redryder

I just assembled my 8043 2 days ago for the first time. The turntable worked initially, but after a day something's gone wrong and the turning is extremely slow and sometimes stop like the OP says. I changed fresh batteries and the same problem happens. My turntable is oriented correctly too, the black side is at the bottom. My set is not modded. If I turn the excavator upside down, the turntable rotates perfectly fine, but it slows down and stops once right side up and there is weight on it. Looks like I may have to dismantle the thing and redo it again. Sigh... If I rebuild the model, is there anything I should avoid doing?

I've got another issue now after playing with the set for a while. I put in fresh alkaline batteries, but after about 30 mins of play the turntable rotation has become very slow. Lifting the arm is also slow. The tracks still appear to be moving at the same speed though. Is this normal? Does the set consume batteries so quickly?

Hi guys, After finishing the build, I put in batteries and started playing. That's when I realized I made a mistake building it. When pushing both sticks forward on the remote control, the excavator turns instead. When I push the left stick forward, the right track moves forward. When I push the right stick forward, the left track moves backward instead. So in order to move forward I have to push the L stick front, and the R stick back. This is my first RC technic model, so I'm not sure where I went wrong. Any help would be much appreciated! Edit - Ok, I realized I swopped the contacts on the receiver for right and left, and there's a little switch on the remote to swop the direction of the motor rotation. Problem solved! Great set to play with.

I've used hot water to remove minifigs from magnets. It's safe as long as you have a thermometer and the water temperature doesn't exceed 75 deg Celcius. This guy's blog has detailed instructions - http://thebrickblogger.com/2011/01/lego-glued-magnet-removal/ Apparently the solvent melting point is lower than the minifig plastic's melting point, so as long as you control the temperature well you're fine. Boiling water at 100 deg C is a no-no!!

I presume the retailers return them to Lego? What does Lego do with them? Do they keep the bricks in a giant warehouse? Or melt them down and recycle the plastic?

ced64k, how did you glue the 2x2 white bricks in such straight lines? Any tips to share?

That sounds like a cool idea! thanks!

Thanks everyone for your kind suggestions. As a beginner I don't have many parts or colours for MOC, so I was wondering if I should bother with the Lego software designer. On the one hand, there are no restrictions in terms of parts, but on the other I suspect it would be easier to learn via physical building rather than on the computer. What do you think?

I'm new so bear with me if this question has been asked before. I read a couple of reviews in the forum, and it seems like if a non-technic set has technic parts, the reviewer lists it as a negative. Why is that? For a beginner like me, if a technic part makes a model more interesting or more functional, all the better.

Hi to friends from Malaysia!

Hi guys, I’m new to the forum and the hobby, so please forgive me the question. Are there books or webpages written that teach MOC fundamentals? Kind of like Master Builder Academy, but for AFOLs. MBA is also not available in my country, otherwise I'd buy it in a flash. From looking at instruction booklets, I can kind of figure out a “standard” way of building small cars (4 or 5 stud wide), but anything larger and I’m completely at a loss of how to start. How do people get better at MOC? Does it take a certain type of person or can anyone learn it? Do you learn from friends, or just by looking at other people’s models online? For someone like me, just building models from instruction books doesn’t really help. I’ve built around 20-30 models over the past 3 years and I haven’t learnt much from instruction books. The only skill I developed is building models faster. What would really help a newbie like me would be if someone could explain the creation process and thought process behind their MOC. E.g. why was a particular brick used here, did they build from a photo or use an existing template?

My parents know, cause they see Lego all over the house when they visit. My son leaves them lying around everywhere. My wife used to just tolerate it, but now she's started getting into the hobby after getting hooked on the minifigs series 3 and 4. She hasn't built anything yet, but generally prefers houses and architecture. Friends of the family who have visited my place know, but otherwise my work colleagues don't and I generally don't tell anyone. So basically only those people who have visited my house would know about it.

I vaguely remember playing with the early type minifigs, but don't remember what sets I had as a young child. When I was 9 I received my first large lego set, which I played like crazy. This one - To this day (almost 30 yrs later) I still remember the blue cockpits.

I've only recently started getting into Lego. I don't see myself as a collector, more just a fan. I've bought about 50 sets so far and built 20 of them. The main reason being lack of room in my apartment. My 5 year old son loves playing with the City and Technic sets, and refuses to let me dismantle them! They are either spread out all over his room, or stored together in a big plastic tub. As a result, I'm sure I've lost plenty of parts and minifigs. Once I build my Grand Emporium I don't think I'll let him touch it.

How do you guys separate your parts? Do you only put the identical parts together, or do you combine them? Right now I'm using ziploc bags which I then put in drawers. I'm not separating parts by size though, only type. e.g. I put all plates, regardless of size, together in one bag. I have another bag of car parts - axles of all sizes. A bag of wheels (of all sizes). You get my drift. Am I doing it wrong? It's just that I don't want too many bags otherwise it makes things hard to find.

I love it! Is that a custom minifig of the Doctor? What about the Pond minifig?

Bought the Atlantis Super Pack 4-in-1 set which was on sale for about $75 US.

If anyone played the PC game Wasteland back in the eighties, you might remember that the most powerful gun in the game was the Red Ryder BB gun. I loved that game to pieces.

Speaking as a newbie with no MOC experience, is there a beginner MOC section here? My MOCs look terrible, but I would love feedback on how to improve them.

Unlike most of you, I left Lego in my teens for more than 20 years. It was only 3 years ago when I bought the Road Construction Set 6187 for my son, when I regained interest while building models for him. A few months after that, Toys R Us in Singapore held a massive sale with many sets going for 50-55% off. I ended up spending about US$200 on a couple of city and technic sets, and the more I built, the more I fell in love with Lego again. Good think I was never a star wars fan, otherwise I'd be spending way too much money on Lego.

I see. Many thanks fallenangel309

Thanks Whitefang. I met a couple of fans while queueing in the TRU sale last week and they mentioned you too. By the way, how to send pm in this forum? I have some Singapore specific questions to ask you.

Hi guys, Here’s a quick introduction of myself. I’m 37, male, living in Singapore. I played with Legos as a kid, but only really had one set. It was a rather large Space set, if I recall correctly. Like many AFOLs, I then stopped playing with Lego till about 3 years ago, when I bought a tub for my son. The interest re-ignited while playing with him, and since then I have bought many sets. My son loves Lego City, so the majority of my sets are from there. I like Lego Creator and Technic, and my wife loves the modular buildings and minifigs. I’ve tried doing System MOCs but they look very primitive, like they were created by a child. How do I improve my MOC building skills? It doesn’t help that my son won’t let me dismantle the models because he wants to play with them. I’m seriously running out of room to store these things. When I read the Technic reviews in the forum, a lot of terminology is used to describe gear trains, suspension and so on. Is there a resource for AFOLs to learn about Lego Technic basics? I can follow the instructions when building models, but I don’t really know or understand why I’m doing the steps.