The Winners of the Summer Building Contest have been selected. The choices were not easy because all the entries were really great. The winners of each sub category were first selected and then they were compared to each other for the selection of the grand prize winner. The grand prize winner was selected primarily on the basis of originality and the and the large number of first place votes received from the various participants of the r.t.l. newsgroup. Thanks are due to all who have participated.
The Grand Prize Winner is a Trojan horse entered by Susan Hoover. Susan writes the following about her beautiful red horse. "Technically, it predates the Castle system by about 1400 years, give or take a century. - The inside of the horse is hollow. There are two guys climbing down the ladder from the hole in the belly. - I tried to keep the armor and weapons authentic for the Trojan period. Thus, only spears and broadswords, except for the one guy who has figured out how to use a bow and arrow. Just pretend it's not a longbow. - The Greeks were a cheery lot, as you can see by the smiles on their faces as they go off to war. Photo #1 is a closeup of the underneath, where you can see the guys on the ladder. Photo #2 is a quarter-frontal view. Photo #3 shows the right profile. Photo #4 shows the horse from a mini-fig's-eye view."
Trojan Horse Pictures 1-4, Trojan Horse Pictures 5-7
The Town Winner is a very nice and original Container Truck built by Jacob Sparre Andersen. It is part of his "City X'ers" set of models. The entrie series is really cool!
Minimized, Prepared for Extension, With Single Short Container, Compressed (double size container version), Prepared for Extension (double size container version, With double size container + Postal Service City X'er.
The Space Winner is a Blacktron train designed and built by Brian Ward. The train consists of a engine and four cars. They use the original Blacktron color scheme of black with a yellow stripe for trim. The engine is a sleek machine that opens to reveal a futuristic engine. The back flips up to allow the spaceman engineer to enter and exit. There are a couple hopper cars, one heavy duty. A heavy machinery car carries a Blacktron excavator. Finally an energy transport car brings up the rear. Several views are given including close ups of each car.
Entire train, mighty locomotive, prime mover, spaceman engineer, first hopper car, second hopper car, heavy machinery car, Blacktron excavator, energy transport car
The Pirates Winner is the Admiral's Land Yacht submitted by Mike Case. Mike writes, "the Admiral is the most inept pirate known to ever sail the seas of Lego. He has been captured more times than any can remember. Since he doesn't hurt anyone and his antics are so entertaining, he is usually only held for a couple of days before being allowed to "escape". His most recent folly is known as the Mudskipper. He reasoned that the Imprial Fleet always expects him to attack by sea, so he had a ship built that was at home on land. His loyal crew is made up of 2 brave, if somewhat dim, sailors and a parrot. The first sailor is known as DeadEye Pete, scourge of the barnyard. He is the only pirate on record to have killed a cow with a cannon. Unfortunately, he lost his bet since he could not actually hit the broad side of a barn. The other sailor is the Admiral's master craftsman -- Mad Jack the Lucky. If it were not for his amazing luck, he would have never survived the wreck of the Pufferfish, the world's first inflatable pirate ship." View 1, View 2, View 4, View 4, Mad Jack and Polly, the Admiral (with Pete on the left), the Admiral and Pete
The Bellville Winner is a model of a 1959 Cadillac Eldorado built by
Robert Easterbrooks and photograhed by Linda Easterbrooks.
The model has the following functional features:
V-8 engine with radiator fan,
drive train connecting engine to rear wheels via rear differential,
fully functional steering wheel and linkages connected to front wheels,
working glove box (with map!!),
removable spare tire and jack in trunk,
removable fender skirts for rear tires,
doors, hood, and trunk open.
And the following decorative features:
turning window handles,
movable shift lever,
convertible top ('roof up' and 'roof down'),
dual exhaust.
instrumentation, climate control, and dual-cassette stereo am/fm radio
(with antenna),
gas and brake pedals,
defrost vents.
The size of the model is quite large; (L x W x H) in Lego dimensions (55.4 x 22 x 13.33),
in inches ( 17.5 x 6.875 x 5)
and in centimeters (44.5 x 17.5 x 12.5)
Side, interior, front, hood, rear, trunk
The Train Winner is a Lego Shay Locomotive entered by Ron Kittle. Ron writes, "this model is a Lego version of a Shay steam locomotive. A Shay is a geared steamer with three vertical pistons on one side of the engine, instead of a pair of horizontal cylinders near the front. These pistons turn a drive shaft which powers the wheels using bevel gears. Shays were primarily used in logging and mining operations, where conditions required a lot of power but not high speed. Most importantly, Shays were very tolerant of the poor track conditions usually found in these types of installations. The terrain often dictated tight turns, which makes the Lego track more realistic. :-)
The Lego Shay was created using the 9v train motor, and three of the new style Technic cylinders. The pistons are turned by using a pickup wheel that touches one of the powered wheels. This pickup wheel is geared across the top of the motor case, over to the pistons on the other side of the model. The following ascii drawing shows how the gearing works:
TOP VIEW KEY
======== ===
| |
_| _|
|| |_ |_ = Technic crankshaft
||__| _| _|
|| | | |
|| --- O[|]
| | [|] = 16 tooth gear
[|][|]O
--- = 16 tooth bevel gear
^ ^ ^
| | | |
A B C | = 16 tooth bevel gear
O = 8 tooth gear
REAR VIEW
========= ||
|| = pulley with O-ring "tire"
A B C ||
| | | ||
v v v _
|| _ _ /.\ = 16 tooth gear
||__|/.\/.\ _ \_/
|| |\_/\_/O/.\
|| +-----+ \_/ +-----+
| | | | = Train motor case
+-----+ +-----+
Real Shay 1 - This is a scanned photograph of an actual Shay used in a logging operation. I'm including this because most people have probably never seen a Shay.
View 1 - This is a side view of the Lego Shay. Unfortunately, the image is not very sharp (I hope to take a better picture later).
View 2 - This is a view of the bottom of the engine. You can see the bottom of the crankshaft, and also some of the gears that transfer power to the pistons.
View 3 - This is a 3/4 view of the back of the engine, with the cab removed. Here you get an excellent view of the gears that turn the crankshaft. Also, notice the gray arch in the cab area. You can barely see the red light that is inside the arch. When the Lego Shay runs, the light glows red, giving the appearance of a fire in the firebox.
Shay Movie 1 - I'm not sure how many people have mpeg viewers, but I've included this file which shows the Lego Shay in operation. You really have to see it run (with the crankshaft and pistons pumping, and the red light glowing) to fully appreciate this model. This is a video clip of an earlier version of the Lego Shay, which did not have a tender or firebox light."
The Technic Winner is a Off-Road Racing Buggy submitted by Tom Letsinger. Tom writes, " this ia an original design built with part from two 8860 Auto Chassis sets and one 8848 Power Truck and some little space things. It has 4 wheel independent suspension, and .75 inches of travel on the front and 1.5 inches of rear travel usin a trailing arm system. The drive shafts are inside the trailing arms and connect to the differential just behind the driver's seat. The two speed gearbox is under the seat with the shift lever near the steering wheel. The V-6 engine has working pistons and fan.
Side view, front view, rear view, bottom exploded view, top exploded view
The Model Team Winner is a Cadillac limousine designed and built by Peter Cook. Peter used a picture of the old LEGO Hobby Model set 390 "1913 Cadillac" as inspiration. Peter reports that he built the model five years ago, but he lacked the wheels needed to finish it. He wishes to thank Michael Todd and Jeff Crites for helping him obtain the necessary wheels to finish the model. The model is red with a black top. In the last picture it is shown with a smaller blue and white version (that Peter calls "Junior").
Main view, side view, rear view, "Junior"
