Exhibitions

LEGO – Discovery Brick Show 2018, Newcastle Upon Tyne

Thursday, 11th October 2018 By Caz

This is a quick look at some of the models which were on display at Discovery Brick Show in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 6th-7th October 2018. It was organised by Brick Alley LUG, the LEGO user group for the North East.

I had a chance to have a quick look around during the setup on Friday evening, so a few trains etc weren’t running, but you should still get a good flavour of the event. There was a nice variety of models on show, with plenty of MOCs as well as some commercially-available sets on display.

I was displaying my Micropolis city, which you can see in a full video here.

LEGO Micropolis Blocks by Blockhead – Overhead Flypast at Discovery Bricks 2018

Tuesday, 9th October 2018 By Caz

This video shows my complete collection of LEGO MIcropolis MOCs which I displayed at Discovery Bricks in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 6th/7th October 2018. In total, it covers 29 full blocks, each of 10″ square.

It was a lovely show, and I will be uploading a video of the other exhibits in the near future.

Visit: Brick This Studio, North Shields

Tuesday, 6th March 2018 By Caz

I had the pleasure of visiting LEGO artist Steve Mayes at his new Brick This Studio in North Shields today. I follow Steve on Twitter (@brickthis) and noticed that he had said he would welcome visitors by appointment, so I dropped him a line and he graciously agreed to me popping round while I was in the area this week.

Brick This Studio 1 — Brick This Studio – Angel Of The North And Shelving

He has a great space for building, and hopes to hold workshops and LEGO-related events there in the future.

Brick This Studio 3 — Brick This Studio – Church Facade Commission

I was able to have a close look at some of Steve’s past creations and take a sneak peek at some new commissions he is undertaking for the Great Exhibition of the North. Steve’s contribution will be 40 models depicting a Timeline of Northern Innovations, on display at the Mining Institute in Newcastle between 22nd June – 9th September 2018. [Add 27th April 2018: Steve has just put out a call for extra models, so the display could include one of yours too!]

Brick This Studio 7 — Brick This Studio – Baltic Arts Centre

Quite a few of the models are already built, and although it was great to see them, I was asked not to post photos of those which haven’t yet been made public, so as not to spoil the surprise!

Brick This Studio 6 — Brick This Studio – Beach-front Bar

Steve has plenty of other models on display at his studio, including local icons such as a microscale versioin of the Civic Centre in Newcastle…

Brick This Studio 4 — Brick This Studio – Civic Centre

And of course the stadium at St. James’s Park.

Brick This Studio 5 — Brick This Studio – St. James’s Park

One model which I was allowed to photograph is Rocket – which will be motorised by the time of the exhibition in June.

Brick This Studio 8 — Brick This Studio – Rocket

I can’t wait to visit the exhibition during the summer and see the finished results of all this building!

Brick This Studio 2 — Brick This Studio – Somewhere To Relax

I would also like to thank Steve for being a great host – and he makes a very tasty cup of tea!

Exhibition: Brickish Weekend 2018

Sunday, 4th March 2018 By Caz

The weather has been putting its oar into plans over the last few days, thanks to the unexpectedly heavy snow. But it had melted sufficiently for me to head to Leicester today for my first visit to the National Space Centre which is hosting the annual Brickish Weekend. It was great to see all the models and chat with their very talented creators. Here is a selection of photos from the day, click the image to see the next:

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Exhibition: LMEE 2018

Sunday, 21st January 2018 By Caz

The London AFOLs were sharing a stand at the London Model Engineering Exhibition with Brickish at Ally Pally over the weekend. Several of our members had built GBC modules and they were all put together to make a ridiculously pointless ball-carrying contraption, including two of mine. The punters loved it! Here’s a video of the circuit:

I was helping to run the machine all day, and heard many complimentary comments. The two best ones were:

This is the best LEGO model I’ve ever seen!

and

This is the best model in the whole show!

High praise indeed… Anyway, here are my two contributions merrily shifting balls.

LMEE '18 - My GBC Modules — LMEE ’18 – My GBC Modules

And the public clearly loved it – there were loads of questions from young and old alike.

LMEE '18 - Punters Enjoy Our GBC — LMEE ’18 – Punters Enjoy Our GBC

I was allowed out for a little while to look at the rest of the LEGO on display, here is a selection of photos of other builds:

LMEE '18 Fairy Bricks Bus — LMEE ’18 Fairy Bricks Bus

LMEE '18 Lunar Lander — LMEE ’18 Lunar Lander

LMEE' 18 Tanks And Trains — LMEE’ 18 Tanks And Trains

LMEE '18 Two Spaceships By Alec Hole — LMEE ’18 Two Spaceships By Alec Hole

LMEE '18 NCS Surface Rover By Alec Hole — LMEE ’18 NCS Surface Rover By Alec Hole

LMEE '18 Brickish Seaside Display — LMEE ’18 Brickish Seaside Display

LMEE '18 Brickish Seaside & Rocket — LMEE ’18 Brickish Seaside & Rocket

LMEE '18 Brickton On Sea — LMEE ’18 Brickton On Sea

So all in all my first experience at exhibiting was a good one, great fun and excellent company. When’s the next one?

Exhibition: Little Landmarks

Wednesday, 18th October 2017 By Caz

I’m visiting the North East for a few days, staying with Alistair, a friend of Richard Carter, aka Bricks McGee, who currently has an exhibition in South Shields Museum & Art Gallery called Little Landmarks. He has built 10 local buildings in Minifig scale, which are on display in one of the galleries until the end of October.

Today we decided to go along for a look. There were some great builds, here are some of my favourites. I loved the curved corner and wall textures on this model of the Haven Point swimming pool:

Little Landmarks - Haven Point — Little Landmarks – Haven Point

Minifigs add some scale and life to the scenes. This time the lifeguard is outside The Word.

Little Landmarks - The Word — Little Landmarks – The Word

We were amused that each build had a perch for at least one seagull somewhere along the roof. Then we started playing “spot the seagull”.

Little Landmarks - Town Hall Roof — Little Landmarks – Town Hall Roof

Little Landmarks - Herd Groyne lighthouse — Little Landmarks – Herd Groyne lighthouse

Little Landmarks - Town Hall Tower — Little Landmarks – Town Hall Tower

The Town Hall had an impressive tower rising above the street level, the perfect place for a gull. Another landmark which is very iconic of South Shields is Herd Groyne Lighthouse, painted its distinctive red colour.

I loved the old salty sea dog doing a spot of fishing from the pier, of course accompanied by several thieving gulls, and some little breakers just washing in against the walls.

Richard has built many custom LEGO models and is always available for commissions if you have the need for something for a friend, loved one or perhaps your workplace.

All in all it was a fun exhibition which we topped off with a fine cup of tea a slice of cake in the Museum Café. Perfect.