pinioncorp

I hope you intend to use it mrklaw, otherwise those PF parts will go to waste! It's 2½ straights per carriage and 3 for the engine, for a total of 8, with a tiny bit of extra.

Fantastic, accurate creation slovakiasteph! Red arches would better but I actually like it how it is. The interiors are richly decorated and varied, the tiles really bring a lively feel. The only thing I would like to see is glass in the windows.

Maybe a browse through your hardware store for paint swatches? If bricklink says they don't exist (assuming it's up to date), then they don't exist. Some parts are available by special runs to Lego Designers and Certified Professionals, but they aren't available to the general public. Sometimes they find their way on Bricklink, but short of that you'll have to substitute colours.

Nice swivel! Shame about the bucket colour but at least it's an acceptable colour, not blue or red. The end of the cannon is this part.

I doubt that the "fandoms" would have voted for mb_bricks' Modular Western Town, or anything else for that matter. Most would simply follow a link to their interested project, sign up, vote then leave. The problem with the fandoms is that they probably wouldn't even buy the thing they vote for. Add to that it has no value to the rest of the Lego community since it's such a specific niche. The Western Town on the other hand is more generic and appeals to people who like: Westerns, Architecture, American history, even just builders. It can be used however you like it with generic themes, it will probably be cheaper with no attached licence, and the creator gets some royalties to boot.

Truly, it makes sense. It's not that much more CPU intensive, as your PC has to do most of it anyway.

Ha, you definitely got Steven Sharp Nelson's face right. Beautiful creation there Pepa Quin, sins aside you've done a great job in such a small time frame.

I really like this, it's colourful but adult sized and cleverly built. The only thing I dislike is the windows, I think that they're too big. The 2×1×2 windows would look more in proportion, with the cab lifted up one plate.

I agree wholeheartedly. The most popular items seem to be themed rubbish, like the successfully reached Minecraft, Shaun of the Dead, EVE. But there's many more that are attracting attention like Zelda, Back to the Future, Ghost in the Shell, My Little Pony, Firefly, even hype corp Apple. And these are just the ones on the most supported list. The Japanese version of CUUSOO worked a charm, producing two very attractive sets of real world applications. But essentially, the internet is stupid, there will eventually be a time when too many themed creations have to be knocked back and the whole scheme is pulled. I understand that the licenced themes make a lot of money for TLG, but they need to be chosen carefully. 10,000 supporters of a niche theme, not uncommon on the internet, will not equate to sales. Don't forget to vote for my CUUSOO project!.. oh... wait... They pulled it because I wanted a rereleased part - how could fans possibly want that?

Is there a giraffe in the city somewhere, chewing all the upper canopy of foliage? Great use of the fence slotted inside the arch. The stripes are also quite striking, great work.

I have to agree with Steinkopf and Peterab here: us as adult collectors would be better off with useful (often basic) parts in useful colours being released as opposed to specific designs. The release of the red windscreen was more exciting than the set could ever hope to be. While I like to have one set made up of those I have, I am not afraid to modify them where the designers could not, using all the available parts. It truly is a balancing act, the designers themselves want more detail and to release new parts that fans ask for, the management team needs to keep things as simple as possible, both in the build and the parts used (to keep the current catalogue small i.e. profitable) and it still needs to be affordable in stores to sell enough to make a profit, both for the retailer and TLG. We're lucky to have trains at all.

Very nice little vig. The building detail is great, interspersing the dark red with brown is commendable, as dark red as a colour is a bit too intense for architectural use on it's own. The curvature above the second floor window is great, rarely do you see legs used facing outwards. The cheese above the curved bricks on the upper floor is attention to detail too. What is missing I think, would be a little handcart for the coal. I don't think they had piles on the street like that.

When the Emporium drops of the box, they'll need a new corner building. There's always been a corner building on the back of the boxes but never more than one. The next one will have the Pet Shop, Town Hall and the new modular on it, so a corner would have to be on the cards.

The curvature of purely 1×2s is pretty bad. You might be better off using either these or these. Using the 2 stud length side you can get a fairly smooth curve going and they get closer together.

Great contest, all great entries. Has been really hard to narrow down my votes, but one managed to float to the top everytime. (9.) 1 vote. (24.) 1 vote. (29.) 1 vote. (35.) 1 vote. (38.) 2 votes. (41.) 1 vote. Congrats to all the entrants for the great creations.

I hate to be a dobber, but are you sure that all entries are adhering to "No digital entries allowed"?

One thing that irks me is the randomly coloured "filler" bricks, ie. the bricks you don't see at the end of building. Sure, you can't see them, but if you do try to build something else (with your imagination, you've still got one I hope) you end up with useless blue parts sticking out the sides. The old sets used a conforming set of colours across the board. Baseplates are also a point of contention. They've really disappeared from the medium sized sets, and the big ones seldom have any either. While I wish baseplates never existed (ie. baseplates with connections underneath, like a plate instead), the newer sets don't fit with the baseplated variety. Oh, and cypress trees!

It is interesting to look at the way the price of the modular buildings has changed compared to the US price: Cafe Corner (2007) USD $140 AUD $249 Market Street (2007) USD $090 AUD $130 - //(Not so sure about this one) Green Grocer (2008) USD $150 AUD $250 Fire Brigade (2009) USD $150 AUD $300 Grand Emporium (2010) USD $150 AUD $250 Pet Shop (2011) USD $150 AUD $270 Town Hall (2012) USD $200 AUD $250 Is it that we're getting better prices? It's hard to tell. The dollar is jumping all over the place, and is currently overvalued: it must remain in TLG's minds that the Aussie Dollar could nosedive at any time. Having to change the price of an item would cause a backlash as well. The set that stands out to me the most is the Fire Brigade, which at twice the dollar value of it's US counterpart, is really overpriced. But the Pet shop also bucks the trend by costing more for less, for no good reason. Is the US market going to fall in line with the rest of the world's pricing? Truly, that would be a bad thing. It would push up the average cost of sets and parts in the aftermarket, which in turn will decrease the returns of the imported brick (and therefore, the need to be competitive). I'd rather be able to import a Fire Brigade from Amazon for $150 plus shipping, than be forced to buy it here because importing doesn't make it worthwhile. Importing is another option for us, but having the option is welcome. All I can say is to check the market price of a set before you buy at retail, regardless of whether it's on 'sale'.

I believe this discussion is irrelevant now, as you can purchase straight (as well as curved and flex) track from pick a brick. Yes, it's bloody expensive, but at least it's there. It's not a cheap hobby but you can get the resources you need without those you do not.

Considering the size of your Midtown Condos and Avenue Residences, your proposed apartment building and hotel will be just huge. It'd really be a shame to not have such a fantastic scene on display all the time. It's good that you've set aside some parkland, it will really soften the whole urban-ness of the whole scene. Many people really forget to add greenery of decent size to town setups like this, trees really do bring a town to life. Looking forward to future updates.

You guys are gullible. The BS meter should have been on high alert. The photoshoppery is a bit sloppy around the number 2, the strange printed tile and the general aged look of the bricks were immediately apparent. That aside, it is a great model. But where is the guard meant to stay?

I always thought this head would work as Jim Raynor's, but it's pretty similar anyway. Great review, good minifigs. They're not stagnating too badly which is good to see.

Am I the only one that thought the Free Universal Construction Kit would be poorly abbreviated?

Great little van! My favourite part is the slope behind the front wheel opening into the door, gives it a nice organic shape. I too would probably prefer regular green to dark green, but other than that its perfect.

You just need to build double thick floors. Or three if you want redstone powering lamps through the middle. There's plenty of space for it now, no worrying about the height limit (yay!).