1974

Well, the flexible tubes are made of rubber I guess? I have a bunch of those racks as well (in yellow, though) and they do feel different than 'brick ABS' .. I don't mind the yellowing on grey bricks as I use a lot of them for Castle/Space MOCs and it just makes them look old and battered. I like that Blue however is irritating me as I've been trying to MOC a modular building with a lot of arches (which can only be found in old sets) and I cannot seem to buy any that looks okay Yellowed white bricks I just throw out, unless it's superspecial parts

I'm not sure about that. I've recently bought a large collection of LEGO from the early '80s up to the late '80s. On some of the sets the white/grey have gone quite yellow. But not all. The seller, which I know/trust 100%, says ALL the sets have been carefully played with (I know, I just put a Blacktron base together and it was _mint_) and stored wisely. The yellowing seems to have hit random sets though .. Wierd?! I'm definitely not worried about parts being stuck together for a long time. Stickers might disintegrate depending on what type they are. I don't use them either, but they an be a pain to remove once they've started to fall apart

Vinegar seems to do the trick : http://www.brickwarrior.com/?p=1 However it seems to be very labour intensive. Put the set out in garage with your spacerocket and I'm sure you'll get a much better and famliar smell

Hello there I collect catalogues, posters and other paper bits. Everytime I make an BL order I allways check if the seller has something interesting in that regard My main interest is anything from about '78 to '90. Large catalogues, and special Town/City, Train, Castle, Space and Technic mini catalogues is what I got. Also some Action/Adventures stuff from '90 to '00. Primarily stuff released in the EU (I try to buy only UK Large Catalogues, btw) I know there are several sources for these online, peeron.com being the main one. However, the quality vary greatly at peeron.com and I sometimes have problems displaying all pages (server overload?) So, I'm thinking about doing high quality scans and uploading my collection. I know I have several bits, mostly Train and Technic + posters that I cannot find online anywhere Would this be a worthwhile effort? I can place them on a server with no bottleneck at all (benefit of my daily work) Would 800x600px do? I would prefer that (posters might go 800x1200/1600px) This is not a trick to get viewers to my site as there is no ads and I get nothing financial out of it I just got these catalogues which I treasure dearly. They give me great inspiration, the dioramas are wonderfull and TLG have in the past created magnificient sets that easily can rival anything you can buy today. I'd like that for all to see Silly idea? What do you think?

Blackbird, Technic have always been in the very back of all large (EU) catalogues since the beginning of eh, large catalogues. They all follow the same timeline; starting with Duplo/Basic/pre-teen sets and ending with the more advanced (late)teen sets. Makes sense There have been several Technic only catalogues in the past (I'm a catalogue collector, btw), but it seems TLG have stopped that a long time ago

Thank you Blackbird I didn't think of the air compression. I'll look into the examples you've mentioned Edit : My outriggers works pretty well vertically, they don't bend much even with a 5kg load. But I do not use beams, but a lot of bricks (which is doable on this scale), so I'll try to use the old school pneumatic actuators when the arrive. Video will follow ...

Not quite true. Transformers can only convert AC voltage to another AC voltage. Transformers as such are not regulated, but will give their rated output voltage at the rated load. A much smaller load (or none) will give a rise, sometimes up to 20%, in voltage A PSU, which is a transformer with a rectifierbridge, smoothing capacitor and - but not always - a voltage stabilizing curcuit is something different

You still need suspension and connecting points for the motor, even if the wheels are directly (and thus not suspended) connected to the motor. Also, if you get it to drive 50kmp you still get a lot wear on the steering wheels and all other parts. Might work for a day or two, but don't enter any RC competition. And it'll be outta (LEGO IR) reach in a split second btw LEGO is NOT comparable to real RC cars with current parts. It never will be. TLG have to design a boatload of new parts for that to happen. And then it'll still be poorly performing and very expensive if they do (and they wont, they did have _real_ RC cars a few years ago btw. They sucked) And the real RC guys will still laugh We are still waiting for that flying helicopter and the massive plane (wazzup Carsten?) to lift off LEGO is not about that. We can have tons of mechanical (and electrical/pneumatic) functions in many weird variations, combined with wonderfull unique designs that you _don't_ find in real RC world. Let's explore that ... imho that is

Thanks, DK boys But I'd rather not use the lever principle. I'd like the outrigger to go out .. then down. If it's not possible with pneumatics (I only have the new modern versions with inlet/outlet, waiting for bunch of the old ones, so I can MOC) I'll have to use gearracks for the downward movement (doable at this scale) or LAs (would not like to) .. hmm .. Matias, why can't it lift itself with the outriggers extended, is that a weakness in the extension? I'm planing to build rather hefty horizontal brickbuild extenders that I'm sure will not fold/stall under the weight Where is the weak point, if I may ask? The video shows exactly what I want to do

4,5V/12V had the really nice track side structures, imho, but they can be used with just about any track option Go PF unless you got loads of money (<- who are we kidding, LEGO trains in any variety is expensive!) ..

Thanks, that's what I want to hear. I could phrase it another way, how much force can a LEGO pneumatic actuator generate? I really didn't think of that, doh. Is there a website similar to Philo's motor survey regarding pneumatics? Edit : Found such a site : http://www.techbricks.nl/My-pneumatic-LEGO-projects/pneumaticlegolawsphysicsii.html But I'm afraid that went over my head

Hi there I'd like some feedback on what you think is the best outrigger design? I don't have much experience with (modern) LEGO versions as I only have the 8110 Unimog (which is perfect, but manual) and the 8069 Backhoe (don't remember that one as I bought a bunch just for parts) Working on a large truck chassis (4x double 3739c01 wheels at the back, 4x 3739c01 steerable (<- is that a word?) at the front) which will probably weigh around 3-4 kgs. Not sure what goes on the top .. maybe a crane ... My idea is to use brickbuild gearrack motorcontrolled outriggers for the horizontal movement and pneumatic actuators (4688c01 as I only want one inlet) for the downward movement. I will use a compressor for the pneumatics, but would an (or several) airtanks be an advantage here? I'm wondering if four of those 4688c01 can push up 3-4 (or more) kgs? Bad idea? I'd luv some feedback and pointers to great MOCs that do the same or better Also, would like to know what is regarded as the best TLG designed (manual) outriggers I'm really only interested in outriggers that perfom well and can actually lift the vehicle. My 855 is somewhat lacking in this regard Thank you in advance Cheers, Ole

I'd like to add, that this welding territory! If something goes wrong, you may easily end up with a bunch of plastic in flames - DO TAKE CARE!! (Especially indoors) Also, LEGO will never aproach even a cheap Tamiya RC car, due to lack of bearings and structual integrity (plus proper RC control). LEGO will wear out fast with hotrodded batteries and motors. It might be better to just abandon ship and jump to _real_ RC cars. They too are somewhat modular/constructable/diy

9V batteries have a rather high internal resistance and are not good for high current needs. They work great for stuff like monorail, but I'm not sure I'd use them for Technic motors Here's a good site/list regarding internal battery resistance : http://www.learningaboutelectronics.com/Articles/Battery-internal-resistance

Can't answer that but I did notice the new 42006 only has ONE (actually two of them) 1x1 round plate used for lights. There are no other System parts nor Technic bricks (well, there's one 1x6 brick, but that's a spare used when it's motorised) So, if one doesn't put on the light, the 42006 would be made entirely out of Technic liftarms, pins, bushes, gears etc ... not a brick or plate in sight. Haven't noticed that on any other Technic set as there allways seem to be quite a few System/Technic bricks tucked away somewhere

Great! 'Cept the music, that is beyond suck

The 4360 combined with and old school black pin was my favourite UZI type of shooter for my Technic figs .. I also never had my space guys fighting each other. They were too busy flying around and exploring the vast outer space Blacktron came about just when I entered my dark age, but I never saw them as bad guys. I do not remember the Space Police vs Blacktron at all as I had totally droped out of LEGO by then Blacktron was just the new _very_ cool kid on the block and damn I wanted them back then ... Many years later I've bought the lot (actually quite a lot as I now have a Blacktron base that takes up a couple of square meters) and my me and my son enjoys it very much. They're still not bad guys ;) Also bought the 70704 just to check out the new theme, but .. meh ..

It's a huge pile of black bricks because the tower actually is a huge pile of black bricks. TLG is spot on Also, huge pile of bricks costs money. And as the reviewer has pointed out it's actally pretty good value Not many figs, but not all of us care about that anyway My only complaint is that the tree thing does not look much like anything in the movies (I'm not a fan of this franchise at all, but I just looked at some youtube clips of the films with my son and we both thought the tree was way off .. but probably fun to play with) Great set and great review, but if I have to pay that amount of money I'm probaly gonna pick up the DS instead Edit : quoting went bonkers ..

But this is maybe just how long it actually takes TLG to make an idea into reality? The Technic competiotion took about the same time and themes like China etc probably takes a couple of years That said, the set looks lame and out of date. It will probaly sell in the same amount as the last CUUSOO sets. Which is not a lot. I really do not understand why TLG do this. CUUSOO really is a strange fish ..

Do you have evidence of that, Mr. Bill? I'm not really sure it keeps TLG 'awake' as they much bigger than their competitors, Apple is not Anyway, LEGO=Kleenex, we just have to get used to that I remember I had to really pursade my parents to buy me a Tente set (on vacation in Spain, that stuff hardly reached Denmark) as it was not 'LEGO' .. Things are going swell for TLG in the upper part of EU, not so well in the lower They should be (and most probably are) very carefull. It _is_ a luxury toy and will probably suffer quite a bit from the current economic crises

Nice review, very good design. Now, is this fancy new yellow the same as the old cool/bright yellow? Has anybody compared parts? I really do not trust TLG on this matter

It may have been a different time, but that's not a reason for the TLG not to introduce whatever (sub)theme they like Current wars? TLG doesn't do that AQ and GS sucks. Hard. I'm not just an old nostalgic fool, I have a young son as well. He _MUCH_ prefer CS to any of those two It's just a bunch of not cool flying things (not even proper spaceships) and vehicles shooting up baddies .. Even kids get tired of that

This is too far out. They should use their very expensive education for something worthwhile Also, this seems to have been picked up by every major danish newspaper

I love panels. Just bought another couple of hundred. I'm sure I've read somewhere that a TLG designer said something along the lines of; "panels are actually not cheaper than the same amount of bricks, but makes it easier to build" .. can't seem to find the quote right now though .. TLG's use of panels started in 1978 with the Homemaker houses I really like the two classic castle panels (with or without printing) but highly dislike the rest (too many to list) The yellow castle does not use panels and thus have a very high part count compared to sets of that era This is getting OT and should maybe be split oof so we can talk more about it?

I've been on a huge space/castle trip recently and bought a lot of classics .. I much rather prefer good looking bricks than the 'right' ones. I've managed to pick up some nice stuff with boxes. Boxes, for those sets, are luvly - and important - to me. They provide really nice pics of alternative builds and it's just so much fun to open a 'new' set than to open a bag of various pieces So, no, I wouldn't fret over a 1x6 plate not being the right one. I just want a good one I've done the oxy treatment on some bricks, but only if they're rare/important. Discoloured bricks I just through out Beware though, the gold on spacemen/bricks do NOT like the oxy! Printed castle bricks seem to survive