Spectrum Computing

Go big or go home...

5 plates done. 72 to go.

End of day 1. 22 plates done out of 77.
Speccy mug shown for scale.
I have sore thumbs.

Is Thing T. Thing from the Addams Family helping you with this ... thing?

Saturdays work... 39 of 77 done.
Brick separator for scale.

This is quite wonderful, hitm4n. Not only to see these beloved sprites arranged together so thoughtfully, but for them to have a real, physical presence. I wonder how wide it is in total?

The piece is so impressive, it feels like it should be a permanent fixture of some British computing museum. Perhaps you could loan it out for exhibitions? (Send it out in a big bag of pieces "to assemble" )

I was going to recommend adding a bit of FLASH, but changing the blocks would be quite demanding.

Lee Bee wrote: ↑Sun Feb 18, 2024 11:43 am This is quite wonderful, hitm4n. Not only to see these beloved sprites arranged together so thoughtfully, but for them to have a real, physical presence. I wonder how wide it is in total?

The piece is so impressive, it feels like it should be a permanent fixture of some British computing museum. Perhaps you could loan it out for exhibitions? (Send it out in a big bag of pieces "to assemble" )

I was going to recommend adding a bit of FLASH, but changing the blocks would be quite demanding.

FLASHing Lego blocks sounds like a cool idea. How would you sync them up though so they all invert at the same "frame" so to speak? Soon: colour-clashing Lego blocks where an area of 8x8 blocks can't have a third colour inserted, it will just violently get ejected by some kind of force whenever you try

It's looking great. I'm most impressed by the way you just said you were going to do it, and then you ruddy well did it!

XTM wrote: ↑Mon Feb 19, 2024 9:58 am FLASHing Lego blocks sounds like a cool idea. How would you sync them up though so they all invert at the same "frame" so to speak? Soon: colour-clashing Lego blocks where an area of 8x8 blocks can't have a third colour inserted, it will just violently get ejected by some kind of force whenever you try

If you made a picture out of the "1*1 cheese wedges" pieces placed back to back like /\ then the visible picture would change with your viewing angle. Which could make a FLASH like effect, kind of...

Had a bit of spare time at the weekend so this happened. Most of the Lego I used is probably older than the Spectrum - I stopped getting anything other than the Technical sets after I was about 11 which would have been around when I got my Spectrum.

rich_r wrote: ↑Mon Feb 19, 2024 2:35 pm Had a bit of spare time at the weekend so this happened. Most of the Lego I used is probably older than the Spectrum - I stopped getting anything other than the Technical sets after I was about 11 which would have been around when I got my Spectrum.

Very cool. Lego is neat to make these sprites from, very versatile, but now you can see how such a small sprite on the speccy ends up huge in Lego. Try that Tir Na Nog sprite in Lego. He's massive.

Size is 1400mm wide (140cm) and will be 900mm tall (90cm). BIG. I will be adding a frame/border so its getting a little bit bigger too

I was lazy on Sunday and only did 2 panels but i'm doing 3 more this evening (as i type), so will have 44 of 77 done the days out. 4 rows of the 7 total.

I still have sore thumbs.

I've never really thought about much work it would be to be to assemble something like this. When you get arithmetic involved it's surprising how many pixels the Speccy had for a budget machine. You last mentioned aiming for lesser dimensions of 176x112 pixels? That's still 19712 blocks! My condolences to your thumbs

Keen to see the finished result, this is a really cool project.

Yeah, just that little 22 pixel wide Sabre Man used all the black bricks I have! I deliberately made it two units thick so I could used 2x4 bricks which I have plenty of compared to 1x1 bricks.

I will keep posting update pics. Last weekend was very lazy on the Lego, was doing other "stuff", and through the week i managed 4 plates. I'm at 45 of 77 done. Tomorrow will see more progress and i'll post an update picture then. My last batch of 300 brown bricks is now in the UK so should be with me in a day or two. I do hope i counted right and ordered right...

Its TV and tea time, so heres where i'm up to.
55 of 77 done, 5 of 7 rows. 22 plates to go.

Brick seperator at bottom there if you squint or zoom in for scale

And how are your thumbs?

Not much has happened in the last couple of weeks. Another commitment has taken all my spare time (MegaAGS (AmigaVision) demo screenshots for the next release). However thats almost done and i'll be back onto this in 2-3 more days.

In the meantime i have just placed an order for all the parts to make the border, done in the exact same style as the official Lego world map. I was in two minds whether to do a border, it looked okay without one, theres the additional cost. But it will look better, be stronger and i can stretch the stripe into the border and colour the corners too. Think it'll look neat.

So, just ordered all this from Ali. All Black Parts.

72 x 1x2 brick with pin (80 ordered) £5.23
74 x 2x6 flat (100 ordered) £5.74
32 x 2x16 flat (40 ordered) £3.76
4 x 3x3 flat (10 ordered) £1.89
4 x 2x2 brick corner (50 ordered) £2.34 (yes, i know, way more than i needed, but lower amounts was actually more expensive)
12 x 1x1 brick (20 ordered) £1.42
32 x 1x4 brick (50 ordered) £1.57
44 x 1x8 brick (60 ordered) £4.20
32 x 1x16 brick (50 ordered) £6.21
8 x 1x2 flat smooth (50 ordered) £0.66 (also way more than needed but so cheap)
68 x 1x8 flat smooth (100 ordered) £2.17

With some shipping and tax, thats another £41 spent. Total cost of project now £245, and i think is the final cost.
So gimme another week or two and this thing should be on the wall...

With a 4 day weekend, this sucker (at least the picture part) is getting finished... Cracking on with it this afternoon. New kitchen sink tap was fitted this morning, putting a poster frame up for the lad in a few mins, then its lego time for the rest of the day. Will it be done today? Maybe.

In other exciting news (well, its exciting for me!!), a ton of the extra fake Lego i ordered arrived today.

ARRIVED - 74 x 2x6 flat (100 ordered - 100 Arrived)
ARRIVED - 4 x 3x3 flat (10 ordered - 10 Arrived)
ARRIVED - 32 x 2x16 flat (40 ordered - 41 Arrived)
ARRIVED - 32 x 1x16 brick (50 ordered - 50 Arrived)
ARRIVED - 68 x 1x8 flat smooth (100 ordered - 104 Arrived)
ARRIVED - 8 x 1x2 flat smooth (50 ordered - 51 Arrived)
ARRIVED - 32 x 1x4 brick (50 ordered - 51 Arrived)
ARRIVED - 44 x 1x8 brick (60 ordered - 63 Arrived)

NOT ARRIVED - 72 x 1x2 brick with pin (80 ordered)
NOT ARRIVED - 4 x 2x2 brick corner (50 ordered)
NOT ARRIVED - 12 x 1x1 brick (20 ordered)

The most fundamental part of the border is the 1x2 brick with pin, and as these aren't here yet, the border will have to wait. Boooooooo...
Maybe a progress pic later this evening

Significant progress.

1 more part delivered today.

ARRIVED !! - 12 x 1x1 brick (20 ordered - 20 Arrived)

STILL WAITING - 72 x 1x2 brick with pin (80 ordered)
STILL WAITING - 4 x 2x2 brick corner (50 ordered)

And the picture is done! (bar the border)



8BitDo controller for scale
If you'll indulge me, my next post will be when the border is fully done and the whole piece is up on the wall.
With only a couple of pieces left to come, hopefully midweek next week, this thing might be on the wall by next weekend.

Had a lot of fun making this

Bloody well done. As I said further up this thread, it's impressive how you just cracked on and did this. Looking forward to seeing it on the wall.

This will confuse archaeologists of the future though - it'll be mistaken for a Rosetta stone or tapestry of a great war

Quick update. The integral part for the border arrived a couple of days back and i completed the frame last night. I'm still waiting for a 1x2x1 corner piece to arrive (4 needed, one for each corner), but these didn't stop me making the frame. I can fit them in last.

If my lads at home tomorrow i'm hoping he will help me put this on the wall.

Well here we are... Its up on the wall, i went with the orange corners and stripe into the border. I'm absolutely lovin' it. Still waiting on 4 little corner bricks to come, easily fitted in place. Essentially, project complete!

very nice. All the orange goes with the rest of the retro-room. Full marks.