quilkin

Just received 2 L-motors (purchased from Lego UK but shipped from the Netherlands in 2 days!): if you don't have any, I can recommend them. With so many fixing holes they are far more versatile than the M motor, only slightly bigger but much easier to design into a MOC.

Mark, many thanks for your posts here and instructions in your Brickshelf folder. I have made some track sections similar to yours and a simple train to start with; also now some points controlled by a NXT motor. But I have question about the curve design and wondered how you calculated the number of bricks required for a 45 degree bend. By my measurements you would need more than 18 incremental bends to achieve 45 degrees, unless the parts are strained which would make the design 'illegal' from a TLG point-of-view (see my comments on Hidaka's cusoo page). Shouldn't we be using a wider radius if we want to conform to standard use of parts? (my measurements give a 0.25mm gap for each 2x1 brick which is 8mm wide; that's an angle of cotan (0.25/8) which is about 1.8 degrees - so 25 incremental bends to get 45 deg.)

Great to see some non-vehicles! I wish I could think of a way to make your cocoon idea work, to get a proper triple connection. I believe that what happens inside a butterfly cocoon is just a fluid, the caterpillar just 'dissolves' into a slush and then the slush reforms as a butterfly. Guess you could just fill a shell (made of panels) with a load of loose parts

Studded and studless both have their uses. For example a studded construction can be much stronger but is indeed heavier. However the odd spacings of studded make studless better for compact constructions. But we've had many discussions about studded v studless, both here and elsewhere, do we need to start again? The thread has gone somewhat off-topic; the original post was more specific.

For the tracks, I'm puzzled you didn't use the old chain links http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=bb76 which run with the driving wheels you've used. Two sets of these in parallel, joined with 1x4 plates, would be a good size. Or wouldn't they strong enough?

I didn't know Lego made a magnifying glass! This is so realistic, from the first pic I didn't think it was Lego either, until the tyre(s) gave it away. Brilliant, and so good to have something other than vehicles on here.

A couple of years, maybe, but the I didn't start until I was 40-ish when my children played with it (a bit). When I was 6 (1958) Lego was hardly heard of in UK, Meccano was the thing for mechanics, and other sets for buildings. So I got into Meccano. nearly 20 years now (on and off) but only 15 for Technic, my first set was 8074 I think. I'm already over 60! And semi-retired so more time for these things now. I'm not really sure, my interest seems to go in cycles between Meccano, Lego, and other things e.g. software. Before that I definitely had long 'dark age' for Meccano; sold my first big set when I was 15 and purchased a whole load more about 3 years ago. I now have a large number of parts of both Meccano and Lego (mostly Technic). Can't really decide which I like best, which perhaps explains my interest going in cycles. But I do feel that until I settle with one or the other, I won't be an expert at either! ...... does all this info make me the oldest respondent to this post?

Yes, it's a bike, you can see some of it here; the frame is far too floppy at present (it bends under its own weight!) which is why I'm trying to redesign it. I'll post new pictures (in a new thread) when it's rebuilt. Jim's suggestion of increasing the cross-sectional size put me on the right track.

I'm using 3L pins, but I know what you mean - I have put all those older 2L pins into separate storage so they don't get used accidentally! Panels are an expensive solution, but more importantly they don't give the option of overlapping the layers, so there is a weak point at the join of each panel. Anyway I think I have come up with a better solution, without using liftarms but using all studful construction: - this is immensely strong, if somewhat difficult to assemble (and disassemble....) - in case the photo isn't clear, the liftarms are replaced with continuous 6-stud technic bricks with a 1x6 plate every 3rd brick.

OK, thanks guys. Tests with the 5x3 cross-section made with (studded) bricks and joined with 5x3 liftarms are good, so I'll go with that. I'll need about 100 12-hole bricks, 50 or so 5x3 liftarms, 200 long pins and I haven't yet worked out how many 8x1 or 6x1 plates as spacers. The colour scheme will be better than my test constructions! Careful planning will be required to ensure I can fit the two half-sections together for each of the three beams; that'll be up to 60 pins to push home at the same time.....I wonder if they'll ever come apart?

I did think about these but there are no holes across the centre (in the right direction!) for the middle three layers of liftarms. This wouldn't matter so much for connecting sides made of studded bricks, because the middle layers are held by the studs. Anyway I have made a 5 x 3 version of both and the studded version is considerably stronger when trying to bend the beam (in the vertical direction , which is most important). (ignore the 'bend' in the photo, that's due to the camera lens!) .... thanks Blakbird, just seen your comment after posting mine. Yes, triangles are strong but the diagonal (5) needs a 6-hole liftarm doesn't it? -not available in thick and expensive in thin. The 5x3 liftarms are a good compromise.

Thanks Jim. I have tried the 3x5 liftarms but the results seem similar to using the pin connectors. The cross-section could bigger at 4 x 4; but 3 x 3 seemed a good size to use for the long pins and other available parts. 4 x 4 would be tricky in studful, it would need to be 4 x 5 or even 5 x 5. I'll do some experiments - if it works it will be costly at Bricklink!

Not sure if this post belongs here or should start a separate thread! I am looking at ways to make a large beam (cross section approx. 3 x 3 studs) as strong as possible. I have come up with these ideas, in studful and studless (these are 'opened' to show the construction) but wonder if anyone has better ways. The studfull appears stronger (in terms of bending and torsion) but is much more difficult to assemble since the whole of one side needs to be fixed at once across a large number of pins. This is a pain when trying to sort out how the ends of the beams are joined together. To see what I'm trying to do, there are more photos of the application (a W.I.P.) here . If I can decide on the best method I'll need to order a whole load of new parts, but don't want to order parts for the wrong method - and if I can't make the beams stronger than they are now I think I'll have to abandon the project!

For anyone interested in other MOCs like this, I made a similar (but bigger) steam vehicle about 3 years ago. You can see it here. I did post this on the forum when I first made it , but cannot find the thread any longer. I still have most of it built (getting a bit dusty now), but have taken the roof apart to use for other projects. The original idea was to make it run from the pneumatics, using compressed air, but it needs far to much power for that. I may rebuild it now with electric motor(s) and simpler pneumatics to simulate the original pistons etc.

A really big turntable design here http://www.texbrick.com/model_marinecrane/index.html and here http://texbrick.com/tjab/?cat=11 if you need to reinforce things to stop the turrent tilting sideways, and pulling the turntable apart, which could happen as the size grows.

I also got a NXT 2 at Christmas, and have been trying out the different programming languages; I have been programming other languages for years. Robot-C seems easiest for beginners who want to advance beyond the Lego GUI. I agree with fred67, are you confusing RAM and hard drive space? If your laptop is struggling you may need to uninstall some stuff (antivirus programs are the worst culprits in my experience!), or just reboot it if you haven't done for a while, that can often free up unavailable RAM.

Keeping charged cells in the fridge will retain the charge for longer (but make sure they are in a plastic bag so they don't get wet with condensation). But at normal temperatures, if they are discharging after a few days then they are faulty.

Anyone wanting to try making their own designs could try these days for less than £1000: see this machine or this one Not sure if they would be good enough tolerance for making good Lego parts, but anyone like to try?

I have been trying to think of new modules for the GBC and cam eup with this. A web search for 'lego wave' didn't come up with any, but neXTSTORM did give me the idea for a mechanism to use. Sorry if this GBC device been done and seen before!

Thanks for all the positive comments, guys Well then I'll have to make a metachronal wave machine my next design - trying to make each 'frond' push the ball sideways as it passes over should be quite a challenge......

Don't connect two battery boxes together! At best the batteries will go flat faster, at worst they could leak and ruin your boxes. If you want more power use good rechargeables (lower in voltage but better current supply - see the other thread earlier today)- but only use one battery box at a time!

I don't know if this is of interest, it's a different sort of vehicle anyway. Quite a bit of Technic (mixed studs and studless) but much non-Technic as well. It does actually run when powered by a bicyle pump but I got the gearing far too low and it's very slow! Some more work needed. I like the rear wheels best, they took ages to get right but there's still a problem with the axles bending under the weight, even though they are built using turntables. More images available here

I can't find any reference to this on the site so maybe no-one has seen it...have a look whether or not you like football! http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/video/2010/jun/29/world-cup-2010-germany-england-brick-by-brick (in english) or at the creator's site (in German)

The biggest Lego wheels made in one part (as far as I can see) is like this or like this which is 20 studs diameter. But these are a bit limited for, say, tractor wheels. How can you get bigger wheels? I started by building a wheel like this, for a racing bike All the parts in this design are stressed in ways TLC wouldn't approve of, but then real bike wheels are designed to be under stress anyway. After that I wondered about making some wheels for a decent-sized tractor or traction-engine and came up with this which isn't as elegant or stable (and also has many stressed parts) but is very flexible in design, in that it could easily have a bigger diameter or width. If you limit the design to non-stressed parts you can do this but the size has to be either 40 or 42 track links, anything smaller won't bend and anything bigger is too floppy (the 42-link version has 6 spokes each side, separated by 7 links each). And many other lego designers have used these links for wheels or other circular constructions. I think my favourite is this one because it's the most elegant. Any other ideas?

Hi all I've recently come back to Technic after a 20-year gap and am finding all the new studless parts & techniques far more interesting than the studded ones. OK, I'm aware that my opening statement may cause some controversy. Anyway, I've recently got 2 new sets (8292 and 8265) as well as several small Bricklink orders. I'm building a one-third scale model of a racing bike, and am now satisfied with wheels, frame, brake, chainwheel, etc (even a water bottle). But I can't figure out any parts to use for the wheel drop-outs, and also how to make the wheels spin on a fixed axle. The drop-outs ideally needs to be a part with a slot just wide enough for an axle. The current arrangement means that the whole axle needs withdrawing from the frame in order to remove the wheel. (OK I know this bike on't ever get a puncture) I could get the wheel to spin by drilling out the center of the pulleys I have used for the hubs, but modifying Lego parts isn't allowed! Maybe there's the ideal parts hiding somewhere amongst all the Pirates or Bionicles sets that I know nothing about. Any ideas? When the whole bike is ready I'll post details here, if anyone's interested....