Jonas

Another critical point - at least in my realization - was the the bucket shift mechanism, and namely the rectangular lever. Sometimes, the parts making the lever disconnected and the shift mechanism stopped working. It always was a painful job for my fingers to repair it. I have made the lever stronger as shown in the picture. -> It does not look that elegant as the original but it works and it is hidden in the remote corner of the layout.

I have also made a small improvement of the ball picker - the part that picks a pair of balls and puts them into a bucket. It happened quite often that the right ball dropped before it reached the bucket. When I analyzed the construction of the picker, I noticed that the rightmost axle is significantly looser than the other ones. While the other two rear axles are attached to the rail construction, this one is not and cannot be attached. In my version, I fastened this axle to the rest of the assembly by replacing a 3L liftarm by an L-shape liftarm (not necessarily in yellow color). -> Since that time I have not observed any earlier drop.

As I promised earlier, I am sending a couple of pictures to show how I made the spiral tower construction more stable. For me, the weakest point was the platform made of two horizontally laid arches. The platform hovered in the air as the small gap (indicated by the black ellipse) did not allow to place a standard plate there. I used a SNOT technique to get a stronger platform. It allowed me to remove the gap and to fix the superstructure to the studs. Moreover, I used the remaining stud of the 30414 brick to stabilize the tower column by a vertical 1x6 tile. Now, each column is fixed from 3 sides and the tower is really stable. It will survive even an accidental kick. And, I added another (third) black pin to strengthen the vertical support (shown on page 186 in Blakbird's manual)

You are right. In my opinion, the Factory is a sort of an exclusive gem and it works best as a standalone circuit. In this version, the input hopper could be fed only from behind.

You know, in video everything looks better than in reality. One publishes only those shots where everything runs well. But seriously, now. I have remade the spiral lift tower, recently. Its construction was the weakest point in the whole setup and whenever I touched it accidentally, something got broken. I succeeded to remove the small gap between the tilted platforms and the rest of the tower and I made the two columns much stronger by adding additional (but almost invisible) support. I need to test it in a longer run and then I will send some photos.

You are right. The additional load is not that critical. Yet, when I run the whole setup by hand (without a crank) - usually when tuning some parts - I really feel moments when the drive need to overcome significantly larger resistance. (I mentioned them in my earlier post.)

It is OK. I believe that our discussion can be interesting also for some other builders. What we can learn from Philo's measurements is that a PF XL motor operates between these limits: no-load current ... 80 mA stalled current .... 1800 mA The actual current value for the Factory setup depends on many factors, namely how smooth does each of the modules run. I also expect that the value may fluctuate in a larger range within one cycle (i.e. one bucket wheel shift). Let us see if someone else come with his/her own measurements.

I have a background in electronics, so I know how to measure current. Here are some of my recent projects http://www.brickshel...ry.cgi?f=562970 a here some historic ones when I was controlling Lego by an 8 bit microcomputer. http://www.brickshel...ry.cgi?f=441799 Sure, I know Philo's excellent page but as I cannot measure the torque required by the Factory setup, I do not know the actual operating point on the torque-current curve. Still, the values I measured seem to me much lower than I was expecting.

In the published version, the added modules are powered by an additional PF motor (M type). The reasons are just practical: a) The main motor has already have large load. Why to stress it more? b) The new modules do not need any synchronization with the rest. c) Any additional module connected to the main power source would make the tuning (or re-tuning) of the critical parts more complicated. On the other side, the added modules run rather smoothly, so the main motor would power them, definitely, if really necesary. By the way, I measured the current consumed by the the main motor powered from a 9V train trafo and I was suprised it was only 0.3-0.4 A. I expected more. However, I did the measurment just by a common digital A-meter, so I can hardly say if there are any significant current peaks in those moments when the motor drives the critical phases, namely the bucket-wheel shift, bucket platform shift or ball picker movements. I did these measurments because I plan to control the model from an Arduino board (equipped with an appropriate interface).

I have just noticed it. To fix it, it took me some time to re-learn - by try and error - what should I do. You seem to be an expert. I think it is really necessary for me (or for the community, too?) to make a list of the most frequent troubles and their fixes. Now, I still remember most of the tricks from the building and tuning phase but I am sure that in several weeks I will forget them.

Hi to all GBC fans, thanks to Rebricker and Blakbird I was able to build my own copy of Akiyuki's legendary Ball Factory. Actually, it is not an exact copy, it is a slightly modified and eXTend version, and that is why I call it Ball Factory XT. After I finished the standard version, I felt there was still some empty space on the left baseplate. I wanted to add something that would have made the ball path longer by adding several smaller modules. They had to fit into the given space without hindering the view on the brilliant Akiyuki's original modules. So, I added one longer slide, a watermill wheel, and a ball relay module inspired by NxtStep101's Mechanical Chain mechanism. Here are two pictures showing the complete model: and a video:

Hello, I have just returned home form a short stay in Singapore. I must confirm that the city, its inhabitants and visitors, all were much excited with the coming F1 race. There was also a big show in one shopping mall close to the racing course, where F1, Shell and Lego were making their joint promotion. Lego organized some simple building competitions for children and gave them the sets as gifts. Moreover, Lego displayed large scale versions of all the four models as shown on my photos.

6. Winter Town Hall by sdrnet - 2 points 11. Clock Town and Winter Love by tatertots - 2 points 29. Firehouse by Mrcool1804 - 1 points

Here are my votes: 1. castor-troy - 1 3. Cunctator - 1 14. alex54 - 2 27. Myko - 1

Very nice models and I like the fact that they represent different places on the globe! My votes will go to the following ones: 2. Burj Al-Arab, Dubai, United Arab Emirates by Spencer_R - 1 point (the two shades of blue make the model really lovely) 13. Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey by Artizan - 1 point (captures the shape of the temple very well) 15. Kinkaku-Ji, Kyoto, Japan by CarsonBrick - 1 point (the better from the two nice Kinkahu-Ji models) 9. Ludwigskirche, Saarbrücken, Germany by Skalldyr - 1 point (a lot of construction and color details in this miniatuare) 23. Mathematics and Computer Building at UW, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada by Fianat - 1 point (nice rendering of modern architecture) 28. Old Royal Palace (now Greek Parliament), Athens, Greece by Theo - 1 point (a lot of detailes and nice landscaping) 38. Stortinget (Norwegian Parliament Building), Oslo, Norway by Matija - 1 point (well executed and presented model)

Most MOCs are realy beautiful. Anyway, I decided to give my 5 points to those models that keep in the style of the previous official Winter village sets: 4. Inn by Dix - 3 13. Chocolate Shop by Cecilie - 1 14. Log Cabin by Jameson42 - 1

Wonderful MOC! I spent quite a long time looking at this marvelous MOC and trying to define for myself what makes this MOC looking so realistic. I think it is namely: 1) almost total omission of LEGO bright colours (no red, yellow or blue bricks), only those sand and other decent colours, 2) very realistic dimensions, e.g. the platform is as long and as broad as it should be in reality, the MOC looks like being designed without any space limitations, 3) nice and smooth-shaped accessories like the lamps, the banks, 4) the well designed train that seems to be intentionally pushed ouf of the main focus, 5) and surprisingly also - the lack of minifigures. It is definitely something what I would call 'new school' in city&train building as opposed to the 'old school' one.

This is definitely one of the best and most lively Lego streets based on the modular concept. Very good job, 'cimddwc'! I like the idea of a street on the slope. It makes the diorama very dynamic. I also like the street-car; it looks simple but it just fits into the scale. Let us hope, TLG will continue in producing more elements in those realistic 'sand' colours. One minor commnent: The underground stream makes the foreground special, but it would be even more interesting to render the underground metro station.

It is an amazing MOC, Sirens. I like the unique shape of the main building as well as many details, like colour-glass windows, mosaic-tiled floors, very special sort of plants, and last but not least, the decent colour scheme of the model.

This is the sort of MOCs that I like most. Take Lego bricks and make something unusual or unexpectable from them. You did it and you have done it in wonderful way. Who would think, that one can make a 7-segment display from Lego and, even more, program it to count - all in pure mechanic way. Excellent work!

It is even worse, this time. Within one batch sent to me (from a shop in Czech Republic) I found two different codes: "120B1" and "319B1" sets.

Hi, here is my little contribution. Persian-style container: and its house-to-house transport. (I wish I had a pair of camels )

Welcome to EB! It is honour for me to be the one who encouraged you to join. As I wrote several posts above, towers are my long-term hobby and I have written several books about them, e.g. this one. Yes, I know this tower too and I mentioned it in my books as well.

You got it! It is Hrádek near Varnsdorf. I made the model as a tribute to the successfully finished renovation. You must live nearby, mustn't you?

Thank you all for the positive responses. Well, it seems that not only me regret the sad fate of that beuatiful tower. Towers, particularly look-out towers, are my long-term hobby. I have visited hundreds of them and actually I have written several books about them. The Emperor's Tower near Wroclaw (Breslau) is not the only one that was damaged during the WWII but it was definitely the most wonderful and most amazing one. By the way, three years ago I built another nice look-out tower with a restaurant. It was before I joined EB. Here is its picture: More pictures on BS: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=332473