Boonie Hats by BrickArmy and Woody

These painted Boonie Hats by BrickArmy.com caught my eye this morning. A unique military accessory you don't see from other custom suppliers. What was even more interesting, was that these originated at Woody's Minifig Customs, made using his 3D printing technique. So whether you want a fully painted accessory or want to go it alone and design it yourself, you have two ways to do so.

Quick Hits: Amazing Sculpts, Cosplay Fun, and Custom House News

Another big Tuesday so far, and I haven't even had my second flagon of coffee yet! Lot's to cover so let's get started...

Tyler (AKA Amadgunslinger) has posted some wonderful sculpts like the one seen here. This is a nicely detailed recon helmet, and using Sculpy no less! Also not to be missed are his mermaid and custom hairpiece for slave Leia. Needless to say, anything I would attempt would look like a reject from the Play Doh Fun Factory. Nicely done! Tyler does have an eBay store where he sells some of his custom creations. Check it out when you have a chance.

Not only is Morgan plowing through the month of October with his inspired Halloween countdown calendar, he's also had time to produce an entry for the Eurobricks Cosplay contest. Channeling a taller Kenny Baker, Kevin Chen gets ready for his first Star Wars convention.

This week is shaping up to be big for new custom house releases. Arealight will be releasing a new series of Star Wars inspired helmets on October 27th. My Imperial head gear identification skills are a little rusty, so I won't embarrass myself. Instead you can check them out yourself on the Arealight website and their Flickr stream. It's been a while since I've visited the Arealight store but it looks like it's received an upgrade.

Woody's Minifig Customs has just put up some new designs for Spartan warrior gear on his Shapeways store. If you missed it we covered Woody in a spotlight article last week. Since then 3D printing has been in the news with a 3D printer made of LEGOs that builds, what else, more LEGOs, and Badger has been showing how Will uses the technique as part of the prototyping process for development of the BrickArms helmet line.

Roaglaan has been adding and updating decals to his BrickLink store recently. With designs ranging from military, superheroes, and medieval themes I'm sure you will find something you'll like. No sightings on the store yet of his Cobra troopers decals. Let's hope they go up soon. (UPDATE: They are now up on the BrickLink store. Search by 'newest' and today's date. Torso and face stickers are included in the price.)

That's all for now, citizens. More to come as it happens...

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Custom Spotlight: Woody's Minifig Customs

Over the past few months I noticed a customizer on the Eurobricks forums who was sharing some unique, custom items that appeared to be produced in a novel and innovative way. I started to do some investigating and ran across Woody's Minifig Customs. I reached out to Woody recently to better understand both his interests and his approach in creating custom accessories.

Woody has been a member and contributor to the Eurobricks customization community for some time. He's also experienced in selling custom creations, recently reaching a milestone of more than 3,000 items sold.

Inspiration for Woody's creations often come from three main sources:

1. Historical items from the late 17th and 18th century

2. Input from Eurobricks and other members of the community

3. Other dedicated customizers with whom he collaborates

So far it sounds like a fairly standard approach to creating custom accessories, right? Well that's where the story gets interesting...

Woody uses a company called Shapeways to develop prototypes and products using 3D printing techniques. 3D printing is just like it sounds - a three-dimensional model is created by having the machine put down successive layers of material until the desired object is created. Sounds easy right? Well, yes and no. Woody has been working at this process for some time, and has even designed his own custom software which helps him develop the models. Let's take a look at Woody's Lobster head gear to walk us through the process.

The first step involves designing a three-dimensional computer model of the item you want to create. The model must meet certain structural specifications, otherwise the 3D printer can't create it. Woody uses two to three different software programs to accomplish this.

The file is uploaded to Shapeways where its verified as a suitable design. If the model meets all requirements, Woody can put it up on his store within minutes. The process is on-demand, so nothing needs to be created until the orders are placed.

Currently there are two main types of materials that Woody works with, a polyamide substance named 'white, strong, and flexible' and an acrylic-based photo-polymer termed 'detailed' on the Shapeways site. The 'white, strong, and flexible' option is less expensive and can be dyed in several colors, but can sometimes appear fuzzy in pictures. The 'detailed' material is much smoother and results in a nice finish. Detailed is only available, however, in white, black, and transparent. The picture below shows the Lobster using the white detailed material. Although not currently used by Woody, there is an ABS option in grey labeled 'grey robust'. The robust option is priced in between 'flexible' and 'detailed'.

Although there are still some drawbacks to this approach (i.e. not all colors are available) this can be a relatively inexpensive way to produce your own custom accessories given investment in some modeling software and learning the ropes.

Woody is looking to the future with the development of Bren light machine guns, gas masks, field caps, pilotkas, pakols, and epaulets. He's also hoping to do as many products as he can using the 'detailed' material.

If you are interested in finding out more about 3D printing, you can visit the Shapeways website. If you would like to see more from Woody's Minifig Customs you can check out his Shapeways store or Flickr stream. He also has a Facebook page for you social media savvy individuals.

A big thanks to Woody for taking the time to walk me through his process!