a topnotch crop top

No, this post isn't about a shirt. Though I think Noah made a topnotch drawing on sticker paper of CW Flash's Jay Garrick's shirt.  

Yes, this is about a top - what's on top of his head.

No, this isn't about Jay's helmet that Noah colored using a silver Sharpie.

No, this isn't about the wing on Jay's helmet that Noah made out of an old blister pack (sample below... with rejected wing drawing attempts on the left-hand side), a gold marker, black permanent pen & a paint pen.

This is about this hairpiece...

... that Noah cropped...

Yes, chopped...

... so Jay would have both a helmet AND hair for his top.

This Jay Garrick custom minifig is obviously still work-in-progress, but it already is the best crop top I've ever seen!

Photos are my own. Reference photo of CW Flash Jay Garrick is from Google images. Sorry, no photo credit since I just got it from Noah. 

Noah's age when he created this: 12 years old

when original is unoriginal

Noah doesn't really ask me to buy him LEGOs. He finds them too expensive (especially here in the Philippines) so he makes his own minifigs. 

Because he didn't have the Batman V Superman Batman minifig, he started to make one for himself. He made the bat sign with electric tape and drew the details from the movie costume on sticker paper. 

He felt the standard-issue cape wasn't movie-accurate so he made one with black fabric paper and tan (yes, according to him, not yellow) paint.

Then I, now regrettably, got him the Kryptonite Interception set so he got an original Batman minifig. 

And he decided to abandon the custom chest he made months ago and used the standard-issue Batman torso. He still felt the arms & legs weren't true-to-the-movie...

... so he recreated it by carefully drawing the chest pattern on Batman's limbs.

He also wasn't satisfied with Batman's eyes which were just a white strip.

So he "got sticker paper, drew a circle with a black pen, outlined it with some dark gray and covered the top part with black so there'd be that gray half-circle. Like a crescent. It was very tedious."

I love Noah's custom eyes, arms and legs. But I prefer his custom torso with the electric tape bat sign than the original LEGO one. And his custom cape. In my opinion, Noah's customs are much more original than the original.

Photos are my own & from Google Images. 

Noah's age when he created these: 11  years, 3 months & 11 years, 11 months

carbon copy

As you probably already know, Noah requires his LEGOs to be exact copies of their movie or TV character. But he doesn't stop at characters. Even their weapons need to be an accurate copy of the movie weapon. 

So obviously, the standard-issue LEGO gun of Han Solo didn't cut it after he saw Han Solo's gun via a Google search.

A month ago, using 2 standard-issue LEGO Han Solo guns, cardboard, a portion of a LEGO staff and Sharpies, he custom-built a carbon copy of the gun from the old Star Wars movies.

Okay, okay. I know Noah won't understand what "carbon copy" means anymore, with carbon paper and typwriters obsolete. But one old thing that hasn't gone obsolete is Han Solo's gun. Turns out, he still uses the same gun in Star Wars: The Force Awakens!

When Noah told me he spotted the gun that looks like his custom LEGO in the movie, he said, "I was so happy when I saw it because he still uses it after 30 years!" Now isn't that a moment worth making a copy of?

Noah's age when he created this: 10 years, 10 months

Great Scott! It McFlies!

Noah thinks the standard-issue LEGO DeLorean is too big for the Marty McFly minifig. So he decided to custom-make a smaller DeLorean. It's only 4 x 10 studs big. 

Great Scott! The doors open!

Can you see what part makes this DeLorean the one from BTTF1?

Noah even positioned the rod so it would hit the cord of my laptop's plug. 

Now, can you see what part makes this DeLorean the one from BTTF2?

Yes! Mr. Fusion!

Great Scott! It (Mc)Flies!

The tires fold downwards...

... using this mechanism...

Next, Noah plans to make a custom Marty McFly minifig. But right now, I'm asking him to clean up the Great Scott-ered mess of LEGOs on the floor. After all, my feet don't fold upwards to let me hover over those sharp bricks! ;p

Noah's age when he created this: 10 years, 10 months

making a mark

Noah made a mark this weekend - displaying his custom LEGO Mark 43 Ironman and his iPhone 4 at this year's Bricktober at the Fort Strip. 

But even if he had not gotten a chance to join the exhibit, I still feel that his custom Mark 43 made a mark on its own. 

This is the standard issue LEGO Mark 43 Ironman. 

Noah felt the chest shouldn't be flat so he purchased this armor from Breakthrough Army. 

He used Sharpies and his thin marker to color the armor. Added some sticker paper too. 

He had wanted to carve a hole and put a light like he started here. 

But we were afraid the armor would crumble. Plus, we didn't have tools to cut out a hole that small. My ticker puncher could have worked, but it wouldn't fit inside the armor. 

Here's how the back of Mark 43 looks...

Even the leg details are remarkable! Whereas the side-leg of the standard-issue LEGO is plain red, Noah used sticker paper and his Sharpies to make his mark. 

Noah made his mark not only on the front and back but even colored the shoulder and collar parts even though they would mostly be covered anyway by the head and helmet. 

Similarly, he drew on the back of the mask - which really, is never seen. I think it is remarkable how ever so tiny and precise his drawing is!

Remarkably, he changed the rockets on Ironman's feet. He found them too big. So he moved the standard-issue repulsors on his palms to his feet. 

The repulsors, on the other hand, bothered him because they put Ironman's arms in an awkward position (elbows out) when flying. So he cut 2 tiny pieces from a LEGO Star Wars lightsaber and glued them together. 

Now don't you agree with me that Noah already made a mark with his custom Mark 43? 

Of course, he got to make a bigger mark by having the honor of displaying his customs at this year's Bricktober. Thanks Pinoy LUG!

Noah's age when he created this: 10 years, 9 months

Click here to see the awesome construction of his iPhone 4. 

Photos are my own and from Amazon and Breakthrough Army.

my craftsman

Recently, I came across a video at work. It was about The Craftsman. As I listened to the narration, I couldn't help think that it described Noah so perfectly. 

"What is a craftsman?

Is it an obsession with detail?

Or the ability to see the details others cannot?...

... We believe that the difference between something good and something great is attention to detail. 

Every last TINY,

INSIGNIFICANT,

UNIMPORTANT,

UNNOTICED,

CRUCIAL detail."

Yes, Noah is indeed a craftsman. 

The standard issue LEGO bow & arrow is good. But Noah cannot settle for good. And as the video said, "The difference between something good and great is attention to detail. Every last..."

"Tiny detail" - The standard issue LEGO bow & arrow is made completely out of the plastic that most LEGO weapons are made of. This is good. But Noah felt he could make the bow great with a piece of embroidery thread because it would be more realistic than the hard, unpliable plastic.

"Insignificant detail" - The bow is not made to scale. It is quite big in size versus a minifig. So when Noah customized his bow, he cut out the circular & squarish hinges at the bow's corners. Noah says the resulting bow is still too big, but at least, he shaved off a few millimeters.

"Unimportant detail" - The standard issue LEGO bow is just one piece.The arrow is stuck to the bow; they cannot be separated. And while unimportant to most of us, separating the arrow from the bow was important to him. So he snipped off the arrow from the bow and glued the two tiny arrow parts together. 

"Unnoticed detail" - The standard LEGO arrow is just one color. But Noah felt the arrow head needed to be a metallic color.  So silver Sharpie to the rescue!

"Crucial detail" - Because the fletching or feather end of the arrow was thick, the minifig could not hold the arrow. So Noah, added the tiniest rod at the end so his minifig could grip the arrow. 

Indeed, Noah has the ability to see details others (including me) cannot see.  He truly is a Craftsman. 

Noah's age when he created this: 10 years, 9 months