vermontcathy

Have you considered creating instructions, or a Studio or lxf file for this MOC? I love it, and would love to build it (and would pay a bit for the instructions).

Nevermind - looks like mine doesn't qualify - it's an alt build, no added pieces. I don't see a way to delete a post, so hopefully an admin can delete my post in the Special Lego Themes forum. https://bricksafe.com/pages/CathyVT/41637/mahemspaceship

This is where it should be posted: https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/forum/92-special-lego-themes/ ?

No, I don't think I've had problems with the new ones. I'm not 100% sure, because they got mixed in, as I took the model apart. But when I did an alt build that used almost all the pieces (like 90%), the only new break was a 2x6 plate, which hadn't been replaced. As I found broken pieces in the pile, I chucked them, and I had enough pieces to finish the build. The new pieces weren't as tight. I knew with the original pieces, right from the beginning, that there was an issue because they were so tight and I had to press hard to attach them to another piece. The new pieces are not overly tight like that. I'm not overly surprised they replaced them. 40 pieces, at about 10 cents each, is only $4, so it wasn't a huge outlay for them, to make a good customer happy (I've bought a decent amount from S@H in the past year). In fact I said I could order them and pay for them myself, but it was more the principal of the thing, and something I thought they should be aware of. If no one ever told them of certain problems with the pieces, then the wouldn't be able to correct the problem.

The pieces were in a sealed box, in sealed polybags. They weren't used parts. It seems like you're having trouble believing that 1) new pieces (though manufactured 6 or 7 years ago, and sealed in a box for that time) can break upon first use, and that 2) a box can have a different set of seal codes on one end, and it's still new & sealed - that it came from Lego like that. (here's another thread that talks about the double tape seals: https://community.brickpicker.com/forums/topic/3530-questions-about-box-damage-and-tape-seals/?do=findComment&comment=519468). Now, it is possible that some other aspect of how the set was stored contributed to the pieces breaking - temperature, humidity, etc., esp. since it had a smell to it (not unpleasant.. maybe smelled like incense). But the colors that cracked were colors known for cracking. I believe the set was NIB and that it came from Lego with the different seals. And sorry, the set was enough of a splurge - I'm not going to buy "at least 2 or 3" of the set I want, so that I can get it in the sealed brown shipping box.

Well since the set hasn't been sold at S@H for over 5 years, there's no other way to buy it - stores don't have it any more. Where would you buy it, if not eBay? It's authentic Lego. I have no doubt whatsoever. And it would be a bit too detail-oriented for counterfeiters to copy Lego so closely that THEIR reddish brown bricks crack frequently, as well :) Also, WRT different seal codes on either end of the box - it's not unheard of: https://community.brickpicker.com/forums/topic/13669-different-seal-code-on-1-box/

Several months ago I splurged and bought a NIB Medieval Market Village. A LOT of reddish-brown pieces felt very tight when putting them onto other bricks, and many cracked - I could hear it as I connected the bricks. Very sickening feeling, especially since this was such a splurge for me to buy. I'd say about 40 pieces cracked, almost all were reddish brown, but also ~8 out of the 10 dark red curved pieces making up the bed. Almost all had a footprint of 1x1 or 1x2, although when I recently made an alt build from the set, a 2x6 reddish brown plate cracked. Cracked isn't even an accurate word for it - in many cases, pieces broke off, like the whole side of a 1x2 plate. I started a chat with Lego CS, and at first they said they wouldn't replace pieces from sets bought on eBay and I said I'd never been asked in the past what store I bought sets at, when reporting a problem. I also said that I'd heard reddish brown was notorious for cracks, and they then agreed to replace the pieces. Luckily they are all still made & available, though CS and I had to track down some new/changed part numbers. The set was new & sealed, but did smell a little odd. Not like smoke... but something. Everyone's home smells differently, I suppose. Also, CS had me tell her the seal codes on the tape seals. Interestingly, each end of the box had different seal codes. On one end, it looked like one seal code was placed over another.

I have only been building models in software for just over a year, so I'm somewhat new at it, and by far not an expert. That being said, I like stud.io because I like the mouse controls and keyboard control options while building (rotating pieces, etc.), and a big deal to me is that I seem to be able to better search for pieces in stud.io - enter 2x1 into the search box, click the right category, and I seem to be able to find pieces way faster than with LDD. With LDD I seemed to always be looking up piece numbers and typing them in, because I couldn't otherwise find them. I also really like the online building options at studio.bricklink.com (https://studio.bricklink.com/v2/build/gallery.page?utm_content=subnav) , and how you can send a model there directly from stud.io. (one example - click on "step view": https://studio.bricklink.com/v2/build/model.page?idModel=36761) This is one of the primary ways I share models with others. I haven't had great luck with instruction-building software to make a PDF; it seems like it will take many hours to tweak what is given at first (rotating the image so that the added piece can be seen, etc.), though I have done it with LICreator. Being able to make steps and assign pieces to steps in stud.io, and then have those steps used in LICreator, at studio.bricklink.com, and in the Brixtar app is incredibly helpful, and I don't know how I'd live without the ability to define steps (you can't, as far as I know, in LDD). Although it can be nice to have paper instructions and not need an electronic device for instructions, the ability to rotate the model, zoom in and out, (as you can at studio.bricklink.com and Brixtar app) and easily specify steps and pieces per step as the model designer (as you can in stud.io) is amazing.

Absolutely wonderful. Good luck in the contest! I like the clear 1x1 round pieces to look like snow or ice on the trees. I'll have to add some to my next pieces order. It may be a common idea, but I'm just coming out of my dark ages... :)

That 1x3 plate with 2 centered studs (and underside allows you to place in in half-stud positions, i.e. centered over 2 studs) is also in 10402: Fun Future, in blue. It doesn't seem to be in stud.io yet.

OK, someone suggested to me that I make a boat with the leftover pieces. I'd never made a boat before, but looked at the boat builds in 31051 and 31064 for ideas. I'm not 100% happy with it, but not too bad. The seat can spin around to fish. More photos here: https://bricksafe.com/pages/CathyVT/cathysfishinglodge

EDITED to add - I thought someone here suggested making a boat with the leftover pieces, but it wasn't here, it was at https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-10700/CathyVT/cathys-fishing-lodge/#comments . That's why I wrote the following. See post below for update! A boat, huh?.... No rounded pieces, but if they can make BB-8 out of rectangular bricks... maybe I'll give it a shot. :)

Thanks for the help, everyone. I tried the video method with someone else's MOC's LXF file that was producing terrible steps in LDD and that method is growing on me. It's a little harder to share a video than a PDF with other people, but still doable. With a PDF, you have to keep advancing to the next page, and with a video you have to pause it - about the same about of hassle. It's nice that when you add a piece back in, if anything is unclear, you can spin the model to see it from different angles - and the person viewing the video would see that. Supertruper1988, can you share the default PDF steps with me that it made? Let's see... in a PM can you attach a file? Or in a PM I can give you my email address.

Hi there. I'm kind of new here, so if my post here is wrong somehow, let me know. I'd like to share a MOC with you, an alt build of 21310 Old Fishing Store. I love the Old Fishing Store, but I also love the Creator 3-in-1 sets because I like taking them apart and building something new later (I don't tend to leave sets up on display for more than a couple of weeks - I just don't have the space). So I made a smaller little lodge or store (there's a bedroom in the loft). The roof is partially flat and partially angles down, and you can lift the roof on the hinges to see into the 2nd floor. There's a tower with the telescope (and a storage area in the tower) and a swing hanging below it. I've got a pond (or at least part of one) with fish, with the boy trying to catch one, and the cat and bird also hoping for some fish. The captain is at a campfire with a lady friend toasting marshmallows. (boy it was hard making a fire with so few red, orange and yellow pieces... I did cheat and use one flame piece from another set). If you want to see more photos, or download the LXF file, you can do so here: https://bricksafe.com/pages/CathyVT/cathysfishinglodge . The step by step instructions that LDD creates when you click "building guide mode" are terrible (doing things in an impossible order, like framing the windows all around, then putting in the window) but I'm working on a solution to that... Hope you like it!

So, the order of the instructions it creates in Building Guide Mode is affected by the order that you build the model? (doing these steps you say will cause different results when I click on the Building Guide Mode button?) I have seen people share a video rather than the LDD steps, and wondered how they got the pieces to appear in a good order like that - your steps answer that question (would need video screen capture software, which I do have). EDITED to clarify - I don't just want to be able to see the steps once in order to build it myself once, I want to be able to share instructions with other people. This method of un-building it in a logical way they using the undo button to rebuild would work well with screen capture video, and I may do that. But reasonable static-image steps would be nice, too. Simpler than recording, editing, and posting a video.

I'm going to try a different computer this evening, to try and get this software working, but if anyone wants to help me... I just want a reasonable set of instructions for the LXF file here: https://bricksafe.com/pages/CathyVT/cathysfishinglodge LDD gives a terrible sequence of steps - boxing in the space where a window will go, before the window is put in (so you'd have to remove the bricks over top of the window to put the window in), building just a tiny bit of the 2nd floor wall and then building the roof, attached to just a couple studs of the wall, then later building the rest of the wall (which would require removing or at least partially lifting up the roof to get the last wall bricks in), etc. I'm not picky, just steps that are physically possible to do in that order. Can anyone help?

I am having a heck of a time getting this to run. I have installed the latest version of Java and then rebooted (just in case that is necessary after installing Java). On my desktop computer, when I double click the bat file, I get: When I right click the bat file and run as administrator, I get: I tried it also on my Microsoft Surface computer. I did install the latest Java and that seemed to go fine. But when I run the bat file (with or without saying run as administrator), I get: But Java is installed - In the start menu, I see "about Java" and "Configure Java" etc. UPDATE - on the Surface laptop, I updated the Path Environmental Variable so that it could find Java. But then I get the same error as I got on the desktop (big error list above)

Hi, I'm fairly new here. I was wondering if someone could make an LXF file of 31066, Space Shuttle. Thanks!

I'd really love to have some alternate builds for this set. I'm going to try, but I'm not the best designer. I'd be happy with ANY alt builds, but it would be cool to have something other than a building/house. I know, that's asking a lot. I love the boat alternative that came with the set, but I'm greedy for more. :)