Lego Keith Hernandez 2009
Published on 19 Apr 2009 at 6:18 pm by Mike.
4 Comments.
Filed under Lego.
To complement the posting of Lego 1986 Keith Hernandez, here is a 2009 Keith Hernandez minifig. He has a custom face decal (note reading glasses) and a tiny handpainted American flag pin.
As usual, full-size pictures in my flickr set.
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Lego Keith Hernandez 1986
Published on 25 Mar 2009 at 8:19 am by Mike.
9 Comments.
Filed under Lego.
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I’ve been working on this one for a while and it’s finally done: Lego Keith Hernandez 1986.
This was my first face decal. Thank you everyone who reviewed the variations. I also did decals for the stripes. I had a hard time getting the colors of the stripes right (because of the color of the plastic underneath) but other than that I’m pretty happy with it. Helmet emblem, belt, socks, and shoes are hand-painted.
The glove is made of Green Stuff putty. He’s got interchangeable right hands so he can hold the glove or the bat. The bat is from BrickArms.com
Full-size photos in my Lego flickr set
Fame at Last
Published on 27 Jan 2009 at 11:25 pm by Mike.
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Filed under Lego.
A big thanks to Red Sox Monster for posting about my Lego creations, as well as Home Run Derby, Yahoo Sports, Deadspin, MetsBlog, and all the others who picked up the story.
Side note: apparently Kevin Youkilis is a Lego fan (or at least his stepson is). I’ll trade him a custom for an autographed something!
Latest Legos
Published on 26 Jan 2009 at 8:22 am by Mike.
5 Comments.
Filed under Lego.
I’ve been a slacker about posting my projects lately, so here they are all in one lump:
Kathy is from Maine and she and her mom are Red Sox fans. Her mom requested a Jonathan Papelbon, so here he is. I tried to capture his weird facial expression but it didn’t come out so good. 
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While I was at it I did Kevin Youkilis too. I think his trademark grimace came out pretty good. I gave him a black eye but got rid of it, it made him look like a zombie or something.  |
Here’s Brandon Dubinsky of the Rangers. This was a tough one because the Rangers’ uniforms are so intricate and stripey. Eventually I decided to just try to capture the feeling of it rather than reproduce it exactly. I think it came out ok. The socks are sort of sloppy but by that time I was mentally done working on it.  |
Indoor Skydiving
Published on 16 Oct 2008 at 7:41 am by Mike.
2 Comments.
Filed under Random.
I’m in Las Vegas for a conference, so last night I headed over to Flyaway Indoor Skydiving. It was really fun, and you should check it out if you’re in Vegas. You watch a training video, go over safety and hand signals, get your equipment, and then go into the wind tunnel.
One thing I didn’t picture when I read about it was how HOT it would be in there. As one of the guys working there said “It’s like being under the hood of a car.”
Here’s a video of my session (no audio).
Lego Jason Giambi
Published on 16 Jun 2008 at 8:49 am by Mike.
2 Comments.
Filed under Lego.
 Ever since I made Lego David Wright, people have been saying “Make some Yankees!”.
Your wish is granted. Here is Lego Giambi, complete with slump-breaking moustache and thong. |
First Light: Celestron NexStar 8 SE
Published on 15 Jun 2008 at 9:08 pm by Mike.
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Filed under Astronomy.
The clouds finally lifted, and last week I got the check out my new NexStar. After setting up the red dot finder, I was ready to go.
Having already entered my latitude and longitude info into the scope’s computer during one of the cloudy nights, alignment was very easy. From my backyard I could see the moon, Saturn, and Mars in the sky, so I decided to try using the Solar System Align. I got the moon centered in the scope, hit the button, and the scope immediately began to track.
I still love my dobsonian, but it’s so great to let the scope do the tracking instead of having to nudge the scope every few seconds. I think it’s really going to help with photography.
Next I hit the button for the scope to slew to Saturn, and there it was, right in the center. Then I told it to go to Mars, and the result was the same. Very satisfying. Although I do hope to learn the constellations better, the GoTo functionality is going to be great for short sessions where you want to see something quick.
So far so good. I hope to post some moon or Saturn pictures in the next couple weeks.
Curse of the New Scope
Published on 9 Jun 2008 at 8:56 am by Mike.
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Filed under Astronomy.
I’ve got a brandy-new scope, a Celestron NexStar 8 SE… so of course it has been raining or overcast every night since I bought it last week.
The good news is that I got the scope-to-Starry Night interface working, so once the scope is aligned I can use Starry Night to slew it. I’m really excited about the tracking features on this scope - should make both observing and photography much easier.
More detail when the clouds clear…
Lego David Wright
Published on 12 May 2008 at 8:14 am by Mike.
8 Comments.
Filed under Lego.
Here’s David Wright, complete with orange t-shirt and sticking-out tongue. This is the first time I’ve used decals.
Up to now I’ve painted everything by hand, but the pinstripes, logo, numbers, etc were just too detailed so I decided to give decalling a try. I used MicroMark clear inkjet decal paper.
You just print the decal right onto the paper and give it a clear coating (MicroMark sells some special decal stuff but I just used Krylon clear matte spray). After that you apply it like a regular water-slide decal. After the decals dried I painted over them with gloss varnish to match the lego sheen. It was easier than I thought, and I’m pretty happy with the results.
Now that I’ve done Wright, I have a uniform template I can use to make other Mets really easily. All I have to do is change three text layers (front number, back number, and name) and I’m ready to go.
Really the only problem I have with it is it raises the Minifig Race Issue. If I were to make Reyes, if I used a regular yellow head, it would look weird and I don’t think he’d be identifiable as Reyes. But if I use a darker skin color for Reyes, then yellow becomes “white” and now Wright looks weird.
I went through this same mental dilemma when I was thinking about making Firefly minifigs and I never resolved it (or went forward with the Firefly stuff).
I’m not sure what other customizers do. One guy who makes Halo minifigs uses yellow for everyone, but the Sarge just doesn’t look right to me.
Maybe if I continue I’ll go back and redo Wright with pink skin, but as a standalone piece I like the way he came out.
Lucky Shot
Published on 9 Mar 2008 at 7:13 am by Mike.
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Filed under Astronomy.
Took this from our balcony in Phoenix last week. You can see the moon, Jupiter (top left), Venus and Mercury (bottom right), and Earth. That’s a personal best for most heavenly bodies in one shot!
Click the image for full-size version at flickr.
