ChrisO

It is too big! The train the Hogwarts Express is based on is the GWR 4900 Class 5972 Olton Hall. The GWR 4900 is 4m tall. Looking at the pic of the rear of the box, from the rails to the top of the cab is somewhere between 2 1/2 - 3 minifigs high. So an adult minifig would then be somewhere between 1.33 and 1.6 meters tall, kind of short if you ask me... The new large train wheel looks like 6 studs in diameter (which is larger than a minifig) and on the real train those wheels are 1.8m in diameter. Compared to that a minifig would be ~1.44m tall...

That is one nicely build locomotive! I am actually trying to reverse engineer Raised NS1847 Delft locomotive and at the same time make some improvements. Your model certainly looks a lot more detailed than the NS1847. Impressive greebling on the bogies, details on the roof look great and accurate to the prototype. I really like the orange with brown color schema, but my son loves Dutch NS trains, so my version of the Raised NS1847 will be yellow .

Very well done! The roof of the tower looks awesome! I love the addition of the flower baskets hanging on the tower for some extra color. The only thing that you could improve is the rectangular building, compared to the tower it lacks (some) details. You could for example add the chimneys on the roof and maybe the drainpipe, to make it more on a par with the details of the amazing tower section.

Which scale is that? ~ 1 : 8,3 (based on the length), ~ 1 : 7,4 (based on width/height) or ~ 1 : 8,8 (based on tire size), 'cause I am confused which scale this car is... Or am i missing something because all I see are huge gaps in the bodywork

When I saw this contest I was immediately enthusiastic, because transforming vehicles made me think back of my 2 favorite childhood activities (Transformers and Lego). Back in those days I spend hours and hours building Transformers with my Lego and watching the series on tv. How cool would it be to build an actual transforming transformer with Lego Technic. During my research to find the perfect Transformer for this contest I came across this cool Lego transforming Rally car build by Nico71: I quickly found out that the big problem/challenge building an actual remote controlled Transformer with Lego Technic is, that when transforming the whole body has to come off the ground from the feet up somehow. The feet need to be really heavy to counter the weight of the rest of the body going up. The balancing issue becomes an even bigger issue when you realize that you have to squeeze that bulky/heavy battery-box somewhere up higher in the body (in robot form). I would like to keep the transformation authentic to the real Transformer, but it is practically impossible to keep a transforming vehicle (car) in balance on 2 relatively small/light feet. Nico71's way to balance it with the rear wheels is genius, But I don't want to copy his technique and it doesn't suit a bad-megablocks Transformer anyway. It would look a like bad-megablocks robot with a walker behind it to keep it from falling over...

Nice review! The set looks good, better than I expected, but it is just seriously overpriced! Comparing it with the Liebherr R9800; It has about the same amount of parts, same price, but the Liebherr has 1x Powered Up Hub and 3! motors more. So unless the Liebherr R 9800 got a 10+ out of 10 for "value for money" this set should get a 5!

The shunter version has only 1 pantograph and a big metal 'plate' at the front: Lego's version of the Ce 6/8 Crocodile is just a Frankenstein mix-up version of the II and III. The nose sections are from the III. Compared with the II the III has no jackshaft, no grills at the front. It does have ladders at the front unlike the II and the engine 'covers are different). The middle section is more likely the II. The Lego version has 2 doors with handles on the side, the III has only 1 door with handles on 1 side. Besides the differences between the II and the III, The sides of the cabin (both II and III) are not symmetrical (doors and center window) and the Lego version is?

Indeed, the Lego version is a SBB Ce 6/8 III and the picture you posted is of a SBB Ce 6/8 II. @Drik1313, Lego also made a mistake that is easy to fix. In the central section the center window above the "10277" name tag should only be on 1 side, not both. And if you want to fix it properly then on the side where there is no window the name tag should be raised up to where the window used to be.

I know that. Watch the video! from 1:04 to 1:08 the train is driving and the front section bounces up and down; most of the time the blind wheels do NOT touch the rails.

Watching the video on the Lego 10277 crocodile locomotive product page shows that the blind wheels are floating above the rails

Looks good so far. Btw you are not building a McLaren F1 LM but a McLaren F1 GTR longtail

Cool robot! I have a question, at 1:00 minute in the video your robot marks the entry square as forbidden, why? It has a forbidden block next to it, but only 1 wall (not 2). Because of that it also marks the next 2 blocks as forbidden, but those two blocks including the entry block are part of the solution...

I was looking for a good multi-output gearbox for my EV3 robot. So I was excited when I found this rotoshift gearbox. I tried to copy your rotoshift gearbox as closely as possible, but I couldn't see exactly how you build the gear/output changing device ( the thing that rotates in the middle). So first I tried to built something myself, but I couldn't build anything strong enough and at the same time also fit in the available space. So in the end I made the whole shifter 2 studs larger and fitted in a custom sturdy gear/function switcher. The major problem I have now is: The rotating mechanism frequently gets stuck. This happens when the 8t gear of the shifter doesn't interlock nicely with on of the 16t or 20t gears of (gear 1-4). Then either it needs to turn back and forth a bit to interlock nicely again, or you have to use force to get the mechanism to turn further. Neither methods are good solutions. So I am stuck again...

There were trains aimed at AFOL fans for many years too... Nothing lasts forever. If sales/profit go down, then it doesn't matter if it runs for 10, 20 or 50 years... Maybe they feel it is time for a change and they have something even better in store than a new modular building every year...

And how do you know it is a winning team? Do you access to sales info from the modular line? I doubt it, so how do you know it is successful? There are a lot of AFOL train fans and in my opinion the Emeral Night, Horizon Express etc.. were all a big success, but still there is no new expert train after the Horizon Express. And no, the holiday train doesn't count!