jasonsmith

Very impressive work Sir. Looks like you have most of the rare books that I have as well. I have a Panart Victory, Constitution and Enterprise waiting to be built so I fully appreciate what you're doing here, thanks for sharing.

I agree 100%, I've been using LDCad exclusively when I'm serious about building something. I use Ubuntu and it's a blessing to have such a great piece of software available on my OS. Do yourself a favour and build one model with it before you decide if it's for you or not.

I missed this while it was in development but BrickUtils works for what you're asking as well. http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=65428

Love it, great work!

I think this is a great idea. It'll force me to get properly organized and will make it much easier to find things. I appreciate you thinking about a "mobile" version, android would be the best. I don't have a computer by my lego storage so being able to use a phone would be nice and simple. I'm a little confused of not wanting to add totals though. If this database is a "Catalog and Breakdown" database then I make the assumption that all my parts will be visible or searchable. Maybe some screen shots or something would better explain it for me.

Another great issue, thank you.

That is going to be big, looking forward to watching it's progress.

What a fantastic idea, job well done.

Speechless...

If you can move the support connectors to be more horizontal than you should be able to add wheels under the carriage as well so it can twist and do loops etc.

So very cool, well done!

What a wonderful thread, hits home in so many ways. Maegnus congrats on what sounds like a totally new life.

What a fantastic idea. A multi-platform tool. Agree, to really make this take off I think using the LDraw library is a must.

I agree 100%, it was an entirely new Lego experience that I will never forget.

Thanks for the kinds words fellas, appreciate it. No need to spend a whole pile of money. This was a BrickLink project with the important bits purchased through Lego. I think with the lights I came in around the $750-$800 mark. All new parts and 100% accurate color. The only things I don't have is the 30th anny sticker and the certificate. Not quite like your attempt although I like your method better. Yes you will need the 2x3 clear plates but also get some 1x2 clear plates as the 2x3's are hard to find and there is no need to have 3 2x3's stacked on each other when you could stack 2 on top of the 1x2's. Your lights need to be dead center to each of the blue/clear plate packs or the lights will be seen at angles. Yes I removed the existing technic beams and replaced them with connectors to attach to longer beams to so the lights simply just plugged into the back. The path from your lights to the trans clear engine modules needs to be straight on and center, so when aligning the beam in the back there really is only one place it can go so it all works out. I used trans-clear, they give a "jewel" sort of look into the trans blue tiles. The only issue per se was the outer most engine modules because they have the technic lift beams attached to connect to the main structure for support. That lift beams on each side need to be there but I think I rotated mine and moved it over a hole to make room for the lights. You'll see when you get to that point. I'm a Technic guy so I have a ton of Technic bits to choose from, if you have some kicking around it won't be a big deal. Build the whole thing first though so you know how and why it's put together the way it is then do your modding. I'm sure you will all find a better way of doing it. In the end though what ever you do back there won't be seen, the structure hides it all very well. The unofficial, maybe not required depending on your style Parts List: Battery Box Lights Extension Cables 2x3 Trans-Clear Plates 1x2 Trans Clear Plates Technic Beams (1x13??)(1x5??) Technic Connectors Awesome! thank you.

I'll take some pics when I take it apart. You know what though... I too sat around thinking and thinking about how I was going to make it work, looking back and forth at the manual etc. In the end it was easy when I decided to just do it rather than think about it. Give it a go, you'll be happy you did. Here are some pics as promised: As stated before, 100% Lego. About an extra $100 bucks or so in lights, cables etc but well worth it for such a spectacular model. Oh and sorry for the dirty pics, I think my sensor is dusty.

Well I finally got around to building it after collecting all the pieces many moons ago. I went one step further and added lighting. I wanted to go Lego only which posed a challenge both logistically and financially. There are 28 LED's (14 Lego light kits), with a bunch of both 20" and 8" Lego PF Extension cables. It all runs off of one battery box. The photographer in me has checked out so for the time being here is a quick and dirty video showing the lights. It's taken from my Galaxy Nexus phone so please don't mind the quality. It's also taken in the dark with no audio other than ambient noise. Not the greatest video but you'll get the point. I'll post up some good quality pics when I can.

I can't help but wonder if crazy auctions like that are a scam to drive up the average eBay sale price.

I agree, it would be cool to see what people have done, especially those that went off color or changed things up a bit to keep the cost down.

If my dream could come true it would be having LDD as a super Lego Cad program with all the features of all the current digital builders we have. The only way I see that happening is if there was a large contention of LDD users creating a heavy demand for such an upgrade to the product. That being said, if we start to use LDD as a tool to just export files for use in other digital builders we kinda reduce the demand and need for LDD to expand. Not sure if I'm making sense but I do think we need to be careful if we want LDD to grow.

Please don't take offence to me disagreeing with you, i'm just speaking from my experience. I would never have a goal of $900, one should have a goal of $500 and be happy if they can come in close, I did.

There is no need to pay $900 for this done exact. If you blindly go shopping for parts you may end up there but for anyone thinking of doing this take your time and gather the parts in the most efficient way possible. As "The_Chosen_1" did, get as much of the expensive, harder to find items from Lego first. They sell out of some things from time to time but check back and see if they have been replenished. Then get the rest of the normal bulk bits from BL from a good store and get as much as you can in one place. The shipping is what will make your money disappear. From my research: Exact model should come in around $550-$750 (inc figs and stickers (no manual)) Non-Visible off color around $400-$600 (inc figs and stickers (no manual)) Visible off color $250-$400 (inc figs and stickers (no manual)) Miss matched parts, off color etc could be built for less than $250 and still look good. If you come in less consider yourself lucky. If your more, you may not have had the parts readily available, you may have rushed it, weren't efficient or didn't take advantage of buying from Lego.

I'm interested in your application, do tell more.

From what I understand Michael Lachmann the Dev had been approached on multiple occasions with a few options but so far hasn't been willing to open it up. Not sure if enough motivation was offered but it sure would be nice if it was currently being developed. 3.30 showed up out of the blue right when we thought it was dormant forever so maybe there's a 3.40 or a 4.0 around the corner...

I don't mind if Lego keeps a hold of LDD. It would be nice for it to continue to be developed of which they have already shown. I'd like to see some more power options for us older folks in 5.0 It's a great program which has a huge amount of potential. Lego also has the resources to make it incredible if they so desired. In respect to opensource, it would be nice to see MLCad released to the community, but alas that's another long long thread.