Sven J

Hello everyone, (I don’t know if it’s right here, but I think it’s a very “special interest” topic and fits here… if not, please move it.) They lead a shadowy existence in the AFOL community, but for some time I've had the idea that the figures from the Jack Stone series would be ideally suited to 1:32 railway models - or to airplanes, which are often built in 1:35. However, there are not many different figures, the heads are in ugly yellow (I prefer a more realistic light nougat skin color) and all look more or less the same, the range of hair pieces and headgear is very limited and the individual body parts cannot be swapped. So I thought. But where there's a will, there's a way. And so I developed a fairly simple procedure for disassembling the figures and rebuilding them in new combinations with normal minifig heads. It only requires a handful of new parts, but the original heads will be irreversibly damaged. First of all, you have to literally break the figure's neck: The head is pushed forward with force until the relatively soft glued-in neck piece breaks (make sure to push forward, not backward, otherwise the collar at the back of the torso will crack!). As soon as the head is gone, the torso can be pulled off. The lower part of the yellow neck piece now still sticks to its holder in the hip area, but it can be be removed using fine needle-nose pliers or nail scissors. If necessary, you can use angled tweezers to also remove the bracket which both forms the belt area and connects the arms to the torso on the inside. Thus, if you wish, you can also swap the belt and arms. The printing can be removed with acrylic polish; a fiberglass eraser can also help. The parts that are no longer needed are shown in the photo on the left. On the right are the new "implants" to be inserted: head and headgear/hair as desired, a 1x1 round plate with hole as a collar, a 3L bar as a "spine" and a small piece of pneumatic hose to fix the bar inside the hip. The next step is the most fiddly part: the piece of pneumatic hose is squeezed into the gap in the hip area where the neck piece was previously anchored. The 3L bar is then inserted from above (if necessary, use tweezers to hold the hose in place, and insert the bar with slight twisting movements). Now the torso can be mounted. Then place the 1x1 round plate on top of the bar and press it down as far as possible; it fixes the torso firmly. Finally, put on the desired head with hairstyle/cap and you're done. So my 1:32 railway can now finally be populated in style without any third-party figures - and I'm sure you can think of other possible uses! Best regards, Sven

Hi, I replied to your PM on Wednesday evening. As it is still marked unread, you probably didn't receive a notification, so I thought I'd mention it here.

Yes, something like that. But you can make similar stickers by yourself quite easily; if you like, you're welcome to PM me to discuss further details. I'd make them longer and 0.5-1 stud higher, if possible. Look at this drawing (sorry, didn't find a better one on the web, but can provide you with copies from my library, if you need): The smoke deflectors extend to the back of the chimney and cylinders, and they're about 1/2 of the boiler diameter in height. Can't wait to see your BR 41...

Thank you @Ropefish and @Shiva! No, I'm not reallyfond of rail-powered trains. First, I like the possibility of controlling different locomotives at the same time, which is easier with RC engines. Second, the wye in my track layout would result in a short circuit...

Thank you @JopieK! Here's finally a photo of the entire "museum train" in all its beauty:

That locomotive looks really good! However, there are two things that, IMHO, could be improved: First, I'd give it a proper lettering. The 7750 touch is nice and nostalgic, but you've worked so hard on creating an accurate replica of the BR 01 that prototypical DB numbers and lettering would really put it in the "scale model" league. Second, the smoke deflectors are way too small and too close to the boiler. Correcting this would make the model even more outstanding. As for your surplus of XL wheels: Have you considered building a BR 41? For a 9-wide model, the XL wheels should be just about perfect...

Hello everyone, It took ages, but now I've finally got around to making a video. Here it is: The speed in the last scene is equivalent to ~35 km/h; however, the BuWizz was only set to "Normal". With "Fast" or "Ludicruous", the locomotive can run much faster... I was pretty amazed that the little engine with just one L-motor could pull the train away so easily, even in "Normal" mode. And the battery lasts surprisingly long, around two hours of mixed shunting and "mainline" operation are possible. All in all, I'm very happy with the locomotive, it's by far the most trouble-free of all my engines. Best regards, Sven

Yes, Bricksafe offers a lot of possibilities and is easy to use. However, having read this, it might be wise to look for alternatives... https://forum.rebrickable.com/t/new-feature-moc-gallery-without-bricksafe/162649/7 (login may be required to read the discussion)

Sorry, guys, but don't you get tired fighting the same fight over and over again? About the Countach, all and everything has already been said, and has been said multiple times. Go and discover the rest of this forum...

Hi all, "That decomposing rattletrap", "that oxidated relic" – this is how Oscar Finch (Patrick McGoohan), murderous lawyer in "Agenda for Murder", calls Lieutenant Columbo’s famous, if shabby, 1959 Peugeot 403 Convertible. As a long-time admirer of the „Columbo“ TV series, I finally decided to build that car in LEGO® form, although (with its subtle curves) it is not very well-suited for being recreated in bricks, and thus I had to make some compromises. So here it is in 1/32 scale (7w)– complete with Columbo minifigure and the almost mandatory cheap cigar: Free pdf instructions for this model are available on Rebrickable, so if you like, you can build your own copy, modify and improve it. Thanks for stopping by! Kind regards, Sven

Nowadays, companies approve of ANYTHING that gives them profit. A license is no sign of quality... Think of that disastrous McLaren MP4/4, the Corvette or the Aston Martin DB5 - all officially approved. You know who BrickMonkeyMOCs is, don't you?

@mdbz Oh yes, you're right and I was wrong. I think I was misled by perspective as well as by the fact that German steam locomotives (which I'm more familiar with) don't usually have such a vast empty space between frame and boiler, so that unfamiliar sight just seemed somehow wrong to me. But I googled a bit and yes, the MÁV HAS that giant gap, so I apologize for what I wrote in my first post. Your model absolutely does justice to the prototype.

Very nice, and a perfect choice of scale! Just one thing: The boiler diameter seems a bit small compared to the prototype. Perhaps it might be possible to increase it a little?

And when you remove the engine cover, the top half of the fuel tank and the roll hoop are also gone... that's not what I call good design. Besides, the rear view looks terrible, too,,, no diffuser, strange mock-up of the rear wing struts. A really crappy model.

Finally, the An-2 has found its place under the ceiling of my study:

Isn't that a fighter plane, too? I'd love to build DC-3 PH-PBA "Prinses Amalia" (the former personal aircraft of Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands), which - beautifully restored - is now operated by DDA Classic Airlines. But up to now, I have no idea how to do that at 1/70 or 1/80 scale.

@Leninizator Monofack Thank you for your appreciation. Regarding you proposal, however, I'm afraid, but I don't design fighter planes, as I have absolutely zero interest in them.

Did you read my initial post? The story of the "Concorde copy" is a legend invented by some journalists in the 1970s, the true story is much more complex. Nevertheless: I'm happy that you like my model. 😉

It took quite some time, but finally the Tu-144 found its place under the ceiling of my study: (For those of you who haven't already noticed: Here's another Soviet airplane... ) Best regards, Sven

@Max_Lego Thank you very much!

No MP4/8 (which I would have preferred, as I really love that clean, nimble car), but an MP4/4. And a terrible one, too, as it seems... Rear tires as wide as the front ones, crooked nose instead of a straight one, very odd rendition of the iconic white/red Marlboro livery. A disappointment.

@Toastie Thorsten, thank you for your appreciation and your kind words! Designing airplanes, and designing them to a rather small scale, is a new field of work for me. So I'm very happy that you and others like my little "flying dinosaur" so much!

Thank you very much, Emanuele! I always wondered why they invented that 65578 part. Finally I found a way how to use it...

Thank you for your kind words, @Feuer Zug! And thanks to the admins for my model being frontpaged!

Thank you @Lego Tom and @EWay! The prototype's cockpit windows are more or less colourless, but as you say - the ingot parts don't exist in trans-clear (perhaps they will some day... ). So I had to choose another colour, and, as a kind of light green is occasionally used for the cockpit windows of wooden desktop models, I decided to use sand green. Using elements from third-party manufacturers, trans-light blue would be an option...