Thetford

Thanks for responding. Yeah, I have just noticed a small drop at the top of the wall that wasn't visible at the bottom. Would the vertical offset be enough to throw off a physical model if it were to be made? The only others methods I can think of is two technic bricks and a friction piece, which may be too secure, or the back of the snot piece with the indent (the lantern piece?)

I'm relatively new to LDD and I amcurrently designing a building in LDD, and I am facing an issue with tiles. The building incorporates both "modular" and "city" build styles, so both the floors and the back walls can be removed and reattached with ease. This uses tiles under the back walls so that the back wall can be slid out without having to remove the floors (so it can be optionally backless like a "City" building). This of course brings me into conflict with the LDD restriction that prevents anything being placed on tiles or other smooth surfaces despite nothing physically or geometrically actually preventing it. Anyway, I just removed the tiles that would be under the back wall, place the back wall on the SNOT bricks, then replace all the tiles under the back wall. While this worked fine for the ground floor, the first floor only allowed half the tiles to be replaced, despite being enough room underneath. I cannot understand what is blocking the tiles from being there. First floor without back wall. Mechanism for attaching back wall on to the rest of the building Tiles removed in preparation (2 White 1x1, 2 White 1x4, 4 White 1x8, 6 Dark Orange 1x2) Back wall attached, and all possible tiles replaced, with the remaining invalid (4 White 1x8, 1 Dark Orange 1x2) note how the dark orange tile is invalid despite its mirror image on the other side of the building is valid despite having the same bricks above and below. Gap under wall with all tiles removed. I have tried removing the plates at the bottom of the wall and adding them back after the tiles, but it is still an issue over the same tiles. Some tiles go over multiple bricks, and under multiple bricks, is that the issue? Or do I have to temporarily add a more permanent connection between the back wall? I'm at a loss at what do. I have searched, but found nothing particularly relevant. Also, unrelated, as you may have noticed in some pictures, for some reason the windows can't close. I'm aware the model of frame is outdated, however I use it because I can have both a pane and window frames so I can have glazed windows, yet neither option of lattice window available in LDD fits in the frame.

All the other modulars seem to be rather upmarket, so the typical detective agency above a Chinese laundry or restaurant as aforementioned would be an interesting change, if true, and if it is of the Dick Tracy/40s Film Noir/Gumshoe kind of detective. Of course, it does not necessarily have to be a downmarket detective agency in a commercial building, as there are examples of such agencies set up in residential buildings such as the previously mentioned Holmes' 22B Baker Street, but there is also Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot who uses his place of residence, a flat in the Whitehaven Mansions, a Streamline Moderne Art Deco apartment building in London ( Florin Court is used for the television series), as his office and place of work, complete with secretary Miss Lemon.

I have been working under the theory that the reason why police stations are always repeated every couple of years is so that there is always a police station on the shelves, so that one is always available to parents to buy for their child as a first Lego set, as they tend to have features that may be deemed exciting for their child: vehicles, accessories, a healthy number of minifigures, including female minifigures, a built in scenario (cops v robbers, and pretty much every one has a prison escape route built in), not to mention they tend to be larger in comparison to other sets.

When I look back in retrospect, most of the sets my parents bought me as a child (which makes up the bulk of my collection) were all the typically male action orientated sets that you guys seem to despise (the police range - my first set was the Command Post Central, racing, trains, Rock Raiders, X-treme, Res Q etc), it was only when I started buying my own sets, or when they asked me to pick out sets, was when I got more civilian sets (coastguard, bank, main street, restaurant, more trains, Studio, etc), it didn't even dawn on them when I colonised a third of the living room floor space in to some sort of suburban community. I wonder how much my parents' shopping habits are similar to that of other parents.

This just reminds me of the "Cul-de-sacs" vs "Culs-de-sac" debate from Gilmore Girls (or for a more modern debate, "forums" vs "fora"). To be honest, I prefer using Lego to LEGO, as it seems less pedantic and dramatic, and looks normal in a piece of text, not to mention, when people write in full capitals, it seems to me they are either "shouting" the word, or it is an acronym that stands for something.

I think the much moaned about, very common, business suit with scarf may perhaps offer a solution. Instead of black negative space, it instead has a black line, one could argue those are the seams to her jacket that conform to her body. Pinstripes and other patterns, creases, folds and shadows to suggest shape without dedicating parts of the torso to black.

This seemed like the most appropriate thread to post this in: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28660069

A party of minifigures? A mixer of minifigures? A mingling of minifigures?

Another update, this time I have rounded off the front of the front of the roof of the bus, even if it creates a slope to round transition, though less noticeable than the one at the back. Logic would dictate that I should replace the curved pieces then use a 2x2 inverted corner slope piece at the end to allow for a smooth unbroken line down the roof, but I like the look of the smooth curve, plus slope bricks have a rough surface. I think I am mostly content with the design now.

The question is, how many books would be needed to fill three floors of bookshelves?

I hope I'm doing this right ... Taxi Cab http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Thetford/Vehicles/taxi.lxf Police Car http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Thetford/Vehicles/police.lxf

And with just a recolour, add some lights and a fence to protect the officers, the taxi becomes a police car, all it is missing is a few decals, but it still looks like a squad car without it.

I could see a bank been done as a modular, the older ones tend to have a particular distinct architectural style. Perhaps it will be a double height foyer with large arch windows above the doors, with a vault or office on the top floor.

So, aside from my bus of questionable scale and aerodynamic performance, I have also created a vintage New York yellow taxicab with seating capacity for four. The basic design is inspired by the Ford Anglia from 4728 Escape from Privet Drive, whose design and scale is the basis for which I design cars. The taxi is quite simple, with mostly common parts. The checkerboard pattern provides a break from the yellow, but it itself is broken up by the doors. I have seen people who create their own taxicabs use bricks and build it up as a wall instead of doors, but I prefer the functionality of opening doors, plus they allow for two minifigures to sit side by side. Anyway, I imagine if TLG did a taxi, they would just produce stickers to put on the doors. While the driver and any potential front seat passenger will be locked into place by the "gear stick", there is no such mechanism in the back seat, so if only one minifigure is riding the taxi, they will be sliding along the tile pieces side to side, I did consider using 1x2 jumper plates (which I had to use to get the minifigures to sit on tiles in LDD), but I think I will be fine with tiles for now.

A set?

Some updates, I have given the rear of the bus a much more rounded look using a small curved restaurant window. It still gives a sudden curve to square look along the roof, but at least it looks less like a roof of a building at the back and more bus shaped. The new design allows for the curved corners to extend further up and allowed for rear lights to be added, even if it has the same round to square issue. The small train window was replaced by a larger one allowed by the redesign. The floorspace inside was increased, and a built in backseats instead of using actual chairs had to be used as it would either leave a huge gap behind the seats, or with consistent seat place, minifigures arms would be blocked by the window frames. The only seats that are restricted, is the second to last row, but only to minifigures with tall hats or hair, as above that row is the SNOT brick that holds up the back window, though it still can be used by minifigures with short hair or hats. The only remaining issue is the roof, namely the, which I can live with, and the round to square issue. I'm also considering replacing the row of white plates above the upper sand blue stripe with another row of sand blues so it matches the curved brick at the back, though I'm not sure if it will make it look odd to have the two stripes different thicknesses, I will have to try it out sometime later.

The front wheel has to be that far back, as six studs on the plate are needed, four for the door , one for the slope piece to fill the gap left by the mudguard, and one to hold up the front of the bus. I tried to experiment with the wheels, however, but in the end decided to stay with the normal sized wheels, as they fit best with the mudguards, which fit best to the overall look. I suppose I could get rid of a row of grooves, but then I would have to lower the floor, and get rid of the compartment. In the end, after further evaluation, the only thing that still bothers me is the roof at the back, it just doesn't seem smooth enough.

Presenting my first LDD MOC, as well as first thread on Eurobricks. It is my take on an American mid twentieth century streamline moderne (I think) city bus, which I shall dub the Peasant Wagon 1954, and I hope I have captured the look of the era well. It is not based on a particular model, and its design is based upon a composite of different Google images, guesswork and artistic license , hence why it looks like the love child of a city bus and a Greyhound. I found LDD very simple and easy to use, and hopefully, all, if not most, of the bricks are common and easily available on PaB if I ever decide to render this in to reality. The bus features seating for 13 lucky passengers, as well as the driver, and additional standing room that can accommodate the full height of a standing minifigure, such as those whose stop is coming up, or have decided that since they are wearing a dress, they have forgotten how to sit. Beehives, traffic cone wizard hats and other headwear may have to be removed. Other features include two doors, one for entry, and one for exit and freeloaders, a compartment at the back to store luggage, an engine or freeloaders, or even a bomb that will arm itself once the bus reaches 50mph, (though considering the speed limit is 30mph and traffic making you lucky if you exceed 10mph, I doubt no one is in imminent danger), and that cashbox system Americans use (I don't understand that, how does the driver know you paid enough, and do you get change? I reminds me of Birmingham where you have to pay the exact fare, despite the rest of the country having buses that give change, even if you use a £10 note - except London, they have abandoned the use of cash completely, and now use a system of oysters).No doubt, this bus will be a hit among commuters, environmentalists, brides who have runaway with the men who slept with their mothers, new urbanists and police officers escorting criminals back to police headquarters due to the law prohibiting police vehicles except vans accommodating more than one person. First, what I like about the design is the front, especially the grille and design, as well as the rounded corners, even if they don't fully go all the way to the top, the minimal, but selective, use of colour, and the retroish appearance the train door windows give when used as a windscreen. The grove blocks give a great impression of the styling that everything that was made out of metal that moved on land in the 50s had, it is what really makes it look of the era intended. Also, the dark blue plain jacket and the dark blue police cap, makes a much more identifiable bus driver then those men in black suits. However, there are many faults. First of all, I wanted to do a concertina folding door, however, geometry rendered it an unsuitable option, so train doors had to be used. There is the aforementioned non round corners, which is much worse at the rear of the vehicle, with the slope pieces that give a tiered look, and a sudden switch from uniform smooth curves to a rough angled affair (though the sloping rear was necessary to make sure that it looked like something you would see on the streets of New York, not under it). There is also a question if I went a row too far with the groove bricks, and has possibly dwarfed the wheels. Also, I couldn't find the train windows with the small window detailing like the door windows have in LDD Though the biggest (and I mean biggest) issue may arise from the actual scale of the thing. I absolutely detest four stud wide cars, they look like meagre little go karts, that rarely can accommodate a second person, even the aforementioned police cars, and look miserably small on one of the Millennial road plates, whose lanes were made two studs wider each, which I thought was to accommodate larger six stud vehicles that were popping up, yet four studs are still the norm. Anyway, this meant while cars have to be six studs, buses have to be even bigger, to be truly monarchs of the road, which has resulted in a behemoth of a vehicle that is 8 studs wide (10 if you count the wing mirrors and mudguards) by a massive 45 studs long, meaning that by the time Madam Commuter has got to the back of the bus and based on the scale of any given Lego city, she has to get back up again, missed her stop, and is now in all the poor neighbourhoods with their strip malls, chain restaurants and discount German supermarkets. This vehicle will struggle to turn sharp corners (so those white antique streetlamps everyone has on every street corner is at risk), so unless the bus route is a straight line from depot to terminus, this vehicle may be relegated to being a long distance non luxury no bathroom coach transporting tourists for days at a time, to some rock in the middle of nowhere that is thousands of miles away from the nearest place of interest, then transport them days at a time back. All with no bathroom. Or air conditioning, or even, mercy on their souls, any wifi. All in all, it was an attempt to do a Great Vehicles take on the bus concept, for which is a goal I think I have failed, however, it does have redeemable features, this 540 piece vehicle at least hints to days past ... then the hipsters will love it too. I reckon not bad for a first effort, eh?

Private Investigator's Office over a Chinese restaurant perhaps (they are always above them in fiction)?

I always wonder why Medical gets very little Lego love, when I was growing up, the closest thing to it was Res Q (though that is more air and sea rescue). Either healthcare is considered caring, and therefore "girly", or that it is more of a building based emergency service than the more on the scene based police and fire, so they have to stuff as much as possible into a single set, restricted by brick count. So I think a possible solution would be to break down a proposed hospital set in to smaller, lower priced sets that form modules to create a much larger, uniform looking building (think how the lab in the Arctic Icebreaker set matches style and appearance to that of the main base), so you could have a main hospital building with a ward and reception/a doctor's office/an ER/A&E with ambulance/an operating theatre/a medical lab with X-Ray and MRI/helipad with medical helicopter. They could even do the same thing with the much beloved police station with extra modules such as forensic labs, kennels, training academies and doughnut emporiums, allowing for more specialised constructions, larger complexes, fewer repeats and an end to the madness of police cars that don't even have room for an apprehended criminal, let alone a partner on the beat (what are the cops supposed to do? Take the crook back to the station on the public bus?).

Missing out on the Santa Fe when it was available when I was a kid. If I recall, I had enough money for the locomotive, a passenger carriage and a freight carriage, I can't exactly remember what happened, but I never got it. I think it may have been down to something else in my order form went out of stock so they cancelled the order, or I waited too long, can't remember which. Though I have figured, when I get back in to Lego proper after I finish university and enter the career world, I shall design my own streamliner style train.

To me, it looks like guy with mullet, guy and a German Mrs Doubtfire at the end. The only one that looks female has resorted to gender stereotype, and is the very inconspicuous ninja who is overloaded in pink. To me, the face is the most important in identifying gender, things like hair and waistlines are secondary. I just have to look at my own collection, I have more female faces than female hairs, simply because many female figures were in jobs that involved them wearing a hat (such as a mechanic or chef), and would otherwise have no means of identifying gender other than face, in fact, for me, a female face can often overrule an otherwise male outfit and hairdo. My issue with Lego when it comes to gender, is the sets as a whole, as opposed to just the minifigures, the seeming segregation of "boy" sets and "girl" sets. For example, City sets have gradually become more action focussed, especially with police, with other city themes that are less action orientated getting less of an appearance, especially medical, which despite being an emergency service has only had four hospitals since Lego started (as far as I recall), meanwhile, the Friends series contains many of the everyday non action sets, is aimed at girls, with heavy uses of the colour pink. I wonder how much this is to do with the shopping habbits of parents and the preconceived notion of genders of colour, since the City sets come in blue boxes, while the Friends ones come in Pink.