Toastie

Wonderful idea! For the time being, Duq's proposal is >perfect<! As far as I am concerned. Best Thorsten

I take it that the graphics on the top layer is type of "no fill color"? Or does layering mean one bold graphics over the other? Edit: Sorry, just clicked on the two pictures: One bold over the other. OK. That is a good start then.

OK. Now we have the graphics format - it appears though as if the Invision software has a number of features that render this "make it work" work rather difficult, particularly when one doesn't have a clue how to implement things. Graphics layering is one thing, hovering the mouse over graphics causing changes another, keeping a background static, when everything else is floating (layering again?) on top. It may be here in TrainTech all the same - white floating on white remains "static" white (that is what I call deep balance of evidence ). So how do we proceed from here? Besides creating a picture called banner? Is it worthwhile to study the Invision forum software features? Regards Thorsten

@ivanlan9 ahh - I see. I can't see because I am too narrow Oh well, now I can't even change the theme anymore - that was easy a month ago or so - scroll all the way down, click on theme, choose TEST and solid color panel with noting on it. Guess it is an evolutionary type of thing. Or some sort of virus ... All the best, Thorsten

Well. Go to the Pirate Forum and enjoy what the Invision Forum software is capable of - just presentation wise that is. They have a background - the entire forum stuff floats on top. The forum content itself has a background - this wooden thingy. With a nice border. They have a banner - where I do not see any "repetitions", just one nice - well banner. They have animated bullets for each forum topic. They have a different font - like it or not, but Train heads may come up with something different as well - other than Arial. So I think there is much more to make it a "Train" forum. Maybe ask the Pirate folks? Best Thorsten

@Mylenium - I took the freedom to strike out the ... well, maybe personally intrusive (I am German - don't know how to phrase it better) part - but I completely agree with the latter. Micro scale needs another dimension of abstraction. And the willingness of "seeing it" - I believe this is the core of the matter. I personally find it so much tougher to get something across in micro scale - and even more so people need to be willing to go that abstraction/perception route (with fun and appreciation) as well. I love it. I am not saying that large scale is easier. Or better. Or more appealing. But when I see large scale models, I take it with the Technic folks: There is much, much more "responsibility" All the best, Thorsten

Agree. Plus: You can make it easily much better using a little modding (shown here) with plain vanilla pieces. Best Thorsten

They open them up? Best Thorsten

Was and >is< great ... there is nothing that I know of that can compete. But well - they're gone. I truly understand why. Maybe it will take a while for Tom to get over all that dirty and cynical no: that competition fall out. All that "if they had" and "better" ... forget it. It is so easy to tell people what they should have done - from the "customer" perspective - just looking at the wallet, the "I want things", "fast". It is so different from the supplier perspective. I also believe that so many more customers praise "the competition" as suppliers do - small ones, on the side of a real job suppliers that is. @zephyr1934 has pointed out (repeatedly) here on EB. I'd "reach out" to him (I am more comfortable with "contacting him") repeatedly. And tell my story. It may work. Or not. All the best Thorsten

I am tied up in getting virtual Lectures, group meetings, lab courses (as in >lab< courses ...), examinations ... until two weeks ago, I did not have a smart phone. Now there is Zoom, Discord, WhatsApp, RocketChat - oh yes and email. As I control my LEGO layout via custom hard- and software, it was not that much of a transition. I do know TCP/IP ok'ish, and a static IPv4 route is (sort of) a requirement here with 2 access points, one access point/router ... I just figured out how Android does the basic Windows things (the X upper right corner missing made me almost mad) and now it all seems to be so easy. The whole shoo bang I never wanted; Google Calendars sync'ed, gamers headset. Class starts on Monday - I am going full forward with zoom. No LEGO at all here. But: LEGO lasts forever, so there is no rush. First things first. Ha: Did you know that minifigs are immune to Covid19? >All< of them? There are almost as many minifigs as there a people on this planet. Did somebody already tell the heroes of the pandemic, DJT, the Brazilian "leader", BJ, who is now recovering on some remote place, and all the other heroes, who >knew< it would not be bad at all? Maybe they can distill something out of the minifigs and than drink it. It would make life so much easier. All the best, stay healthy and be careful. And those of you, who can do LEGO: >Do it<. Be creative. LEGO rocks!!! Forever. Thorsten

Don't delete them, edit them. There is an edit button somewhere for your own posts. Just change the links/source pictures.

Dear Emanuele, as others have said: Beyond belief. As usual. You know, after all these fantastic models you have created - the feeling of joy coming up upon opening the post - is a regular thing happening to me. "Regular" - not "used to" - very big difference. The building is beyond my grasp - but the little mouse and the cat is my absolute favorite. I love such details - they tell so much. By the way: What's the cat's name? Girl or boy? Congratulations on your front-page run!!! All the very best - and stay healthy. Thorsten

That is true. For me personally, there is a bit more to it though. Your reasoning is entirely 100% correct for internationally operating companies. What is missing though in the small company startup-type business (profit oriented that is) is the chance of reasonable securing IP. Which they can't. So that adds something nasty to the nice and shiny words of competition, marketing, product distribution, and all the business buzz word you can name: Copy and paste. The power players in Germany had (that is before Covid-19 hut hard) a saying about manufacturing in e.g. China: "With such high development costs we have to make profit somewhere, and China, India, and some other countries allow us to do so". Development costs, coming-up with new ideas, etc. etc. is - in the profit making world - worth a lot of money. See TLG: We buy the super expensive stuff from them. Reading their papers on why it is so expensive points into that direction as well. But the big difference is: They are securing these expensive parts of the profit making process with IP all over the place. Plus: Sue as they can, see the BL case. Small companies can't do that. So somebody has to pay the development costs of the brilliant ideas of the engineers ... which can be brought considerably down by skipping that process and go directly to manufacturing. Oh, they want to get a lot of manufacturing facilities back to Germany (guess what? We'll pay for it ...) It's a tough world. Best Thorsten

We are living in a world - better: we have decided to do so - that is driven by "I want/need" and "cheap". One could summarize that as egocentric, self focused way of life. Exceptions (sometimes): "Friends" and "Family". Then there is some deep training as well: "LEGO = good", all the others are bad, particularly within the EB community. Then there is: When LEGO doesn't make the stuff I want/need, I go shopping somewhere else. That is a critical moment: Purism vs I take my own route. When taking your own route, the high bars of good and bad just fade into nowhere and are replaced by: As cheap as possible (cf. posts above, maybe phrased a little less harsh: Competition, economy, not affordable ...) - but functioning. No IP in place that can really threat your business, no limits. Not in a profit oriented, capitalistic world. The apparently blue ocean turns into a shark tank. The idea of "serving the community" turns into "capable of supplying the most diverse products - and the cheapest" because that is what the community wants. US vs EU vs China? No: US together with EU and China (and a myriad of others = the world) in one shark tank. And when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. And that's it. Regards Thorsten P.S.: If find it disheartening that 4DBrix needed to take the exit route.

Cool. That is nice. However it repeats "10". How about having an "I" (no dot, shape/font of the "I" as in the LEGO IDEAS logo) and then the 10k Club thing? Best Thorsten

Ha!! Hahahah! Ever had a FIAT 500? My dad had. And it was no such thing at all. It was just running like a VW ... Best Thorsten

The LEGO IDEAS logo with a ">10K" next to/in it? Best Thorsten

Another really beautiful rendition of another beautiful engine. Congratulations! That scale is simply insanely fascinating. And as they say in the Technic forum: With a lot of "responsibility" which you have taken on 150% and mastered it. Now, when you feed a PF Receiver with 12V it will deliver that 12V PWM wise. Same with 5V or 15V. So the 11V BuWizz output is not really limiting here, is it? Best regards, Thorsten

What to add? Frontpaged - nothing more to add. Despite all the wild discussions around here - I believe being frontpaged on EB is a very great honor - and: With distinction. One question, Emanuele: Are you getting wider? Because I heard size does matter ... somewhere else here Honestly: In the Technic forum they said, the larger the scale, the higher the responsibility (of making it right, I guess). You made it right. Absolutely right. What a truly wonderful model. Congratulations! On your ingenious design and skills that is. The frontpage - well - what can they do about it. They have to follow the rules All the best! Thorsten

Folks folks folks!

Holly crap - I found it. I found the "unfollow" button and the "Don't send me email notifications". My goodness. And I sure hope this Corona thing comes to an end - so you guys can go out, and blow off steam somewhere else. This thread has gone insane.

Noooo-ooo-ooo ... I never got the "probably" thing in their ads Oh well, I was raised in very close vicinity to Denmark (15 miles away) - plus that part of Germany was Danish before for long ... so I guess yes, I am seriously biased. Are you more into beers like these? All the best Thorsten

Regarding the colors: I cheated (asked my daughter, they are used to that - when I am asking random people for a color, they at first have "this" look in their face) Regarding the resistance: That are the 22 Ohms causing the voltage drop. I'd try something around 3.3 Ohms initially (a value of the "E12" Series). The thing though is the wattage, the resistor needs to dissipate as heat. The resistor you used seems to be of the 1/4 W series. I'd go for something like these: https://cdn-reichelt.de/documents/datenblatt/B400/5WAXIAL_9WAXIAL_11WAXIAL_17WAXIAL%23YAG.pdf The can dissipate 5W easily. If that does not work (still too much voltage across the XL even at medium load), I'd increase the value to 10 Ohms or so. Thing is: Just one part, clocking in at about €0.50 ... But there must be somebody around here who for sure knows much better than we two 7/8 blinds (electronically-wise). Have a nice day! Thorsten

Was it the XL motor or that poor 1/4 W resistor? When the XL motor tries to push the EN over the track, it will draw some serious current, wouldn't it? Philo's page says the XL motor draws 1.8 A at 9V when stalled - and about 0.1 A at 9V freely running. As I am color-blind, I can't really get the resistance from the rings in your picture; it sure is 5% tolerance and the third ring is black. Let's assume the first two are red/red = 22 Ohm? And then we assume 0.3 A current going through the XL/resistor line. W=I^2 R = 2 W. That should give some nice smell - but from the resistor, right? Also the voltage drop at 12 V would be more than 6 V ??? Hey, I have learned my electronics wisdom from trial and error as well! I sure know the smell of burnt resistors, transistors ... virtually from everything, the electronic industry is providing for dummies like me! Where is @dr_spock when we need him? All the best! Thorsten

I believe this is the core of the matter. Plus: The set is beautiful, breathtaking, lovely, touching, with all you want to see in it. When it arrives though, it is a pile of plastic ABS bricks - in plastic bags. We should also remember this - in the hard times we live in right now. The "freebie" is maybe and hopefully a bit less important - in the hard times we live in right now. What I find so incredible is, when the pile of bricks (do it: just throw them all onto one pile and look at them, at some distance) turns into a miracle - dreamed up and realized by - people. I wish all of you lucky people who got the set, all the emotions, the fun and pride, you deserve! And maybe there is a second or two of spare time - within all that joy! - to think about the people who try with their best to save the lives of the unfortunate - who were doing their jobs at 0:00 release time of the set, who tried to order other stuff with priority mail, and weren't getting anything. These people >are< unfortunate. We may be just missing out a LEGO set. All the best, be careful and stay healthy! Thorsten