Jasbrick

Hi, it has been quite a while since I last posted and wanted to try and show some of the things I have been doing since I last visited Eurobricks. I have been working on minor adjustments to minifigs rather than the drastic over the top customisation that seems to be the trend recently. Here are some examples of my handpainted tattoos: Shadowrun Double Dragons by JasBrick, on Flickr Jas Master of the Dark Arts by JasBrick, on Flickr Some combination customs: Project Odysseus New Crew Members by JasBrick, on Flickr Some Steampunk tweaking: Vinci - The Gnome Inventor by JasBrick, on Flickr I am currently working on a project inspired by the roleplaying game Shadowrun (both minifigs and building) and would be delighted if others would join me in making things for the group Shadowbrick http://www.flickr.com/groups/2158204@N25/ Anyway, thanks for looking. Comments are always welcome (Eurobricks tends to be one of the quietest places I post) Kind Regards Jasbrick

Anyone got an update on this? Being 20 minutes away from Cardiff the new store will be perfect for me... If anyone has the opening date please share. Jasbrick

I think the term "factions" is appropriate and possibly one of the key points. People seem to feel the need to classify themselves as either one thing or the other. We all enjoy Lego and some of us use it in different ways... which is probably why the AFOL community is so strong. Diversity and imagination is a trademark of this hobby. What gets people riled (I admit, me included) is when someone with a different viewpoint tries to force that view as the accepted standard. I would never try to suggest that someone use custom pieces or modify a part when it is clear that they want to try and use unmodified pieces (sometimes out of a desire to be pure, sometimes out of a desire to challenge themselves by self-imposing a restriction on the parts available). As someone who is about as pure as yellow snow I would like to suggest that sometimes us customizers (I am one, and not afraid to admit it) get very sensitive to criticism from those we label as purists and lose sight of some important facts: 1. Ok, we are free to do what we want but just because we paint, cut, glue does not mean that what we end up with is any good. Why should purists (I use this term without meaning anything derogatory) clap us on the back and say "wow" when what we have done is rubbish. We may love our creation (which is the reason I customise) but others may not... get over it. 2. Linked to above, it is far harder to create an absolute abomination using normal lego pieces than it is when people start to introduce the mess that can be created by paint, glue, sharpie etc... Pure lego pieces are clean, professionally printed and finished beautifully... how many of us customisers can say the same? So basically if you customise accept the fact that people will see the imperfections. 3. Builders that only use pure techniques get battered as well! I don't condone criticism (advice is my methodology for helping others to improve)but I have seen some very prominent builders get comments along the lines of "this looks wrong", "you should change this", "meh, your last one was better". So even though it would seem that there is a special place in hell picked out for those of us that customize, you will be pleased to know that we are probably not going to be alone. So in summary, I agree with Saber Scorpion that he has every right to do what he does but I would like us customizers to up our game a bit and realise that if you are doing this for anything other than personal pleasure (the best reason of all) you need to be aware of the points I raise above. Jasbrick

Hi, Here is an update on my current project, Alternative World War II. For those not familiar with this genre it is an extension of tradional WWII with bits like Zombies, Robots, Supernatural and strange tech... hence the term alternative. I am working on quite a few new designs, however here are some examples so far: German Robot Controller: American Airborne Rocketeer: German Evil Scientist: German Wolfenstein Paratrooper: The intention is to combine these with my previously made WWII Customs and develop a Brikwars campaign and display. Jasbrick

This is an excellent fig and I am so surprised that nobody has said so up until now... (this is a strange thing about this particular forum, where excellent pieces like this are ignored whilst other things that I think are terrible get showered in comments... bizarre!) Anyway, I love the use of the gas mask piece here and whilst the bronze Brickarms pieces add to the steampunky feel the fig is great on its own. As always the digital effects greatly enhance the presentation. Nice work. Jasbrick

Excellent work and very accurately converted. Well done. I particularly like the Commando Droids and the Tactical Droid is definitely a serious piece of work. If I may offer some advice, one thing I noticed was that the yellow on the Firefighting droids was a little translucent... if you want it to stand out more could I recommend first painting the area that will be yellow in a strong but light colour (such as GW Codex Grey). When painting over this with the yellow it will make it much brighter. I bet you can make some excellent MOC's based on the Clone Wars with so many of the important characters / types represented here. Jasbrick

I look forward to seeing that... going through everything you have done can be a very useful exercise, for me it showed me the gaps in my collection and helped me decide where I want to take things in 2010. Jasbrick

A lot of these rely on pieces from Brickarms, Brickforge, Arealight, MMCB, Amazing Armory and probably most importantly Lego. Jasbrick Do you mean like this: Jasbrick

Thank you very much.... with regard to paints etc. I describe this in my blog here. Jasbrick

Thanks... I understand the comment regarding the warhammer figs, however it is very difficult to customise without at least attempting to include some detail. In most cases I hope that my figs stay true to minifig style, however I do admit that I have gotten carried away in the past (e.g. Stargate Jaffa). I create my figs principally for my own use (even though I do sell some through Firestar) and I suppose it is mainly down to what we each feel is appropriate. Jasbrick

Hi, It has been a while since I last posted and I thought I would start by a review of all the work I have done over the last year (my first as a customiser). I would love to show every single one, but due to the sheer number I think it best to show an example of each theme that I have played with and a link to the set in Flickr if you want to see more. So here they are! Castle (a relatively new theme for me which I will be doing more in soon) Centaur Swordmaster Castle Set Link Jin Roh (Alternative WWII with German occupied Japan influence) Special Police in Protect Gear Armour Jin Roh Set Link Stargate Jaffa Horus Guard Stargate Set Link Steampunk Steamtrooper Steampunk Set Link Zombie Hunters (One of my favourite themes) Pyscho Zombie Hunter Set Link Brikviet (My absolute favourite theme) Ground Support Pilot Brikviet Set Link WWII German Sniper Team WWII Set Link HALO ODST Trooper HALO Set Link Comic Heroes Iron Man (Auctioned off as part of Creations for Charity) Comic Heroes Set Link Star Wars Airborne Ranger Clone Trooper Star Wars Set Link Space Pirates Slayer Space Pirates Set Link Corporation Military Contractor Corporation Set Link Briktish Grinning Death Briktish Set Link Krieg Krieg Paratrooper Krieg Set Link Napoleonic Sharpe, 95th Rifles Napoleonic Set Link That is pretty much it for the major themes... sorry if this is too large or contravenes a rule, however I thought it was best to get it all in one post. I hope you like these and I will try and do better this year. Jasbrick

Thanks all for your comments... sorry to take so long to respond, I don't normally get so many responses so I forgot to check. Jasbrick

Sorry Amanda I missed this question before. Green Stuff can be harder to use than those that you mention, however I believe the results are far greater in the end. Once you get used to working it (which I think did not take me too long) it can really work well. Green stuff air dries in about 4 hours (I either dry it under a lamp or leave overnight to be absolutely sure) and once set it is really set. I then use a spray undercoat on top before painting the desired colour. Somebody on my flickr stream recommended a cheaper version called ProCreate, which looks to be the same type of thing (with more for your buck), however I have not tried it so cannot give it a true recommendation. Hopefully that helps, but if you have any other questions just let me know. Jasbrick

Not sure whether to take that as a compliment or not. I was going for detailed in this case. Jasbrick

It is sculpted from a modelling putty called Green Stuff. The pieces are based on normal lego elements to allow for them to be removed from the fig like normal armour. The helmet hawk part is designed to swivel on a stud so that it can replicate the movement in the film / TV series. Jasbrick