Imanol BB

+1, i actually made some modifications based in one of those TV shows. By the way, talking about the Brickset review, i think that it is actually right, if you see the real machines, a little bit of the processed material tends to stuck in some places, and if it accumulates it can jam the whole system, so the model is very similar in that aspect, and those problems can be fixed with some small modifications, so the set is not that bad, in my opinion.

Yes, but the only problem is that the XL Motor isn't enough fast, and you would also need to put another function from the gearbox, and the other problem comes there, because the XL Motor is geared down, you would need to gear it up again and you will lose many power to achieve the vibration function, that is why i went for the M-motor.

That looks good, this is a good option for the people who don´t have too many spare pieces to dig, by the way, i have made some more modifications on both models: For the A model i have made some small changes in the lower conveyor belt, i moved some gears and added those pallet-like things to ensure that all pieces will be successfully transported: I have also fixed the box-like thing (again), it has more inclination now but still don´t collide with the lower conveyor belt; and other change is in the pieces that hold AAA battery box in the chassis, i have added an easy removing system (so now it can be actually turned on and off without the needing of disassemble the chassis ): Now, for the B model, i got a little bit inspiration from Discovery Channel and one of the hundreds of ore mining TV shows, and made some major modifications: First, as i wanted to add the pallet-like things in the rear conveyor belt too, i needed more space under the conveyor belt, because the pallet-like things would collide with some parts in the structure under it, so i put the whole conveyor belt 2 studs back, i also needed to modify some of the parts which guide the material into the conveyor belt and moved some gears (Yes, the conveyor belt still moves to the right direction), and i now have enough space for the pallet-like things: Another big modification was in the chute, i made it have a little bit more inclination and replaced the 11x3 panels in the lower area with 11L liftarms, to avoid that some pieces don´t roll to the conveyor belt, because as i saw in some reviews, this was a very usual problem in this model: And finally, i made an small experiment in the rear part of the chute and under it, i put a prototype of a "vibration unit", in an attempt to improve the sorting function, it works with an M-Motor geared up with some pieces at the end that would act as an oscillating device, and it is powered by a PF electric switch (I hope it to be included in LDD soon), i am not sure if it will even work, but it would be cool if it does: I hope you like all the modifications, and if you have any suggestion it is welcome.

It looks amazing, full of nice details, the engine looks awesome, nice work.

When you open LDD you get an screen, the most recent models placed at the right side, and in the upper part of that screen there are 3 small things which say: "Lego Digital Designer", "Lego Mindstorm" and "Lego Digital Designer Extended", click there and you will get a big bunch of pieces, and you can paint them as you want, you can also do this while building a model, in the upper part of the program, there is a too that says "View", click there, then click where says "New Themes" and click LDD Extended, i hope this results helpful for you.

Sadly no, the model can only separate 1 stud wide bricks from +2 wide bricks, but actually that would be an amazing mod.

What about to use some of these to put the wheels together?:

I am not sure about that, at first look, it looks like a B model with some small modifications, but if you see closely it actually has many changed, the shape looks to be very similar, with 2 tracks and 2 conveyor belts, a hopper in the upper part and some rails, but in fact the model is very different, the track are longer, the whole structure is different, the motors, the panels, the axles, the gears, the battery box, everything is different despite the functions are very similar, at the first time i thought it was just a B model with small modifications too, but now i think it is a completely different model.

If you want to speed up the shaking rate there are 2 things you can do: 1) You can speed up the front conveyor belt as it is the one that powers the whole shaking system of the chute. 2) You can put more 5L liftarms in the front conveyor belt. Now, all you might be wondering why do you need to do that to speed up the shaking movement, look at this picture: So, it works like this: when the front conveyor belt (left one in the picture) is moving, the 5L liftarms (marked with green circle) hit an small pin on the chute (marked with red circle), this make the chute move up, and the chute lies in an small pivot (marked with blue), so, this is why you can make one (of both) of the previous options to speed up the shaking of the chute. There is also a new review made by Sariel of the B model, and there are some parts of the video in which you can see how the shaking system works, here is the video and the topic in Eurobricks: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=138792.

Poor Legos

What a nice words, and actually looking back to some buildings i had made, i see that it is completely true, i always thought that i would keep my models built, without modifying them, and looking now, i can´t keep a model 5 minutes without thinking what can i mod and what can i improve, these words really changed my way of thinking about building and disassembling models, those are really helpful words Nerdsforprez.

Here are some more mods: For the A model: First, i have improved the lower conveyor belt lifting system, so now it is stronger and doesn't collide with the sides of the BWE while it is turning: Second, i have lifted the box-like thing which works to drop the material from the upper conveyor belt to the lower one, so the lower conveyor belt wont collide with it, even when fully lifted (or at least that is the idea): Third, i have added new rails on the upper superstructure, so the "engineers" can walk to the front of it, and to the side of the bucket wheel: For the B model i have made some modifications to the rear conveyor belt, i have extended it and also i have added 2 small LA´s, so now it is able to drop the materials directly on the truck: Here are the files of both A and B models (they will be updated with every big modification): A: http://bricksafe.com/files/imanol/bwe/mods/42055%20mod.lxf B: http://bricksafe.com/files/imanol/bwe/b-model/mods/42055%20B%20mod.lxf

I feel the same pain as you LXF , is a bit boring when one is building a big model and it goes really really slow, even when you hide most of the parts, and what an horrible experience when the program crashes and you need to start again if you didn't save the model, but it is worth.

I have learned that sometimes is better spend time than spend money, at least if you don´t have enough money.

What i do, because i have a big deficit of pieces, is make the MOC in LDD, so i can completely disassemble the model with no problem, i think it is a very efficient way to keep your models save for future rebuilds.

That is a pretty interesting modification, i would really like to see more about that shaker grille, it seems to work with a lot more efficiency than the original B model.

http://brickset.com/parts/4141301 this part?

I think these pics will help a lot: This is how it looks when both models are at the same height in the floor, the A model would need to be placed about 5 studs higher than the B for a successful download of material,. But there is other issue, the B model cant be directly under the A model conveyor belt, because of its width it wont let the A enough space to turn, so the A model will download the material on a side of the hopper and almost out of it: For this reason the i had made some modifications to the A model, so both models would work properly together with no problem and without needing a different on their height to work: http://www.eurobrick...9 (second modification) and http://www.eurobrick...9 By the way, i think these are very important modifications: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=138069&st=50#entry2632629

The B model works well most of the time, if i remember, Desert Eagle made a review of it, i will post the picture of the separator part soon, and about the scale, i have calculated (if the B model is of the same scale of the A model and the truck) that it is about scale 1:100, so yes, it would be a pretty big thing in real life (both A and B models) This is how it works: The bricks are dropped on the upper conveyor belt, it moves slow to have a regulated flow of bricks, and this conveyor belt drops the bricks on this grille-like thing, which has the function of separate the 1 stud wide bricks (which once separated they move to the left side in this picture when dropped under the grille thing) from the +2 studs wide bricks (which once separated they move to the right side in this picture): Now, other nice detail of all this system is that actually it has some "shaking" given by the movement of the front (the larger one with the LA´s) conveyor belt, this works when it is moving, the 5L liftarms move an small axle which causes that the movement of the i don´t know how to call it, the tunnel or the channel, the part where the small pieces are dropped once separated (under the separator thing, see the up left picture), and with this movement, the grille thing moves too with a very simple pivoting system: It is very difficult to understand this because i can only use images, but here is the review of Desert Eagle which is actually very help full to understand the whole system:

That trailer looks very interesting, it was worth wait some time because looking at all the progress you have made, it is a well spent time.

That looks fantastic Carver, those LEDS really give a very realistic look, so far i am unable to see the video because my internet, well, is worst than the usual , but i will try to see later, because it seems interesting with the coffee beans.

I mean that it was nice to know that the video was coming, and the vehicle is looking nice by the way.

That is a pretty big crane, but even at that size it looks amazing with all those details, the tires give the best look, they seem just like in a real crane.

Nice to know that, the axle looks very robust.

It looks really good Murdoch, nice work.