Mansion

Since I didn't post anything for quite a while, I decided to build something big. A lot of the details and style of the house is inspiration from Jaystepher; who can be seen on YouTube and Facebook.

This house contains 3 floors, 4 separate parts, and 4212 pieces (The biggest model in terms of number of pieces).

Here is a mansion. From far away it doesn't even look like it's made of LEGO bricks. Since it was made in LEGO Digital Designer, all the same colors of bricks are stuck together. The exterior has detailed corners, textured chimney, tucked in windows, and roof in the shape of an arch.

The interior of the first floor has a family room, corridor, kitchen, spiral staircase, tiled floors, and restroom.

Living room details include armchair, sofa, bookcase, TV, glass table, and piano.

corridor and kitchen details have a spiral staircase, drawers, stove,cupboards, and island in the middle of kitchen

The restroom has a toilet, and drawers.

Second floor details include balcony, angled walls, master bed and bathrooms, hallway, and guest bed and bathrooms.

Master rooms feature 6x6 bed, drawers cupboards, mirror (Hard to see), Dresser (Hard to see) and Chimney (Behind gray stonework).

Hallway includes rails, and small balcony to first floor.

Guest room has a bunk bed, and TV

Guest Bathroom has a toilet, sink, and bathtub.

The rear of the mansion has an angled wall. the roof follows the angle of the wall. 

Inside the very top floor is a bowling alley. with lots of fun to roll bowling balls into pins.  

Happy Birthday To the One Brick at a Time Blog

This blog is officially one year and two days old! Thank you everyone for visiting.

 

If you would like to see the status of the first year, I will give you the status of the audience and the most popular posts below.

Audience: 

We had people from over 20 countries, but the stats will only give me the first ten that have visited the blog the most. 

Place            Country                   Pageviews 

1st                United States             1,741

2nd               Russia                       87

3rd               Germany                   43

4th                Malaysia                   31

5th                Canada                     27

6th                United Kingdom        24

7th                France                      16

Tie for 7th     India                         16

8th                Austrailia                  13

Tie for 8th     Lebanon                   13          

                                         Total    2,132

There was a variety of browsers, but I will only give you the top 4 mainly because the others are very low in percentage. 

Place            Browser                    %

1st               Google Chrome         44

2nd              Mozilla Firefox          33

3rd              Internet Explorer        12

4th              Safari                         5

5th              Other                         6

We also had a variety of devices that went to One Brick at a Time. I will give you the top 4 mainly because the others are very low in percentage.

Place           Device                              %

1st              Microsoft Windows           90

2nd             Macintosh                         3

3rd              iPad                                 2

4th              Linux                                1

5th              Other                               4

Now for the most popular posts:

Place               Title of Post                                        

1st                  Hanging Gardens of Babylon

2nd                Public Transport Station Tram Modification Version 2

3rd                 LEGO Tiananmen Square 1989

4th                 Posting Postponed for a day               <---------------------Who actually reads that?

5th                 Half of an A-Frame house

6th                Mindstorms NXT Turret

7th                Party House

8th                LEGO Public Transport Station Tram Modification 

9th               Camper Trailer and Modification

10th             9/11 Memorial Fountain

Thank you all for coming. Let a new year of LEGO creations come about. Thank you again, and stay tuned for more from the One Brick at a Time blog. 

Public Transport Station Tram Modification Version 2

Here is a better way to motorize the tram from LEGO Set #8404 Public Transport Station.

This mod doesn't require you to change the shape of the tram, or extend anything; however, if you are using Battery Box #8881 (The one with the holes to fit in LEGO Technic snaps), then removal of the roof, or extending the top will be necessary.

You can see the shape of the tram is the same; except for the right side of the tram. The battery box is too tall, so I used parts of the roof to dress the top as best as I can. If you use Battery Boxes 8878 or 88000 (Basically the ones that fit in LEGO bricks.), then the roof can be kept on. I don't have those battery boxes; therefore, I cannot keep the roof.

Here you can see the modification I made using the Technic beams, axles, gears, and a universal joint. The rubber wheels give the tram traction when going along the track. I added rubber bands on the wheels to make them thicker

Here are the ball joints and the universal joints between the two cars. Behind the 24 tooth gear is a small LEGO motor. The motion from the motor is transferred through the gears, through the universal joint, and through the last couple of gears, which turn the wheels. 

The LEGO Technic battery box is too tall to fit inside. I used parts of the original roof to keep the same style. 

Overall, this mod isn't difficult. To take it a step further, you can integrate the Power Functions IR Receiver (8884), the IR Speed Remote Control (8879), and the Light Set (8870). I'll make another post on motorizing the tram with remote controls if I can get my hands on them. Out of all the modifications of motorizing the tram I've seen on YouTube, they all required the pre-made train motor (8866 or 88002), which required them to extend the tram to accommodate the motor.

Here is a couple videos of the tram going up a 12.8 degree slope:

This video is sideways. Please turn turn your head clockwise 90 degrees for the best viewing angle.

Flying Bird Extras

If you haven't seen my original flying bird, go to the previous post and get caught up.

Using a tiny, lightweight camera, we attached it to the other end of the bird, and turned it on.

Warning: Video content may cause headaches and dizziness. Please refrain from this video if you cannot stand 18 seconds of repeated scenes.

Flying Bird

Inspired by someone on YouTube named ISOGAWAYoshihito, here is a flying bird similar to his. Instead of using wind from the wings to propel the bird, it's using gears and axles to move. I originally tried using using the wings to move, but it was wasn't enough to get the bird to move.

Here is a video of the completed bird.

The riders, and the rotating platform.

Rider flying on a bird (The wings can flap)

Another rider flying on a glider.

The complexity of securing the rotating platform to the base without it falling apart.

Portal 1 & 2

Portal is a video game that challenges you to exit a room with the use of blue and orange portals in a first person shooter format.Even though I have never played portal, I have recreated some of the characters from Portal 1 and Portal 2 with research from the internet.

This is Turret, an obstacle in the game that tries to shoot you. 

This is Peabody, one of the icons of the game. Unfortunately, my LEGO Peabody cannot stand because his feet are small.

This is Atlas, another icon of Portal. It's very easy to attach his arms to the body at that precise angle. 

This is Wheatley, a helper in the first half of Portal 2, and a traitor in the 2nd half.

Here is the portal gun. It uses pieces of different types to make this. 

Here is the companion cube. This is to help you hold down buttons in the levels. 

In Portal 1, the test examiner wants to reward you with cake, but on one of the walls of the building, it tells you "The cake is a lie..."

Here's a photo of all of my Portal creations. Is there enough cake for all of them, or is the cake really a lie...?

Oil Pump

Here is an oil pump that mechanically works; however, it doesn't actually pump. It uses some Technic parts, and a power functions motor.

Vehicle Gallery

Here is a collection of white cars which includes the concept car that I posted awhile back. I made many in all different sizes.

Here is a simple skateboard you can probably make just by looking at this picture. He can go on the tracks too!

Here is the human transporter. This shows another two wheeled vehicle just like the bicycle. 

Inspired by a vehicle in Star Wars, I made a similar design. He 's coming from a strong source of light...

Also inspired by the pod racers in Star Wars, this is a somewhat similar design of a pod and 2 engines in the front. 

Avoiding the plane is a three-wheeled vehicle. I'm not sure what this vehicle is called. Please comment if you know what it is. 

Here is a golf cart parked in the grass. It has room under the ceiling for the driver and the club, and the ball can go in the back. 

In pursuit of invaders, this concept car was redesigned to allow a wider interior, and weapons to attached to the vehicle. 

This is the owner's collection of vehicles. What is your favorite?

LEGO Violin 2

Since there was a sale for pick a brick at the LEGO store, I bought lots of brown pieces to make a better violin. This violin is about the size of a 1/4 violin.

Violin and Bow

At my local library, there was a LEGO club where you basically build something. I decided to build the instrument I currently play: the violin.

I made the violin using the pieces available. There wasn't enough brown pieces to use, so I used black and dark grey instead.

In the library, the creation will be displayed inside the library, so I built a stand for the bow and violin. 

Double Decker Train

Inspired by a LEGO train car from 1990's, here is a similar version. 

The train has 5 passenger carriages. 

The two ends have controls to direct the train. 

Each carriage has bedding. In the whole train, 16 figures can sleep quietly. 

♥ Each carriage above the bedding is the dining area. Here, 2 figures are having a date. ♥

The criminal has plotted his next move to avoiding the train. The chains allow criminals to go from one carriage to the next safely.

LEGO Tiananmen Square 1989

You may recognize this famous event. It's a LEGO version of Tiananmen Square Demonstrations of 1989 in China.  I was inspired by other artists who created a similar version on Google images and my brother is doing a project on this, so I thought I should make something about it, even though I am way off from it's anniversary.

Here is the scene where the tank is stopped by one man. 

T-Rex

Here is a T-Rex with a movable tail, head, jaw, legs, and arms. Since this day is St. Patrick's day, I added a four leaf clover. 

Happy St. Patrick's day! 

Futuristic Car

Here is a car with lots of inspiration from a Youtube video called "Concept Car" from MasaoHidaka. I think it's futuristic too.

Here is my version of the car.

A view of the front and side.

Back and the other side.

The front is removable to let the driver into the car. 

The futuristic car 

The futuristic police car (The difference should be noticeable!)