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.

"minifigure" redefined!

Noah is such a stickler when it comes to proportions. Remember how he used Toy Story Woody's long legs for Ultron here since he's supposed to be 8-feet-tall vs the regular-sized Ironman & Captain America minifigs who are 6-feet-tall?

So when he told me he wanted to make Ant-Man, I tried to manage his expectations and said it might not be possible to make a really tiny minifig. After all, they're called minifigs because they're already "mini"! But he said he could with this trophy of this sumo wrestler minifig. 

After we purchased that tiny trophy, I was worried he'd end up frustrated if he couldn't draw Ant-Man's details to fit that tiny minifig. But he proved me wrong. He started with tiny details on the chest. 

Then drew even tiner details on the face. 

Then he put silver paint on the pedestal. 

He even put these tiny details at the back of Ant-Man's tiny head. 

And it really was tiny. 

Unbelievably tiny. 

I am so amazed he was able to draw such fine details on this minier-than-mini minifig! Now this, this is the real "minifigure"!

Noah's age when he created this: 10 years, 5 months

ThrowBRICK Thursday

This is one of my favorite homemade minifigs of Noah: Mr. Fantastic!

I love that he has stretched and unstretched leg options! And that he can bend!

I also find it adorable that Noah painted Sinestro's hair with liquid paper to make Reed's hair. 

Noah saw me writing this post and asked why I like this creation of his so much. The LONG and SHORT of it: This LONG minifig is nothing SHORT of amazing! 

Noah's age when he created this: 9 years old

ThrowBRICK Thursday

What my then new LEGO phone case led to... A movie theater for Noah's minifigs. Funny that they're watching a LEGO movie - LEGO Harry Potter. More funny that Captain America is watching a movie!

In case you're wondering what my LEGO phone case originally looked like before it was converted into a moviehouse...

Fast-forward to early this year when Noah got my old phone together with my case... Because the studs at the back hurt his hand, he put smooth tiles at the back (I took out 1 black tile piece to show the studs that hurt his hand). 

I didn't notice it at first but if you zoom out, the smooth black & white tiles actually form the Apple logo! And if you zoom in, you'll see electric tape on some tiles because Noah didn't have enough smooth black tiles.

I love that my LEGO phone case turned into a blank canvas for Noah's LEGO creativity!

Photos are my own and from Amazon.com. 

Noah's age when he created the movie theater: 8 years, 11 months 

Noah's age when he created the Apple logo: almost 10 years, 2 months

Dissatisfaction Guaranteed

Since we watched Avengers 2, Noah has been busy working on minifig projects because he isn't satisfied with the standard issue LEGO Avengers 2 minifigs. He is obsessed with making minifigs that are as authentic and true to the movie as possible. 

For instance, this is work-in-progress Ultron made from Toy Story Woody's arms & legs. 

When he was showing me the LEGO Avengers 2 sets on Google, I noticed the LEGO Ultron is regular-sized. So I asked him why he decided to use Woody's long limbs for Ultron. He said Ultron is 8 feet tall versus Captain America & Thor who are 6'4". So since Cap & Thor are regular-sized minifigs, the Ultron minifig needs to be taller. 

He was also not satisfied with this standard issue Thor minifig...

So he carved (yes, etched with a knife!) these details on Thor's arm...

A plain leg didn't cut it either. Here are the hand-drawn leg details...

Thor's hammer needed "upgrading" too. It needed blending and a handle. 

The standard issue scepter of Loki was missing the mind stone, he said. 

So he cut off the middle prong, trimmed another prong, colored it silver, and stuck a blue mind-stone-looking LEGO piece in the middle. 

He was also dissatisfied by the fact that the standard issue Nick Fury doesn't have a coat. 

So he is making his own out of black paper fabric we got from Wrap Shop (I don't know if there are any other 10-year-olds who ask to go to this store), sticker paper he colored with a Sharpie and some colored pencils. 

You've seen Captain America's helmet before. So you already know that Noah used Flash's helmet to make Captain America's headgear. He cut off Flash's lightning horns with a nailcutter! Then, he used blue paint, aqua & blue Sharpies and a correction marker for the A. 

But did you know why he needed to make a helmet? Because he was not satisfied with the standard issue Captain America minifig that comes with a mask printed on the minifig head!

He was also dissatisfied by the standard issue Vision minifig. 

He didn't like it that they used "sand green" on the body. He says it should be a darker green. And the cape shouldn't just be plain yellow. 

So he fashioned one with the authentic details with these materials...

Finally, he was dissatisfied with Black Widow's body. So he carved out her sides to give her a more womanly body. 

Yes, my perfectionist son is incredibly hard to satisfy. But I love that his dissatisfaction leads to these homemade, customized minifigs with such intricate details. Ironically, his dissatisfaction guarantees my satisfaction. 

Noah's age when he created these: 10 years, 4 months

Photos of standard issue LEGO minifigs are from Amazon.com

FlashBRICK Friday

There didn't seem to be anything special about this old Wolverine minifig creation of Noah. Until I learned that he used Joker's hair...

He covered it with electric tape to make Wolverine's hair!

I still like the cardboard claws and hand-drawn quality of this older Wolverine though. 

Claws down - er, I mean, hands down, the older Wolverine wins. But hair-wise, my vote goes to the newer old Wolverine! 

Noah's age when he created the old X-Men Wolverine: 8 years, 5 months

Noah's age when he created the older Wolverine: 7 years old

Captivating Captain A

Shield meets Arm. 

Arm inches toward Shield.

Shield can't help it.

Shield finds itself being pulled towards Arm by an unexplainable attraction.

Is it infatuation? Is it love? 

No, it's a magnet that Noah Mighty-Bonded [Kragled] to Captain America's shield!

How does it work with Cap's arm? See the silver square on the hand in the first photo? That's a metal strip Noah glued onto the LEGO hand. 

Watch the love - er, magnetic - story here.

I was certainly captivated! Of course, am trying not to be bothered by the fact that Noah destroyed his LEGO Toy Story 3 train to get the magnet for Cap's shield (magnets connected the train cars to each other). Haha, I guess Shield' previous relationship was with a train!

Noah's age when he created this: almost 10 years, 4 months

batteries now included

When I asked Noah at the start of summer what lessons he wanted to take, he said he didn't want the usual sports, music or art classes. He wanted "to learn things like woodshop or how to put a tiny light in my LEGOs". Needless to say, I didn't find any summer classes like that for kids. But he was determined. Turns out he didn't even need lessons.

I came home to Ironman with the front of his chest chiseled away with an X-Acto knife, some batteries and an LED light.

He hasn't started on the chest but I begged him to let me take a photo with a stand-in chest.

I was beyond amazed! I can't believe his homemade LEGO creations have batteries now included!

Noah's age when he created this: almost 10 years, 4 months