Historic Conner Home of Conner Prairie Interactive History Park Done!

Is a MOC every really done? Well this one is, mostly. The exterior of the house is complete and a first pass at the grounds/landscaping is done. I have plans for completing the interior.. but that’s going to have to wait

Hopefully this will show up at Conner Prairie on display soon as I’m donating it and the future finished interior to the museum. http://www.connerprairie.org/

You can read more about this historic home here, http://www.connerprairie.org/Learn-And-Do/Indiana-History/Conner-Prairie-History/Conner-Estate-History.aspx !!

Cheer!

-John

 

 

The Conner House (Work In Progress)

After Denise Meyer (aka @DeniseMichelle) asked me about my current project for The Conner Prairie Living History Museum, I realized I hadn’t posted anything here about it. Whoops! The build is a minifig scale model of the historic Conner House. It’s my first historical building and the most detailed architectural piece I’ve ever done.

The Conner House has an interesting history, both as a residence and as a study in preservation. My tie to the museum started when I was a child and visited during a school field trip. The museum is unique and I’ve revisited it many many times over the years with my family and by myself. It’s a truly wonderful place, so much so that after moving back to the Indianapolis area, I immediately looked for a way to get involved with the museum as more than just a guest. I quickly discovered the Conner Prairie Horizon Council and became a member, in fact a board member, of this wonderful group. It has been a great way to meet and connect with other young professionals as well as find some great ways to help out a museum that I’ve loved for a long time.

So… while I was at the museum one day around the holidays last year I saw some awesome gingerbread reproductions of the Conner House and thought that I could really have some fun building one out of Lego bricks. Thus, begun my project to reproduce this wonderful example of historic Indiana architecture.

I started the project in Lego Digital Designer and when I’m finished with the physical model, I’ll be publishing the build instructions and parts list.

So, until I get some better photos, I’m putting up a few I’ve previously poste on Twitter.

Instructions for NASA Mars Curiosity Rover (It’s landed!!!)

Greetings! I’ve finally posted instructions to my updated NASA Curiosity Rover or MSL (Mars Science Laboratory) If you’d like to see this become a real Lego set you could purchase, you can cast your vote here ->(http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/11668) or just use your own parts!

Enjoy and Happy Building!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The Mars Science Laboratory

Hello, all! My latest Cuusoo project is the Mars Science Laboratory – currently in route to the red planet! This near mini-fig scale set is in honor of the most technologically mobile lab ever sent to another planet!

You can find more pictures at my Cuusoo page here! http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/11668

Here’s an artists’ rendering courtesy of NASA

Series 1 of Lego Clare Grant minifigs shipping!

I’m in the middle of moving from Michigan back to central Indiana. This has caused many things outside of my career and family to be delayed or put on the back burner.  My Series 1 of Clare Grant minifigs falls into this category.  Now they are complete it’s off to the UPS store tomorrow! Here are a few photos of the completed minifigs in their customized packaging.  Clearly there’s room for several more series! Better get started…

My Thoughts on the Changes to Lego’s DesignByMe Service

If you were not aware of the changes in the Lego Group’s Design By Me service, you can read the details here. In short, the portion of the service that lets you actually purchase a copy of your design, bricks, box, instructions and all will be stopped. The last date to order a copy of your own Lego set is January 16, 2012.  My first reaction to the news was sadness. For several years I have enjoyed ability to have a dream come true each and every time I bought a copy of one of my sets.  If you have never used this part of the service, let me tell you this: the quality of the packaging and instructions was incredible. The fact that the Lego Group was able to offer this service in the first place was amazing. I can only imagine the business reasons and pressures the is behind their decision.

As I said, my first reaction was sadness. My second reaction was joy in the fact that I had been able to use this service and experience it several times. Chances are if you’re reading this, you know that Lego bricks are not inexpensive. There was a premium cost associated to purchasing a custom set, one though, that I thought was completely justified and was backed by the quality and customer service I have come to expect and enjoy from the Lego  Group. Pick-a-brick will continue to be offered and Lego Digital Designer will still allow you to upload your designs to be shared via a gallery.  Those items are GREAT news for the community as a whole. While purchasing a copy of your’s or someone else’s set was incredible, being able to share them via LDD is something I’ve gotten more out of on a personal level.

All that being said, kudos to the team at Lego for even attempting this in the first place. Congratulations on a job well done on executing on the service and doing so with excellent quality.  A sincere thank you and job well done on communicating this with the community at large.  Let’s face it, while  you won’t get a set ordered today before Christmas, you’ll still be able to order one for that special someone.  They could have missed the entire Christmas season, so a special thanks for that!

So, feel free to order one of my sets  or try out the service yourself with your own design. At a minimum, download Lego Digital Designer and see what I’m talking about.

Play well!

 

Work in Progress Scale Steampunk Airship Ophelia from Abney Park

Started a new project to try my hand at some techniques I rarely use on my space related creations. This will be my first real steampunk design and an attempt at the famous Airship Ophelia lead by the notorious Air Pirate Captain Robert of Abney Park.