I write LEGO in all caps because the LEGO people have it copyrighted that way.
Apparently, most people get their brand concept wrong. I didn't know this until I became much older and began researching the LEGO Group and the LEGO community at large, which is called AFOL, or the Adult Fans of LEGO.
A quick primer of things I have learned:
LEGO is pretty much always capitalized like that.
Also, LEGO is a brand, and not a product. Like Kenmore. You don't say that you need to put your clothes in the Kenmore or that you have to get two brand new Kenmores. It's a Kenmore Washer and Dryer. So the LEGO folks would prefer that people call them LEGO bricks or LEGO models.
LEGO bricks, and the entire LEGO system of tiny plastic modular pieces and LEGO men (they call them Minifigures, fans shorten it to Minifigs) are just one of their products. It's their most famous product. Other products are considered to be different lines such as Bionicle and the LEGO Mindstorms robotics kits, which still tend to use the standard LEGO pieces along with fancier items. There is also a LEGO training division, which does corporate training seminars to help other companies become as awesome as LEGO.
Honestly, these are things that some people are huge sticklers about. Many are the kind who make sure that the little LEGO logo that is printed on each piece is facing the same direction when they put together a model. I have better things to spend my time on.
LEGO pieces are commonly known as "Legos" to the majority of the public, and it is not something I ever correct when people say. I love them either way, I grew up "Playing Legos" and still enjoy them, as a relaxing and creative hobby.
One more thing. AFOL hate MegaBloks, and all of the other cheapo LEGO knockoffs. They are inexpensive alternatives, but LEGO is definitely of the highest quality. LEGO pieces are engineered to two micrometers to ensure a snug but detachable fit, unless you are dumb enough to stick two huge base-plates together. MegaBloks and others are generally made of inferior plastics or with imprecise molding, and as such tend to warp and fail to fit together properly.
On to my creations! Click on any image to see it bigger.
This is the shelf above my desk. These are where I keep all of the models I refuse to take apart. It is not all of them. There are far more in a tote, but I need more shelves, and not fewer models.
This is a tower that I built. It is about 5 feet tall. I built it with the intention of making it a dual-purpose skyscraper/spaceport.
Detail showing the tower, the lower garden, and the upper landing pads.
Closeup of one of the two arches. This entire tower started with me fiddling with getting these pieces to fit together at odd angles, and I thought "this belongs on the side of a building." So I built a building to put them on.
More detail of the mid-level landing pads.
Lower garden area, and a familiar looking ship is parked on the ground level. Notice the scorpion gargoyles.
View downward, I put a "chronometer" on the side of the building. It's slightly after noon. Forever.
View underneath the tower. The entire structure is held up by those four gray columns, each about 1/2 an inch wide. There's a piece of modern art there, and an arrivals/departures board hanging from the red beam behind it. I figured that the transparent column in the center is a lift tube for those going up into the tower. The fluorescent green things are fountains.
Some of the shuttles I had docked at the tower. A couple are based on the Rebel Blockade Runner (that's princess Leia's ship) from the beginning of Star Wars: A New Hope.
Back view of the same ships. I gave them color codings (the lime green and orange bits) to denote local and outbound transports. There are also color markings on the landing pads on the tower.
Some small local transports. Two made to look like tiny Clone Gunships from Episode II. One is like the helicopters from Avatar. The one with the blue cat people, not the Last Airbender. The rotors on the helicopter are LEGO steering wheels mounted sideways.
Three ships that may look familiar to you. The first is an tiny Ebon Hawk from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. The second is a slapdash Millennium Falcon I made from spare parts. The third is a mock-up of a Firefly transport. It uses a tiny LEGO barrel for the engine.
This is a Star Destroyer that I built. On a trip to the LEGO Store, they had a bunch of angled plates in Republic Red. I got as many as I could fit in their container so I could build these. This Star Destroyer is about 9 inches long.
Aft view of the Star Destroyer. I ended up with an extra wing piece of one angle and not the other, so I turned it into a vane. It looks pretty cool, between the engines.
Side view. It looks like the ship is ascending, but it is really that I can't hold the camera level.
Long front view.
This is the second Star Destroyer I built. It is longer than the first and incorporates more pieces, many on the inside for superstructure.
Long front view. Very long. This one is about 14 inches from stem to stern.
Top view, this one has a unique taper toward the back.
View of the bridge (on the tower) and the turbolasers on the sides. They are the same ones from the earlier ship, so I didn't re-design them.
Aft view of the engines, which are just LEGO wheels and tires.
Side view, I turned the extra wing into a ventral fin on this model.
Final shot, in all its glory.
I hope you enjoyed all of my LEGO creations as much as I have enjoyed building them. More ships/buildings as soon as I take some of these apart!
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