169 replies to this topic

[jFox]

Hi all,

I'm still sort of new here, but I thought I'd share my excitement for any who may be interested. I had a tiny emergence from the dark ages a few years ago (when the MF was nearing the end of its life), and told myself that someday, I'd buy that thing, $500 be damned. Well time passed, I went back into the dark ages, and when I started looking at LEGO again recently I saw the crazy prices for this set had to admit defeat. Five hundred bucks was one thing, but triple that was just not going to happen.

Now, I had used BrickLink before to buy a few sets, and one day I was thinking about getting back into LEGO, poking around on the site. By random chance, I found the Wanted List feature. Then, I discovered you could use that Wanted List to search the stores. And add an entire set to said list in one go. This blew my mind. So I decided then and there that I would embark on a quest to assemble the pieces for this behemoth, and what a quest it has been! Okay, maybe "quest" is a bit over the top... but still, it's been quite the adventure for me.

So the first night that I seriously sat down to buy some parts, I probably placed 12 or 15 orders. Well a few days later those parts started showing up en masse. I got home from work one day to see this pile of packages laid out on my desk. I guess I didn't actually think of the logistics of getting thousands of plastic pieces sent to me from all over the globe.



The next day, there were so many packages that the mail carrier just left them in a post office box by the front door. My roommates could only shake their heads at this and sigh at the absurdity of it. I could only chuckle and think "what have I gotten myself into?"


I think the mail carrier hates me after all this.

Another couple of days, and a few more packages. Here's a whole bunch of them laid out. Last one of boxes, promise. :)



Now, some orders I placed directly with LEGO because BrickLink didn't have the quantities or reasonable prices. These took a bit longer to show up, but they got here eventually. The very last order I was waiting for was from LEGO. This also had an instruction manual, because I didn't want to build this huge set while looking at a computer screen the whole time. Anyway, it had a few different pieces in the order, but when I get to the last one on the list I found a problem. I had ordered 23 of a light bluish grey wedge plate, 4x2, left. The color was the dark grey, which seemed odd at first but I was okay with. I had a couple other parts that were different colors, like the rigging pieces on the back. $60 each for two of those on BL? No thank you.


Uh oh... one of these things is not like the other!

No, as you can see in the picture above one of the plates was facing right. I triple-counted to make sure, but I was one piece short. One piece. Out of 5,000+ pieces I was missing one single wedge plate. My journey was almost complete! My quest nearly finished! So close... and yet, so far. I couldn't help but laugh a little at the situation.

I called LEGO customer service and they were very nice about fixing the problem for me. Sent me the right color too! :) So now I have all of the pieces together, and am ready to start building! Unfortunately it took a little longer than I thought to get all the pieces and I have to move in a couple of days. So after I unpack and get settled I can begin. I've been living vicariously through BobBongo1895's thread about a similar journey, and the anticipation is killing me!


She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts?

Cost-wise, I know now that I made a few mistakes along the way. As I'm sure many of you know BrickLink takes some getting used to. As amazing as the site is there still is room for improvement on the interface side of things. I wasn't aware of all the sorting options, so surely I ended up paying too much for some parts. I definitely had too many orders, and the shipping added up over time. But I found out about so many other cool sets and parts while searching the BrickLink stores that this journey has been worth it a hundred times over. My wallet may hate me, and my friends, family and girlfriend may think I'm obsessed. But I don't care, I love these plastic bricks!

(Also, to get my fix while waiting I've picked up a ton of other sets... does anyone else find themselves buying boxes faster than they can open and build them?) Sigh... I need a LEGO room.

[ISDIronClaw]

That is quite the quest and I applaud your efforts and look forward to your completed ship. Makes me glad I bought mine when I did. I am curious as to how much your endeavor cost you?

[JackJonespaw]

Welcome to the ironic world. Just another example of a Bricklink screw up.

[The_Chosen_1]

It's awesome to hear about other people's experience doing this!  I BrickLink'd my UCS Millennium Falcon too, and have to say it was the most fun I've had putting together a set.  The whole process was just so addicting and FUN!

[Japser]

I am actually doing the same thing as of today! Current progress is below:

Total Parts required 5187
Parts Bought         2628

Order 1: 1510 pcs for $ 140,50
Order 2: 582 pcs for $50,00
Order 3: 18 pcs for $10,00
Order 4: 518 pcs for $32,26

So halfway there for around $250,-.

Do you have any tips on how you manage the Wanted list? I have to follow a 3 step process :

1) search for cheapest price per part
2) place the order
3) update my excel partslist sheet
4) update my wanted list on bricklink (deleting manually each item purchased)

Also would like to know if you placed many small orders to get the cheapest price per part or did you place large bulk orders?

Hope you can share some tips and tricks because sometimes its all very overwhelming when trying to find good stores!

Edited by Japser, 27 March 2012 - 10:44 AM.

[Warmaster]

 jFox, on 27 March 2012 - 02:03 AM, said:

some orders I placed directly with LEGO because BrickLink didn't have the quantities or reasonable prices

I never knew that you also could order bricks from LEGO, how does that work? Do they have an online shop and can you choose all the brick they have made so far?

[Japser]

 Warmaster, on 27 March 2012 - 10:52 AM, said:

I never knew that you also could order bricks from LEGO, how does that work? Do they have an online shop and can you choose all the brick they have made so far?

See here : http://shop.lego.com...A-Brick-ByTheme

[mrklaw]

 Japser, on 27 March 2012 - 10:36 AM, said:

Do you have any tips on how you manage the Wanted list? I have to follow a 3 step process :

1) search for cheapest price per part
2) place the order
3) update my excel partslist sheet
4) update my wanted list on bricklink (deleting manually each item purchased)

Also would like to know if you placed many small orders to get the cheapest price per part or did you place large bulk orders?

Hope you can share some tips and tricks because sometimes its all very overwhelming when trying to find good stores!

get bricklink to automatically remove ordered parts from wanted list rather than manually doing it via excel

[Sir_Basil_Ashton]

I never get tired of seeing/reading how people are taking on the UCS Falcon. Congratulations to everyone that has taken on this endeavor and I hope to someday join you in this challenge.

[LegoDad]

After reading this and the other MF thread, I am definitely going to do this.  I finished Bricklinking and Shop@Homeing Cafe Corner, so I need a new project.  I had no idea you could get instructions from Lego, did I read that right?  Are they official instructions or remakes?  I don't have a huge inventory, so unfortunately I will be ordering about the whole freaking thing.  Good luck to you guys and keep us updated.

[jFox]

 ISDIronClaw, on 27 March 2012 - 02:21 AM, said:

That is quite the quest and I applaud your efforts and look forward to your completed ship. Makes me glad I bought mine when I did. I am curious as to how much your endeavor cost you?

I kept track of prices and parts with excel in addition to the BrickLink wanted list, and the cost of parts was just over $700 (about $.14 a part).  Thousands of pieces for less than $0.10 each (hooray!), but then hundreds of large plates, big technic bricks, or just plain hard-to-come-by parts for $.50 or more each (yikes).  And one rare, ridiculously priced radar dish for $30.  More on that below.

Ways to cut down on the cost: Buy used if you don't have a problem with that.  I didn't want to run into a situation where I had gross or dirty parts, so I only bought new pieces.  A few extra pennies here or there adds up for a set this size.  I may get over this in the future, but for this project I wanted clean pieces. (Sure, the MF is a dirty ship, but I want MY dirt on it, not someone else's .)  Fewer orders overall.  I don't know what the total shipping cost was, but I had a LOT of smaller orders.  Also, color matching.  For some pieces that are not visible, the color doesn't really matter.  I was a stickler and got every piece in the right color (with a couple of exceptions below), but doing so can add up.  Some greebling parts are hard to find as well in the right color.

 Warmaster, on 27 March 2012 - 10:52 AM, said:

I never knew that you also could order bricks from LEGO, how does that work? Do they have an online shop and can you choose all the brick they have made so far?

You can buy parts directly from the Pick-a-Brick online shop that was linked up above.  The inventory here is a bit limited, and also pretty expensive--for common parts BrickLink is a much better option.  You can also buy parts direct through LEGO's Replacement Parts system.  I read about this on a forum somewhere, and it works out pretty nice, though it is a bit of a clunky system.  Just follow this link:  http://us.service.le...ts/default.aspx.  From there you can specify a set and the parts you need for it.  A few caveats on this system:

• You set up the parts and the quantities, then send LEGO the order.  A few days later they send you an e-mail with single price for the whole order.  You'll have to call them up to get a price-per-part breakdown, or respond to that e-mail for a breakdown.  This will take another couple of days (unless you call).  Then once you're satisfied you have to place the order by phone.  The parts will take a week or two to ship, as they come direct from the main facility in Denmark (though when they messed up my last order the correct parts came faster, from Connecticut I think).
• Some parts or colors of a specific part are not produced any more.  If an item is out of stock, they will tell you in an e-mail.  If an item is no longer produced in a certain color, you may get the parts in an alternate color.  That happened for me with one or two parts.

Some examples:

• The radar dish - LEGO does not produce the printed dish for this set anymore.  I bought a plain bley 10x10 dish, but once I looked at it I decided to bite the bullet and buy one.  Cost me $30, and I think there's only a few more for sale from U.S. vendors right now.
• Pirate ship rigging - the back of the ship has two light bley 28x4 rigging pieces covering the engines.  LEGO does not make these in bley anymore, and the few people selling them on BrickLink are asking for $60 each.  I bought mine in black for $.50 each.  Decided that particular detail was not worth the extra $110.
• Rigid hoses - There are 3 different lengths of hose piece, and one of them they didn't make in bley, so they sent me black.  The only alternative in bley were overseas sellers at $3 or $4 each. I'm fine with black for now.

 LegoDad, on 27 March 2012 - 06:50 PM, said:

After reading this and the other MF thread, I am definitely going to do this.  I finished Bricklinking and Shop@Homeing Cafe Corner, so I need a new project.  I had no idea you could get instructions from Lego, did I read that right?  Are they official instructions or remakes?  I don't have a huge inventory, so unfortunately I will be ordering about the whole freaking thing.  Good luck to you guys and keep us updated.

Do it!  It's the most fun I've ever had with LEGO, and that doesn't include building!  You can get replacement manuals from their replacement parts system.  I didn't see an option for it on the site, but when I was on the phone placing another order I asked the representative and she added one to my order.  It's expensive though; the manual cost over $50.  It's humongous, spiral-bound, heavy, and over 300 pages.  You can also download .PDF files from the LEGO website.  I look at computer screens all day long; I didn't want to do that while building. Plus, I didn't like the quality of the images in the PDF.

For anyone else thinking of doing something like this, I highly recommend it.  If there's anything else you'd like to know, or anything I missed, ask away!  After staring at this inventory for a couple of months I feel like I know it pretty well.

[LegoDad]

$50 for the manual isn't bad, new versions on ebay and bricklink are all over $100, most around $150-200.  My biggest concern is where to put this thing, it's bigger than any Legos we have displayed in the basement.  The Death Star is there, but nothing of this magnitude.  I am lucky enough to have a fairly large Bricklink store near me, so I will be able to fill about half of the total order with no shipping.

Are then specific pieces that you recommend going through Lego vs. Bricklink?  I have my Wanted List all ready, but couldn't find the tab so that pieces ordered will be deleted from my wanted list, that would save a lot of time.

[jamie75]

 LegoDad, on 27 March 2012 - 09:52 PM, said:

Are then specific pieces that you recommend going through Lego vs. Bricklink?  I have my Wanted List all ready, but couldn't find the tab so that pieces ordered will be deleted from my wanted list, that would save a lot of time.

Unless things have changed since I last used this, you have to do it manually! There is no "delete everything I just ordered from wanted list" button. The Force doesn't work either, I tried that too?!

I am really lking all these thread abosut Bricklinking big expensive sets. I just didn't for Cafe Corner and Market Street! Had a blast doing it and spend alittle over $400 US, doing so! I was happy to complete my Lego street.

Thanks for sharing!!

Jamie

[Fuppylodders]

Ooooooo awesome! The pics of the packages is to be honest, the most exciting ones! Turning up to where ever to find a huge bundle of packages for you is like Christmas or your birthday all over again, I think this is why it is so fun bricklinking =D

I will also be following your building of this as well as the other thread, because its keeping my appetite for one of these baby's down for now :P

I prefer to move my parts ordered to a second list of similar name but like ****#2, rather than delete the parts off the list. So If I need to revisit that part and need more of the same I can just order straight form that second wanted list.

Thanks for the tips on how to save money, I'll be using them! I know the feeling of your own'someone elses 'muck' on your own parts :P I first felt like this, but as I started bricklinking more, I gradually grew to hate the increased cost, and grew to not caring about second hand pieces because I wash all pieces I receive now that havn't been pre-cleaned =D Its all just personal preference =D

Edited by Fuppylodders, 27 March 2012 - 10:17 PM.

[jFox]

 jamie75, on 27 March 2012 - 10:07 PM, said:

Unless things have changed since I last used this, you have to do it manually! There is no "delete everything I just ordered from wanted list" button. The Force doesn't work either, I tried that too?!

There is a way to do this, and it works quite nicely!  However, I found it was only accessible once (though I could be wrong).  Once you have submitted an order at a store, DON'T CLICK ANYTHING! On the confirmation page there is a link in the middle of the page (in the middle of text most people probably don't read).  The link says something like "show items from this order on my wanted list."  Click that, it shows the matches, and you can check the "delete" box next to each item.  Then scroll down to the bottom of the page, hit the "Submit Changes" button, and there you go!  Like I said, I don't know of a way to do this order-to-wanted-list comparison except for immediately after ordering.

I placed plenty of orders before finding this out, and even afterward I forgot once or twice.  Mostly it was just meticulously scrolling through the wanted list for manual deletion.  To add extra anal details, I'd then go to my excel sheet to enter the quantity of part I ordered, and the price, and even the order number.  Actually came in useful once because I misplaced a few pieces.  Thought I hadn't ordered them, but my records showed clearly I had.  So I didn't give up the search until I found them.

 LegoDad, on 27 March 2012 - 09:52 PM, said:

$50 for the manual isn't bad, new versions on ebay and bricklink are all over $100, most around $150-200.  My biggest concern is where to put this thing, it's bigger than any Legos we have displayed in the basement.  The Death Star is there, but nothing of this magnitude.  I am lucky enough to have a fairly large Bricklink store near me, so I will be able to fill about half of the total order with no shipping.

Are then specific pieces that you recommend going through Lego vs. Bricklink?  I have my Wanted List all ready, but couldn't find the tab so that pieces ordered will be deleted from my wanted list, that would save a lot of time.

Okay, here's a breakdown of parts I bought from LEGO and their replacement parts system (and as best I can tell, why).  I'll include the BrickLink numbers if you need to look them up.
(Sorry to anyone reading that isn't LegoDad, this part might not be so exciting!)
(Also, a disclaimer: Your mileage may vary.  There may in fact be sellers with some of these (though I did just check a few along the way).  LEGO may not have anymore of some of these parts, yadda yadda yadda.)
EDIT: One more thing.  Prices and quantities were all based on searching for sellers in the U.S. with NEW parts.  I have no idea what the situation is for used parts for any of these.

• 47x 3703 --- Dark Bluish Gray Technic, Brick 1 x 16 with Holes --- Better price from LEGO, $1.11 each.
• 21x 6565 --- Light Bluish Gray Wedge 3 x 2 Left --- Only one person in the US with all I needed, for $2.00 each.  $0.41 from LEGO.
• 21x 6564 --- Light Bluish Gray Wedge 3 x 2 Right --- No one with the quantity, terrible prices. $0.41 from LEGO.
• 16x 32555 -- Yellow Technic, Brick 5 x 5 Right Angle (1 x 4 - 1 x 4) --- $3.45 each in US (ouch!).  $1.08 from LEGO. *** The shape of this part absolutely fascinates me.  I don't know why, but I like it! ***
• 16x 40344 -- Black Technic, Brick 4 x 6 Open Center --- No one with all of them in US. $1.08 from LEGO
• 27x 6190 ---- Dark Bluish Gray Bar 1 x 3 (Radio Handle, Phone Handset) --- $1.00 each in US, $0.24 from LEGO
• 17x 2465 --- Light Bluish Gray Brick 1 x 16 --- $1.50 in the US, $0.78 from LEGO
• 34x 30365 -- Light Bluish Gray Hinge Brick 1 x 2 Locking with 2 Fingers Vertical End --- ***The set needs 58 of these.  I got 34 from LEGO, the other 24 from a seller.***
• 2x 75c12 -- Light Bluish Gray Hose, Rigid 3mm D. 12L / 9.6cm --- talked about this one earlier.  No more bley in the US, and only black available from LEGO.
• 20x 6179 --- Light Bluish Gray Tile, Modified 4 x 4 with Studs on Edge --- $0.38 from LEGO, though I see now there is a seller in the US selling for $0.50
• 23x 41770 -- Light Bluish Gray Wedge, Plate 4 x 2 Left --- No one has the right quantity of these. $0.23 from LEGO (And hopefully you don't get the wrong ones like I did!)
• 24x 41769 -- Light Bluish Gray Wedge, Plate 4 x 2 Right --- Same as above. $0.24 from LEGO

I also bought a few parts from their Pick-A-Brick page.  These were either cheap, or because I couldn't find one seller with all the quantity I needed.

• 3x 2456 Black Brick 2 x 6
• 14x 3003 Dark Bluish Gray Brick 2 x 2
• 18x 3001 Light Bluish Gray Brick 2 x 4
• 26x 44302 Light Bluish Gray Hinge Plate 1 x 2 Locking with 2 Fingers On End
• 8x 4623 Light Bluish Gray Plate, Modified 1 x 2 with Arm Up (Horizontal Arm Length 6mm)
• 1x 3039 Light Bluish Gray Slope 45 2 x 2
• 6x    3037 Light Bluish Gray Slope 45 2 x 4
• 1x    4079 Reddish Brown Minifig, Utensil Seat 2 x 2
• 60x 298c05    Light Bluish Gray Lever Small Base with Light Bluish Gray Lever *** I ended up getting the the bley bases with black levers.  I think I read elsewhere that they don't make the bley levers anymore. ***
• 10x 32014 Light Bluish Gray Technic, Axle and Pin Connector Angled #6 - 90 degrees
• 16x 43723 Light Bluish Gray Wedge, Plate 3 x 2 Left
• 16x 43722 Light Bluish Gray Wedge, Plate 3 x 2 Right
• 94x 3460 Light Bluish Gray Plate 1 x 8
• 159x 3021 Light Bluish Gray Plate 2 x 3
• 2x 3033 Light Bluish Gray Plate 6 x 10
• 35x 3709b Light Bluish Gray Technic, Plate 2 x 4 with 3 Holes

Well now, I guess all that meticulous list-making has turned out to be useful once again!   At least, I hope so!

Once again, feel free to ask any more questions, I'll see what I can do to help.

Edited by jFox, 28 March 2012 - 01:44 AM.

[cavegod]

you can also order from other countries etc, although I tend to not order much from the USA since shipping prices are terrible almost double what it costs me to send a package the same weight to the US, Canada doesn't seem as bad but there you go.

[LegoDad]

Many thanks for all your help, it was amazing going through the catalog for this set on Bricklink and seeing that you would need "150" of this and that.  More of one part than a lot of entire sets produced.  

That's funny about that bley tube, I've been searching for it's old grey counterpart for over a year now for my cloud city, only part I need for that set.

EDIT: After going through my inventory, which is small, I have a good start of 879 pieces toward this set. Bricklinking will commence shortly.

Edited by LegoDad, 30 March 2012 - 02:43 AM.

[LegoDad]

jFox, thanks again for all your help on this project.  Unfortunately, no more 10179 manuals are available at Lego.com, I was totally bummed when I put in my order yesterday.  My price is seriously piling up since I had very small inventory with which to work, and would like to do this right, meaning purchasing the expensive pieces at some point.  Lego was out of the yellow technic piece for now, so I'm getting those FREE!!  Lego loves giving things away if you are nice, trust me, I've received free pieces, VIP points, etc.  Anyway, my piece progress as of now is:

Inventory:     879 pieces.....$0.00
Bricklink #1: 1767 pieces.....$190.00
Lego.com:     1050 pieces.....$215.00
Bricklink #2:  953 pieces.....$201.00

              4649 pieces......$606.00

Honestly, this is more than I was hoping to spend on this project, but will still save some money, and have the fun of building it.

[BobBongo1895]

Haha, good to see that I´m not the only fool of doing the BL way.

Have fun during the construction.

Maybe our ships will meet each other in space.

[LegoDad]

 BobBongo1895, on 06 April 2012 - 05:45 PM, said:

Haha, good to see that I´m not the only fool of doing the BL way.

Have fun during the construction.

Maybe our ships will meet each other in space.

Your thread and jFox's were my inspiration.  My wife saw the box from my first bricklink order  and was "What the hell is that"?  I failed to mention the cost to her.

[bkfountain]

I bricklinked one of these, and just started building it. I spent $916, mostly because I had never used bricklink before. I can see where I could have shaved lots of money off, since shipping killed me with over 30 orders and I also bought around 500 extra pieces. Regardless, it was a fun learning experience, and I got an awesome display set out of it.

For anyone interested, here's the changes I made due to price or rarity of pieces..

31 White Plate 2 x 2 with Pin Type 2 (2476b) - 14 white, 6 light gray, 9 dark bluish gray, 2 yellow
41 Light Bluish Gray Technic, Pin Connector Round (Pin Joiner Round) (75535) swapped with slot version (62462)
1 qty 6 x 14 dark red plate (3456) in red
28 qty (4095) 6.6L bar swapped with 28 qty 6L bar (63965)
60 qty Light Bluish Gray levers (298c05) swapped with light gray (298c03)
21 qty Light Bluish Gray wedge 3x2 right (6564) swapped with 63 plate 3x2 right (43722) x3 for wedge
21 qty Light Bluish Gray wedge 3x2 left (6565) swapped with 63 plate 3x2 left (43723) x3 for wedge
1 Light Bluish Gray Round Dish 10 x 10 Inverted with Spokes Pattern (50990px3) swapped with 1 dish (50990)
2 Light Bluish Gray boat rigging (47996) in black
1 Technic Flex-System Hose (75c08) in black
2 Technic Flex-System Hose (75c12) in dark grey
2 ChromeSilver Plate 1 x 1 Round (4073) in metallic silver
16 yellow Technic Brick 5 x 5 Right Angle with Holes (32555) in black

I tried to only cut corners on internal pieces, but those boat rigging pieces just cost so much. You don't even notice the technic right angle pieces, which I assume Lego only included in yellow for an easier build. Taking three of the 3x2 wedge plates to build one 3x2 brick wedge was a simple way around those being hard to find for a reasonable price. The levers are too small to stand out in light gray, but I also bought 60 of the black levers with light bluish bases so I could swap out that lever piece if it bothered me.

It sucks that I had to get the boat rigging in black, especially since I did end up spending so much money on the set. The black really sticks out, but I'm thinking of putting LED's back there anyways.

Edited by bkfountain, 06 April 2012 - 07:30 PM.

[jFox]

 LegoDad, on 06 April 2012 - 05:20 PM, said:

jFox, thanks again for all your help on this project. Unfortunately, no more 10179 manuals are available at Lego.com, I was totally bummed when I put in my order yesterday. My price is seriously piling up since I had very small inventory with which to work, and would like to do this right, meaning purchasing the expensive pieces at some point.

*snip*

Honestly, this is more than I was hoping to spend on this project, but will still save some money, and have the fun of building it.

Well I'm glad I could help! I hear you on the price. I started out with no inventory (well, only in sets I didn't want to dismantle), and early on I was thinking I'd be able to get it for less than retail. But then I hit a point near the end where the last hundred or two pieces were nearing $1.00 each. Then the manual (sorry to hear they don't have any more ) and the radar, etc... Oh well, well worth it! I can finally start building mine this weekend, woo! After the move last weekend I haven't had a good amount of space for anything LEGO yet.

 LegoDad, on 06 April 2012 - 05:54 PM, said:

I failed to mention the cost to her.

I tend to omit that information as well, unless someone really wants to know, or it's in these forums where people already know the costs associated with this habit... er, hobby.

 bkfountain, on 06 April 2012 - 07:27 PM, said:

It sucks that I had to get the boat rigging in black, especially since I did end up spending so much money on the set. The black really sticks out, but I'm thinking of putting LED's back there anyways.

This is really the only thing that irked me about the process. They're such big pieces and kind of obviously not right. I wonder if it's possible to paint or dye them somehow and not look terrible?

[Comwiz]

 jFox, on 06 April 2012 - 08:15 PM, said:

I wonder if it's possible to paint or dye them somehow and not look terrible?

I also just finished building my bricklinked falcon, and went with the boat riggings in black. I did paint them in grey. I just used a plastic primer and a gray spray paint. Post will go up soon, when I find the time. Result is good, hard to see it's a paint job  

Long story short - it's quite easy and possible to paint them.

[jFox]

 Comwiz, on 06 April 2012 - 09:09 PM, said:

I also just finished building my bricklinked falcon, and went with the boat riggings in black. I did paint them in grey. I just used a plastic primer and a gray spray paint. Post will go up soon, when I find the time. Result is good, hard to see it's a paint job

Long story short - it's quite easy and possible to paint them.

Ooh, that's nice to know! I had considered painting them, but thought the paint might make the pieces too thick to fit into clips and whatnot.

[legofett990]

 jFox, on 06 April 2012 - 10:40 PM, said:

Ooh, that's nice to know! I had considered painting them, but thought the paint might make the pieces too thick to fit into clips and whatnot.

As you mentioned it's also possible to dye pieces - cavegod did so in his UCS Sebulba's Podracer which looks fine to me and results are supposed to be high quality, without affecting either the Lego 'shine' to a piece or the thickness. I never realised you could before I saw that thread   Could be worth investigating if it's possible to achieve a result close to the original pieces with the black ones and some dye!