Doctor Sinister

Aha! Yes, you are right. I think I've gone blind in my one remaining eye from too much LEGO sorting - thanks! Dr. S.

I'm off to bed, but I can answer your 2nd question now - yes! Dr. S.

Well, it's finally finished. This was a mammoth build - by far the largest set I've ever constructed. I estimate total build time to be about 18 hours in total. I know this sounds mad. Some pitfalls: I am left with a bunch of black bricks and I ran out of dark bley bricks right near the end. This could be related to do with the fact that it's often REALLY hard to tell if the instructions are referring to black or dark bley, or that someone got the mix of colours wrong somewhere. I had to substitute half a dozen bricks with some old dark grey I had here (got a nil supply of new dark bley) so I need to replace those. I also apparently ran out of dark bley grille platey things - but I had loads of those spare so that was OK. Here are the parts I had left over - is this normal for a mega-set like this? Pages 122-127 of my instructions are printed in incorrect order - which gave me a real fright late last night. All in all though, a tiring but very enjoyable build, not terribly repetitive with enough detail to keep you interested - building the superlaser was the pinnacle for me, but then I am a big WMD fan. :-D Dr. S. Alas, no. The instructions don't refer to the box symbols at all and the parts are liberally mixed amongst them all - there is no rhyme or reason as to how they are sorted. For example, just to make the Minifigs you need to open pretty much EVERY BAG. Madness eh? Dr. S. Yeah, I did this four times. Most of the parts I couldn't find turned up right at the end! Dr. S. Yeah, I guess I'm an old school chap at heart. There are 262 pages, the last two of which are the parts inventory. The build itself however is detailed in 189 stages - it's kind of confusing, but the stage numbers don't relate to the page numbers. I've no idea why stage numbers are even necessary to be honest. Dr. S.

End of day 2 - and this is how far I have got. About 108 pages in now. Finding parts takes the most amount of time - but I refuse to sort! Dr. S.

I got mine today, along with the new City calendar as well, but my Death Star has been taking up my time, so I've not cracked it open yet. Dr. S.

This is as far as I've got this evening: Alas, I've got work tomorrow so I'm going to have to call it a day tonight. I'm only about 50 pages in - there are 250 or so pages in all. Pictures of the minifigs are now in my photostream as well. It's an enjoyable build and so far is very sturdy. Dr. S.

Sure thing! But that might not be until tomorrow...I think I'll be busy this evening! Dr. S.

I'll be posting pix of set 10188 as I build it on my Flickr account here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorsiniste...57607233769129/ Dr. S.

Also advertised in the latest LEGO Club magazine. Dr. S.

Check this out... It's shipped! Can't wait! Dr. S.

Spot on. Dr. S.

Soviet Minedog. Herding Sheep Over A Minefield. Dr. S.

Thanks. The sharks have a small hole in the underside of their tails, this slots nicely into the top of the plant. Neat eh? Dr. S. Yeah, they look so smug don't they? As the sharks swim AWAY from them for a change. Dr. S.

Animals at War Part 3. Sometimes it's tough being a Shark, especially when two normally harmless Dolphins are heading toward a fleet of warships with contact warheads attached to their underbellies. Full set of images. Dr. S.

Thanks. Playability and features are things I like to build in where I can. I sometimes imagine what a proper LEGO set might have in it to get ideas as to what to include. Plus I like to immerse myself in the Tabletown world and ensure that the creations are as fully-rounded as I can make them. Dr. S.

My LUG, the Brickish Association, is holding its BIG annual display very soon. I will be there, along with the entire Tabletown Army and Navy, and there will be lots to see and do - including Ed Diment (LEGO Monster's) MASSIVE minifig-scale model of HMS Hood (if/when he finishes it in time). Details: About the event The display will be held at STEAM - Museum of the Great Western Railway in Swindon on 4th and 5th October 2008. This year, the display will be the biggest ever, with even more activities for all the family to enjoy and participate in. All models on display are built by Brickish Association members, making it the largest display of LEGO fan models in the UK. What to expect There will be plenty to see and do, making it a fabulous day out for all the family: * Lots of models of all sizes built by LEGO fans such as railway layouts, HMS Hood, the Forth Bridge, a giant LEGO Castle, Classic Space, a Mississippi Paddlesteamer, aircraft, cars and much more * Interactive Building - help create a giant LEGO mosaic from 100,000 bricks! * Virtual Building Workshops - enjoy short presentations by LEGO experts on the latest LEGO building software available for your home computer * Visit the LEGO Shop for some great deals on some exclusive LEGO sets not available on the high street * Brick engraving - personalise your own LEGO brick (for a small charge) * LEGO play tables for the children (and sofas for the adults!) * Competitions - lots of LEGO prizes * Brick Cafe - to keep you refreshed in first class style. plus * all the regular displays and exhibits telling the remarkable story of the men and women who built, operated and travelled on the Great western Railway. More details on the BA website here. Dr. S.

Because he's the Captain. As with the Tabletown Army (see Grunts), rank is denoted by the colour of the right sleeve. In the TN, Admirals have red sleeves, Captains have purple, Chief Petty Officers have black, ratings have normal white. Dr. S.

I've had this before and it was a PITA. I'd used a brick that wasn't available in that colour - but rather than warn me at the time I put it in, LDD waited until the end and then told me with the above error message, but it didn't tell me which one was wrong! Helpful eh? So I had to strip the model down to identify it. Dr. S.

Thanks! I hear you, but I like it as it is. In fact, the shape of the screen is one of the whole raison d'etre's of this design, these are fast attack boats, slightly futuristic with minor stealth capabilities. I started with the screen design and went from there. Also, the use of those pieces is a homage to my Tabletown Army vehicles which use the same pieces in green - I'm going for a homogenous look you see, even if it's only subconscious, people will recognise Tabletown military equipment. I dunno if I'm being clever or anal. Yes, space is cramped, but there is some there. Have you ever been on board a warship? I have been on board several, both modern and historical. They are not designed for creature comforts and space is at a premium. In fact, a ship of this size would probably have a crew of between 20 and 30 in the real world. Don't forget, there would be a below deck area as well where the engines and equipment would be stored. If I were to reduce the crew size further, the ship would be unmanageable. We have a Helmsman, Captain, Navigator and three ratings - who's going to do the maintenance, repair or general legwork if I lose the latter? The Courageous Class (which has a larger crew area) has seven crewmembers with the addition of a rear gunner. Also, bear in mind that as for size, I'm constrained by the size of the hull from the Police boat. Can't make it any bigger, if I increased the hull size then I'd lose the details you expressed appreciation for in the opening section of your post. The problem is, as with all minifig scale vehicles, compromises have to be made - and as I saw written elsewhere recently, since the minifig itself is a caricature, any environment you place it in has to be a caricature to a degree as well. The same is true of all official LEGO sets and probably most MOCs out there. I think I got this pretty much spot on. The design was partially based on the Russian Osa class missile boat which had a crew of 30 and which was only 37.5 metres long: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osa_class_missile_boat I'm naming my ships after "virtues" - so we've had the Courageous Class (Courage) and now the Tenacious Class (Tenacity) - I've got other names lined up should I do any more, but not for a while. I might name the next one the Audacious Class. Dr. S.

Tabletown extends the hand of friendship! If you allow basing rights within your territory, we will defend your island from aggression. Dr. S.

Thanks! However it's not so much a lifeboat as a dinghy for commando operations. Dr. S.

The Tenacious Class Guided Missile Boat complements the earlier Courageous Class in that it provides long-range fire in comparison to its short-range torpedo boat counterpart. Full details: Page 1. Page 2. Page 3. Here we see the Gladius missile system which mounts five ship-killing missiles. The Gladius missile system incorporates a rotating firing platform. Although the system can allow for off-bore firing, full 360 degree firing is also possible, and firing directly at a target can allow for a longer range as opposed to off-bore firing which can reduce the missile range as it turns to acquire its target. View of the helmsman and Captain's positions. The Captain sits in a raised position with a repeater display to his right that can show any of the ship's status displays. Some images of Tenacious Class vessels and their Courageous Class counterparts: Dr. S.

This is a good point. In episode IV Obi-Wan is simply wearing desert clothing, like everyone else on Tatooine. And then the prequels come along and desert clothing is suddenly standard Jedi attire. 1) Someone clearly got confused along the way. 2) This is stupid since Obi-Wan is meant to be in HIDING - given the amount of "scum and villainy" present on Tatooine, it won't be long before someone sells him out to the Empire. Dr. S. Point taken re' Lars - although with a little imagination, GL could have contrived it so that Lars had also "exiled" himself to Tatooine to look after Luke - just as Obi-Wan had. Visiting Tatooine in 5 out of 6 films is just lazy, self-indulgent, lazy, thoughtless, lazy, fan-wankery and lazy. Oh, and it's lazy. Dr. S.

The things that bug me: 1) Tatooine. For a galactic backwater, a lot of stuff sure seems to happen there. SW really jumped the shark the moment it went back there a THIRD TIME in episode 1. Furthermore, Vader would surely have sensed Obi-Wan on the planet below as his ship pulverised Leia's transport. But no, there's not even an indication that he gives a stuff which planet he's orbiting around. There are tens of thousands of inhabited worlds in the SW galaxy, would it have killed anyone to feature something NEW? My comments here apply to the expanded universe as well where we routinely revisit Yavin IV like it's on someone's tick list of "cool things to do". 2) C3PO. Was it REALLY necessary to have Anakin (re)build him? What does it add to the plot? NOTHING. It was originally mooted that the Falcon would play a major part in the prequels, I distinctly recall one of the executives saying "you won't BELIEVE who's piloting the Falcon" - but instead it appears only fleetingly in one small scene. I really believe C3PO should have been similarly consigned to a cameo. He does nothing of benefit to justify being in the prequels. To coin a phrase, his appearance is just "fan-wankery". 3) The timeline. Yes, it's too short. Enough said. What's more, the Clone Wars are only fought over a 3-year period - and yet look at the technological advances that happen in that time! OK, so the advances are purely military, the technology is THERE, but suddenly 3 years later we have fleets of MASSIVE star destroyers orbiting Corucscant whereas in the last scenes of the 2nd prequel we had a hastily formed army rushing to battle in ships half the size. Sorry, but anyone who can churn out ships of that size in that kind of quantity wouldn't really need to worry about fighting a war and anyone deluded enough to take them on deserves to get their bums kicked. 4) The Death Star. I really liked the idea that it was built in secret, in the Maw facility, inside a cluster of black holes, devised by Tarkin etc. etc. When I saw the DS appear in episode 2 in that hologram, and it transpired that a bunch of insects had thought it up, I was disappointed. To see the semi-completed DS in episode 3 really annoyed me. Retconning the event and saying it was a prototype of a prototype is all very well, but the film footage implies that it's THE Death Star. Sorry, but any film that relies on a bunch of guys sitting in a corner "correcting" the events is fundamentally flawed. A film should be self-contained, it shouldn't NEED outside explanation. So as far as I'm concerned, that it THE Death Star being built. And there's the problem...it takes TWENTY YEARS for it to be built. And yet the DSII took about 3 or 4. So...what happened there? If the DSII could be built that fast, then why not the DSI? Especially given my point 3 above - this is NOT a Republic/Empire starved of resources. Again, a lack of explanation and consistency annoys the heck out of me. I'm sure there's more, but I've got to put myself away in my box for the moment. Dr. S.

I'm glad the replacements finally turned up! Congratulations - you are now in charge of the Australian branch of S.INC. Dr. S.