PerryMakes

My guess is you're trying to paste this xml file straight into bricklink.com? Not going to work... this is for the brickstore application. Then you go to bricklink.com.

Thank you guys for the ideas. I knew that my thinking had been confined to a box - I just didn't know it was this bad!! This is going in a front bay window with quite a bit of space (.75 x 3 meters). And my answer to any questions regarding what / how many pieces is always the same: never enough It helps massively. I developed one idea for doing this and it became almost impossible for me to think of any alternatives. Many thanks for offering this method. It's not required, but it is preferred. I can use other methods if they 1) are absolutely necessary or 2) result in a much better solution - there is no pressure to keep this LEGO-only. At the same time, making the attempt to keep it pure is good practice for situations where deviating from LEGO parts is not an option. Been looking for a small project to get my hands dirty with an Arduino kit. Could be a perfect opportunity. Have a rather new digital soldering station that hasn't seen much action... and my pops surprised me with a workstation for my Dremel over the summer - sounds like a great way to break them both in! Looks like a great way to do it as well, maybe with a few modifications to allow for variable/random resistance and therefore dynamic blink timing.

@Blakbird - then it seems Nathanaël made a wise choice for his recent concept car. Speaking of wisdom... I play a game called Eve Online that features a simulated market that's quite complex and dynamic. One of the things you see from time to time is an individual, or more likely an organization with deep pockets, corner the market for a certain product by purchasing 100% of that product from all existing suppliers - then dictating the price that item shall be sold for. There seems to be a wise individual applying this tactic to those very wheels you speak of

Dear fellow Friends of the Brick - I've got a problem that's been kicking around in the back of my head for few weeks now. I believe you'll find it interesting, relevant, and useful for your own creations as well - making this worthy of your precious time (which we could all use a little more of!) Background 4738 Hagrid's Hut comes with a light brick for simulating a fireplace / wood-burning stove. I noticed during the build that if I held the LED in the on position and periodically let it flicker off for just fractions of a second, I could get a much more realistic look for the fireplace. Goal Produce a pseudo-realistic looking fireplace by utilizing LEGO light sources (54930c01, 54930c02, 61930c01, etc) and a control mechanism responsible for generating the flicker effect. This will be just one element in a medium-sized Christmas display involving animated trains, buses, buildings, etc... Problem I see there being two very different ways of making this happen: 1) mechanically using the yellow and red light bricks 2) electronically using a mindstorms brick + IR sensor + PF lights. As a software developer going on 20 years, #2 would be simple to implement if it weren't for the fact that I'd like to keep the brick free for other functions elsewhere in the display. That means I'm stuck with a mechanical solution whether I like it or not! One thing that I do like about this option is the lighting. The power function lights would require a colored filter of some sort... the yellow and red light bricks have that already taken care of. I've still been experimenting with placing them behind transparent "filters" but that's more for generating reflections/refractions. My big stumbling block is the mechanical method for creating the flicker effect by holding down the button on the light brick - periodically releasing it - wash - rinse - repeat. Because the mechanical action is going to be much much slower than an electronic one would be, I'd anticipate needing to use a handful of the light bricks, allowing for some pseudo-randomness in the total brightness / dimness / flicker. Ideas This is where I beg for your support! Or at least tell me its silly and probably not going to happen. Then at least I can go back to watching Starbuck frack some people up in Battlestar Galactica and enjoy the rest of the evening Cheers ~ Perry

No, unfortunately it does not yet offer that ability. There is an application called SR 3D Builder that does (it's not SolidWorks we're talking about here... so keep you're expectations fairly low!) One big difference between these two applications you should be aware of, however, is that LDD is much more of a "fire up and go" piece of software. You can be quite productive without getting bogged down in the user guide (which works out well, because there really isn't much of a user guide). But I found that SR 3D didn't use as many standard mouse/keyboard controls that just feel natural without knowing any better. The author provides a 17-page PDF file you can download from the app's homepage that you'd probably want to at least give a once-over before making a go at this one. Regarding the "significant other" meets LEGO issue, I've found that LEGO does not exhibit distributive properties! In other words: LEGO(you + her) != LEGOyou + LEGOher But I've seen this time and time again - find some imagery that she/he likes - bust out a LEGO mosaic as a gift - instant fan. And just wait for LEGO Friends! We thought Belville was bad...

@Blakbird - thanks for the links. I've read both pages in the past, but must have passed over the comment about the worm gear being "a little less than 2 studs long." This is certainly the cause of the worm gear sliding back and forth resulting in a loose feel for that gear train. Like most things in life, I probably let this bother me more than it should ... it's just that this gearbox eliminates 99% of this excess movement, so IMHO the extra work/required space might just be worth it! I'm tempted to ask for some suggested ways to bring this part into a studless build ... but that would be downright lazy.

@Rufus - The font you're talking about here has a size=3, which I don't think looks very large at all. This, of course, has everything to do with monitor size and resolution settings... In order to facilitate the software development that pays the bills, I require having anywhere between 2 and 102 apps running concurrently! That means a large lcd with a native resolution, so I guess my monitor/resolution must not be providing a good representation of what you're seeing. I ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT THIS WAS WHAT PEOPLE USED WHEN THEY WANTED TO BE 'SHOUTY' (ugh... that was even quite terrible to just type the example!) Anyways - I certainly don't want to be violating board policies... heaven forbid I get suspended from posting! There was something from Boneparte about image size limits, but that's all I can recall seeing with regard to site-wide policies and procedures... Could you perhaps point me in the direction of said policies? Thanks ~ Perry

I've got a feeling that Truck Trial builds are way way way different than the way LEGO has been teaching us to build cars and trucks! Where do you guys keep your knowledge base? You know ... all the tips and tricks and shortcuts that can save us several years of making the same mistakes that have already been made? So we can learn nothing, yet still leave a trail of weeping competitors in our path?? What? It doesn't exist? We've gotta do the work? I guess so... ()

It seems that back in the Technic Brick days there was a trend of parts being produced specifically purposed for housing gears (perhaps out of necessity?) I was unaware of this until these two showed up in a *Power Miners set: Technic, Gearbox 2 x 4 x 3 1/3 Technic, Gearbox 4 x 4 x 1 2/3 I find the first one to be absolutely amazing! One of the things that's bugged me since my first Technic set was the **play that's found in each and every brick-built solution for housing worm gears. Most of the time, the excess movement is due to the gear sliding back and forth in its housing - and this gearbox alleviates that problem by holding the worm gear nice and tight! But I don't see anyone using these gearboxes at all ... is that because they do not share my OCD condition??? Not wanting to be limited to a specific ratio would be my best guess... Can you think of any other situations where using a part-specific gearbox would benefit the overall functionality? Cheers ~ Perry * try hard to not point and laugh ... (a) being fairly fresh out of the Dark, I'm grabbing anything I can get my grubby hands on! (b) I found these sets for pennies on the dollar during the unfortunate demise of Borders book store. ** if this phrase finds itself lost in translation, I'll further explain what I mean by this: Let's you have some function being controlled by turn a 12t gear - and somewhere in the chain of things there is a worm gear. I find that when the worm gear is housed in a brick built structure (even the BEST that are recommended by expert MOCers) - you can rotate that 12t gear back and forth a certain amount and get no resulting action at the end function.

Not too sure how part identification requests are handled on EB... so rather than start a new thread and since we're on the topic of wheels, I figured I'd ask about a part that's been bothering me for quite a while now. These were included with a bunch of technic gears I pulled off eBay. I'm fairly certain it's not LEGO, but there's bound to be someone reading this that's much more qualified to make that call. What do you think?

Or Snow!! I think you might be on to something here

Thank you very much for responding Eric. Out of anyone in the entire LEGOsphere, you'd be the man who knew best - and probably the best to field this question: this material that I see the 8421 wheels made from ... would you mind taking a guess at when it started being used, what Technic sets it may be found in, and when it was replaced with what we see now? I thank you kindly Quality is a fascinating concept... if anyone has yet to read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" I'd HIGHLY recommend it. I would, however, love to hear some real world examples from some folks that are out there participating in Truck Trials on a regular basis. Do you find the friction coefficient less important than tread pattern?

@DLuders - are you able to compare the quality to that of the wheels from 8421 (or a handful of other sets with 32019 circa 2005)? The quality of material used in those wheels is night and day difference from what's been shipping in the last several years. The newer material feels like there is much less rubber and more plastic in the wheel. If you were to take the wheels from 8421 and anything recent - slide them on a smooth surface by pushing with your hand - the 8421 wheels would grip like you would want a wheel to in a Truck Trial. The newer plasticky material would slip and slide six ways from Sunday. A HUGE difference between those two wheels. And we're not talking about size here. We're talking about cost. The same way LEGO got rid of metal from the vastly superior 9V Train system to cut cost, they have reduced the amount of rubber needed to produce wheels.

I was all geared up, wallet in hand, ready for this weekend to hit so I could grab a couple of Unimogs for truck trial builds. The new axle parts looked cool, but I was really excited about the tires. I've had the 8421 for a while now - I just those tires - if only they were larger. The 8110 had the opportunity to make that happen ... BUT ... a few hours before heading out to hand over four big ones to TLG, I came across a thread that mentioned the 'mog tires were complete garbage for TrTr. After phoning a buddy that works at a LEGO store in the mall, I found out that the 8110 tires are made out of the same plasticky "rubber" that we've been seeing for the past few years. After thinking about it for a second I realized that this wasn't really all that surprising - it's been some time now since we've seen LEGO tires made from a material that could honestly be considered "quality" material. What are your thoughts and experience with this set for TrTr use? How do you feel about LEGO making major changes to the product - sacrificing quality for the purpose of cutting their cost?

I noticed that as well and the only reason I can think of is that this set is really just a stripped down 8421 - one of my favorite Technic sets and the one that brought me out of my dark ages. I did want to call everyone's attention to an aspect of this set that I discovered this afternoon. If you purchased the 8053 - Mobile Crane and it does not have the instructions wrapped with cardboard backing, you may want to try returning it for another one. I picked this up last week and the instructions/sticker sheet were damaged to the point that someone had to have shaken this box fairly well! After opening the replacement, the first thing I noticed was this one had the instructions/stickers wrapped up. But even better... you get the new reinforced 16 tooth gears. Not sure if there are any other improvements, but this one I got today is surely better than the one it replaced. Cheers ~ Perry

WALL-E5 Now THAT is a nice piece of kit.

I think it would be great if an owner of these Firgelli LA's could post a Review proper. Going by the responses so far, I'll probably pick up a couple of these. I'll post my findings if no one has beat me to the punch. Regards ~ Perry

According to the website, there is a show this weekend in Crystal Lake, IL - however I've been trying to email them for several days now with no response. I'd imagine that everyone is very busy preparing for the show, but I'd also expect them to be checking for emails from the website around showtime as well. Anyone here in that group? Is there, in fact, still a show Saturday & Sunday at the library? Anyone from this group plan on going? Regards ~ Perry

Very nice breakdown Erik. Thank you. Going a bit o/t, but I just want to comment on two sets that come after this list. I think 2009s 8258 made up for what 8436 lacked, and with the 2011 flagship prior to the Unimog - that made it two motorized vehicles in a short time frame that lacked a proper gearbox/powertrain. I sure hope we've seen that last of that for a while!

The build for the engine of this train has you "blocking" the two wheel sections (please excuse the lack of correct terminology... I'm super green with regards to trains!) with two red 1x4 plates. Judging by the build of a few other LEGO Trains I've seen, is it fair to assume that I should remove these plates if I'm going to put this train on curved tracks? Seems that the shorter parts of the train can get away with "static" wheels, but past a certain length those wheel sections need the ability to rotate. Again - I apologize for not having the correct wording yet, but I'm working on it. There's a show here in northern IL this weekend, perhaps I'll ask for a few pointers from the old-timers :) Cheers ~ Perry

Something is definitely in the works... They are either gearing up for a HUGE new release, or it's going to be very bad news. I'd like to think it's the former - and won't accept anything else

I HIGHLY suggest you help eBay identify and shut down auctions that you even think may be fraudulent. It's very simple to do: Click the 'Report item' link from the auction page 'Report Category' should be set to "Listing practices" 'Reason for Report' should be set to "Fraudulent listing activities" 'Detailed Report' should be set to "You suspect that a listing is fraudulent" Click 'Continue' Click 'Send Report' It has been my experience that eBay is not only thankful for the reports, but they actually act on them when deemed necessary. Thanks for helping keep eBay clean and disease free!

This set had trouble with friction in the linear actuators. LEGO introduced a service pack that included 4 new LA's (with modified threads to allow for less friction) and two pages of changed instructions. Could your whole system be seizing up and only "appear" to be losing power?

I'm going to just throw out a WILD guess and say that his card doesn't support a vertex/pixel shader that LDD uses to render the virtual "studs" on the scene floor. But I've been wrong with EVERYTHING I've taken a stab at in the last several days, so there should be no reason why this is any different

I don't know why this set doesn't get much love. The old timers will rattle off a list of past LEGO super cars and completely omit this set!!! The beauty of LEGO is if you don't like something - you can change it. I think 8070 is a gorgeous looking car ... and at some point, when I'm motivated enough, I'll yank out the silly control of the doors/hood/spoiler and put in a proper powertrain.