New Daily Planet Renders!

When I started designing my model of the Daily Planet I originally have office windows running all the way to the top, but I was curious what a clock would look like instead, and after playing around with it for a bit, I decided to go for it and created this version above, I’m curious what folks think of the change. Here’s a before and after look:

Here’s a few other images of it:

Overall, I’m quite pleased with how it looks although because none of the detail work is done, it does look rather monochromatic and plain, but I intend to add tons of external detailing like ivy, masonry bricks, and of course a pretty roofline.

I also picked up a couple of Power Up hubs, lights, and motors that I plan to use to make the Planet globe (to which I hope to add the iconic “Daily Planet” lettering) turn and have Superman flying around it.

LEGO Daily Planet: Jimmy’s Darkroom

Every great photographer needs a great darkroom. Or a good darkroom. Or really just a converted closet next to the stairs with a photo safety light. I had a small space next to the stairs on the second floor of the LEGO Daily Planet model I’m designing and one of the things on my wishlist is a darkroom for Jimmy Olsen. It includes two sinks, and a safety light. When I rebuild the second floor in the real model I’ll need a way to hang photos to dry as well. Below is what the darkroom looks like in place next to the stairs.

I’d love to hear thought and ideas anybody has for the model.

A Shared Desk for Lois & Clark

I wanted to create a shared desk for Lois and Clark in the LEGO Daily Planet I’m designing. In particular, our family is very fond of the Smallville portrayals of the characters by Erica Durance and Tom Welling, and I wanted to recreate the messy, chaotic nature of Lois’ desk including stacks of papers, food, and crumpled papers near the waste bin. I contrasted her desk with the stark neatness of Clark’s.

More LEGO Daily Planet!

Here’s a new set of renders of my Daily Planet LEGO compatible modular with the extra floor added that I mentioned in my last Daily Planet post. I’m estimating that the design is about 20% complete. I’m pretty happy with the shape of the building overall, but all of the external greebling is left to do, as well as internal details like office gear, computers, and so on. I’d love to hear your ideas and comments!

LEGO Daily Planet Modular (MOC)

For the past few months I’ve been working on a LEGO compatible modular building in my spare time, and weighing in at 4,102 pieces it’s starting to take shape well enough that I need comfortable unveiling the progress for the first time. The photo above shows 3 floors plus the small room below the dome a top, but since generating the image above I’ve started reworking it to have another mid-size floor like the third floor shown here.

My list of features I wanted the model to have included:

  • Large globe on top
  • The “stairstep” look from the comics
  • Lobby globe like was shown in the 1978 movie
  • Face-to-face desks in the “bullpen” for Lois and Clark. Lois’ desk would be a big ol’ mess with a hairbrush, food, and crumpled papers next to the waste basket, while Clark’s desk is neat as a pin.
  • Because we’re big Smallville fans and so many fun moments took place there, the model also features roof access where Lois can go to smoke or take a ride with Big Blue, and it includes the roof access structure where Clark (finally) took flight in the finale of Smallville.
  • A copy machine/room
  • Break room
  • Janitor closet for Clark to change in
  • Perry White’s office
  • Desk for Jimmy
  • Office details like water coolers
  • A store room with boxes of papers

Here’s a small gallery of images so you can check out the progress, and I’d love to hear comments and suggestions!

When You Marry Well…

LEGO 1950s Pickup Truck

LEGO® 1950s Pickup Truck

After swearing that she’s not buying me LEGO, Rina presented me with this for Valentine’s Day this year!

To be fair, she also wasn’t too big into comic book characters either, but after I got Henry into Superman and Batman she has absorbed a remarkable amount of information about comic characters in general, and DC characters in particular. She can even tell you about more minor characters like Star Girl, Hawkman, Dr. Fate, and Black Canary, in addition to the better known figures like Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Cyborg, Batman, and Green Arrow, so change is possible 🙂

I Got One of My White Whales!

Action Comics #1 LEGO

LEGO ACTION COMICS #1 SUPERMAN 2015 SDCC EXCLUSIVE

After a very long wait, I got one of the LEGO sets I’ve wanted forever, the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con Action Comics #1 exclusive. It features Superman smashing a green car just like he did on the comic book cover that the character first appeared in. Now if I can just scheme a way to get the Black Suit Superman…

Typical Conversations: Don’t Bite the Baby

5B4A4496-Edit

Henry probably plotting Rina’s demise…

When Henry was around one-year-old he, as some kids around that age do, bit Rina.

Rina: “Joshik just bit me!”

Matt: “You have to bite him back so he knows it hurts and doesn’t do that anymore.”

Rina stared at me blankly for a moment.

Rina: “Really?”

I stared back at her for a moment.

Matt: “No, don’t bite the baby.”

Rina: “Oh, okay, I thought you were serious.”

Typical Conversations: Bocelli

374px-AndreaBocelliMar10

Andrea Bocelli accepting what I assume is his usual award for destroying relationships…

Rina and I both like opera and classical music, as well as some operatic pop. One performer we appreciate very much is Andrea Bocelli, who occasionally goes on tour and comes to our area but we’d never managed to catch his show. During his last tour, I bought tickets as a gift for Rina and we anxiously waited for the concert date. A few days before we we were scheduled to go, we were both upstairs in the bedroom and I started cleaning out the night stand next to my side of the bed. One of the things I pulled out was an old pair of Bochelli tickets from a few years before. I suddenly remembered that we’d seen him previously, and I even recalled the venue, the SAP Center in San Jose. I chuckled and held up the tickets and we commenced to have one of our typical conversations: Continue reading