kungpo

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Posts posted by kungpo

  3. Posted

    19 hours ago, zux said:

    That would only work if you wish to run two trains independently. If you need to combine both 60197 sets into single train, the solution mentioned above isn't going to work.

    Why wouldn't it work? Have the 2nd train using port 2 and reverse the control.

  8. Posted

    20 hours ago, ALCO said:

    I thought about doing this as well. However I want to keep it as stock looking as possible. If I were to extend the locomotive a bit, then I might as well but both motors in the front. But that would also mean I would have to extend the rear "locomotive" too. I think running the wires will be fine. Once I get a second 60051 I will just Bricklink the remaining parts I need to turn the second set into 3 carriages. 

     

    I didn't extend the locomotives - just the carriages. The Lego LEDs fit in the nose ok.

  9. Posted · Edited by kungpo

    5 hours ago, ALCO said:

    So, good haul at Christmas this year for me. Among other sets, I was given 60051. While I never would have gone out to buy that set myself, now that I have it, I want to get a second one to make into three additional coaches. This would make this set 6 car-bodies including the locomotive. Have any of you done this and added a second motor? I'm wondering if it makes sense to modify the locomotive to take the second motor or run PF extension wires and have the 2nd motor at the end of the train. What are your thoughts of having one motor at the front and the other at the end so one pulls and the other pushes?

    What has the experience been of one motor pulling at the front and the other motor pushing at the rear?

     

    Thanks

    I found 2x 60051 doesn't have quite enough pieces for 4 carriages and found myself getting another unpowered engine to get the requisite pieces to make the 4th carriage (only because it was much cheaper than another carriage). You might then find the carriages look disproportionally short compared to the "engines" so I then extended mine to 28 studs long.

  17. Posted

    2 hours ago, monkles said:

    The only one I really regret not buying is the Green Grocer. That's a truly spectacular building and the most impressive size. Unfortunately it's also impressively expensive now.

     

    Me too - it's the only one I haven't got. But not going to pay £1K for one now. Might build a Blue Grocer one day I suppose.

  18. Posted

    I've never had an issue buying from AliExpress. Sometimes shipping can take a while... but I've also had things arrive in around 8 days. It's more frustrating if the item isn't available yet but isn't listed as pre-order. I've not ordered a set though... so not sure how they arrive etc.

    Good to know - any recommended sellers? As I'm missing the GC from my modulars collection I think I will get one of those as I'm not quite ready to spend £1K on the real deal. And perhaps another UCS Falcon so I can put my genuine one away.

    I have 2 Clone Modulars bought on ALiexpress. Both arrived within 3 weeks. I did pay for stores using DHL as a postage offer though. I registered as a customer instead of a guest and now am accumulating frequent buyer points ( I have $8 already - small amount but nearly a Rei speeder). The quality by comparison is about 9 out of 10. out of 50 studs on a plate, 2 or 3 will have dimples. Any crystal parts will have an cloudiness, glass panes seem better, but bricks/plates are not so clear. All moving parts fit amazingly well, including turntables, hinge bricks, doors, with little slop. Clutch power is slightly more than Lego, It can be tight and your fingers can hurt after a large session of modular assembly. The stickers have amazingly good registration, and the stock paper is reasonably good quality.

    The shock of buying on Aliexpress is you don't get the box advertised - you get a cardboard cube box that has all the parts squeezed in tight. This is how its is assumed you will buy and if you want the box, you will pay ALLOT more and have to jump through hoops to get them to understand that. Hence the variable postage prices. As with Ebay, some of the products cost very little but have very high postage , when added together they nearly always balance out to being around the same price. For example, Green grocer Clone is with postage about $65 US, but some places selling for 35 plus 30 postage, while others are 65 with "Free" postage.

    The downside to that is postage damage - the base plates Lepin do are like normal plate thickness, not baseplate. One of my boxes the baseplate had a bent corner from postage mishandling, didn't matter I dumped it anyways, and used an old Lego base plate. It must be noted that the tile patterns fit very well on Lego baseplate, testament to fit and size compatibility. No gaps or tight fits.

    Comparing Lepin and Lego brick by brick - I could seriously tip all the bricks from the sets I bought into my normal Lego collection and it would be all but impossible to tell them apart, to extract them the only way to tell them apart would be to literally inspect each for the word Lego on the studs. The color match is extremely close.

    I do not collect minifigs as Such and don't loose sleep over them. However you do have to assemble them from scratch. Also anything that is a tool comes on a sprue that you have to break off. Upside is I have a dozens of Star Wars style Weapons left over from the Green Grocer Clone..

    My clone Kits were bought for budget reasons, I would never afford a real Green Grocer or Town Hall. I bought them on ALiexpress delived to my door for $150 compared to maybe $1500 plus for the genuine thing. Now my Modular collection is complete. And I have had AFOL friends come look at my finished set and they have not picked up that it was 2 clones in the line. These are not play toys, they are shelf dust collectors.

    The only real issue I have with Lepin is 2 things. 1 - the instructions can be very hard to read - the colour of the bricks in the instructions can be hard to understand eg yellow, orange, flesh, sand, and grey, black, dk green can be confusing. However If you have built any star wars Lego kits you can have the same thing anyways. The other issue is missing parts. From Green Grocer clone, I was missing all the 6 x 1 plates (about 15) in light grey, the white window shutters, and 6 black ladder elements from the fire escape. I had all these in spares anyways so wasn't an issue, once again Lego and Lepin blended seamlessly. I did however have about 20 tile plates in 6x1, and 8 or so 8 x 1 tile plates left over along with a bunch of other bricks. The Town Hall clone, was not missing a single piece, and had a number of left overs. Even If I spend $20 on Bricklink to get a few spares, I am still about a thousand dollars better off than If I got the Lego one from an after market scalper.

    Lepin come in bags that are not numbered or aligned with any steps. Imaging doing the Lepin Super star destroyer like that. If you buy a Lepin kit be advised one of the reasons its cheap is it is a disorganized mess to get started!

    I have the "Nemerald Night" on the way, Another kit I could never afford, and now will fit nicely into my collection. If they sold the carriages on their own, well, imagine $25 a carriage.

    I Hope this adds to the conversation. I Don't plan on buying anything from Lepin that is in the current Lego catalogue. I collect Lego. But where I have missed something and the price has skyrocketed by the Lego investors, And a cheap viable alternative is available. then I will absolutely consider it. In Australia we miss out on allot of kits simply because they sell out very quick - and the shops do deals with Lego to have exclusive content - for example the Modulars are ONLY sold at 1 shop chain for the first 12 months as exclusive and they set the price accordingly. then they sell out in a heartbeat and hard to get becomes impossible. Shipping to Australia is very expensive often nearing $50 - $100 extra. Even If I want to buy Lego collectable kits, it isn't on the shelves to pick up and grab! It not just about money, but availability.

    Thank you - that's really useful and nice to get a balanced view.

  20. Posted

    From Facebook:

    I have been hearing some concerns with lepin bricks, apparently it has been giving people itchy skin.

    I do not know if this is the plastic or the oils they use for the molding process. I did not notice it when building the ninjago temple or the 2 star wars sets but I have seen more and more people online mention it.

    So I do feel the need to mention it and warn people.

    And of cos ask anyone if they have experienced and irritation or itchiness from any of the knockoff brands and wonder if this is dangerous long term.

    Keep the kids safe!

    Thanks!