Brickspace Dictionary: n x n x n

n x n x n (n.)
When measuring Lego bricks, we usually use the n x n x n system. This is much like normal measurements in which we provide the width x length x height of the brick, though sometimes the height is not required.

Most Lego bricks and plates can be classed as either 1xn or 2xn. In these examples, n could be any number. So 1xn means any brick that has one of its measurements (apart from height) as 1. This could be a 1x2 brick, a 1x4 brick or even a 1x16 brick! Similarly, 2xn bricks can have any length, but have to have a width of 2 (we usually put the shortest measurement as the width, but in the case of square (eg. 2x2) bricks, it doesn't matter).

This measuring system has a flaw, however: the units of width and length (sometimes shown by □ (a square)) are not the same as the unit of height (sometimes shown by ◇ (a diamond)). However, they can be interchanged using the 5:6 ratio, which is that every 5 brick height units equals 6 horizontal stud units.

You may often see a brick has a height of 2/3 (eg. 2 x 2 x 2/3). This is the only height measurement <1, because for every one height unit, three plates can take its place. Thus, 2/3 means that the brick is two plates high: say, for example, a cheese wedge. As I said, this is the only fraction measurement: 1/3 would just be a plate, and 3/3 is a whole, a 1.

The width and length measurements can also be fractions, though only 1/2s. If you use a jumper plate (a 1 x 2 plate with a single stud in the middle of it), you can offset the length or width by 1/2.

Brickspace Dictionary: Joe Vig

Joe Vig (n.) (Joe Vig)
Joe Vig is a minifigure thought up by Mike Crowley, Nelson and Patrick Yrizarry. He is a common figure used in Vignettes who is always in danger.

Crowley and the Yrizarrys' first idea was to have 'Joe Food', a minifigure which they would photograph in different restaurants and post the pictures on LUGNET. They then changed the name to Joe Vig ('Vig' being short for 'vignette').

Joe Vig has brown hair, a red shirt, red trousers, and the first Ron Weasley face. Other hats and accessories must be white to keep with the Joe Vig theme.

The first Joe Vig contest was held in June 2005 as Joe's popularity soared in the early years of the 21st century. A full list of Vignettes with Joe Vig in them can be found on the LUGNET page here .

Information for this article was taken from the official LUGNET article .

Brickspace Dictionary: URPs

URP (abbrev.) (Ug·ly Rock Piece)
The URP family consists of two large hollow rocky pieces that are used commonly in landscaping and creating mountains. The URPs are also found in many Castle MOCs.

'URP' usually stands for Ugly Rock Piece, though it can also stand for Ugly Rock Part. They are 'ugly' because of their square, blocky and un-rock-like look. There are two types of URP:

LURP, standing for Little Ugly Rock Piece. These are roughly triangular in shape.









BURP, standing for Big Ugly Rock Piece. These are quite wide and square in their shape.








BURPs and LURPs are generally meant to be built upon with more bricks in the same colour:

Brickspace Dictionary: BBC

BBC (abbrev.) (Bi·o·nicle Based Cre·ation)
The term BBC is used to signify a Bionicle creation. Though the abbreviation may also relate to the British Broadcasting Corporation, in the LOC it refers to a creation which uses Bionicle, Technic and some System bricks. BBCs are usually named with a mock-Toa name or a variation on a usual Bionicle name, such as that of a Bohrok or Rahi.

On the Bionicle fansite BZPower, there is a monthly contest held called BBC.

The Heart is only an Organ.

Or at least, that's what Jordan Schwartz (Sir Nadroj) thinks. In his latest freaky, slightly disturbing, loads of tentacles are grabbing a heart, dragging it to the very dark depths of hell. Well, that's how I interpret it. It's modern art, this is all to be expected.

So here's the picture, and a link to the MOCpages page , because Schwartz has blocked people from copying images from his Flickr. ARGH!

Brickspace Dictionary: Cheese Wedge

Cheese Wedge (n.) (Cheese Wedge)
The Cheese Wedge, sometimes known as the Cheese Brick, or Cheese slope, is a relatively new addition to the slope family of Lego bricks.

The cheese wedge, so named because of its cheese-like shape and minifig compatibility, measures 1 x 1 x 2/3, meaning it is 2 plates tall.

An addition to the cheese wedge is the cheese grater brick, named by AFOL Mike Yoder. The cheese wedge is a 1 x 2 x 2/3 slope and has a grate on it, making it look like a cheese grater. It was released in 2008.

Brickspace Dictionary: Sigfig

Sigfig (abbrev.) (Sig·na·ture Fig·ure)
A Sigfig is a defining minifigure for you and your user in the Lego Online Commuinty. Sometimes called a 'sigfiggy', the abbreviation groups Signature and Figure (from minifigure) to create Sigfig. 'Sigfig' is usually spelt with a capital S or no capitals at all.

Sigfigs can be shown to the public on sheets such as the one to the right, which is Joris Blok's. On these sheets, MOCers outline the best points of their Sigfigs and what they mean.

On many forums you can add an 'avatar' of yourself. A Sigfig is just this: a minifigure representation of yourself that other users can recognise. Sigfigs do not necessarily have to resemble you: they can be whatever you want them to be.

The Sigfiggy Abuser's Club on MOCpages is a popular club which holds an annual competition to see who can abuse other users' Sigfigs in the best way possible, called the Darwin Awards.

Bricks don't have to connect completely...

I have recently found two MOCs on MOCpages which have something in common: they both utilise building techniques in which bricks only touch at one corner, and the stud-and-tube joint is not completely used. This is an interesting and unique idea for complex designs, as you will see.

The first MOC is Jerac 's Cobrahn , a sleek, 'swooshable' spaceship that has a clever technique in its wings, where a 1x1 circular plate has been placed at the end stud of 1x4 and 1x3 bricks, then those bricks are connected normally at the other end, creating a wonderfully smooth, curved shape.

Next up is Marek Markiewicz ' brilliant Monowheel , which uses loads of 1x2 plates to create a smooth wheel for a large wheel-based vehicle of the future. If you check out the rest of the photos, you'll see Markiewicz has cleverly integrated the wheel into the frame, and though it is fragile, it looks brilliant.

~John

Pictures of new Summer '09 Lego sets

Kanal-K1 of Brickshelf has recently posted pictures of many of the Summer set releases coming up this year, and has even built the sets himself. Though his list is mainly Lego City sets, that in itself has got me excited for the summer: he has a set I have not seen before...

A wind turbine repair truck and car! Exciting, in a sort-of environmentally friendly way.

Kanal-K1's gallery can be found here .

~John

Carrier-Class Light Attack Sub

It's not just the Beatles who live in a Yellow Submarine. Vid' has recebtly shown off his submarining skills and astounded his fans with an insight into a rarely-built theme: sub-marine equipment and vehicles. Full to the brim with guns, gadgets and greeblies, Vid's underwater tank has some novel features (including a full SNOT 180 (Sd) joint at the centre), but some places are slightly fishy in design (notably the side of the windscreen). Nonetheless, it's a great creation.

Brickspace Dictionary: Fleebnork

Fleebnork (n.) (Fleeb·nork)
Fleebnorks are fictional Lego creatures that were popular at teh start of the 21st century. They consist of a 2x2 parabolic disc attached to a 'scorpion' part.

Fleebnorks eat through power couplings and any other metal and Lego space-related objects they can get their claws on. Currently the only way of stopping a Fleebnork is burning it with a plasma flamethrower.

Fleebnorks, sometimes abbreviated to 'Fleebs', make a distincitive sound like 'pleh'. They are usually trans. light green or yellow. If a Fleebnork does not keep with this colour scheme, they are called 'Pseudofleebs'

New Fleebs are being made up all the time, the most notable being the Pimpnork, a Fleebnork with a sliver shell and a black body.

Information on Fleebnorks taken from Fleebnork.com .

Brickspace Dictionary: Dark Age

Dark Age (n.) (Dark Age)
Used mainly by AFOLs, 'Dark Age' is a popular phrase used to sum up a period in one's life when you were not interested in Lego or active in the Lego online forums and community. This mainly happens because a person is a fan of Lego as a child, then grows out of Lego when they go to University or get a job. They then rediscover Lego later, and become active in the LOC. The period when that person is not interested in Lego is called their dark age.

This can also mean a dark time when a MOCer is online, and when they only build one thing.

Brickspace Dictionary: COW

COW (acr.) (Curved Out Wedge)
The acronym 'COW' is short for Curved Out Wedge. In the early 2000s, Lego started releasing curved versions of the classic straight slopes. Though they are much rarer than the slopes, they are used widely in MOCs as they offer a smoother, more interesting alternative to the usual straight slope.

Teleportation Demonstration

I don't think there is any way humanely possible for me to not blog Sir Nadroj's awe-inspiring MOC straight away. It's just too cool. Based on Disneyland's 'Alien Encounter: The ExtraTERRORestrial' attraction, Nadroj (Schwartz)'s latest Lifelite masterpiece includes a great smoke machine as well. I can't put how amazing this creation is into words, so here is the video Schwartz made to accompany the MOC:


And, to cap it all of, the title rhymes. You can't get much better than that, folks!

Brickspace Dictionary: Chibi

Chibi (n.) (Chi·bi)
The word 'Chibi' is used as a suffix before the name of a MOC to show that it is a smaller version of another MOC or set. For example, the MOC shown on the right is Jacob's Chibi Monarch. It is a smaller, 'cuter' version of his other creation called Monarch, shown below the Chibi Monarch.

The word 'Chibi' comes from a series of manga drawings and cartoons of small, nose-less and large-eyed cute-looking characters. This series is called Chibi.

Mongeese? Mongooses?

Please excuse the title. I was trying to find the plural for 'Nickre's newest creation: a remake of the Halo Mongoose he made a year ago.

STOP! STOP! Yes, I DO know it's a Halo creation. I admit that. Don't spam my inbox, please. It exhibits excellent building techniques, 'k?

Batman has parent issues.

Spastik Chuwawa has recently posted this stupid but hilarious short film onto his YouTube. See how 'cool' I was there? I didn't even say 'channel' after 'YouTube'. 'YouTube' becomes the noun. Heck yeah.

Please, if you think it's stalling, it's not. Go with the flow, man.

What've we been up to?

It seems to be the case that when someone joins our staff, we stop posting their creations. So I thought I might just show you guys what we've been up to in the last few weeks, since most of our staff are brilliant builders as well as good bloggers.

Zack has been showing off his furniture skills...

And building wacky Podracers!

Jacob's been hard at work designing this great spaceship...

...and this brilliantly-designed WIP truck with a unique front cabin!

Doc Sinister's been messing around with cows in ways never before explored by humankind...

...and raking in the TLG goods for the Lego Tat collection on Flickr!

Gorazd's been hard at work creating his own version of the upcoming Space Police sets, such as this police ship...

and this swooshable Space Pirate punk ship thingy. Emos in space!

Sadly, Teikjoon has informed his fans that he will be leaving the Lego community indefinately, and has espressed himself in a poem:

I must not fear.

Fear is the mind-killer.

Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.

I will face my fear.

I will permit it to pass over me and through me.

And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.

Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.

Only I will remain.

So, I am guessing this means he won't be contributing to Brickspace any more. We will all miss you here, Teikjoon! Fare well! Adieu!

On a lighter note, I've been having a bit of fun with some windows...

And, as Zack showed you a while back, building Power Miners alt models. Boy, it sure does feel good to blog my own creations. Blow my own trumpet, y'know? Play my own piano, slap my own fish, drink my own tea, climb my own fence, eat my own scone...

Oh dear. I've got carried away.

~John

'In Before Closing Time'

Matn of Flickr has recently shown us his entry into the Big Toy Hut Lego Zombie Contest. In his great creation, the zombies are stumbling into a shop and attacking the inhabitants. Fun fun fun.

Sale Pitch

Good ol' Zach Macias (aka. ZachMG, Mindgame Studios) has recently made a short, random, and really quite disturbing film about a car seller's sales pitch. Though it's rather crazy, and the use of language is rather uncalled for (but I usually don't mind bad language). It really doesn't matter, he never actually says it. But he intended to. There's a big difference there.

As I said, it's a bit... strange

You guys will be happy to know that the Dane Cook bandwagon has finally slowed and stopped. SO FAR... DUM DUM DUMMMMMMM!!

Farvel!
~John