Plumber

Designed round this part which Cada developed to get round wave shifter copying issues with input from people on this forum (Efferman? others?) https://decadastore.com/products/cada-gearbox-jq9016

I think that was exactly the point I made in my subsequent paragraph so on that we agree. Also I don't believe anyone here has disputed TLG's right to protect its trademarks etc.so on that we also agree! The fact that the general populace are ignorant of these events does not change my opinion that if they *were* made aware they would consider the behaviour of TLG in pursuing this minow to such a level to be excessive. Once again we agree, TLG will not give two hoots about the source of the money per se, but, given our lack of any other voice it is the one way that we can demonstrate that some of their most ardent fans are not happy with their attitude. Exactly why HA Bricks was no threat to TLG. Having achieved a judgement on the trademark they could have stopped there like the bigger person but they instead chose to be vindictive, that is what I find so distasteful. I guess we will have to agree to differ on this aspect.

I guess we will never know for sure the full details of how this dispute evolved to the point of this result. Evidently the Dutch legal system agreed that HA Bricks was 'sailing too close to the wind' in law. Just as evidently, to the man in the street, HA Bricks represented no real risk of litigation, reputational loss or financial loss to TLG, in reality probably quite the opposite. On that basis I agree completely with the opinion: ' Just because they can doesn't mean they should' TLG's behaviour here seems wildly out of proportion.TLG make a big thing out of being a good corporate citizen and moral organisation that refuses to promote aggression (no military sets), In my opinion this action is completely at odds with that policy regardless of how intransigent HA bricks MAY have been. Since AFOL's as a whole and niches within our community in particular have little chance of any noticeable effect on TLG by ceasing to purchase Lego, the only way I can see to make our point is to put our money where our mouths are and contribute to the crowd fund (which I have just done). This may demonstrate to TLG in the only terms they (and their lawyers) understand, our disapproval of the punitive action they have taken against a co-participant in our hobby. Perhaps I could also suggest to those like FX bricks and Bluebrixx etc. that have profit making business in this area, that there is a business case to show solidarity here in a financial manner.

Being very picky with regard to the rolling stock - second class was abolished on UK railways within a few years of their creation (no demand, you were either well to do or poor and it wouldn't be do to be seen mixing!) leaving just first and third class. Cream and choc is a GWR livery with LNER using varnished teak coaching stock in the heydey or since your loco is in British Rail (brunswick) green with Kylap chimney and smoke deflectors putting firmly in later years then Blood and Custard or all over maroon would be the more likely coach colour! I like the firebox shaping on the loco - I might have left out the lower handrail for a smoother line as it is very lightweight irl. Being picky again most of the loco's life under nationalisation it carried alternative numbers (and at least three colours inc blue) so 4472 is probably not right in that colour

You never forget your first time :-) Gotta be 850 (950) I opened on my seventh birthday, life changing. Have your clunky Meccano back dad and I no longer cared that my lil' bruv had chewed all the lugs on my Fischer Technik this was the future and the future was bright. (Yellow) 853 the following year just confirmed the delight and provided enough parts to fuel my imagination for years of MOCing until was old enough for paper round to finance more 'Technical Lego' (8846 tow truck deserves honourable mention for a small set PACKED with functions) The 8888 ideas book was almost as exciting as a new set, I remember delighting my Grandmother during her final months in hospital with the walking, nodding dog (she was the source of the birthday largess!) The truck suspension with springs from a pin, three 3651 axle and pin connectors and a no 6 axle made good use of the elastic bands from my hated orthodontic braces and still demonstrate how ingenuity gives so much more satisfaction than single use parts. And the programmable crane and pen trace shows just why Lego is best enjoyed without a smart phone! Am I showing my age??

Eighteen months of fevered speculation, rumour and build up and this is what TLG come out with! Really?!?! And they have the nerve to ask almost £600. Least they could have done is include another couple of feet of boom. Its not really that different to 42042 except that a large proportion of the pieces are single use only - very disappointing TLG

I had a quick look when I saw it appear - it seems to only be a list of sets with no other functionality - no parts or other breakdown(yet anyway). As such its utterly useless to me and seems out of kilter with the whole function of BL which (for me at least) is a place to buy parts ie individual bricks. I'll continue with Basebrick thank you very much!!

As others have mentioned, I use strimmer cord with great success and cut the grooves with a basic (cheap) coaxial cable stripping tool similar to this https://cpc.farnell.com/duratool/d01696/rg58-59-coax-cable-stripper-sat/dp/TL09767?mckv=s_dc|pcrid|491022676302|kword||match||plid||slid||product|TL09767|pgrid|45804914126|ptaid|pla-923429536204|&CMP=KNC-GUK-CPC-SHOPPING-945678466-45804914126-TL09767&s_kwcid=AL!5616!3!491022676302!!!network}!923429536204!&gclid=Cj0KCQjwyOuYBhCGARIsAIdGQRMJI-feBWkZ198g8IZlzVkBgQqMCR_ZdaXpUQPD57FY1bvmDnet-ZMaAss-EALw_wcB

Thanks - learning to load the ldraw file to Studio was my next move and now I don't even have to hunt it out

Hi There, Can anyone give any physical sizes (in studs, mm or inches) for this piece https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=31625&C=7#T=S&C=7&O={"color":7,"iconly":0} Also can anyone confirm the axles are larger than standard technic? I've tried all the usual places Bricklink/owl/set Peeron, rebrickable with no luck Thanks

I use Basebrick - www.basebrick.com - setup by sets or parts will import your bricklink orders too if not a set buyer.

But the output shafts would turn opposite directions!

Hi Lok24 I understand that the C+ app existed with the relevant Technic sets from their launch, but the Powered up App did NOT and therefore it was not possible for MOC's using powered up elements to be controlled by a TLG produced app, the late arrival of the powered up app and its miserable level of documentation was a well discussed matter of dissatisfaction at the time (and I think still leaves a sour taste for many), but you kinda miss my point, even though the Powered up app now exists, as far as TLG is concerned, it's STILL the worlds best kept secret - there is quite simply no information (technical or marketing or otherwise) about it from TLG, if you don't know it exists you'll never find out from TLG! Why should I have to hunt round the internet for posts from persons such as yourself and Racing Brick (amongst others) to find basic information about this - its akin to selling sets with no instructions and waiting for the AFOL community to produce them - quite unbelievable. Maybe I'm wrong and have just not searched diligently enough? Can you point me to any technical documentation from TLG for the Powered up app? Comprehensive inventory of motors, hubs and sensors? Compatibility of different hubs and ancillaries with apps? Small prime hub, small angular motor, most of the sensor range - off the top of my head. I am quite capable of using (and have used) a search function - trouble is it doesn't return the information you would expect (from TLG) as I already pointed out. Kinda my point! All respect to you and your fellows that bother to do the research and get to grips with these products and then make the information available to the community. My main point in my rant is that you shouldn't have to, PU was a chance for TLG to stop this stupid compartmentalisation and secrecy around code driven product particularly as it's now the only game in town and is supposed to be a cross theme integrated hardware. I cannot understand why they do it as it must seriously hurt sales. That's my opinion and I stand by it,YMMV! Actually my little rant above did spur me to have a better look at some of the third party apps for interfacing with PU product - I was particularly impressed with the Pybricks system and will probably get to grips with it in due course to make use of my existing PU motors and hubs - seems an eminently sensible system architecture to me and readily facilitates (TLG) hardware remotes which seems to be a big wish from many AFOL MOCers. I spend my working life fabricating and fixing metal products and my hands are engrained with a patina of copper, zinc and other metals - touch screens quite simply do not work in my hands and with my aging eyesight I really struggle to read a tiny 3 or 4" screen! best regards Simon

I've been playing with lego all 55 years of my life and been a Technical Lego MOC'er since '77. Lego in most of it's guises(themes) is a physical construction toy and gives millions great joy in that capacity. I see the coding based themes (mindstorms etc) as something completely different - its more a competior of things like Raspberry Pi and Arduino. In the very early days the basic programmable controllers were directly compatible with the motors of the day but TLG quickly scr...wed that pooch by introducing completly incompatible hardware/ motors etc at prohibitive prices, as the theme has progressed through Dacta, EV3, Mindstorms, Spike, Prime, Wedo, Boost, RI (never even heard of that one before) the price and the complete opaqueness of the whole product range to the 'normal' Lego buyer has left the product firmly in the preserve of the educational market which TLG seem to deliberately keep 'secret' IMO Even in this arena where one might expect the proponenets of the robotic themes to congregate the number of topics on the robotic theme is negligable and when they do appear those (with a few notable exceptions) physical constructions are quite obviously bare minimum to facilitate the output of the electronics i.e. there is still minimal cross fertilisation between the two. I'm a person who could be tempted into mixing the possibilities of the two - the simple truth is that when I sit down to play Lego I want to relax and finding any information on the robotic themes is just too much bother. TLG treat the whole thing as some big secret. Technical documentation is sketchy ,incomplete and difficult to find. I really don't feel I should need to s[end months of my life distilling basic information from sites like this just to try and decide what works with what and how to start the basics! The powered up line of hardware was a massive missed oppotunity by TLG. It could have been the chance to rationalise the whole sorry mess into a coherant product line with a simple progressive architecture that all branches of the hobby could use and extend as needed/wanted. It could have been so easily made to function in a dumb mode and had some basic accessories to make a drop in, backwards compatible replacement for Power functions, more than sufficient for most AFOLS and kids. Paired with hub products dedicated onboard controller and/or smart devices it could then provide the extended capability that the robotic themes have always done. But no, TLG had to split it into a myriad of different product families, each subtly incompatible with the others in myriad undocumented ways, motors that are family specific (why not studs and pin holes together, at last count I think I found about 5 different PU medium motors though you can never be sure its not the same motor named and numbered differently) and, as ever, no documentation. I was extremely fortunate to receive the Liebherr as a gift. TLG sets haven't cut it for me for decades so I was excited to have a great new parts pack with a raft of powered up product - product that soon had to be consigned to the back of the cupboard as there was simply no way to use it for anything other than Control+ models. I understand from this thread that there is an app now that will facilitate the creation of MOC interfaces for C+ elements. It's not mentioned on lego.com, a search for 'powered up app' there returns this page https://www.lego.com/en-gb/product/motorised-lighthouse-21335 WTF???? Navigating to the PU theme brings up 18 products (which is a pretty incomplete list), 5 of which are just sets with PU motors and most of which is out of stock - no links to software/app or any documentation whatsoever!!?? Lego.com>Discover>Our Apps - Nothing, nada, No C+, no PU, No Boost, No Wedo, no Spike, A quick look on Play store brings up a likely candidate which would *seem* to be the relevant app but is confused in the description which seems to imply that it's a train controller and makes NO mention of any capacity to make custom interfaces v- still NO documentation or links to such, and a pile of p.ss poor reviews that tell us the software is unstable, not compatible with many devices, particularly tablets and Chromebooks where you might prefer to programme if doing anything more than very basic. Sorry TLG this is just too hard and I can't be bothered - the C+ motors can go on Ebay and I'll buy myself some of those PF compatible nice little micromotors from Cada and a couple of Buwizz or S bricks!

Chinese parts of course - Aliexprrss sells nothing else, its a Chinese government sponsored market for Chinese goods! Obviously BL sellers buy from BaP when they can or part out sets - my point is that if TLG stop listing the most desirable (new) parts on BaP then the BL sellers are forced to buy sets to part out - i Don't think it ever has or ever will be in TLG interest to make individual parts a mainstay of their business and their acquisition of BL is just another way to exercise control of the market.

Complete new diff assembly available from Picnic store on Aliexpress for $0.03 each - arrived to UK in 19 days and moulds seem fine and at three cents a pop you can bin them when/if TLG ever list them on PaB. Since TLG now own BL I reckon they don't see a need to put new parts on PaB - they sell sets to the BL stores to part out or you buy the set, either way they sell sets - AFOL's pay or go without!! Also I always felt that the old parts service was so random in stock availability that it was only ever a btw over production disposal service, in Euriope at least, The US always seemed better catered.

The already slow service seems to be getting worse. We are paying much higher 'service' and carriage charges on the new site but my orders from the new site placed 02 Feb 22 and subsequent are still 'in warehouse' almost EIGHT WEEKS later. The new site promised them in 11-15 days , - big banner at top of the page - to make matters worse TLG completely ignore any emails on the subject.It certainly makes a slow boat from China look attractive! The payments system is also all messed up - my order was well over the free shipping threshold and was paid with PP and VIP points combination. When I got the order confirmation TLG had added shipping back onto the price?!?!?! I complained and (a week later) TLG replied that I would not have been charged shipping even though all the emails and website account said it had been. When I checked my pay-pal wallet it turned out that They had taken the cost less points but plus shipping but in two completely random amounts and then three days later refunded the shipping - the documentation still shows an invoice with shipping. So.... I have paid the correct amount in the end (still not sure if the shipping was automatically refunded or because of complaint) but..... I am a private purchaser but what if I was a BL store or a business using Lego??? The invoice is wrong (and they seem unwilling or unable to correct it), the chances of reconciling the random PP transaction amounts with orders would be very challenging if I was ordering more regularly. Come on TLG this is basic stuff, a working e-commerce website and a warehouse that can pick orders in less than eight weeks is that too much to ask? I have always had the impression that TLG never have really wanted to sell bricks out of sets but have thrown us a sop by selling off any overproduction as and when it occurs and that this is the explanation for the random nature of the available parts.

What an impressive set - thanks for the review. Some superb detailing - those benches are superb - but some awful parts as well - the engines bear little or no ressemblence to the real items - could do much better Lego! Still plenty of potential for the enthusiastic owner to improve!

Yes agreed! Thats exactly what I did on both Chromebook and PC - on PC/Firefox it works, on Chromebook/Chrome it doesn't. Wiser minds than mine will have to puzzle that one out

Thanks for your replies folks but I'm stumped. Milan If you do as you say then the picture appears in the reply but then is not there on the board. I've spent a while looking at the FAQ's and pinned topics on the subject - they all seem to show a whole toolbar in the reply box that is not appearing on my screen that includes a button with a tree on it!?!?! What I do get is a drop down in the bottom right of reply box attachment banner 'Insert other media' which gives option to 'insert image from URL' - opens an input box where I put URL but then the 'Inert button does nothing - dialog just sits there. Is it because I'm on a Chromebook that I don't see the proper insert tool? after moving to PC Okay so it seems Chromebook is not compatible with inserting deeplinks as pasting the URL on a PC seems to have done the trick! Does that need rpeorting somewhere?

http://www.simonwillett.co.uk/115 mk 6_2.jpg[/img} lhs https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51294080348_1590b00b52_c.jpg

Hmm - that's irritating the images worked on the practice forum - can this now only be done from Flickr? I thought it should work from any external host

Hello All, First ever model post after coming out of my 30 year dark period. Davies & Metcalfe were a major supplier of braking system components to the rail industry in the post steam years of the BR modernisation program, in the sixties they formed a joint venture with the Swiss company Oerlikon to build a new range of air brake components as this technology started to seriously displace the traditional vacuum braking systems used on British rolling stock. A main stay of this range was the Type 2A115 air compressor modelled here that was/is ubiquitous across the BR fleet of locomotives. The unit is a three cylinder two stage design (2 LP cylinders, 1 HP) with inter cooling with the prime mover being a four pole DC motor: The compressor is built from Technic engine components - the pistons are fitted with o-rings to the grooves and the cylinders are reamed to smooth the moulding undulations, the fluted bricks on top of the cylinders are glued in place - the non return valves on each stage outlets are provided by an original pneumatics 'distribution block' with the LP inlet controlled by the piston covering a port drilled in the bottom of the cylinder - the cylinder design is inspired by Lego Technic Embodiment's LPEs from Technic engine parts. I did experiment with using a pair of pneumatic system pumps and a cylinder but the assembly was too tall and the obviously substantially less realistic a model. I'm fairly happy with the final appearance of the model but the size has exceeded the scale as it has finished about 1:8 - as this model is one of the first parts of a full locomotive 1:8 is somewhat larger than desirable, so its back to the drawing board to try and reduce the model to 1:12 So here is the first stab at the reduced scale - the functional parts are substantially the same but the casing has had to become much more rigid to help offset the lack of crank bearings between cylinders. Pretty rough looking but snot is difficult when the interior has to be functional too! WIP. Would love to get the distribution block back inside the cylinder cowling. Will post a video of it working once the bricks to remove the colour vomit have arrived.

Hi All, My name is Simon from the UK. I'm a fifty something that played with regular Lego as a kid but really got the bug with the start of the Technical Lego theme in the late seventies. College, girls and booze displaced Lego in my late teens and I entered my dark ages! Recent ill health has caused me to retire from my engineering business and left me with freedom to indulge my interest in many things but Lego seems to be becoming dominant! I have resumed collecting Technic and enjoy making functional models but cannot resist 'dressing' them with the hugely increased range of system bricks. I was really taken with Lego Technic Embodiment's LPE's on Youtube and have a major project in mind to take the idea to the next stage. I am looking forward to showing you all my journey. Simon