Tube Map Central

They tell retailers what they always tell them, out of stock, available on backorder. I sense trying to have it both ways. (1) The numbers of Bricklink sets desired are so small they are an irrelevance to TLG and that demand is not worth catering for. Versus (2) The numbers of Bricklink sets desired are so large that catering for them will cause massive shortages in other product ranges. Lego produces lots of short run sets, no one complains that the staff and visitor presents are uneconomic causing global shortages.

Surprised at the previous suggestion: stained glass in stairwells is quite a common feature in many European countries. Some absolutely beautiful ones, for example, in The Netherlands

Thanks, I see. I can live with losing a bit of the interior behind the corridor connection. Unfortunately, I lose a lot of strength as well. If you imagine pulling off the light grey roof you will find four studs pointing upwards from 2x 32952, 1x1-2/3 bricks. Ideally I would have the inverse of that new bracket, which would help a little bit. So, I have to choose between strength and elegance. Ugh! Of course, the real challenge is trying to re-use the parts. The objective is a train that looks as though it was designed 8-wide, not a train that looks as though it was designed 6-wide and stretched. So many parts are the wrong width: too many big-part solutions. The roof panels will get binned. The underframe boxes: I can bodge them wider with a row of inverted slopes but then I need to buy expensive plates to make them less obviously a bodge. The train baseplates: I would like to keep them, but they are a pain to build with. Widening them with plates on top will make them look blocky, but there is no easy way to smooth that with inverted slopes. Then a light bulb goes on in my head: I don't care about Lego sets any more, they won't be right for me, they will cost more money to fix than to buy, and too many of the parts are too specialist for them to be used as parts packs. Next year's train sets: probably won't be any use to me, will I even look? I can see the next step coming soon. Lego train baseplate is dark grey, I will need some dark grey inverted 2x2 slopes to smooth out the blockiness at the cab/outside ends. That is a rare part. Do I buy them for 50 pence each on Bricklink, or 5 pence each on Bluebrixx. That is not a tough decision. Lego is basically a set design company that inflates the price of its raw materials (bricks) to pay for its set design, but I'm not so interested in Lego design now, so should I continue to pay its brick prices? So that's the full transition, from builder of Lego sets to generic brick moc-er. That will probably lead to an eventual departure from Eurobricks, voluntary I hope.

Once you start building in 8-wide it is hard to go back!I've decided to take the plunge and convert my 60197 blue/grey/orange city trains from 6-wide to 8-wide. This means discarding the nose cones, baseplates and roofs but alternatives are not too pricy.These will become flat-fronted MU trains, and you can see my test build here.The 4-wide corridor connector takes up a lot of space at the front, leaving not much room for cab windows. I could use trans-clear bricks, but I'm not sure I want wrap-around windows.Taking the SNOT route, and wanting a robust stable build with no risk of pieces falling off, I end up with a 1x4 tile protruding slightly on either side. I can't think of a way to get it flush in the available space. Any suggestions? www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/eurobricks/test_front.jpg

Here it is ... An analysis of every possible front colour given the availability of key parts: 2x2 and 2x3 windows, headlights, h-clips and corner posts (1x3 or 1x5). I have tried to have a logical set of steps depending on part unavailability. Obviously there are other options but I have tried to go for what I consider to be the tidiest one in each case. Everything has been done for a reason, feel free to ask. This is a CMYK file. http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/eurobricks/train_fronts.jpg The availability of V-Clips for the sides might result in some deletions or modifications. I would love to build all of these as three-car units but this would require time, money, and space, and all of these are in finite supply.

It's a lovely combination in the photographs, not sure I could reverse it and use purple windows and tan lower panels though, that would look very modern. It's a shame that pearl good plates for the lining are practically non-existent, that would make it a must-use livery.

It's a shame, I've tried small Loz bricks and they don't work for me at all, too challenging for fingers and for eyesight, the build was just an unpleasant trial. I couldn't contemplate buying these.

Just needs a Milan tramcar rumbling in front of it. The historic 1920s ones are so special.

Very light grey? YES! And sand red too please!

But that was the point for me, I had never heard of the Farnsworth house before Lego produced it. I assumed it must be a significant building, otherwise it would not be in the architecture range, so I bought it, had an interesting build, and learnt some more about 20th century architecture. If I only engaged with things I already knew about, then I would never learn anything new.

The review on Brickset is a little bit scathing, and I get the need for the designers to make use of selective compression and forced perspective. But The photos on Brickset are very revealing in other ways, flick your eyes between them and the more you compare the more you say 'hang on a minute' Why all that tan detailing above the second floor arches on the main building, it's spurious, there is nothing like that on the real thing. Maybe use light bley plates to give impression of relief, but what's with those round parts? Those side domes are going to polarise us. To me they look like an invasion fleet of space aliens, but why is their construction emphasised by dark parts? Look at the the photo of the real thing on Brickset, the bases of the side-domes are concealed. Did they need to be so exposed and prominent on the model? Lego is hard work for historic curvy buildings, so we have the dancing dog dilemma here. Should we criticise the quality of the dancing, or be amazed that the dog can dance at all? http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/eurobricks/TM.jpg

Maybe an East network and a West network, who knows ... http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/eurobricks/lego_maps.jpg

Stop lecturing me, you are so tedious

Thanks for all suggestions, azures and yellows would go well, and all are made harder by lack of key parts, i.e. headlight bricks, vertical grip clips and 2x2 windows. But nothing is insurmountable, these are all less-rare colours. And finally ... BACK TO TAN WINDOWS Keeping the dark green theme, and what a great railway colour it is. Worth tracking down those rare parts. The dark tan roof works well too. Apologies to UK MOCers if you can't find 3x2 roof slopes in Black/grey/dark tan any more, I think I've bought most of them! All I need now is an Underground station ... http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/Gate_Stock/GS_tan-dgreen_side.jpg http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/Gate_Stock/GS_tan-dgreen_above.jpg http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/Gate_Stock/GS_tan-dgreen_back.jpg

Thanks! I think the trains are good for now, the station building needs extending (the middle third contains the grand staircase) but I think my next build will be the underground station for the Gate Stock. This station in the link looks wonderful, but the station tunnel is a bit two big, usually a London Tube station had a station tunnel twice the radius of the train tunnel. I can't see a good way of getting a stable tighter cylinder which also has a mosaic, so I will have to cheat and create a cut-and-cover station box with straight walls. Which actually makes sense in this context. Thanks! If the part is just right, then I have to use it, even if it is rare. Sometimes I still use the part even if it is the wrong colour. Then I will swap a new one in if it ever gets released in the right colour.Thanks also for giving me another excuse to upload an image, this one shows the construction of the glass floor. 6x5 snotted panels form a six-wide trough (along with a few 2x5 bricks) into which I place 1x1 and 1x2 plates (trans clear with a few trans red/yellow/orange plates along the edges). I then put a layer of seven-wide trans-clear tiles on top that holds the plates in place along a length of floor stud. The tiles alternate 2-1-4/4-1-2 and the tiles/plates are arranged such that everything holds together. Once they are down, they stay down.http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/eurobricks/floordetail.jpgLet's attach my inspirations as well. The glass floor is obvious: an Art Nouveau shop in Brussels, designed by Victor Horta himself, and now the comic strip museum. The interior decoration is inspired by the sweetest Art Nouveau/Arts & Crafts church that you have ever seen, just outside London near the Essex town of Brentwood. The interior is breathtakingly pretty, and I have never seen anything else quite like it. There are a few really nice Lego Art Nouveau buildings out there, but I wanted to see whether I could create one without NPU, seeing what was possible using Lego botanicals, hopefully inspiring other attempts. http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/eurobricks/brussels.jpg http://www.tubemapcentral.com/legodesign/eurobricks/brentwood.jpg I was also very sad when this one did not get enough support: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/2c3772a1-ddff-45fd-90ef-8196c894dcaf