Phil B

I think you will have to make modifications to the wheels, as they will likely bind in corners unless you make the middle axle float. Unless TLG took care of this in their design.

Havent used BlueBricks as extensively as others, so forgive me if this feature already exists, but I would appreciate a list sidebar which lists all components in the current layer (maybe even showing all layers) so you can quickly select a bunch of things using shift and ctrl clicks .... basically the same way Stud.io and MLCad work.

Available as GWP for purchases of $/EUR/GBP 99+ starting March 1st

That sounds unnecessary - the PUP controller allows you to turn the controller knobs around, doesn’t it? So you can just turn one upside down and keep the mechanism as depicted.

Excellent! Love the toilets, @roadmonkeytj will be proud :)

Go to the picture on Flickr that you want to embed here. Click on the Share button and choose BB Code. Copy the code and paste it into your post here. Done.

This is extremely cool. However, it uses obsolete components (from TLG's perspective). If you want to have a chance at this becoming a real set, I would modify your submission to include Powered Up components. Regardless, I have added my support vote.

You can add this store to your Least Favorite stores list (My BL > Fav Stores > Select "Least" in the top right corner under the menu bar .. then add the store name based on the username of the store owner) so you will no longer select this store when using the "Buy All" feature.

Some more tips: 1. Put your part list in Excel and make a column for the LEGO S@H price for the piece (lego.com > Support > Replacement Parts > Buy Bricks). You need the part number for this so make sure your part list has these 2. Add a column for each vendor you find in BrickLink or BrickOwl to compare prices 3. Look at each vendor’s shipping terms because shipping costs and handling fees can vary a lot between sellers. 4. Then use this to find what seems to be the best balance between vendors for your parts list 5. If you want to go less labor-intensive, import your parts list into BrickOwl instead of BL. BO’s auto-price feature works much better than BL’s. You basically get a list sorted by # of matching parts, with total cart price including shipping. Once you select a seller, it shows you sellers for the remaining parts. As you go along and select more sellers, it will optimize your baskets at each seller to find the cheapest combination of parts from each. 6. Definitely review your model, as others suggested. Rare color/part combinations, cheaper alternatives for interior bricks that are not showing etc. will bring your price down. and the most important but least positive tip: I have never built a digital model that I was able to build in real life without making a change to the design once I started putting bricks together. You absolutely will have to go back to BL/BO and place extra orders after your initial order. You can mostly eliminate this by building “tryout” samples of your key build components using any color brick you can find, but even then there is always something you forgot or that looked ok and simple digitally but doesnt work that way “in the brick”.

Here is a scenario that I see as a likely future state: LEGO will remove Bricks&pieces and Pick-a-Brick from their website (why do they even have both these services?) and replace it with BrickLink. For any item they currently have in stock, no other sellers are allowed to sell as New (and perhaps even as Used). Third Party BL sellers can only sell retired and non-stocked items. You can keep inventory of items LEGO sells, but it will only become active when LEGO sells out. Scary but very plausible.

What I am proposing actually makes the car 2 plates lower (remove 1 brick in height, add 1 plate).

I love the interiors (the benefits of 8w) but the exterior is drooping - The roof is too low, and so are the windows. I think you need to make the roof 2 bricks high instead of 3, and add at least a plate between the brown curved side and the bottom of the windows.

I finally settled on this design - it's pretty close I think, and not as bulky as the previous one based on a 2x2 round plate design. The gold stripe is done using 1/32" gold stripe tape. Hogwarts Express by Phil B, on Flickr

I think the problem is more that in its submitted design it relies a lot on large pieces from long-gone themes ... I doubt they will revive the molds for those (if the molds haven't been destroyed yet in the first place). I don't think it uses a vast amount of pieces for what it does, but if LEGO were to accept this they would have to redesign large parts of the structure, and that would drastically increase the piece count. So yes, it is hard to imagine it will actually get accepted.

I am very appreciative of you building a functional Android App at age 15. Well done. Don't let the feedback here discourage you from continuing to build your skills as a programmer. That said the world of apps is a tough place, and just like when building your professional career you sometimes have to start with doing work for free (internships, volunteering etc) to build up your credentials. Especially since there are already other apps out there that do PU control and are free (either because the publisher decided to give the app away for free, or because the app is tied to a paid product (e.g. BuWizz)), your hands are basically tied. Now if your app has some unique capabilities that others dont have, you could put those behind a paid subscription, while keeping the rest of your app free (the so-called "freemium" model). Good luck!

If that's true, it will require a paint-job as this bucket doesn't come in Black.

What is the piece you used as a smokestack? Looks like the piece i’ve been looking for to finish my Hogwarts Express chimney ... do you have the part number or BL description?

I used 700c 23-25mm I think. You have to stretch them quite a bit to fit (especially for XL) but they stay on. Make sure you cut them to about half the width of the wheel ...

Are you talking about bicycle inner tube cutoffs? I have used those on BBB wheels (both Medium and XL) and they stay on. I bought a special size though, that was recommended somewhere here on this forum, which is not a common US type of inner tube (but available in various specialty stores and online).

Yes, but it looks like this might hit the track. You might just need to put the side rod straight over the axle and not have it rotate...

Awesome!

I have seen people use a 2L thin technic liftarm on the axle to offset the side rod.

The box style suggests this is a GWP. Curious what the purchase threshold is going to be. Likely aligned with the cost of a current trainset is my best guess.

I cannot comment on #1 as I have no experience with painting bricks (and it goes against my LEGO building principles), but for #2 and #3 you need to ask yourself what the smallest radius curve is that your layout will have (and don’t forget about switches!). Even R72 will still have considerable movement on the trucks - only once you hit R108 or R120 your trucks will be acting more like the prototypical trucks. One trick I have employed on some of my builds is to make the bottom part of the skirts part of the bogie/truck. Using tiles on the top and the downward pressure of the engine to keep things aligned, this keeps an integrated look on straights while still allowing for a wider swing in curves. The downside is that, unless you make parts of it out of snotted tiles, there might be some discontinuity in the side of your engine as you need to leave small gaps to accommodate for the rotating skirt parts. Here is an example from my recent Hogwarts Express: HE Tender close-ups by Phil B, on Flickr

There is an active BAP group on FB, including the author. You can check there if you need more help. I believe the group is called "The Brick Automation Project".