Lasse D

Right now it looks as if LPub simply can't fidn your renderer, as Ralph explains. But if you keep having problems with LPub, then I recommend using an older version as it seemed just a bit more stable. As it is stands right now, my alternative to LPub is still about a year from being released (competition is always good)

"for god" in Danish can only mean "too good". The word you are talking about in Danish is "forgangen" (as in "de forgangne år"/"the years that have passed"). This word does also only have one meaning.

Still interested in the real translation? The motto contains a figure of speech from Jutland (the part of Denmark where Billund is located): "Ikke for godt". This figure of speech simply means "not good" or "bad", thus making the motto "The best is not good", or more correctly: "Even the best is not good enough". Source: The guide at the LEGO museum in the Idea House in Billund.

Neat. The advantage with this kind of joint over the normal universal joint shown above is that in real life applications, the universal joint introduces vibrations due to the non-constant angular velocity at the two shaft angles. Now Zblj. Can you also make a Thompson coupling?

The DAF looks absolutely amazing. You really did a great job in recreating the details of the front, and the great deal of details make the (usually boring) container look interesting as well! But knowing how damn good you are at this, I can't help but think you should be able to do a better 7 legged star for the Maersk logo. The one you have is technically impressive using cheeses and SNOT, but it also comes off as rather fat compared to the real logo. And as for the auto transport. If you decide on building something with the EVO Plus 11 bodywork as in the picture with the Scania, then please PM me.

Or you could just have a transparent png with a grid and paste it onto a picture in a basic picture tool like MSPaint or Kolourpaint. The same could be said about LEGO mosaic software. One could achieve the same as Pic2Brick by using filters in Gimp or Photoshop, but still people choose the former. The philosophy behind Griddy is to have a small and fast dedicated piece of software without resorting to huge general purpose tools with plug-ins or similar. (I just started Gimp on my machine. It took 30 seconds for the flash screen to load and another minute before the rest of the program showed up with a GUI with more buttons than the interior of an old Mercedes S-class. Gimp is full of great features and customizability, but a bit frightening if all I want to do is find out how high my windscreen should be if my car is 20 studs long)

Great that it's running. Still wondering what went wrong though.

OK. Then java is working. You should have the following: - The folder BrickGraphics/ with run.bat and the folder bin/ (and other folders icons/ locale/ and src/ which aren't important right now) - bin/ has the folder griddy/ - griddy/ should have a file named Griddy.class Right now java tells you that Griddy.class isn't there. Is this true?

That's no good. I'm running on a Vista machine right now too. Can you do this: - start a prompt (Start->Programs->Accessories->Command Prompt) or simply type "cmd" from run (Start->Run). - type java in the prompt. Now it has to say "Usage: java " and a lot of other things. If it doesn't, then there's a java problem (probably missing classpath). - Now navigate to the BrickGraphics folder (using cd "C:\Program Files\BrickGraphics" or where you saved it) and then type "run". If you get to the end, it should write some more info in the prompt that could help me diagnose the problem.

I'm glad that you guys find it useful, and please don't withhold any suggestion that you might have. I am currently making a list of stuff to be done once I get time for this project again, but if you find any critical errors (the stuff that spams the console with debug output), then I will rush to fix those bugs ASAP. And btw. The source code is in the .zip file. Feel free to browse/modify/improve all the undocumented spaghetti code

And now you can use Griddy to do the same thing (make it measure that distance and use it to lay out the grid). I have started a new thread with Griddy since it's a bit off topic: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=47394

Griddy is a small program that lets you overlay pictures with a grid. The grid can show plates, bricks, tiles and you can add sub-grids of various colors and sizes if you prefer. This can help you when designing MOCs from reference pictures. For example, if you know how long a MOC has to be in bricks, you can use the grid to find all other measurements. It also comes with a simple measuring tool. I started talking about Griddy back in this thread and made a little program to show what I was talking about. This program only had the most basic of functionality and I have now added the following features: - File handling: You can now load .png, .jpg, .jpeg, .bmp and many other image files, save and load .griddy files (this is Griddy's own file format), export the current image with the grid on top and copy a screenshot of your current desktop (nifty when handling images from .pdf documents) - Set up the grid to show plates from the side, bricks from the side, bricks from the top and have different colored grids overlaying the standard black grid (the red 10x10 grid is such a sub grid, see Edit-Grid Options). - Measure distance between points. Click on the picture to play with this. - Set up the grid without having to crop the picture beforehand by using the controls. - Zooming and scrolling. Download Griddy is currently in "alpha" and can be downloaded as a .zip from the projects page here: http://c-mt.dk/software/ EDIT: link not working anymore, Griddy still available inside this zippack. It does not have an installer yet and requires Java. You can start using the "run" file: Windows: run.bat Linux: run.sh Mac and other OS'es: Find a way to issue the command "java -cp bin griddy.Griddy" from the BrickGraphics directory. (Please tell me if you know how to make something similar to the .sh or .bat files that works, as I have no MAC to test it on.) Bugs and stuff to come Griddy is still a young program, and a lot of stuff has to be done before it is officially released. The current list of features to be added is: - Have the "draw contrasting" buttons actually do something... - Installer. - Stuff that you as a user might come up with. - Automatically associate .griddy files with Griddy. - Have a way to lock the measuring thingies (I still have to find the optimal way for the user to set up the grid) - Have the "zoom fit" button work even when the scroll bars have not been seen (this annoys me) License Open source, free as in beer.

Great review as always. You say the vehicles have some scale problems, but I think the cars are in almost the same scale as the truck. It is the seats that hare a bit too small in the cars, where leg room has been sacrificed.

Lets take a very nice example that shows the differences. Let me first (blatantly) divert attention to this review of 4955 Creator Big Rig, as it compares it to Model Team 5580. As you can see, both models have nice functionality, shape and are with lots of details. This is all good, and 4955 actually makes for a good display model because of this. But take a closer look. 5580 is built with very little compromise when it comes to realism: The truck stands on a frame (just like real trucks). The wheels are slim, which is not only more realistic, but also uses less space when steering (See the huge gaps needed in the auto transport for comparison). The Creator truck is by comparison standing on the most simple kind of frame possible with wide tires and a low windscreen because Creator has to use the elements that are currently alive (used by other sets). So. You will see details in Creator models, but Model Team sets stand out because of the more realistic and well proportioned details. A higher degree of realism requires more advanced building techniques and specialized pieces. When fans build "Model Team", you will therefore see a lot of SNOT, poorly connected parts and some times even illegal building techniques!

So Model Team is restricted to the official sets, and not what people still build in the theme? Model Team did showcase advanced building techniques in order to give a high level of details. The secondary model of 5590 was the one that taught me about how to use Erlings when building sideways (the pipes on top). Model Team is known for highly detailed engines (even the speed boat 5521 had nice details like a new way to use mugs). 5591 has nice detailing by using brick connected sideways all over, from the bumper to simply 1x1 tiles on Erlings the right places. Small details, but still. These details, whether snot, alternative parts usage or other techniques, is what sets Model Team apart from Creator.

You can argue that because the Auto transport and similar Creator sets have working steering mechanism, opening doors and more, they are equal to Model Team sets when it comes to functionality. Creator sets are, however, much more primitive than Model Team sets in their construction with less and simpler SNOT and other advanced building techniques. I hope that I will be able to show this difference in a month or so (awaiting bricklink orders).

You told us how hard it would be to build such an ordinary car (seriously. The Station Wagon version is one of the best selling cars in Germany!), but seeing the end result makes it looks like a piece of cake. You really nailed the defining parts of this car, which makes it instantly recognizable. I encourage people to find out what the cars in Legoland are supposed to look like - then you will know how hard it is to build everyday cars in such a small scale. From the time you mentioned the project, I was looking forward to see how you would do the rear lights where the red lamps are behind clear glass. Your solution is perfect! Well done. And there will be an updated version of Griddy soon, so you don't have to resize (It is slowly evolving).

Wow. It's simply amazing what you can do in 1:22! The resemblance to the real thing is striking, and I'm amazed that you got the doors working. If you want ideas for what to build next, then please don't build a Honda S2000 nor Ford GT. There are so many other much nicer vehicles out there PS. Wouldn't it be awesome if LEGO released clear jumpers? Edit: The 3 exhausts version is a great improvement.

We could suggest this the next time LEGO asks us for ideas to new themes. While moving on with the project. Often when I build large scale vehicles, I spend a lot of time measuring. This time I'm building software for this. Would it be of any interest if I made a program for everyone that could put a grid on top of pictures in any LEGO scale? If not, then I will just make it for my own amusement I have started project "Griddy", a program that can put a grid on top of pictures. Simple, but effective. After a couple of hours today, I ended up with this: Source and binaries can be found here: http://www.cs.au.dk/~ld/lego/software/griddy.zip (any platform, requires Java) The program will slowly expand as I need new features, or quickly expand if people need more features.

That's a great observation for the white car! I think you are right, but I really want to build a Ford GT The red car sounds like a Honda S2000 by the majority of voices

It looks great so far, but you were looking for constructive criticism, so here it comes :-P The fuel pump is great. The guy has some good ideas, but when building a fig in this scale you should go a bit further than what you see in miniland. It is possible to add some more curves to the guy, fiddle around with curving pieces and SNOT him up. I'm sure you can improve him this way.

Yeah, I could build those, but for now I just want to find what is closest to what is on the LEGO set. Right now we have. Red: - Mazda MX5 - Honda S2000. White: - Toyota MR2. Previous generation, right. It doesn't look much like the late spider IMO. - Ford GT because of the headlights and stripe, right? - MG perhaps TF? - 2002 Camaro. I think the red one looks like some British sports car, while the white looks more Japanese. The lights and stripe on the white one does kinda make it resemble a Ford GT, though. Perhaps I should play around with some of the suggestions and see what is possible. Thanks for the suggestions so far. Please come with more if something pops up. I will dig a bit into British sports cars, thinking of the last episode of Top Gear :)

Hi fellow Eurobrickers. When LEGO introduced the Creator Highway Transport in Model Team scale with working steering and other nice details, it could seem as if Model Team was returning as a Creator sub-theme. I want to show the difference between this truck and a real Model Team creation (think of creations by RalphS), but for that I need to know what kind of cars to build. What cars from real life do you think the cars from the set resemble the most? I have already decided to make the truck a Mercedes Benz Actros, but I'm not sure what the cars should be. What do you guys think?

Yay! This truck strikes one of my favorite ideas: Take a Model Team truck and build it in minifig scale. (although that's technically not what you guys did). Excellent job on recreating a Scania in this scale and making it recognizable while having all the coloring going on. For people who might not notice the great detailing at first glance. Check this out: - SNOT'ing with half-plates (various brackets) on the cab behind the windscreen in order to make the stripes flow. - Upside down cheesing on the rear wheels. - Angled tiles to complete the front wheel wells. - Half-stud displacement (using rail plates) right above the yellow stripe on the cab. - Trans clear 1x2 plates to connect the front lights Excellent, most excellent.

Cramming mechanics into a truck is always a compromise. I tend to expose more PF components (battery boxes visible from rear of cabs and so on) than you, while you tend to do an amazing job in completely hiding everything. When Hard Truck Challenge started, I remember your name being mentioned when the scale was discussed.