LordsofMedieval

One of the nice things about these engines is that they dispense with a lot of the complexities inherent in a lot of other steam locomotives from Britain. For example: 1) the firebox is completely simple, 2) there's no angling at all on the boiler, and 3) the running boards are actually located above the drivers (thus eliminating the need for whatever unsatisfying solution to the 'fender problem' you decide to go with). To the best of my knowledge, the B1s were only painted in black during the BR era. And I'm not a fan of black when it comes to British locomotives (why squander the opportunity for color)? However, I don't like the LNER green, either. So... dark red it is. The main driving wheels are slightly over-sized - I used inverted #11s as stand-ins, but they'd be #12s on the actual model. It's a tiny difference, but means that they would actually fit (instead of barely clipping, as in the photos). I can't do pipe work in Stud.io to save my own life... so there's nothing but the straight portions of the handrails. Also, I did not do the 1% angle on the cylinders. It would have been nice, but I ultimately concluded that stability was more important that a tiny detail that the vast majority of people will overlook anyway. Without going into too much detail, because of the gap under the front of the smokebox, there's no way to affix the front frame to the boiler - it has to be connected to the rest of the engine back by the drivers. Thus, incorporating angled cylinders was going to weaken that connection to such a degree that I would have to sacrifice several other details just to achieve that one. Interestingly, the model is under 1,000 pieces, which I think is really, really economical for a tender locomotive.

Love the coloring with this.

I think if I get the thing - which is my no means certain - I actually might smash the coaches into one car. They wouldn't be great then, but the proportions would be a little more realistic.

Mm... tough call. I think I meant the former, but the latter is applicable, too, I suppose. I don't like Macs, personally, but I actually think the styling of the train is neat.

The real-world thing looks like the Macbook of trains.

I don't really go in for 6-wide, but I appreciate that, as a price-saving measure, it's a good play scale for Lego. And I actually think the pending 76423 "Hogwarts Express & Hogsmeade Station" might be their best effort ever on a steam train in this scale (this includes Emerald Night). Note: Correct number of wheels on the tender and locomotive. Properly angled front frame. Cylinders that at least try to capture the flared form of the source. Good tender shaping, with at least decent proportions compared to the engine (and it's not a two-wheel tender!). A train composed of more than one coach. Very strong balance between boiler and wheel size. An actual effort made to hide the flanges on the first and third driving wheels (le gasp!). Use of the small 'mine cart' wheels on the lead bogie to make the drivers look larger. Proper cab shaping. I don't think the coaches are their best work, but the fact that this is an engine, station, train, and stretch of track easily makes this one of the most complete railroading sets they've ever released (right up there with the Magic Kingdom one). It's without a doubt the most play-friendly Hogwarts Express Lego has released (including the $500 variant), but I think, for the reasons listed above, it might just be their best steam train ever. Thoughts?

This was always my go-to ship in TIE Fighter. Jesus I'm old :L.

Love the circular element to the tower. I so wish Lego wasn't so expensive. Even a 'small' castle like this has to be 3k+ pieces, and thus over a thousand dollars. It's magnificent, but out of reach for so many of us.

I don't know why, but this reminds me a ton of the port buildings in the Anno games.

When I literally cannot tell it's not a Cobi product - with all their ultra-custom, one-off pieces - you know it's an immaculate military build. Superb. You really shoulder consider selling instructions.

At its highest echelons, Lego is a hobby for perfectionists. And you can see that on Eurobricks. People who put in maximum effort draw the highest attention for their creations (and, generally speaking, you can tell when someone has done literally everything they can to get as close to true shape as possible). Now, that's not true of the for-kids general Lego releases - flaws there are fine. But with big, exclusive, highly visible, almost-certainly-intended-for-AFOLs UCSs sets like this, yes, I would expect it to be a concern for Lego; I expect them to put in their best effort. And this isn't.

It's just a chonker. It looks like an X-Wing that's spent 2 months on a cruise, doing little else than 'patrolling' the buffet table. Couple this with the goofy engines which aren't just a little oversized, but are probably half again as large as they should be, and the wings opening almost twice as wide as the prototype, and this thing is a solid fail. It always amazes me when Lego drops the ball on a big, expensive set like this - especially one where there are so many references to what the object they are creating should look like (and so many fan-based MOCs that use fewer pieces to achieve staggeringly better results). Supposedly, Lego designs go through a multi-stage review process before they even get to the internal play/build testing phase. So... what happened here? Did every single middle management type just nod and say "good enough"...? Because this isn't good enough - not for that part count AND licensing AND what they're asking for it.

I'll be honest - I think this X-wing is a terrible effort. The engines are too large and aren't positioned correctly when the wings are open; the 'crack' running the length of the nose is too obvious for the minor shaping payoff; the nose itself is proportionally just wrong - its chunky and cartoonist. Frankly, this is a horrible job.

The only issue is that it rides as high as the locomotive. I'd make an effort to drop it by a plate or two. ... then again, the proportions of the Lego engine are so wonky, it probably doesn't matter.

Okay, I love this, but did anyone else immediately see: NINJAGO CITY - ELVEN WARD...?

This is great. Only problem being that a number of the parts - looking at windows, especially - don't exist in these colors. You could probably fudge a lot of it by just doing another paint scheme/railroad, but, like, the little triangular side windows?... would probably need to be reevaluated. I dunno why, but Lego is ridiculously stingy when it comes to clear pieces...

Boy, that really takes the American concept of the tender dog house to another level. Those smoke deflectors are great.

At least it should keep the dust away. That's my biggest complaints about this big Lego sets - they become dust magnets, and it's nearly impossible to keep them clean (or to get the stuff off).

I like this a lot - it's simple, yet feels very vibrant. Wish you could have worked in one of the craters, though.

I find myself wishing there was one prominent palm tree. Otherwise spectacular.

Thanks. Thanks. Kind of at a loss as to what to do next, though, honestly.

I'm at my parents', so stud.io isn't an option. You can see the weird driver spacing in the prototype photos. The real thing went through a succession of tenders: medium, big, and then enormous vanderbilt. Sadly, while I was really hoping this would use a minimal number of parts, it wound up being about 1,800 pieces like pretty much every steam engine I do. Oh well.

I had not seen this, but it is lovely.

Okie, many thanks!