beelzibus

So you were able to get one from a store in a shipping carton? Stratford point blank said that they couldn't supply it like this, company policy. I've already sent a snotty email to Lego about it.

Heads up for anyone who does want to buy 42056 and is able to get to London, The Lego Store at Stratford Westfield do have them in stock and are selling them. Hardly visible though, tucked away right at the back of the store, nothing on display, quite amazing for such a hyped set.

As someone with a somewhat restrictive slush fund, I have to make my Lego purchases very careful choices. For this reason I haven't bought a new set in years, preferring to concentrate on Bricklink orders to enable me to buy exactly the parts I need for my MOCs. All my Technic sets have been bought used and only as and when I've snagged them at favourable prices on ebay or similar. This Porsche will hopefully be the first official set I have bought in years.I think it looks amazing. I'm a big Porsche fan anyway, I really do like the presentation, I like the scale and the features. The price? Well IMO when I look at the price of Lego in general, I don't see it as that out of the ordinary. If I have any gripes it is the following, why add calipers and not some representation of discs? Why on a set of this calibre do we have stickers that we know will degrade and not printed parts, and lastly, and this applies to all Technic sets, why oh why can Lego not produce more of the smaller parts, pics and such like in specific colours to blend in more easily? How many times have we seen blue, red and tan pins blighting the visual aesthetics of an otherwise impressive set? Is it really too much to ask for some pins to have been made in orange for this set? They have the mould, and the raw material, it would have looked so much better. The same also applies to gears and suchlike, why bright red and yellow gears, surely grey would have looked so much more 'technical' and appropriate. I can't do much about the blue half pins visible on the body, I guess replacing them with light bley might make them stand out less, as will some other part substitutions in the chassis, It would also be nice as some have said to try and fill the void under the headlights in some way, and maybe graft in some brake discs, small details perhaps, but these are the things where I feel TLG have not excelled. As for the colour? I love it. Orange is my favourite colour anyway, and looks perfect on the GT3, I can't think of a better choice.

Hi, many thanks for all the kind comments. I'm glad people like what I've done. Regarding the photography, what you see here is a mix of two lots of pictures, some taken by me with just a basic point and shoot small digital camera in normal daylight, and some taken by a friend of mine with expensive fancy kit, lighting, silver umbrellas and heaven knows what else. I also don't know what if anything he did after taking the pics before sending them to me. It took me 18 months before someone was able and willing to come to mine and take some 'decent' pictures, much of the reason that although finished over 2 years ago, this creation has only just been made public. I will never be able to take such high quality pictures myself, I just don't have the kit, nor do I have the money to get such kit. I suspect I'm not alone in this situation. Yes I realise that such lovely presentation really does help, but I do question whether as a hobby we're starting to worry more about the presentation and photography than the actual Lego. Also I think it's worth pointing out that those of us that build big, further compound the issue, it's relatively simple to take really good pictures of small vignettes and groups of figures, quite another thing when the build is as substantial as this. Personally a bunch of figures on a 16x16 and surrounded by a few dozen bricks, rocks of some foliage does nothing for me. Such things can be turned out in minutes, and IMO show little of the builders skill, should we not as a hobby be encouraging those who really 'build', rather than criticising their lack of photography skills or equipment?

Wow! 201 views and not a single reply. Good job I build for myself and not to score points on a forum.

Castle Number 2, that's a strange title for a thread, well yes, a bit I guess, but I didn't really know what else to put. A few years ago I built a castle, I posted it here: http://www.eurobrick...11&hl=beelzibus It was pretty well received I think, and here is the 2nd castle. Some 4 years later. It actually was built over a one year period and has been finished about 2 years now, it's just taken this long to get some half decent pictures and post it up for all to see. So First off a couple of overall pictures to show you the general lay of the land. SAM_0032 by Andy, on Flickr SAM_0024 by Andy, on Flickr SAM_0036 by Andy, on Flickr OK so overall size is 132 studs long by 100 studs deep. Top of the highest tower is 70 bricks tall. As with my first tower, every room is fully furnished, and you can gain access either by lifting a roof off or removing a wall panel. Also all rooms correctly lead off another room, stairs or corridor, there are no strange situations where a room couldn't actually be accessed if it were real. The portcullis and draw bridge are remote controlled using PF components, there's a gearbox in the room above the gatehouse, one motor controls both, and functions are switched by moving the flagpole on the inner wall. I think the rest is probably self explanatory. SAM_0046 by Andy, on Flickr SAM_0045 by Andy, on Flickr Castle Fleet (43 of 43) by Andy, on Flickr Castle Fleet (42 of 43) by Andy, on Flickr Castle Fleet (41 of 43) by Andy, on Flickr SAM_0021 by Andy, on Flickr Castle Fleet (19 of 43) by Andy, on Flickr Castle Fleet (9 of 43) by Andy, on FlickrCastle Fleet (8 of 43) by Andy, on Flickr Castle Fleet (6 of 43) by Andy, on Flickr Castle Fleet (11 of 43) by Andy, on Flickr Castle Fleet (12 of 43) by Andy, on Flickr Castle Fleet (22 of 43) by Andy, on Flickr I have some more pics of other details I'll post up in a bit.

Fantastic job, I love the way that all the ordinarily grossly oversized minifig and Bellville/Scala fig accessories actually for the most part are in scale!

Sorry I've had a busy few days and not had time to get on here. When you say the towing lines being far apart, do you mean in length? If so it's something that frustrates me, no matter how many times I adjust them they always seem to go out of sync.

I have some, I always figured they weren't as good under increased angles. I shall have a play. Thanks for your comments. Regarding axles bending, yes sheer weight I think, shame but little I think can be done. Yes, at the rear certainly, I think again I should obtain some and have a play. Thanks for your kind words. Clear foil, that sound interesting, I shall have a google. Cheers. Thank you. Yes I particularly like the rear suspension and the use of the Bionicle piece, shame they only come in Dark grey. I wish I could find who's idea it was it's a work of art. The number of times this truck has been built and rebuilt is astronomical, one slight change internally means a whole lot of stripping down, and rebuilding, and, if it doesn't work, do it all again. I think I tried maybe 6 or 7 front axle/steering designs. Thanks for the compliments, it means a lot coming from you, I love your work.

Do you mean http://alpha.bricklink.com/pages/clone/catalogitem.page?P=32494#T=C and http://alpha.brickli...age?P=92906#T=C

The earlier steering set up was rack and pinion, getting two working in unison and with suspension was the issue for me, I ended up with about six UJs, play was a big issue.

You came up with some great ideas that helped me fix issues I'd been working on for way way too long. So thank you.

Thank you. Your comments are appreciated. Thanks for the compliment Nick. From you it means a lot. I've always enjoyed your work. I think your last comment is the crux, PF just wasn't designed to do this. I have tried the steering, on the move, it makes no difference. The earlier set up I had was fine as long as the truck was rolling, but the two axles weren't syncronised enough due to play in the various joints, and there was no front suspension, something I really wanted to add. When I saw the 42043 steering I figured that would fix both problems, but it's created another. As for drive, well separating the two axles isn't an option, although I see how that should improve things. I've tried looking at changing gear ratios, but I'm so confined for space I keep coming up with dead ends. Maybe one day I'll have a brainwave and come up with a solution.

Thank you for your kind words. I'm afraid taking pictures of small stuff indoors is not my strong point. Landscapes, cars, all OK, but models, no sorry. I did have a friend with some professional photography kit take some pictures a while back, but I don't want to push him timewise, I know he's very busy, and since those pictures were taken I've changed quite a bit, so they're not really relevant. If I can figure out improvements to the drive and steer functions they'll be more rebuilding.......Is a project ever really finished?

Stickers isn't something I'd even considered, I shall have to give it some thought. I think you might be right that it could add something aesthetically. How would I make custom stickers that look good?

The issue with the steering is that the sheer weight of the truck creates enough friction between tyres and ground to overcome the clutch, replace the clutch with a normal gear and it crunches the gears. Thank you. It was my intention to make it look as little like Lego as possible.

Thank you for the kind words, in truth I don't feel I'm being hard on myself, I just feel that credit should be given where credit is due. But let's face it, there's not much in the way of entirely new ideas in life, it's just how you put them together I guess.

Some more pictures, this time of it semi naked. P1050579 by Andy, on Flickr P1050580 by Andy, on Flickr P1050581 by Andy, on Flickr P1050582 by Andy, on Flickr The rear suspension: P1050584 by Andy, on Flickr P1050585 by Andy, on Flickr And front: P1050588 by Andy, on Flickr P1050589 by Andy, on Flickr

Wow, thank you very much. The white has been a burden, some parts have discoloured before my eyes it's been that long on the bench! Sorry the photo's are not so clear. As for HOF, I think I've got a way to go yet. But thanks anyway. Perhaps when every feature works 100% Thanks, I did a four axle fully studless truck a few years back, getting a more realistic look was paramount with this one.

P1050532 by Andy, on Flickr I first started this about three years ago, played around for a few months building a cab and a basic chassis with the rear axles, and a boom, which is where I really got stuck and at that point I shelved the idea and went off and built a huge castle. (http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/320146) Then another. (Not yet published) A few months ago I came back on here and spotted the blue masterpiece of Dikkie Klijn. It inspired me to look again at the whole towtruck idea and really looking to enhance my building skills I purchased Dikkie's instructions and with those, and much more research online looking at various expert technic builders creations I started again. P1050533 by Andy, on Flickr P1050538 by Andy, on Flickr P1050570 by Andy, on Flickr Whilst I make no qualms about having copied various construction methods and design aspects from a number of builders, Dikkie, Sariel, Marek, Ingmar and of course TLG themselves, I believe that overall there's enough of 'me' in the model to warrant showing it. My truck isn't based on any particular truck, however I hope it's clear that Peterbilt's featured highly in my. Basic specs are as follows: 5 axles, the front two steer together, the middle axle can be lifted and lowered, the two rear axles are driven. Both the two front axles are independently sprung, as are both the rears. The front axle design is based on that of 42043, the rear axle's I certainly copied from someone else, and added springs, but it's so long ago I'm not sure who. I'd like to know in order to give credit. P1050573 by Andy, on Flickr P1050572 by Andy, on Flickr P1050583 by Andy, on Flickr The crane's roots were taken from the blue truck of Dikkie Klijn, however it's modified in various ways, not least of all the main body below the boom which is all scratch built. Just one cable travels through the turntable to operate all the booms functions, this does mean that the boom can slew over 360 degrees. Within the main body is an IR receiver, a position switch and a extension cable allowing me to use an old style 9V cable to operate the emergency flashing light bar on top which contains 4 pairs of 4771. The only issue I have with the crane part of the truck is the time involved in lifting the boom, it works fine but takes a ridiculous 4.5 minutes to elevate fully from the down position. I've tried gearing it to speed it up, but then it can't lift at all and just crunches gears. P1050562 by Andy, on Flickr P1050563 by Andy, on Flickr P1050564 by Andy, on Flickr P1050565 by Andy, on Flickr P1050551 by Andy, on Flickr (Yes there is an errant black bent liftarm in there, awaiting a Bricklink order to rectify.) The forward outriggers were of course influenced by Marek's, but without instructions I was on my own with the actual mechanism that extends them from the body. The rears are very simple pneumatic rams, hidden within the tail section of the truck. P1050560 by Andy, on Flickr P1050561 by Andy, on Flickr The rear spec lift is again based on Dikkie's design, but heavily modified. P1050570 by Andy, on Flickr P1050556 by Andy, on Flickr The compressor for the pneumatics is within the sleeper cab, as is the L motor for the steering. P1050543 by Andy, on Flickr Drive is by 2 x XL motors,spec lift by one M motor. Cab slew is an L motor, boom lift is an M motor, 3rd axle is lifted by an M motor, forward outriggers are extended by an M motor, Boom extension and winches are also both run by M motors. Two pairs of PF lights are used for the headlights, one for the tailights. P1050536 by Andy, on Flickr P1050569 by Andy, on Flickr Overall it is 85cms long and 19cms wide, and weighs just over 6kg and here we have the bane of my life for the last three months and the reason I've only just bothered to show my creation, the thing is just too heavy for it's own good. Whilst the drive and steering work fine as mechanisms in themselves, once the weight of the truck is on the ground, they just can't cope. Drive just creates lots of clicking from the geartrain and the clutch pulley just spins on the steering. The limitations of Lego. Despite the obvious failure in the drivetrain as mentioned above, I'm still very pleased with the truck, I've spent a huge amount of time getting the details and style right, and I'm very pleased with it. I'd love to see it working fully though, so welcome any discussion on improvements that can be made. I can in due course add more detailed pictures and information about the various mechanisms involved. Thank you for all those inspirational builders that have provided ideas and techniques that have helped me in this build.

Looking really nice.

Oh I see, so the racks teeth themselves aren't used. No wonder I couldn't see any gear train for them. I guess the pulley is at the very end of the boom then is it, to allow for full extension. Is it just the weight of the boom that retracts it when the rope is wound back in?

Looking fantastic, and I'm amazed at how well it's lifting that weight. I can't quite see how the boom is being raised though, can you explain please. Cheers.

Yes I spotted that last night and my brain promptly exploded. i need some time to get my head around that one. It defies belief.

Ah, so basically Sariel's Shifting mechanism, but applied to two shafts each with one or more driving rings, correct? So whereas the two shafts in Sariel's box are interlocked in various ways to effect ratio changes between input and output, in this case the two shafts are separate and each driving ring is operating a pair of functions separate from any other. I think that makes sense. I'd love to see some pictures.