tartanlug

TartanLUG Engagement Officer

I’ve been pretty quiet here recently, but I have good news to share:

I’ve been elected as the Engagement Officer for TartanLUG, the Scottish Lego User Group! I take over the role previously held by Stewart Lamb Cromar, who of course left me incredibly big shoes to fill.

I’ve been a part of the LUG for a few years now, and it’s had a huge positive effect on me as a builder- it’s been inspirational meeting so many other creative, passionate, AFOLs. I’ve written about that joy, and many of the events I attended, previously.

As Engagement Officer, i’ll be looking to do likewise for others, highlighting some of the excellent shows and builds that the LUG produces, as well as sharing news in and outwith the group. It’s all very exciting- you can help me out by following some of the TartanLUG social media channels to help me out!

I’ve never had a minifig sigfig- enjoy my new hastily constructed avatar until something better appears!

Oban Winter Bricks 2022

Last month I attended Oban Winter Bricks for the first time, a dedicated Lego Event in the West of Scotland, and hosted by, once again, Tartan LUG.

After Brickmania in Peterhead and the Aberdeen Scale Model Show previously this year, this was the biggest Lego show i’ve attended and displayed in yet, with bigger displays, more builders, and seemingly endless waves of eager fans coming in through the doors. I displayed my reoccuring 2022 Castle MOC again -that I’ve yet to actually showcase here!- and a brand new Lego Pirates display; a big oceanscape complete with desert island, shipwreck, and mermaids.

I’ll post more of my own displays here eventually, but in the meantime, here’s some excellent builds and displays from other builders at the show. As always, plenty of inspiration to be found!

Aberdeen Scale Model Show 2022

Summer has been and gone, and the Aberdeen Scale Model Show took place in August, earlier this year. I attended with a band of fellow TartanLUG builders, and meant to write a post about it, but I feel far too much time has now passed.

That said, it would be entirely remiss of me not to post this one photo.

Lego animals from my display invading the carefully built flowerbeds of another builder’s MOC, definitely NOT making ice cream

Tartan LUG Members Day August 2022

Following my attendance at Brickmania 2022 earlier this summer, this weekend I attended a Members Day for my Lego Users Group in Perth, Scotland. I had previously missed one in November last year due to a weather storm, and one earlier this year due to Covid. Third time’s the charm!

The day was more of a catch-up and meeting rather than a full show and display of MOCs, but I and plenty of others still brought lots to share. Alongside built MOCs there were a number of vintage and rare sets that i’d never seen in person before, and this was surprisingly rewarding. A raffle was also hosted, along with a quiz, food, and numerous fans were there looking to sell or swap pieces. I met lots of great people, and left full of inspiration, ideas, and again, even more bought Lego than what I’ll ever really need. Once again, the whole day was just incredibly validating to know that other people got just as excited about Lego!

I have one more event scheduled for this summer, and then i’m off to Oban in November. Next year -between weddings, birthdays, and life- i’ll looking to attend and buld plenty more.

Brickmania 2022

After several years of being an AFOL followed by, oh yeah, a global pandemic, last month I finally got to attend and display at my first Lego show!

Brickmania 2022 was organised and hosted by my dear TartanLUG, and was a great weekend of Lego builds, shops, and fans situated in the Buchan Braes hotel just outside of Peterhead, Scotland. This was an incredibly cathartic two days for me- after building and sharing Lego creations alone for years uploading them online, it was great displaying for real fans, and definitely provided some validation to a hobby that I hold so dear to my heart. THIS IS A THING THAT OTHER PEOPLE DO AS WELL!

Very emotional, honestly. I’ve got lots more words -and potentially video- to share, but for now, some photo highlights from the weekend. I’ve left off my own MOCs- what I displayed will be revealed later. I’ll be looking to attend next year -as well as all the other Lego shows inbetween!- but what I saw that weekend was really inspiring. I’ll be going back even better!

A small lighthouse in a big sea

For the most recent TartanLUG Zoom build challenge, the brief was to build something using 20 Lego parts or less. I was sadly unable to attent the Zoom Meeting on the night, but the end-result of building on and off for the week prior was the microscale lighthouse below. As an AFOL i’ve spent most of my Lego life amassing more pieces to build bigger and better things, so having to be thrifty with piececount was definitely not something I was used to!

I struggled quite a bit with this challenge- I didn’t like my entry initially but I’m reasonably happy with how it turned out. With some experimentation, nineteen pieces were used in total, but I would love to add more and make something even bigger with more detail. Conceptually, I think the photos do a lot of heavy lifting. After I entered (and won!?) the contest, fellow builder Stewart Lamb Cromar created this excellent animated gif of the model, and this definitely sells the build further.

smalllighthouse.gif

The build challenge was fun, and definitely something I’m interested in pursuing again. I might continue in a microscale format or try something else. I just need to tidy the desk and organise the collection a bit more first!

MOC: Farmer Red vs the Green Knight Army

In place of Lego displays and exhibitions, for the last year my ‘local’ Lego Users Group TartanLUG have been having regular Zoom video calls. I’ve attended a few and it’s been great seeing what others have been building, buying, or collecting Lego wise; everyone sharing stories and ideas. Each meeting has a Build Challenge to inspire others to build something- a virtual show and tell!- with the theme for the meeting this past weekend “Monochrome”. I wasn’t able to attend the call, but I still built something for it all the same.

Farmer Red vs the Green Knight Army came together pretty quickly- from the outset a monochrome minifig was something I wanted to do, but this still proved pretty challenging with my Lego collection. Minifig head and torsos generally have printed designs so this ensured only certain colours were possible. When I started equipping the minifigs again, I was limited by what pieces I could use, but the whole build ultimately allowed me to show off with some rare and uncommong Lego pieces. One minifig as an entry didn’t feel substantial enough so I cheated the theme (somewhat) and built two to place them in a duel.

  • The Cowboy Hat in Red (3629) only came in two Lego sets from the 1970s, 372: Texas Rangers in 1977 and 365: Wild West in 1975 respectively. Im too young to have ever owned either set, but interestingly, they’re sets that never had printed minifigs, much like the finished MOC.

  • Utensil Pitchfork Type 2 in Red (95345) is a new recolour (and a new mold) of the older brown element that appeared in five fantastic Lego Castle sets 1984 onwards. The new red variant debuted recently in the 2020 Monkie Kid sets, notably 80010, 80013, and 80009. These sets are from a terrible new theme clearly not aimed at me, but the piece recolour is very nice!

  • The Castle Helmet with Neck Protector (3844/15606) in Green is an exciting one! Helmets in this colour were never formally released in a set, though did accompany a minifig called Rascus, again, unreleased. This might have been a promo item or a catalogue/retailer error, though Bricklink numbers the minifigure/set as 5996. So mysterious! I managed to snag three of these back in 2005ish through a Classic Castle fan jambalaya trade but only have two now. Sale prices for this piece range from £5-£13, with only 11 of them currently for sale. Rare!

  • Modified 2 x 4 with 2 Studs and Curved Sides (88000/17514) appeared in two sets in Green, 30071 and 7595 in 2010, and one set in Trans-Clear, 70809. The piece is very uncommon for set appearances but doesn’t actually carry much value on the aftermarket, with lots of people currently selling. I’ve used these pieces a few times before in builds mostly as landscaping, as I have here.

This is my first MOC since Widmore Keep. This is nowhere near as big or clever, or even as immediately striking, but with any Lego build it’s always about the pieces and colours used. I had lots of fun putting this together- I’ll be trying something similar again in the future!