A MOC... and an Impending Series...

My coins into the bucket this time around include a few things:

• I am currently in the making of the Plant City Depot, a train artifact that was preserved. Look for my video on Friday, which is the day after which I am committing to finish the MOC. Right now I am doing the outer walls and I will be working like crazy wrapping this bad boy up. The building will be the emphasized epicenter of the Plant City diorama which will appear on Florida LEGO User Group and Greater Florida LEGO User Group (longer term) displays in the future.
  The Plant City Depot was built in the late 1800s as a connector station for the Plant System and the Atlantic Coast Line. In 1974 after trimming and discontinuation when SCL service dwelled into Amtrak, the depot, what was left, got entered into the National Register of Historic Places. Now people are trying to turn Plant City into Folkston, but that is not happening so easy. Today, railfans gather inside the lobby to watch ATCS at the ticket desk, read magazines, check out memorabilia, or enjoy the layout in HO Scale (1:87).
  My LEGO rendition will be done in three phases. Phase one is the building and the outer walkway. Phase two is the interior; due to time, I may not have this by Friday. Phase three is the North side patio-ish walls/walkways. Due to my LEGO "palette", the roof will be black and not gray, but the black gives color and emphasis on the model. It is being constructed with dark red elements for walls and standard green windows. Watch me describe the true difficulty in the video.
• Semi- or entirely prototypical city and town buildings will be developed as a series. I am willing to create a LEGO show for YouTube which is a How-To conduit of making an all-inclusive LEGO City. Instances will be descriptive, variable length episodes from 4 to 10 minutes describing the model, its role in the city, and segments of the interior details that can be mirrored when the viewer would, hopefully ;), feel inspired. Look for this to begin surfacing with the Plant City Depot, followed probably by a bank. This series will "air" new episodes to YouTube weekly until August 19, with the exceptions of July 5-9, and when I go to Folkston. After August 19 look for bi-weekly airings.

That's about all under MY sleeve. Will share them all soon.

Western Town Church

Western Town Church, a photo by Matija Grguric on Flickr.

Clever roof idea. Hmm.... Maybe do this on gray bricks for my plant city diorama?

Cottage

Cottage, a photo by NewRight on Flickr.

Excellent model and very detailed. I really like the choice of parts and colors.

Sidewalk construction

Sidewalk construction, a photo by tater-tots on Flickr.

Very nice detailed moc addon by Tater-tots, which not all LEGO layouts cover. I'm feeling a bit inspired myself. ;)

LEGOLAND Florida update - "A Walk in the Park" with GM Adrian Jones

A great video of updates for LEGOLand Florida. The park will open in 4 months. I recommend watching this as it will be informative in showing how the park is expected to look. With other clips from other parks, they are also showing how LLFL actually looks today. LLFL will be replacing Cypress Gardens. I really like how they are incorporating a decent roller coaster in the City section, which will distinctify LLFL. This park looks promising and LEGO buffs like myself cannot wait until it is open.

Lego Maersk train 10219 and 7939 Cargotrain

As usual, LEGOSjaak has an impressive layout. Here's a video of the Maersk train on it. Nowadays it motivates me to continue to do a LEGO town. Despite being heavily faceted on sets it looks like a buzzing LEGO town.

Train towers

Train towers, a photo by CVIC Works on Flickr.

An interesting structure. It's like one of those garage spirals.

LEGO Universe Offers Free to Play Interface

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/308507/news/lego-universe-gets-free-to-play-offering/

This sounds real interesting. LEGO Universe, the MMORPG that LEGO has provided is a paid subscription program. Now there's a free trial to enjoy building what you want.

I think this allows more flexibility in determining if it is the right move for you. Now, I'm not into the MMOG just yet but I definitely want to make sure if I do get into it that my money goes in the right place. I feel though that I would've enjoyed it when younger, and not now with the limited time I have.

This is something Microsoft Flight Simulator X has, and that got me to buy it because I liked it. I don't like the hassle of spending x bucks on the get-go for something I don't like, plus that of RETURNING the game. Hence such free trials add convenience and should be applicable on things like Trainz Sim.

BrickMagic 2011 Display

BrickMagic 2011 Display, a photo by eszx on Flickr.

Ouch... that gotta hurt! A brickmagic pic of a derailment of an intermodal train.

European Assault Part 2

European Assault Part 2, a photo by Legoliner PiIot on Flickr.

Colby's nice WWII diorama as seen from Brickworld 2011. Very detailed.

Pick A Brick Update: Palette Improving Worldwide (In Detail)

I briefly noted this subject matter in an April 2011 post, but I want to be more detailed.

http://www.brickbuildr.com/view/pab/

If you look at the more recent store indexes on the link above, you will notice the presence of dark red and dark blue elements.

The PAB wall palette has been given a facelift. One can find the following.

Dark red basic 1x2 bricks, and basic 2x4 bricks. These can build brick structures and add color when one chooses to use these to build sculptures
Dark Tan 2x2 and 1x2 tiles. These are great sidewalk and facade level detail elements.
Arch window sills in brown--gold windows. These are nifty for old buildings, castle dioramas, European structures, what have you.
Dark blue double convex slope. These are harder to find the functionality but work on roofing of all sorts.
Brown barrels. This adds variety into minifig accessories categories.
Dark red wings of dimension 3x6. A variety element, one can conceive walls, wings, and whatnot with these elements.
More brown, gray, tan elements. These are essential for city and nature building.
Lime 1x2 tiles. A stealthy addition, it adds variety to your tile collection and can function well in colorful conceptions and "Wonderland" ish designs.

Luckily since April the Hero Factory series has virtually disappeared from the wall. I say luckily since - many fans agree - it's a waste of space.

PAB is my main resort as it winds up cheap compared to other sets, can allow bulking like no other ways, and can allow stuff to be created in different ways. Sets come with a limited amount of anything so to say. While unarguably a LUGBULK order, which is for LUGs only and to benefit in public display, is better, PAB is the second best resort to it. Sometimes a LEGO fan might luck out at a LEGO store.

PAB cup filling aside, I might come up with a review of either the new set 10219 Maersk Train or 10218 Pet Shop as I aspire to purchase either set the coming weeks. Also look for a new video on YouTube which will be posted here of the Plant City depot.

LEGO 10221

Bigger than practically anything LEGO made is the Super Star Destroyer. The set has just over 3100 pieces and will retail for about an estimated 300 USD.

The Super Star Destroyer is a sci-fi based design coming off the Star Wars (TM) line.

I really like the technique as always. LEGO often hits the big time with these huge sets and by the angling of elements in this set they really did.

I don't think I will grab it but I think it will be a MUST BUY for many!

Slight Re-theming

From here on forth, the blog shall be known as:

Tolga's LEGO Buzz

and the url will now be:

tolgalegobuzz.blogspot.com

I have elected to cover more LEGO sub-themes than just trains, hence changing the name. A name is the ambassador of the product, nonetheless.

Thanks and have a great day!

Fishing Boat MOD video

I felt like doing this to get some money's worth from this set. Paying 20.00 for a 64 part set was the opposite of a steal. Meanwhile I feel as though I came up with one of the most sophisticated LEGO fishing boat MOCs ever, be that it is so or not. Perfect applications of MOCs like these include: set 4644 marina, Clearwater beach, bathtubs and pools everywhere (best sans stickers), and any Miami or Keys diorama.