Hickernator

I just wanted to write a quick post to say thank you to everyone who supported the Miracle Express. I am honestly grateful for all of your support. Reaching 10,000 votes is no easy task. It requires the time and effort that you'd give to a full time job and after the year long campaign/promoting of the idea, I am actually exhausted! So honestly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for all your support this past year. It truly means a lot to me and I wish you all well and much success! :)

There's still time then Congrats again adwind. I really do think your set has a good chance of getting through. It's such an iconic family film and would really fit in well with the modulars.

Hello everyone! Here is a MOC I have created of the steam locomotive which features in the Queen music video Breakthru. Queen - The Miracle Express by Adam Hickey, on Flickr The engine itself is a preserved Class 2880 GWR locomotive in a 2-8-0 wheel configuration. It also has a flatbed truck where the band performs during the video. Queen - The Miracle Express by Adam Hickey, on Flickr It was quite a challenge designing the locomotive and I am going to have a go at doing the wheels again. I have bought a book by Holgar Matthes which teaches you various techniques in building steam locomotives which I am going to use to help. I also made custom figures of the band themselves. Miracle Express 4 by Adam Hickey, on Flickr Queen - The Miracle Express by Adam Hickey, on Flickr I intend to do some more updates on the train in the near future. I have also uploaded this to Lego Ideas if you wish to support it there. The Miracle Express I hope you like the model though. Please leave any feedback :) Thank you

I hope you don't mind if I add my Queen Miracle Express to the pool? Queen The Miracle Express Miracle Express MkII by Adam Hickey, on Flickr You can watch it in motion here Brickthru

Hi everyone! I've just made this assortment of builds depicting the sort of village fete that I used to go to when I was younger. It has various things, from plate smashing and a Punch and Judy Show to a pantomime performance of St. George and the Dragon! Let me know what you think of it! St. George vs The Dragon by Adam Hickey, on Flickr Punch and Judy! by Adam Hickey, on Flickr Plate Smashing by Adam Hickey, on Flickr The Medieval Fayre by Adam Hickey, on Flickr Here Comes the Dragon! by Adam Hickey, on Flickr

Been a while, but I've got a lot of new photos of my updated train which I wanted to share. Perhaps the biggest update is that it is now compatible with Power Functions! Took a long time to figure out. I've never really built with technic/motors before so it was a BIG learning curve, one which I had to compress over a 3 day weekend (with little to no sleep). Miracle Express MkII by Adam Hickey, on Flickr The MARK II Miracle Express. Compared to MARK I, this one is able to move around curves. It is also slightly chunkier than the original version, so that I could put the battery box and XL motor inside the main locomotive. The Miracle Express by Adam Hickey, on Flickr I'm now going to figure out how to add the third axle back onto the tender without making it derail. Going to be a challenge but will be more authentic to the original! One more pic The Miracle Express by Adam Hickey, on Flickr Let me know what you all think!

Awesome build! Must admit, the first thing that sprang to mind was the Monty Python Cheese Shop Sketch I do think you should add some little detail behind the buildings, like a dustbin or something.

I'm really glad that the Pirate Bay reached 10,000 supporters and I hope Lego does consider turning it into a set. Hopefully the price will be justifiable.

Hey all! So some of you may be aware that I made a Lego Miracle Express which I have put up on Lego Ideas and has received a lot of positive feedback. I have since made a little short film featuring the train after I managed to fit it with power functions and I wanted to share it with you. https://youtu.be/ge-MR09udYU Queen were kind enough to give me permission to use their music for the film. It was so much fun to make and was almost like filming an episode of Thomas the Tank Engine It also reminded me of making Lego films when I was 10/11 on the Lego Studios Movie Maker. I enjoyed placing the scenery in different places to create perspective. Let me know what you think of the movie! Thanks! Hickernator

Hi everyone! I was wondering if someone could help troubleshoot a problem for me. I am trying to add power functions to my steam train. Without the motor (both medium and XL) the train runs perfectly fine along rails. I goes around corners with no trouble and the gears run smoothly. The pistons turn properly and are quartered. As soon as I add a motor (following the instructions of the Emerald Night for gear configuration) the gears will jam automatically. I take the motor out and push the train along and it runs fine. As soon as I reconnect the motor, the gears just jam immediately. I am unsure whether I am doing something wrong. If anyone can give some advice I would be most grateful! Thank you :) Hickernator

I never knew that! Really fascinating! Must now try to locate some of those frictionless ones.

After much trial and error, I have finally figured out the problem. It was actually quite simple too! I was using the wrong technic pins to connect the train wheels to the pistons. I was using standard black pins whereas I should have been using those grey smaller pins. Runs perfectly now!

I've given it another go and it's still jamming What I've done is I kept all the wheels on the left hand side at 12, then on the right hand side I changed them to 3 or 9 to see whether it was because it needed to be clockwise or anti-clockwise. Neither solution helped. I've also been wondering whether it is due to weight because when I push the train along with my hand, the wheels with rods do turn, albeit quite stiffly. I'm also wondering whether the connections are too stiff or whether the rod is too long or even if I need to add a second motor to give it more power (though I'm not too sure about this as my model is no bigger than the emerald night.) As mentioned before, the train runs perfectly fine without the rods attached. The wheels spin correctly and it can turn corners well. I've configured the motor arrangement as such: Battery Box in main engine IR Receiver in cab XL motor in tender, connected to one pair of driving wheels (one wheel either side an axle) - not sure if this could be the issue?

Yep - I am using 4 drive wheels, 2 of which are blind drivers. 1 and 3 have a flange. I am using a 12 hole technic beam and connecting all the wheels to it. Even if I connect just 3 or 2, it still sticks.

Thanks! Seems to be the only option - seen that people have done that for the Hogwarts Express. Will give it a go

I've just done some more testing with the motor. The train is running perfectly without the piston rods. As soon as I attach them, the gears begin to jam. Very confused

Hey everyone! Here is a MOC of a Georgian style mansion which took me around 2 years to build. Not sure how many pieces it is but it is well above 2,000 at least. Georgian House by Adam Hickey, on Flickr There are 3 floors to the house. The Ground Floor, which houses the kitchen, dining room, living room and grand staircase. The Upper Floor which harbours the master bedroom, connecting bathroom, upper grand staircase landing, a balcony, corridor and a study. The third floor is an attic space, which contains lots of junk, the butler's bedroom, and a resident g-g-g-ghost... called Fred. Each floor is connected with a staircase and each room has its own colour theme. Some pics for you! Georgian House Staircase by Adam Hickey, on Flickr This is the grand staircase, which has some abstract paintings decorating the walls. Georgian House Dounstairs by Adam Hickey, on Flickr Ground Floor layout Study by Adam Hickey, on Flickr Study on the second floor Living Room by Adam Hickey, on Flickr Living Room Living Room by Adam Hickey, on Flickr Living Room - featuring a piano and shelves G-G-G-Ghost by Adam Hickey, on Flickr G-G-G-Ghost!!! Georgian House by Adam Hickey, on Flickr Overview of the house Let me know what you think! More pics on the way :)

Thank you! I am at a loss at the moment. All of this has come across so suddenly! I'm still waiting for parts to motorise it This has been so encouraging though and the response has been wonderful! Thank you again :)

Thank you both for the kind comments. The roof is my favourite part too. You can tell that my building skill improved over the two years once I had reached the roof Ran out of funds for the tiles Was gonna do it but needed to budget BTW adwind I really love your Home Alone house! It is awesome!

Thanks for the kind comments! I've got 80 votes and am thrilled with the positive response! I'm now moving onto stage 2 of this design, which is... motorisation! I am completely over-hauling the model and am going to add a motor to it to have it run around the tracks. Quite challenging but fun! First time ever working with motors. Here's some pics of the progress thus far... Miracle Express Overall by Adam Hickey, on Flickr Miracle Express Overall by Adam Hickey, on Flickr Any tips/suggestions would be most welcome :) Thanks! Hickernator

Recently I've been looking through my collection of Lego and I started to wonder; what Lego minfigure in my collection is my favourite? It is quite a challenging question to answer as I have literally hundreds and hundreds, from the CMF series to licensed figures and even some custom ones. I also have the odd rarity too (trying at the moment to find one of those old ghosts in an orange colour). I think, though, my favourite figure I have has to be this Johnny Thunder which I obtained on eBay about half a year ago. Johnny Thunder Front by Adam Hickey, on Flickr Johnny Thunder Back by Adam Hickey, on Flickr This is quite an interesting minifigure as it has the Lego Logo featured on the back on the torso, yet there is no hole in the neck for a keyring. The Adventurers was one of my favourite themes growing up and I have many fond memories of coming up with adventures for Johnny Thunder and his gang! So, if you had to choose only ONE minifigure, which one is your favourite?

Even though I would love for the classic space to do well, I would probably have to agree with you.

One thing I am thinking of attempting in the future is an overhead monorail, where the train runs underneath the track. Would be a challenge but would look awesome. Sort of like the Pacific Atlantic Monotrain in Thunderbirds.

Personally I feel Star Wars has been going for too long. So many sets have been rehashed time and time again and I feel that the appeal for the theme is not as strong as it used to be. I don't think the theme should necessarily retire, yet I think it should have fewer releases to make room for more classic space themed sets.

Most recent purchase I made was for the Death Star Escape set that was recently released. Haven't built it yet however it is one of the better sets released so far this year in my opinion. Always wanted some scenery as opposed to vehicles.