Laura Beinbrech

I'm hoping they have some more Apocalypseburg characters in the CMF series, because my wasteland raiders faction has been sadly neglected for the past several years & needs some love (although I am in the process of making a custom Lord Humungus fig), but some more Classic Space figs would always be welcome. Also, since I brought up my wasteland raider factions, I'm probably going to also be adding the Escape Buggy to my "must buy" list, because if I'm going to have roving bands of Mad Max-style raiders in the wastes, they need rides, which they're sorely lacking right now, and this thing would be a GREAT starting point for making some wasteland raider vehicles (need to festoon it with spikes, guns & maybe some skulls & ragged banners).

I really hope they release some sets with that pigtials hair piece the girl has in redish-brown, because it would be perfect for my new, improved non-minidoll sigfig.

And I'll have to disagree with you, because, aside from Benny's Spaceship and Metalbeard's Sea Cow, which I couldn't afford to get as well as the Spaceship, and one of my biggest regrets as a kid was never being able to afford one of those big o'l Classic Space sets, so I went with that, there was absolutely nothing from that line that interested me whatsoever. I mean what else was in it? Emmet's Construction mech was ok, but not my thing, and it was entirely made out of colors I rarely use, so it was a pass for me, the rest were things like the flying ice cream truck or the flying castle plane thing (which in retrospect was probably the evil harbinger of the Nexo Knights theme) & other stuff that had absolutely zero interest for me, and in most cases (the evil Nexo Knights precursor being the sole exception, since it at least had proper Crown Knights figures in it), the figures that came with the sets didn't appeal to me either. This lineup, on the other hand, has a lot more of the stuff I like, like cool retro-style spaceships & post-apocalyptic vehicles (On a side note, they're not exactly Dieselpunk: Dieselpunk is essentially retro-futurism based on 1920's-40's technology & science fiction: Like how steampunk is based on the works of late 19th century science fiction authors such as HG Wells & Jules Verne, Dieselpunk is based on things like Flash Gordon, the Shadow, the first Tom Swift series, etc. A perfect example of the dieselpunk genre would be the movie Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow, in fact, Sweet Mayhem's Systar Ship would fit nicely in the dieselpunk genre due to how it looks like it came straight out of Flash Gordon or the original 1930's Buck Rogers). Heck, even the figures in this series have far more utility for my (generally post-apocalyptic dieselpunk) builds. So it basically comes down to personal preference. I like minidolls, space stuff & post-apocalyptic stuff, so this of course would appeal more to me than the rather bland (IMO) offerings from the last movie's sets.

I gotta say I'm really impressed with the sets they're releasing with this movie: The first LEGO movie's sets were all pretty "meh" to me, with the single stand-out exception being Benny's Spaceship (which of course was the one set from that series I actually got). This time around there are at least 4-5 sets I would really like to get, and not all of them are Benny/Classic Space related: Yes, I do want both Benny & Emmet's Build & Fix as well as Benny's Space Squad, but I also want Metalbeard's Heavy Metal Trike for modding into an Orcish (Well Ork, since it's going to be based on Warhammer 40K) heavy Warbike, Gen. Mayhem's Systar Ship, Introducing Queen Whatevra Wa'Nabi (mainly for the figs) and possibly Rex's Rexplorer, money willing.

Yeah, after seeing The Technic Gear guy's use of the PF train motor with the large driver wheels on the Toy Story train, I realized I could adapt this method to my 4-6-0 Wasteland Express locomotive as a way to power it as well (I'll have to increase the total length of the locomotive a bit, but that is probably going to be a good thing, since it will look even more like a beefy, steampunk, post-apocalyptic locomotive that way).

Thanks for the info. I think I'll see about downloading & installing Stud.io here in a bit.

Looking really good so far! And thanks for the info about Stud.io... Just out of curiosity, what are the load times for startup & loading model files compared to LDD? I've been thinking about moving from LDD to Stud.io for roughing out/designing MOCs that I don't currently have the bricks for, but have been hesitant due to how clunky the AI of programs like L-CAD & similar that I tried to use before LDD were, not to mention how slow they were in comparison... I do like the fact that Stud.io can tap into BrickLink & give you a price estimate based on the average price for each element used, though.

Lately (as in the past few months), when I play video games, I tend to rotate between Final Fantasy XIV, Battlefield 1, Minecraft & since it just came out, Battlefield V. As a matter of fact, I just finished recording my latest episode of my Wak Ká Muúl Chronicles Minecraft let's play series & should hopefully have it edited & uploaded sometime either tonight or tomorrow morning...

Slight update to this topic & the first post: I recently discovered that LEGO made black 1x1 tiles with white lettering, so I ordered some sets that would allow me to turn my 2-bay hopper car into an East Broad Top RR 2-bay hopper car (instead of it just being based on one): EBT Hopper in a train by Ben/Laura Bonebrake, on Flickr I also came up with an improved design for the Balin & Sons passenger coach that uses a standard 6x24 LEGO train baseplate, but with custom narrow-gauge bogies that are connected using 2x2 turntable plates: Narrow Gauge Coach WIP v2 by Ben/Laura Bonebrake, on Flickr

Really nicely done! This looks fantastic, and instantly recognizable for what it is, even with the placeholder wheels. Even though I've always been more of a Pennsylvania RR fan myself, I have always kinda liked these sleek Hudson streamliners that the NYC built.

@AE bricks I was actually thinking about using pretty much the same technique as you for when I got around to making a dome car for one of my standard-gauge passenger trains. I'm glad to see that it does do the job fairly well.

Nicely done! Very elegant design. Just curious as to what for track you have the train & car sitting on? It definitely isn't LEGO, but it appears to be compatible with standard LEGO train wheel bases.

Nice job on the Enoden 300 series train, Beck! While I never was able to make it down to Kyoto when I was stationed in Japan from 2000-2003, I did travel all over the Kanto region by train, and several of the other short-line railways used similar style EMU's, and yours is instantly recognizable as such. I also like how you made it to run on the LEGO narrow-gauge track, since most trains in Japan (aside from the Shinkansen, Keikyu Line & a few other small RRs) are 3'6" or "Cape" gauge. Excellent work all around. :)

Your 60051 mod looks pretty sweet, Winchester. Yeah, people adding a caboose to the end of Emerald Night consists never made sense to me, either... I mean if they wanted something like that on the end of the train, all they'd need to do is remove the cupola, call it a brake van or guard van, and it would be regionally correct. ;)

Looks absolutely amazing so far! Definitely looking forward to seeing the finished product. I've also seen that video of Sariel's version of this tank, and was really impressed with it, but I'd like to see how your clutch drive works, compared to theirs.

VERY impressive German locomotive you made there, LEGO train 12v, and an equally impressive passenger consist to go with it. It looks like, with where you placed the two flanged drivers & used blind drivers for the rest of the driving wheels, that it should be able to handle standard radius curved tracks. I also think it's interesting that they also used a variation of the tender "doghouses" in Germany that some US railroads used as a place for the forward brakeman to keep an eye on the front part of the train. All in all, a really fine build.

Since this topic has been bumped, I gotta say, I really love the use of the cargo plane/helicopter cockpit piece to replicate the "bulldog nose" you'd find on NOHAB MX/Y, EMD E/F units & Victorian Railways Class B/A Locomotives. Even though it has some "sunroof" windows where the original trains didn't I still think that this solution is one of the best, overall, for making this type of locomotive, at least in 6-wide. As a matter of fact, I'm planning on using a similar design to make a mutant dual-cab evolved hybrid electro-diesel F-unit for my main faction's army logistics command, rail transport division, which will be mostly red with a white stripe.

Oh nice! Don't see too many horse-drawn tram MOCs around the forums! The only alteration I'd personally make, would be to have the street-level rails embedded into the street (such streetcar-like tracks have been around for a long time, so it would fit), but it looks fine the way it is. :D

Really nifty build, Greg! Looks like this thing is the Hi-rail's great-great-grandaddy. As I said before, I really love your series of WWI trench railway builds.

Nicely done Hopfield, Prof. Thaum! Whenever I go to BrickFair Virginia, there is a microbrewery outside of Leesburg, Virginia that I pass by on the way that grows its own hops, and their fields look almost exactly like your MOC, only they use steel poles & wires instead of wood for supporting the hops vines.

I think just about every country has done something similar at some point to help reduce operating costs during the period of transition from steam to diesel, with the concurrent rise of the automobile. The Pennsylvania & other railroads used what were essentially self-propelled gas-electric combine cars (that looked a lot like streetcars, but without the pole for collecting power from overhead wires) called "Doodlebugs", one of the last surviving & probably the only operational example being East Broad Top Railroad's 3-foot gauge M-1. Then there were the Rio Grande Southern that converted pretty much all its operations over to a class of rail buss/trucks known as Galloping Geese. If they ever make all the parts I need in Dark Green & Dark Red, I want to try and make the East Broad Top M-1 at some point. In the case of the M-1, the front half of the car (not including the cab, which also has the gasoline engine & generator that powers the electric motors in the wheels) is for freight/mail & the back half of the car has passenger seating.

Lol, nice locomotive number. Seriously, though. Good mod of the Monster Hunters' Ghost Train. I seriously wanted to get that set to do a similar mod myself (basically make a daemon-powered train for the Chaos faction in my setting), but unfortunately, RL budget priorities meant that I wasn't able to get it before it was discontinued.

Right, I understand, but another thing I have to deal with, particularly when any kind of competition is involved, is the fact that I have general anxiety disorder & periodic depression (which is mostly caused by my anxiety), and while I've been seeing a professional therapist for the past 2 years and have been making significant progress in getting both under control, the fact is that even now, just the idea of entering into a competition is enough to send my anxiety into overdrive right now, and losing would probably put me in a month-long depression spiral... Especially since I struggle with depression around this time of year for several personal reasons (not the least of which is that this is around the time my mom lost her battle with cancer last year). Hopefully by this time next year, I'll have made further progress in overcoming my anxiety issues, and since I won't have the Great Army Update of 2018 going on (seriously: I've spent at least $500 on minifig parts & custom minifig weapons/accessories since August of this year so I could finally get all my various factions' militaries sorted out), I might be up to participating.

@Hod Carrier, I know it's not K'antus, because their version of the song, which I believe is actually called "Ferrocaril" (railroad/train) is a bit faster & has some additional "vocals" which evoke stationmasters calling out & such like that. ;) And the time period you mentioned would be correct: I was stationed in Yokosuka from 2000-2003, and K'antus was in Japan in 2001. As for participating in OcTRAINber next year, we'll see... I'm currently trying to build up my train stuff, and currently everything I'm doing (including building replicas of East Broad Top RR equipment) is going to be used in my post-apocalyptic setting (like the mutant double-ended evolved EMD F-unit that is a hybrid electro-biofuel locomotive used by the Federal Republic of America's Army Logistics Command for hauling fast troop & supply trains). If I can get at least one or two full, working motorized trains done before October of next year AND my budget allows it, I might participate, but I do really bad with events that have hard deadlines, due to being busy with a lot of RL stuff (including volunteer work at two RL heritage railways) and being a horrible procrastinator.... As a matter of fact, my registering to participate in NaNoWriMo this year, even with setting a personal goal that is only half of the 50k word official goal is a big, and somewhat scary, step for me in regards to things like this.

Excellent work on the final project, including replicating the damaged left fender (I did a google search for "Ferrobus 253" and it turned up plenty of shots of the original). I also recognize the tune you used in your video: There was a group from Peru called K'antus, who were mostly Inca that played traditional music from the Andes who were in Japan the first year I was stationed there, and you could find them playing in the streets in various towns around Tokyo, and I actually bought one of their CDs and I know I still have it around the house somewhere. Anyways, I've really enjoyed your build for the Octrainber contest from start to finish, and appreciate you sharing it with us.