kyphur

If it was a result of something I was specifically doing (i.e. how I store or display them) then I would expect to find most if not all of my cheese slopes cracking and that's not the case. Thus far it's just a small percentage of them.

I don't know the exact answer to your question but I can tell you a bit about using generic transformers. The output amps is the max the transformer can supply not how much is pushed out. Instead the device pulls current from the transformer. For example if you have a 9V device that needs to draw 350mA you can plug it into a 1500mA transformer and it will only pull 350mA from the transformer. It is important that the Voltage does match though because hooking something up to a higher voltage can fry it. Your problem may be from corruption of the contacts anywhere in the system and have nothing to do with the power source.

I always thought the scale described in the original post was "System Scale" and that "MiniFig Scale" is something like the UCS Millinium Falcon and the Speed Racer Sets where they get the hight spot on figuring the MFs are average 6ft and the width pretty close (not going double wide like the MFs are).

Oh no, never spray any cleaners on my sets. Feather duster all the way...

Nice micro castles... I spoke with TLG Customer Service. They are now aware of the problem so it will be investigated. I would recommend others who have this issue also contact them to ensure that they understand the scope of the issue. They were very nice and offered to send out replacements now but I said I'd call back after checking through my entire inventory.

Are your castles WHITE? so far I haven't seen it with any color other than WHITE! They get minimal direct sunlight. Most of the ones I've found already are on my Cude Dudes (as shoulders but also Grievous' groin). Some are on Minis and regular models also. There's no weird tension or stressing of the parts. I keep my home between 68 - 75 degrees year-round and when not on display they are stored inside closed cabinets. Even if TLG sends me replacements for every cracked part I think others should be aware of the possible issue so they can check their inventory. FWIW, I highly doubt I'll be disappointed by TLG's response to the problem. I does suck that I now feel the need to go through my entire collection and look at everyone of these parts on my assembled models...

They're breaking! I'm going to call LEGO in the next couple of days, after I can look through more of my collection to get an accurate count. So far I've found over 20 that look like this and it's just the white ones :shock: ...

Thanks for the Kudos on the 'concept'... Regarding the Dragons, I spent a bit of time trying to develop an original Dragon in the proper scale and just wasn't happy with what I did. I also tried for Dragon-looking Mechanical Pods but it just didn't feel like something Hagrid would do. Then I remembered. the Ice Dragon set and thought maybe that could help me a bit with inspiration. I just love the heads and wish they were available in less cartoon-ish colors. I also like the wing design but wish they were more substantial when opened. In that scale I think using plates to build-up the wings would get too bulky too fast and the Pod Race rules specified only official LEGO parts so I couldn't make my own fabric wings. I do want to revisit the Dragons and build slightly larger bodies and custom wings for them. Dragons Version 2 ideas: Body, 2 or 3 studs longer. Tail, bigger (longer & thicker). Wings, Use Technic Axles as the 'Spines' and create custom fabric pieces to span them.

Thanks, honestly I'll just be happy to qualify for the race. There are a lot of good entries, the competition is going to be tought this year.

Yes it is, the link is direct from LEGO!

Hagrid's Dragon Pod Racer: Using the Weasley flying car, Hagrid removed everything that was useless like wheels, engine, roof & seats. He placed a power source for the plasma binder chains designed to tether the engines (err Dragons) to his pod & each other under the hood. After watching a few pod races he realized that attacks from behind are common so he attached a couple of wands (on loan from friends with protection spells) as rear-facing defensive weapons. He also loaded an 8ft board just in case he finds himself needing to toss it into someone's intake or cockpit. For his engines Hagrid travelled to the forever frozen high mountains of China and acquired at pair of twin brother Chinese Ice Dragons. The desert heat won't bother them too much and the ice they breathe can be used as offensive weapons against the other pods. Of course their claws might come in handy also. The dominant of the tow dragons has an orange marking on his right wing. A scale from each of his dragons was added to his "umbrella" wand allowing him to use it as a contoller to drive the team. The whip & driving fedora are Hagrid's nod to the old days when vehicles were all drawn by beasts. Here's my 3/4 view, no editing of the image has been done. Here's a close-up of Hagrid in the cockpit, you can see his (dark) pink umbrella wand and the other details of the Flying car formerly owned by Ron Weasley. Now just in case someone wants to say I violated the rule about the pilot being the only sentient being in the pictures I submit this argument: Sentience requires more than just being "self aware" a dog is not sentient for example. In some fantasy worlds dragons are sentient, they speak, organize and have a society all their own. In Harry Potter's world they are not sentient as they are treated like other wild & domesticated animals. About the build: The dragons are obviously Ninjago Ice Dragons modified to remove all of the trans blue pieces and extra claws from the tops of the wings. I also replaced the wing "arm" attachment to the body and added scales for texture to the back & wings. The Pod is a MOC meant to show a stripped-down and partially rebuild vehicle made from the Weasley flying car after it's encounter with the Whomping Willow. See more pics here: http://www.flickr.co...ith/5574555626/

http://cache.lego.com/bigdownloads/buildinginstructions/4625191.pdf WOW! I was shocked to see this in the available instruction downloads!

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but it was mentioned in a newer thread and I have relevant content for this one. Back when the OP first shared this creation with us I build it in MLCad and with his permission I shared building instructions for it. Here they are: MINI AT-OT for use with SDCC LAAT/c

Is seems simple enough, can probably figure it out from the image at Brickset: http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=MMMB011-1

I just might get shot for this but... Enlighten does have a 2x2 plate with studs on both sides.

In the Menu: Settings, General, Change. Click on the "Step, grid, Snap" tab and change the rotation angle for fine grid.

If you're worried about an international seller then do as much as you can to protect yourself: Use a Credit/Debit Card via PayPal to pay for the purchase. This gives you the most protection. If PayPal can't or won't cover you in the event of an issue then you can fall=back to your Debit/Credit Card issuer. FWIW, the few problems I have experienced with eBay transactions were all buyers/sellers in the US!

That's an Enlighten set that I would actually be interested in buying even if only to convert to real LEGO elements! Where did you get it, might you post scans of the instruction sheet?

I have most of the Star Wars line in LDraw already but they are using mpd files. Does anyone have a problem with mpd files?

Yeah, I'll agree with that. For the price of a few plates LEGO could have improved that set right out of the box.

While it would be nice, I don't really expect to see an iPhone App that can edit LDD/LDraw files. I don't think it really discourages the spontaneity as much as you might think. Some of us are tinkerers and some of us can build it & forget it. Personally I've done both. To me sharing a Lego model is more than showing someone a picture of it, that's where the save ability would come in. How about allow us to "tap & pull" a menu of categories down from the top? This would for more than 5 categories (if needed) and still be something that iPhone users are used to (refresh in facebook, FML, etc). I didn't notice that the bottom row of colors were transparent, makes more sense now. The main thing for iPhone4 is the anti-aliasing, if you can either just detect that its an iPhone4 or give us a setting that would be nice. I thinks everything else suggested would benefit all iDevices. It would be nice to see at least 16 x 16 baseplate for building. I understand the limitation of size due to the small screen. BTW, I like to see developers who are so responsive to their intended users.

iPhone 3G is old... At the very least have a setting that allows us to enable or disable anti-aliasing for 3GS, iPad and iPhone4. I understand the thought of if the revenue supports it I'll get an iPhone4 but maybe if you support the iPhone4 the revenue will come!

Sorry, fixed the permissions on the images...

Here are some captioned screen shots: I've played around with it a bit and can say that it's a neat little app but in it's current form it isn't really practical for anything other than burning through idle time. The limitations: No ability to load & save models means that you have to always start from scratch. Limited Parts Catalog limits the complexity of models you can build No support for SNOT. No support for iPhone4 Retina Display, the building area graphics are low quality looking on my iPhone4. Now it's not all bad, despite these limitation I actually like the app and I hope the developer is interested in expanding it into something more. The Good: The building interface works well. It automatically stacks bricks. It detects proper stud connections. It allows brick rotation. It includes a basic (3 screen) tutorial. See my screen shots. Overhead view makes brick placement easier. You can rotate the model. While I think the AFOL who uses LDD or LDraw based Lego CAD on their computer will bore quickly I can see younger kids enjoying this app in it's current form. I think it's current form could serve very well as a "Lite" free version of a much more sophisticated application. If the developer does decide to "amp it up" here are some of my suggestions: Add support for iPhone4 Display. Add support for Save/Load Model. Add more parts. Make the basic color palette available for all parts. Add larger building base options (currently supports 6 x 6, 8 x 8 & 12 x 12) This would make it a fun basic Lego CAD iDevice app for AFOLs. If you really want to take it further then there is a whole other list of suggestions but that's for a later time.

Well, I'm trying to buy the app but iTunes seems to be having problems selling it to me currently! No worries, it finally worked...