lostcarpark

Hi, First, thanks to everyone involved in creating and maintaining PyBricks. It's a fabulous piece of work. Until recently I've been using RCX units running NQC code. However, the inability for programs to be stored when the unit loses power is a big downside. I'm also finding that the wires on some of the sensors are starting to turn brittle (they are approaching 20 years old). So I've been playing with Powered Up hubs, and so far having fun with them. This Q&A is very helpful, and I've already learned a lot about it. My question: is there a way to send commands to the hub from a program running on a phone or tablet? Perhaps this could be done with a JavaScript program running in a web browser on the device (over a Bluetooth connection). Hoping this wouldn't be too different from a bluetooth remote. I would like to be able to have a simple puzzle solving game on the phone/tablet, that would trigger actions on the model when people complete puzzles at public displays. Love to hear your thoughts on this. Again, thanks for the amazing work!

Thanks for the feedback. Regarding the size, I think the answer is, "it depends". I feel the 2002 version probably scaled reasonably well to vehicles LEGO were producing at that time, but most of the ships have grown considerably over the years. I've tried to use the UCS Millennium Falcon as my scale reference. One reason for this is because I'd like a shot of the Cloud Cars escorting the Falcon, so would like to have them to scale. But this seems to be roughly the scale LEGO work to as well, with the caveat that large ships tend to get shrunk, and small ones tend to get expanded. The cannon size of the Millennium Falcon is 34 metres. The UCS model is .84 metres or 105 studs long (I measured off 10179, but the new one is roughly the same size), making a scale of about 1:40. The cannon size of the Cloud Car is 7 metres long. This works out 17cm or 21 studs long, which mine is pretty close to. I actually printed out a top-down view of the cloud car with a stud grid overlaid, so I was able to lay sections of my model over it while I was building. And for comparison, the last T65 X-Wing (2012) was about 42 studs long (when the engines are included). The cannon size is 12.5m, which at the above scale should be 38 studs long, which is close enough in my book. If anyone is interested, a Star Destroyer would be about 36 metres long at this scale! :-)

I'd like to share my version of the Twin Pod Cloud Car: Storm IV Twin Pod Cloud Car 01 by James Shields, on Flickr The Cloud City part of Empire Strikes Back has always been one of my favourite parts of the Star Wars saga, and I think the cloud car is one of the most under-rated vehicles (it doesn't even get a mention in DK's "Complete Vehicles" book). LEGO have only attempted it once at minifig scale, all the way back in 2002: I've always felt the LEGO version could be improved on, and that feeling has only grown as the selection of orange curved parts has grown over the years. A couple of years ago I started collecting parts for my own version. I made several attempts to build one, but always got frustrated and ended up putting the project on the back burner. "You will not deviate from your present course." by James Shields, on Flickr Back in June, I decided to give it another go, using some techniques I'd picked up since my last attempt, as well as some better reference material I'd found. This version came together relatively quickly. Cloud Car over Bespin by James Shields, on Flickr I'm still not 100% satisfied, but I'm reasonably happy with the basic shape, and it scales pretty well to the UCS Millennium Falcon, so I think it's a good size. I expect I will keep tinkering with the design, and hopefully will keep making improvements. I also made a little bit of Cloud City: Cloud City Landing Pad 01 by James Shields, on Flickr The landing pad actually rests on the table, but I thought it would be fun to make it look higher, and add some other Cloud City buildings in the background. Thanks to Rhys Knight, who helped with the custom cloud car pilots:

I shared in a few groups, yes. Thanks.

I did another revision of the mouth. I think I like this one best. I hope you like it. Porg! by James Shields, on Flickr

Maybe... Or possibly curved slopes. I made a slight tweak to give him a mouth... Porg! by James Shields, on Flickr

My last MOC of 2017 (probably): Porg! by James Shields, on Flickr It's a fairly quick Sunday morning build from my parts drawers, so nothing too fancy, but I like how it worked out. I tried a few ideas for the mouth, but I haven't found one that works yet. I may try a decal. I may try and do a smoother version later. Happy new year, everyone! James

Wow! I'm not sure I'd be brave enough to tie that much LEGO to my wall. If you paint the wall to look like the bridge of a Star Destroyer, it would look amazing!

I love it. Well done!

Wow! Really great build. Well done.

You could extract the parts list for both from Bricklink and compare. I think 75192 is structurally pretty different internally to 10179, so I'm not surprised Rebrickable doesn't find a lot of commonality, though I wouldn't be surprised if there's quite a few where only the colour differs. You could possibly find a half way house, where you update the most noticeable parts, like the docking rings and the cockpit tunnel but leave the bulk of it unchanged. I suspect the cockpit pieces are going to be expensive for a while, though you should eventually be able to get them from Lego's part replacement service.

Thanks for the comments everyone! @ScottishDave: I haven't yet figured out how to integrate the docking rings into either version of the UCS Falcon, but hope to put together some instructions later, hopefully for both versions. The thing I liked about the ship is that it's similar enough to the Falcon to be familiar, but different enough to be distinctive, and I've wanted to build one since I came across it in SW lore. I hope to improve it after the competition and eventually turn into a display model. James

That's a really nice design. Well done. James

Wow, that looks really great! Well done. James

I'm sure you're all bored of YT variants by now, but here's my entry to Freighter Wars on Rebrick. Freighter Wars: The Canary by James Shields, on Flickr The Royal Andelussian Navy had long used Corellian Freighters for a variety of roles, and was quick to place a large order for the newly launched YT-1210. However, when this line was quickly superseded by the YT-1300, rumours were rife that the YT-1210 line was defective. These were denied by the Corellian Engineering Corporation, but it wasn't enough to stop the Andelussian admiralty cancelling the undelivered order and selling off their entire fleet of the model, before the navy engineers had even finished painting in the distinctive yellow and black Andelussian livery. Relations were strained with the Corellians, but eventually the situation was defused, and the Andelussian navy received a substantial discount on an order of YT-1300s. The sold off 1210s gave many freebooters a very capable freighter at a substantial discount, and it was very common for them to be customised by their new owners, but few bothered to change the hodge podge of Andelussian markings. I've been thinking of this ship for a build for several years, so the competition was a good chance to get on with it. I hope to eventually rebuild with a detailed interior and finish off bits I didn't have time for. Let me know what you think. I'd love opinions on it.

Very nicely done!

First of all, it ain't UCS unless LEGO say so. It's Ultimate Collector Series, and you don't get to decide what's in the "series". That said, there are some very fine fan-made MOCs in the style of LEGO's UCS models. However, there are just as many mediocre models that claim to be UCS and really don't cut it (then again, LEGO released Assault on Hoth). You should build the model you want to build because it inspires you, not arbitrarily try to find one that's never been done before. It doesn't matter if it's been built before, look for ways to make yours better. I think you'll do better work if it's a model you really love from the movies.

Some pictures of Echo Base at BrickLive in Belfast last weekend... AT-AT Attack - Battle of Hoth at BrickLive, Belfast by James Shields, on Flickr Wampa Cave - Battle of Hoth at BrickLive, Belfast by James Shields, on Flickr Speeder Bikes - Battle of Hoth at BrickLive, Belfast by James Shields, on Flickr "Target. Maximum Firepower." - Battle of Hoth at BrickLive, Belfast by James Shields, on Flickr Shield Generator - Battle of Hoth at BrickLive, Belfast by James Shields, on Flickr X-Wing - Battle of Hoth at BrickLive, Belfast by James Shields, on Flickr Tauntaun Stables - Battle of Hoth at BrickLive, Belfast by James Shields, on Flickr Ground Transport - Battle of Hoth at BrickLive, Belfast by James Shields, on Flickr Millennium Falcon - Battle of Hoth at BrickLive, Belfast by James Shields, on Flickr Hanger - Battle of Hoth at BrickLive, Belfast by James Shields, on Flickr Shield Generator - Battle of Hoth at BrickLive, Belfast by James Shields, on Flickr Rebel Trench - Battle of Hoth at BrickLive, Belfast by James Shields, on Flickr Snowspeeder - Battle of Hoth at BrickLive, Belfast by James Shields, on Flickr The 501st Legion were present. This Snowtrooper in particular was a great sport, and obviously fitted in well with the scene. 501st at BrickLive by James Shields, on Flickr Lots more photos in this Flicrk album. Thanks for looking! James

So for a while I wanted custom Snowspeeders for my Hoth diorama. When I saw Brickdoctor's version, I just couldn't resist having a go. I built the first one for a show we held in Naas, Ireland, basically off Brickdor's LDD file, but with a few mods (mostly for parts I didn't have to hand): T-47 Snowspeeder by James Shields, on Flickr However, for larger Hoth displays, I wanted to have a fleet of them. And as I only have LDD on my desktop computer, which resides in a different room from my LEGO, building from LDD is a pain (as if it wasn't already, given the weird way LDD orders instructions). So I built the extra ones by copying the first. Working this way, it makes sense to get a production line going, so I only have to dismantle once. Snowspeeder Production Line by James Shields, on Flickr Here's the completed snowspeeder squadron, ready to defend Echo Base: Echo Base Defenders by James Shields, on Flickr One handy tip. Brickdoctor recommended red LEGO rubber bands to hold the wings together. I used these for the first one but found them a little too long (it's possible mine had stretched from prior use). I found some "loom bands" in the bottom of a tub of used LEGO, and they were actually perfect for the speeders. They're a little thinner than the LEGO ones, and really stretchy, so easy to pul over the desired parts. Once I had my squadron, what's the first thing I do? Why crash one into the snow, of course, recreating Luke's famous scene with the tow cable... Snowspeeder Down! by James Shields, on Flickr Finally, I'll leave you with my version of the box art of one of my favourite LEGO sets... 45000 Rebel Snowspeeder by James Shields, on Flickr

I tidied up the background of the speeder bikes... 74-Z Speederbikes by James Shields, on Flickr And here's a version with a Hoth background added...

Great designs and beautiful photo editing!

Some more speeder bike builds... 74-Z Speeder Bike by James Shields, on Flickr As well as an Endor version (I had to cheat as the 2x2 corner tiles don't yet exist in brown): And (slightly off-topic), a Classic Space version: The instructions are now available on Rebrickable (click here to find them).

It's been a while since I've posted. This weekend I'm displaying at the Brick.ie show in Naas library, Kildare, Ireland. It's the first chance I've had to put together a lot of the elements I've built over the last few months. It's a small show, so I don't have the full Echo base, just the shield generator and rebel defences... Echo Base Shield Generator by James Shields, on Flickr I'm also displaying my copy of Brickdoctor's snowspeeder as it takes on a pair of Raskolinov AT-ATs (thanks DaveNoCheese for the loan of the second AT-AT)

I built a version of this over the last two days... T-47 Snowspeeder by James Shields, on Flickr T-47 snowspeeder by James Shields, on Flickr T-47 snowspeeder (rear) by James Shields, on Flickr I wanted it for a show this weekend, so I had to make do with parts I had to hand, so there's a few changes. In particular, I have no pneumatic tubing, so I had to improvise the guns with regular bars. I may revise it later. It's gone a little wrong, and I get a bit of a gap in front of the canopy. I hope I can figure out what's causing it and fix later. It's currently on display with a pair of Roskilnikov AT-ATs in Naas Library, Kildare, Ireland, and has received a lot of praise. T-47 Snowspeeder and Plus Size AT-ATs by James Shields, on Flickr I prefer my snowspeeders in white, but I don't think either white or grey is completely correct. Thanks again for sharing. James

There are two (that I'm aware of) in Ireland, the second by Davenocheese (finished a couple of evenings ago). Here they both are at a show in Naas Library, Kildare today (with my version of Brickdoctor's snowspeeder): T-47 Snowspeeder and Plus Size AT-ATs by James Shields, on Flickr They'll both be in a larger Hoth diorama in Belfast later this year.