The_Skirrid

I straighten 3mm and ribbed tubes and soft axles from display models by heating with a hairdryer [not a hot air gun] and putting into a mould made of lego, or putting an axle down the middle. Flat plates get heated the same way, and stuck under a thick steel plate I use as a heatsink when welding, but a shedload of books will do. For beams I heat them for longer and them pin them with non-slotted pins to a frame made of studded beams, and then squish the whole lot for a few hours. I think I've thrown away three beams out of 4K or so. It does take practice, but you can get most Lego surprisingly hot before it deforms irretrievably. The trick is slow gentle heat, hot air guns heat the surface too fast,

3x3 in trans-clear were in 8 official sets, they're not too hard to find. http://rebrickable.com/parts/43898

If TLG released this it would have four flick-fire launchers... just a thought

Don't forget a cheap way of gaining a few % stiffness, esp, rotational/torsional is to replace all the friction pins with old style non-slotted ones. I have a batch of 30 or so that are monstrously hard to insert and remove.

Just for further info, I've found all the Lego CD's run perfectly fine under Windows 7's free virtual WinXP. I've just tested the 8299 one this week. And, yes, what a bitchin' set.

For transparency scratches I always use Brasso with a microfibre cloth, rescued some Classic Space trans-blue parts very well. No idea what this is for our continental cousins though...

Looks good, and every model improves 8.33% with a minifig I think that's the first Technic model I've seen with a whip antenna since 8830 too. I know the tow truck had them, but mine hasn't even arrived yet !

Kronos, try Frome Model Centre. I don't know if he posts internationally, but mine shipped yesterday at RRP Give him a ring, might be worth it. Disclaimer: he's nothing to do with me, but I use him for 82xx series kits, as he's always a year behind with sets, and has plenty.