Category: Lego

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Lego Escapism

This is going to be big. I haven’t indulged in a big Lego project in over a year and I finally got too jealous of my son’s award-winning builds to hold out any longer. They are amazing inspirations and helpers as fountains of ideas and solutions. So really, my big builds are family style.

This idea started with watching Lego Masters. One team used train track elements for a rounded build and I was intrigued. Rounded building is challenging in many aspects as so many of the elements operate at right angles. The curved train tracks proved to make a circle that was much bigger than I wished to work with. Curved race track elements created a more manageable circle with lots of strong connection points. I decided this would be a great frame for a classic UFO.

I tried to let the space dictate the build and since some green hexagons fit nicely in the center, I built a garden. My sons are helping with exotic plants and I had fun with a fountain in the middle. My late wife loved gardening and I saw that this build was going in a personal direction.

Next, we put in an art gallery and jiu-jitsu studio. Taking lots of liberties, we remained dedicated to the spirit of our favorite places: Brandywine River Museum of Art, Delaware Art Museum, and Elevated Studios. These went in as primarily white and blue rooms, respectively. The next two rooms will be grey and an as-yet-to-be-determined color. My elder son is cooking up all kinds of fun gadgets and displays for the navigation/engine room and my younger is challenging me with a grand vision for the last quadrant of the circle.

The dome over everything is a first draft of sorts and completely new for all of us. We really enjoy pushing the limits of our abilities and we are fueled by all the creativity we witnessed on Lego Masters. We’re plotting out a bottom dome as well to potentially create a full globe of a ship. We may build a hulk of a spaceship.

God bless and thank you for reading,

Jason

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Time Warp

We listened to the entire first Harry Potter book today?! More than 9 and 1/2 hours while we did little more than build Lego and eat meals.

Highlights included a team effort in recreating one of our favorite Jamie Wyeth paintings.

We also had a great surprise when more Lego appeared at our door in the form of a prize my elder son had won in a remote building contest.

Many thanks to Kids’ Ketch for the contest and for judging my son’s build the winner in his age group (the dreaded 10-14 range of Master Builders).

My sons built all kinds of things and helped me with a massive family creation that will feature some of the favorite activities we are currently missing. We’re experimenting with new techniques and pushing our engineering and creative minds.

God bless and thank you for reading,

Jason

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Delaware Fun-A-Days 28 and 29: Build Build Build!

Ultimately, we had more than 29 pieces for our Delaware Fun-A-Day project. I couldn’t exclude any of the imaginative creations that came out of our Lego workshop.

Our youngest builder got me excited with her enthusiasm and unclouded vision. To be invited into a child’s imagination and asked for help making that dream become real is one of my greatest thrills.

She built this beach scene on her own and I’m amazed at how she recreated the waves.

My son helped her with the grocery cart and we had a blast stocking the counters.

This woodland scene was a team effort and brought another level of depth to our project.

More forest and more action and adventure from one of our boy builders.

God bless and thank you for building, er, I mean reading,

Jason

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Delaware Fun-A-Days 26 and 27: Prolific Building

Too busy building to post, the last few days of our project had many friends visiting and many awesome creations appearing.

The first is a woodland scene with a stormtrooper on the hunt for a tiny meal. I love the careful placement of the predator and his prey and how alive these woods are.

The wackiest build of the month may be the Mad Max-inspired Chicken Smasher.

I picked up the helmet piece and said, “This would make a great grill on a battle wagon.” My son and his friend went to work, adding water effects and a chicken wedge from an old McDonald’s promotion.

Children get crazier as they work through their familiar builds and find confidence and freedom in their own creativity. Frankly, I’m not sure what’s happening at this robbery. The police are already there (with a Pegasus-emblazoned shield, no less), the thief is wielding a laser sword, and a man is idly strumming his acoustic guitar in the midst of the chaos.

It’s everything a Lego scene should be.

God bless and thank you for reading,

Jason

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Delaware Fun-A-Days 23 and 24: From the Tundra to the Desert

I love these inventive scenes from one of our young, home-educated friends.

He created a couple unique pieces by challenging himself to try new techniques.

The dogsled team scene is particularly interesting as the sled is on Lego skis and moves side to side behind the dogs. I believe this is our only scene to have a movment component.

The desert scene was inspired by his desire to make a cactus. I struggled through our pile of idea books to find him an example, but came up with nothing.

I found one bright green “shoulder” element and turned it upside down and we imagined it as an arm. He went to town on the inverted build (known as Studs Not On Top, or SNOT) as I gave him an example of how he could fix it to his desert baseplate.

God bless and thank you for reading,

Jason

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Delaware Fun-A-Day 19: Retro Razorback

I had a lot of fun with this one. I let go of trying to be clever or creative and grabbed a pile of the old elements from the space sets of my youth.

I aimed to jam as many grey wings and rockets together within the daily 16×22-stud project area.

And jam I did. Several of the wings are pressed sideways between studs (a non-standard method not used in Lego manuals) and the bottom pair are placed upside down (Studs Not On Top, or SNOT).

I highlighted with modern purple and blue pieces. Excessive rockets and vintage blue/yellow arrows finished things off.

God bless and thank you for reading,

Jason

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Delaware Fun-A-Day 18: Peace Between Animals

Compassion. Evolution. Creativity.

Westen, 10-going-on-teen, started this scene with a hunter looking for prey. In real life, we got the opportunity to purchase this white wolf and it seemed like the perfect challenge for his minifigure.

Westen cleverly staged the scene, awaiting the meet-up with the wolf’s former owner.

We got the wolf and I wasn’t paying attention as the scene was finished.

I saw the hunter lying beside the build and asked, “Westen, are you going to finish your scene?” He had built a small platform for the minifigure that blended with the surroundings and allowed for a variety of positions, I was eager to see these considerations incorporated.

“It’s ready, Dad.”

“But what about the hunter?”

“The wolf looked too peaceful, so he’s just hanging with his bunny buddy.”

It instantly became a spirit journey scene for me. I wonder if he’s the bunny riding through a peaceful wood on his mama’s back. I wonder how much good happens when we gather around the Lego table and build side-by-side.

Mary overlooks our work. We made this figure for the bowsprit of a fantastical boat we built together in the weeks after losing her.

She loved building with her boys and she was the queen of sorting. She had an organized mind, I could never keep up with her.

She might be aghast at sacrificing our largest room exclusively to Lego, but I think she’d allow some leeway under the circumstances.

God bless and thank you for reading,

Jason