if you have a little dough (money) and are creative or at least have some artistic talent, you can create real life structures that can be used as legitimate shelters. of course, we do this all the time with houses, etc. but who has time to learn all these complicating skills? like carpentry, masonry, metalwork, etc. what if you could just build something simply by stacking up blocks? you can. it's not brick-laying, but it's similar. it's called "precast dry stack CMU construction".

Precast = already moulded blocks (like mine craft blocks)
dry stack= bricklaying without mortar (the cement-like stuff that keeps blocks together)
CMU = concrete masonry unit. the block itself.

So how does it work? Well, dry stack blocks are usually interlocking, meaning they're like legos. they have a male and female end which fit together firmly (no pun intended). Anyways, these blocks are about $7-$10 each but for $500 you can build a basic shelter. All you have to do is give each block a texture, either with paint or using your artistic talents. stacks them up like blocks and you're done. of course, a roof would be nice, but since it's just for fun, you can lay some kind of elastic tarp over it.

since the blocks are interlocking, they're stronger than regular brick buildings, because each stack of blocks fit together to form one big piece. if you hit it with a hammer, the strength of that hammer is spread through the entire wall section, but if you hit a regular brick building with a hammer, it's only as strong as it's weakest link, which is where the mortar holds it together with the next piece.

i know this is a complicated and money-burning process, but it'd be fun to stack up some real-life creations worth being proud of and then being able to play paintball with these mini structures or camp out in them. if you have enough doughy, you can get really creative and build a larger building, foam insulation on the wall, plaster over the insulation and plaster on the outside, paint it and use decorative architectural foam to create beautiful masterpieces.

Example?

http://www.omahku.net/2010/02/19/jap...-as-materials/

Check that out! anybody can do it. now idk about you, but i'd love to play paintball or even campout in one of those things. besides that, you can use them for temporary party rooms or whatever you want, cuz there's no sticky messes, just blocks stacked up. heck, we did this as kids, this is just extreme legos ;)  

If I had the money and time(aka fell into a pile of money and didn't need to work anymore, and had to come up with lots of hobbies to pass time), I think it would be cool to make a bunch of blocks out of materials(like a block of bricks, a block of wood, so on and so forth) and recreate a Minecraft scene.  

Posted by Dusty

If I had the money and time(aka fell into a pile of money and didn't need to work anymore, and had to come up with lots of hobbies to pass time), I think it would be cool to make a bunch of blocks out of materials(like a block of bricks, a block of wood, so on and so forth) and recreate a Minecraft scene.

That isn't hard. Cement mix + dirt = 150 bricks for about $25. They also have hand carving tools that simply cut a block of wood into a square. you basically sit it on top and hammer it down, it cuts through like an axe to make a block of wood. Other than that, you can also use architectural foam blocks which are literally about 15 cents each and just paint them. Either way, it's not hard to pop up a shelter like minecraft if you have the time + money. but there are also machines that are worth saving up for that do the job in about an hour  

Every day I punch a tree outside my house. Eventually that part of the trunk is gonna pop out.  

Posted by ShayneMc

That isn't hard. Cement mix + dirt = 150 bricks for about $25. They also have hand carving tools that simply cut a block of wood into a square. you basically sit it on top and hammer it down, it cuts through like an axe to make a block of wood. Other than that, you can also use architectural foam blocks which are literally about 15 cents each and just paint them. Either way, it's not hard to pop up a shelter like minecraft if you have the time + money. but there are also machines that are worth saving up for that do the job in about an hour

Expensive for me.  

Just one question: why is this in the iClassic section?  

Posted by callimuc

Just one question: why is this in the iClassic section?