The Dark Knights Rides Again

We were at the store and Isaac saw the new Batman Lego set 7886: The Bat Cycle. He said "Daddy can we build that set?" I told him I would look at the instructions and let him know. Fortunately he already owns the Bat Boat and Bat Dragster sets so I had the right Batman pieces. Unfortunately once again I had all but two of the other pieces so I had to improvise. Here is what we came up with:

A bit bigger than the other cycle but I like how it turned out. I think he was too.

My iPod Boom Box

Here is another in the line of my Lego audio accessories. The Lego Boom Box. I built this spur of the moment after cleaning up after the mess of making the my Arcade Cabinet. I had the original speaker I was using before getting a good quality sound system from the guy I sit next to at work. So I made an iPod dock similar to an iHome.

I was surprised at the quality of the sound considering the sound was coming from the iPod and not being amplified by the speakers. This was the best part: no need to plug it in and I can take it anywhere. Also didn't have to worry about batteries for the speakers too. I also made it so it can hold my other MP3 player as well:

Lego Award Winners

My wife decided to have the kids enter there creations in the local fair this year. We looked through the fair book and found the Lego category. This excited both of them. My daughter decided to create the "Golden Castle" and proceeded to sort out all the yellow bricks she could find in our vast Lego collection. She spent at least a whole month adding and changing things until she came to this entry:

She was excited when we went to pick up the entries that she had won!

Meanwhile, my son could not decide on what he wanted to make. He put a bunch things together and would say, "I am going to enter this," and later tear it apart and create something different. So, the day we were going to take the entries to the fair he pulls this out:

And wins honorable mention as well to boot. I know probably everyone got this award that entered, but not the message I want to send to a 5 year old: throw it together at the last minute and you win. My wife agreed with me- not his best work.

The Saga Continues . . .

Tonight I added the top marquee board, speakers, front panel,

and the cabinet door.

All done while Isaac was playing Street Fighter Alpha 2.

Right now all we have is 2 usb playstation style controllers but it works until I get arcade sticks.

More Arcade Cabinet Construction

Well, 2 days later here is the bezel and half of the control panel. The marquee is just a print out of the actual design.

Building my Arcade Machine

It has always been a dream of mine to have an arcade machine in my house. Growing up as an arcade dweller after school at the mall and watching countless episodes of Silver Spoons, I thought it would be awesome to have an arcade game of my own. I planned for this for about three months and finally decided to move forward and build.

Originally all the wood I had was going to be used for a lego/train table in the basement but thanks to craigslist and some guy in the middle of nowhere in Elizabethtown PA, I didn't have to build one. He had built one years ago and was selling it because his kids were moving away to college amd didn't need it any more.

So, I started searching the internet for plans and came across blueprints for a Mortal Kombat II cabinet and decided that was the route I was going to take.

All the materials are leftovers from redoing the roof on our old house and dumpster diving each night in the construction site behind our house. (Side note: the builder said take anything I wanted. They were throwing it out anyway.) There was a lot of good stuff in there.

First here is the frame. My mother-in-law did all the cutting because it required the bandsaw. She has a bit more experience and my wife does not feel comfortable with me using anything other than the jig saw. A wise thought considering my past - almost severing a finger with an exacto knife. So we got it altogether and here it is.

Next, I added the sides and the board to support the monitor.
To come: the control panel, the bezel and the light up marquee.

More downloaded instructions

Here are a few more models we built from instructions downloaded from lego.com

This is the A-Wing with a different color scheme. We made it into Boba Fett's cruiser. Also made a Boba Fett custom mini fig for it.

Next is the X-Wing fighter again with a slightly different color scheme. Don't have all the exact pieces so we improvised.

Lego iPod Dock

We got an iPod for our anniversary present for Heather to play music in the kitchen with out having all the CDs on the shelf in the dining room. We don't have a dock yet, so I built one out of Legos to keep the wires under wraps.
To my dismay, the next morning I came downstairs and found it disassembled and made into a spaceship by my son. So onto version #2 which still stands today.

Catching up on Lego

Here is set #2 Isaac got with his birthday money.

Then for his birthday from Grandpa.

Heck, i even got my wife in on the action, she will be a convert.

Lastly, set #3 Isaac bought -The Naboo fighter. His money is now gone but has plans to get Obi-Wan's Jedi Starfighter for his present from Grandma.

New Lego Creations

Here are a few new lego creations the kids and I have been working on. I keep trying to get the concept through to them that they can make anything they want with legos. Like Isaac saw the new speed racer lego sets at Target and I said we don't need to buy it. We probably have all the pieces at home. Next they asked: well how can we build it if we don't have the instructions? All we had to do is go to lego.com and voila! Instructions in PDF form. So I built the Mach 5 (with a few modifications because I don't actually have the wheel well cover pieces or wind shield.) I also built the Racer X car with a few modifications based on the actual instructions.


Isaac was also working his X-Wing fighter. He is getting pretty good at building things.

A little something for the collectors. . .

Lincoln Logs for the Republic

This weekend the kids and I launched a military campaign after visiting one of my co-workers garage sale and purchasing a large box of Lincoln Logs for 25 cents.



Heather claimed they were for educational purposed so we agreed to pick them up and hey for 25 cents why not. I suggested we could build an outpost for the Republic because of their recent enthusiasm for the Clone Wars after reading the graphic novel they got from the library.



So we set it up and then the troops arrived. We then plotted to stop the attack of the Droid army. There was even the capture of the bounty hunter Aurra Sing.



Not bad. An afternoon of fun for 25 cents, can’t beat it!

Zapper

I am not sure what I am going to do with this yet but here is what I am currently working on in Illustrator. I have seen a few designs with the light zapper. I want to make something different looking. Maybe it will come to me. I'll keep posted.

It's been a long time coming . . .

It's been a long time. The only thing I have done as of late is another design for Jinx! I am going to send it soon and keep my fingers crossed!

Captain Power

Isaac (my 3 1/2 year old son) and I were playing with Star Wars figures the other day and I got out my Captain Power ship for him to use. The batteries were dead so I replaced them. As I was putting on the cover I noticed the copyright on the ship: 1986. That didn't seem old to me until I thought about the fact that I got this ship for birthday when I was 10, 21 years ago. Man am I old.

Shaak Ti

I forgot to post this. I meant to when I was finished with it. It took a little of my lunch each day at work for about a week. This is from the Clone Wars version of Shaak Ti. I made it from a small jpg I found into a desktop. Enjoy!

Sacred Art

Here is my venture into sacred art. I am going to try and do more of this genre when I can. I enjoy pencil drawing but the computer is much easier. We will see where the Lord leads me.

Jinx!

I also submitted a few designs to jinx.com awhile back. If they use your design you get $100 for your idea and $500 if you send the art and they use it! Thought I could at least give it a try. Here is their disclaimer though :

IMPORTANT: Please do *not* contact us with any questions or updates regarding your idea submission(s). You will only be notified if your idea/design is picked.

It may also take up to a year or more to contact you if they pick your design. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Grievous

So it's official. I am a two time loser for the PSWCS (Pennsylvania Star Wars Collecting Society) t-shirt contest. I like the design. It came in tied for second last year. Not even close this year. I think I will keep submitting until I win.

I am a Jedi like my Father

not sure if this the "final" design but here is my manga Luke from Return of the Jedi. More to come . . .