Need Idea For Ramp (MOC Question)

[one79]

Hi everyone. I hope this is the correct place for asking questions about building ramp. Hopefully someone can assist me. 

I have set 76057 and I want to connect the bridge to my straight roadplate 7280 using ramp. I think I have 3 options to do that though, which is:

OPTION 1
Use 42942. I need to use two of this side by side and then extend it way down from the top. So, for one side of the bridge, I might need 4 or more of this parts. For both sides, I have to double it. 

OPTION 2
Use 30477px1. I only need to use this for one side of the bridge. I even have to elevate the bridge up if I use this. So in total I only need 2 to cover both sides of the bridge.

OPTION 3
Using SNOT Technique and build it myself.

OPTION 1 and OPTION 2 have a shortcoming. The ramp width do not match with the bridge (the width for vehicles to pass on the bridge is 10 studs, while total width of the bridge with the wall is 14 studs). OPTION 1 is the worst option I think.

OPTION 2 is simple, but the cost of the ramp is expensive. 

OPTION 3 might be challenging but it will give the most aesthetically pleasing result. Unfortunately I never done any MOC building. So I do not know where and how to start to calculate the parts that I required. 

I want to compare the prices for OPTION 2 and OPTION 3 and get the cheaper option to spend.

Any advice, guys? Or maybe another idea?

Thanks!!

[imvanya]

For Option 3 you may look at something like this:

There are a lot of other similar solutions all over the forum, but that's the first one I found. If you have some spare parts to manage this, it shouldn't be very tricky.

 

[one79]

18 minutes ago, imvanya said:

For Option 3 you may look at something like this:

There are a lot of other similar solutions all over the forum, but that's the first one I found. If you have some spare parts to manage this, it shouldn't be very tricky.

 

Hi there. Thank you for the link. That is pretty useful. I just have no experience how to build a SNOT road. Well, I never done any MOC. And in the weblink that you shared, the builder, unfortunately, does not provide instruction. 

Hopefully someone here can provide some information how to build a SNOT road. But will it be far more costly than OPTION 2?

[imvanya]

2 hours ago, one79 said:

Hopefully someone here can provide some information how to build a SNOT road. But will it be far more costly than OPTION 2?

30477px1 are indeed quite expensive at $7 or more for a used one on Bricklink, so for the same money you can get a few hundred 1x4 or 1x6 bricks, which cost only a few cents per item.

As to building advice, you could first do some testing with the parts you already have. The most straightforward approach would be to simply build a wall-like structure with a stripe in the middle like this:

You will have to extend it to make it the right size, so some measuring will be necessary. This might be helpful:

From there you can modify it by adding some bracing to avoid flex. You should be able to hide it on the bottom part of the road.

The hard part will be the transition from bricks to baseplate. Here you might need to get creative or ask someone more qualified for advice 

[one79]

15 hours ago, imvanya said:

30477px1 are indeed quite expensive at $7 or more for a used one on Bricklink, so for the same money you can get a few hundred 1x4 or 1x6 bricks, which cost only a few cents per item.

As to building advice, you could first do some testing with the parts you already have. The most straightforward approach would be to simply build a wall-like structure with a stripe in the middle like this:

You will have to extend it to make it the right size, so some measuring will be necessary. This might be helpful:

From there you can modify it by adding some bracing to avoid flex. You should be able to hide it on the bottom part of the road.

The hard part will be the transition from bricks to baseplate. Here you might need to get creative or ask someone more qualified for advice 

Thank you imvanya! I have more questions though.

For the first picture, what is the purpose of the strips (plate) in the middle? Why don't we use all bricks instead? 

What is the purpose of the second picture? I don't get it. Is it some sort of bracing that you mentioned?

The transition from ramp to baseplate is indeed tricky. Maybe I need to use the combination of slopes with hinges. 

[imvanya]

4 hours ago, one79 said:

For the first picture, what is the purpose of the strips (plate) in the middle? Why don't we use all bricks instead?

That's just for road markings, if you don't need any, you could use just the bricks.

4 hours ago, one79 said:

What is the purpose of the second picture? I don't get it. Is it some sort of bracing that you mentioned?

That's a reference for you to figure out how to match the width of the bridge to the width of your SNOT ramp. The picture shows that 2 studs = 5 plates. The bridge is 10 studs wide, which is (10 / 2) * 5 = 25 plates, or 8 bricks and 1 plate:

[one79]

51 minutes ago, imvanya said:

That's just for road markings, if you don't need any, you could use just the bricks.

That's a reference for you to figure out how to match the width of the bridge to the width of your SNOT ramp. The picture shows that 2 studs = 5 plates. The bridge is 10 studs wide, which is (10 / 2) * 5 = 25 plates, or 8 bricks and 1 plate:

Oh for road marking! Yeah I need it. So I guess I will include plates.

Did you use some sort of bricks software? Is it Stud.io 2 from Bricklink (I never used it though). But I can download and learn it if it can make the parts calculation easier since I don't have enough parts to make mock ramp.

Thank you for the explanation! It is very easy to understand.

[imvanya]

Just now, one79 said:

Did you use some sort of bricks software?

I don't have any experience with Stud.io, i mostly use LEGO Digital Designer and Mecabricks.

LDD is easier to figure out and the experience is more similar to actual brick building thanks to the auto-snap feature. It is somewhat strict in terms of which connections are allowed and which are not, but most of the time it is more than enough. Also, there is an LDD subforum on Eurobricks with tons of useful information and tips available.

Mecabricks, on the other hand, is much more flexible when it comes to unusual connections, but it will take more time to figure out how to use it. Mecabricks' big advantages are that 1) you don't have to install anything as you build in you browser online, and 2) it has a very good built-in rendering tool, which I personally use a lot, e.g. for images I linked above.

[one79]

14 hours ago, imvanya said:

I don't have any experience with Stud.io, i mostly use LEGO Digital Designer and Mecabricks.

LDD is easier to figure out and the experience is more similar to actual brick building thanks to the auto-snap feature. It is somewhat strict in terms of which connections are allowed and which are not, but most of the time it is more than enough. Also, there is an LDD subforum on Eurobricks with tons of useful information and tips available.

Mecabricks, on the other hand, is much more flexible when it comes to unusual connections, but it will take more time to figure out how to use it. Mecabricks' big advantages are that 1) you don't have to install anything as you build in you browser online, and 2) it has a very good built-in rendering tool, which I personally use a lot, e.g. for images I linked above.

Imvanya, does LDD has built-in sets already in it? I already installed it but it seems there is no database for existing sets in it. It would make everything easier of there is set 76057 template already in there. So I can just start building the ramp to connect to the bridge. 

[imvanya]

7 hours ago, one79 said:

Imvanya, does LDD has built-in sets already in it?

The LDD subforum, which I linked above, has a dedicated thread for official sets built in LDD - here it is. Unfortunately, 76057 doesn't seem to be among the built sets, but it is available for Stud.io and Mecabricks. Perhaps, you could start with Stud.io after all, as you originally planned 

[one79]

50 minutes ago, imvanya said:

The LDD subforum, which I linked above, has a dedicated thread for official sets built in LDD - here it is. Unfortunately, 76057 doesn't seem to be among the built sets, but it is available for Stud.io and Mecabricks. Perhaps, you could start with Stud.io after all, as you originally planned 

I already have both installed. And I take a look at Mecabricks earlier as well. I only know Stud.io because someone mentioned it to me. I guess I will try Stud.io first. Thanks for all of your help, imvanya!