[HELP] Generic Building Help Topic

[Stereo]

To me it looks like the base is unfolding a bit due to the weight, so the center axle has a bend in it and is probably not able to run smoothly, maybe you used plain 5L axles instead of ones with stops?  I did have that MOC built a while ago but I already took it apart, and I had a different gear substitution (20T clutch gear instead of 16T) so I had to change that section anyway to make the ratios match.

 

I don't know if a direct link works but this is a picture of it that I uploaded to Rebrickable back then, you can see the different gear setup I used to accomodate the 3L gear shift piece.  Instead of 16:16, 20:12:20:12 as two stages, it's directly 20:12:20:12:12  Otherwise it's in the gallery, the one with a smiling brick sun https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-4477/JKBrickworks/earth-moon-and-sun-orrery/#photos

Edited January 28 by Stereo

[sondh]

@Stereo Thanks for the suggestion! Turns out it's the 3x 12 teeth gears under Earth that caused the problem. I removed them and have to be content with a non-tilted version of the Earth.

[Krzychups]

Can anyone point me in the direction of a guide or some tips on how to build cars with live axles like RC crawlers? Do such things exist? Thanks in advance.

[Jurss]

 

[Aurorasaurus]

Does anyone have experience painting their models? I am thinking I might like to paint one of mine due to some parts not existing in the colors I want. Is there any specific types of paints I should use? Should I treat the plastic like a 3d print before painting (sandpaper, wood filler, sandpaper)? Am I better to paint on top of white pieces or black pieces, for a vibrant look? Or would a couple white base coats be just as good? Any help or other experiences would help a lot, thanks!

[Carsten Svendsen]

9 hours ago, Aurorasaurus said:

Does anyone have experience painting their models? I am thinking I might like to paint one of mine due to some parts not existing in the colors I want. Is there any specific types of paints I should use? Should I treat the plastic like a 3d print before painting (sandpaper, wood filler, sandpaper)? Am I better to paint on top of white pieces or black pieces, for a vibrant look? Or would a couple white base coats be just as good? Any help or other experiences would help a lot, thanks!

Why would you want to paint it, when there are already so incredibly many colors available? Painting is like blasphemy honestly, you wouldn't even be able to use the pieces again later.

[Aurorasaurus]

3 hours ago, Carsten Svendsen said:

Why would you want to paint it, when there are already so incredibly many colors available? Painting is like blasphemy honestly, you wouldn't even be able to use the pieces again later.

It's much more cost effective than custom stickers, and will allow me to get exactly the look i want. As for parts availability, 64394 and its partner arent available in regular blue, and neither are 64682 and its partner, to name just a couple parts. And, painting is something fun I can do with my family. However, I completely understand where you're coming from, a year or 2 ago I would have said the same.

[Gray Gear]

On 2/13/2025 at 9:36 AM, Aurorasaurus said:

Does anyone have experience painting their models? I am thinking I might like to paint one of mine due to some parts not existing in the colors I want. Is there any specific types of paints I should use? Should I treat the plastic like a 3d print before painting (sandpaper, wood filler, sandpaper)? Am I better to paint on top of white pieces or black pieces, for a vibrant look? Or would a couple white base coats be just as good? Any help or other experiences would help a lot, thanks!

Personally I have made good experiences with Edding spay cans. No need for any special surface prep, just make sure they are clean with some soap ore alcohol, and that they are dry. Make sure to put the cans in a hot water bath before use and shake for about 5 minutes. Apply 3 thin coats, with ~5 minutes time in between. Let dry for 24h in a dry and warm place. Apply some clearcoat afterwards if you want to protect the paint.

I have found colors matching the LEGO ones for DBG and Bright Light Yellow so far. Here is a Picture of my Goblin Slayer MOC, with a shield spaypainted by yours truly using Edding Spay Cans and some masking tape:

Hope this helps! Gray Gear

[Aurorasaurus]

32 minutes ago, Gray Gear said:

Hope this helps! Gray Gear

Amazing- thank you so much! Your results with the shield look amazing and give me a lot of hope.

[Gray Gear]

@Aurorasaurus No Problem! One thing I encountered is that is is problematic to spay multiple colors over each other directly. It seems the solvents of the second color will act with the already dried color underneath. I solved this by putting a layer of clearcoat between colors. So the Goblin slayer Shield actually has 6 layers of Paint:

1. Gray outside ring 2. Clearcoat 3. Gold Circles 4. Clearcoat 5. Dark Scratches 6. Clearcoat

Just as a heads up if you are planning to do something similar.

[pekka111]

On 1/7/2025 at 5:10 PM, Aurorasaurus said:

https://bricksafe.com/files/Aurorasaurus/miscellaneous/3d-print-tolerance-tester/tolerance tester.stl
Here's a simple test piece I use for checking how different filaments tolerances are, this should be perfect for you. 0,9, 1, and 1,1 on the side are how deep the counterbore is. And the other numbers are the diameter of the pin hole.

Finally got to print the tester with Prusa i3, 0.15mm and ABS. Best fit seems to be 0.9 / 5.0 which seems to be as good as original Lego. Not the prettiest print though.

Edited February 21 by pekka111

[Aurorasaurus]

2 hours ago, pekka111 said:

Finally got to print the tester with Prusa i3, 0.15mm and ABS. Best fit seems to be 0.9 / 5.0 which seems to be as good as original Lego. Not the prettiest print though.

Nice! I'm glad it helped you find the right fit. Maybe you should spend some time dialling in your ABS settings? I've never printed with it, is it really that much better than PLA+? Also it may be worth trying ASA instead of ABS for your next spool, apparently the smell is not as bad.

[pekka111]

47 minutes ago, Aurorasaurus said:

Nice! I'm glad it helped you find the right fit. Maybe you should spend some time dialling in your ABS settings? I've never printed with it, is it really that much better than PLA+? Also it may be worth trying ASA instead of ABS for your next spool, apparently the smell is not as bad.

ABS is the only choice available in a local library. I will still try out 0.10 mm setting, though it's double the duration. But looks are not so critical, will be an honest indicator that some illegal parts have been used in my builds :)

Edited February 21 by pekka111

[bruh]

Hey guys,

I was thinking of trying to make a helicopter that can at least create some lift, if not fly. Now, it sounds very adventurous (and probably won't work) but I want to try. What would be some good helicopter rotors? I know that 65442 and 5240 are both good options, but I was curious if there was a custom helicopter blade that would provide more lift.

[Carsten Svendsen]

10 hours ago, bruh said:

Hey guys,

I was thinking of trying to make a helicopter that can at least create some lift, if not fly. Now, it sounds very adventurous (and probably won't work) but I want to try. What would be some good helicopter rotors? I know that 65442 and 5240 are both good options, but I was curious if there was a custom helicopter blade that would provide more lift.

The problem wont be the blades, the problem will be the motors. You'll have to go with RC motors or something, and also, the amount of stress applied to the rotors of a helikopter is insane, especially if it's made of plastic.
I would suggest not to spend too much money up front to get it working, but definitely go and build a cool model!

[howitzer]

1 hour ago, Carsten Svendsen said:

The problem wont be the blades, the problem will be the motors. You'll have to go with RC motors or something, and also, the amount of stress applied to the rotors of a helikopter is insane, especially if it's made of plastic.
I would suggest not to spend too much money up front to get it working, but definitely go and build a cool model!

It's not even about the motors but getting enough power to drive them. Lego motors driving 89509 blades with enough power can make for an actually flying machine, but it requires a custom power source and controls.

Brick Experiment Channel made a drone like this few years ago:

 

12 hours ago, bruh said:

Hey guys,

I was thinking of trying to make a helicopter that can at least create some lift, if not fly. Now, it sounds very adventurous (and probably won't work) but I want to try. What would be some good helicopter rotors? I know that 65442 and 5240 are both good options, but I was curious if there was a custom helicopter blade that would provide more lift.

Check this out:

 

[2GodBDGlory]

On 3/1/2025 at 4:15 AM, howitzer said:

It's not even about the motors but getting enough power to drive them. Lego motors driving 89509 blades with enough power can make for an actually flying machine, but it requires a custom power source and controls.

And willingness to wildly overvolt the motors! I'm not sure if that video clearly shows what he was running them at, but I think it was something like 28V on the bench testing, which is well over what the motors are rated for! Super cool that it works, but you have to wonder for how long

[howitzer]

12 hours ago, 2GodBDGlory said:

And willingness to wildly overvolt the motors! I'm not sure if that video clearly shows what he was running them at, but I think it was something like 28V on the bench testing, which is well over what the motors are rated for! Super cool that it works, but you have to wonder for how long

Yeah, that's true, what the video shows is clearly well out of design range of the motors and I wouldn't be surprised if the maker burned out several motors in the making of that video.

[Divitis]

Hello, is there a thread specific for advice on filming lego models? 

[Aurorasaurus]

12 minutes ago, Divitis said:

Hello, is there a thread specific for advice on filming lego models? 

There are a couple on photography, which is valuable but not exactly the same. What sort of video are you trying to make? If you can identify the important things going on in a video you like you can start to copy those things. Just have fun with it.

[Divitis]

6 hours ago, Aurorasaurus said:

There are a couple on photography, which is valuable but not exactly the same. What sort of video are you trying to make? If you can identify the important things going on in a video you like you can start to copy those things. Just have fun with it.

I was thinking more along the lines of the 'axle collection thread' but for photo/video setups.

Still, can you point me to those photo threads please?

[Paul B Technic]

I am by no means an "expert" but it mostly comes down to lighting, your background and having a consistent area to make the videos. 

[Aurorasaurus]

2 hours ago, Divitis said:

I was thinking more along the lines of the 'axle collection thread' but for photo/video setups.

Still, can you point me to those photo threads please?

 

Heres the one I was thinking of. It seems to have messed up my text box on mobile so sorry if there's misplaced characters or weird formatting.

 

My personal photo setup is just my windowblind draped down the back of some industrial shelves. Then a family member happened to have some big lights (they have a bulb bigger than I've ever seen in a normal store and go inside what feels like a big metal cooking bowl) and a tripod so I borrow those as I need them.

Heres my favourite photo with that setup, I just take photos on a pretty new smartphone and they look pretty good to my eyes.

Hopefully this helps

[Divitis]

9 hours ago, Aurorasaurus said:

Heres my favourite photo with that setup, I just take photos on a pretty new smartphone and they look pretty good to my eyes.

Thanks! And this is a pretty picture indeed. I especially like the details in the blacks.

What I have the most problems with is keeping everything in focus when filming a large model (1:8 car) without creating an excessively flat and boring image.

If I step down the aperture the amount of light I need is insane while if I use a shorter lens (like a 24) the perspective becomes weird.

Oh, and minimizing reflections too, any tip there would be great, please.

PS for camera nerds: I have a Canon 6D mark ii, which is superb for photos, but the videos it shoots are compressed so there's no tinkering with them in post. I thought all thing was going to be simpler, instead I am on the verge of renting an Alexa. 

[Aurorasaurus]

32 minutes ago, Divitis said:

Thanks! And this is a pretty picture indeed. I especially like the details in the blacks.

What I have the most problems with is keeping everything in focus when filming a large model (1:8 car) without creating an excessively flat and boring image.

If I step down the aperture the amount of light I need is insane while if I use a shorter lens (like a 24) the perspective becomes weird.

Oh, and minimizing reflections too, any tip there would be great, please.

PS for camera nerds: I have a Canon 6D mark ii, which is superb for photos, but the videos it shoots are compressed so there's no tinkering with them in post. I thought all thing was going to be simpler, instead I am on the verge of renting an Alexa. 

For me, using a phone, I like to have it back pretty far and use 3x zoom, which is just as clear on my phone (telephoto or something?) and gives a much less distorted image. Maybe that helps with focus too since its further away?

Here's a link to a video with some parts filmed like that, keep in mind youtube compression has no mercy.

I really like filming just with a phone, its not as expensive or complicated as a fancy camera, but to my eyes its easily "good enough" 

Keeping everything nice and bright really makes a huge difference, if you don't have big lights it might be time to get some.

I'm enjoying this conversation and I'd love to see what video you get at the end (or right now!)