greg3

Nice!! Love the reindeer... and the interior of the cabin is perfect!!

Nice tribute and that truck looks great!! (I really like the shape of the orange lights on the front!)

Great idea and excellent end result!! I can tell that your girls (and you!) are going to get a lot of pleasure from it!

Yep - recent survey work has shown not only gold but other rare minerals that could be used in modern technology such as electric fuel cells, still in the mine (modern technology means it's now profitable to extract them). A couple more pics showing work to construct an office/storage building and one of the drawbacks of the site - the narrow entrance which is limiting the size of machinery that can be used (it's going to widened eventually or even moved to the North side (although that will mean changing the road layout))

Great memorial... really like the plaza you've built around it too (looks nice and peaceful) Nice work!!

Great idea and nice little build (and a clever way of using some of the CMF!) As for the curtains, you could always do without them and build a different backdrop (it's not like there's a backstage area that the curtains are blocking off) Nice work!!

Nice work!! I especially like the design of the barn/stable - the door looks great!! The only think I might change is the tractor... maybe look for some images of old tractors online? But even so, well done (and good luck in the comp)

Thanks for the comments... LEGOGuyBri - yes that's the Vesta set (got it off Ebay a couple of years ago and never opened it!! Who knows, Ballabreek may end up with a wind turbine at some point!!) As you can see from these quick update pics, work is already underway to get the mine cleared and back in action. Other plans for the village are to improve the residential area - probably by extending the narrow one-way section of street to give more building space (might also extend that bit of the village to create a small beach/harbour area). I've also got a few storylines involving the residents and buildings that I might try and capture on photo... unfortunately one involves the demise of the garage!!! (sorry Lightningtiger!) Watch this space!

Looking good so far!! (much better than the original) I like the layout - looking forward to seeing more!!

Nice little house... I like the background story to it too.

Very nice!! I really like the simple lines of the exterior (I get the impression that the bags it sells are VERY expensive!) and the interior is just perfect!! Excellent stuff!

Hi and Happy New Year!! I've decided to mark 2013 with a new topic for my village of Ballabreek. My plan is to chart a year in the life of the village with regular updates (hopefully seeing if I can incorporate as many of this year's sets as I can) So where better to start than a quick tour of the village as it is on Jan 1st!! Aerial view (the roads are fairly quiet as most people are recovering from their New Year celebrations!!) The main road - bike shop, pizza take away and hairdressers. Behind this is the main residential area. The park - convenience store and bank. With the trams not running today, the local teenagers are using the tram stop as a skateboard park!! You can still see the Christmas tree and nativity scene (Nativity scene idea "borrowed" from a fellow EB member) Medical centre Garage and Recycling Point. You can also see the Post Office (Ballabreek's oldest building) The old mine - Engineers are surveying the site with a view to getting it reopened and operational again. Thanks for looking and comments are always welcome (I hope to post monthly updates throughout the year, starting with the redevelopment of the mine)

Wow!! Just stunning... I love the sheer variety in building design (I actually really like the reflection you've got in the "water") Excellent stuff!

A lovely little building... nice work. I especially like the hat/coat rack!!

I really like all the details on this (especially all the navigation/communication gear) The crew look perfect too!! Nice work!

Nice church... it really looks the part as a centrepiece for a small village. Really like the interior but as others have said, the red on the roof seems out of place but it doesn't really detract from a great model. Nice work!

Hi and Happy Christmas!! This year I treated myself to The Mine (4204) a great set but one that I've decided to MOD over Boxing Day. I really wanted an old abandoned mine for my Lego village so my minifigs can get to work reopening and running it so I stripped off all the crane and conveyor belt and replaced with some scenery. Apologies for the poor photos but I'll take some more next week once it's in my village layout... Here's the mine... abandoned for over 50 years. The main entrance. All that remains of the mine railway is a few lengths of track and a rusting, derailed minecar... The big arch is all that remains of where steam powered machinery would have stood. Now its full of tons of spoil. It's the belief that the rock behind here may contain gold and other precious minerals that will lead to the mine being reopened. Thanks for looking,any comments are always welcome. I hope to chart the changes that take place as the mining company reopen the mine so watch this space!!

Very nice!! Love all the details (that shutter design is very effective!) And I especially like the tiled floors. Excellent work!

Very nice!! You managed to get a lot of detail into such a small scale - well done and good luck with it!

Absolutely stunning!! I love all the structural details and then the figures, vehicles etc really bring it to life! Amazing work!!

Hi I recently got set 4442 (the airline exclusive glider) and thought it needed some way of getting "airborne". I decided against a towplane and instead had a quick Google for winches. I eventually settled on this design (it's actually not a launching winch - it's used to pull a launch cable back into position for the next glider but I had the parts in appropriate colours and it looked more in scale than my attempts to make a true launching winch.) Reference pics http://www.skylaunch...om/retrieve.php Side view It has a functioning winch (rotating the white radar dish on the side retracts the "cable" (admittedly not very fast!!) The winch can be towed by a car. Ready for take off!! Had to make a slight MOD to the glider (added wheels, a tail skid and an attachment point for the cable.) Comments are always welcome. Thanks for looking.

That is brilliant! Think I might be copying it to put in my Lego town!! I especially like the angel design.. Very clever!

I really like this.... Great idea to make the glass roof and the details inside just finish it off perfectly. Nice work!

Very nice! Almost spot on to the real thing! Looking forward to seeing it added to the rest of the town.

Looking good LT. Especially with a few locals around... I admit to having doubts about the pub (I'm used to the traditional UK boozer!) but now in place and with the stickers it looks pretty good... Looking forward to seeing the railway!! Keep up the good work!