March 2024 – Infinity Bricks

My own creation is a near exact replica of the X-15 starship from the Buzz Lightyear theme. The X-15 was my favorite set from 2023 and I had the vision for a militant version, the X-18, almost immediately.

The 75346 LEGO Star Wars Pirate Snub Fighter served as the initial inspiration as it included the same canopy as the original but in a trans-dark grey instead of the trans-yellow. The trans-yellow windscreen like we see in the Classic Space theme is fun for sci-fi but dark grey brings some maturity to the ship. The Snub fighter contained plenty of useful pieces for the replica but many more pieces were needed to complete the build. A few pieces I was able to pull from my personal collection but most used were ordered separately from Bricklinks.com. One of the Bricklinks.com orders went missing in transit and took time to replace. Details were critical, getting the color scheme right was a challenge. I like how the darker grey pieces contrast slightly with the light grey and make the ship pop. They also add some authenticity as many military planes are not simply monotone grey. The decals on the wings were purchased from Brickmania in Schaumburg, IL and are intended for use on a US Harrier jump jet.

The pictures below contain side-by-sides of the original build with my own creation. The first few contain images without weapons showcasing the similarities between the two machines. Later images contain the weaponized version with 6 spring loaded missiles on the tips of the wings as well as two large guns mounted on the sides of the engines. The last image contains the custom pilot.

A $6.99 purchase at a local thrift store makes for a fun afternoon.

Stashed in a nerf dart boxed, hidden amongst the toy graveyard is where I found these second Legos. The box originally contained more toys, some kind of transformer toy you might find in a happy meal, but I left them on the shelf.

What first caught my eye was the trans-light blue curved 1×6. Then I noticed some Bionicle like arms and engine type pieces. The more I looked, the better it got. There were some police branded pieces, jail bars with frames, various technic pieces, and vehicle parts. When I found 4 matching red mud guards I decided to buy the lot.

The first thing I did when I got home was clean the catch, crate and all. I drizzled on some extra strength dish soap, filled it up with water from the tap in the bath and shook until I was tired. There was a good amount of suds from the dish soap which makes it hard to see the pieces and easy to lose the little ones. To prevent losing pieces, I stop the drain, dump the lot into a strainer or a colander and rinse with water until the suds are gone. Next, I douse the Legos with a proprietary cleaning concoction which further degreases them and restores some shine. I rinse them out again in a colander and spread them out on a clean towel some place dry.

Once they dried I separated them by color decided to build something with only the pieces I bought that day. I was excited to see enough car parts to build a 9/10ths of a super car from a City set over 10 years old. The missing pieces include the parts to make front and rear spoilers, as well as some detailing on the rear engine. To compensate, I added 2 oversized jet engines, and a bubble glass cockpit. I think the MOC is fun, silly, and imaginative. The price was certainly right.