vynsane

Thanks, though he did most of the work - my contribution is mainly in coming up with alternate solutions to connections he used that LDD doesn't allow... and, of course, following the directions ;) Yes, I would never have submitted them like this without his sign-off, but given that he took the time to create the photo instructions, I figured he'd be cool with me sharing the digital versions. As I said, he was very gracious about it - in his own words: I'm actually about a third of the way through transcribing his instructions for the H-44 "Blue Lightning" (Flickr set) - this thing is a beast, with a belly full of bombs. So cool!

I've been a fan of JonHall18's "Sky-fi" work for a while now, but only recently noticed he actually took the time to meticulously photograph every step of the build on the vast majority of his MOCs! The picture instruction sets are rather large once uncompressed, and I have limited space on my laptop, so I decided it would be worth my while to translate them to LDD so I could retain the steps necessary to build them while removing the pictures from my computer. I then realized that others might want to see these designs and contacted JonHall18, who was gracious enough to grant me permission to share the fruits of his and my (but mostly his) labor with all of you. To that end, I've already completed LDD renditions of three of his builds. There are certain modifications made due to LDD not allowing certain connections/alignments, but for the most part they are true to the original. Of course, custom decals are not included and some of the printed pieces have been modified - again, due to constraints of the program. T-11 Eclipse Eclipse Fighter 02 by JonHall18, on Flickr LDD File Flickr set Original Picture Instructions Arcadian Gunship Arcadian Gunship 01 by JonHall18, on Flickr LDD File Flickr set Original Picture Instructions P-72A Skyhammer Skyhammer 01 by JonHall18, on Flickr LDD File Flickr set Original Picture Instructions

Thanks for the kind words! Bear in mind, some of the connections are a bit dodgy on the Fireball - I learned a lot about translating from LDD to Real Bricks with that build. You may want to make some modifications to sturdy her up a bit.

Thanks for adding my Modular Starfighter design, KielDaMan! I know you contacted me via Flickr about this, and I responded but never heard back from you (granted it took me a long time to respond), but you can also add the .lxf file of my flying car from last year's LDD Design Challenge Contest: 2278 Phoenix Fireball (.lxf file) Phoenix Fireball in LDD by vynsane, on Flickr

I've uploaded these three files to my personal servers, so no issues about attaching too much here: Modular Starfighter, painted - the 'final' color scheme as presented in the first three screenshots above. Modular Starfighter, color-coded - the 'working' color scheme with the various color-coded modules for easy selecting/swapping, as presented in the last screenshot above. Modular Starfighter cockpit - just the 'cockpit' module, if you want to play around with the modular concept without the constraints/preconceptions of the modules I've designed.

In designing this starfighter, I wanted to devise a way to easily reuse portions, such as the cockpit, so I wouldn't have to worry about that part of it in future builds. Thinking back to Blacktron, and how the pieces of the various vehicles could be swapped out inspired me to design modules that could be reused. I first designed a 'cockpit tub' that would have as many technic bricks as possible to act as "hard-points" for other modules to snap into, and quickly designed a 'canopy' module to accompany it. The nose came next, then I worked on the engine module for quite some time in order to perfect it. Finally, I created the 'undercarriage' which includes working landing gear. Modular Starfighter, head-on by vynsane, on Flickr Modular Starfighter, landing cycle by vynsane, on Flickr Modular Starfighter top-down by vynsane, on Flickr Modular Starfighter module breakdown by vynsane, on Flickr

Thanks for sharing the LDD file with us all! Nice to see 'open source' making its way into the LEGO community ;) Your rendition of the prototype version of this set is great, though I have to say there are design cues that I prefer from the production version. That's not an admonition or detraction from your hard work, just an aesthetic preference on my part. I find the three sets of engine pods/wings a bit of overkill, but the rest is pretty awesome!

Nice alt, that's really cool - I love Creator sets because I don't mind mixing their parts into the "general populace" like I do certain other sets (mainly Star Wars and Indiana Jones). I believe the Creator line is all about well-priced parts packs that happen to have instructions included ;)

This thread is awesome. Turning 'muppets' into 'mullets' is the greatest spell checker mess-up I've ever heard of! Also, does Prof. Flitwick know we all have different names in real life, whether they've just been changed to muppetesque pseudonyms or not? If not I just TOTALLY destroyed his fragile little world-view ;) AAAlay yuuuuuuu de wut de wut de hay! BORK BORK BORK! (Just thought I'd translate the entirety of my post into the only dialect of Swedish I know, seeing as how this is an Int'l board).

I didn't say it wasn't very doable, just not an efficient use of the benefits of automation. I'm sure LEGO did their due diligence, crunched the numbers, and simply said "It's not worth it". Being a webdesigner, I have some background in that ;)

I got this set used a few months ago, stickers applied and partially built. I actually removed the stickers and they all came off fine, so there's hope for those who hate them. I stored them on a shiny piece of cardboard (a comic book backing board, to be precise) and they're able to be removed and reapplied if I want to rebuild the set, though the parts have been sorted into "general populace".

The major reason automation works so well with production sets is that it's the same item over and over again, so it can rifle off a slew of sets in succession. The machine still has to be programmed to gather the parts for that set, however. Conversely, the DbM models are essentially one-offs (unless they're really good, and someone else orders your design), which doesn't really utilize the benefits of the automated process. Out of curiosity, has anyone ever ordered someone else's design via DbM? I wonder how regular an occurrence it is... Anyway, I'm really anticipating ver. 4.0... I feel like some of the tools in 3.x are just not all the way there yet (hinge align tool, I'm looking in your direction...)

THAT would be pretty awesome, although SpaceShipOne is not a NASA project - it was the first privately owned space-faring vehicle, produced by Burt Rutan's company, Scaled Composites.

You're just going to have to feel them up like some sort of LEGO deviant. ;) It's actually not that hard to do.

My reactions are over-all positive, it's a cool mixture ranging from historical (Indian Chief, Pilot, Samurai) to sports (Baseball Player, Tennis Player, Racecar Driver, Fisherman, Snowboarder, Sumo Wrestler) to the whimsical/fantastic (Cyborg, Alien, Mummy, Gorilla, Elf) and esoteric, but useful (Hula Girl, M.C./breakdancer). Looks like we're getting two more of the Raygun and transparent 3L bar pieces that debuted with the Spaceman in CMFs1 - one with the Cyborg (who looks a little like Robocop) in what appears to be almost a gunmetal color with a red beam, and one in Pearl Gold with a purple beam accompanying the Alien. It also appears as though the Cyborg's helmet is a black version of the Space Police 3 Commando helmet. We're getting another microphone (this time with a gold top) with the M.C./breakdancer. It seems the grass skirt on the Hula Girl is a separate piece, and not printed on the legs. I'm interested in seeing whether or not the ears on the Elf are a part of the head or hair - I think it makes more sense as part of the hair. The printing on the Elf looks incredible! The Racecar Driver doesn't appear to have any affiliation with Ferrari aside from the color scheme. His torso, however, does say 'Octan', so that's cool. I could see the Snowboarder's torso and legs being very handy for flight suits. The Mummy will, of course, look great along-side the Zombie, Witch and Vampire. It would also look really cool with the Pharaoh's headpiece.

This is both supremely inspiring and at the same time totally discouraging, as I never would have the means to accomplish such a build.

Nicely done, they look just as I remember them. I really like the 'construction' shots with the cranes, and that last shot shows off how intricately you pulled off the small details. Man, I miss those buildings...

If you're talking about the 10188 Death Star and not the UCS DSII, and want to make other starfighters that match the size of the TIE Advanced in that set, check out this dude's Chibi A-Wing for some inspiration.

Are you sure that's not a full double-sided pin? Would seem a bit flimsy if it were a technic half-pin w/knob with the knob-end stuck into the hole the way SuperKalle posits above. However, I don't really see the benefit of using the 1/2 pin w/knob this way. The only reason I could see it being used is to have one on either side of a 1x element w/hole, but you could use the technic 1 1/2 pin for the same outcome and it would be a lot sturdier - in fact I've done so.

It's the Universe Mode info - that's why I joined, initially. It's funny, because without EuroBricks, I wouldn't know about Universe Mode. Without Universe Mode I wouldn't have been able to design the MOC I entered in (or even known about, for that matter) the LDD Design Challenge, and without entering the LDD Design Challenge + Real Bricks category, I wouldn't have come in second place!

... and that's one right there, so all you need is one more ;)

Hopefully we'll have that windscreen in trans-yellow soon, so you can really do it up 100% ;) I really like the shape of this one.

It's funny, the same topic is going on over at FBTB now. I already answered there, so no sense in rewriting it, when 'copy' and 'paste' are readily available ;) The beginning of the end of my 20-odd year dark age was due to the LEGO Star Wars, Batman and Indiana Jones video games. They were really fun, and I intended to get a set that was representative of each game. As my interest grew, I started noticing LEGO everywhere I looked - I saw an article in a magazine at my wife's Uncle's house featuring the Indiana Jones 7198 'Fighter Plane Attack' and thought "Oh, that's COOL", then noticed the Midi-Scale Millenium Falcon on a chance trip to Walmart. I made a point of noting it to my wife (this was sometime just before Christmas, and my birthday 4 days after). Well, my wife got me the Midi Falcon for Christmas and a few days later I got the Indiana Jones 'Venice Canal Chase' from her Uncle and his girlfriend - close enough, I thought, then days later had second thoughts - perhaps I could exchange it for 'Fighter Plane Attack'. I had so much fun putting the Falcon together with my 3y/o daughter on Christmas morning and wanted more. I had received some money for my birthday, and my wife convinced me to keep the Canal Chase set and also buy the Fighter Plane set, but I couldn't find it anywhere in stores. I found the LEGO online shop (and the MOCs on Flickr which opened my eyes to what was possible, especially nnenn's starfighters) through searching online, added the Fighter Plane set to my cart and noticed Space Police III! Space Police I was one of my favorite lines ever, only trailing Blacktron I in my estimation, and I filled my cart with a couple hundred dollars worth of LEGO sets - it was all over. I've since opened the floodgates and (according to my collection on Brickset) have a total of 72 sets (which includes 24 CMFs from series 1, so let's not get over-excited) with a MSRP total of $1505! Most of those I bought at a certain discount, so it's not been that much, but it's easily over $1000 spent in the course of 8 months or so. Man, that's scary. At this point SP3 comprises the bulk of my collection, but I intend to acquire most of the Indiana Jones sets over time, and a few Star Wars sets here and there that intrigue me. My current collection includes (in roughly the order of highest concentration to lowest) SP3, Creator, Indy, Atlantis, World Racers, Star Wars, some Classic Space stuff I had as a kid that I re-purchased on eBay (before finding BrickLink) as I don't have any of my childhood sets, and a smattering of Agents, Prince of Persia, and Adventurers. So, to sum up: Equal parts video games, licensed themes, AFOL's MOCs, and Space Police III.

Unless the set is sealed in the bags, in the box, you have absolutely NO guarantee that any of the pieces you're getting were the exact pieces that came in the original box. That said: What does it matter? As long as they're the correct pieces for the set, it shouldn't be a big deal that it was pieced together. Rule of thumb is: If you're looking at an out-of-box set, but it comes with the original box, instructions, etc (I got a set that even had the promo 'LEGO Club' inserts and such) then it's probably the original bricks that all came together. If you're looking at an out-of-box set that has no instructions, no box, nothing but bricks, you're never going to know if it's not the same exact pieces that came together in a box, unless something has been swapped out for a similar color mistakenly (or on purpose). I bought a LEGO Space 6890 Cosmic Cruiser (one of my favorites as a kid) that had all the right pieces except the two gray antenna on the back were new light bley. I was annoyed, but it's not a huge deal - I'll just swap them out when I get the chance to BrickLink some. Frankly, I was more annoyed by the waft of stale cigarette smoke that billowed from the box upon opening it!

Yeah, but they're not nearly as good as an 8x8. Cute Ute!