ummester

This looks really nice.

I want to design a steamer also - but it's proving costly ATM to get the freight train finished. Are stores charging more on Bricklink this year than last year or something?

I thought - and I could be out of touch and wrong - that you could post an Idea here, or in the relevant forum, but you are not allowed to spam it. How to get an Idea noticed is the biggest hurdle. If they get hosted by a LEGO youtube blogger like The Brick show or Jangbricks, they seem to get noticed. I guess you could write to them and ask them to a do a feature. Or set up a youtube video yourself - I don't think you are allowed to use the LEGO logo in any videos you set up, or advertise it as any kind of official LEGO product.

The blind solution just doesn't sit well with me. It looks aesthetically different and it would always annoy me in the back of my head - knowing that the third wheel is a genuine metaphorical third wheel :D I guess I could try and cut the flanges off 4 LEGO wheels - at least they would look aesthetically the same whilst still being that third wheel. I didn't realise the steamers had blind middle wheels - does it look funny when the wheel sits wider than the track around corners?

Sex is family friendly - families couldn't exist without it :D Tomb Raider and Uncharted? More shooters, jumpers or adventures? At some stage someone makes a call that is not precise and has some arbitrary elements.

And yet someone had a Mass Effect Ideas project refused - when that universe is very fantastical and on par with Star Wars.

I plan to put a video up but I'll see if I can explain this properly. When trucks have 3 sets of wheels (doesn't matter if they have the friction bands taken off the wheels with a technic join, or if you line up 3 standard wheels on the metal axle) they do not corner as well as trucks with 2 close together or 2 spread apart. The 6 wheel trucks work and the train can get (almost) as much speed as 4 wheel trucks but they do not take off as easily on corners. I've tried all types of 6 wheel truck solutions and in all of them the middle wheel spins less consistently than the outer 2 but any 2 wheels close together spin fine. I think it's to do with the curve of the LEGO track, it's too tight or something to work properly with 3 standard wheel trucks. I guess the larger wheels on steam locomotives sit far enough apart not to run into the same issue. Is the curve on all LEGO corners the same, 9V, old track in pieces etc? Is there any alternative with a different curvature?

Sandcrawler has 12 or something - they represent almost half of the value of the parts in the box.

You recon you'd get away with a Lovecratian beastie, considering it predates Universal Monsters :D I do think (not just with Ideas) there is some hypocrisy with themes that suit the LEGO brand. Raiders of the Lost Arc was pretty violent, more than most older War films, yet I doubt TLG would approve a Great Escape set. Jaws finds itself on greatest horror movie lists, along with Exorcist and Alien, all of the time - though I cant see anything other than Jaws being a LEGO set. James Bond is not appropriate but LEGO Agents are fine. The old Dino Attacks sets had full on Vietnam vets shooting at dinos from Russian looking helicopters, though I don't recon you get very far with a hunting themed set idea. I read somewhere that TLG doesn't want sets to show any direct, violent conflict - which kind of cancels out the box art for most of the Star Wars sets :D It all seems very arbitrary to me.

haven't TLG made a set of that? Good points, I guess, if you think LEGO should focus strongly on the human (minifig) type elements. Personally, I think it is already too heavily focussed on the little LEGO people and how they are little plastic representations of either human characters or real life humans - it's a construction toy and the minifig is specialised, allowing far less deconstruction and reconstruction than a combination of other bricks. So, though I agree it is fair to display a range of people as they really are, if LEGO is trying to accurately display people, I do not think LEGO should try and accurately display people, they should just include human construction elements in sets that are about general construction related ideas more than anything specifically human.

There's a file in this thread http://www.eurobrick...25#entry1884487

Ah, sleepers I know. I'm glad you know what I did - because I have no idea, still Everything is still working though, so I guess it doesn't matter. Does anyone else find the remote/IR kind of erratic? Spinning the dial doesn't always increase the speed in regular steps and, on occassion, pushing the stop button makes it stop and then immediately go backwards.

I've often wondered if tiles are more expensive to manufacture than plates and why more of the larger Star Wars sets don't come with more tiles. The Sandcrawler had fantastic detail on the back and top, making the sides look kind of cheap in comparison. It was only around $50 of tiles from Bricklink to tile the sides up - not sure why TLG doesn't think to include things like this and give the sets a more complete look out of the box.

Star Trek has always been a more cerebral, character driven enterprise (oops) than Star Wars - it doesn't have X Wings and Tie Fighters buzzing around making pew pew sounds at each other - so it's not hard to understand why one sells better as a toy. I have always wanted to design a LEGO Enterprise for display - large enough to accommodate minifigs in the bridge and shuttle bay - the shape of it would be an interesting challenge from a structural integrity perspective.

So the 2 x 8 stud 'plate' shape under the rail is the tie - cheers. This means, 60051's nose corners 2 studs wider than the tie. I guess it is the reason for those big moulded bits. Then the primary factor determining how far any LEGO train model will protrude beyond the tie on corners is how many studs there are beyond the pivot of the forward truck and the secondary factor would be the shape of the train's front.

So is an 8-12 train easier to crash than a 16 + train

Does MEGABLOKS sell elsewhere in the world? In stores I frequent for LEGO in Australia, MEGABLOKS is always about half the price and never seems to sell.

You could get them a minifg scale Tie advanced, Tie Interceptor and Tie fighter for the same price, which they'd probably have more fun with.

I'm waiting on some BL orders. When they arrive, I should be able to set up the working parts of both loco trucks. Is it preferable to pull the traction bands off all wheels that aren't in the motor - so 8 wheels on the loco with no traction band and only 4 with?

I agree, to an extent. It's a chicken/egg thing but society doesn't respect parents the way it used to, either. Not too long ago, you were 'different' if you weren't married with 2 children. Being a couple in the burbs was the respected status quo. Now, you are 'different' if you remain married and focus on raising the children. And, in such a consumer oriented world, the DINKs often 'fit' better into the social environment, because they are primary consumers. On top of this, there are too many 'experts' that lack real life experience. Too many people who have an opinion on how children should be raised that have never and will never try raising them themselves. I do agree that parents are, generally, responding to this environment poorly. Listening too much to the 'experts', following the 'adverts' and trying to find the painless way out, as you say.

It was a fascinating build - the way it was designed impressed me more than any TLG build in a long time. The way the side panels work is very clever and gave me heaps of design ideas.I did cover the exterior in tiles and greebles, to make it look better on display - but the build itself is so clever I don't want to mess with it :D. Re this Tie Fighter - meh, I dunno - I have a fleet of Ties - fighter, advanced and interceptor, sourced many parts to get the design consistent across the 3 so that they look impressive on display as a group - a differently built big Tie fighter would be so out of place. I don't think it's going to be popular. I think the designer looked bored in the video. It's probably just a cash in because there are Tie fighters in the trailer for the new flick. All this means they probably won't make many and it will be one of the most expensive Star Wars sets in 10 years time

Nifty little build Dr Spock. Re the Gondola, is there any reason (other than just aesthetic choice) that you have the wheels with 6 studs space between them? Is 8 studs the maximum you can have between non turning wheels and still allow the cart to corner, or do I have that wrong?

Cool Idea (arctic pun kind of intended). It looks very playable also. Something like this would make a good LEGO Ideas train - something that is like a playable exploration set on a train. The MARS train, with launching spaceships or something. Kids and (big kids) would enjoy it.

Yes, cheers Richfilth - there are some inspirational designs in those photos.

OK - trial successful, the 3rd wheel works. However, the motor generally wont take off until speed setting 2 with the middle wheel. I have taken the traction band off the 2 middle wheels and it tries to take off at speed one - it like jolts a bit but cant actually get rolling until speed 2. Without the middle wheels the motor starts rolling (albeit slowly) at speed 1. Also, it pulls better than it pushes - if that makes sense. I have it set up with the battery over the motor - as if it is the back of a locomotive - though it moves and corners better if the motor is the front truck of the locomotive. I guess this has been noticed before? Is it generally better to design a locomotive around having the motor at the front - or the most forward truck in terms of direction, if possible? EDIT - putting the battery pack in the middle of the plate (not over the motor) and having the motor as the forward truck takes off in speed 1. Don't quite understand why?