Sunday, January 31, 2010

Packing Strategies, v3

How many #Construx can fit in these 8 cases? Notice the PowerBook G3 is DVORAK, by the way :)

TOP ROW: White Beams & Turntables / 100% Gray Beams / Black & Wheels
MID ROW: Army & Weapons / Nuts & Pods / Engines & Boats (Hi, Mac!)
LAST ROW: Panels / A Nut Case / Wheels & Specials Pieces (smaller, yellow cases)

5,768 pieces sorted by color & size.nothing rattles, they're in there to such tight tolerances. I actually felt air escape upon closing each orange case, and located the small pressure hole drilled into the case. Each case closes effortlessly,so no nasty stretching and compression that can break the occasional fragile or overstretched/overturned pieces. The Gray case was liberated from a DREMEL Tool.

RIP 20 broken beyond belief pieces. Slight cracks may be taped or glue-ed back.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

SOMA Puzzle Cubes

Inventor Piet Hein and his SOMA puzzle cubes were always a bunch of fun to play with, so I recreated them in #Construx. The Seven irregular combinations of 3-4 Cubes form a 3x3x3 cube, and are used to make puzzle figures.



Here the 6 remaining pieces form a double-sized copy of the 3-cube piece. I had to adjust the models so they didn't overlap. The original soma cubes assemble with no gaps because they are simple solid blocks. My frames needed spacers to assemble properly.



Notice the little yellow axles with nuts in the center. They fit the Construx pieces' holes) With these in place, lightly squeezing both sides of the assembly lets you lift it as a whole and turn it on end:



Pretty META, huh?

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Construx Pyramid Ball


Having recently acquired a bunch more Construx for Xmas, I have been building up a storm. Here's my Latest creation, made using several interlocking shapes:

















and here it is taken apart:

















There is a Flickr Group called Construx Creations with only 2 members. Anyone still enjoying these Fisher-Price construction Toys is encouraged to join. Truly an all ages phenomenon.

Re-Watching LOST

My #FrogPad keyboard wanted to thank everyone for re-watching #LOST with @LOST_WFTB:

Monday, January 11, 2010

Construx Mega Collection

 Rounded Rhombicuboctahedron (go ahead, google it)

Rounded Rhombicuboctahedron Elements


Rounded Rhombicuboctahedron Taken Apart


Light Bulb


Light Bulb Taken Apart


Green Column


Green Column Taken Apart


Small Beam Cube


White Shipping Crate


Beams Big Case #1


Extras Big Case #2


Gears Wheels Pulleys Motors


Rounded Rhombicuboctahedron Applies to the #LOST Numbers :)