GlenBricker's Review: May 2012

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Cuusoo of the Day: 2012.05.31

Lots of decent projects today but only one really stood out.
Pick of the Day
Porsche 997 GT3
by Crowkillers

This is the second project (and black car) from Crowkillers. It has a lot of nice features like:

Rear wheel drive with Rear Mounted Flat 6 cylinder engine
Transmission with 6 Forward Speeds.
"Hand Of God" with working in car steering
4 wheel Independent suspension
Opening Doors, Hood, and Rear

Personally I really like the headlights element with the flexible axle

Honorable Mention
EVE Online Ships - UCS Reaper
by Tuskano

The Reaper is an EVE Online Ship. It is very very large and the details are very impressive. Unfortunately I am not sure that its scale and structure can translate well into actual brick. It stands impressive as a MOC but I doubt that it will be picked up by Lego even if it gets the votes...or at the very least it will be descaled dramatically.

I guess I should make public a few important facts on my preference of selection, since you are, if reading this, getting my interpretation of what is "cool" on Cuusoo.

Scale certainly has its place in Lego construction, but I am equally impressed with an artistically crafted moderate sized build as I am with a ginormous MOC. The Larger a MOC is the less it is about artistry and the more it is about resources of time and money. Don't beleive me? Well, Try making a Batman Logo that would be appropriate for minifig scale...Then try to make a life size Batman Logo, then get back to me.
I am always very suspicious of "spindly" Cuusoo MOCs that only exist virtually. Gravity and mass is not a factor in LDD, Ldraw, or what have you. It is entirly possible that this ship could not handle its own weight and that those forward towers may constantly fall off or the ship split in half.

In the end however it is still an incredibly impressive piece of work and quite detailed, I will give Tuskano that. I also salute the dedication he has demonstrated to the build.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Cuusoo of the Day: 2012.05.30

There were not a lot of strong offerings today but the two best ones are so hard to comparatively judge. Its worse than comparing apples and oranges, its comparing trees and ambulances.

In the end though, I am so very impressed by how much SpacySmoke has crammed into this ambulance that I got to give him the pick of the day.

Pick of the Day
Ambulance (Type 3 / Type III)
by SpacySmoke

SpacySmoke has really offered up a treat with there ambulances. They fit two people in the front and three in the "patient zone. I don't usually include project photos in these reviews but I really got to show you the inside, its like a bag of holding its crazy.
Take a look:

Really astounding and the back doors are beautiful on top of that. They use a crazy mechanic that is over the top. A lot of great technique in a very compact vehicle.
VERY Honorable Mention
Birch Tree
by savatheaggie

I was figuring it was the shoe in for pick of the day all the way up until I saw the Ambulance internals.
Its hard to believe these are just 1 x 1 cylinders and Standard Lego tree leaves. Savatheaggie has managed to pull off a very organic look. I have rarely seen such an impressive fake tree in any medium.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Cuusoo of the Day: 2012.05.29

Pick of the Day

THE DEN OF THE KNIGHT'S ORDER OF THE WOLFPACK

by reekardoo

Ah, what a beutiful homage to classic castle "Wolf". This is a very fun build that has a whole castle in the back. Also included is a very slick old world chandelier design.

Honorable Mention

Motorized Strandbeest

by Brixe

Hot on the heels of the Rinosorus is this motorized Strandbeest from one of Cuusoo's best builders, Brixe. This is a clear departure form what she has put so far (amazing furnishings and sweet cars). I have requested Brixe to post some video of this walking online. If she does I will update with a link.

Notables

Modular Theater (Theatre, Cinema)

by stephenvw

This modular is a bit to bland and repetative to really grab my attention but there is a very well done Movie Theator inside that you should check out.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Cuusoo of the Day: 2012.05.27

So, the great people at Cuusoo take days off just like everyone, apparently around the weekend. The result is that once a week a LOT of projects come out at once. I figure the only way to be fare is to have Two picks and three honorables.

Pick #1

Tiny Trucks

by Robiwan

These are astounding! Just take a look at how much craftsmanship is going into these babies! There is even a crane. Not to mention that these would go great with the statuette minifigs.

Pick #2

LOTR: Minas Tirith Microbuild

by Shayd_DeGrai

Minas Tirith is an epic city from Lord of the Rings. Shayd has managed to capture its grandeur in this MOC while keeping the scale surprisingly compact. One of the best things about this moc is the variation. With limited options for parts, Shayd manages to make each section of Minas Tirith look unique and eye catching.

Honorable Mentions

BTTF - Hill Valley Courthouse

by TEAMBTTF

This is a very impressive design and even comes with alternate elements to represent different time periods within the BttF trilogy. That micro DeLorean is much more impressive than a lot of the larger ones you see running about. About the only thing it is missing is the "experiment" that Doc is working on. This is another set that could benefit from use of the statuette figs (just saying ;))

Armor through the Ages

by Gomek

This is a really fun idea. I was ecstatic to see the Black Falcon in the recent Jousting set and I can certainly see Lego green lighting this project if it gets the support. Well, I take that back, I have no idea how complex it is for them to print on brick...and this is a lot of unique prints.

Odeon Cinema

by Teunis

Although I find that Teunis used a lot of creative liberties on the final structure (relative to the photos provided) This a pretty astounding build. Creative implementation is found throughout the build and they use color very well.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Cuusoo of the Week: 2012.05.21-26

This is the conclusion of the first week of reviews and thus the first "Cuusoo of the Week".

Project of the Week
Anakin's Mos Espa Quarters
by crvannorman

There was some serious competition for this choice, as I imagine there will be every week. The reason that this set one out though is that it reminds me of a set that I might actually see in the stores. I really appreciate all the clever little nuances that go into it. It appears highly playable when open and is aesthetically pleasing when closed. I seriously look forward to future designs by "crvannorman."

Second Place
Douglas DC-3
by Ssorg

This aircraft continues to stun me every time I see it. The quality of this build is certainly an equal to Anakin's and in certain ways clearly surpasses it. Anakin's however edges it out on playability and artistic creativity.

Hexan Battleship Defiant
by abathar6

This ship represents the much underrepresented non-IP space craft in Cuusoo. The build uses some nice angles and snotting and is viewable from all angles which I always appreciate. Both the Anakin's Mos Espa Quarters and the DC-3 have special features to enhance their playability though, so this, being mostly a display piece, looses out to them for Pick of the Week

Friday, May 25, 2012

Cuusoo of the Day: 2012.05.24

Clock Tower

by ErgnDemirsoy

This is an "Architectural" set based apparently on the a clock tower in Turkey's Izmur Clock. This set is visually striking but is more of a first-order approximation of the actual tower. This set only uses bricks and slopes so it cannot present the fine details on the actual clock...which also happens to be a creamy color instead of red.

Here is a comparison photo from Wikipedia:

I picked this projects mostly on three merits

It is visually striking
It has a fascinating "castle" feel that though blunt just kinda calls out to me.
I think the source material could make for a very good Lego set

Honorable Mention

Waves of Joy!

by phycodurus

This is more of a clever mechanic then a project. Basically as the Wheels turn they spin the worm gear with turns the small gear which rotates the technic arm in a circle. The interesting part is that while it is rotating in a circle...the Wheels are moving that arm forward. So its spinning and moving forward at the same time.

The project suggests, and here is the hard part, that if a writing implement were on the rotating arm, one that was able to reach the surface that is, that it would draw a sine wave.

This is actually pretty common in toys If you recall any rolling toy that had some mechanical feature, like a waddling tail perhaps.

Why I didn't pick...

The Nightmare Before Christmas

by StefanS

This is a beautiful art piece...but that is all it is really. It is, I must image, very fragile and totally dependent on build methods that have never, to my knowledge been used in actual sets.

It is very common for MOCers to us the Lego minifig hand to add special details to their works. Jack here, as presented absolutely requires them to function. The hip joint, from the depiction only appears to be holding together though the tension of the minifig hands on the mechanical claw (part 48729b). It even uses kinked tubing to create an Jack's elbow....and Finally...there is the Moon...its a critical element of the picture as it showcases Jack and the Crazy vine..and that moon is not Made of Lego. That is probably my weakest argument but I have to call it as I see it.

This display I mostly see as an art piece that uses Lego but in such an abstract way that it un-becomes Lego.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Cuusoo of the Day: 2012.05.23

There was a cavalcade of great projects today. It was certainly the hardest decision to date. But here is my top pic and the honorable mentions

Project of the Day

Anakin's Mos Espa Quarters

by crvannorman

This is an amazing set. It is as the name implies Anakin's Tatooine home from Episode 1. I picked this project because of the creative artistry and the density of the great build. It has appliances, shelves, drawers, and integrated equipment (check out the pick and pistol "hanging" from the ceiling!)..not to mention that it also folds up for a fantastic structure in itself.

Crvannorman's C3P0 is also quite clever.

Honorable Mention

Douglas DC-3

by Ssorg

Wow, just wow! This aircraft is brilliant. Ssorg is effectively a Cuusoo superstar. Go check out his works. If I recall correctly he even once had a fantastic Alien APC on Cuusoo...but that has disappeared for obvious reasons.

This ship is massive with retractable landing gear, a removable top, and a slick bottom hinged door for passengers. The detailing is rather epic.

So, why isn't this the project of the day...well, it was a very hard decision...basically this DC3 is fantastic with plenty of great features...In the end though, I give the Anakin house a nudge more support because of the creativity involved. This is not to say that Ssorg is not "creative". I just know from my personal experience that MOCing something with profile drawings is a different process than MOCing a scene/object without and this detail sways me ever so slightly to the side of the Anakin House.

Please Also check out

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Cuusoo of the Day: 2012.05.22

Penguin

by Jumpei

This Penguin is a masterful combination of organic and cartoonish. Jumpei is able to get an astounding amond of "roundness" out of the bricks.

Honorable Mention:

Imperial Sith Interceptor

by jourianbax

Here is a another ship from The Old Republic. Its sleek without being overcomplicated with nice details. It almost beat out the Penguin for my pick of the day, but

Its wings borrow heavily from Tie Fighter 9492. There is nothing inherently wrong with that and I actually applaud the use of existing design element for something that is SUPPOSE to be related but I personally give more points to originality when comparing two projects head to head.
Much more grievous, the overabundance and boring implementation of the 2x4 slopes connecting the wings to the cockpit. These scream for replacement with some other elements more worthy of an otherwise awesome design.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Cuusoo of the Day: 2012.05.21

Hexan Battleship Defiant

by abathar6

This ship is a unique design with off angle construction, mutli-angle view, and a great color scheme. Abathar6 promises that he has other ships to bring to us, and I am looking forward to seeing them.

Honorable Mention:

Small Yellow

by brickartist (likely Nathan Sawaya himself if the project is to be believed ;) )

"Yellow" is one of the most iconic Lego sculptures of all time. And now the creator is on Cuusoo with a "Small Yellow". A version that echos the original quite well. Even if you don't like the sculpture, who couldn't use a box full of yellow bricks?

Cuusoo Parts Review

One of the stated purposes of Cuusoo is to allow for the creation of new Lego parts. These projects unfortunately tend to get buried under the MOCs.

With these reviews I will be attempting to showcase the parts of Cuusoo and see if we can't drum up support. Qualities I will be reviewing are the usability of the part, its aesthetic qualities, and its "replacability" (the ability to "make" the part using existing elements). If nothing else this article will serve as a convenient location to browse the Cuusoo's parts projects.

If you would like me to post your part, please add the tag "part-review" to your part. Creating this new tag will also help to showcase the parts available on Cuusoo. I will hesitate to post part projects here that catalog a very wide and unrelated assortment of parts in a single project. When two people have an identical part I will preference the project with the lower cuusoo project ID.

The Parts:

Clip elements on 1 x 1 round plates with through holes

Full disclosure, this one is my pet project. The idea here is to expand on the series of 1x 1 plate with some form of clip by replacing the 1 x 1 plate with a 1x1 round with hole.

This would work very well for mini-builds and off-angle design. The 1x1 square plate locks you into 90 degree angles but with a round plate you can vary the orientation.

With the addition of a through hole, you can mount the pieces to any standard Lego rod. These parts offer a high utility and, with the through hole, provide building options that have not previously been available.

Half Plates

These are, as the name implies, plates of half the thickness of regular plates. They have holes instead of studs. The effect of placing one of these on a brick would be like putting a tile on but without adding any height.

The part concept does allow for some interesting snotting. This would also expand on the dimensions of Lego parts as there is, to my knowledge, no production part at the 1/2 plate width.

The aesthetic would certainly be novel as you could see the studs still, they would just be flush. I am really on the fence about these parts but they certainly would have their uses.

Beyond aesthetics though they would serve a purpose similar to the thin lift arm technic part. The project has some great examples of how snotting would work with them so I don't have to go into detail here. Check it out and see what you think.

New Plates and Tiles for Corners

The parts in this project seem like a no-brianer. Most brick elements can be found in a plate equivalent, but this is generally not the case with curves. I have always been a little surprised that these parts do not exist in the base Catalog.

The designs presented do however require a few more "stud cuttouts" or they will only be usable on curved pieces. That is to say, that a normal stud placement would interfere with interconnecting the parts.

I like these parts but their addition to the Lego catalog would mostly be an aesthetic one rather than a functional one.

Other parts on Cuusoo that I will be reviewing:

New Parts design for SNOT 2-sided stud (+inv)(+stud only for Brick-Plate, B-B, P-P)