manglegrat

First, thanks again to everyone for keeping this great effort moving forward - as a big LDD fan, seeing improvements happening all the time is just fantastic. I'm happy to accept the risk of things going sideways from time to time to be able to keep using this old software. I got the new pack via the RAR file this morning, unpacked & copied the contents over (I noticed it said it was overwriting 500+ files, does that make sense?) and then I reopened a large LDD file (6400+ parts) with quite a few 36840's where LDD reported collisions, and some of them (or other parts that were previously connected to them) were removed as a result. That part wasn't listed as updated in this pack, so I was a bit surprised by that. I guess the collision data was updated in an earlier pack and I probably missed it until this pack caught it up? Who knows! Anyway, it was easy enough to fix once I figured it out, but I thought I'd mention it just in case someone else experiences the same! I have multiple versions of the design across LDD and Stud.io so it wasn't too long before I tracked it down. Once the panic subsided... I have replaced all the affected parts and LDD reports no collisions when it reloads the file, plus I was also able to add my 65617 parts to complete the LDD model so it now has everything I have in my Stud.io version. I'm pretty happy now. Also, I noticed the same issue as reported by @PicnicBasketSam above with those two pullback parts. Maybe the RAR file has different contents from just getting the new files separately from GitHub? I'll delete 'em anyway.

Waiting for parts to come in is the hardest part... And then comes counting everything against the partslist to make sure I didn't screw any orders up. And then comes the build... and then we find out just how realistic this digital rendition of B5 truly is! But I've done some prep work for that much-anticipated build stage that should make it a tiny bit easier on me: The Deconstruction of Falling Sta... by David White, on Flickr And here's a render of what the above will look like when it's fully assembled in the brick, with the UCS plaque sticker applied (I used Stud.io's parts designer app to create a custom 8x16 tile): B5 with Stand and UCS Plaque by David White, on Flickr

Ha! Awesome, and super easy too! I had no idea that existed. It even works on custom lists, too. I think I prefer using the Brickstock UI for sorting and slicing & dicing the information though, rather than just the visual comparison...

If you have the old and new parts lists available in Rebrickable then you can export them both to Brickstock BSX files, then load them both up in Brickstock and - with the window for the one you want to be the primary selected - select the "Subtract items" option from the Edit menu, and select the secondary file from the "Items from an already open document" list. This will show you the differences. It has pictures, too. There's also a "Difference mode" option in the View menu to expand the columns to show original (Qty Orig), new (Qty diff) and difference (Qty) values. You can sort the data by any column in the grid, though sorting by Qty descending is a good start point for this purpose. So if you make the new parts list the primary one and do it, the items with positive Qty numbers are items you have in that list but not the secondary one - so, additional parts you'll need to get if you already have everything in the secondary (old) parts list. The negatives are extras that you won't need any more. You'll need to manually figure out colour swaps and variants, though you can also sort by part number to try to group those pairs of parts together. One of each pair should be a positive, the other a negative. I've been using this technique (I'm using private custom lists in Rebrickable, but MOC parts lists are identical for this purpose) to track deltas between versions of my B5 design as I refine it. Hope this tip helps someone out!

I've previously been using Pixlr.com and a variety of filters/effects there, to recolour, posterize and add noise, a solid outline, etc. but it's not repeatable and not quite UCS-alike enough for me! Very hit & miss. Not right... However, I tried playing around in Paint.Net along the lines of a sort of tutorial I found online here. I had that already, and the Ink Outline effect seems to be spot on. So, in Paint.Net (documenting here for posterity),I did the following: Open the transparent-background full-colour 4k render image file. Use the magic wand to select the image. Invert the selection (if you don't invert the selection then the background ends up black after the next step). Use the Ink Sketch effect (Effects->Artistic->Ink Sketch) with Ink Outline at 99 and Color at 0. This redoes the image in black & white at the same time as the outlines. View the colour palette. Use the Recolor tool with the light blue 6th or 7th from the right (6th is darker, 7th is lighter - I chose the 6th for the below), in the top row of colours under the colour wheel, with Brush Width 500, Hardness 75%, Tolerance 100% to change all the white to a blue that's UCS-adjacent. Those are the most important steps. After that I used the resulting image in Paint.Net, along with the other sticker components I built previously (some are semi-transparent masks I made earlier so I can layer the station image over/under the other layers), to construct the version below: I like this one a lot more than the previous version! I hope it'll print out well... Oh, and BTW, while I'm still waiting for the part orders, I'm cracking open the internal structure to revisit some aspects of the structural integrity. I designed it in sections that connect together with a few studded connections using SNOT bricks/reversed headlights, but I want to use the "skin" layers to reinforce the joins between sections on either 4 or 8 of the sides, depending on whether the particular sections are 8-sided or 16-sided (I can only join across 4 sections in the 16-sided case). With skin and SNOT-brick connections it should be pretty strong. My goal is for the entire cylinder section to be at least as solid as the Saturn V it's based on. No guarantees about the command sphere and "neck" though...

While I'm waiting for parts to arrive to build this beastie, I updated the design of the 4 "Cobra Launch Bay" support arms for the Command sphere to make them less overwhelming and much more in proportion to the show, showing more of the sphere itself (I don't think you can make them any smaller with current Lego parts without losing a lot of shaping, but those are the trade-offs we make!): V0.2 - Trying smaller Cobra Launch Bay support arms... by David White, on Flickr I also updated the UCS plaque from the same render, but I can never seem to get the filtering, highlights and colouration quite right on the image to make it look truly UCS or print out legibly on my laser printer... Does anyone who's done UCS plaque sticker designs have any tips as to how to filter a pic appropriately?!

Awesome scaling job! I dug out my 2 technic figs after seeing that pic, and I think one of them would be a decent fit for that cockpit - this guy with the helmet would be just about perfect (for purist Lego). I have that fig but not the helmet. My other one is this guy (but with the blue helmet), who'd be a terrible match. I'd say for purist Technic figs, this guy might actually be the best match with a black helmet... I'd be surprised if there's a good "bowl" helmet alternative to match the show though:

It would appear from the lack of posts that the zeitgeist has long since moved on from B5, but for those still tuning in, here's a UCS-style sticker I pulled together from the above render plus the Babylon 5 Wiki entry for the station:

Thanks! It's still to be proven if it's buildable (and it'll take a while to do that), but it sure looks nice in digital form!

Yeah... Sometimes I amaze even myself! Thanks!

Here's a better pic.

Thanks, Troy! (it's pretty quiet on this thread so far, but it's all kicking off on Reddit)

The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace. A self-contained world five miles long, located in neutral territory. A place of commerce and diplomacy for a quarter of a million humans and aliens. A shining beacon in space . . . all alone in the night. And if you're curious how big this is: Currently she sits at ~6300 parts; ~4kg weight; ~142 studs or 113cm long; 45 studs or 36cm height, ~25 studs or 20cm wide... Check out more on my Flickr! Built in LDD (modded with the additional parts pack - there are no collisions), then imported, fixed-up & rendered in Stud.io. I haven't figured out how to use Stud.io's renderer properly yet, so these shots have really basic lighting, etc. For details, colours & general inspiration, I'm using the awesome renders by this guy and reference images from here. It's surprisingly close to those last reference images! I also bought the 20 year-old Revell model kit recently as further reference IRL. Structurally, the cylinders are mostly based on the Saturn V internals, and it's built in interconnected modules, not along a single central spine, which works great digitally but might not in real life! Oh and there's a studless Lowell sphere at the front, of course. I started sketching this out in LDD 2 years ago then it went cold until about 2 weeks ago, when I picked it up and inspiration hit. Next steps will be to design a multi-point stand - she'll need a lot of support in 1Gs worth of gravity. Then test builds. I'm sure she'll evolve in that process. Before anyone asks, because cloners stole my Agamemnon design there won't be instructions or shared LDD/Stud.io files for this one - pics only!

Awesome update, @Captain_Quinn! She started off a beauty and she's growing into a stunner! That stand looks like a project in itself...

I've been collecting Ep 4-9 figs for the past few years (more seriously for the last year), minus some really minor variants, plus Rogue 1 and Solo, plus a handful from the other SW subthemes, and I have 642 unique figures right now. I just grabbed a Chrome Gold C-3PO and a Cloud City Boba Fett to complete my "fantasyland" wishlist, so I'm feeling rather poor, but very satisfied right now... I have a very understanding wife...

Maybe I'm lucky, for once! There are some of the new 1x1 brackets hidden inside the structure. But I guess if Studio didn't import those you wouldn't see it on the render anyhoo. <edit>Yeah, I was just lucky, as most of the 1x1 brackets were moved by the import and it's a gongshow of collisions... </edit> Thanks! Not sure if it'll survive the process at the current scale, but I solved a lot of problems to get to that stage... Lots more to come! Anyhoo, apologies - didn't intend to pollute the thread! Back on topic - is anyone working on 65617 (Brick, Round Corner 3 x 3 x 1 without Studs)?

I just tried to use BlueRender (same author) and it didn't like the fact I don't have a db.lif file any more. Same with my old copy of Busufl (which I think did better renders). However, I imported the LXF file into Studio and it imported straight off the bat and rendered with no issues... and I can barely tell my @ss from my elbow in Studio, so I was really impressed!

I believe since TLG took over Bricklink it's against their new Ts & Cs to sell non-Lego products on BL (hence the "violation" reason above, perhaps). They may be working through all the stores with non-Lego products and closing them off until the products are removed... I have a couple of sBricks I was going to throw up on my store, but not now! Maybe they have a BrickOwl store or eBay...

I redeemed 13,000 points for a $100 voucher last night to buy the ISS set plus a series 19 minifig to make the purchase amount $103.98, over the coupon value, but all I get is "Sorry, there was a problem applying your VIP voucher." when I try to apply it to the cart on checkout. It's too early here for calling so I sent an email through the site. Not a good first impression of actually trying to use the new system to get something back for the first time since they switched over... the old system (which I used a few times) seemed to be so much better. <Round 2>I called the support line and it seems they transitioned my VIP account to a US-based one when they moved to the new system, despite never having lived in the US, so the code I was given was for US Lego.com and not valid for Canadian purchases. The very nice agent switched me over to Canada and reloaded the 13,000 points - which was awesome. I deleted all my Lego.com cookies, logged-in again to both the .com site and the VIP one and redeemed the 13,000 again but the code still gives exactly the same error message. Oy! So I guess I'll be calling back... Maybe third time's the charm... <Round 3>And yes, it was the charm! I called back, walked through the problem with the new agent, then with them on the phone I deleted my cookies, logged-in again and they reviewed everything on the back end for me, then they refunded the second (failed) 13,000 points and I tried again. This time the change to Canada seemed to have stuck, as it said I only needed 10,000 points to get the $100 voucher - which he told me was the correct exchange rate for a Canadian account. So I redeemed those for a new voucher. I filled my cart with the ISS and Series 19 fig again, and when I applied the new voucher it accepted it! Sweet. I got my ISS ordered along with the free patch. He didn't actually change anything on my account so it might just have been a timing thing - taking a while for the changes the previous agent made to ripple through the system... Anyhoo, all's well that ends well! Big thumbs up for Lego customer service!

Wandered into my local (Calgary) store tonight and got a Star Destroyer no problem. Chatting to the salesguy, he said he thought they'd only have about a dozen but they actually got about twice that, and by the time I got there tonight (about 7pm) they still had about a dozen left. The Canadian Lego store site was already on backorder by the time I checked it this morning (about 8am).

Yes, I'm old.

Wow, that's awesome! Thanks for sharing that data, @typingduck.

Mega-congratulations, and van-loads of kudos to you for getting this awesome project over the finish line, @Captain_Quinn! For anyone out there who's interested in a quick review: the final product (instructions PDF) is incredibly professional, full of great background info about the show and ship; the steps flow really well and are very easy to follow; and the model itself is very screen-accurate, beautiful and very solidly built. It's well worth your consideration! Add-in the donationware aspect and you're not only getting an awesome product, you're helping people who need it. What's not to love?! Earthforce needs YOU - sign up now!

Betrayal at Cloud City and the 20th Anniversary Slave 1. I now have 4 different Slave 1s... ;)

Kessel Run falcon (all figs), Solo's Landspeeder (all figs) and Luke's Landspeeder (missing Luke, except for his hair), for $80cad as a 2nd hand lot, together with the Ferrari Garage Speed Champions set... Was super-dirty but cleaned up nicely!