Srbandrews

Hi folks, I've been struggling to decide on the most appropriate forum to post this in, but eventually plumped for Sci-Fi. I've mostly only made trains so this is a bit of a departure for me. It's the first time I've tried to build something organic, I think, and I hope it doesn't look too much like a robot. Anyway, this is my design for a chocobo from the Final Fantasy series. There are other designs out there which are better in most ways, but I wanted something that was a little smaller and more in scale with a minifig. This is the result so far: I've built a prototype out of whatever I could cobble together and it seems to work quite nicely. It doesn't have much difficulty balancing and it can do some moderately dynamic poses: So, the next step is ordering the parts, but I thought I'd see whether I could get any useful feedback before I spent real money - Like I said this is a bit of a departure to me so I may have missed something obvious. Any comments welcome.

Hi everyone, Not much to say about this really. It's a fairly unremarkable build with no unusual or advanced techniques. There are more accurate versions of this loco out there, but I wanted to build one in Dark Tan and the part selection is really limited. I've had to make some concessions such as the buffer beam not being level with the running plate - that's quite a major feature of the prototype but it just couldn't be done as they would have simply been too high over the wheels. That said, I think the colours do partly make up for the paucity of finesse. Hornby version:

Great work! Very accurate to the original. The only part I don't like is the Clone Wars head; looks all wrong next to the normally proportioned ones.

And here it is for real:

Thanks all, and thanks again for the tip welfycat, I think this new head is a bit of an improvement: What do you reckon?

Aha, yes, thanks. I've been wondering why it didn't look quite right there and I think you nailed it. I'll have to have a good think about that because that cheese slope does add to the sort of sturdiness of the head. I'll have a play around and see what I can do.

Hi all, Apologies if something like this has been done already, but I couldn't find anything quite like it. I thought it might be a good idea to start a thread to share ideas about the best ways of squeezing Power Functions into small spaces. I occasionaly come across images where I think 'oh, that's a good way of fitting that in' but usually I've stumbled across it by chance and the reference is never there when I need it. So if you have any images of your own MOCs, or somebody elses (try to give credit of course), share them here. As a start, I found this video by a youtube user names Zanthera quite useful in the past, but tenders can make things a lot easier for steam loco builders: Anyone know of any really clever tank engines or small shunters?

There have, as you will see I'm sure, been many many pages of speculation here from people who care a great deal about a 2015 train. I think we've all reached a point where we realise that every possible hypothetical eventuality has been explored and there's really nothing else to say until someone officially announces something, which now looks v unlikely for this year.

Thanks. Think I'll move on to the tar wagon for my next stage. Just weighing up various brake van styles. Not sure to go with a period-accurate Stroudley design, a later SR brake van, or a 'generic' design of my own.

Ah, yes, you're quite right about this. For instance I recently built a loco that was roughly in 7-wide 'scale', but in fact because it was a really small engine, it was mostly 6-wide. What I meant though, was that you can achieve a running plate that is 7-studs wide using door rails without the half-stud offset: (I think the emerald night is similar to this)

Shamelessly bumping to show my progress in turning the loco into a train. I haven't done much making of rolling stock. Some ideas in LDD: One mineral wagon:

I think it's worth noting that, to achieve the width and scale of 7-wide, you don't always have to deal with odd-numbers. I am a big fan of using door rails and brackets. In the image linked below you can see a locomotive I made with a 7-wide cab and a 6-wide+doorway or bracket with tile running plate. This can make wheels and bogies a lot easier.

Very nice passenger car. The scale is excellent. What I really want to know though is what's going to be pulling it.

Very impressive. Great loco and I especially like the IR receiver placement. While I did make a separate thread for it, I did eventually make my steam shunter and never updated this topic, but since it's been resurrected: Not very ingenious, but it did surpass my fairly modest expectations.

They're not ideal. Usually I would have used the plane-type window pieces, but they don't come in a suitable colour. Same story for 1x3 arches, technic bricks with holes, you name it. For me, this was the best solution and I think they look ok considering but I'd be very happy to hear any other suggestions.

Hah, thanks Murdoch. I'm sure there are some old ERTL Diecasts in a shoebox in my old wardrobe at my parents' place.

Thanks Zephyr. So, I'm normally not at all into modding lego pieces, but a while ago I bought a small set of acrylic paints to add some paintwork modifications to the components for the Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures Game and used about 0.1% of them and an idea struck me. I realise I'm probably going to be forced to relinquish my adulthood card when next discovered in public and I'm actually slightly embarrassed that I've done this, and yet at the same time quite pleased with the result: I've never liked the face of the TV series Stepney, so I went with the original book illustrations, which also meant being able to leave it with a hand-painted finish. http://ttte.wikia.co...owledOutRS5.png

Thanks lightningtiger. I've been thinking I probably have enough engines for now and that it was time to concentrate on trying to build some rolling stock so thought it might be good to start on designing a late C19th light goods train for this to pull. To open: a rough sketch of a Stroudley curved-top goods wagon: EDIT: And victorian style tar wagon

Ah yes, I'd forgotted to mention that. Using two different reds was intentional but, following a mistake I made with colouring in LDD, I actually ordered some of the wrong parts. The sides of the buffer (1x1 snot bricks holding the Fez pieces) should be dark red and similarly so at the rear. Cf: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LB%26SCR_A1X_class_55_Stepney#/media/File:55StepneyHorstedKeynes.JPG

Normal 45s do I think but not inverted, which was annoying.

I was roughly going by minifig=6ft. That would put the 4ft wheels at 28mm. When the loco is on track, what I see as the diameter is the diameter of the wheel sans flange, so to my eye they do look closer. I'm not saying medium drivers would be a bad choice by any means, but personally I think they look too small, even if the lego large drivers do make the loco ride too high. I'll definitely try the hoses-as-side-rods solution, though. EDIT: Thanks. Like I said above, I'll try to get some red hose next time I order parts. I had to leave a few details out. The pipes and rails along the top of the boiler just distracted too much from the outline and shape when I tried to model them. I think one thing I will definitely be adding is a name on the boiler as that is a very dominant part of the original design. I'm not sure whether to go for Stepney (being the most famous), Brighton (being the Paris Exhibition Gold Medal Winner) or make up one that's apt for the naming convention but more unique to me, like I was thinking London Bridge perhaps. Still haven't worked out the best options for clear vinyl sticker printing so if anyone has any tips...

Thanks. You're right about the wheels - I would get the running plate at a better height, but then the problem with the large drivers is really not so much the size (they're pretty much spot on for scale) as is it the inability to overlap them realistically through the splashers (and under the tank). Lego terriers I've seen with BBB medium wheels look a better height but then their wheels look too small, so you can't really win there. :( For the side rods: it appears there is a red 3mm rigid hose in the correct length, but would that be too flexible? I can sort of imagine it being a bit flimsy. I'd certainly give it a try but I don't have any hose of the right length.

Ah, I see what you mean. I don't think those turntables are likely to work as they don't allow any lateral movement. As the loco goes around a corner, the wheels need not only to rotate but also displace sideways. The front bogie will ideally need two points of articulation to allow the bogie to move sideways AND rotate to the right angle for the track. The trailing axle will need to pivot from a point not directly above the axle, but somewhere further forward so that the wheels move sideways around the radius when they turn. You'll have the same problem with the tender because, for the front and rear axles, simply turning isn't enough, they need to move laterally or they will lock against the rails. When I suggested the motor as a bogey at the front, I meant at the front of the tender; you wouldn't have evenly spaced wheels but you could get it to negotiate curves that way. There are other solutions, but this chassis shot of a 2-6-2T of mine shows how pivoting the axles closer to the drivers allows them to better follow the shape of a curve: http://flic.kr/p/rguZiN

Very nice looking loco and nicely accurate. I'm not sure what you mean about turning on large plates. Do you have a picture of just the chassis and articulation points? For the engine, I would suggest having a look at the emerald night instructions. I has the same wheel arrangement and, for all its faults, the articulation at least works as intended. As for the tender, not sure if that will work, you might be better off putting the motor at one end as a bogie and making another bogie of the other two axles. Really, you just need to experiment with this stuff in real bricks.

I don't usually get excited by non-steam trains but this is fantastic! Amazing work. Thanks for sharing.