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As a wee lad, I had dreams of the perfect future career. Like we all do. But where other kids wanted to be astronauts, firemen, policemen, I wanted to be a LEGO Designer. I wanted to work for LEGO designing kits. I still remember clearly sitting on my floor in 3rd grade and talking to my Mom about what kinds of kits I wanted to design and asking if she thought that was a job that I could get. (She emphatically said "yes!") Flash forward many years and I was in Denmark a few months into my employment at LEGO as a Senior Web Designer. My boss sat across a conference room table where I presenting about how we were building programs to engage adult LEGO fans. Next to him sat Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, the third generation family owner of the LEGO Company. I can't tell you how full circle life [...]

I'm going to put this right up front in this post: If you're flying with fragile items (like a scale model) and have to pass through a TSA checkpoint ASK FOR A HAND CHECK. Do not, I repeat, do not try to put it through the metal detector. I learned this lesson the (very) hard way on my way to the Rocky Mountain Hobby Expo. After telling 3 different TSA agents that the box I had with me (marked with multiple "fragile" red stickers) was incredibly fragile, not one offered for me to get this "hand check", wherein the TSA agent wouldn't put my box through the metal detector and would inspect it by hand. Instead, they all grumpily pushed me to stick the box in a bin and shove it through the xray. My spidey sense was tingling, but I pushed ahead. I waited on the other side of the [...]

I'm excited to share that I was the guest interview on the Plastic Model Mojo podcast, Episode 116! I had a wonderful time with Mike and Dave talking about scope creep and my Cylon Raider diorama build. Check it out!

Since the base is effectively done, I wanted to share a few photos I've taken. (Figures not yet included) [foogallery id="9229"]

Thanks to a wonderfully helpful call with Barry Biediger recently, I now understand some of the fundamental basics of LED lighting. It's funny how the LED tech has made it so damn easy to wire up basic lighting that works well and lasts a long time. Because Barry is awesome, he followed up our call with some details that he was cool with me sharing with y'all. I'm also adding a few tidbits I've learned from Barry and others along the way that may help you. Wiring tips and tricks My current supplier of choice for LED lights and related accessories has been Evan Designs. They provide reasonably priced, high quality products, are quick to respond to questions, and ship fast. Recently, I picked up several different types of LEDs: Pico, Nano, Chip. I asked them how much different the amount of light each one kicks off vs. the other. They [...]