Legoless

I am blown away by Ralph S's stunning London scene- you could shut your eyes and almost hear the overwhelming traffic and train noise. Very typical of a busy London street. And Bricktrix's WIP is already a masterpiece- despite comments about generally preferring more 'town' involvement, as always with model trains, realism is often less to do with being dimensionally perfect (as some modellers in 'finescale' model railways attempt to do), as with being able to 'sell' a sense of 'being there'. Sometimes I've seen technically impeccable model railway layouts that just somehow lack that sense of believability, whereas I've seen some rather poorly scaled layouts that still worked despite some often gross dimentional errors (eg mixing underscale and overscale accessories in close proximity, etc)- one could 'buy' the concept. Bricktrix's layout works by not having too much clutter, and, of course, his most excellent MOCs, including superb British rolling stock and that wonderful footbridge. Because of my age (42) for me steam trains were already museum pieces by the time I was old enough to appreciate trains. It always seems a bit odd to me to see steam trains in colour- since most footage of steam trains in their heyday were filmed or photographed in black and white. I've always wanted to build a steam-era based layout entirely in monochrome to capture that sense of 'realism'- since steam trains running on preserved lines in full colour somehow don't quite look right!

Absolutely stunning- love the 'false perspective'- didn't think it would possibly work on such a tiny 'footprint'- but evidently it does, so well done you! It is difficult enough to make small-format Lego dioramas not look overly cluttered but you have managed to cram a whole block in without overwhelming the viewer- by concentrating the 'eye candy' on the foreground and leaving the apparently much larger buildings relatively plain and in more subdued colours.

If I had to choose just one (and only as a display piece) it would have to be the Santa Fe. I just love that colour scheme. And it harks back to the days when American locomotives were actually styled rather than designed to be purely utilitarian- although my knowledge of current locos is limited, I can't think of any that I'd call handsome. Although in fairness, the vast majority of modern US loco-hauled trains are freight trains, so there is less need to appeal to the tastes of the general public.

Given an unlimited budget (or any kind of budget at all) I'd be with LightningTiger on this one. One thing that I think many model train layouts do badly is that they centre mostly on the railway side of things, with only the bare minimum of other buildings around to justify whatever sorts of activities their location is supposed to serve. That's fine, of course, nobody should dictate how another's layout should be built, but several ovals of track, a railyard, a station, and maybe a depot tend not to represent a realistic balance. On the other hand, Lego trains is hardly the format of choice for the many 'rivet counters' that engage with the hobby of model railways (as it is impossible to produce a millimetre-perfect rendition of any prototype in Lego- let alone accurate colouring and detailing). So as far as I am concerned- whatever floats your boat. All the same- given the money and time- I'd rather do an 80% town to 20% railway balance, with rail nonetheless taking up the foreground. Yet I will always delight in the well-crafted 4.5v or 12v layout (or mainstream model railway scale) if the builder can 'sell' the concept well enough to invite the viewer to willingly suspend disbelief and fully engage in the fantasy. And when that is done well, that truly is magic.

I've no idea how to raise the headlamps. Trouble is, I am a 'virtual' Lego fan who does not like LDD. I prefer to design with my hands. Last time I actually built anything with Lego was decades ago and therefore I am less familiar with the newer modified bricks, slopes, etc, that are available today (although I have a reasonable working knowledge from the year or so I've been re-interested in Lego). I've looked though the PaB in S@H but can't think of any combination of modified bricks, slopes, etc, that would achieve that end without flattening out the bonnet (hood) profile that is so characteristic of the Minor. There may well be specialised pieces available that are not in PaB, but I'm not sure where to look without spending possibly days going through Brickset, Peeron, or BrickLink. I thought of various combinations of modified bricks that would have had them on stalks but I think that would look ridiculous. In regard to the wood back panels, those would have been applied by the owner, not the factory. I don't see any reason to change your model however! The Traveller was a genuine 'Woody'- the similarly treated Mini Traveller also had wood applied to the rear quarters but that car was in fact just a steel-bodied Mini van with windows and rear seats, so not structural. Perhaps your next car could be a Volvo 850- a car seemingly designed with no curves whatsoever! Edit- had a brainwave and remembered that Mater from Cars (the brown tow truck) has what appeared to be suitable front wings but having checked out the instructions for the build via Brickset, unfortunately both front wings are joined together with an integral plate- meaning that in order to use it for a Minor the model would have to be restricted to 4 wide.

YAY!! Excellent work- the Morris Traveller is not a vehicle that lends itself to being recreated in Lego. And the VW 'Bulli' is also very impressive indeed! I love that you don't go for the easy options Hoexbroe! :thumbup: ps the rear panels on the Morris are usually body coloured though- not brown (that's more of an American thing, putting artificial wood-effect fake vinyl 'wood' on the side of their cars)! On the Traveller the wood is actually structural- because it was an estate car/break/station wagon that used the cab and chassis from the van/pickup (minus the rear body). Aluminium was used for the panels because they were unstressed and because after WW2 steel was in short supply- nevertheless the Minor was still in production until about 1972. You can see the seam on the roof where the van/pickup roof panel meets the rear Traveller body. In regard to the headlights the posisioning is actually correct for the very earliest Minor- they were moved higher up to satisfy US regulations soon after production started, however that would only have applied to the split-screen saloon (or sedan) version) since the Traveller came a bit later. It was a sales flop in the states because the first version had an ancient side-valve sub 1 litre engine which was painfully slow (my Aunt had a restored one about 15 years ago). The later A Series engines were quicker- and tuneable to a point- but with Minors the trick is to conserve speed and use its excellent (for its day) handling and steering to get through the curves. Of course when the Mini came along (by the same designer- Alec Issigonis) that car became the junior rally and race car of choice. There are many Minors still around since they are much-loved classics. The engine was still in production until fairly recently in the old 'real' Mini, before that was put to death in favour of the new so-called Mini by BMW- an expensive 'boutique' product that has absolutely nothing in common with its predecessor.

Many thanks.

I believe I am correct in saying that TLG uses the standard RAL colour palette- this is a universal colour system whereby each shade of each colour (albeit a finite number of them) are allocated an RAL Code- this is so that if Factory A is assembling widgets made by Supplier B and Supplier C, both suppliers will have painted the parts in (hopefully) matching colours. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAL_%28color_space_system%29 If you can discover the correct RAL code for the items then you might have more luck in printing. However, printers vary a lot in colour production, also your printer settings will affect it. Also, different inks and coloured plastics will age differently- making colour match a case of trial and error.

Superb- incidentally, do the wheels have larger tyres over smaller tyres? Very clever if so.

Absolutely brilliant- I was wondering if heavy plant like that could be accurately reproduced in minifig scale- you've certainly answered! Incidentally, anyone know how to pronounce 'Liebherr'?

I think your first pic has the parallel tracks too close together- possibly of passing trains coming into contact? Your second is better but you may want to put another straight between the points so that the train isn't 'slaloming' (for want of a better word) and risking a derailment- not to mention that from experience blue track isn't particularly stable due to the number and type of sleepers used. Yours look remarkably clean! The ones I had back in the '80s were very yellow by comparison. And if you want to 'justify' having a large gap beween the tracks you could always put an island platform or a bridge support peir in between.

Excellent MOC- are you going to do a rake of departmental wagons? Like the user name also.

If you have Tesco down under I'd vote for that. Not because it is a particularly good supermarket chain (it isn't), but because of the possibility of local drama, a la http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/apr/22/bristol-riot-police-injured. Damn, I am proud of the city of my birth sometimes (if it wasn't for the violence and from experience police casualties are 'over reported' shall we say). I don't like violence but I do believe in direct action. [Edit] dammit this site has shortened my weblink again to make it unusable- why does it do that?

We English don't like to be reminded about the worst parts of our automotive heritage- fortunately the 6R4 was one of those very rare case of a 'silk purse made out of a sow's ear'. Shame about the dreadful car it was based on. I love your imaginitive, well crafted MOC. Which bears testimony to the fact that, although we are probably world leaders in 'garden shed engineering' (and far more sophisticated low volume stuff, hence most Formula 1 teams are based here), we have really lost the plot in terms of mass production cars. [Edit] even if it was the worst ever reproduction of a 6R4- it surely couldn't compete with this! http://www.barryboys.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=31916

Great review. I haven't seen Cars (Disney really isn't my bag) so I only know which character is meant to represent which 'real' vehicle from reading these reviews. But without rolling down the page I knew that the yellow car was meant to be a Fiat 500 (along with the Morris Minor, Austin Mini, VW Beetle and the Citroen 2CV the 500 is one of the world's great Noddy cars). I think the set designer has done well to capture the likeness. I'm assuming from the pipework around the front that he is meant to be a commentator with a headset?

Wow- love the travel agents with the brochures, the Mister Minit (we have those in the UK- I thought they were just a British brand), and the clothes shop. Very imaginative builds! Will there be a speciality ice-cream shop or other snack kiosk such as a pretzel bar with 'real' lemonade (just lemonjuice, sugar and water), doughnut stand, etc? What about an opticians, perfume shop, jewellers (could use thinly cut coloured foil strips for the display- sweet wrappers maybe), hair salon (with dryers) and a bookshop?

Excellent vig! I love your 2CV build. That film was key to the resurgence of the 2CV sales in the UK as it had been withdrawn in favour of the pointless Dyane model, a heavier, uglier 2CV derived car with no added benefits other than a slightly larger engine (0.65 litres) and a sort of hatchback arrangement. Unfortunately Citroen UK felt the need to add fake bullet holes to the rear of UK 2CVs of that time- as if 2CVs couldn't generate holes in the bodywork spontaneously due to rust! Nonetheless, a strange yet wonderful vehicle. The 2CV stunt car in the film actually had a 4 cylinder engine from the Citroen GS/GSA- which was also used in the 2CV derived Ami Super.

As an Englishman, how about that most quintessentially English of cars, the Morris Traveller (Morris Minor estate/break/station wagon) with its timber frame which, unlike most 'woodies' is actually structural. It was built on the chassis of the van derivative, and because steel was expensive post war, used aluminium panels. An incredibly characterful car, it was the English answer to the VW Beetle, but with suberb handling (unlike the VW). It was also distinctive for its exhaust note, which sounded like a fruit fart every time it changed gear or slowed down. Not to mention gearbox/ axle whine. Modern cars can't come close in terms of sheer character.

Yeah, I used to have some very early tiles that didn't have the indentation around the bottom edge- they were murder to get off! I used to find a 2x2 brick on top of the tile would help give me more surface to grip. Sometimes I'd have to resort to using a screwdriver on those.

Has anyone tried using petroleum jelly as a lubricant (stop sniggering at the back!)? I remember when rubiks cubes were all the rage back in the '80s and vaseline was the lubricant of choice. I don't know which plastic those cubes were constructed out of. Obviously it would need to be applied very sparingly. Petroleum jelly (like most oils) does attack rubber, but I think it ought to be ok for ABS.

Too bad about not having a Lego store- shame there are none 'down under'- in the light of which it was a daft suggestion for a country town. Hell- in the UK we only have two stores outside London (one being Milton Keynes- which is more or less an outer suberb of London), the other being in Cardiff. None at all in Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield, Bristol, etc, or other densely populated areas. Presumably there are toy shops though- would be interesting to have a small Lego display. Maybe a micro Technic moc made out of wire bag closures (whatever they are called- also used with electric cables when packaged). OK, not 'true' Lego but its hard to make Lego miniatures out of actual Lego!

Wonderful van- wheels could be a little larger though? Never tried granita but sounds like a sort of cross between a 'slush puppy' and a sorbet- no doubt far tastier than the former.

That takes me back to the sort of things I used to make. I didn't actually have that many sets so I improvised. Great stuff!

Superb- looks exactly like a Vario. You don't see many Vario vans here in the UK but there are plenty of Vario buses- which are slow, noisy and uncomfortable- Mercedes should have pensioned off the ancient Vario at least a decade ago!

Its a great topic Plastic Nurak! Sorry if I derailed it with my warped sense of humour. I just thought the idea of the CEO of Lego going round in a sheet burning crosses quite amusing!