jemakrol

TY. It's actually Google Sheets :) It sure does, and for me it makes it more fun too - I can keep an eye on progress and I think it is less error prone (as described) than pen and paper or bricklink. If anyone is interested in that sheet I'd be happy to share it, but without support. Gimme a PM.

Yeah, know that. A new UCS MF would def. be a buy - too. I still regret not getting the old one. I could not afford it back then, I actually held the box in my hand in the store thinking I would regret not buying it. I did. Still, I couldn't justify the price back then. Still can't TBH, really haha. :) Yes, collecting is part of my thing but I DO want the set too. Collecting it is just a more fun AND affordable way of getting out of production sets :D The 10179 wasa started half a year ago but I've just recently started to collect parts more actively. I think I will be able to get all parts in about half a year from now on, tops. That might or might not include the final parts that are so expensive I feel I need to replace them. Speaking of which: This my friend, is a true inspiration! I really like your MOD ScottishDave! It really made the rear part something special! I happen to think the whole mast rigging thing is somewhat unworthy. It is clearly noticeable that this set was designed some years ago. If it would have been released today it would most likely NOT have gotten a "sloppy" solution like that, but rather a more clever solution using snot and parts. And I would expect them to take the effort to design a custom cockpit windshield, as they did with Slave-1. For instance. I will, for starters, just IGNORE the boat mast rigging I think. Then, when she is built, I can have a better overview of what I wanna do. Your MOD is a great inspiration for both this and getting my own 10179 and I appreciate you joined my thread and gave me a heads up! Also, MF IS a dirty old "pile of junk" so parts in other colors that still honor the original in the movies, is fine with me. I might not go for light in it, but still. U made that ship shine. Both literally and figuratively. As for the radar dish, I have one without print and it will look awesome anyway. And if I DO fancy the print, I have a custom sticker ready! The 60 levers are all accounted for in classic gray too. This means that it is very few expensive cosmetic pieces that I have left, perhaps those red pieces - that surely can be replaced. Got a few of then too, actually. So, my challenge is the internal/structural parts and the parts that are not expensive one and one but comes in great numbers and thus affect price noticeable. Thanks all who joined. It is so much more fun to share a journey like this and do it with people with same mindset. :)

Follow this, I will. Cavegoods is a really piece of art. Fragile but nothing but impressive as hell!

So... Yet Another 10179 fanboy/project. If you're tired of ppl going for their own Bricklinked falcons, you can stop read here. :) Well, I think I have more to say about it than "now it's my turn" but be advised - it IS about me trying to get myself a 10179. My first dream came true, the 10134 Y-wing. It was actually easier than I thought. See further details here: Encouraged by the success, I raised the bar "a little" and am now going for the Holy Grail of Bricklinking official sets, the mighty MF #10179. But of course it is with my own twist. So what's my take on it? Well, for starters, I am NOT interested to pay those fantasy sums for overpriced parts that happen to be of exactly correct color. Don't get me wrong here, I DO want to get a set that is close to the real deal. But afaic the real deal is THE MOVIE and if my set happen do differ from the official #10179 due to my economical restraints, it's fine. I will try to make it look like MF allright, just not as the 10179 MF at any cost. I consider part of the fun (at least for now) of Bricklinking an official set, to try to make it as affordable as possible. To be able to follow progress, order by order as the goal of getting all pieces comes closer. The countdown to Build Day is part of the fun, part of the journey. To make that journey interesting, I try to find solutions to lower the price to more reasonable levels One easy thing is to swap colors. Easy is maybe wrong since it comes down to two scenarios: the expensive part either show or do not show on the set when built. If it does not show, it's an easy choice but on the other hand it can require a bit of investigation to determine if that piece really shows or not. But if the piece(s) show, it's more a matter of choice - will another color be worse or better or equally visually? Things like that. Another, more intriguing thing, is to replace parts or constructs with other, more affordable alternatives. I did this on 10134 and am not afraid to do it on this set too. On area that could be target for redesign is the engines where those two LBG boat mast riggings go. I simply do not want to pay what they cost. My first and most obvious choice here is to skip the rigging, it looks pretty damn cool anyway. Other options include the black ones, after market versions but I do not exclude custom solution too. The neat thing is that I don't have to decide until I decide. The model will look awesome no matter what. Being a programmer by profession I could not resist hacking my own tools to make the collection of parts more fun. First and most obvious part was to add something useful to the rather limiting tools in Bricklink. Bricklink is good for ordering and finding pieces to order, but it stops there. I want to keep track of progress and price over time. And i need lists to have in handy when I count pieces in new orders. To do this with pen and paper as I did with 10134 is time consuming and prone to errors. And to rely solely on Bricklink is also prone to errors. GS_10179_01 GS_10179_02 I swiftly hacked a Google Sheets document (see attached screenshots) to fulfill my needs. I quickly realized I needed a way to import Wanted Lists or at least Set Inventories to those sheets. The latter part was easy since it require no login. So my sheets support (via custom menu) import of set inventories, with pics and all. However, I wanted to have support for Wanted Lists too, but those require login. Me being impatient did not find an easy solution to do that with Google App Scripts (it IS doable but I did not want to spend time finding a solution) so a promptly hacked another tool together - a windows forms app that can login to Bricklink and retrieve my wanted list(s) and present them in a grid, where I easily can export them to clip board, excel or file. In a perfect world I'd make those tools as one, but this was the easiest way to do it for me atm. GS_10179_03 So. I've spent about 6 months since I first started this project, but it was rather recent I begun ordering pieces for real. So far, I'm up to about 40% of the pieces at the cost of about 200 Euros. However, there are some expensive pieces left, so the price per piece count will go up - even if I try to find alternative solutions. Please free to pop by this thread for updates in the future. My goal is to have all pieces to start build before summer's over. cheers, Jens

Ahhh, cool. A U-wing huh? Got the official one, pretty neat. I have missed Mirkos version but a quick google got me some awesome pics! Pretty jaw dropping, damn! Good luck with that one! Please give me a heads up when u start, I'd love to follow your progress! Yeah, 10179 is expensive but I wont even consider those overpriced parts. I don't give a sh*t about L-beams being yellow for instance. They go fine in black where they are inside the ship. The printed radar is pretty redundant. I got a clean one and a sticker, not even sure I will apply it since I suspect the MF will look bad megablocks without it. As for those boat mast rigging pieces I believe I can skip them and still have a rather neat thing to show. If I, for some reason, want the boat mast rigging I will go for black or if I'm feeling ambitions one of those after market casts that I've seen. A Swedish dude makes some of them and I have friends that bought them. They are "good enough". Not sure, but those two parts can wait. And I will continue to find solutions like this. Replace colors, replace pieces or come up with new solutions with better price tags. For me, that's part of the fun. Still, even with all that work done there's no way around the fact that it is a 5000+ piece set. The price tag WILL be significant, no matter how low I try to go. Many pieces will be make the set expensive since they are many, all those technic beams for instance. I'm in no hurry though, I will collect pieces as I go and when I get money for a batch or two. I will start a separate thread about it, for anyone to follow. Yes, the new UCS. Snowspeeder it is. Looking at how long UCS sets will be in stores I feel no hurry to get it, I'll spend my money on the MF. But the new UCS is most definitely a buy!

Thx! Yep! Got 40% of it but that project too will have to take its time since I refuse to pay fantasy sums for some original parts.

I'm so happy and thrilled to see yet another 10134 coming together. It looks fab @Grizzlygreeno! To find custom solutions to bring down the price tag to more reasonable levels is a great deal of fun to me! Making the rear end of the fighter gray/silver-ish was not only a way to lower the price tag - to me it was a challenge too, and challenge accepted. I think the overall look is almost better than the original since the Y-wing IS a sluggish, worn and rough looking fighter. It goes well with the look and feel they have in the movies TBH. I smiled quite a lot when the new #75172 was revealed. Look at it. It has a gray-looking rear end of engines. We're just ahead of things :D Just wanted to update a little. Since I completed my 10134 I did some minor adjustments. First of all, it felt a tad lonely so I made sure it had company: Neat huh? Which is your fav, part from the big one? Then I also realized something. The domes in front of the engines are left unattended. I think the designer missed an opportunity here. So I dug into my Lego boxes and made some things up as a went. No connection the the actual movie props just me having fun. When looking at the completely assembled set no one will ever know but when opening up.... Watcha think? Oh. BTW. Just started my next project. I'll give ya a hint:

Grizzlygreeno: that is awesome! I think 10134 is one of the most brilliant UCS made, and it's definitely worth persuing! I have now, with a help from a friend, applied stickers as well. Custom made but they work for me.

Wow! Taking 10179 to a whole new level, I see! Cool! Looks awesome me thinks!

Ahhh. The motorcycle wheels?! I mean these: http://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=2903&name=Wheel%2061.6mm%20D.%20x%2013.6mm%20Motorcycle&category=%5BWheel%5D#T=P ? Did you settle for one on each engine, or did you use more than one (I can see that one could do that - to make the ends look a little more robust). Those wheels come in cheap white. Nice idea! Myself, I think of perhaps a moc-ish solution instead of wheels. I think it would be awesome with a more accurate look for the nozzles, with + shaped fins in the middle of the round nozzle, rather than wheel spokes. Haven't reall thought about how yet though. I just love to hear about how you guys did with your particular 10134 set. Keep'em comin' :D

Now this is something I wanna follow! Looks pretty sweet to me, as it is now. I love to see WiP like this and the T-70 is something I'd like to try out myself some day. Eventually. Just became active here and immediately noticed the one made by 'all in the reflexes' (great job there!!) and this one will be nice to see develop too. Good work atlas!

Ahh, yes! That definitely gives the right whitish look. Good thinking! However, a quick look at BL gives me that it is hard to find used ones in batches bigger than 1-5 pieces, and it would require 112 of them. And that goes for both with and without slots. New ones however, is different. Without slots they're expensive, but with them you can find large® batches for reasonable prices. Interesting to see another custom solution! And your Y-wing looks awesome! Cool wall mounted display!

Well, that's some good thinking about the cockpit. In fact, that is exactly the kind of problem solving that makes it more fun to bricklink rather than buy the set directly. Or as I did, tried to figure out how to replace the 112 hose, ribbed 7mm 2L white that for sure looks cool, but push the price up to ridiculous levels. I was long looking for longer hoses, 7L or perhaps 11L but it was very hard to come by in just a few lots, making it impossible to get affordable due to postage and handling. In the end, when realizing white was going to be too expensive for me, I sat down and tried a number of different techniques to get a good looking, affordable match to the original one. I ended up using 224 LBG Techic bushes, that are very cheap and have small slots that would let the white axles add some white-ish color to the result. I think it worked pretty well, giving a "hose, ribbed"-like look. And it was very affordable. On a side note, I do have the Gold Leader set too and did consider replacing the cockpits. However, I have a good friend that can make quality stickers, so I am in the making of a sticker sheet that would replace the original one. That way, I get the plate sticker too. As my set could be considered to be a morph between a MOC and an official set, I would gladly make a plate sticker that looks like the original one but has unique characteristics showing that this is a custom build. I just need to brush off my Photoshop/Illustrator skills. :) Thanks for the warming words. Yes. I really recommend trying this, if there's a set you long for but think is too expensive to buy since it is out of production. I have ideas for MOCs too, but I want to get better at BL'ing first. And make no mistake, building an UCS set out of production is not nescessarly cheap. It might be cheaper than buying the complete set but not without sacrifice and/or hard work. For me, that's part of the challenge and fun. If you're after pure official sets, you might want to consider waiting for a good deal on Ebay or similar, or cough up the money required. But it IS possible to get something very close to your dream set, with some digging, researching and collecting. My next set? Why settle for less?! Of course the 10179 UCS Millenium Falcon. :) And if I can, the Imperial Shuttle and then the Snowspeeder. But first things first. Falcon will require lots of time and no matter how I do it, quite a lot of money. I mean, it's a HUGE set! Still, I will work hard to push the price tag down but still keep the original look as far as I can. It'll be fun! :) I just wish I lived in the States sometimes. Seems many BL stores are there, with good prices and good collection of pieces. But shipping and customs makes it more or less unrealistic to buy from the States. Europe will have to do! :D

Thanks mortesv! Cool to read about your journey to a 10134, Hold0511! Seems you got a little closer than the original than me, but for a some bucks more. And yeah, it's a good set for BL'ing, true. It's my first BL-project, I wanted the set and I wanted to get into how BL work. Now I know why it's called "crack link" ;) :)

True words, Azrielsc! This is a perfect example of this, to me. :)

Hi, Some years ago I made some general requests about the possibilities to collect pieces to make a discontinued Lego set. Dunno if it was here or elsewhere, but I was fairly unaware of Bricklink and similar sites back then. The answers I got was that it was most likely no good idea to collect pieces, better to get the set complete. Somewhat discouraged by this I dropped the idea. 20160907_212210 by Jens, on Flickr Fast forward to this spring, when I rediscovered my interest for Lego and made a big leap into the world of AFOLs. I don't remember what started it, but the idea of getting the dream set was once again back. I got the first two UCS sets back in 2000 (X-wing and TIE interceptor) and ever since I laid my eyes on the Y-wing I wanted it. Considered it too expensive for me back then, I never bought it, something I regretted much. 20160619_185246 by Jens, on Flickr Now. To cut a long story short. I did it. I decided to get myself a 10134 UCS Y-wing. But not by paying a ridiculously amount of money for a complete set. Well, ridiculously amount for me anyway. I started off by digging into my childhood lego boxes, well aware of that it would give me worn pieces in wrong/old colors. I managed to get a fair amount of the pieces just by digging, about 33%. The rest of the pieces took about three months to get, mainly using bricklink. 20160905_175109 by Jens, on Flickr It's "easy" to get the dream set of yours. It's only a matter of money. The real challenge is to get it for a reasonable price. I quickly replaced too expensive parts with cheaper alternatives. It's a trade-off, I know, but ok for me. I tried to be as truthful to the original as possible. It required some minor "redesign" in order to get the price on a fair level. 20160906_164539 by Jens, on Flickr So. Here I am. I'm still waiting for some parts, and I will use the possibility to print stickers myself (I have a friend that can do this for me). I managed to get my dream set, or at least something very close to it, for a bit under ~150 Eur. And boy, is this set awesome! This is my fourth UCS (others being X-wing (first one), TIE interceptor and Slave-I). 20160906_195126 by Jens, on Flickr More pics can be found on my flickr, below. The moral of the story? Well, you CAN get that set you've always longed for, and for a reasonable price (per piece). It's a matter of patience, creativity and well, money. :) Next project will be... the holy grail of Star Wars Lego. Nuff said :D My flickr for Lego: Jens at Flickr

Hi, So, obviously it is not too late to start collecting Lego. I'm over 40 now, but am picking up set after set or so it seems. I am, however, not new to Lego. Being born in the mid-seventies I got my first sets about -76 or -77. I remember, for instance, 928-1, which I owned among many other sets. From those years and on to about mid or late eighties I had a steadily growing collection of Lego. Mostly space and techic. Then other things got more interesting and to my horrror my parents gave away all lego later on, without even asking. I have still not forgiven them for that ;) Fast forward to 2000. I freezed in front of the quite new UCS X-wing 7191 when getting Christmas presents for my GF's daughter. Ended up getting the set in christmas present myself. Best Christmas ever, since childhood! I promptly bought the UCS TIE Interceptor and they've been on display at home or at work ever since! Then, last fall, something happened and I started to actually buy sets. Sets I have looked at but always thought 'Hey, I'm grown up now, the moment has passed' or 'I do have my two UCS, that should do it'. It started innocently with a small set and over a year I have increased my collection to about 30+ sets. I am no rich and am in no rush. I just realize that it's never too late to get those sets that I wanted secretly. My issue is that I have no space for my sets and really, I need to consider price too having kids of my own now and everything that comes with that. But every now and then I can spend a few on a set. Do I build MOC's? Sometimes, I add a pic of something I did some year ago just for the fun of it. A small tribute to the Youtuber AgentJayZ that works with jet engines. Not as much as an act of a fan, I sorted some of the Lego I managed to salvage from my childhood and started to build randomly. :) My interest in Lego seems to be focused on Classic Star Wars, UCS and the more advanced vehicles like the VW Camper, Mini etc. I like vehicles, in short. Real and fiction. I've added my current collection to brick brickset (http://brickset.com/sets/ownedby-jemakrol) and rebrickable (http://rebrickable.com/profile/jemakrol - not public yet though) and now I ended up here as a result of searching for info about the new 10252 Beetle. Thanks for the attention, and happy building / collecting folks!