NathanR

Hi, in the last couple of days I've noticed some text appearing below my forum avatar. I didn't add it, I can't edit it, I can't remove it, and I'm not aware of having done anything wrong on here. So why has the text appeared, am I in trouble with the moderators or something?

I'm intrigued... I'm thinking the furniture will be covered with Lego studs over every visible surface, so you can personalise it with your own bricks/minifigures. Either that or they ship you a flatpack of giant Lego bricks...

I'm not aware of any such part... There have been some unusual z-shaped beams like this one but it's probably too thick for what you're after. You could try and build up an escalator shape using multiple 10197 and 32039, but that would be the equivalent of a full beam, not a thin one. Or perhaps you could try using multiple 32056 3x3 liftarm thin?

My apologies, I hadn't realised my comments could be taken this way. As a child I did have a tendency to rip open the bags and pour all the bricks into a huge pile on the floor. But then in my late teens I came out of a kind of mini dark age and got a few large-ish Lego sets. To build them I'd sit at a table, tip out a huge pile of unnumbered bags, and open the instructions. I'd look for the bag with the first part I needed, then open that one bag. I'd remember where it was on the table, so that I could find the same part again if it was needed later in the build, and I'd remember what other parts were in the bag for future reference. With each new step, I'd look for the parts I needed in the open bags, and then if necessary I would search through the remaining sealed bags. Simply opening each bag was something I savoured (Lego sets didn't, and still don't, come every day). The bags would have a wonderful smell like pine, probably plastic fumes I shouldn't have been breathing in, but it was still a lovely scent. The feel of factory fresh bricks was, and still is, wonderful but I find they change texture slightly once they've been handled, losing their initial pristine gloss to thumbprints. I'd get about a third or sometimes even halfway through the model before I'd opened the last bag, and then I'd keep working, with maybe a dozen open bags around me, as I steadily searched for and added each new part. Technic sets were amazing, because you'd get a single bag full of the black 2L or blue 3L pins - I remember getting 42000 Grand Prize Racer and seeing the huge pile of pins that would go into the finished model, it was only then I realised just how awesome the model was going to be. The part callouts on the instructions could get quite complex, and I'd end up playing spot the difference to try and find where the new pieces should go. It was a bit easier than when I was a child as there were no callouts at all on system sets (sometimes I'd miss adding a part for several steps), but it still kept me thinking about how the model was going together. As the build went on, the bags would gradually become empty and be stuffed back in the box to be discarded later, the table would become gradually clearer. The hunt for new parts would take much less time, and I'd start stacking the bricks faster and faster, driven on by the thrill of impending completion. And when finally finished, I'd have a huge sense of achievement, and the fun of showing off what I'd built to my parents and the rest of my family. Nowadays the numbered bag system means that I only ever have two or perhaps three bags open at a time. Searching for parts takes all of a few seconds because there is nowhere else for it to be hidden. Ok, in the past some obscure parts could take hours to find and it could get quite exasperating, but there was a huge sense of relief and accomplishment when I actually found the damn things. I know I could open all the numbered bags and dip in the way I used to, except... the parts are grouped differently. The same brick can now appear in multiple bags, so I could end up searching any or all bags to find what I need. But of course, I know that for each stage of the build all the bits I need are in just one bag, so rummaging through the others becomes unnecessary. I'm not saying the numbered system is bad, it does help break the model into neat little chunks, it's just I like the unnumbered bags. You see, when I build a Lego set I am looking for a challenge, something I can look at when it's finished and be proud of what I have assembled. Nice details, unusual parts usage, intricate moving parts can add to the enjoyment. But I treasure any modern set that features the unnumbered bags because it lets me build exactly the way I used to. It gives me the fun of a new set, an experience in the present, while filling me with nostalgia. It lets me feel the same old childlike wonder and pleasure from years gone by, and brings back fond memories of past, and slightly happier, times. Actually, I set myself an insane challenge when designing my own MOCs. I design in computer with LDD, but all parts must interlock to allow a strong and stable real life build. All connections must be legitimate - no part clipping, collisions, or illegal techniques. I can only use parts in current production, either available direct from Lego Bricks and Pieces, or listed on bricklink as having appeared in an official set within the last 2-3 years. I also aim to match the robust standards found in official Lego sets. Consequently I only average one or two MOCs per year...

Thanks for the links! I will give the crane hook idea some thought... I wouldn't try and use the girder parts for your swing arms actually. The part ID is 95347 and it only appeared in red in one set, the Batcave based on the 1960s Batman TV show. Unfortunately, the set is now retired, the part is out of stock at Lego bricks and pieces, and most bricklink sellers sellers only have one or two each. The part also has a loose grip on the axle hole if I remember right, so attaching it to the tower might be tricky. You can see it used on the WhatsUpToday Apollo LUT model, that could be worth a look.

@anothergol It doesn't annoy me that Lego make it easier for other people. As I said above, I appreciate why Lego use the numbered bags - to make it easier for kids to build the set. But for me, it takes away from the challenge of building a Lego model, the fun of searching for parts, the satisfaction of finally finding what I need to continue. I have considered opening all the bags at once, but that doesn't really work because everything you need is already in a single bag and I find it more logical to have parts grouped by type (as you get in unnumbered bags, e.g. a bag of technic pins, another bag full of beams). And opening all the bags makes you lose that wonderful "new Lego" smell too quickly... Ehhhhhhh..... No. If it doesn't say Lego on the stud, it ain't worth having :) I have done that for one large set... this is actually my idea of heaven....

I'm afraid it wasn't, I just really really don't like the numbered bags for building sets. By splitting sets into numbered bags, Lego restrict the number of parts available to rummage through on that first build. Lego also dumb down the instruction manuals a little too much to my mind, with only one or two parts per step. I appreciate this may be useful for kids building sets, but as an AFOL I find I end up building on autopilot, without thinking about what I am making or how the parts are coming together. The Architecture sets have recently taken instruction manuals even further by sometimes highlighting parts that might be mistaken for each other (e.g. 1x1 technic brick, 1x1 brick with studs on the side, with a tick or a ross to show which should actually be used), though I accept this is for casual Lego builders who might not recognise anything beyond the basic 2x4 bricks. Personally I love the mid- to large-size technic sets because they are the only sizeable lego models that come without numbered bags, and it really takes me back to my childhood days.

I don't have many architecture sets, but I can't recall any having numbered bags before now. It's kind of a shame, I love it when I get to build a set surrounded by loads of open bags, spending time rummaging through all the parts. The numbered bags feel like they're spoonfeeding you the build process.

Also, try running LDD in "extended" mode, this has many more parts available than the standard mode. (When you start LDD, a screen appears that shows recently opened models, it has three tabs at the top: LDD, Lego Mindstorms, and LDD Extended)

Sorry for the double post, but I am on a roll... I finally got this nightmare service arm to work. Well, kind of. There are two fuel pipes, one above and one below the arm, with some pretty complex routing. I've captured it, though I can't help feeling it looks more like a robotic claw on the side of the arm rather than fuel pipes. Still, if not the best, it is certainly the least bad that I can come up with. You can see here how the pipes should really be routed: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apollo_13_Saturn_V_during_rollout.jpg

@MMillere Thank you!!! That was exactly what I was looking for! I adjusted the design to use the profile shape I'd come up with, it took a lot of trial and error but I was surprised to get 5 triangular struts that are basically "in-system". There should really be 6, but I couldn't find another one that fitted in. With luck the crane won't sag under it's own weight, Most of the technic pin holes almost but don't quite line up so there is some tension in the system. The grey circle on the tower top is the guide track for the crane, it should be a perfect circle and done in yellow, but Lego haven't made the quarter circle tiles in yellow yet. You can see a 4x4 block under the crane that slides on the 1x8 plates with rails. Do any other parts work with these rails? I'm not sure how to create a crane hook. It's doesn't have to be functional, I'm not crazy enough to try and build in a working winch and I don't think the crane is strong enough to take any weight. Only a few details remain - one service arm, a few small pipes running up the tower, and then a complete rebuild from the ground up to check all the parts have good connections. Would people be interested in an instruction manual for this model?

Those are cute! I love how you did Spock's ears, and the accessories. Is the gold 1x2 grille the communicator?

Plates can't fit in the clip because they are too thick, the tile works because of the groove at the base making the outer edge a little shorter. I don't like these newer tile-with-clips, they've been redesigned to look like a minifigure hand and so accept tiles (which the old version couldn't) but I recently had one break just by snapping a 3mm bar into it... I'm still debating whether to use this technique for the Apollo LUT or not. You see, with 17 levels, four sides, and four grilles per side, that's about 270 grilles held in place by about 540 1x1 tile with clips... Aside from the expense (~70€), I don't know if this would hold up long term. Unfortunately I can't find any other way of showing a safety railing.

Hi, according to bricklink, part 64782 5x11 panel has never been made in a transparent colour. Transparent parts are made from a different plastic called polycarbonate, which can crack more easily than regular ABS plastic parts, so transparent technic is very rare (most notably appearing in the Lego Mindstorms Ultimate Builders Set). I'm not that familiar with the technic Porsche 911 GT3 (maybe try asking on the technic board), but can't you just remove these two parts completely? Or if the panels are needed to stop the model falling apart, can you maybe build a frame from other technic beams and make a hole so you can see the engine?

So the crane on the top of the LUT is really hard to make in Lego. Really, really, hard. I could do with someone to bounce some ideas off... The tower top features a 6x6 round plate on a 4x4 turntable plate. Probably not the strongest connection but I'm not sure if it is practical or possible to build in a technic turntable. The counterweight is a 6x11 half-cylinder built up of 1x3 curved slopes on the sides and 1x4 curved sleds on the roof. I don't see how to attach them to each other due to the odd length. But the most challenging part is the crane arm itself. LDD file here: https://www.bricksafe.com/files/NathanR/real-space/apollo-lut/CraneTopPlayground.lxf I have a design that is (apparently) in system that nails the profile view of the crane. But there's no way to put an axle along the base (I'd need an acute angle connector). There's no way to build any of the truss structure, even the vertical struts can't fit. I'm not too bothered about strength, since the crane is probably just for show, but it does need to be a fairly rigid/stiff structure or it will sag under it's weight. And of course, the crane was painted in a two-tone colour - (yellow for the back half and counterweight (the 25t capacity section) and red for the front half (10t lifting capacity). There are plenty of axles in yellow but not too many connectors,,, I'd steal...errr... borrow the WhatsUpToday crane design but it is not strictly in system, and it relies on 4x part 2636... bricklink only lists 28 for sale across the planet. So are there any other ways of building a truss structure, more creative ways of using system bricks or technic that I haven't thought of?

I build them, display the sets for a week or two, then take them apart and bag the pieces for a future rebuild. I always keep sets as sets, right down to the extra pieces, and never use the parts in MOCs or put them into a parts bin. It's a holdover from when I was a kid, my parents never liked sets getting muddled up together as they ended up being the ones who would have to try and sort them all out again... I never sort the parts, I just open the bags as needed according to the instruction manuals. I love it when I get a large-ish technic set with no numbered bags, I just sit at a table surrounded by dozens of open bags rummaging through them all for the next part I need. The numbered bags spoon-feed me the parts a bit too easily, and I sometimes find myself building on autopilot without actually thinking about what I'm making.

@MMillere Nice idea, I never thought of using cog teeth to represent steps. However, my rule with all Lego design is that the parts I use must have appeared in an official set released within the last 2 years... well, 3 now, but only because I've been working on this model for so long . Part 3743 has never appeared in any set in red, and while some are listed for sale on bricklink, I think they must simply be from a test batch that escaped the factory. Lego will sometimes make a batch of parts in red or trans-clear because these colours make it easier to see problems with the mould - this is why you occasionally see transparent 32x32 baseplates, or most famously, the red Darth Vader helmet.

@MMillere Thanks for the video! Fascinating to see how the movie shots were put together, but the LUT they showed isn't remotely accurate (all swing arms retract at the same moment, missing camera platforms on the LUT, vertical pillars on the first three levels). Though to be fair, even the movie Apollo 13 has an inaccurate LUT...

So, the last few days have been very tough but I am finally making progress on the tower. I got Serve Arm 8 sorted, complete with yellow access ladder and the triangular cable retraction mechanism. It is now very crowded up at the top of the tower! Thanks to the folks on the technic board, I have a push-pull lever that causes the arms to rotate back. I went through several pages of trigonometry calculations looking at the pivot points and beam lengths needed to keep the arms at their current angle of 73 degrees. I'm not sure why I bothered, because the universal joints on the main axle mean that the arms will be able to waggle a few degrees side-to-side, but hey, in principle it will all line up right. Getting the mechanism into the tower was another nightmare. I wanted it suspended from the roof of a level, but that meant losing one of the triangular support struts so the lever mechanism could swing freely. I also had trouble getting it on the floor of a level because the studs got in the way of the moving parts. I'd have needed a tile version of the 2x3 coupling plate (a rounded plated with a pin hole), which curiously does seem to exist but only as part of a keyring released some years ago. Anyway, the current solution kind of works, but is very slightly "out of system", hopefully it won't be enough to make the mechanism seize up. Thanks! Always nice to know other people are interested. At the moment the model has just over 6900 pieces, with an additional 500 expected if I put in the safety railings on each level. And I haven't even started the crane yet...

@Captainowie, @pagicence, Wow, this is fantastic, thanks for the info. I really wasn't expecting the input/output axles to match up, but I just rebuilt the joint in LDD after rotating the input/output axles before attaching the universal joints, and it all fits together perfectly. I guess building the joint at 0 degrees and then rotating must have messed up the LDD angles.

Hi Berl, welcome to eurobricks! Your best bet is to consider triangles called Pythagorean triples - special triangles where all three sides are a whole number, e.g. a 3-4-5 triangle (with angle of 90, 36.87 and 53.13 degrees). For example, below are two methods of building a 3-4-5 triangle "off grid": On the left, studs are placed on the corners of a 4x5 rectangle, and a 6 stud beam sits across them. This is because the corners of the 3-4-5 triangle lie in the centre of a stud, so you count the gaps between studs. On the right is an alternate build using hinge plates. The pivot of the hinge is in the corner of a stud, so this time you count the number of studs. A second hinge completes the right angled triangle and puts the studs back "on grid". Mirroring these right angle triangles will give you an isosceles-triangle shaped building. The triangles can be made as big as you like, just keep the blue tile side length a multiple of 5. I don't think an equilateral triangle is possible, but there might be a way to make something approximately correct. Maybe you could use the Nexagon hexagonal plate as a starting point (e.g. look at the Lego Star Wars Freemaker Adventures set "Tracker 1") Hope this helps!

I've hit a problem with integrating the swing-arm mechanism into the tower structure - the main swing-arm axle collides with the A-shaped damper arm, so I had to offset the axle backwards by one pin-hole using a pair of universal joints. However, universal joints aren't constant-velocity joints so the input and output axles have different rotation angles at any given point in the cycle (ok, they line up at 90 degrees but that's a special case). I've worked out all the trigonometry for the pivot point positions to get me a new "in-system" lever configuration. I just need one final piece of information, and for the life of me I cannot figure this out: For an assembly of two universal joints, connected by a 2L axle, and used to move the axle one pin hole to the side (i.e. the equivalent of using two 8T gears to transfer power between neighbouring axles), when the input axle is rotated at 73 degrees, what is the angle of the output axle? (Note: I've tried finding this using LDD. However, the hinge align tool won't allow this linkage to be assembled, so I'm not sure if the 2L axle is too short to make this work. I have managed to build it manually, but I keep getting varying results between 68 and 70 degrees. I'm not sure if this is just LDD responding to the natural play or looseness of the universal joints. I also tried computing the angle from the equations given the wikipedia page for universal joints, but I'm not sure which ones apply... is this combination of two universal joints what they call a double Cardan shaft?)

Your geometry works perfectly in theory... If you disassemble the top row of plates, and lay them out next to each other, do any appear to have different heights? There will be some variation, there always is, but it should be very slight. I also notice that the two blue plates either side of the extreme right battlement seem to have a slightly different colour to the rest - are you sure all parts are genuine Lego? Also, the base of this mosaic seems to be made of 1x12 and 1x10 plates. I usually find that these warp, the edges tend to curl up so columns of 1x1 bricks placed at each end bend inwards. That might be affecting things here. Oh, and one last thought - are any of the 1x1 bricks technic bricks? A 1x1 technic brick has the open hole mounted slightly higher than the stud of a 1x1 brick with stud on the side, so this could give a slight offset that would break the geometry.

I think I have a solution for the lower arms: LDD file here. It seems to run smoothly enough in real bricks (which was a surprise for me, it's the first time a mechanism I built hasn't fallen apart when I looked at it). I'm not sure how well it will work on the full tower given the weight of the arms on the axle being turned - what do you think? And I still need to figure out how to disguise it, either above or below the next floor up the tower.

No worries, it's certainly given me a great starting point!