whataslacker, Author at whataslacker about bricks

Chess Anyone?

I had seen the Brick Mini chess sets around Instagram and Facebook, but had only thought of getting them in passing.

Then at Bricks LA’s virtual con I got to see a presentation of their products and decided to bite the bullet and place my order (the attendee’s discount didn’t hurt either). I got a chess set (seen in this review), a set of the nano soldiers, and a couple meeples (I will discuss the others in another post).

For the chess pieces you can take your pick from a number of LEGO color matched options. I went with the classic black and white.

You buy each side separately. So a full set will cost $18, but doing so allows you more creative options with the color schemes. Each side is comprised of two sets of four pawns, a rook, a knight, a queen, and a king. You wind up with an extra king and queen for each side.

You have to build your own board or buy a starter board from them (the parts will be official LEGO pieces).

You will need 64 1×1 plates in two colors. 32 of each color and an 8×8 plate.

The pieces are all designed so that a minifigure can hold each one.

These are really kind of fun. Whether you want a little something for your own desk or want to add a touch of Queen’s Gambit to your city’s park, I think you’ll like these.

Available at BrickMini.com.

Dots Series 3

I have been underwhelmed by the Dots lines, but especially in the bands (aka bracelets).

First off, I know many have already states this, but we need more basic colors. Seriously, boys like to wear these too. Besides that, not all girls feel the need to have everything in pinks and pastels.

In series three we see these same issues once again. The only reason I even picked up a pack and set of the new bands were for the special pieces. But I think LEGO knows that’s what is selling these.

The double molded stars and diamonds are pretty neat. And the transparent piece goes all the way through so they could potentially be back lit.

I just wish they had done these in reverse. Pink and purple round diamonds and opal and dark blue square stars. I would find night time stars so much more valuable than these dark pink ones.

I also bought a pack with the new bands. This round they are a single line of studs and you get two of two different colors in the packs.

Remove a Plate Surrounded by Other Plates

Sometimes in the middle of a build you realize you placed a piece wrong and you need to remove it.

In the case of a plate that is surrounded by other plates this gets a little tricky. Say we need to remove this green 1×2 plate.

If the plates are snug against the build plate, there is nothing you can do but remove the other plates around it to get to the one you need to reach.

Even with that gap in the surface that a separator will fit in to, the plate behind it will not allow the separator down far enough to remove the plate in question.

If for some reason you have not pushed the plate the whole way down and there is a gap, you may be able to wiggle the other end of the separator into the gap to remove the plate.

In most instances this is not the case. Removing the plates around it is the only way to access the one you need to remove.

Should the plate you need to remove be in the middle of a much larger build you would need to remove enough plates so that the brick separator would be able to go flush against the bottom plate and the width of the plate you would be removing.

The brick separator is basically 10×2 studs but if there are other plates or bricks against what you are trying to remove they will stop the plate from tilting enough to be removed.

Separating Two Plates

The brick separator is a handy tool to have in your tool box (or in this case brick box). It helps you separate bricks that are stuck together.

Sometimes you will need to have two on hand. As is the case when you have two plates that are stuck together. You just can’t get a handhold on the bottom plate to pull it apart. Especially if the plates are of the exact same size.

Put one separator on the top and one on the bottom like this.

Then squeeze them together until you see a small gap between the plates.

To save your fingernails remove one of the separators and pry the two pieces apart.

Then you have safely separated the two parts without damage to the brick or yourself.

Psycho House MOC

Bate’s home with Mother in the upstairs window.

On display at the virtual con Brickworld Halloween.

Northeast Middle School MOC

Northeast Middle School LEGO Project

Poe Toaster and Edgar Allan Poe MOCs

Poe Toaster is the media sobriquet used to refer to an unidentified person (or probably more than one person in succession) who, for over seven decades, paid an annual tribute to American author Edgar Allan Poe by visiting the cenotaph marking his original grave in Baltimore, Maryland, in the early hours of January 19, Poe’s birthday. The shadowy figure, dressed in black with a wide-brimmed hat and white scarf, would pour himself a glass of cognac and raise a toast to Poe’s memory, then vanish into the night, leaving three roses in a distinctive arrangement and the unfinished bottle of cognac. [from Wikipedia]

The long standing Poe Toaster tradition ended in 2009 with no explanation. In 2016 the Maryland Historical Society organized a competition to pick someone to take up the mantle.

The Shining Hedge Maze MOC

Initially I was inspired by the minifigure head on the back of a LEGO City police set. It just screamed crazed Jack. I created the fig using all LEGO pieces (no custom stuff this time).

I still haven’t done the MOC I want to do with this fig. But while trying to coming up with a winter village scene for our SnailLUG display I started working on this hedge maze. I like how it came out. And it doesn’t look bad in the winter village either.

Handmaid’s Tale MOC

Based off the LEGO Hans Christian Andersen set 40291. I had just finished reading A Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood when the official set was a gift with purchase so it was fresh in my mind.

An AFOL I was following was doing all kinds of books and got me thinking of doing one myself. Then the two merged.

The priest and handmaids are customs from Citizen Brick.

Grouchy Xmas

We Grouches prefer the holidays after they are over.