Ayrow

I use red oak and poplar on my cases. It just depends on whether or not they are painted. I finish all of my oak cases in several coats of protective lacquer. :-)

Some of my latest creations. Having a lot of fun making these. Some people have some really creative ideas.

I do. I have been making them for about six months and have sold a couple dozen of them in various sizes, colors, and shapes. It's a lot of fun making them because each one if different from the next. People have completely different ideas about what they want, which always makes things interesting.

Good idea. Since I make these shelves in my shop, it'll be fun to just make a custom for this series. :-)

Finally got the entire Simpsons collection in to add to my growing collection. LOVE these minifigures. Marge is a little too tall for this display case. Going to have to build a case with larger shelves. :-)

The Lego logo was put in there for fun and only meant to be used as a display at the craft and Brickworld shows I've attended. Unfortunately, I can't sell versions like that due to copyright issues. It gets a lot off attention when I display it, though.

So, it's been several months since I posted some of the cases I've made for people. I've made several design changes to the construction, making them more fluid and integrated. Thought I'd post several more. Having lots of fun with these.

I actually make them with a front. Been experimenting with different ways to do this, but regardless, a 4ft x 2ft piece of glass or acrylic is cumbersome, expensive, and heavy - especially when it comes time to ship one of these to somebody (!). I am currently building one where the glass/acrylic will be split in the middle and open like French doors. Hopefully it will come out nice. I'll Post some pics when it is done. Holy cow, that's a great idea. I never considered embedding the plates into the wood. That would look really nice and wouldn't be hard to do. More importantly, it would give just a little more room between the shelves. Thanks for the input.

Here is my solution. :-) http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=87691&hl=

Ok, so I've had the chance to make several of these for people, but the coolest one (by far) has been the case with lighted shelves. The LED's are embedded into the undersides of the shelves. A toy store in New York ordered it for his Star Wars Lego minfigs. Here are some photos before I put the black Lego plates on.

Thanks everyone, I'm glad you like them. I've had a few people ask me to make them one and they've been coming out pretty nice. Currently I'm working on a black one with LED's along the shelves to illuminate the minifigs. Pretty excited about making it. I'll post photos of it here when I get it done. The size is 4 ft wide x 2ft high You can see more photos on my website Ayrow.com Stay tumed

Yes. The are permanently glued down. :-)

Wasn't really sure where to place this, but it turned out pretty cool. Figured I'd show it off a little.

That looks amazing. Nice job! I would like to make an attempt at this as well, but I can't get the link to the instructions to work any more. Do you have the file and/or can you send it to me? More importantly, do you have the parts list of what's needed? I am going to attempt a Union Pacific version - something I've always wanted to do. I love the design of this engine. Again, nice job.

I agree. :-)

Yes, it turns very well. It looks a bit strange as it is going around the sharp curves because the body of the engine hangs out so much over the track, but it at least gets around. I will try and post some pics of it going around, but the secret is the wheel/truck layout (pictured below). The whole wheel-set articulates under the body of the engine, independent of the engine, itself. As I mentioned in my first post, I borrowed the engineering from Jay Hurst and adapted it a little more. No, it is not powered yet. There are places set aside for the four Power Functions M-motors that hide inside the body, so installing them wouldn't be big deal, especially since all of the gears and drivetrain are already installed. I really have no desire to power it, but will do so just so I can run it on a layout sometime to show it off. ;-) This is one from Jay's website. Very similar to mine.

When I get the nerve to pull it off of the shelf again, I will take some photos of it navigating curves (which it does pretty well). :-)

Thanks for the replies. Yeah, it's pretty big. Picking it up and moving it is a nightmarish chore. Funny thing is, it's completely "to scale". I've stood next to the actual engine in Omaha, Nebraska and that minifigure almost perfectly represents the experience in actual size. It is a humbling experience, no doubt. The diesel counterpart is equally as monstrous and humbling. (I am considering that as my next model). Thanks again.

I posted some quick photos of this in my earlier thread, but thought I'd create an official thread for this. Many thanks to Jay Hurst for the inspiration on this. It's not exact, but there are obviously a lot of similarities. His creations are outstanding and certainly inspirational. I've posted a few photos here, but you can see all the photos at this LINK Enjoy, -Tod

I just found this wonderful website and I am excited to be a part of it now. I live in Indianapolis, IN and I am an avid train enthusiast. Lego trains has always been a part of my life and now that I am older, I've found myself getting right back into it in a big way. I have quite a collection and it is building slowly. Here are some photos of my current project which is about 2/3 done. It is the 4-8-8-4 Big Boy Locomotive. This has taken several weeks, but it is coming along. Anyway, hello!