Summary of another year of building and plans for the year ahead.

2011 was a good year for building and for being a fan of LEGO in general, with many new pieces becoming available and an amazingly ambitious 8110 Unimog set being released. For me personally, it was a busy year because I’ve spent large part of it working on my book that will be released in 2012, and therefore I had less time for building that usual. Still, 2011 resulted in 26 MOCs, which is quite a nice number.

The 2011 started with my biggest and most complex MOC so far: the Tow Truck 2, with 17 motors and nearly 19 meters of wires on board. In February I have undergone a surgery and it took me a couple of weeks to recover, resulting in just one simple MOC until April. In April I have started exploring a completely new area of building with the LEGO Monorail system, which is somewhat closed but still brings new challenges and possibilities, different than the ones associated with typical vehicular models. Later, in May, I have created first outdoor video of my MOC for a very long time, and one that I consider very nicely edited, so I will take the liberty of showing it here.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Also in May I have ventured into yet another building area: the marine vessels built entirely out of LEGO, first with my Quadramaran, and then with a demonic Trimaran one month later. The latter was also my first opportunity of making use of the LEGO RC unit – an element I have long wanted to have and finally managed to purchase. Sending it out on a lake for start was perhaps not the safest idea, but luckily it survived

June was an interesting month even without the Trimaran – I have failed at building a hamster-powered crane (the power supply was unwilling to cooperate)  and then I failed again at building a motorized sentry turret from the Portal game – I managed to make it look the way I wanted it to look, but I had to give up on most of the functions I wanted to include in it. Which is, I hope, a lesson for the future. The turret also happened to be my 100th MOC in my adult building career, and it also marked the moment when my YouTube accout hit 5,000,000 total views.

After not doing much in July, I have set my personal record by releasing 6 MOCs  in August. Among them was a Pushback Tug that has reached my goal of towing 20 kg of load with a LEGO vehicle, and two off-road vehicles (one using the 8110 set’s new suspension pieces) which failed to perform as expected, thus prompting me to finally quit participating Truck Trial races. I feel it’s a change for the better, especially since I keep filming these races and I can now focus on it  entirely. It’s worth mentioning than one of these two vehicles included a tiny vehicle inside it, controlled remotely through it, thus being something like a MOC inside a MOC. The rest of the year was less building-intensive with my book requiring more and more time; there were two small-scale tanks, a Monorail creation with 100 minifigures included, and my first vignette.

2011 was also a year I’ve become a YouTube partner. It does not change much in the way my videos are published – some of them will simply be released with some lame, royalty-free background music. I hope you can put up with this, as thanks to this I am able to get some money from YouTube, and they cover at least part of my LEGO expenses. It also seems that I’m getting more views being a YouTube partner, because I have over 7.2 millions of them now, at the end of the year, and that means 2.2 million views just since June.

At 5,999,598 total views halfway through September, the Rodent Overlord was pleased with my progress

All in all, I feel happy with how this year turned out – I have built more than I expected, and I think I’ve reached the goal of building more diversely than the year before. One thing I’m certainly unhappy about is the fact that I haven’t managed to finish a single supercar model, even though I got one mostly complete by the end of the year.

As for the 2012, some of my plans simply include building what I failed to build in 2011 – for example, the K2 Black Panther tank model and a model of the Rusich tank transporter to accompany it. I want the two of these to work together and perhaps I will manage to build them both in matching colours, which should look really well. It’s possible that K2 will be my last tank, at least for a longer while, and I’m planning to put together a roundup of all my tank after its release, because I feel that tanks are particularly good at showing my progress as a builder.

Among other 2012 plans are: a reach stacker, which I’ve been planning to build for really, really long, and an articulated Caterpillar hauler with unique ejector system. I would also like to make another try at building a huge model of a bucket wheel excavator, something I have abandoned two years ago when my model reached 7 kilograms and its chassis couldn’t support it properly. I think I’m now better prepared for such a challenge, and if I succeed, the result can be a truly impressive MOC, probably my biggest one ever.

Other “large” plans include an articulated Solaris Urbino city bus, the type I’m using to commute on a daily basis – I want to build it at large scale, which should be an interesting challenge. Just building a frame that will hold it together is challenging already. I would also like to try to work on something aesthetically pleasing by building a large model of the famous Mercedes Benz 540K Special Roadster, and finally I would like to build a large and complex fire engine based on the Volvo FH16 truck. I want to make it actually shoot water, and it should result in a good-looking and very functional model, something a little close to my aforementioned Tow Truck 2.

LEGO Technic Control Center

The 2012 is also the year of some new possibilities. I have recently managed to buy the LEGO Technic Control Center, which opens up a lot of options, including installing it on some large vehicle (such as the Caterpillar hauler mentioned earlier) and programming it to drive on its own. I have also acquired an EL wire, which can be interesting on the aesthetic side, and has, in fact, already inspired me to make two small and simple MOCs.

EL wire

I intend to keep trying out new things and new areas; some Monorail creations are very likely to come, and I would also like to try to build an amphibious vehicle – something that was suggested many times when I started with the marine vessels. As usual, I keep a few secret projects that are bound to come out into the daylight sooner or later, and I reserve the right to build things on a spontaneous impulse.

2012 is, last but not least, the year my book hits the shelves, and I hope it will live up to your expectations. I am often unable to share my knowledge in an accessible or efficient manner – there is a lot of people who expect me to somehow transfer it by e.g. YouTube comments – so it is my personal wish that the book can help you, guide you, teach you and inspire you, thus being of more use than any comment could be.

Finally, I should mention that I have developed a secondary hobby during 2011: playing a bass guitar. It’s something I enjoy no less than building with LEGO pieces, and while I’m unlikely to become skilled enough to pursue a musician’s career, it will certainly be taking some of my time. Who knows, it may even become a part of some MOC someday?

The culprit – Yamaha RBX 270 J

I feel good looking back at 2011 and even better looking forward at 2012. I want to thank you for following my work through this somewhat though and busy year, and I hope that 2012 will bring you at least some of the MOCs you wish to see.

Happy New Year 2012!

Paul

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My previous construction was my 100th MOC. Additionally, my YouTube videos have hit 5,000,000 views total.

And so it finally happened – I have reached 100 MOCs. You can see all of them put together in chronological order below:

I have obviously built many more MOCs in my childhood and upon coming out of my Dark Age, but they were not documented, and frankly I doubt they were worth documenting. I remember that my adventure with Lego started some 20 years ago when I got the Lego 6612 Fire Chief’s Car set (come to think of it, I should now buy a new one and keep it on a shelf) from my parents. I was utterly fascinated with the set and with the amazing Lego fireman, with his uniform and helmet (which I admittedly bit more than once).

For the next couple of years I as collecting and enjoying Lego sets from various themes (I remember being very fond of Castle and Pirates theme), until around the age of 13 when I got my first Lego Technic set ever: the 8815 Speedway Bandit. It was a very simple set, it had few pieces but I had a big imagination and I’ve been building craziest things out of it. That was it – I have never taken interest in any other Lego theme since then, only Technic mattered to me.

I entered my Dark Age around the age of 16, when I had a bunch of small Lego Technic sets (I believe the 8830 was among my biggest ones). My entire Lego collection ended up in the attic, where it remained until I was 22 or so. Like many adults, I felt there was something missing in my life without Lego – and one trip to the attic fixed that. I haven’t just started to build again – I have also discovered that I can now buy a lot of sets and pieces I could only dream of in my childhood, and I went on a Lego shopping spree.

I believe I was shopping and building for my own pleasure for over a year, until I came across LUGPol (Lego Users Group Poland) early in 2007. It was a revelation – I have discovered there are other adults indulging to the same pleasure as I did. I registered at LUGPol forum on March 28th 2007, and I have written over 3,000 posts since then, which makes me LUGPol’s first chatterbox. According to LUGPol stats, I have visited forum 22,473 times so far, spending a total of over 6,800 hours on it. Which is scary With time, I have become a moderator at LUGPol, joined the LUGPol VIP members group and created a new forum section: LUGPol Wiki, a collective knowledge database.

At the end of 2008 I had so many MOCs already published at LUGPol, that I started to think about creating some sort of database before some posts get deleted and before I forget what I built. Back then, I was already looking at building with Lego as a single, continuous activity that is developed step by step – that is, I was focusing rather on the building itself than on any particular single MOC. I already had a list of future projects and for me, every MOC was just a step along a way – which is why it was important to me to be able to refer to my old MOCs. It eventually led me to launching my own website on December 2008 – the first post on it was written on December 23rd, a day before my 26th birthday. That’s why I consider this website sort of a self-given birthday gift

Contrary to popular belief, only 12 of my 100 MOCs are tanks The first 10 MOCs on the list have been built in the pre-Power-Functions era, using external battery boxes and wires. The release of the Lego Power Functions system was a dream come true for me, and I have started building more, bigger and better since then. At one point I have even become a member of a group of prototype testers for the Lego company.  I have also started to create computerized MOCs using Lego WeDo system, I included the Lego Monorail system into my “portfolio” and I have started to increase the variety of my constructions by building MOCs that could walk or float. I actually plan to continue this tendency and to add several more new MOC categories to my website.

Somewhere along the way I have also launched my Facebook page, I have been invited to write for the official Lego Technic blog (and it means that my bio is up there on the Lego Technic website, together with Lego designers’ bios), and I have received an offer of writing a book for an US publisher, which is in the making.

I think my best MOC up to date was my 90th one: Tow Truck 2,  with 17 Lego motors and almost 19 meters of electric wires, was my most complex MOC up to date, and a very good-looking one too.

Finally, my 100th MOC was primarily white, which is a colour I have never used before. I have also obtained something I was looking for for a very long time: the Lego RC system. I intend to blend it and complete it with the Power Functions system, thus opening new possibilities – like two MOCs, one PF-controlled and another RC-controlled, working together. I have plans for one such a tandem already, and I hope it won’t be the last one.

Some of my MOCs were successful, some were failures, but all of them were steps on the way that brought me here. Somehow, I believe I may have enough ideas for just another 100 MOCs

Mu 100th MOC happened to be created just when my YouTube videos have reached 5,000,000 views. It’s still nothing compared to Rebecca Black’s views, but I somehow I don’t think I would trade places with her

I have 165 videos and 5,010,097 views as I write this, which gives  an average of over 30,000 views per a single video. My YouTube channel has been viewed 120,000 times and I have 3,174 subscribers – a number which, I believe, will grow after my latest video. What you may find surprising is that YouTube never paid me a single cent, as I am not a YouTube partner and I will never be one because I like to use copyrighted soundtracks in my videos too much.

My most viewed video is – surprisingly – my Lego Chainsaw. It’s an extremely simple construction with a single motor and no remote control whatsoever, which shows how unpredictable YouTube viewers are:

Click here to view the embedded video.

My two next most viewed videos are: 5 speed linear gearbox and S Tank: How it works. These three videos are my only ones with over 200,000 views each at the moment.

The list of my most liked YouTube videos seems to make more sense, as it starts with this:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Followed by my two latest tanks:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The bad thing about my videos is that YouTube sometimes updates its viewing standards and re-processes its videos. For a number of my oldest videos, this meant a drastically decreased quality and I have no means of fixing it other than creating new videos, which in most cases makes little or no sense. Early in 2011 I have started to film in HD standard using a Sony a33 camera and editing my videos with Pinnacle Studio software. It should guarantee that my videos will maintain good quality in future.

As of June 2011, the number of my video views has been growing by roughly 8,000 per day, which is a very nice rate and it stimulates me to work hard on my videos to make sure the viewers enjoy them. I believe that filming and editing has become a pleasure itself for me, and I enjoy it greatly even while not filming my MOCs. I hope I can continue to develop new ideas to keep my videos interesting. The amount of attention they’re getting today is very rewarding – it makes me feel my effort is appreciated, which is extremely satisfactory. Thank you for that

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Tool for Monorail builders. It lets you design a layout of a Monorail network, using all types of the Monorail track sections.

This tool will be probably useful to a very few builders, as the Lego Monorail system is long discontinued and few people still use it actively, but I needed it, I developed it, and I want to share it. You can access the tool directly at monorail.sariel.pl

The tool is quite simple and consists of following elements:

• a toolbox with track sections divided into categories; you can select a track section by clicking on it, and the toolbox maintains its position on top of the screen
• a grid area where a single grid unit represents a single Lego stud; any track section selected from the toolbox appears in the upper left corner of the grid area and can be dragged around it while being snapped to the grid
• the settings area where the size of the grid area can be adjusted as needed (it’s 200 x 100 studs by default) and where there is an automated counter of the track sections used
• a trash area; any track sections dragged and dropped on it are deleted

As the Monorail track sections come in many shapes and sizes, it’s often difficult to figure out the proper spacings and general layout of more complex networks. This tool includes diagrams of all existing Monorail track sections drawn at the same scale, and it lets you arrange them on the grid area. Since all the sections on it are being snapped to the grid, it’s easy to put them together and see the result. I have found that I need some alternative to creating Monorail networks ‘by hand’, which takes time, space and effort – this tool makes it possible to design a network with just a few clicks. The result can be saved using the Print Screen, or printed out directly from your web browser. The automated sections counter sums up all the track sections used by type, showing you the amount of sections needed to create the designed network.

I was thinking of taking the Monorail stanchions into account, as well as of adding a feature that would let user to create several layers of the network and to switch between them, but since there are probably very few builders who may be interested in this tool at all, I dropped that idea. Instead, the ramps sections are semi-transparent: when you place them over previously added sections, they will show through. However, if you place other track sections over previously added ramps, they will not show through as the other track sections are 100% opaque.

Also note that there is one combination of the track points and short curves that is shown inaccurately: the resulting diagram is 1 stud too short – the missing part of track is marked red on the image below. This error is caused by the complex shapes of a track point and the short curve which make it difficult to draw them, and I don’t have a solution to it at the moment.

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Two press magazines have released materials concerning my models and my publications.

I rarely have the opportunity to see my name pop up in press, and over the course of the few last days I had it twice. First, the Florida-based Tow Truck magazine has included an article on my Tow Truck 2 model in its April issue. The article can be found on page 48. I can’t copy it here for legal reasons, but you can always try and buy the magazine. The article does a great job on introducing readers to the hobby of building models with LEGO pieces, but if you have read about the Tow Truck 2 at my website, you’re unlikely to learn anything new. Still, I’m sure it will be something new and unexpected to the Tow Times readers, and perhaps some of them will be even interested in the hobby.

Secondly, the Hispabrick magazine, which is a serious and renown magazine on all things LEGO-related included the first part of my scaling tutorial for vehicles. The content of the tutorial is identical with the one at my website, but the Hispabrick crew pulled out a great job making it more print-friendly than I did. The tutorial starts at page 38 and you can read the whole magazine here. I’m sure you will find both magazines interesting.

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A somewhat late overview of my building plans for this year.

Presenting plans for new year in the middle of March may seem a little delayed, but it just happened so that I really had no time to dwell on these earlier. I should start by saying that I expect to produce less constructions this year, largely due to a huge amount of work required to get my book ready. Still, I hope to build at least 10 more models.

A very important part of these plans is my supercars line, which I have announced a long time ago, to little effect. My only supercar so far was a 1969 Dodge Charger model, one that I wasn’t very happy with, and one that taught me that a supercar with a studfull body is a bad idea. I will probably stick to 8448-styled supercars permanently, and with this in mind I am determined to build at least two supercars this year, the most probable choices being the Lamborghini Reventon and the Ford GT40. The Ford can be actually built first, due to its smaller size and lower complexity level.

Another important area of building are the Truck Trial vehicles. I feel these had too much impact on my plans last year, as I have built 5 vehicles to a very insignificant effect. At the moment I have plans for only two such vehicles this year, and should they fail, I will probably quit driving in the Truck Trial races completely. The two vehicles are a Humvee and a BMR-2 personnel carrier. The first one will be another try at the classic Hummer H1, which I already modelled once, but this time I want to try a slightly larger size and a more ambitious approach, including a realistic suspension, that is an independent one with portal axles. Such a suspension is quite a challenge to build with LEGO pieces, but I believe I already have a working solution at hand. Ironically, despite its ‘militarized’ name, the model will be more clearly a civilian H1 than my earlier one: it’s going to be black with some chrome additions, and probably made to appear somewhat tuned. The BMR, on the other hand, will be a close relative of my 2009 Alvis Stalwart, with a 6×6 independent chassis based on LEGO suspension components. It will use larger wheels than Alvis did, and it will have steering on axles #1 and #3, which should result in an unsurpassed manoeuvrability.

2011 is going to be a year I take interest in something completely unrelated to the Technic line: the LEGO Monorail system. It has been my childhood dream, and only recently I realized that it can still be bought, at prices generally lower than e.g. LEGO Trains system. I already have a basic Monorail network at hand, and I will be expanding it gradually whenever my budget allows. The Monorail cars are easy to run with the Power Functions system, and there are various possibilities of motorizing switch points or even the stations. Somewhere along the way, I will also publish a tool for designing Monorail networks, which I already have partially working.

One of the must-build models of 2011 will be a new tank: this time a South Korean K2 Black Panther, which is probably the most advanced tank currently in service. As I have mentioned last year, it will be in many ways a continuation of the ideas and solutions tested in my Leopard 2 model, and I will certainly be trying to take these ideas really far. After the K2, I have no plans for modelling regular tanks – instead, there’s the M2 Bradley on my list. Before or after the Bradley, I will be putting together am overview of all my tanks built so far, because my ‘tanks line’ seems to be exceptionally good at showing progress, development and evolution of my building techniques and other skills.

I have started this year with a classic ‘American big rig’, but I’m not done with the subject yet. Next in line will be the Kenworth T900 in a Road Train configuration, including multiple trailers and the mighty ‘kangaroo deflector’. I don’t want to build this truck anytime soon though, because I feel that the more I wait, the more different it will be from the previous truck (a rule that applies to tanks too). Additionally, it definitely won’t be black, to avoid looking to similar to its predecessors – the most probable alternative colours include yellow and red.

I haven’t build any Liebherr model since early 2009, and I feel I have neglected a very inspiring brand. I would like to finally build a Liebherr mobile telescopic crane model, one I have been planning for quite a while. I’m not sure if I will have enough time for that this year though, and even if I do, the model won’t be anywhere near the complexity level of my recent Tow Truck 2. It’s much more likely that I will manage to build a small, simple model of a Liebherr R944C tunneling excavator, a very unusual machine that I would love to try inside my freezer. I also want to try a different building approach with it – I want it to be powered mainly by pneumatics connected to an external controller. This is perhaps an odd idea in the Power Functions age, but it will keep the model small, at the same time letting me to get a good feeling of the pneumatics that is only possible with the manual control of the valves. Additionally, it will be a nod towards how Technic models used to be built, and I enjoy the idea of controlling a model the way Jennifer Clark controlled hers – even despite the fact that the model won’t be even remotely as fascinating as hers

I would like to use this year to gain more experience in the areas I haven’t ventured much into before – including the are of walkers which I have barely touched with my first, very simple construction. I feel that trying to follow the natural movements of animals rather than the movements that are mechanically easy to carry out is the right direction, and I want to explore it further. Currently my attention has been brought to the crabs and the fascinating ways in which they move. I believe that a crab-like chassis will produce not only an interesting mobility, but also a stable platform for something a bit larger and heavier than before – it would be nice, for instance, to build a crab-like walker with a military-styled body.

Finally, as usual, I have some secret experimental projects up my sleeve, and I hope to surprise you with results, should they turn out successful. I am also more than likely to indulge my tendency to build something that was not planned every now and then. 2011 seems like another year of struggling between plenty of ideas and shortages of time to make them real, but I genuinely hope that the ideas I manage to make real will be interesting enough, and that I will learn from both successes and failures. Stay tuned and enjoy!

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My gear ratio calculator has been updated.

It’s been almost exactly a year since my Gear Ratio Calculator 2 has been released, and this year has shown that there is still plenty of room for improvement. So, the Calculator has been updated to a 2.1 version, which includes following changes:

• images of gears and motors are replaced with more realistic, clearer ones
• colour scheme updated to meet the current LEGO standard (e.g. tan single bevel gears)
• number of teeth shown at the images of gears
• gear 20 teeth bevel with a pin hole added
• newer 4 studs wide differential split into two items: one treated as a 16 teeth gear, the other treated as a 24 teeth gear
• lists of gears & motors are 8 items wide
• improved contrast and visibility of important elements
• “add another pair of gears” link replaced with a large graphic button
• I have created a new, LEGO Technic-themed loading image for the Calculator: 

There are, however, still two problems left. The functioning of the Calculator is heavily based on JavaScript (or jQuery, to be specific), which is run client-side, and it appears that certain web browsers may affect it. As far as I could test it, the Calculator works best under Mozilla Firefox. With other browsers, the input:output ratio is sometimes shown the other way around (output:input), and the overall gear ratio sometimes is not updated when some changes are made. Since these issues appear to be browser-specific, I have not yet been able to solve them. Perhaps the problem will be identified more clearly in the future.

Gear Ratio Calculator 2.1 »

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A complete, step-by-step instruction for the chassis of my 2010 Land Rover model is available for you in the Downloads section.

My last vehicle built for the 2010 Truck Trial season was a relatively simple model of the Land Rover series 2. It has participated in two races, with no luck, but it proved to be mechanically flawless, just suffering from poor power-to-weight ratio. It had a fairly heavy bodywork, and was driven by a single XL motor geared down 5:1 – which turned out to be insufficient. Still, the model’s chassis was technically more advanced and superior to the chassis of my earlier Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, instruction for which has gathered much acclaim. For example, it was completely studless and thus generally lighter and more compact, and it used turntables to attach the axles to the chassis, which prevented model’s weight from putting load on the driveshaft.

When the 2010 competition ended, I made a promise to create & publish the instruction for the chassis. I did not want to create instruction for the complete model, including the bodywork, for three reasons: because it would be much longer and more complex, because the body proved too heavy for a single XL motor geared 5:1, and finally because I prefer to provide others with a technically sound foundation for their own models with their own bodyworks, rather than with a complete instruction that leaves little or no place for one’s own creativity. It took a while, but finally the instruction is available in the Downloads section.

Just like in Jeep’s case, there are two versions of the instruction available for download: a lightweight one in a PDF file, and a high quality one in form of high-resolution PNG images. Both include a complete parts list and a blueprint I was using to build the original model. Please note that unlike the Jeep’s instruction, this one concerns a construction that will be most likely completely hidden under the bodywork of your choice, so the colours I have used in it should be considered clearly optional. I was, of course, using default Lego colours whenever possible, e.g. to show the difference between pins with friction and pins without friction. It is also important that the original model used yellow shock absorbers, which are the hardest. If you choose to use softer shock absorbers instead, the stability of the chassis may deteriorate, especially under a heavy body.

Finally, please keep in mind that this is an extremely robust design, created with extreme outdoor racing in mind, and thus it may include more reinforcements than you actually need. Additionally, this is a relatively advanced chassis for a simple 4×4 vehicle – if you find it more complex or more parts-expensive than you need, consider the Jeep’s chassis as a simpler alternative.

Proceed to Downloads section »

Video of the original model:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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On December 2010 I’ve had a pleasure of being interviewed by a Polish TV programme called VideoGadula. The programme features video interviews with prominent figures from cultural, political or showbiz spheres, and thanks to it being opened to viewers’ suggestions I got featured too. Below is the full video with English subtitles embedded, and further below you will find a complete transcription of the whole interview in English.

Click here to view the embedded video.

- Lewis asks: where do you get your inspiration from? In general, there are two ways in which I get inspired.  I can get inspired by coming across something, for instance by seeing a dumper truck or a mobile crane, or a different type of machine, or I intentionally search for an inspiration. I have an idea for a model with specific functions and I’m looking for a most suitable machine, like for example a machine with all-wheel drive or with all-wheel steering. I’m searching through some lexicons or books, looking for a functionality that matches what I want to build as close as possible.

- Did you ever think about writing a book? – Lexhoya. I did not, but right now I happen to be in the middle of settling an agreement with an US-based publisher, an agreement concerning writing a book that, I hope, would be released in US before the end of 2011. The book would be a guide into building with Lego Technic, into basics, into mechanisms that can serve as components of one’s own constructions, and also a number of step-by-step instructions would be included. I hope it hits the shelves in 2011, even if in US only.

- Elmo asks: when did you get into the lego brand and when did you start taking it a bit more seriously and building larger more complex models? I got in thanks to my dad, who bought me some Lego Technic sets when I was a kid. I had a number of non-Technic sets before, but once I got my hands on my first Technic set, which was small, with less than 100 pieces, I’ve lost all interest in Lego Castle and such. As for building larger and more complex models, I believe it was a gradual process. Certainly, at the beginning I was prone to mistakes such as building something I actually lacked pieces and skills for, but then as my pool of Lego pieces grew, and so did my experience, it became natural to build bigger. An extreme example would be my mobile crane model that took roughly 3 months to complete and was over 2 meters tall when fully extended.

- Will: what is your favorite MOC? Right at the moment, I believe it would be the Scania racing truck, a model of one that I’ve built. It looked very neat to me, it worked well and was well received. I guess it;s going to remain my favourite for a while, at least until I build something more interesting.

- Marq: what is the estimated value of your collection? It’s a rather tricky question, as there are various ways to sell collections and various way to estimate their value. For instance, I could pull a number of complete Lego sets out of my collection, which would sell at higher price that the loose pieces would. But I would like to make it clear that I am not really a collector. It may appear that I have plenty of Lego pieces, but in fact I buy pieces as rarely as possible, only when necessary, and even then as few as I can. There are some real collectors out there, in Poland too, whose collection requires separate rooms to store, while I can fit all I have on my workbench. There are, for example, collectors who own every Lego Technic set ever released, which is over 300 sets, while I have roughly 70 sets altogether, mostly small ones, with little amount of pieces. Which is why, and I believe it’s a good thing, this hobby is more about skills and ideas than about what’s sitting in your wallet.

- Do you know how many bricks you have – asks Andrzej Niedzielski. My estimate is over 30,000 pieces, with roughly one third bought as loose pieces and the rest coming from a collection of Lego sets.

- How many pneumatic pieces do you have – asks Black_Omega. I don’t really keep an exact record of it, but I tend not to judge builders by the amount of pieces they own.  Of course, with more pieces, for instance with more motors, come more possibilities and better prospects, but I believe it’s all about an idea and skill to use these pieces. Which is why even if I have, for example, over 20 such pieces, it does not make me a better builder than someone who owns 10.

- How much did all your lego cost you over the years? – kyle. I suppose it costed less than it seems, because in fact all these pieces result from 4 years of looking for the lowest bids, for the most attractive offers. I bought most of these at less than their market price, so I believe that they are worth no less that 10,000 zloties, I have paid less that this.

- Marq – have you ever destroyed a Lego piece? I guess it didn’t really happen since my early childhood, when I used to gnaw at Lego pieces every now and then.

- Bachaddict asks: on your workbench, which (types of) parts are in the drawers & boxes and which are loose? I have no fixed system, really, I’m trying to store separately pieces that are small and hard to find among bigger ones, or the ones I’m using frequently, sometimes I keep these sorted by colors or by subtypes. Still, I keep plenty of my pieces loose, because I can find these easily, for instance my Technic bricks which are many in many colors and there’s really no point in sorting them all out.

- James: Have you ever thought about using the Mindstorms NXT? I have, but the time is the issue here. I’m doing some programming at work, and I’m afraid that coupling the passion for Lego Technic and the fondness of programming would result in my having no time left to actually go to work. Perhaps at some point in future I’ll run out of ideas for building with Lego Technic only, but I can’t really say anything for certain.

- Pep: if the Lego Group wants to create new parts and they ask you to help them, what new part do you like to design? I think that with the amount of various parts available at the moment we are able to build pretty much anything, and if I could design just anything, I guess I would go for very strong motors, even stronger than the ones we have at the moment, which could be useful for large, heavy models without the need of using several motors for a single function.

- Zoolish: what is your favourite Lego set and piece? My favourite set is definitely the 8421 set, the mobile telescopic crane. It’s a huge set with nearly 2000 pieces, with plenty of complex mechanisms, and it provides an exceptional building experience which, I believe, is really worth having. As for the piece, I guess the most useful, favourite one here would be the XL motor, with its powerful torque unlike any Lego motor before, which enables us – me and many other builders – to build bigger and heavier that it was possible before.

- Młody asks: is it difficult to set up a building plan and to re-create a vehicle with Lego pieces? I believe it’s a matter of practice, I believe that every builder that deals with models for a while gains certain skills over time. I, for instance, usually start by looking for a blueprint of the original machine, I use it to calculate my model’s dimensions, to estimate how much internal space for mechanics will be available and where, I pick a scale that is best suited to model this machine and to make it work in the most efficient way. Then I proceed to build the internal structure and cover it with a bodywork that has a certain amount of details, as well as custom stickers that I make myself. With large and complex models, I sometimes make a mock-up that gives me a good idea of the size of the finished model, and I’m looking for a way to fit in internal mechanics so that it takes as little space as possible, so that it’s arranged in the most efficient way.

- JP HACK: what does it mean to start on a new design? What steps do you go through to make something new? Like I said about getting inspired, I may start a new project because of something I’ve seen on a street, or because I search for something that would have the functionality I’m looking for. For any larger model, the necessary thing is to find a blueprint that shows the original machine from various angles, that lets me calculate model’s dimension, that lets me see the details. Additionally, some photographic material, photos of the original machine, from various angles, in various liveries – this is important for instance with the construction equipment. When building models of cars, I attempt to model the original engine as well – its look, its set-up, its placement inside the car. All this data can be found in the Internet if you just take some time to look for it.

- Eric Seo asks: do you also work on plastic military scaled models such as Tamiya? I used to work on plastic models for a couple of months, and I started because I believed that it would provide a good reference material for Lego models. For instance, when I was building a model of a tank relying on a plastic model, I was able to learn something about its internal structure and I was able to see details that are usually hidden on the photos, such as the details on hull’s upper surface in the area usually hidden under the turret.

- JP HACK asks: what do you think of what enables you to be good a detail work? How does someone gain this skill? I believe this skill originates from two things: firstly, the experience which makes it easier to choose which details to model and which details to ignore, because when building scaled down models with Lego pieces, there is no way to model every detail. It’s crucial to be able to choose the most distinctive details and features that will create similarity between the model and the original machine. Secondly, the proper documentation, such as photos showing the details, giving the idea of the size, of what is where. It helps to re-create the look of the original thing.

- Black_Omega asks: what do you think the is the most useful piece? I think the most useful piece is the regular Lego Technic pin which keeps our models together. Every large model uses hundreds of these and without it, we would have a serious problem building anything.

- Andrzej Niedzielski: it is written somewhere in your website that Lego contacted you to help them in developing some models. Can you compromise which models these were and what were the problems Lego had with them? It was not about helping them to develop models, but about reviewing prototypes of new parts from the Power Functions line. I was given certain parts prior to their market release, and I had a chance of using these, without showing them publicly, of course, and of giving my opinion and my suggestions back to Lego. I am not at liberty to disclose more details, and I was not at liberty to show these parts until the release of the sets they were included in.

- Simontomi asks: do you have time to build in the weekdays? And when do you build? I’m building mostly over weekends, but in some weekdays is spend a couple of hours after getting back from work on building. I’m not building all week long, I sometimes take a break for a couple of days, without even touching a single Lego piece, and most of my activity takes place on weekends – this is also when I take photos or film what I’ve built. I believe that if you keep things well organised and well planned, you can build what you want to build in a relatively short time – at least this is how I can keep building no less than 20 models a year, with my personal record being 37 if memory serves me well.

- Simontomi: do you get angry when something is just not going to work? A little bit, yes, of course, but I stick to the creative approach, which means that I keep trying various solutions until I find one that works as intended. It takes little time usually, although I admit there is a mechanism I’ve been struggling with for roughly 2 years, and which I will hopefully get working next year.

- Simotomi: do you have problems with some models that you can’t solve, like ticking gears? I have problems, and I’m trying to solve these early in the building process. If the problem can’t be solved by reinforcing the mechanism or by some minor adjustments, I move on to try something different – sometimes what I was trying to achieve with motors and gear wheels takes Lego pneumatics to work properly. I believe than trying out a variety of approaches and finding the most effective one is crucial when building complex functional models.

- Eric Seo: do you use trial and error in your creations? I obviously do, just like everyone else, but in order to keep the building process short I’m trying to expect as far as I can, to expect how its internals will look, how its parts will work together. Naturally, I can’t expect everything, so there is always some trial and error involved, and the look and functionality of the complete model are rarely identical to the intended ones, but I believe there is little trial and error in my building.

- Black_Omega: do you prefer building in studfull or studless? I don’t really have a preference here, I view these as two sides of a single system, each with its own advantages and disadvantages, and in my opinion the best results come from combining the strong points of both.

- Does this hobby allow for a balanced private life? Do you feel you’ll have to give up your hobby at one time – asks Mike. This hobby allows for a private life as balanced as possible for a person who is a passionate, I mean if we assume that it’s an important thing in my life, but not the only one, then it allows for a reasonably balanced private life. There are little differences, for instance instead of watching football matches with my friends, I watch new Lego pieces with them, we exchange ideas and opinions, or we go for an off-road Lego race outdoors. I don’t know what will it be like in the future, whether I’ll become tired of it eventually or focus on something else. I think that starting a family, having children may be a difficult moment with little or no time for building. Luckily, playing with Lego pieces is a multi-generational experience, so I will probably never get completely rid of Lego pieces, because they may become interesting to my kids one day.

- Ogden asks: when you are no longer building Lego MOCs, what are you going to do with your huge supply of Lego pieces? I don’t really know at the moment, right now I have building plans for at least a year ahead. No matter how much I build, there are always roughly 20 or so items up on my future projects list. This is why I find it hard to think of building no longer, but it can obviously happen. I may run out of ideas one day, I may come across something even more interesting, I may simply have no time for it anymore.

- Bachaddict: which set(s) (that you do not have) do you want the most? There is this large set with Lego Technic space shuttle, I don’t remember the exact set number, but I believe it was released in early nineties. A huge, complex set with lots of motorized functions, including a satellite that could be pulled out and deployed, rotated, and basically it let owner re-create what he saw in videos of real astronauts working in outer space.

- Bachaddict: do you ever sell pieces or sets? Not really. I believe that any part in my possession may eventually come handy, even if I can’t think of any possible use for it at the moment. On few occasions I have attempted to buy some newly released sets very early and then to re-sell these in Poland, but somehow I was unwilling to sell these and I kept them.

-  Aneta asks: what’s the origin of your hobby? How long does it take to build? My hobby started with my dad, who never played with Lego pieces, but bought me some sets nevertheless. When I became a teenager, playing with Lego pieces seemed childish to me and I quit it completely for a few years, with my collection stored somewhere up in the attic. Then, as I was over twenty, I realized I still want to build something, I got my old pieces back, started shopping for some new ones, and so it started. As for the building time, it varies a lot, depending on complexity level, on the sheer size, and on how precisely I can plan ahead. It can take from a single week up to three months with a single model.

-  Zurek: how much money did you earn with your constructions? Do you have a full-time job and build when you’re back home? I didn’t really earn any money because I tend not to sell what I build, I just find it hard to part with my pieces or my constructions. I did, however, sell certain mechanisms of my design on few occasions, for German schools with teachers looking for Lego models of how, for instance, a gearbox works. As for the building, yes, I have a full-time job and I build when I’m back home, usually just a couple of hours before going to sleep.

If any of your questions was left unanswered, feel free to ask in the comments.

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Roundup of another year with a pile of the Lego bricks.  

The 2010 seemed like a short year that left little time for building. It has been, however, full of exciting events. The first event has taken place already on January, when me and my fellow LUGPol member, have been invited for a short live interview on TV. Later, on March, I have built a 1:1 model of a human arm, thinking of it like of a ‘relaxation build’, but it unexpectedly gathered an amazing amount of attention from all over the world (resulting in 15 publications at various websites, which is more than any other of my constructions ever had). Just a few days later I have finished a new version of my S Tank model from two years earlier. The original model has been very successful, but I have seen a lot of things that could be improved in it, so I did improve them.

April was when I found some time for work on a helpful tool – a new version of my earlier gear ratio calculator, now greatly improved, easier to use, and equipped with a Gear Coupler feature. Shortly after I have finished Jeep Wrangler Rubicon model, which was built on a very short notice for a Truck Trial race, yet proved more successful than any of my earlier attempts at Truck Trial vehicles. With a kind help of some fellow Lego passionates, I was able to publish instruction for it, thus letting other Truck Trial enthusiast build something already race-proven. My constructions have been also featured in the popular science magazine called Focus, more than once.

On June, the success of my human arm model was nearly repeated by another ‘relaxative’ build – the Table Soccer, fully automated with Lego WeDo components. It managed to gather attention of a number of football fans, and was yet another construction acclaimed by people who aren’t really into Lego bricks.

On July, I have finished the Scania Racing Truck model, which I consider one of my best-looking constructions so far. I had great time driving it around, and the video of it, featuring some slow-motion footage, has caught eye of many a viewer.

Click here to view the embedded video.

On October, another helpful tool was released – the Model Scaler tool. Despite some level of complexity, it was welcomed well – and, to my pleasant surprise, especially by Lego Trains builders.

Finally, on December I have finally managed to add two new categories to my website: walkers and supercars. I have only made first attempts at these new areas, but both look promising and show potential for future. Also on December I have been video-interviewed by a Polish VideoGaduła programme – the video should be released some time on January, with English subtitles embedded. I have also gotten an offer I never dreamt about – to write a book on Lego for a major US-based publisher.

Looking at all the constructions completed this year, I see a nice balance between large, complex ones and small ones built mainly for fun. It seems like the proper way to go, event if it causes delays to some of my long-planned projects – after all, building with Lego pieces is all about fun. I’m also glad to see the number of constructions increase from eighteen in 2009 to twenty this year. I still have the feeling I could do better though, and it seems that I have wasted a lot of time working on poorly designed Truck Trial vehicles. I have built five of these this year, and yet the most successful ones were the simplest ones. That should give me something to think about, especially since building Truck Trial vehicles has to be done on specific dates, and thus may interrupt other projects badly. So far, I have only two Truck Trial vehicles planned for 2011: the BMR2 6×6 armoured personnel carrier and a new model of the classic Hummer, and I will be watching the performance of these closely. 2010 has clearly shown that my engagement in Truck Trial races is pretty much wasted effort – all my vehicles were easily beaten.

The twenty constructions  this year are:

• Volvo EC290C
• Peterbilt 359
• Dodge Tomahawk
• T28 Super Heavy Tank
• JCB 180 Tracked Skid Steer Loader
• The Hand
• S Tank 2
• Tatra T815
• Jeep Wrangler Rubicon
• Hummer H1
• Caterpillar 385C Front Shovel Excavator
• PF Arm
• Table Soccer
• Scania Racing Truck
• Fiat SPA35 Dovunque
• Land Rover series 2
• Leopard 2A4
• Octopod
• Hagglunds BV206
• 1969 Dodge Charger R/T

As for the plans for 2011, it will certainly start with a very serious construction: the Tow Truck 2, which may pack as many as 13 to 14 motors and probably won’t be complete until February. It’s going to be a model with loads of functions and loads of details too (including, for instance, 40 Lego LEDs and 12 Lego light bulbs), and will be closely based on this truck:

I am also hoping to finally find some time for some of my ‘experimental’ projects, as well as for adding two more categories: aircraft (including models of planes, but not actually flying ones) and watercraft (with floating boats and vessels of various kind). I would like to have at least two new constructions in walkers and supercars categories too. Finally, I’m looking forward to writing and publishing a book that will hopefully take little time to write and will find a lot of satisfied buyers. Also, let’s not forget that the Lego company certainly has exciting new sets for us, probably with new parts that will open some new possibilities. I already have the new small linear actuators at hand, and I’m more than eager to put these inside the aforementioned Tow Truck.

Have a great New Year and thank your for your kind interest, your supporting comments and your insightful remarks that allow me to know more and build better.

PS. I forgot to mention that I now have an option to upload videos of unlimited length to YouTube. Which means that I finally won’t be forced to cut the Truck Trial videos short in 2011.

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New tool for model builders. It uses the image of the original object to calculate the dimensions of its model. The measurements can be simply drawn on the image and then printed together with it.

From time to time I feel a need to create a tool that would be useful for building with Lego pieces. My previous tool was a gear ratio calculator, and now I created something more complex and more universal, as it can be used for building models not necessarily with Lego pieces. It is available here: scaler.sariel.pl

The Model Scaler is meant to work basically like that:

• you load an image into it, preferably a blueprint
• you enter certain target dimension (in Lego studs) and then draw this dimension on the blueprint (it can be for instance a wheel diameter, since you probably know which Lego wheels you’re going to use in your model)
• a pixels-to-studs ratio is calculated and from now on all dimensions you draw on the image are shown in studs
• once finished, you can easily print the image with measurements on it or save it using the Print Screen

To use the Scaler, you’ll need:

• a modern web browser, that is one that supports JavaScript, SVG files and alternate style sheets (for printing). The latest versions of Firefox, Opera and Google Chrome meet all these requirements,  while the Safari may have some difficulties with printing. The Internet Explorer is not recommended for a number of reasons, with its faulty support for SVG files being of crucial importance.
• URL address of the image file you want to use
• certain target dimension of your model

The Scaler itself includes a basic description of how to use it. More extensive, step-by-step instruction is provided below:

First, you need an image to use. Blueprints are preferred here, as they make it easy to precisely measure dimensions from multiple angles. You can search for blueprints using Google Images or browse the largest free blueprints database available here. Once you find the proper image, simply copy its URL address by right-clicking on it and selecting proper option. Now, paste the address into the field in “Step 1″ box.

If you have previously loaded some images into the Scaler, a list of the last 5 of them will appear. To select an image from the list, simply click on it and it will be loaded into the field. To close the list, simply click anywhere else (except for the field with the address). Once the desired URL address is pasted into the field, click the Load button. The image will be loaded onto the canvas below (it may take few moments depending on the size of the image). Once loaded, you can use two links below the address field to adjust image size to the canvas’ width or to restore its original size.

When you’re happy with the image, it’s time to calculate the pixels-to-studs ratio which will let you take proper measurements. To do this, you need certain target dimension of your model, that is a dimension of your model that you already know. For instance when it comes to vehicular models, using wheel diameter is convenient as you probably know which Lego wheels you’re going to use and you can easily find or check their diameter. For tracked models you can use width of Lego tracks which is 3 studs for the older ones and 5 studs for the newer ones. Enter the target dimension into the field in “Step 2″ box and select whether it is height or width (meaning whether vertical or horizontal line on the image should be considered).

With the target dimension entered, it’s time to draw the first measurement. Drawing is easy: simply hold down the left mouse button on the image and drag your mouse. Your cursor will draw two lines, a vertical one and a horizontal one. To stop drawing these lines, simply let go of the left mouse button. The first measurement you draw should be that of the target dimension you entered. That means, if you entered a wheel diameter, draw a line across the wheel making sure it goes through the centre of it. You always draw two lines, but only one of them matters for the pixels-to-studs calculation: the one you set by selecting width or height. You can draw multiple measurements or clear them all, but calculation will be always based on the first one.

Once the proper measurement is drawn, click the link below the target dimension field. You should see a result below, which should look something like “1 px = 0.037 stud”. From this moment all the dimensions on the image will be shown in studs unless you set otherwise. Note that even with the measurements already drawn, you can change the target dimension, click the “click here” link and get updated results – which is useful for instance when you want to know the size of the model with wheels of different size. All the measurements will be updated without the need to draw anew.

Below the results, a “Calculate the scale” option will be shown. It is useful when you know dimensions of the original object and want to know the scale your model will be at, as compared to it. To find it out, simply enter the real counterpart of the target dimension you entered at the beginning of the step 2 – that means, if you entered the Lego wheel diameter, enter the diameter of the real wheel. Select desired units and click Calculate – the results will be shown below.

Finally, there is the Settings box with a number of options available. First and most important, you can select units other than Lego studs and have the displayed with various accuracy (down to 0.0001 which is handy when using inches). Note that the dimensions are always rounded, so they may change slightly with different accuracy applied – e.g. the 9 can become 8.6, the 8.6 can become 8.57 and so on.  The units you can select are millimetres and inches, which are pretty obvious, but also Lego bricks. By Lego bricks, we assume the height of a regular Lego brick which is slightly more than a single Lego stud (9.6 mm while a stud is equal to 8 mm).

There is also a number of colours to choose from, and they can replace the default red colour used for measurements. Most of them are bright to be clearly visible, but black is available too as it may be more convenient for printing.

Finally, there is the Clearing section with two links. The first of these clears the current last measurement. It can be used any number of times, clearing any number of measurements one by one, just like the Edit > Undo option present in almost every software. The second link clears all measurements at once and requires a confirmation after clicking, for obvious reasons.

As mentioned above, the Scaler needs a modern browser with support for alternate style sheets for printing. When using such a browser, you can print the whole page straight from your browser and get only the image with the measurements on it printed. Alternatively, you can use Print Screen and simply save the screenshot from the Scaler.

The Scaler has been successfully tested with all major web browsers except for the Internet Explorer. Some problems with printing may occur when using images wider than canvas’ width (1000 px), as many printers tend to re-adjust the print size in such case. Other bugs will be gradually fixed when spotted. The Scaler uses two JavaScript libraries: jQuery and Raphael, and is run entirely client-side.

Media reference:

Lego.Blog.hu (Hungarian only), Railbricks, TechnicBRICKs

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Sariel.pl has a Downloads section now. The list of files available for downloads is not a long one at the moment, but starts with a complete, high quality step-by-step instruction for my acclaimed Jeep Wrangler Rubicon model. You can get it for free and try to build one on your own.

When I’ve completed my Jeep Wrangler Rubicon model and declared that I’ll publish instruction for it if it works well in the Truck Trial, I did not expect much feedback for this unsophisticated and rather small model. Yet the Jeep has shown its charm while working its way through the Trial Truck track. A lot of people have become very enthusiastic about building their own copy of it, which flattered me but also meant that I have to make sure the instruction will meet their expectations. First, I’ve created 3D models of front and rear axle, so that builders interested only in suspension wouldn’t need to wait for the complete instruction. Then I proceeded to create the complete instruction by gradually disassembling the model and taking photos of it to eventually publish them in reverse order. This is a well-known and relatively time-efficient method, used very well by builders such as e.g. Nico71. However, the photos are usually less readable than 3D renders.

I was unwilling to create a complete 3D model of the Jeep, and this is when I received an unexpected, yet valuable help from a reader called Jegge. Having only the aforementioned photos as the reference material, he managed to model the entire Jeep is just a few days, and he was kind enough to release the model for my use. I was deeply impressed by the quality and accuracy of his work, and I felt that I should do something to let other people benefit from his effort. Jegge has agreed to let me correct some minor inaccuracies of his model and create a complete instruction based on it, which would be released free of charge. Jegge’s work means a lot to me, and his selflessness is a great example of how amazing the community of Lego fans can be.

Releasing such a professional instruction was a good reason to add another section to my website – the Downloads section. Right now there is just one instruction and two tutorials converted to PDF format for your reading convenience, but hopefully more will be added later.

As for the instruction itself, my goal was to make is as easy to use and as intuitive as possible. This is why it introduces a different building order than the earlier photos-based version, while being much longer as well. There is a complete list of parts included, but keep in mind that this is a software-generated list and may not be 100% accurate. Moreover, many parts can be substituted with different Lego pieces, and it’s up to your creativity to try out some changes or modifications. Honestly, I would be genuinely pleased to see some severely upgraded version of this model built by someone else

I hope the instruction will be useful to you, and that building the model will be a rewarding experience. Note that I have currently no plans to create more instructions – which obviously doesn’t mean that I’ll never do that again.

Update: the ZIP package now includes also a plain text file with parts list and MLCad models of the whole model, the front axle and the rear axle.

Download the instruction in a single ZIP file or browse instruction:

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The Polish edition of the Focus popular science magazine has featured my Robotic Hand in their May issue. Scan included.

It seems like every hobby has its own surprises. Personally, I never expected to become known for something I’ve built over a single weekend just to keep myself occupied while waiting for the parts needed to finish my S Tank 2 model, but here it is – the Robotic Hand, a construction I considered so insignificant that I almost neglected publishing it at all, was featured by at least 15 various websites including even the mighty Engadget.com, and has recently made its way into the Focus magazine. It has been mentioned as one of four constructions in an article entitled “Klocki mają moc” which translates as “Bricks have the power” (note the unintended pun – the Polish word for power, “moc” is written just like “MOC”, an abbreviation for “My Own Creation” commonly used by the LEGO builders). The other three constructions include the LEGO house built by Top Gear’s James May, the Dispatchwork artistic happening using the LEGO bricks as a medium, and the 1:1 statue of Christ displayed in Vaesteras, Sweden. Not that it makes me a real star, but but it’s still a remarkable company to find oneself among. And the Focus magazine is not your ordinary newspaper, as it’s being released for 15 years now, with monthly circulation currently at 170,000.

On another note, I have been invited by the Focus magazine to participate the Picnic of Science which will be held at Warsaw on June 12th. I’m supposed to bring some model along and present it to the public. We are still settling some details and I’m not yet sure which model to choose.

Here’s a scan of the Focus article. I apologize for the quality, but my scanner is pretty much antique.

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