models or 3D printable models. It's not too terribly hard.<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Steps</span><br />
<ol>
<li>From Lego Digital Designer, export the model as an LDraw file: File->Export Model, pick Ldraw-Files (*.ldr) </li>
<li>Open that ldr file in LeoCAD</li>
<li>Export to Wavefront OBJ file.</li>
<li>Import into Microsoft 3D Builder, select mm for import units.</li>
<li>Repair</li>
<li>Resize (Select size, make sure it's locked, change mm to % and pick 40%)</li>
<li>Save as STL.<span style="font-size: large;"></span></li>
</ol>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Notes</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br /></div>
<div>
Note that scales in OBJ files vary, and LeoCAD apparently decided to use the LDraw Units instead of anything like mm or inches when exporting. So after importing, a "stud" is 20 mm instead of 8mm. That's why we have to resize them and scale the model to 40% in step 6.</div>
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Also note that the LeoCAD export uses the "nominal" sizes, so the model won't have any of the reductions in size that a real Lego brick does to allow for fit. </div>
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In other words, a LeoCAD 1x2 brick would be 8mm x 16mm. But a "real" Lego brick has .1mm removed from each side to allow for clearance. So a real Lego 1x2 would be 7.8mm x 15.8 mm.</div>
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If you intend to 3D print your model and have it interface with "normal" Lego, you'll have to do something about those clearances as the model will be slightly too large in all dimensions.</div>
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If all you want is a "normal" brick, several programs generate Lego bricks for printing, such as my own <a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:197171">Fancy Bricks OpenScad program on Thingiverse</a> - https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:197171</div>
Krestyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15117411368394981230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3122432551067818531.post-70003264558345101132017-09-23T12:46:00.000-07:002017-09-23T13:46:02.923-07:003D PrintingFrom some of the posts here and on L3-G0's blog and YouTube, you can tell that I've been doing some stuff with 3D Printers. Especially for the droids I "need" funny angled bricks and the like that reinforce the Lego models. They can be built from pure Lego, but once you start bouncing them down a rough sidewalk, they fall to pieces, and the hinges get confused and stuff - so most of the droids have printed bricks.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5mhKWo9pT_8/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5mhKWo9pT_8?t=21s&feature=player_embedded" width="480"></iframe></div>
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(printed bricks seen @ 21 seconds in the video)</div>
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I've been exposed to some of the 3D printers available at a "maker garage" and have friends that have built various models, but I pretty much thought of all FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) printers using filament as being about the same. They all have things to move the head &/or platform and an extruder to squeeze out a long string of hot plastic to build up the models in layers.
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To that effect, I'd bought a Flashforge Creator (the wood one) as my first printer, and I've been pretty happy with it. The other various printers at work sometimes seem a little cleaner in some cases, or worse in other cases. They all have issues with the extruder getting clogged occasionally, and they all need a little bit of hands on maintenance.
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I pretty much expected to keep using the Flashforge (indeed, I bought another used one and fixed it up), however I've been lured into trying a Creality CR-10 and have been pretty pleased so far.Krestyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15117411368394981230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3122432551067818531.post-88669214992815249082017-03-11T11:36:00.000-08:002017-03-11T11:36:00.845-08:00Mini Lego Disney Wonder InstructionsPeople ask if we have instructions/plans/whatever for the big builds, but we don't :( Sometimes they even get really mad that I don't have time to spend 3 full-time weeks making plans for them instead of working on fixing my roof or the next project or whatever.<br />
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But we do have <a href="https://1drv.ms/b/s!AkcvBm2eyNfPytovCpqr6xK_ow-dqg">plans for the Mini Lego Disney Wonder</a>! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1uExIrYgM_OJkIrhBv9Mt6g0ZBsE-47yYGPhrGC-F9kO_uMtjWBlk1ITnJ_aJzG2OvGNiCwKani52Zb4yR2lzK_k3tABt22_BsHv53ZZZOjyPuynTG_IK4H1AjJ80RXPodkS3d-mViQ/s1600/Mini+Lego+Wonder+Blog+Photos+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1uExIrYgM_OJkIrhBv9Mt6g0ZBsE-47yYGPhrGC-F9kO_uMtjWBlk1ITnJ_aJzG2OvGNiCwKani52Zb4yR2lzK_k3tABt22_BsHv53ZZZOjyPuynTG_IK4H1AjJ80RXPodkS3d-mViQ/s400/Mini+Lego+Wonder+Blog+Photos+%25281%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Two notes: the second page is an alternate hull in black because black is easier to find than the Dark Earth Blue brick that is a better match to the real ship. So start on page one or page two, not both :)<br />
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And the last page is stickers for the rear details for the blue hull. Some need printed on clear sticker paper, some can be printed on white sticker paper.<br />
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And please support the large <a href="https://ideas.lego.com/projects/128153">Lego Disney Wonder</a> on Lego Ideas!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBX7TfdnSDOtzpgWgLwtxKWvdT1-8sdrgMb5SW93ATdv-IrdTwmJIRcnb19NMNeWLZ-o0f9mfhbu0ZBsYkPErnHOY4aESg1rkSlDSZ0-B0m6YeCzvaonv4I0j7ZN_UzSC-imdv8CMSmw/s1600/Mini+Lego+Wonder+Blog+Photos+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBX7TfdnSDOtzpgWgLwtxKWvdT1-8sdrgMb5SW93ATdv-IrdTwmJIRcnb19NMNeWLZ-o0f9mfhbu0ZBsYkPErnHOY4aESg1rkSlDSZ0-B0m6YeCzvaonv4I0j7ZN_UzSC-imdv8CMSmw/s400/Mini+Lego+Wonder+Blog+Photos+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9x-ckogpGP2eFHlgp9F_tkCyJ8WY5p9wvglAqDnlReF0TzoIZR611oA4TtGBeliRivADkZn9FHBpWBL8F_-WryEMOeStkmDRwbaH-TbZ_ToAfqZTUeqPvhSkctH2x8eNg-_pm4fDIBQ/s1600/Mini+Lego+Wonder+Blog+Photos+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9x-ckogpGP2eFHlgp9F_tkCyJ8WY5p9wvglAqDnlReF0TzoIZR611oA4TtGBeliRivADkZn9FHBpWBL8F_-WryEMOeStkmDRwbaH-TbZ_ToAfqZTUeqPvhSkctH2x8eNg-_pm4fDIBQ/s400/Mini+Lego+Wonder+Blog+Photos+%25283%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghotYhjR-ZnilLVquJZnr26t7qsXPDS11MPd8CYsW83wNvrCDju0Rmfbykik7ypm8f0LySnnyA121PmqnsgRFLyM6zAsV3SBUDg0WU7g6Z7W4j3wypS-zJIm_yB-58rjI-cv4yoW98Bg/s1600/Mini+Lego+Wonder+Blog+Photos+%25284%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghotYhjR-ZnilLVquJZnr26t7qsXPDS11MPd8CYsW83wNvrCDju0Rmfbykik7ypm8f0LySnnyA121PmqnsgRFLyM6zAsV3SBUDg0WU7g6Z7W4j3wypS-zJIm_yB-58rjI-cv4yoW98Bg/s400/Mini+Lego+Wonder+Blog+Photos+%25284%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Here's the link for the plans: <a href="https://1drv.ms/b/s!AkcvBm2eyNfPytovCpqr6xK_ow-dqg">https://1drv.ms/b/s!AkcvBm2eyNfPytovCpqr6xK_ow-dqg</a><br />
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And don't forget to support the big <a href="https://ideas.lego.com/projects/128153">Lego Wonder on Lego Ideas</a>!<br />
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<br />Krestyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15117411368394981230noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3122432551067818531.post-86703198920223034452016-04-08T22:37:00.000-07:002016-04-11T20:27:14.402-07:00Lego Model for 520 Bridge Grand OpeningFor the <a href="http://520golong.com/" target="_blank">520 Bridge Grand Opening</a> - the longest floating bridge in the world - <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/SeaLUG/111791215498677" target="_blank">Sealug</a> made a 1:125 play scale 15' long model section of the bridge. Thanks to all the folks that came to see it - all fifty thousand visitors!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN8uzlxlkLwocV74MbIFnbHH9mMs_o-Tv1XnB1wdkRL-HrfDDiqiY1WydTWVLkwnsrB3TOjzeEJUBQuf62SlWPSV9sflkZvAe8H16BFtHvjpRmdGwH35AlyZTuYIpxXjKRtN41hmb7ye9R/s1600/520+Lego+Bridge+Day+WSDOT+111+%25281920x1271%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN8uzlxlkLwocV74MbIFnbHH9mMs_o-Tv1XnB1wdkRL-HrfDDiqiY1WydTWVLkwnsrB3TOjzeEJUBQuf62SlWPSV9sflkZvAe8H16BFtHvjpRmdGwH35AlyZTuYIpxXjKRtN41hmb7ye9R/s400/520+Lego+Bridge+Day+WSDOT+111+%25281920x1271%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crowd of People at 520 Bridge Grand Opening</td></tr>
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More Pix on <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/120610722@N04/albums/72157666789709212" target="_blank">Flickr Album</a><br />
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Wow, we're used to some big events, ECCC gets 70K or so people, Brickcon gets 15K or something. 50 thousand people is quite a bit, even if they didn't all stop in our tent!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUpd8T59si-zzNctYtiT9E9u5dGnJzF6b61Tkub1sOUEmRXeafPQv0rKdFNJGlrr_Ro8jNmKxOQB1shzfWqMEyVLJ1AoJqdY5C9YYte-o71TcmtJik65RoqkOpUy6N4rivJAajr7T9VvVO/s1600/520+Lego+Bridge+Day+WSDOT+087+%25281280x853%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUpd8T59si-zzNctYtiT9E9u5dGnJzF6b61Tkub1sOUEmRXeafPQv0rKdFNJGlrr_Ro8jNmKxOQB1shzfWqMEyVLJ1AoJqdY5C9YYte-o71TcmtJik65RoqkOpUy6N4rivJAajr7T9VvVO/s400/520+Lego+Bridge+Day+WSDOT+087+%25281280x853%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">People in Lego Bridge Tent</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWNPl7G-Zgrd6plNLfAa7CAxKMe5Qv-XiumkEmn-dSE_wjaqH-yNLQbk7a4UEVdlCVKD2axH0mxNsbtnDsZbU1_8BPeByUNOKP31acx4npo6dW2GxHsFZQTOGrwmvcf1bNfocLegq-RfaY/s1600/520+Lego+Bridge+Day+WSDOT+083+%25281280x838%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWNPl7G-Zgrd6plNLfAa7CAxKMe5Qv-XiumkEmn-dSE_wjaqH-yNLQbk7a4UEVdlCVKD2axH0mxNsbtnDsZbU1_8BPeByUNOKP31acx4npo6dW2GxHsFZQTOGrwmvcf1bNfocLegq-RfaY/s400/520+Lego+Bridge+Day+WSDOT+083+%25281280x838%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Lego Tent at 520 Grand Opening</td></tr>
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Our model bridge is about 1/125th scale, 2' wide and 15' long (60cm x almost 5m) and took almost 19,000 bricks to build. When we showed up at 7am it was pretty cold, but fortunately it warmed up to be a great day.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBezBBIypC5zwO_vLGwPEPGQr2qVvKbUzPpD3IlhEQ36_xJO4h6it3xvcI-UH10IxmAZtVgroaLajJpHjbkUN9RaVs_H_QZwdolXenZvKpNDAYBAbXCGaAlYBQtyp6WfPTtUNSt9NNtZxM/s1600/WP_20160402_09_41_39_Rich_LI+%25281280x761%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBezBBIypC5zwO_vLGwPEPGQr2qVvKbUzPpD3IlhEQ36_xJO4h6it3xvcI-UH10IxmAZtVgroaLajJpHjbkUN9RaVs_H_QZwdolXenZvKpNDAYBAbXCGaAlYBQtyp6WfPTtUNSt9NNtZxM/s400/WP_20160402_09_41_39_Rich_LI+%25281280x761%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">520 Lego Bridge Sealug Tent</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ReAs-4ZzimxusB_2zPFtnev8mjLQWLdh5kyQN1QoD3pl9U9rESQqgWaWCdq1hCZHrTHY5xg7R4HnDGIJ2qCOKKP7j9G-gQ8VES-Qot0Z_0ibbNOvNODq16RW9Z0USi1V5Cb3BD8BmBrn/s1600/520+Lego+Bridge+Day+WSDOT+012+%25281280x853%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ReAs-4ZzimxusB_2zPFtnev8mjLQWLdh5kyQN1QoD3pl9U9rESQqgWaWCdq1hCZHrTHY5xg7R4HnDGIJ2qCOKKP7j9G-gQ8VES-Qot0Z_0ibbNOvNODq16RW9Z0USi1V5Cb3BD8BmBrn/s400/520+Lego+Bridge+Day+WSDOT+012+%25281280x853%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail of Lego 520 Bridge</td></tr>
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The original plan had a kids building area for Duplo and a building table for bigger kids to make cars to put on the model bridge. After we started arranging things we had a little more space so expanded it to 2 tables. Once kids started showing up at the most we had to start a 3rd build table!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglOwwvsHg8sERRVmL4f6DEHZyOIkEHNuQKtIb8ztFztp3dXwsHT7q9cO0XbQ6rm43xoPRgogrORn1LAl22X73v04npDnF1DUeH9CaS_4pHt7QY-XB8OlarSayTT3SXfbFm7L1IoPzb_xKR/s1600/520+Lego+Bridge+Day+WSDOT+117+%25281280x853%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglOwwvsHg8sERRVmL4f6DEHZyOIkEHNuQKtIb8ztFztp3dXwsHT7q9cO0XbQ6rm43xoPRgogrORn1LAl22X73v04npDnF1DUeH9CaS_4pHt7QY-XB8OlarSayTT3SXfbFm7L1IoPzb_xKR/s400/520+Lego+Bridge+Day+WSDOT+117+%25281280x853%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Duplo Play Area</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtDf4OSf1twe4SP-QaJqP_ILWa-0IQ-TuKcBavaXbVF0wkNJCge_TMInaozShamKxERkNZFOw5YyIHDFHNwxmpTvrIhkqRog3tWIoTe5QZzRZYFyeU3Q6PftyjPYxMIahBvGMK08y8JKzz/s1600/520+Lego+Bridge+Day+WSDOT+035+%25281280x853%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtDf4OSf1twe4SP-QaJqP_ILWa-0IQ-TuKcBavaXbVF0wkNJCge_TMInaozShamKxERkNZFOw5YyIHDFHNwxmpTvrIhkqRog3tWIoTe5QZzRZYFyeU3Q6PftyjPYxMIahBvGMK08y8JKzz/s400/520+Lego+Bridge+Day+WSDOT+035+%25281280x853%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kids' Car Building Area @ 520 Bridge</td></tr>
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I wasn't sure how the public would react to the Lego area and was eager to see their reaction. It was a bit disturbing to see the first people rush on past -- until I realized everyone was trying to make the bridge opening speeches in the middle of the bridge. Even so I fear we may have delayed some families as kids started to build their cars. After the official ceremony we were packed.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-gME8_E_tmiQirJfOKb8wJv4tyWX2e58Ids5jCofHqLsyCRCcW3YemsqnJqhALxg43oKOdVv53jlH44ufz0s8QKpaPYm8oF4TZpv8iAVJBsBEbCqCJU46jvSa82b92zIQZdZrPvIG0sqZ/s1600/520+Lego+Bridge+Day+WSDOT+092+%2528853x1280%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-gME8_E_tmiQirJfOKb8wJv4tyWX2e58Ids5jCofHqLsyCRCcW3YemsqnJqhALxg43oKOdVv53jlH44ufz0s8QKpaPYm8oF4TZpv8iAVJBsBEbCqCJU46jvSa82b92zIQZdZrPvIG0sqZ/s400/520+Lego+Bridge+Day+WSDOT+092+%2528853x1280%2529.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tons of cars on Lego Bridge</td></tr>
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I know that not every one of those 50,000 people stopped in our tent, but at times it felt like it. We were wall to wall kids and cars were being loaded onto the Lego bridge faster than we could make room for them. We hope all the kids had as much fun as we did.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifARRBGtAHEFv8Afder4oP3sNl4hz_UjXrl9NeKviY6sw4W8FvgpWAYlnwYtDf4Lm4YiHq8z6yrtAP3htfJdGgXzT1XEN0FZARcDKNiZJcvvhL6RyIpCHaxHugtqGsPWrIAIy0RbDCKPKs/s1600/520+Lego+Bridge+Day+WSDOT+096+%25281280x784%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifARRBGtAHEFv8Afder4oP3sNl4hz_UjXrl9NeKviY6sw4W8FvgpWAYlnwYtDf4Lm4YiHq8z6yrtAP3htfJdGgXzT1XEN0FZARcDKNiZJcvvhL6RyIpCHaxHugtqGsPWrIAIy0RbDCKPKs/s400/520+Lego+Bridge+Day+WSDOT+096+%25281280x784%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crowd in Lego Bridge Tent</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGxY-XdaNP1wRbRaleQvjzzSJJDo7rBoP0DBTkerurOvVtkQ8tvCyhlZpNwdM1QCDgJs3B33hKNqAbxMzWua6n7wJRXEW6tJL3iWB2uHZeE9lx1s1QrXKv1rlHnA0weK0dXRs0k_nVJZeE/s1600/520+Lego+Bridge+Day+WSDOT+069+%25281280x853%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGxY-XdaNP1wRbRaleQvjzzSJJDo7rBoP0DBTkerurOvVtkQ8tvCyhlZpNwdM1QCDgJs3B33hKNqAbxMzWua6n7wJRXEW6tJL3iWB2uHZeE9lx1s1QrXKv1rlHnA0weK0dXRs0k_nVJZeE/s400/520+Lego+Bridge+Day+WSDOT+069+%25281280x853%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lots of people looking at Lego Bridge</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Factoids:<br />
<ul>
<li>Longest, and only, Lego bridge ever displayed on the longest floating bridge in the world.</li>
<li>15 feet long and 2 feet wide, but still fits in our minivan!</li>
<li>50,000 attendees on bridge day! WOW!</li>
<li>Peak capacity: 250 kid-built cars!</li>
<li>50 microfig pedestrians</li>
<li>Built by 15 Sealug volunteers and a Lego class over several weekends.</li>
<li>Over 1000 antennas used as the pontoon railings.</li>
<li>Enough "lightsaber" blades to outfit 168 Jedi with gray lightsabers!</li>
<li>Gave away every bookmark we had for <a href="http://brickcon.org/" target="_blank">Brickcon Madness 2016 </a> (except the one that fell behind a table).</li>
</ul>
Thanks to Alice's kids for helping build a bridge section, thanks to all the Sealug volunteers for helping to design and build the bridge. Thanks to Dox and 520GoLong the 520 folks and everyone else for arranging the grand opening activities. We had fun showing the bridge and tons of people had fun on bridge day!<br />
<br />
More Pix on <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/120610722@N04/albums/72157666789709212" target="_blank">Flickr Album</a><br />
<br />
We hope to show the bridge again for<a href="http://brickcon.org/" target="_blank"> Brickcon</a> 2016: Madness! in October.Random Bitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18162618734617280654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3122432551067818531.post-82937510988857635532016-03-03T21:20:00.000-08:002016-03-04T09:38:46.182-08:00How I Kept From Getting Sick on the Forbidden Journey Harry Potter Ride.Lots of people apparently get ill or nauseated on the Forbidden Journey Harry Potter ride, but I figured out how to stop that (for me). The ride's really cool, but not if it ruins the rest of the day at the park!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqI1OhlBC_4d408gEn0_FvY-VngQb8HMj9IPxjNYLa4MyBDZKi2POeKyPFoPcul06AMVcxXTzIwCrW96cMGe8c4ues-uN8MRQSof3HLX-nC-a8YosPXBoe2e4p5JSa-Tv07-FkDLh4hg/s1600/Harry+Potter+Forbidden+Journey+Universal+Studios+Ride+_LI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqI1OhlBC_4d408gEn0_FvY-VngQb8HMj9IPxjNYLa4MyBDZKi2POeKyPFoPcul06AMVcxXTzIwCrW96cMGe8c4ues-uN8MRQSof3HLX-nC-a8YosPXBoe2e4p5JSa-Tv07-FkDLh4hg/s400/Harry+Potter+Forbidden+Journey+Universal+Studios+Ride+_LI.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
We rode Forbidden Journey and it was cool - but I felt horrible the rest of the day, like I had a huge headache. My daughter loved it though, so we went again the next day. That time I closed my eyes for the movies - and I was fine! I'd thought it was the robotic benches doing me in with all the motion, but really it's the movie scenes.<br />
<br />
So we rode it again. I was on an edge bench and peeked. When your bench swoops in to the movie cut scenes, your bench is attaching itself to a rotating set of movie screens. It looks like there are 5 or 6 or so screens stuck in a circle, rotating like a clock. Your bench comes in, attaches to a screen, and then follows the screen, rotating clockwise or counterclockwise until the scene is over and then your bench swoops back out. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdYwE3cOzsGFycPTDsdM7TnKYB-b6UJDQjxZ27u88XP9gzSrZuVVb0bbWvUeqqgYgNGBxbdZ9LVUOkVtgODZmXhSKw70gj8_2GK3eB6ipWLEMauql3KDxcJVZ0cqvvX8nBL_d53X9FA/s1600/Benches+and+Screens.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdYwE3cOzsGFycPTDsdM7TnKYB-b6UJDQjxZ27u88XP9gzSrZuVVb0bbWvUeqqgYgNGBxbdZ9LVUOkVtgODZmXhSKw70gj8_2GK3eB6ipWLEMauql3KDxcJVZ0cqvvX8nBL_d53X9FA/s400/Benches+and+Screens.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How the Forbidden Journey<br />
Movie Cut Scenes Work</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In the above photo I've drawn a clockwise rotating set of screens with 3 benches watching the movie as one bench approaches and one leaves (like my blue swoosh lines?) <br />
<br />
With my eyes closed I could "feel" the movement of the bench gently following the screen in its circle - this is a subtle motion that the wild flying motion is on top of. My problem is that when your eyes are open, the scene in front of you doesn't match that rotation. <br />
<br />
Sometimes in the movie your the scene darts in the direction of the real world motion. Those don't mess up my inner ear too much. Sometimes the visible motion is mostly forward, but the real world still rotates around it's clock. That's not too bad. Sometimes the visible motion jerks completely opposite of the real world motion. That's really bad! <br />
<br />
Now that I know what's happening I can "feel" the real world and that helps a ton. If it feels too bad, I close my eyes.<br />
<br />
FWIW, the "benches" are really interesting industrial robots attached at the back to supports that travel a preset path. You can sometimes see the huge bit behind a neighbor's bench if you look off to the side.<br />
<br />Krestyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15117411368394981230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3122432551067818531.post-3652598726540691162016-01-11T12:09:00.000-08:002016-01-11T12:12:08.004-08:00Lego Cruise Ship is Back on Lego Ideas!<h2>
Take 2</h2>
We've stuck the Lego Disney Wonder back on <a href="http:///">Lego Ideas</a> - Please support it now! <a href="http:///">https://ideas.lego.com/projects/128153</a>. <br />
<br />
And don't forget to check out the <a href="http:///">original article about it's construction</a>.<br />
<h2>
We need your help!
</h2>
We reposted it on Lego Ideas due to several requests, however last time it didn't even get 1000 supporters. Most of that is probably because it lost visibility on the Lego system.
<br />
<br />
If you really want to reach 10,000 votes and see Lego consider this project, we're going to need a LOT more social media support. Tweet about the project, share it on Facebook. Get your friends to support it. Blog about it. Anything!<br />
<br />
The link is <a href="http:///">https://ideas.lego.com/projects/128153</a><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE0XmSCMO0EEirnAKqN-bOqQpPyfiLuSfBA6PR8BhreJXRQ4_6Z7l-4cnZ2Si63PlHhEAcLqIdW9mqjSj_od7-tuwwRZ660-ts5j5tCvwCGbL9DMs-NAaGqfnpLoFQPFyisiAisHmZV7LK/s1600/Cruise+To+Hawaii+Disney+Wonder.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The Gang with The Lego Wonder" border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE0XmSCMO0EEirnAKqN-bOqQpPyfiLuSfBA6PR8BhreJXRQ4_6Z7l-4cnZ2Si63PlHhEAcLqIdW9mqjSj_od7-tuwwRZ660-ts5j5tCvwCGbL9DMs-NAaGqfnpLoFQPFyisiAisHmZV7LK/s1600/Cruise+To+Hawaii+Disney+Wonder.JPG" title="The Gang and The Lego Wonder" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lego Wonder and The Gang</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Krestyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15117411368394981230noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3122432551067818531.post-50854677543391756322015-05-02T20:17:00.000-07:002015-05-02T20:18:57.917-07:00How do I mirror an LDD / LDraw file?<em>THIS ONLY WORKS FOR BASIC BRICKS/PLATES (and some others) on a boring orientation. I don't try to figure out how to find a left ring for a right wing, etc., so this won't work for all models.</em><br />
<br />
I made part of a Lego model that I wanted to "mirror", just flip about an axis. It's "just bricks" so I didn't have to worry about wings or funny shapes or anything. I'm surprised Lego Digital Designer doesn't have this.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I figured the easiest way to do this was to export it into an LDraw (ldr) file, then since that's plain text, just flip the - signs on the appropriate coordinates.<br />
<br />
Here's the little program I used to do this (C#, Windows). After compiling, just say something like:<br />
<br />
SimpleLcadMirror infile.ldr outfile.ldr y<br />
<br />
Hmm, don't know how to "compile" it you say? On Windows it's reasonably easy.<br />
<br />
Open cmd (win+r, type cmd, press enter)<br />
notepad SimpleLcadMirror.cs<br />
Copy the stuff below into that file and save it<br />
Type this into the cmd and press enter:<br />
%windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\csc.exe SimpleLcadMirror.cs<br />
It should compile and give you a SimpleLcadMirror.exe<br />
<br />
Then 'just' run it from the cmd line:<br />
SimpleLcadMirror.exe yourfile.ldr newfile.ldr x y<br />
<br />
<pre>// Simple utility to mirror an LCAD file
using System;
using System.IO;
class MirrorLCad
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
String filenameIn = null;
String filenameOut = null;
bool mirrorX = false;
bool mirrorY = false;
bool mirrorZ = false;
bool round = false;
if (args == null || args.Length < 3)
{
return;
}
filenameIn = args[0];
filenameOut = args[1];
for (int i = 2; i < args.Length; i++)
{
if (args[i].Equals("x"))
{
mirrorX = true;
}
else if (args[i].Equals("y"))
{
mirrorY = true;
}
else if (args[i].Equals("z"))
{
mirrorZ = true;
}
else
{
PrintUsage();
return;
}
}
PrintWarning();
var inFile = new StreamReader(filenameIn);
var outFile = new StreamWriter(filenameOut);
String line;
while ((line = inFile.ReadLine()) != null)
{
// Very boring in line detection, only type one, and only if syntax has no strange stuff
line = line.TrimStart();
if (line.StartsWith("1 "))
{
string[] parts = line.Split(' ');
// We care about x, y, z, - 2, 3 & 4
// 1 <colour> x y z a b c d e f g h i <file>
if (mirrorX) { parts[2] = mirror(parts[2]); }
if (mirrorY) { parts[3] = mirror(parts[3]); }
if (mirrorZ) { parts[4] = mirror(parts[4]); }
foreach (var part in parts)
{
outFile.Write(part);
outFile.Write(' ');
}
outFile.WriteLine();
}
else
{
// Don't do anything to strange line
outFile.WriteLine(line);
}
}
outFile.Close();
}
static String mirror(String value)
{
Console.Write('.');
if (value.StartsWith("-"))
{
value = value.Substring(1);
}
else
{
value = '-' + value;
}
return value;
}
static void PrintUsage()
{
Console.WriteLine("Usage:");
Console.WriteLine("SimpleLcadMirror <filein> <fileout> [x] [y] [z]");
Console.WriteLine("y is vertical, z is depth, x is horizontal");
}
static void PrintWarning()
{
Console.WriteLine();
Console.WriteLine("ONLY ARRANGES PARTS POSITIONS, doesn't swap parts (eg: left/right wing, etc)");
Console.WriteLine("Intended for simple brick/plate structures on a simple axis, square to the grid");
}
}
</fileout></filein></file></colour></pre>
Krestyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15117411368394981230noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3122432551067818531.post-74329824073930035692014-05-05T22:36:00.000-07:002016-01-11T11:58:44.393-08:00Lego Disney Wonder is a Lego Ideas Project now!You can support the Lego Disney Wonder project on Lego Ideas. In addition to the Wonder you will be able to build the Magic, Dream or Fantasy too! We're 1% of the way to the 10K supporters we need. Support and share!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://dp1eoqdp1qht7.cloudfront.net/community/projects/d82/ce8/63519/1444793-blob1398912008753" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://dp1eoqdp1qht7.cloudfront.net/community/projects/d82/ce8/63519/1444793-blob1398912008753" width="400" /></a></div>
<h3>
<a href="https://ideas.lego.com/projects/128153" target="_blank">Support the Lego Wonder Cruise Ship Now Please!</a></h3>
Random Bitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18162618734617280654noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3122432551067818531.post-24097256299090565212013-08-18T21:04:00.001-07:002013-08-18T21:04:14.413-07:00Working on building an L3-G0 from Lego BricksWe've started to build an R2-D2 style astromech droid out of Lego. His name's "L3-G0" (Elthree-Geezero). I thought that maybe he'd have enough interesting stuff to get his own blog, so he's at <a href="http://l3-g0.blogspot.com/">http://l3-g0.blogspot.com/</a> - not sure if that's the best idea, but that's where to find more.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVDQ2AHVg9k6rQWuTdhDdzu1oUqz1jrkrXrBFPLjngJ8IKCJKT6DgsbnHSpnGkCz37mFFKLvcm_nMpLtKeP96L52Y87ZlMLn6UEC8ShfAWw_QTwrxySe3RKX6mQEUzoSKzTZcvwm9gcN0/s1600/Rough+Draft+Head+Detail.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVDQ2AHVg9k6rQWuTdhDdzu1oUqz1jrkrXrBFPLjngJ8IKCJKT6DgsbnHSpnGkCz37mFFKLvcm_nMpLtKeP96L52Y87ZlMLn6UEC8ShfAWw_QTwrxySe3RKX6mQEUzoSKzTZcvwm9gcN0/s320/Rough+Draft+Head+Detail.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Random Bitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18162618734617280654noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3122432551067818531.post-68527508381949755452013-03-24T17:31:00.005-07:002014-05-13T21:25:40.924-07:00The Space Needle Was Destroyed? Again?!?!?!What The Ferret!?!?!?! Now this just isn't fair. My Lego Space Needle has been standing for about 4 years, with only one major "<a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/shawn-dropped-space-needle.html" target="_blank">accident</a>" as I learned about moving it. It<a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-space-needle-fell-over.html" target="_blank"> collapsed almost a month ago</a> as I turned it Green ago due to differences in the<a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2013/03/objects-on-table-may-be-shorter-than.html" target="_blank"> brick sizes</a>.<br />
<br />
But now it's been destroyed again in less than a month :( Someone at work accidentally knocked it over, and neatly cleaned up the parts into a recycling basket. I wonder what her expression was as it came crashing toward her?<br />
<br />
Because I never want to have to do this again, I made a time lapse video of rebuilding it this time. It turned out pretty cool:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/TIX5zC-na1A" width="560"></iframe><br /></div>
<br />
In order to take the time lapse pictures I had two options:<br />
<ol>
<li>I could've bought $100 camera thingy from the store (cheaper ones were out of stock).</li>
<li>Or I could build a Lego Mindstorms robot to trigger my camera using my existing remote trigger.</li>
</ol>
Guess which I chose? :)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHTzTiG1zwRyob4dI5peLFY_xcM4WeHtbW0bi2KZE1trbud6g0lbwbPl2WIjrQSGcPwR_GJH6t4IHuXUWQYqDQ5gTz3I99iqee4PGpqpVuo-D4spM3r2-K9YLpLxcbpxwz7n9A3AtjVRTw/s1600/Camera+Robot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHTzTiG1zwRyob4dI5peLFY_xcM4WeHtbW0bi2KZE1trbud6g0lbwbPl2WIjrQSGcPwR_GJH6t4IHuXUWQYqDQ5gTz3I99iqee4PGpqpVuo-D4spM3r2-K9YLpLxcbpxwz7n9A3AtjVRTw/s640/Camera+Robot.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
We're getting better at this. This is probably the most damaged it's been, but it only took 4 hours to get all 4500 pieces back together again. I feel like I spent longer trying to get the camera trigger to behave! It took a frame every 13 seconds or so, and was surprisingly reliable. It was also surprised that neither the camera nor the RCX needed it's batteries changed.Random Bitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18162618734617280654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3122432551067818531.post-62754061107870981842013-03-24T17:06:00.001-07:002013-03-24T18:05:22.882-07:00Objects on the table may be shorter than they appear...The other day I mentioned that the Lego <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-space-needle-fell-over.html" target="_blank">Space Needle fell over</a>. It's been standing for years, so that's a bit odd. As I mentioned in that post, a major contributing factor seems to be that the bricks I was using weren't the expected size.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCQBAZ6WJARmRfQVi3QEHRNBLU2HuTtVfeXg-m0Cxt16a4XWoIEJ4OKV9454JOBdE3VtsWE-q4plTQxMX2yoqdbiTgs9fWgMVVwn9XFbrbIvCPTmFy2f3h5Yx1V-Lby0Qvbpxysd_PUT_u/s1600/Wrong+Size.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCQBAZ6WJARmRfQVi3QEHRNBLU2HuTtVfeXg-m0Cxt16a4XWoIEJ4OKV9454JOBdE3VtsWE-q4plTQxMX2yoqdbiTgs9fWgMVVwn9XFbrbIvCPTmFy2f3h5Yx1V-Lby0Qvbpxysd_PUT_u/s320/Wrong+Size.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Here's a video where I demonstrate the problem. (You might have to go full-screen to see the seams between bricks)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/shyhdkPb7zY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
I didn't measure exactly, but if you build a big long tower of the 3-tall Lego bricks, and another of the 1-tall Lego bricks that are nominally the same size, then we discover that the 3-tall Lego bricks are a bit shorter than one would expect.<br />
<br />
In this example, 35 of the 3-tall bricks (white) should be about the same height as 105 of the 1-tall bricks (green). In practice, the 3-tall bricks were a tiny bit too short. Yes, they are all very firmly attached to each other.<br />
<br />
At Comicon, I asked Dan Parker, LCP, if he'd noticed anything like that before. Apparently there are some bricks where the tolerances add up and things don't align as one would expect.<br />
<br />
Makes me wonder what I would've done if I'd originally build the model with the other bricks. Would I have made shorter legs or made the center tower taller?Random Bitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18162618734617280654noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3122432551067818531.post-65032870013508030262013-03-11T10:48:00.003-07:002013-03-24T18:04:04.015-07:00The Space Needle Fell Over :(<div style="text-align: center;">
Ugh, not again! The Lego Space Needle crashed, time to play 7,000 piece pickup...</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqVGTdAvOwnjbqByE4taaNUuFV9lPlqULYqrJzHPeTihbGlPZ-uFDTQ2-fu3tpcABdW6E82zaAKYwVqqa7xkBh3-URz4J0DZBjL6GT4TKfaj0FwfelbngEFoOA2dD-2XspB8KxyK2pgF12/s1600/Crash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqVGTdAvOwnjbqByE4taaNUuFV9lPlqULYqrJzHPeTihbGlPZ-uFDTQ2-fu3tpcABdW6E82zaAKYwVqqa7xkBh3-URz4J0DZBjL6GT4TKfaj0FwfelbngEFoOA2dD-2XspB8KxyK2pgF12/s640/Crash.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LL protecting herself from falling pieces</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It's 10:30 PM on Thursday Feb 28th. Too bad there's not a Feb 29th, 'cause Comicon opens on the 1st @ noon. That's not a lot of time to put 7,000 pieces back together :(<br />
<br />
It's ironic, I keep telling people how stable this thing is, then, once every 4 years or so, <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/shawn-dropped-space-needle.html" target="_blank">this happens</a>. Worse, the move from work to ECCC went great, very little damage (it always breaks a bit when I move it, but apparently I'm getting better, took only 30 min to put back up when I took it back to work). Apparently I shouldn't have mentioned that an hour ago. <br />
<br />
Worser, I was filming putting it up... and the camera died about 30 min ago.... :( <br />
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Worsest, there're no instructions.<br />
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We fumbled around for a bit, but then they turned out the lights and we called it a day. In the morning my sister & I spent some time fixing some of the critical spots. We were back at ECCC around noon to begin reconstructing it. With the rest of SEALUG's help, it was back on it's feet by 6. For some reason, RC relegated me to the back table. (Something to do with insurance premiums and the guests or something).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI_JglLyd_m-JlLLDqp9E7ta07YzuZQNskvLRqUdRImbuXerUMK_iGDQ53rxT0yRzRCZjYlK4yrcfXrXs3iTaZ5pAmGZe4oEg-OjBTr3MkckECgkDkVg3T0HMB1l6I2NddJ_ly2vJxeoAT/s1600/Green.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI_JglLyd_m-JlLLDqp9E7ta07YzuZQNskvLRqUdRImbuXerUMK_iGDQ53rxT0yRzRCZjYlK4yrcfXrXs3iTaZ5pAmGZe4oEg-OjBTr3MkckECgkDkVg3T0HMB1l6I2NddJ_ly2vJxeoAT/s640/Green.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
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What happened? I mean, this thing's been standing for over 3 years. I've always figured another Nisqually Earthquake would be it's doom, but nothing was going on.<br />
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Well, for ECCC, I figured that it should be "Emerald" in honor for the "Emerald" in "Emerald City Comicon's" name. That, and the real space needle's green on top with a painting of trees, so I was gonna do that anyway.<br />
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So we rebuilt all of the white leg pieces in green. At the same time we went from ~4500 pieces to ~5500 or so, primarily because the white legs are 2x2 wide by 3 bricks tall. Lime green doesn't come in 3 brick tall forms, so the plan was 3 times as many bricks one tall. (In practice I ran out, so I had to use 4 1x1x1 bricks for every 2x2x1 brick, so we ended up at ~7000 bricks).<br />
<br />
Once the bottom legs got rebuilt, up to where they hit the tower in the middle, something wasn't right. The top half of the tower wouldn't fit on! It's like the green legs were longer. So I padded the tower with a plate (a plate is 1/3 of a normal brick). Apparently that wasn't a great plan because it crashed.<br />
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On rebuilding we were more careful, and, indeed, the legs were too long. We ended up removing a plate from each of the lower three legs. Additionally the same error happened with the top struts, and they were also shortened by a plate. <br />
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When I mentioned my observation that the bricks weren't the right heights, Dan Parker belatedly confirmed that sometimes the tolerances creep in and things that seem like they should work in Lego, don't. I'll blog a bit more about that later.<br />
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The Emerald Lego Space Needle made it up for the rest of Comicon, where people queued up to see it. (Well, maybe they were looking for <a href="http://www.brothers-brick.com/2013/02/26/alice-finch-builds-massive-lego-hogwarts-from-400000-bricks/" target="_blank">Hogwarts</a>, but they had to get past me first.) I even think I saw a Unicorn.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbWeKcwn2BkRIoA6hfO9gkIl8OGcWgr5YcN3aQUwA7rAh6CTbeVWGYX1ww6sDvaviRnRN953nFkDI4wIQ5dRXFw08QOACf8i8uPWYOiNVJVWmy1Z07wS6NsVlZjpodH186oEfIQtr3NTqJ/s1600/Unicorn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbWeKcwn2BkRIoA6hfO9gkIl8OGcWgr5YcN3aQUwA7rAh6CTbeVWGYX1ww6sDvaviRnRN953nFkDI4wIQ5dRXFw08QOACf8i8uPWYOiNVJVWmy1Z07wS6NsVlZjpodH186oEfIQtr3NTqJ/s400/Unicorn.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
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Now it's back at work. Took a bit to get all the green out, but only 30 minutes to unload the car and put it up, with the green roof representing the real needle's trees.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1eIq-Rr8uL5gUfbS-G6S9-tCLv4FO6Nu8UwEVJT0hoL5czZ8JTY0hIK2gFScwJOdM6JdSmI4d_gwkz3tlUMinmHzYHnY1Iywj4ZVlcc2GmlR_ZJA50sVNCeRFOR5zUjzI6hdloMZTPh0S/s1600/Work.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1eIq-Rr8uL5gUfbS-G6S9-tCLv4FO6Nu8UwEVJT0hoL5czZ8JTY0hIK2gFScwJOdM6JdSmI4d_gwkz3tlUMinmHzYHnY1Iywj4ZVlcc2GmlR_ZJA50sVNCeRFOR5zUjzI6hdloMZTPh0S/s320/Work.jpg" width="136" /></a></div>
Random Bitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18162618734617280654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3122432551067818531.post-55814136067051128352013-02-28T10:45:00.004-08:002013-02-28T10:45:57.326-08:00The Lego Disney Wonder will be at Emerald City Comicon the weekend of March 1, 2013Random Bitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18162618734617280654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3122432551067818531.post-35752307537710398362013-01-12T23:10:00.000-08:002013-03-24T18:04:49.211-07:00Lego Angry Bird Space<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjdfZfhX4Rvtg8Rl42JojKLaQDAFJgFS716b-qZ5Fypd-Raw6YlCZcdg0362KWw-qfkFFGG91zaDTyNXPn9aDKsuf71jOEPnzndF7c1vFnH8CVrsYqcPQi_yAAJcomoGa7eY1xsucSPZNp/s1600/WP_000059.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjdfZfhX4Rvtg8Rl42JojKLaQDAFJgFS716b-qZ5Fypd-Raw6YlCZcdg0362KWw-qfkFFGG91zaDTyNXPn9aDKsuf71jOEPnzndF7c1vFnH8CVrsYqcPQi_yAAJcomoGa7eY1xsucSPZNp/s320/WP_000059.jpg" width="240" /></a>A while back I built a Lego Space Needle (which <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/shawn-dropped-space-needle.html">I've dropped</a> in the past :( ). <br />
<br />
Someone decorated the real <a href="http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=space+needle+angry+birds" target="_blank">Space Needle with an Angry Bird</a> with the "launch" of Angry Birds Space (which apparently NASA helped with). <br />
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After a few years of sitting there, my Lego Space Needle was getting a tad mundane. When my boss mentioned sticking an Angry Bird on it, I laughed him off. But them my sister mentioned having a red Lego apple. It turns out that apple's and birds don't share a lot in common, but we managed anyway.<br />
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Like the Space Needle, I managed to drop the Angry Bird too, several times.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLfIjum2hJcVGDDbYhBINZ5Wh2eysGKiyMyY-HmSX7lkAc0chjT4WJnbd7xM1-IeDTVCN630Wsl_eyVqjOSSwRAYcNZykTJtMtXJUpbwFA34t0VhKpABDJSHXo_lDDqLQjr9BX6jzjJRqe/s1600/WP_000252.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLfIjum2hJcVGDDbYhBINZ5Wh2eysGKiyMyY-HmSX7lkAc0chjT4WJnbd7xM1-IeDTVCN630Wsl_eyVqjOSSwRAYcNZykTJtMtXJUpbwFA34t0VhKpABDJSHXo_lDDqLQjr9BX6jzjJRqe/s320/WP_000252.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
A bit later, the Space Needle went to the 2012 Emerald City Comicon (<a href="http://www.emeraldcitycomicon.com/" target="_blank">ECCC</a>), so the Angry Bird joined it as well. Lots of nice comments there.<br />
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Since it was a comic convention, the Angry bird was joined by Batman and some other Lego comic figures (from sets). <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW79G-AzRFpypVTmuTFU3_aHKI_uNpyLIQynnJYvaoTeAXAX9jiyq9m21JKS0iHRo28GusG5ZxhrYu0Vn1v_kHsTxehG9wMnKC3LXI_EFHMAB2fDWa3IIVCmP4wbDstqiGOKtcw3ee2Nou/s1600/WP_000251.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW79G-AzRFpypVTmuTFU3_aHKI_uNpyLIQynnJYvaoTeAXAX9jiyq9m21JKS0iHRo28GusG5ZxhrYu0Vn1v_kHsTxehG9wMnKC3LXI_EFHMAB2fDWa3IIVCmP4wbDstqiGOKtcw3ee2Nou/s320/WP_000251.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs1C4u76LTsyd6mmDoUIGsm7vHYdCTbhLGlWGZz3HcZEROJAWCVaWQVqWq3V41VNkZQ4730IEr1UjKx3FX6KTihmI1TZ_WAQshvEqecjhLOX7vmlzgLz_5c0I8uBduIV4fWaWxjCrS4PFB/s1600/WP_000067.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs1C4u76LTsyd6mmDoUIGsm7vHYdCTbhLGlWGZz3HcZEROJAWCVaWQVqWq3V41VNkZQ4730IEr1UjKx3FX6KTihmI1TZ_WAQshvEqecjhLOX7vmlzgLz_5c0I8uBduIV4fWaWxjCrS4PFB/s320/WP_000067.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtNFto1YYTlRU9XITqi5uKCs_7mDLZausjX3MnITJxiOueIq4LQD4kdulG-pDHXcrjFBrq4z0gfGiR1SEnoqlVjoWKN9r3aK86T59nKl5TpMw1eZkbpVyO0G64GrJl2N17JF4CTpAJhG_M/s1600/WP_000250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtNFto1YYTlRU9XITqi5uKCs_7mDLZausjX3MnITJxiOueIq4LQD4kdulG-pDHXcrjFBrq4z0gfGiR1SEnoqlVjoWKN9r3aK86T59nKl5TpMw1eZkbpVyO0G64GrJl2N17JF4CTpAJhG_M/s320/WP_000250.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf_mUSeaYgyrGSg-Ix72DkEBioMGLdD6wniC9EnaXT8NKIuqpeD3PnNdX7UlQ4gkqiJIEidKN9DvcLsjmM-evlvDrTrG9ktUFhdKV57Wo98qOu-RUyRCBOhrMTDpDILDNepjMnuFw3QZ7e/s1600/WP_000249.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf_mUSeaYgyrGSg-Ix72DkEBioMGLdD6wniC9EnaXT8NKIuqpeD3PnNdX7UlQ4gkqiJIEidKN9DvcLsjmM-evlvDrTrG9ktUFhdKV57Wo98qOu-RUyRCBOhrMTDpDILDNepjMnuFw3QZ7e/s320/WP_000249.jpg" width="240" /></a>Random Bitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18162618734617280654noreply@blogger.com0Seattle, WA, USA47.620854380579381 -122.3490110873143547.615503380579383 -122.35909608731436 47.626205380579378 -122.33892608731435tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3122432551067818531.post-22632155389148692832012-12-21T19:08:00.000-08:002017-09-27T08:46:34.043-07:00Lego Disney Wonder Cruise Ship<h2>
The Lego Wonder</h2>
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Recently, I built a model of the Disney Wonder, in Lego. It's displayed at work, where I'm known for building Lego things, see "<a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/shawn-dropped-space-needle.html">Shawn Dropped the Space Needle</a>". It's been displayed at BrickCon 2012 and is currently at work in Building 85.<br />
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There's also a YouTube video with my Lego at <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npljfpINL70&feature=share&list=PLW9puQLaJ4IoCkHa3a7DiTT_0e-DxLwDq" target="_blank">Lego Disney Wonder</a>. I've gotten a lot of questions, so here goes:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/npljfpINL70?list=PLW9puQLaJ4IoCkHa3a7DiTT_0e-DxLwDq" style="text-align: center;" width="560"></iframe><br /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lego Disney Wonder</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
The Lego Wonder is as accurate as I could make it, which took about 4500 pieces. The stats: it's about 4 feet / 1.2 meters long. It took about 6 days (Lara says 60 hours) to build, as we were interrupted by shows on the ship, ports of call, etc. As there are few Lego stores in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, we spent a couple weeks planning before the trip.</div>
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<h2>
It Just Happened One Day</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX3IMDqvHGkXrLi6YF2raTqfC8tA-8iGAdboCKypkolkEmPEVZvB21lK08rTu3vLBytxP-MKbAoB60NSBWqNm4M8AZTHLZM20rhqcNgaltS-Wd91u8ubZdGsVzUAbR22MvIQDlN3M8Dt6T/s1600/Lego+Wonder+Design+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Rough mockup of Lego Disney Wonder" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX3IMDqvHGkXrLi6YF2raTqfC8tA-8iGAdboCKypkolkEmPEVZvB21lK08rTu3vLBytxP-MKbAoB60NSBWqNm4M8AZTHLZM20rhqcNgaltS-Wd91u8ubZdGsVzUAbR22MvIQDlN3M8Dt6T/s1600/Lego+Wonder+Design+1.jpg" title="Lego Wonder Rough Mockup" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prototyping</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I blame it all on my wife, Lara. We were planning on a cruise (one guess which ship), and she pointed out that on long cruises they sometimes have boat building contests. She also mentioned that the judges might like to see their own ship, and, besides, it's a pretty ship.<br />
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With that conversation in mind, a few weeks before the cruise I noticed that our Lego store had a sale, and so I grabbed some bulk bricks. <br />
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Of course when I got home and tried to do some research, and discovered that all my guesses were all wrong. (I usually underestimate how many pieces I'll need for these things). In the store there were 1x3 yellow bricks that I thought might work for life boats. I also guessed that 16 studs wide would be about wide enough for the detail, and figured it'd be maybe 2 or 3 feet long. Once I got the dimensions of the real ship I found how long and skinny cruise ships really are. <br />
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My width, and the structure of the balconies also sort of forced the scale. If I wanted it 16 studs wide and ledges for the balconies, then it was going to have to be 150 or so studs long....<br />
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<h2>
All Those Little Details</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic-H5kp-JLcPRpEIHw16uF51B9rFKTzoEhj4DfULVKLHILzWQXplDPTnw4M9nFtONymZdxx63v8Qogauk-tUIIK6YVYXTfSVWct_zMi0qpyl1JRzREXkiO2n53Gl84pzP91h_Sz16YLJjb/s1600/Lego+Wonder+Design+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Lego Wonder lifeboat prototyping" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic-H5kp-JLcPRpEIHw16uF51B9rFKTzoEhj4DfULVKLHILzWQXplDPTnw4M9nFtONymZdxx63v8Qogauk-tUIIK6YVYXTfSVWct_zMi0qpyl1JRzREXkiO2n53Gl84pzP91h_Sz16YLJjb/s1600/Lego+Wonder+Design+2.jpg" title="Lego Wonder lifeboat prototyping" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Figuring out Lifeboats</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My 3-stud lifeboats weren't going to fit at that scale. But the store didn't have any bricks the right color, so I was going to have to order bricks online, and we only had a couple of weeks before we left on the cruise. I browsed through parts lists and came up with a few different ideas, but I wouldn't really know what worked for sure until I had the bricks in hand to play with, so I ordered parts for several different ways of building each lifeboat. Enough for 10 lifeboats on each side. I tried a few things at home, but crossed my fingers that the parts would work when they came. That went for the parts for several other details as well. The stacks for example, I only had a vague idea about, and so I tried to find a few different options that might work.<br />
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My biggest problem is that I remembered the hull being blue, but that didn't work in the rough mockup of part of the hull. I went back to the store and got black, which worked a lot better (the hull looks black in a lot of photos of the real ship), but I still wanted better. Unfortunately the right color was very rare and difficult to find. <br />
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I managed to order some at the last minute, but it didn't seem like it would arrive in time. I gathered some black just in case. On the last day before we left I checked the mailbox, not really expecting anything. There were some letters, so the mail had come, but no bricks :( Not terribly surprised that they hadn't come, I walked up to the door, and there was a small package. The missing bricks had arrived!<br />
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Ironically, later, on the ship, after that work on the colors, one of the other guests asked why it wasn't black, and I had to point out that the real ship wasn't black!<br />
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<h2>
Index</h2>
<ul>
<li>YouTube - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npljfpINL70&feature=share&list=PLW9puQLaJ4IoCkHa3a7DiTT_0e-DxLwDq" target="_blank">Lego Disney Wonder</a></li>
<li>Page 1 - The Lego Wonder</li>
<li>Page 2 - <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/LegoWonderCruiseShipPage2.html">Like, What Do You Mean There Aren't Any Instructions</a></li>
<li>Page 3 - <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/LegoWonderCruiseShipPage3.html">Building the Lego Wonder</a></li>
<li>Page 4 - <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/LegoWonderCruiseShipPage4.html">Land Ho!</a></li>
<li>Page 5 - <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/LegoWonderCruiseShipPage5.html">All Done with the Lego Wonder</a></li>
</ul>
Random Bitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18162618734617280654noreply@blogger.com18Kalihi - Palama, Honolulu, HI, USA21.299964861780435 -157.8667545318603521.292567861780434 -157.87683953186036 21.307361861780436 -157.85666953186035tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3122432551067818531.post-59822141054423259092012-12-21T18:09:00.000-08:002012-12-21T23:12:05.341-08:00Like, What Do You Mean There Aren't Any Instructions(Back to <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/LegoWonderCruiseShipPage1.html">Page 1</a>)<br />
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<h2>
Like, what do you mean, there aren't any instructions? </h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYMqqQ8rfL7qCCCRE1HJvaFgfaupDKxMeCK0M-uUkM06fXAb9A3B-mmKHS-GRm49UqHj8JnfAz_z7r9sEsVc2XABmK2Wt0ONyPefBoAOCEC4w1YQe6YpoPeBbF3B5RtRdLWAz6MUx3Qbn1/s1600/Disney+Magic+For+Lego+-+Cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYMqqQ8rfL7qCCCRE1HJvaFgfaupDKxMeCK0M-uUkM06fXAb9A3B-mmKHS-GRm49UqHj8JnfAz_z7r9sEsVc2XABmK2Wt0ONyPefBoAOCEC4w1YQe6YpoPeBbF3B5RtRdLWAz6MUx3Qbn1/s400/Disney+Magic+For+Lego+-+Cropped.jpg" width="550" /></a></div>
<br />
People want to know how I can make a model without any instructions? Honestly I'm a tad confused by the question because, like even "real" Lego models someone had to invent the instructions. And Lego prides itself on the fact that millions of kids happily build tons of creative stuff from its bricks!<br />
<br />
But it is a bit tricky to make a replica of a real thing. There are lots of different techniques people use building Lego. Some just have an idea and put a bunch of bricks together. Others get a 3D scan or file somehow and then write a computer program to tell them where to put bricks so that they fit in that 3D model (I guess that gives you instructions of a sort). Others use some of the Lego software to build it on a computer, and then get the bricks needed to build that model.<br />
<br />
In my case, I have a bunch of pictures that I took of the Disney Magic, (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFuJUDMDq7I&feature=share&list=PLW9puQLaJ4IoCkHa3a7DiTT_0e-DxLwDq">we've been on the Magic before</a>,) and also I used Bing to hunt online for angles that I didn't have photos for. During that process I learned that there're some differences between the Magic and the Wonder, some of which I wasn't very familiar with. So I had to guess what parts I might need.<br />
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<h2>
How Big?</h2>
Getting the dimensions accurate was something of a challenge. Bing helped me find out how long the real boat is (Length: 964 ft (294 m), Beam: 106 ft (32 m), Draft: 25.3 ft (7.7 m)). That and a little math helped me figure out if I wanted 16 studs wide how long she'd have to be. For the height, I measured the visible height and length on my photo and used that as a ratio to figure the model's height. I also have a photo of the cut-away model in Port Canaveral, but I discovered that depending on other models doesn't guarantee accuracy, there're some pretty inaccurate models and paintings out there :(.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWAEDeR6Z1jnN6BKUB2ct50hc2ba93n6x5tl668Z_eb4LIOgCGrEGZxldHw9NTdXlD3JG7V_LKC1kA14sybrv3KFn4iJDfCALl1nCHB1B04YyYD3OMuoH2mTSYnrwoCI2vT3DKuMRFEnue/s1600/legoWonderGrid.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Scale Plan of Lego Ship" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWAEDeR6Z1jnN6BKUB2ct50hc2ba93n6x5tl668Z_eb4LIOgCGrEGZxldHw9NTdXlD3JG7V_LKC1kA14sybrv3KFn4iJDfCALl1nCHB1B04YyYD3OMuoH2mTSYnrwoCI2vT3DKuMRFEnue/s1600/legoWonderGrid.png" title="Scale Plan of Lego Ship" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scale Plan of Ship</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The best thing that Bing helped me find was deck plans, like what travel agents use to show people where their cabins are. <br />
<br />
Of course those weren't designed for accuracy, but I was able to stick them into Microsoft Publisher and align them all (travel agents had a different need, so the decks weren't all aligned or the same scale). On top of that I drew a huge grid, with the major "frames" marked so I could tell where stuff goes. Ships are also built with frames for major structural sections. Later I found out that many of the frames I assigned aligned with the real frames on the ship. <br />
<br />
With the frames marked, I labeled each of the spaces between them, color coding some so I wouldn't get "lost" going from the drawing to the model. Each section was numbered, and I translated those numbers to the actual model. (They had to be moved a few times to get the ship centered on the Lego plates).<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04ftS3prT6vmJ_m74mMXhEOBmrEBCV8kQD3LKnIC_wk1_xr126VubGvIeLZJMPlT-EcPNiEgxcN9gENCLXNc-9KcYqYdBCTEP_rDdpUiERJPyjSVgE-P1XS4FBBPTzsuLEoD1F9Y52f6Z/s1600/Lego+Wonder+Base.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Start with frame and grid method" border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04ftS3prT6vmJ_m74mMXhEOBmrEBCV8kQD3LKnIC_wk1_xr126VubGvIeLZJMPlT-EcPNiEgxcN9gENCLXNc-9KcYqYdBCTEP_rDdpUiERJPyjSVgE-P1XS4FBBPTzsuLEoD1F9Y52f6Z/s200/Lego+Wonder+Base.jpg" title="Start with frame and grid method" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frames and Grid Method</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In key areas, I also drew grids for each stud. That allowed me to use something like "The Grid Method", which, in art, is a technique where you draw a grid on an picture. In that method you copy each square of the grid to a new drawing using the grid as a reference, often changing scale as you draw the new copy. Mine was something like a 3D grid method.<br />
<br />
I also had to figure out how tall each deck really is, as each deck isn't the same height.<br />
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The grid also helped figure out where the pools and other details on the top deck went.<br />
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<h2>
The Tiny Details</h2>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnfyW_9grofGuw1CDU_p5U68vqBdTUeuK-LvqdA9wprqAKWcCEijXV5a41-yFLbBUj-pMmZ03BWYFCgBBS0aW21dIqPjmVSdXB5AtUSKxALUiIWGLA1tNuJW5QttyDFf0Vw5vYzRjRQpQO/s1600/legolabel.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnfyW_9grofGuw1CDU_p5U68vqBdTUeuK-LvqdA9wprqAKWcCEijXV5a41-yFLbBUj-pMmZ03BWYFCgBBS0aW21dIqPjmVSdXB5AtUSKxALUiIWGLA1tNuJW5QttyDFf0Vw5vYzRjRQpQO/s1600/legolabel.png" /></a>Even at my scale, lots of the details on the ship were too small to render in Lego. I was conflicted a bit, but decided to create some stickers (in lieu of decals). Lego does it in their kits, so I guess stickers are fair game. Clearly I'd need those ahead of time, so I found pictures of the details, like the scrollwork on the bow and stern, and the ship's name on her side. Since I had an idea of the scale, I could measure those on my photo to figure out what size they were, and then print them out. <br />
<br />
It was a bit annoying to edit the images and get rid of whatever background stuff was there, but eventually I had some images that I could import into Publisher, picking a paper template for my labels, and then print them. Some got printed on white labels, others on clear labels.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Time To Go</h2>
Eventually the parts came in the mail, got and got dumped into a big bag. I printed several copies of the photos and the publisher diagrams. Gathered the labels. Copied the photos for my study and the publisher files onto my Windows 8 tablet. Then it was time to get on the plane for California.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Index</h2>
<ul>
<li>YouTube - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npljfpINL70&feature=share&list=PLW9puQLaJ4IoCkHa3a7DiTT_0e-DxLwDq" target="_blank">Lego Disney Wonder</a></li>
<li>Page 1 - <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/LegoWonderCruiseShipPage1.html">The Lego Wonder</a></li>
<li>Page 2 - Like, What Do You Mean There Aren't Any Instructions</li>
<li>Page 3 - <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/LegoWonderCruiseShipPage3.html">Building the Lego Wonder</a></li>
<li>Page 4 - <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/LegoWonderCruiseShipPage4.html">Land Ho!</a></li>
<li>Page 5 - <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/LegoWonderCruiseShipPage5.html">All Done with the Lego Wonder</a></li>
</ul>
Random Bitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18162618734617280654noreply@blogger.com1Pacific Ocean27.178033212066662 -137.373046875-1.5983517879333391 -178.681640875 55.954418212066663 -96.064452875tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3122432551067818531.post-37329341884594769022012-12-21T17:09:00.000-08:002012-12-21T23:12:13.376-08:00Building the Lego Disney Wonder(Back to <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/LegoWonderCruiseShipPage1.html">Page 1</a>)<br />
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<h2>
Building the Lego Wonder</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4_BQvfAIA58S7yJ_7i10l915pbxV8rHFxQh8cNM7QkXlXtaPciViWdhsR-WeQ3WQjhWU1DDCReCKFAtAADl4RNjfWcLNsyQ6YSfVKOV21X1G2AJ6UXla4LbejXixqbYaSbXrjjrqpsMLM/s1600/Lego+Wonder+Day+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Day 1 of building the Lego Wonder" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4_BQvfAIA58S7yJ_7i10l915pbxV8rHFxQh8cNM7QkXlXtaPciViWdhsR-WeQ3WQjhWU1DDCReCKFAtAADl4RNjfWcLNsyQ6YSfVKOV21X1G2AJ6UXla4LbejXixqbYaSbXrjjrqpsMLM/s1600/Lego+Wonder+Day+1.jpg" title="Lego Wonder Day 1" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lego Wonder Day 1</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Turning around a cruise ship is an incredible task. They dock early in the morning, and, after clearing customs, then they have to get a couple thousand people off the boat, somehow reunite them with their luggage, and get them out of their hair. Then they have to get another couple thousand people (& their stuff) on the boat, and do it in time to leave. (& that's ignoring all of the food, trash, fuel and other stuff that has to happen) That this all happens smoothly for the most part is amazing. <br />
<br />
So it's not terrible surprising that the incoming passengers like me aren't reunited with their luggage for some time, and that they are left to roam the ship as their cabins are readied. Knowing this, we planned ahead. Lara brought a book, the kids brought swimsuits, and I... carried onboard a big bag full of Lego.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Helpful Porter: "Don't you want to check those big bags sir?"</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Me: "No, I'm fine, really, thanks, I'll carry them."</blockquote>
I immediately went up to the top deck and started building.<br />
<h3>
<br />It Takes a Little Time</h3>
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<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhloc5QffH_yImITUhwblLfG0ARc76ldG0MluX394yt-dd-LmknatkhsX1oJjustHvPnYZ5FlMce0t_VxtXSXTBvGAk6dMqRgr_uDLAl62XiA0yv8kSFf5NckKPHv9VSL3b50rfUSSL8z-i/s1600/Lego+Wonder+Day+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Day 2 of Building the Lego Wonder" border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhloc5QffH_yImITUhwblLfG0ARc76ldG0MluX394yt-dd-LmknatkhsX1oJjustHvPnYZ5FlMce0t_VxtXSXTBvGAk6dMqRgr_uDLAl62XiA0yv8kSFf5NckKPHv9VSL3b50rfUSSL8z-i/s1600/Lego+Wonder+Day+2.jpg" title="Lego Wonder Day 2" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lego Wonder Day 2</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There's a lot to do on a cruise ship, besides build Lego I mean, but we made steady progress. Before we left, I had mocked up part of one side, in the wrong color, to make sure that some of the sizes were right, but I'd ignored the curve of the stern and the complex curves of the bow. The hull at the bow has a "sharp" point at the bottom, by the waterline, but has a broader more gentle curve up top, so the angles of the bow change every deck. That took time to get right.<br />
<br />
Also the hull needed structural support near the stern (see the holes for the line handling. On, I think, deck 4). Also there needed to be something to hold the bow together since I built it upside down.<br />
<br />
(By the way, people asked about the bulbous bow. In my model its below water :)<br />
<br />
<h2>
Hold Your Horses</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEBwoFrV83sUyIEQe-3wZa-bdRCWzA_h-m7DG7ZOL4hnoIS_X_TtX5xfdVwVrk_JZcduqFVOsrdPEOTasDLUL8a6i5w5GNQFseFd5AkxBFqtPMv8M3E5t8AHlZVhqlSZPvyFH_Z9zV5L1v/s1600/Lego+Wonder+Day+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Building the Lego Wonder on Day 4" border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEBwoFrV83sUyIEQe-3wZa-bdRCWzA_h-m7DG7ZOL4hnoIS_X_TtX5xfdVwVrk_JZcduqFVOsrdPEOTasDLUL8a6i5w5GNQFseFd5AkxBFqtPMv8M3E5t8AHlZVhqlSZPvyFH_Z9zV5L1v/s1600/Lego+Wonder+Day+3.jpg" title="Lego Wonder Day 4" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lego Wonder Day 3</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
By now you might be wondering about those horses at the bow. Bing told me that Disney Wonder has over 77,000 horsepower!!!! (But I still haven't figured out where she puts them all!)<br />
<br />
Actually, those were just because, when I was buying pieces, there were bulk horses on the wall and I couldn't resist :)<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1z3MferM4lbuBcYKzt5nFFLTTN5oOj_NmCxc-LisacWOf6HCHbbY40YORPNC-BPatmIuXEFlrXLfZegDzzbs1XwaDOJdq1GqbySFYXqBuJp_Iabb2j9D8N6_6Zq-Cf_ikVvevTEpaViPm/s1600/Daisy+Lego+Wonder+Day+4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Daisy Duck examining the Lego Wonder on Day 4" border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1z3MferM4lbuBcYKzt5nFFLTTN5oOj_NmCxc-LisacWOf6HCHbbY40YORPNC-BPatmIuXEFlrXLfZegDzzbs1XwaDOJdq1GqbySFYXqBuJp_Iabb2j9D8N6_6Zq-Cf_ikVvevTEpaViPm/s1600/Daisy+Lego+Wonder+Day+4.png" title="Gawking at Lego Wonder on Day 4" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gawking at Lego Wonder on Day 4</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<h2 style="clear: all;">
Gawkers</h2>
As the days passed, the guests and staff became interested in what we were doing. Lara & I got lots of praise for the ship.<br />
<br />
Since it was a Disney ship, humans weren't the only ones that stopped to take a look. Most of the gang did too, here's Daisy.<br />
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<h2>
Index</h2>
<ul>
<li>YouTube - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npljfpINL70&feature=share&list=PLW9puQLaJ4IoCkHa3a7DiTT_0e-DxLwDq" target="_blank">Lego Disney Wonder</a></li>
<li>Page 1 - <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/LegoWonderCruiseShipPage1.html">The Lego Wonder</a></li>
<li>Page 2 - <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/LegoWonderCruiseShipPage2.html">Like, What Do You Mean There Aren't Any Instructions</a></li>
<li>Page 3 - Building the Lego Wonder</li>
<li>Page 4 - <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/LegoWonderCruiseShipPage4.html">Land Ho!</a></li>
<li>Page 5 - <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/LegoWonderCruiseShipPage5.html">All Done with the Lego Wonder</a></li>
</ul>
Random Bitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18162618734617280654noreply@blogger.com1Hawaii, United States19.8967662 -155.582781800000025.1345291999999976 -176.2370788 34.6590032 -134.92848480000004tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3122432551067818531.post-32934716878669286032012-12-21T16:10:00.000-08:002012-12-21T23:12:20.978-08:00Land Ho!(Back to <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/LegoWonderCruiseShipPage1.html">Page 1</a>)<br />
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<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGNIifqXX1Rkv8rzRuq2xLkOnk-JbtJDTZLUUAOILHUUeTbmfIpx4mitTq8H-Sjv_0k0S_r7cnMHcAe1PkQdZfBWIrtLvSeAwBf9eN1HysdZt1y4p-b0HS46WTSw3NuyYfdWQ8MDQnisKi/s1600/Land+Ho.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGNIifqXX1Rkv8rzRuq2xLkOnk-JbtJDTZLUUAOILHUUeTbmfIpx4mitTq8H-Sjv_0k0S_r7cnMHcAe1PkQdZfBWIrtLvSeAwBf9eN1HysdZt1y4p-b0HS46WTSw3NuyYfdWQ8MDQnisKi/s1600/Land+Ho.jpg" unselectable="on" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Land Ho!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2>
Land Ho!</h2>
After several days at sea, we reached Hawaii. That slowed down construction of the Lego Wonder because we had some islands to explore.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: all;">
</div>
<h2>
Where to put the Wonder?</h2>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggj7ydvcXS9ZdMlfZR8YG-9HTIjWOXGuSWey00MioiQ5WbKNY2WXhzjpjO9JGY_JpeTbK6AgAIEzthAn2r4l-QhcjUXI3Jrb24NhW7bRP7lxd-LOAhusXv5CT5NbdLKZ89axgKHNGalh4F/s1600/Storing+Lego+Wonder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Lego Wonder in Cabin, Day 6" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggj7ydvcXS9ZdMlfZR8YG-9HTIjWOXGuSWey00MioiQ5WbKNY2WXhzjpjO9JGY_JpeTbK6AgAIEzthAn2r4l-QhcjUXI3Jrb24NhW7bRP7lxd-LOAhusXv5CT5NbdLKZ89axgKHNGalh4F/s1600/Storing+Lego+Wonder.jpg" title="Lego Wonder in Cabin, Day 6" width="550" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lego Wonder in Cabin, Day 6</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
People kept wondering where we put the Lego Wonder while we were working on her? Like, surely we didn't leave her up on deck by the pools? Did we?<br />
<br />
Every day we picked her up and carried her down to our cabin (which freaked some people out). This was one of those fortuitous things, since I didn't bother to measure the cabin's desk when I figured out how long she should be. Like, cruise ship cabins aren't exactly known for their space you know! And there's pretty much only one flat surface in the cabin - the desk. The Lego Wonder cleared the walls with a couple inches to spare!<br />
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<br />
<h2>
Um, What Do You Mean "Take it Home"?"</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwzM1JbBQrlDxwFVsy-_n6a76tpVc9OSJdqBti26nnBe__DNwUfK7amlN8LNJKYp6MHGztzNKb0NE89GLv9fadZQsOhKzamXaOCqCwbJdQ3a9Kid7jNMkwNX2R9TlZv5wvZZ4wu2wsChZj/s1600/cptfabianday6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Captain Fabian with Lego Wonder, Day 10" border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwzM1JbBQrlDxwFVsy-_n6a76tpVc9OSJdqBti26nnBe__DNwUfK7amlN8LNJKYp6MHGztzNKb0NE89GLv9fadZQsOhKzamXaOCqCwbJdQ3a9Kid7jNMkwNX2R9TlZv5wvZZ4wu2wsChZj/s1600/cptfabianday6.jpg" title="Captain Fabian with Lego Wonder, Day 10" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Captain Fabian with Lego Wonder, Day 10</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There was another not-well thought out part of our plan. About the 2nd day people started asking how we were going to get her home. Umm. Good question! It wasn't exactly going to fit under our seat on the flight back.<br />
<br />
We realized that the real Disney Wonder was going to Seattle in a few weeks and started hinting to the crew that maybe our Lego Wonder could stay on the Disney Wonder until Seattle.<br />
<br />
I'd barely gotten the words out when this nice gentleman mentioned that he had the perfect spot in his cabin :)<br />
<br />
<h2>
Oops</h2>
We didn't spend a lot of time with Lego while in Hawaii, but we did encounter a few problems with the stickers and pieces.<br />
<br />
Remember those 10 life boats per side that I bought exactly the right number of pieces for? Well, sometimes I found "other" places to use those parts, but since I hadn't bought extras, I couldn't use them. Also, when I dropped one I had to hunt around and find it, because there wasn't a spare! We did find a Lego store in the middle of the Pacific - in Honolulu, and we bought some extra parts for spares. (No, we didn't spend all day in the Lego store, it was unscheduled time, we aren't THAT crazy!)<br />
<br />
Another problem was those stickers. The clear stickers worked great for the ship's name on the white bricks, and the white stickers were fine for the rectangular pools. However, knowing that the hull wasn't white, for the yellow scrollwork on the bow and stern I'd printed clear stickers. They looked great on the sticker sheet, but the translucent yellow on the dark blue hull was nearly invisible. Also I'd totally goofed on the logo on the stacks, both with the size and colors, so, in our first port, we stopped and bought a printer. (Hey, it was on sale at least!). <br />
<br />
<h2>
All in the Details</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx_S0NZzHbylYwoEqbtmqLMJBZKvQO5bB5UAMSN_vP7DZzC0QSRtPoJjEumqlq3rIEghGyKAd3UKYW3NqVNGKN597ffYIB90zlM38O_LLvk7kO5-l7UD4a9V0H8hcfxK04D8C9LuZe59NH/s1600/Goofy+In+Wonder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Goofy in Lego Wonder, Day 12" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx_S0NZzHbylYwoEqbtmqLMJBZKvQO5bB5UAMSN_vP7DZzC0QSRtPoJjEumqlq3rIEghGyKAd3UKYW3NqVNGKN597ffYIB90zlM38O_LLvk7kO5-l7UD4a9V0H8hcfxK04D8C9LuZe59NH/s1600/Goofy+In+Wonder.jpg" title="Goofy in Lego Wonder, Day 12" width="273" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goofy in Lego Wonder, Day 12</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The rest of the time was pretty much working on the little details around the top. Some parts were reworked a little, either for structure or because something was more obviously "off" once more of the ship was built.<br />
<br />
The top was way harder than the hull because the hull was big and mostly regular. The top has lots of little details like the pools, stacks, masts, etc. Now that we had a printer, I was able to put little figures on the ship, Mickey on the bridge and Goofy working ropes in the stern. Unfortunately that meant ripping off the bottom of the boat to stick goofy in.<br />
<br />
I also learned interesting things about the ship, like the front stack is shorter than the aft stack, which I didn't notice until I was trying to figure out the stack. The picture I had of the back stack I had was partially occluded, so I looked at the photo for the front stack and went "whoa, it's not the same!". <br />
<br />
Good thing I caught that because Captain Fabian looked for that detail when he stopped by!<br />
<br />
<h2>
Factoids About the Ship</h2>
The front stack is a fake, to help get the modern-classic ship look Disney wanted. Captain Fabian explained that the reason for the shorter front stack is so that the aerodynamics of the ship allow the exhaust from the real rear stack to escape above the turbulent layer around the ship. Wind tunnel tests during planning for the Disney Magic and the Disney Wonder had showed that with the front stack higher, the exhaust would get trapped and sucked back down into the passenger areas on the stern. He was thrilled that I got the heights right, particularly since there are paintings hanging on his ship that missed that detail :)<br />
<br />
Along the same lines, classic ships (think Titanic) had lifeboats up on the top deck, not in the middle like a modern cruise ship. I learned that the curved bay viewing windows on deck 9 represent those life boats, each being positioned directly above a real life boat. And 2 are shorter "speed boats".<br />
<br />
I also ran around the ship looking at everything and taking pictures, trying to get the dimensions right. For example, I counted the windows down behind the life boats and marked their positions on the diagrams in my notes. That's when I learned (rather obviously in hindsight) that there's no lifeboat 13 (or 14, so that odd and even numbered boats are all on the same sides).<br />
<br />
<h2>
Index</h2>
<ul>
<li>YouTube - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npljfpINL70&feature=share&list=PLW9puQLaJ4IoCkHa3a7DiTT_0e-DxLwDq" target="_blank">Lego Disney Wonder</a></li>
<li>Page 1 - <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/LegoWonderCruiseShipPage1.html">The Lego Wonder</a></li>
<li>Page 2 - <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/LegoWonderCruiseShipPage2.html">Like, What Do You Mean There Aren't Any Instructions</a></li>
<li>Page 3 - <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/LegoWonderCruiseShipPage3.html">Building the Lego Wonder</a></li>
<li>Page 4 - Land Ho!</li>
<li>Page 5 - <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/LegoWonderCruiseShipPage5.html">All Done with the Lego Wonder</a></li>
</ul>
<br />Random Bitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18162618734617280654noreply@blogger.com1Hilo, HI, USA19.710707825059515 -155.0719175421875219.591105825059515 -155.23327904218752 19.830309825059516 -154.91055604218752tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3122432551067818531.post-55316120487461290332012-12-21T15:10:00.000-08:002016-01-11T12:08:43.850-08:00All Done With the Lego Wonder(Back to <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/LegoWonderCruiseShipPage1.html">Page 1</a>)<br />
<br />
<h2>
The Vaʻa Contest</h2>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggNAEJFkH_5c_DhP5kwmhj_wEGb9_SqKOvCWg2AtTGu93XbBnNRa-mVsZ0SOsgZVJwTkp_KiJYPKU3vY3DXLtU-yIMCEXVbCKP6f1vE3X7XzatZtegM3OHfsZLUMXsXKVlX3k5Tm7RJgiF/s1600/Va%CA%BBa+Contest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Juding the Vaʻa Contest, Day 12" border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggNAEJFkH_5c_DhP5kwmhj_wEGb9_SqKOvCWg2AtTGu93XbBnNRa-mVsZ0SOsgZVJwTkp_KiJYPKU3vY3DXLtU-yIMCEXVbCKP6f1vE3X7XzatZtegM3OHfsZLUMXsXKVlX3k5Tm7RJgiF/s1600/Va%CA%BBa+Contest.jpg" title="Vaʻa Contest, Day 12" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Judging the Vaʻa Contest</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Remember we thought there'd be a boat building contest? Well, sure enough, Goofy & Max held a vaʻa contest. Vaʻa is a Hawaiian word meaning canoe or boat, and there were lots of excellent boats there, many very creative, and most with a much more Hawaiian theme than we had.<br />
<br />
We also didn't float, which was a bit of a hindrance. The previous day I had tried to measure the displacement of the ship to figure out how to get her to float. The scales were forward on deck 9, and going there the Lego Wonder was blown almost out of my hands, the bow crashing to the deck.<br />
<br />
Instead I prepared a Stunt Double (This is a Disney cruise after all) Lego outrigger, but it leaked and got swamped, though it didn't sink. (Lego doesn't really tend to sink).<br />
<br />
Despite being the only boat not to float, and the fact that the rest of the entries floated for the entire required time, we were given an Honorable Mention, which was terrific. There were tons of great entries and the judges really had to struggle to choose between them. Personally I liked some of the vaʻa made from tea leaves and others, very creative. I'm glad I didn't have to judge!<br />
<br />
<h2>
Aftermath</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7FmD6mHOlGiZbYmG5Sf2gncxRakX5sQz0WAI163Ak9XOCtMtJN0tnNhcLUs6PKCu3pH6vmAD5QeJLhN58q4hIaW1xgujuDIDeNRisJ3inyJCOZT6oT5yT5LI9v1YvHLyFkSJBOfCDhtfO/s1600/Exploring+Lego+Wonder+Blind.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Blind Person Looking at the Lego Wonder Model" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7FmD6mHOlGiZbYmG5Sf2gncxRakX5sQz0WAI163Ak9XOCtMtJN0tnNhcLUs6PKCu3pH6vmAD5QeJLhN58q4hIaW1xgujuDIDeNRisJ3inyJCOZT6oT5yT5LI9v1YvHLyFkSJBOfCDhtfO/s1600/Exploring+Lego+Wonder+Blind.png" title="Blind Person Looking at the Lego Wonder Model" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blind Person Looking at the Lego Wonder Model</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Since half the people on the ship had seen us building the Lego Wonder on deck, everyone wanted to see it when it was done. The officers found a place where everyone could take a look, and then later the Lego Wonder was taken down to the crew area so the crew could see it too. I don't think I've ever had so many photos taken of one of my Lego creations. Even Mickey and the gang took a look!<br />
<br />
One particularly neat thing was that we had noticed another passenger who was blind. We invited him to explore the Lego Disney Wonder. What I hadn't realized is that there aren't a lot of touchable models of the ship, so this was I think the first time he was able to get an idea of the shape of the ship. There were parts he hadn't had a chance to observe before, like all the communication domes and masts on top of the hull.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Coming Home</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE0XmSCMO0EEirnAKqN-bOqQpPyfiLuSfBA6PR8BhreJXRQ4_6Z7l-4cnZ2Si63PlHhEAcLqIdW9mqjSj_od7-tuwwRZ660-ts5j5tCvwCGbL9DMs-NAaGqfnpLoFQPFyisiAisHmZV7LK/s1600/Cruise+To+Hawaii+Disney+Wonder.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The Gang with The Lego Wonder" border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE0XmSCMO0EEirnAKqN-bOqQpPyfiLuSfBA6PR8BhreJXRQ4_6Z7l-4cnZ2Si63PlHhEAcLqIdW9mqjSj_od7-tuwwRZ660-ts5j5tCvwCGbL9DMs-NAaGqfnpLoFQPFyisiAisHmZV7LK/s1600/Cruise+To+Hawaii+Disney+Wonder.JPG" title="The Gang and The Lego Wonder" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lego Wonder and The Gang</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We did leave without the Lego Disney Wonder, but she showed up a couple weeks later in Seattle. Our first attempt to collect her ran into customs issues, but now she's back after a detour through Alaska!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Our thanks to Captain Fabian, and the crew, and staff of the Disney Wonder for helping to bring her back. We have no clue how it would've worked on the airplane! Thanks!</div>
<br />
<h2>
Index</h2>
<ul>
<li>YouTube - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npljfpINL70&feature=share&list=PLW9puQLaJ4IoCkHa3a7DiTT_0e-DxLwDq" target="_blank">Lego Disney Wonder</a></li>
<li>Page 1 - <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/LegoWonderCruiseShipPage1.html">The Lego Wonder</a></li>
<li>Page 2 - <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/LegoWonderCruiseShipPage2.html">Like, What Do You Mean There Aren't Any Instructions</a></li>
<li>Page 3 - <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/LegoWonderCruiseShipPage3.html">Building the Lego Wonder</a></li>
<li>Page 4 - <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/LegoWonderCruiseShipPage4.html">Land Ho!</a></li>
<li>Page 5 - All Done with the Lego Wonder</li>
</ul>
Random Bitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18162618734617280654noreply@blogger.com3Overlake, Redmond, WA, USA47.651281571134206 -122.1335939342651547.648607571134207 -122.13863643426515 47.653955571134205 -122.12855143426515tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3122432551067818531.post-7806930928507473752012-12-21T13:17:00.000-08:002013-03-24T18:05:51.935-07:00Shawn Dropped the Space Needle<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzQ9PTcoem8Y-kDew0qnT9TqvJDfOzYBdn7ubwgWdr0LsFLDtY1IZja5ngWQDWaQWxieZclCE8MnafhXI1TiOBR_0wO4Jo2AO3YT9KwxK2lCNQL6nqqdn7aEq0ZVLzGXbQFHVnC29LhMkX/s1600/Lego+Space+Needle+Narrow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzQ9PTcoem8Y-kDew0qnT9TqvJDfOzYBdn7ubwgWdr0LsFLDtY1IZja5ngWQDWaQWxieZclCE8MnafhXI1TiOBR_0wO4Jo2AO3YT9KwxK2lCNQL6nqqdn7aEq0ZVLzGXbQFHVnC29LhMkX/s400/Lego+Space+Needle+Narrow.jpg" width="101" /></a><br />
<h2>
I Dropped the (Lego) Space Needle</h2>
<br />
Around work I'm well known for the Lego bricks in my office (counting in the 10's of thousands of pieces). Last summer I was tricked into building a Lego Space Needle for a space in our old building. <br />
<br />
As you can see, I dropped the space needle when moving it to the stairwell in our building. It’s about 4250 pieces (+ 1 minifig if you can find it). I dropped it around noon, before x-mas, took it home, and it was repaired by that night :)<br />
<br />
After repairing it was even better (I didn’t like some of the top, and parts were made a bit stronger). There’s no glue, except for a dab on the spire. I started it last summer.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAFdFZZRNPc_dnzhe7VRElmh5fWK8CkW6saMT_NlynIb543gnDA89ULQ4UNWdLSaMj9_yPwx10ufUvbVLJRHINps3HJhl0poB2yzV9iHr38d_cm7DKT8_UOyAL2_LRJ7p3zoYN1y9eVvTR/s1600/Lego+Space+Needle+Dropped.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAFdFZZRNPc_dnzhe7VRElmh5fWK8CkW6saMT_NlynIb543gnDA89ULQ4UNWdLSaMj9_yPwx10ufUvbVLJRHINps3HJhl0poB2yzV9iHr38d_cm7DKT8_UOyAL2_LRJ7p3zoYN1y9eVvTR/s320/Lego+Space+Needle+Dropped.png" width="292" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
More recently I've built a <a href="http://ourrandombits.blogspot.com/2012/12/LegoWonderCruiseShipPage1.html">Lego Disney Wonder</a>.</div>
Random Bitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18162618734617280654noreply@blogger.com1Microsoft, Redmond, WA, USA47.650105134549904 -122.1337652206420947.647431134549905 -122.13880772064209 47.6527791345499 -122.12872272064209