SF minifigs

What happens when you're both a Lego fan and a science fiction fan? Well, it doesn't take long before you start creating minifigures and scenes to recreate some of your favourite sci-fi movies and shows.

These are all what I've seen referred to as "purist" in that all parts are official Lego parts from sets. If you look around the internet for "custom" minifigures, you'll find a lot of people doing this, but you'll also find a lot of custom printing, custom decals, and things like that. None of that here! All I've done is mixed and matched existing parts to create my own versions of these sci-fi characters.

Sneak Peeks

Next month I'll be exhibiting my growing Lego beach town, "Minotaur Bay", at the Ipswich Brick Event.

Construction is under way on a Maritime Museum.

The Brick Event will be held at the Ipswich Civic Centre on the weekend of July 12 and 13.

Come along to see some very creative displays by local AFOLs (Adult Fans of Lego).

Lego Post Office

I've been spending a bit of time lately using Lego's Digital Designer software to design some creations without having to actually have particular bricks in certain colours.

Last night's multitasking (working on LDD while catching up on "Sons of Anarchy") resulted in the above little design. I may have borrowed the red and white colour scheme from Australia Post.

Lego Cruise Liner

Early last year, I turned my Lego Police Boat into an Oil Tanker. Back in November, I used the same hull to create a cruise liner of my own design. Tonight I've been going through my Lego creations and dismantling them, sorting out the pieces before reassembling the original sets. I thought I'd already put the cruise liner pictures on my blog, but turns out I hadn't... so here they are.

The finished cruise ship.

The length-to-height scale is way off, but I was working with the longest hull I had, and wanted each deck to have standing room for minifigs.

I also wanted the following on board:

• Bridge
• Engine Room
• Crew Quarters
• First Class Cabin
• Restaurant
• Casino
• Pool

Revised Viper

When I got home from work, I sat down to watch the Torchwood season 2 final (we're working our way back and forth through Doctor Who and Torchwood in broadcast order), and made a few modifications to the Viper I made last night.

The main changes are:

• The blunt nose is now flush with the side panels, and is all white.
• The gaps either side of the cockpit are filled in.
• An improved undercarriage.
• Angled roof panels on the wings to hide more of the gap between the wings and the body.

And the only piece not from the original set remains the aeroplane tail.

The finished (again) Viper.

Viper Mark II

For my birthday last year my in-laws got me some Star Wars Lego... the X-wing. I put it together in December when my mother-in-law was here, and it's stayed intact till tonight.

I took it apart, intending to re-assemble it. For me, some of the fun of Lego comes from assembling the sets. Some of the fun comes from dismantling it completely, then building it all over again. My parents do jigsaw puzzles, I assemble Lego. The difference is, I can make my jigsaw pieces make more than just the one picture... which is where the other great fun thing about Lego comes in - my imagination's the limit.

So I decided to build something else instead - a Colonial Viper Mk II from "Battlestar Galactica".

The finished Viper. The aeroplane tail is the only non-X-wing piece I needed to use.

Seaplane

So, I have this in my collection...

Aeroplane (from the LEGO City Airport set)

I then took it partially apart, removed 2 fuselage segments, moved the wings, and with the help of additional pieces, made...

A seaplane!

Lego Oil Tanker

Here's something I made recently.

The hull is obviously from a Police set - I'm not going to remove (or "Photoshop out") the decals for the sake of accuracy. Basically, I used parts from:

A police rescue boat
A police double-rotor rescue chopper
A garbage truck
A fishing boat

And turned them into THIS!

The oil tanker from above.

Looking down the ship to the stern.

The Captain on the bridge.

Two Lego City labourers who look like they could pass as tanker crew...

Starboard side.

The stern.

The Captain at the controls.

A view over the Captain's shoulder, through the windows to the deck below.

The bridge from above.

Another aerial view.

Looking down the ship.

Sailor on a boat. T-Pain sold separately.

Cruising along...

My outboard motor.

One 1x1 square clip, one walkie-talkie, and one gear-stick = Outboard motor!

Cutting oil tankers off in traffic isn't very nice.