uitzetter

Hi Superkalle, So nice to hear from you! Yep, I know about the interview, very nice work! And this feature you're working on, that would be so great! I can't wait to test it and put it to work . It should save a great deal of time. And your'e right. Brickdoctor has been a teriffic help! And thanks for letting me know that spare parts are omitted in general. I will leave them out then... . One question for you Superkalle, if you don't mind, since you are the programmer and creator of LDD Manager. I did describe the way I worked on my first "test-set" in point 2. Is this the way you normally would use LDD Manager together with LDD?

Hey Brickdoctor, Thank you so much for helping, again.. Lol. Sorry, I'm such a noob 1. As for my first question. I can understand why you didn't understand me now, lol. I didn't put it very clearly. What I meant was, since I cannot replicate the minifigs exactly due to the printing required and since the set contains spare parts, which are no part of the actual 'construction', how do you guys insert it in a ldd model? I just colored them red so I would know that there is something with these pieces let's say, one year from now. So in one year i know, ok, those are the spare parts included in the original set and the minifig is red because the printing isn't exactly how it is supposed to be. Do you understand? I do not know how to explain it otherwise. Anyway, how do you guys do this? Incorperate spare parts and incorrect or incomplete minifigs? 3. I will have to ask Superkalle then. I thought I read it somewhere, but cannot seem to find it again... 4. Agreed, in Superkalle's interview (see his thread) it was confirmed. Both on the new search functionallity and the building guide. 5. Agreed. If you cannot manipulate the building manual by building in a specific manner or order, then it's all just personal preferences. In small sets one could easilly just find all the parts first, but in modular building, pfffew. Not such a great idea! Lol. Anyway, thank you for helping me again

Thanks Superkalle! That was a very interesting interview and good read. And it also has answered the question I still had about the building guide. Thanks again!

I've taken a quick look to Ldraw and MLCAD, but to be totally honest, it looks way to difficult for me and it would be overkill I think for the things I want/need. And I really like the building with LDD. Not as much fun as the actual bricks, but very close. Thanks for your suggestions though . The last one I haven't looked at, since I was then taken by LDD and LDD manager. The weird way the building guide is being made isn't very appealing and a bit 'off' with the rest of LDD I think, but other than that, it is a lot of fun! So, thanks again Brickdoctor. I really appreciate your help Oh and, does anybody have any answers to my first 5 questions? I'm really hoping for some answers on those too...:

@Brickdoctor Thanks for replying! I found the decorations tool before, but didn't have the option to add police stickers. Now I know it is brick related. And for the head. Now I understand. It didn't make any sense to me, but it was the back I was trying to decorate. I rotated it and now I have more options. Lol. Thanks for that pointer! It's too bad that you cannot control the way LDD generates instructions. Maybe anybody can give the definitive to that? I don't have a mac, so Bricksmith won't work. But I am quite happy with LDD, from what I saw. And there is a great community for it here, so I think I will stick with it. But thanks for your advice! @Everyone else As for the other questions, anybody willing to help a noob out?

Hello all you LDD experts, I'm new to LDD and LDD Manager, but I have been playing with it a little to get a feel for those programs. Don't laugh, I thought it was best to build the smallest police set I could find for some practice. So here is my "test" lxf: - 7235 Police Motorcycle And here are the building instructions from Lego: Instructions 7235 I would like to ask you if any of you are willing to check this first model. I would like to ask a few questions about LDD and LDD Manager: 1. I have included the spare parts and a minifig in the color red. The spare parts to remind myself that they are spare parts and the Minifig, because I could only get the basic "minifig upper part" and "minifig lower par" parts and not the actual printed parts needed for the set. 2. I used Bricklink (Inventory Page) to see the sets inventory and then the LDD manager to check for part numbers and LDD Names and color references. Wow, without LDD Manager, it's nearly impossible! This is just a very, very small set with no special coloring what so ever, but I really did had to check constantly to make sure that the color I choose in LDD was corresponding color in BL. Great, great job! Thank you so much (Superkalle right?). So is this the way you guys use it also? 3. I would like to have been able to just import the parts list from BL inventory into LDD manager. Then I could have used the Generate LXF option. Is it correct that I read somewhere that that functionality is going to be implemented soon? That would be so very cool and would save so much time inserting the parts manually! Really awesome! You would only have to check the parts, insert the color (is it possible via a drop down list?) and manually add the parts that couldn't be imported correctly. 4. I really, really love LDD to. I love how to add bricks and like the search functionallity. As I understand, that is something new in LDD 4? I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been searching for parts before. Granted, you have LDD manager, so you could look up the category and the name, but I like that one can search by part number and name. I like how easy it is to rotate parts 3D and just lock them. And the "connected parts" function seems something one cannot do without. I'm really looking forward building things with LDD! 5. In the beginning, I just inserted all the parts from the inventory list. Then I recolored according to LDD manager. And finally I build the MC according to the building instructions. Is this the way you do it? 6. How do you all handle stickers? The decoration tool? 7. How do you all handle the minifigs? I cannot seem to be able to insert the proper body print and head print? The decoration tool? 8. What about the Building Guide? If you check my model, you will see that it's arranged very weirdly. Is it possible to build in such a manner which will influence the way the building guide is made? Maybe using groups or something? 9. If I have alterd this set to the standards of you guys, should I add it to the official lego set thread? I really am looking forward for your replies!

Ok, thanks. Then there may be some other installation error. I will reinstall the standard 4 version. Test. And if grouping and templates do work, then I will make universe again. Thanks again for checking!

Hey, I've been playing around with LDD. I'm working with version 4 and I use the universe mode. But is it normal that I cannot make Groups or Templates? I have tried in Design By Me also, but I cannot add Groups and templates. Does anybody have an idea if this is because of Universe? Thanks

Hi, thanks for all your advice! I sent you a PM :laugh:

Hi, thanks! I will have to look at Bricklink again I see. I didn't notice the price guide. I was only looking for sets to buy. I didn't notice that there was a price history available! This is getting better and better. I'm sorry for all the noob questions, but I have to say, all you guys have been so very kind to answer them and helped me what to look for, what not, where to find them, what digital tools can be used, how I can play with adding trains etc. etc. And that has happened in only a couple of days! It really amazing. A new world has opened up for me! So thanks again and I will check the price guide

Ok thanks! Check your PM, I'm hoping you are willing to answer more questions. Thanks for the offer for the PM!

Ok Mickey, Then it's a no for these mixed lots. Thanks. If I can get my hands on the police station I will then... Even if it's only for the parts to start moc-ing. I might need some buckets of those basic sets then, because I have no spare bricks what so ever. I did find a few shops here in the Netherlands who provide seperate bricks / landscape items / animals / Food etc. The links are: Brickshop Parts and ebricks. What do you think, good sources for other parts? Thanks for your advice! :classic: And for the moderator who moved this post. I will look more carefully the next time where I will post my thread. I'm sorry...

Hi, oh wow, this is such a great moc! I love it. How do you collect all the furniture and special pieces? All from existing sets and bricklink? I'm looking forward to see more of where that came from

Hi, what a fantasting MOC! I have been looking around in this forum recently and I really, really like your town. Up until now, we have only bought new sets for our son, but being a lego fan myself, I really would like to start bricking and MOCing myself. What great detail do you have in your moc. Just fantastic! I have a couple of questions for you if you don't mind. How do you get your stickers? Do you make them yourself? And do you make your buildings to fit on one plate and lay your street before them and tile those (and the pieces you are not building on on your plate?) And how do you scale your buildings. Is there a specific technique? Well, thanks for sharing your great moc and I'll be looking forward for your next photo's!

Thanks mikey and lightningtiger! I have fixed the link to the third set. If I could buy all three sets for EUR 65,- would it be worth it then? What would you guys give for it, or isn't it interesting at all? The cheapest for the 7743 I could find was EUR 37,- I did a bid on it for EUR 20,- If I could get it for that price, would it be worth it? Although I didn't realize that there would be another police truck next year. Maybe I have to check what's new in 2011 right, lol. I saw a thread about it but didn't look before. I was more wowing all the moc's here at the forum... Lol. Well, maybe intesting for the part's then, as one of you stated? And about those basic sets. They are not the same color? I mean, the police blue isn't the same as the basic bricks blue and the fire red isn't the same as the basic brick's red? Holy, I just assumed... Thank's for mentioning... I'm such a noob... I will go check flea markets also then. Thanks for the tip! Hope to hear from you soon on the price for EUR 65,- for all three sets and EUR 20,- for the police truck.

Hello everyone, I'm hoping for a little help from you all. My son has some Lego sets and he is expanding every chance he has. But since all the lego we have is part of a set, I cannot MOC with it. I know there are basic sets that lego sells, but I'm looking at ebay and bricklink too. I have found these links at the local dutch marketplace. What do you think is a set worth and all of them together? The sets are approx. 10 years old: Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 And then there is this second hand, but complete police truck (7743): Truck: I'm really hoping for help here. I'm new to this and have to learn to estimate the value of even basic items.

Hey everyone! Thanks for all your replies! @absolutelylez. Ok, I will share my first attemt of a city with the parts I have by the end of this year, because I have a little more to show by then... Lol. By the way, I have heard, if your Lego is real dirty and you cannot just dust if off, you could also put the lego pieces (when not assembled of course) in a pillow and just put in in the washing machine at low temps. The lego seems to handle it perfectly and it's very very clean afterwards. Any truths to this from your experience? @peterab. This is a very nice layout. Really, really nice. Not practical for me though, as it would become hard to play with the city underneath it, but for train display purpases excellent! I like the tunnel and the grass and the trainstation and... Well you get the picture.... This isn't the layout I have seen though. It was more open, so you could play with your city underneath. Agrr. If i only could find it again... @Rapseflaps and @Follows Closely. I will play with Bluebrick. I really, really like the app. First I have some measuring to do though... Once I have made a layout, I will post it here.. But I still get an error when I want to export a layout. And the Green Grocer. I will get it if the money does allow it by the end of november/december. The holiday presents and birthday presents come first and if our car doesn't have to have a lot work done by it, the Green Grocer will be mine. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

@peterab Yes, the 10182 and the 10190 are hard to find here in The Netherlands. If you can find them you pay more then EUR 300,- for each. Not in my budget. Real bummer. I gues I will have to pick up the green grocer if I can soon. Thanks for the link though, I have saved it. And good to know how this works. Now I know which one to buy each year! I also will look at the creator houses. They would make a nice addition to my son's city. Some of them also are hard to find in stores with high prices. The more recent ones are more affordable though... Thanks! Yep, I found out about Lego Digital Designer. I have installed it and made it so it has utimate mode. I have imported some LDD's from this forum, whis is really, really nice! But, then comes the problem, when you want to build them, there are almost always parts which cannot be found. That's why I made it ultimate. I know that you cannot buy any parts from within that mode, but at least, I have more bricks then. Don't know where to buy pieces from though. Maybe part lego store, part ebay, part bricklink or something?? Very nice app though. If I have build some kind of a city for my son and if I have the time, I will play more and see if I can come up with a nice little digital moc myself. Lot of fun to do. Thanks! And thanks for the locations of the instructions for the sets. And about the table. Well, there is going to be a second table. Not to bigg too though, 2 X 1 meters. But at least we can have a or some trains. And I would very much built a second platform above the city for the train. I know I saw a picture on this forum somewhere which I really liked, but I cannot seem to find it anywhere. Very stupid not to fav it when I saw it. I hope someone can remember which user has a platform above their city for their train. Thanks again for all your help! Great community eurobricks has going on here! Given that your sons table is so narrow, you might have trouble fitting a train loop. The smallest circle of track is about 70cm. You could have a dog-bone shape if you added a wider part at each end.

Hi everybody! Great to see so many reactions! Thanks! Last night I couldn't step away from my computer, and I decided to check and find out about your tips and recommendations. I've gotten way too little sleep , but it was well worth it! Had a lot of fun reading and trying. Lol! @absolutelylez: One thing I did last night was a more extensive review of Bricklink. I totally missed the search tab the first time. I feel so ... Anyway, I compared a lot of items still on our wishlist. But I was very amazed that there is one shop here in The Netherlands that is cheaper most of the times, even compared to used sets. I must admit that I excluded incomplete sets in my build though... Then I looked at road plates and green base plates. But they also are more expensive on Bricklink. I couldn't find very large lots (30+ and over), since I need a lot of them. But no luck there either. When ordered more then one, the price per piece is still the same as this shop in the Netherlands: Superspeelgoed.nl. So I will be searching Ebay a bit further next week, but unfortunatelly, I don't think bricklink isn't for us. Maybe later when we are in search of specific parts. I've aded it to my favorites, so that I can check regularly. Thanks! @meyerc13. Thanks for your link! I didn't realize that some modulars are retired already! I've been advised to pick up for example the Green Grocery fast, as they will become limited very soon. Various articles on the net also stated that. But which modular items do you think are the first I should pick up when I have the chance? I would like to collect the whole set eventually, but don't have the resources to spend a small fortune f.e. on three sets right now. Which are the first ones I should pick up? @ACCURATEin: Yes, we do have a world of fun with Lego! My husband isn't as large a fan as my son and me, but sometimes at night, insead of watching tv fe., we both sit and build lego or our son. It's very cozy About elevating the track on columns. I have thought about that one too. I searched it here on eurobricks and I saw one really nice one, but I cannot seem to find it anywhere. On the top of your head, can you remember who here has done such a thing? @Captain Genaro: Yep, a train will become part of my son's collection. And there will be switching tracks also. I've got my eye on a set wich includes 7939 Cargo Train, 7895 Switching Tracks, 7937 Station and 7896 Straight and Curved for EUR 189.- No I wasn't asking if lego still sells World City. Sorry for my sometimes clumsy english, sometimes I cannot put clearly in words what I'm meaning to ask or tell. I meant to ask wheather the new modular buildings were started as long ago as lego city. Since the city collection was begun a long time ago as World City. But the wiki from meyerc13 made clear when they first started with the modulars. And yes, I talk a lot about beginner sets like police, fire, farm etc. Since that are the sets targeted towards my sons age. But it's a great idea to build my own moc's with the bricks in the set's you pointed out. But I must say, I'm more comfortable building from building instructions then using my own creativity on that. That's more my husbands and my sons department. I'm more of the computer person. In the past I did some visual basic programming for my work, but I have lost a lot of eye sight due to multiple sclerosis. It's hard to program with so many panels open, so I gave up that hobby. Although the NXT sounds like a lot of fun to programm But it has been years since I last programmed stuff, so I'm leaving that one go. But about the MOC's. I suppose there isn't a place where people leave building instruction for their moc's do they? I saw lots of photo's here, but not building instructions. Yeah, I know, that would be a lot of work, but you never know do you? @dhaas. I'm totally in love with bluebrick. I have watched all the tutorials, installed it and played with it a bit. The resemblence to photoshop is visible. The functionallity is very easy and clear if you know ps. So I will stick with this one. I think it's great that the parts pane is sorted by itemnumber. Otherwise it would be difficult to find the right items. Would be great though if a tab could be added in the future which allows to search for partnumers and go to them directly. But other than that, just wow! One question though. I would like to be able to save the plans I have created as a .jpg. I assume that's under the 'export as' functionallity. It gives an error with me. Do you get an error to? Thanks again everyone, great to have such a warm welcome! Hope to hear from you soon

Thanks everyone! @riggs: I suppose it will be good then, thanks. Ideally, my son wants to collect every item from city. He has most items from the fire section and some from the others. But if we buy this deal, the farm section is almost complete. @dhaas06: Thanks! I will look into it. Will give both a try next week @gotoAndLego. I'm mostly interested in modular buildings, but my son is more into the fire, police, service stations, cars etc. Only logical of course, since he is only 5 (almost 6). But I would very much like to collect those modulars as well. If only they weren't that expensive . Do you know if the modulars that one can buy right now are the first of the modular buildings or do they go way back also? Like the city series was the city world series before? I think they are mostly recent though right? @absolutelylez. Well that's clear then . Plates next to each other. I will checkout ebay. But can I use Bricklink also, because I'm living in The Netherlands? I have taken a look at your links and it looks great. But where can I see the prices and how can I buy? I don't see prices or buy buttons anywhere??? Thanks for all your tips and help!

Thanks for the replies rriggs and Morpheus_vip! There will be a train then, I can't hardly wait until december. I don't know who is more exited, my son or me, lol. It's good to know that it will fit on the second table. I will check the track designer. Thank you so much for your effort and design. I was looking for something like that track designer to make a cityplan. I will play with it next week. Based upon your sample layout, I assume that you guys don't put the road on top of the baseplates, but at the side, correct? Anybody any idea's about that "superdeal"? - farm set; 7634 Tractor, 7635 4WD with horse trailer, 7684 Pig farm with tractor for EUR 39,95? Does anybody know the best place to look for baseplates and road plates packs? Seems like I'm gonna need a lot of them...

Hi lightningtiger and prateek, Thank you so much for your reactions! Well, the modular buildings are something for the future, but when my son is old enough, I would very much like to add them. And if he doesn't mom will, lol... I just think they are amazing. But for now, my son likes to build on his city collection. The city corner is indeed on his list for x-mas and for his birthday, he is gonna ask more vehicles from other family like grandma and granddad. The Public Transport set would make a great candidate. He already has the tanker 3180 and the the Combine Harvester 7636. There is a superpack deal here in the Netherlands I'm thinking of to buy for him for something we have here in december "sinterklaas". Anyway this set normally is over EUR 60.- and now we can pick it up for 39,99. It belongs to the farm set. They are: 7634 Tractor, 7635 4WD with horse trailer, 7684 Pig farm with tractor. What I would like to ask is this. My husband can expand the table, so that there will be another table connected to the small width table. It can be 2 meters X 1 meter. Would a train be possible then? Do you guys know what the width of the train tracks are? Then I can build a city for him on the small part with the station and the train on the wider part. And last question, we don't have any baseplates yet. How do you guys do it? Do you place the roads on top of the baseplate or side by side? I found a shop that sells the roads 7280 and 7281 for EUR 7,95 and the green baseplate 626 (32*32) for EUR 4,95 and the grey large one (32*32 centimeters) for EUR 8,95. What do you think? How should I build and are these good prices or should I look elsewhere? And eh, oh these MOC's are great! I could only dream of these... I will check the others out as well, thanks... Do you figure them out yourselves or are they based upon another set or did you have buildingplans? I'm just curious.. And of course, the bricks are for sale everywhere, but what about the other parts? Can you buy them seperately? I really hope to hear from you again... Thanks for your replies again!

Hello, My name is Cindy. I'm new to this forum, but I'm a huge, huge Lego fan. Luckally, my almost six year old son loves his lego too. And I am lucky to have found this forum. What a wealth of information and reviews etc. Just great! My husband has built a table for him to build his 'city'. It is going to expand because of his birthday in december and of course santa clause. He loves all city items, but fell in love with the new pf trains, so that is first on his list. The cargo train, the passenger train, the station and some tracks. He also has the garage, the fire station, and a lot of firefighter cars etc. He has more. The table is 3.60 meters, but only 50 centimeters wide. I don't know how to plan a city with a train. I don't think it will fit. Do any of you have some ideas? Oh, by the way, I,m hoping to expand my son's collection with buildings like the grand emporium, green grocer and the fire brigade. I fell in love with them when I saw them. Ohmpff, If only it wasn't so expensive...