codefox421

Yeah, and that works fine for 90 degree corners. The trouble is that I was mostly excited about being able to do things like this, which uses a single R56 and doesn't have room for a conversion track on each side of it.

My issue with the last minute connector swap is twofold. Firstly, ME Models made the above statement, and that is why I backed for metal rails. I build entirely battery operated, but my LUG won't give up 9V yet. If I had known the ME Models rails would be incompatible with my LUG's existing track, I would have only backed for plastic track! Secondly, I take issue with the late-minute nature of the announcement. This is something that should have been revealed before or at the time that ME Models opened up orders to backers for additional metal track/geometries. If they had, I would, again, not have contributed money toward a rail system that is incompatible with my LUG's existing rail collection. It's been over two years, I still haven't received my entire plastic reward, and now I find the additional metal rails I've ordered for the benefit of my LUG will be incompatible with the track we already own. I've tried to be positive for the last two years, but this is basically the last straw. The whole project smacks of mismanagement and broken promises. On the bright side, maybe @coaster's project will get more support now. edit: formatting

Is anyone else far less excited about these now that they require adapter tracks or is it just me?

Thanks for the photos and video, pirzyk and CrispyBassist! These are looking really great, Coaster! I hope they fair better in the next round of kickstarter crowdsourcing. I believe they'll have a chance to get funded. Hi HoMa! For lasting color, dying is probably the best bet. A shapeways representative once directed me to this article when I inquired about how to color their white nylon (WSF) material: http://makezine.com/2013/05/09/how-to-dye-your-3d-prints/

You may also be interested in BlueBrick, a track designer made specifically with LEGO in mind. It's windows-only like TD, but since you seem to have a knack for running exe on osx it should be no problem!

That looks super fun! It's always great to see someone dusting off their old bricks. Please do share a video!

Yes, they are. Zephyr1934 makes them, and sells them over here: http://www.bricklink.com/store/home.page?p=zephyr#/splash Surprisingly, I don't, not of controlling a train anyway. In the video at the end of the first post in this topic, I briefly demonstrate controlling a truck with my phone: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/99090-motorized-42005-monster-truck/ And in this topic, I demonstrate controlling a train with an NXT intelligent brick via Bluetooth: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/93663-emerald-and-blue/ That's the best I have right now.

Here's a silly little video I made last year and never shared. Both trains are controlled from my phone via my open source Bluetooth receiver. Stay tuned for the bloopers at the end. Hope you enjoy!

Exciting news! Can't wait! It's a bit late in the game, but with your demonstration of breaking the R324(?) crossover into A,B,C/D have you considered something similar for the R104? Maybe just two parts A (has the points) and B/C (has the frog/double-cross), so that the end piece, B, can simply be swapped out for a double crossover piece, C? Connection looseness is probably a result of the polishing that Shapeways performs (sometimes, at random) on Black Strong & Flexible prints. I highly recommend only printing in White Strong & Flexible; I have never had mechanical tolerance issues with it. Also, you can dye White prints with Rit dye, so probably can achieve grey: http://makezine.com/...your-3d-prints/

I measured one this evening. It's 10.2mm in diameter and 7.4mm thick.

My guess is, with proper lubricating, both of these could travel even farther. I know some people on the forum, of which jtlan is one, lubricate their wheel sets. I've experimented with automatic transmission fluid as a lubricant, hoping it would attract less dirt than a traditional lube, and it works to some extent, but the silicon-based stuff that jtlan uses lubricates much better.

How are the tolerances with the polished metallic? I haven't tried that one before, but I have tried black strong & flexible (BSF), which wound up being polished. The polishing removed a lot of material and basically destroyed any clutch power it might have had. What's been your experience?

Hi BlueRailTrains. Interestingly enough, I was looking into your work recently because of my open source LEGO Bluetooth project, which you can find at https://github.com/BTbricks It would appear that your device is closer to a traditional DCC decoder than my Bluetooth receiver or an SBrick. Am I reading that correctly?

With a little bit of rerouting, you could probably drop one of these into the driver boards I've designed. It looks like it has the same footprint as the HM-06/11/13 Bluetooth modules I've been using. https://github.com/BTbricks http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=87340 Edit: you'd probably want to omit the ATtiny841, but I'm not 100% sure that'd be possible; it looks like the ESP8266 only has three PWM outputs, which is one less than is needed for two motor outputs.

jtlan has tubing from McMaster Carr, and I've used some of it. It's decent stuff. Here's a photo of what it is: