Bill Ward - All - LEGO - Models

Coast Guard Base

Last fall, the Bay Area LEGO Train Club (BayLTC) was doing a show where many of our usual waterfront models were not available, so I volunteered to build a new model for that spot. I discovered Coast Watch HQ sets on sale at Costco for about $20 each, and bought two of them. I used many parts from the sets, such as the baseplates and windows, but built a new design to be a little more realistic. The building is of my own original design, but the helicopter and cutter are based on real U.S. Coast Guard equipment. Since it was for a train show, I made it come apart into pieces for easy transport.

Esso Garage

A garage to take your LEGO cars for their regular maintenance. Has two service bays, each with a lift to give the mechanics access underneath the car. Also equipped with a workbench and a complete inventory of repair parts and tires.

This model is fully detailed on the interior, and also features rare and valuable printed bricks (Two each of "ESSO SERVICE" and "GARAGE") from the 1960's.

Christmas 2003: Santa Claus Bust

Initially I wanted to build a complete Santa Claus model, but Christmas came and went and I had only built the head and neck. So I finished this model as a bust.

St. Patrick's Day 2004: Leprechaun

This Leprechaun was built for BayLUG's March 20, 2004 meeting, where we had a St. Patrick's Day contest. You can see pictures of the contest entries in my meeting pictures page from that meeting.

Planetary Research Vessel

This vessel may look like a fighter, but rest assured it is completely peaceful. Honest. Really.

The things that look like guns? Oh, those are for drilling rock samples from asteroids. And those six missiles? Those aren't missiles, they're probes that are sent into gas giants to sample chemical composition.

Attitude jets are positioned all over for maximum maneuverability, for ... dodging asteroids, yeah that's the ticket! Dodging asteroids.

Really, totally peaceful. No warlike intentions. I mean it!

Formula X Racer

Formula X Racing uses the latest in rocket technology. This racer is expected to dominate the solar system racing circuit this year.

The wings are attached using hinges. The lower wings fold up to the horizontal for landing, and the landing gear legs fold out. In flight, the lower wings are adjusted to a 45-degree angle.

The rear engines have attitude jets on the top, bottom, and sides. There are also attitude jets facing down in the nose.

Sorry if the images are hard to make out... that's the hazard of building in black.

P38

This was my entry for the P-38 contest from LUGNET Space.

Sorry if the images are hard to make out... that's the hazard of building in black.

Modular Downtown Buildings

These buildings were made for the BayLTC train layouts. Fellow club member Kenny Paul and I agreed on a standard for the placement of Technic pegs to connect the buildings together. However, with practice it turned out to be easier to not connect them, but to just place them next to each other.

The pegs are placed in a 1x2 Technic brick with peg hole, at the 7th and 8th studs in from the street, at the 3rd and (optionally) 8th brick heights. In addition, pegs may be placed at the rear, also at the 7th and 8th studs from the edge. The backs and sides of the buildings are incomplete because they are not visible; the rule is that from street level to the 6th stud, and everything above 12 bricks in height, must be decorated.

The tan building has a removable wall on the right side. This allows it to be a corner building or to be in the middle of a series of buildings. The removable wall features a fire escape.

Pokémon

Here are models I built of the characters from the popular Pokémon TV show, mainly during 2000 and 2001. Why Pokémon? At the time, my wife and I were collecting and watching video tapes of the show. It seems like kind of a dumb show if you just see one episode, but if you follow the story in sequence there is a certain logic to it. It's basically a samurai story, and as students of Japanese culture we found it very interesting.

In late 2000 my brother-in-law Jim told me about a Slashdot article about a LEGO Desk built by Eric Harshbarger. I looked at the sculptures on his site and said to myself, "I could do that" (I must have been a guitar player in a former life...)

So I went down to Toys 'R Us and bought several big blue tubs of LEGO. At the time, they were selling set 3033 for $20, containing 1200 bricks in the basic colors. My first construction was the Pokeball, shown below with Pikachu. Then I tackled Pikachu himself. That's what started my current association with LEGO, and I haven't stopped yet!

Pictures of the January 2002 meeting can be seen on my site. You can also view more pictures of the March 2001 and January 2002 meetings on the BayLUG website.

For detailed pictures of my Pokémon creatures, see Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Bulbasaur Internals, and Squirtle.

These three pictures were taken at BayLUG (Bay Area LEGO User's Group) meetings.

Pokémon is a registered trademark of Nintendo.

Pikachu

My first sculpture was Pikachu. I started with his eyes and nose and then worked around to the rest of his head. Then I proceeded down, building upside-down until I reached his bottom. Pikachu is one of the longest-lasting models I've made, being built in late 2000/early 2001, and not being disassembled until early 2004. But don't fear, I made an electronic copy, and could recreate him if I ever want to.

Pokémon is a registered trademark of Nintendo.