Hod Carrier

Eurobricks Knights
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About Hod Carrier

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    <p> Lego trains. </p> <p> Speed Champions Mustang. </p>

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    Good ol' U of K

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  1. Hod Carrier

    New Name, New Start, New Plans (And a Sneak Peek)

    I've been giving this a lot of thought over the last week or so, and what I don't want to do is seem like I'm discouraging you because I think you've got some really good ideas. Wheels are already an in-demand item, and I'm sure that there will be really good demand for new designs and/or sizes that have not yet been done. I also like the idea of the Bracers, as I sometimes end up with little gaps that are half a plate high where a part like this would be very helpful. What I'm a little less sure about are some of the curved parts. They seem very specific and may not be easily used by other builders. If their purpose is to help give you a rounder boiler than can currently be achieved with official LEGO bricks, then the radius of that boiler is going to be dictated by the parts you produce. While they may be suitable for the model you are designing, this may not be the case for others. You could end up having to design a lot of different parts in different radii to cater for the range of boilers that builders may be trying to replicate. The specificity of these parts also give me a little disquiet, and for this paragraph I need to be entirely clear because I don't want to be misinterpreted. I have no issue whatsoever with 3rd party parts where the purpose is to provide something that is otherwise impossible to achieve using official parts; by which I mean things like wheels, controllers, decals/stickers, etc, and have spoken-up in defence of their use. Heck, these are things that I have done myself so I couldn't really say anything against them. Where I start to get a little uneasy is where new parts are provided simply to give a shortcut to a better result than can be otherwise achieved. I have said many times that, for me, the process of designing in LEGO is a quest to find the least worst solution to represent what we're trying to achieve while keeping in mind that it is never going to look exactly like the real thing. I want to be clear when I say that I know that you are not doing this, but I feel that there is a line somewhere that some day may be transgressed where a designer offers a box of specific interlocking parts that together build up into a perfect LNER A4 Pacific (for example) and nothing else, and when that happens can we really say that it's a LEGO train. As I said, I really don't want to be discouraging because you've got some great ideas. These are only my own thoughts that no-one is bound to agree with. If it comes to making a start with the business side of it, I think that the Bracers in different sizes and colours could be a real winner as they are very usable part that is not limited to train building. I will wait to see how things develop and wish you every success. And now I'm going to go and hide in a cupboard.
  2. Hod Carrier

    3rd Party Controllers and Powered Up!

    That seems to be the accepted explanation... ... and yet, BuWizz...? And there's the rub. It's waaaay too big for most things. So it's looking increasingly like I'm going to have to go down the route of creating some manner of hybrid system or go further yet with 3rd party motors and/or connectors. Any feedback on alternative products from suppliers such as Green Gecko?
  3. Hod Carrier

    Octrainber 2023?

    That's all very true, but the contest part of OcTRAINber always seemed to run fairly smoothly (or at least that's how it appeared from the outside). It's just the prize-giving that seems to have been where it came unstuck, with many people still waiting for items that were promised over several years. It might have been better if they'd taken a similar approach to the Brick Train Awards where the prizes come in the form of credit with the sponsors to be spent on their products. That way all that would be required is an exchange of emails and there would have been none of the complication of shipping things around the world. Ah well. C'est la vie.
  4. Hod Carrier

    3rd Party Controllers and Powered Up!

    Yes absolutely, which is why I'm not looking to them for an answer. Which brings me back to my starting point, which is why are the other manufacturers persisting with PF sockets and not kept up with PU, because it's pushing me towards further 3rd party involvement on the motor front in order to preserve compatibility. That's the main one, as using the train motor does get around all the additional space needed to gear a Technic motor up to the necessary speed.
  5. Hod Carrier

    3rd Party Controllers and Powered Up!

    Apologies if I've been unclear. Controller = Hub. So SBrick, PFx Brick and so on. The PU app is actually not too bad (although it is far from perfect and does have some rather annoying features) and can be useful in accessing some of the features that PU offers that you don't seem to be able to get by using the remote, but the hub itself is the limiting factor because of the number of outputs. The use case is a fairly common one; that being a train with one or two motors and controllable lights. PFx Brick looks like the best option in terms of features and value, but it still has PF rather than PU sockets.
  6. I have to confess that I am a little disappointed that more makers of 3rd party controllers haven't gone with the change from Power Functions (PF) to Powered Up! (PU). As it stands, it seems that the only option is the frighteningly expensive, but no doubt excellent, BuWizz 3.0, but that seems like overkill for most train models. I am aware that the PU plug/socket are TLG proprietary designs which may be holding some developers back, but that doesn't seem to be stopping BuWizz. So why the inertia from other manufacturers? Looking to the future, it seems that the most realistic option would be to source 3rd party motors that continue to follow the PF design philosophy, in conjunction with the existing designs of controllers. The official PU hub, with it's two input/outputs, is limited in terms of it's usefulness, but PU allows for motor functions that have been proven to be very desirable. I know that many here are confident enough to take the DIY route with great success, but not everyone here has that level of ability to make that a realistic option. For folk like me who could probably crimp a bespoke connector but not much more, plug-and-play is still a valuable route, but one that is starting to look a little bit precarious. I'm not so bothered about why we find ourselves in this situation, but as a builder I am starting to find that the decisions around power and control are starting to get increasingly complicated when before it was a more straightforward choice. I am not averse to 3rd party elements, although obviously I would like to be at least fairly sure of the quality that I am buying before parting with my hard-earned. Thoughts...?
  7. Hod Carrier

    [MOC] My LEGO Renfe S-130

    Thanks for testing the idea.
  8. Hod Carrier

    [MOC] My LEGO Renfe S-130

    Part of the joy of designing our own things is that we don't have to stick to the rules and can do things in the way we want. I have made extensive use of stuffing studs into Technic pin holes and have never had a part break or show signs of excessive stress. It's a very effective technique which gets around this problem easily, and it's what I would use for the S-449. Besides, if you're worried about breaking the rules, the diagonal top link in my bogie design is probably illegal too. I appreciate that you want the windows to be as secure as possible, but I'd be inclined not to worry too much. The windows in my railcar are done in long strips that are only secured at the ends, but because I know that makes them fragile I am careful about how I pick the train up and handle it. Another option for locking parts together without studs that I have found (although not yet tried) is to use 1x1 cheese slopes.
  9. Hod Carrier

    LEGO #21344 - Orient Express

    @zephyr1934 I see an opening for a new sticker.
  10. Hod Carrier

    REE Models CIWL Baggage Car for 21334

    Thanks for posting these images of the underside of the car. Are there any linkages or mechanism to connect the outer and inner axles hidden within the coach or do all parts move independently of each other? If you have omitted some sort of linkage you will have all sorts of issues when you run the car for real. Although I can see how the axles take the shape of an R40 curve all by themselves, you will still need something to bring all the axles back into line again for the straights. The problem is that a LEGO axle on it's own will not simply follow the shape of LEGO track and needs to be steered, otherwise it will do whatever it wants (usually turning itself across the tracks) which will cause friction and derailments. Trust me on this, as I spent a lot of time looking into this a few years ago. As your car has three axles and not just two, you can make a mechanism that should work quite effectively by using the centre axle to steer the outer axles into curves as well as bringing everything back to the centre on the straights. I strongly recommend you have a look at @jtlan's Umbauwagen 3yg design and see if you can replicate something like his solution into your car so that you and your customers are not disappointed with the running qualities of your design.
  11. Hod Carrier

    REE Models CIWL Baggage Car for 21334

    I've sent you a PM.
  12. Hod Carrier

    LEGO #21344 - Orient Express

    I fear that I must take issue with your history, as the "land cruise" that you talk about has been running in one form or another since the mid-1970s, even overlapping with the last of the "official" scheduled Orient Express workings, and the popular Venice-Simplon Orient Express has been running continuously since the 1980s. It's only that the official Orient Express brand is about to have yet another relaunch at the hands of the latest owners (Accor Hotels and French national rail operator SNCF). That said, the rolling stock used in the new service will include a decent number of refurbished historic vehicles from the defunct Nostalgie Istanbul Orient Express which themselves date back to the 1920s and 30s and will look very like the ones included in the LEGO set, as does the rolling stock used by the Venice-Simplon Orient Express. As such, it means that a builder has plenty of options to decide what period to build in from the century since these vehicles were constructed, and what sort of motive power to pair with their coaches. I think that offers a good degree of flexibility by not pinning us down to one iteration or another. Speaking for myself, like you I'm not unhappy with the set as, like all LEGO sets, it provides a good starting point and has already sparked a lot of complementary designs for both locos and stock. The only thing that irritates slightly is that the Orient Express is a European icon and some of the designs I've been seeing, although excellent in their own ways, appear to be a little bit too Americanised to my eyes.
  13. Hod Carrier

    LEGO #21344 - Orient Express

    All sets merely provide a starting point for folk to take different directions, whether static display or motorisation. The hollow tender is not necessarily a smoking gun, though. It’s a jolly convenient size/shape for sure, but you wouldn’t expect LEGO to fill the void up for no purpose.
  14. Hod Carrier

    REE Models CIWL Baggage Car for 21334

    The description also says that the outer wheels are on a pivot, the nature of which I was enquiring about.
  15. Hod Carrier

    Using Mindstorms To Power Tram?

    Techbrick do sell at least some parts as separate items, although their stock level doesn’t seem great at the moment. Kits are good value, though. You get a rechargeable Bluetooth hub, two motors and cables, plus all the bits to make a little tracked tank for 35 quid, which isn’t bad. I’d just be inclined to buy more kits for any extra parts.