Berthil

Please let me show two 'extremes' as an example, the first is from Rimo and relies on almost studless only, the second from JK Brickworks and uses a lot os System bricks and splat gears but has some Technic. Both are GBCs. @Jim, something like the one from JK Brickworks would qualify for you?

Minimum of 30 balls at once in the Inbox. Machine runs at 1 ball per second. So theoretically after 30 seconds inbox is empty. If you have a large module where balls stay longer than 30 seconds just add more balls to the inbox. The 30 at once in the Inbox is a minimum, a larger Inbox that can have 100 balls at once is also okay as long as it adheres to the Inbox ball entry rules. Size of machine is up to you but the machine should pass on at one ball per second rate or at the maximum batch size of 30 to pass on but then every 30 seconds. Or something in between but end result is one ball per second. These 1 ball per second and maximum batch of thirty rules are there so a machine behaves when put in a circle with other machines. Although there is no 'reliability' rule, the machine only needs to adhere to the rules in the video and not e.g. for 2 hours. About the spilled balls. generally this does not look attractive and makes it hard to achieve the 1 ball per second rule as spilled balls are not counted. There is no rule about spilled balls, I expect a machine das spills a lot of bals will get less votes as it basically fails at being a good GBC machine. I hope that answers the question.

Sure, if it follows the rule of 1 ball per second and max 30 balls as well as the minimum of 10 studs wide inbox and maximum of 10 bricks high. So it can be wider or can be lower, it cannot be narrower and not higher. Here are is an example of and Inbox so that it is clear. The entry height and width is important here, and that it can hold 30 balls at once. This example is mostly out of System and Technic Bricks but 100% studless is also no problem. As you can see the sides are higher but the entry point is 10 studs wide (leaving a gap of eight studs) and 10 bricks high. This example is wider that 10 studs, no problem as long it is not higher than 10 bricks. This example is both lower and wider, no problems here: The goal of this GBC compliant inbox is to be able to put multiple machines in an endless circle or straight line.

I had the same issues but couldn't get it right, fiddled with it for quite some time with changing angles and rerouting tracks. At some points on the track there is too much speed causing the ball to fly off the track. That's why I created my Marble Run with shooter. All balls enter the track at the same speed with the ball catch at the beginning and ball speed is consistent throughout all tracks. Adding a ball catch for constant entry speed at the beginning of the Akiyuki Marble Run might help. Removing the ball drops also. By the way, Mould King will release the above Marble Run as a set very soon.

Great design! Since I have the most important needed parts for some time now and was waiting for a great design like this, I will build this. An order for the missing parts just went out. I have good experiences with Pybricks and will control this with a Pybricks program I will write myself. With Pybricks no device is needed and control is done with the remote only. Unfortunately, since this is a commercial MOC, I cannot make the program (freely or commercially) available when finished. I must admit I have a bit of concern on rigidity with the brick-build design, especially the special plates with pin holes at the end of the Lime lift arms (unfortunately not available in Lime). I will know when finished building.

The purpose is entertainment and technical challenge in making it as complicated as possible moving balls from left to right :)

It returned safely, even without Dutch decals for 'fragile' and 'this side up' :)

I feel for you. Some years ago I was invited to appear in a well known Spanish TV show with Eva Longoria to show three GBC machines to her in a live broadcast! My part was moved last moment from Thursday to Tuesday. if it would have been Thursday I would have been in the show with Vin Diesel and Charlize Theron! I carefully packed all three GBC machines in a big sturdy box with lots of 'handle with care' stickers and 'this side up', also in Spanish. The journey was from Amsterdam to Madrid, the box seperately checked in at a 50 Euro rate as special cargo. I could see the box being loaded in the plane during boarding in Amsterdam and all looked well. At arrival in Madrid I saw the box being unloaded and all looked well. I rushed to the luggage hall, to the 'special items' belt. The box did not arrive yet. Through the flaps I saw something coming, a baggage handler was about to put the box on the bagage belt. I saw him pick up the box and to my utter disbelief, he turned it sideways and smacked it on the baggage belt! Man!!!!! The result was three destroyed GBC machines of which one very badly and probably beyond repair in the limited time I had until the live broadcasting of the show. Only through very hard work without any breaks I managed to repair the marble run, at the right in this picture with me and Eva :) In the video of the broadcast you see I had to help the Marble Run because of the damage but all the rest went very well! Backstage i also met with three Harlem Globe Trotters that were also there but did not make the live show, had very nice pictures of that meet. Later that night, while having some well deserved beers in downtown Madrid, my Canon D5 was stolen, no pictures and limited insurance (I found out later). Thank you Madrid for this wonderful experience!

@BillytheKid Impressive train layout on PandaCity of Bricks, just subscribed to your Youtube channel and looking forward to see the Big Boy running there :)

Finished this one in three days including free instructions, a reliable module based on my Rainbow Stepper and Switchback idea by John Sherman.

Put the tape dispenser under the same angle as the tape applied and the end result might be much smoother?

@Toastie thank you for your feedback! I'm using Pybricks (without device) and am just setting the power from 1 to 100% in either 10 or 5 steps. I've used the medium and large PU motors in my Load Zone project with advanced programming through Pybricks where the last reply is yours :) I can try with the medium motors, this might solve the torque problem anyway. Also Pybricks has a nice routine available to keep the speed of a train constant under different load as you describe. But I actually like the idea of adding a diesel to aid the Big Boy as in the video of the real thing. I know the real Big Boy is strong enough to do everything by itself and the diesel was only added to aid in braking (to avoid too much wear) and to save on water and coal as not every town where it stops has the needed amount of water and coal available. It would be a nice setup to experiment with together with Pybricks programming. If all fails I will drop in one or two medium motors.

As stated it is 100% LEGO and runs on all standard LEGO tracks including R40 as visible in the Youtube video.

The lighting kits are indeed too expensive for what they are, have visible witring and use mostly batteries for power. All not an option for my 40 modulars. So I did two modulars with cheap LEDs and thin wires with the aim to blend in the LEDs, have no visible wires and still be able to take the levels apart without a hassle. I would like to do all my 40 modulars but have no time for it. May be when I'm a pensioner and get to be 90 years without going blind and with steady hands :) Where there were no light fixtures I created them with LEGO (like above the bar and table in the Diner). The 0,2mm wires fit between tiles under the tiles. There are thinner wires to fit even between bricks but these wires will break very easily. I used rigid hoses to hide wires where needed and used thick copper wire as attachment points between levels. May be copper nails with large heads would work better there, if I do more modulars I would use these. Other than that I'm very happy with how they turned out. Little modification of bricks so the whole thing is reversible into standard modulars. For the lights outside I bought enough old type of lanterns as they are thicker. I drilled a hole in the center for the wiring with a drill standard. The newer type of lanterns are to thin for a hole for the wire. I've used one resistor for the whole house with all leds hooked up in parallel. I calculated the resistor to use the LEGO 12V train power supply and wires to keep it all LEGO. This also has the nice side effect that all LEDs are dimmable with the train power supply. Since LEDs are not power hungry, one train power supply suffices for the two modulars and I expect I can attach more. Using batteries was not an option for me. Not sure what I would do if I do more modulars. With only a ceiling light in every room or again use existing light fixtures or add light fixtures to blend in the LEDs. A few LEDs on the sealing would be enough for the nice effect of a street of lighted modulars in a dark room but there would be no outside lighting. May be a kind of modular system with a few LEDs on the back of a wired LEGO plate with a plug to stick under the floor of every level would be a quick way to light up modulars without too much hassle. Here's a video and Flickr album of the two modulars. Flickr Album:

@Toxic43 thanks for the explanation, very helpful and sounds plausible. The motors are not coupled and drive one drive train of eight wheels each. There is almost no room to couple but I will have a look if I can connect with gears. With your advice in mind, I will try and use a PU L motor for the SD70 to have more torque when aiding the Big Boy in slow speeds.

Thanks both! Good to know it's the SD70, I think I found a good starting point to update, motorize, build it and add to the Big Boy including the two water tanks. Might take a while and I will try to add more layout in the next video when finished :)

Thanks! The Fez is a good idea, might switch to that. The hub in the front works well, the weight seems well distributed over the drive train. However, the loc needs power to get started and has a bit of trouble running slow. I need to check why. Because of this I am planning to add a 'diesel' loc to help the Big Boy with this. Should be easy to program in Pybricks to let both Locs work together with one remote. Does anyone know wat Diesel Loc is used in this video and what are the two yellow carriages in between? Thanks.

@Jim, I volunteer to be the captain of the GBC contest. As you may know I have a lot of GBC experience, also on events like LEGO World Utrecht 7 days in a row. Here my Rebrickable page with lots of GBCs with free instructions and here my Youtube channel (with 3.6k subscribers). I remember we agreed earlier to stick to the the basic GBC rules without categories. I'll send you a PM to fine-tune the rules and conditions of the contest.

Yes, you can use the PU remote without device as I did in my Load Zone project. Free instructions including Pybricks/Python code files on Rebrickable. https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-105435/Berthil/load-zone-rig-and-roll/

I don't know these repositories but Pybricks is a free and well rounded package to control the PoweredUp hubs and devices with easy coding in Python. Comes with its own repositories, works from the browser and can flash to the hub with firmware to work without device.

Excellent model! My favorite car after the Zonda. I don't build Technic panelled models as I don't like them but I like this one very much so would buy instructions for it when available. I make complicated instructions myself (all free), let me know if you need help with making instructions.

I use the same switch for GBC trains (see video) when they change direction, the switch requires quite some force to switch. The older types not but most sellers do not know the difference so you don't know what you will get when you buy. The switch can be made to switch with less force by cutting away a view notches for which disassembly is necessary.

Double topic with this one:

Brickative has something like this in their Library (video) for ground floor and upper level. It is simply using the battery box switch as a stop and reverser through a clever lever mechanism. It works very well and always goes in the right direction but needs manual activation after every stop which is logical as people need time to get in and out. By the way, it seems there are two topics on this with the same title and same initiator.

I have updated the design after multiple events without any problems. Ball catchers removed and fine adjustment for the steppers timing through a differential has been added. More info and free updated instructions on Rebrickable: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-26113/Berthil/turntable-cup-to-cup-updated/