cbqmp27 Posted July 3, 2021 I recently “tried” to build the Burlington Northern SD-40-2 from Brick Model Railroader. I say tried because I now stuck and getting help from BMR has proven to be an exercise in frustration, in other words, NO help at all. They claim their instructions are “premium” but in reality they are worse than normal Lego instructions. I do realize this is a complex build. But the truck assembly which is a bit complex has no help nor details on where certain parts go. It’s just more black parts added onto already black parts and there is no indication where some of the parts are supposed to go. I’ve written to BMR and my notes have not been answered nor has their been any acknowledgement of said note. I was wondering if anyone else on here is able to contact BMR or the designer of this model to get some help. Thanks for listening and sorry to have bothered you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Daedalus304 Posted July 3, 2021 Hey cbqmp27, sorry to hear it's giving you trouble. If you post the step numbers that are giving you a hard time I can help you sort it out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cbqmp27 Posted July 3, 2021 Daedalus304, I currently am stuck at steps 225-229, too many black parts on black parts with no clear way to indicate where they go. Thanks for whatever help you can provide. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jedi Bert Posted July 3, 2021 (edited) Here is the completed assembly. I have skipped the steps with tubing. Top of assembly, left to right is: slope 1x1, tile 1x1, slope 1x1, tile 1x2 Repeat above slope 1x1, tile 1x1, slope 1x1, tile 1x1 Update: Sorry for upside down photo, cannot seem to flip it. Humberto Edited July 3, 2021 by Jedi Bert Update on photo. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Daedalus304 Posted July 3, 2021 8 hours ago, cbqmp27 said: Daedalus304, I currently am stuck at steps 225-229, too many black parts on black parts with no clear way to indicate where they go. Thanks for whatever help you can provide. Hey cbqmp27, I took these two pictures of the completed truck frame for you, and changed two of the minifig neck brackets from step 225 to Light Bluish Gray to help make it more apparent where they're going. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cbqmp27 Posted July 3, 2021 Indeed this makes sense, and I appreciate the time and effort it took you to reply to my inquiry. Thank you very much. I'll update this post sometime tomorrow when I've had a chance to work on it. Again, thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cbqmp27 Posted July 5, 2021 (edited) Daedalus304, those pictures you posted gave me enough detail so that I could complete the truck assembly, I do appreciate the help. By chance, were you the designer of said model? Anyhow, many thanks for the tips, they were appreciated. Jedi Bert, your tips were helpful as well, the biggest stumbling block for me was where the 1x1 plate with clip light and the 1x1 neck bracket was used, the diagram in the instruction book was flawed in that regard. Both of you again, thanks. Edited July 5, 2021 by cbqmp27 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Daedalus304 Posted July 6, 2021 3 hours ago, cbqmp27 said: Daedalus304, those pictures you posted gave me enough detail so that I could complete the truck assembly, I do appreciate the help. By chance, were you the designer of said model? Anyhow, many thanks for the tips, they were appreciated. Yes, I did the design for the SD40-2 and was heavily involved with the instructions. Again, I'm sorry to hear that the instructions gave you trouble. We spent a lot of time going through them to make sure that everything made sense and try our best to iron out all the issues, though a couple still made it through (Four separate 100+ page books for 1800+ part models is very time consuming to work out). We had many test builds and reviews of the instruction steps and these steps in particular never stood out as troublesome during the testing. I have ideas as to why, but that doesn't matter here and now - I'll pay extra attention next time for similar situations to try to avoid repeats of the issue. That said, I'm happy to have been able to help you out here. Do let me know if you have more questions. I hope the rest of your build goes smoothly, and I hope you enjoy running your SD40-2 once it's completed! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
legoboy3998 Posted July 8, 2021 @cbqmp27 It sounded like you had trouble with the all black part steps. This is not really a BMR issue, so much as it is a LDRAW? issue. I have the same issues with Brickmania instructions. I have found using my phones camera often helps to better show where the brick edges are to identify brick shapes and placement. I don't know if the LDRAW? allows the ability to change the brick outline color. Sal WFB, WI Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
