Anio

I've used the tires of 8880. It is perfect. And much easier to get.

Happy accident.

I would not have say this. I think the concept car is very good, but less complex than some today's big lego sets such as 8258, 8043 or 8265. Where the concept car is impressive, IMO, it is clearly in the way it is built. So, I would rather say that some models TLG designs today have less educative value, but aims at being more complexe (and impressive (than many sets in the 90's), in some extent). For exemple, the "fake" gear box on 8070, or the transmissions LA require on models may have been pretty tough to design. Even if it is indeed not very realistic. Yes, I did it. I hope you and Nathanaël do not mind. I had to choose a ref to put the review on SeTechnic (if you want to read it : http://www.setechnic.com/review-lego-technic-NK01.html ). I thought NK01 was fine. I think everyone understand why. Yes, perfectionnists never do things randomly. Each thing, no matter how insignificant it is, can be justified. And I had this feeling when I built the concept car. As I said, each part has a reason to be and is used at his full potential.

Yes. And I would not be suprised if it is on sale in few next months, like 10215 last year.

It seems "Ultimate" does not mean anything anymore today. :/ A B-Wing UCS MUST have a mechanism. Like a X-Wing, an Imperial Shuttle or an ARC would. I don't care if it is hard to design. :o "Do, or do not. There is no try."

The B-Wing is not among the most beautiful Star Wars fighters. But well, it can still make an interesting UCS model. I hope the model will at least have a mechanism for the wings. As for the R2-D2 10227, I'm not interested at all in that model. But I think that such a model fits pretty well to the Lego system. So, it can still make a very good set.

Thanks again for your nice comments ! To be honest with you, the instruction does exist. I did it. It was long, but I did it. This is the reason why I know how many parts the model has. In the first post, I wrote "about 3450 parts" cause I think that this indication is enough. But actually, there is exactly 3465 pieces. At the moment, I do not plan to share it. Indeed, in the Technic forum, when I see how people take advantage of famous MOCer's work, it does not make me want to share the instruction. For example, given that my podracer uses A LOT of very rare refs (magnets, orange, dark orange, copper parts, mainly), I do not want to see people speculate with these parts. I hate speculation. Moreover, if I share the instruction, with the parts for sale on BL, I guess that only 4 people can reproduce the model. Well, if the price of the model does not stop them before : about 400€. Otherwise, I redid the sticker. Of course, I've corrected the typo. I also photoshoped 2 fins on the right engine for them to be visible. edit : new HD file of the sticker : http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Anio/SeTechnic/Podracer-UCS-ST09/sticker.jpg

Reading such a stupid comment bring me the idea that NK and Crowkiller should choose the people who are able to buy the instruction. For example : - the people Crowkiller and NK trust - and the people that the first people trust (dunno if it is understandable). In other words, you could buy the instruction only if you are recommended by someone NK or Crowkiller trust. Well, I guess 4lord is 12 years old. haha.

And here we go again... It would be nice if a mod could split that tread and create a new one. Something like "MOC instructions : free or fees ?"

I confess that I think that some instructions do not worth the money people ask for. I have seen some ridiculous MOCs on ebay where the price is very high and the MOC is very poor. :/ (you can reproduce the model with only one pic, but the MOC is so poor that you don't even want to reproduce it, no matter how easy it is ) So, only 15$ for a model such as the Concept Car is very affordable IMO. Actually, it even worths much more than 15$. And selling such an awesome instruction for such a small amount of money, isn't it a proof that this instruction does not aim at making money ?

In general, I'm not a fan of the idea which consits in selling his instruction. I prefer the idea of offering his work for free and wait for people to be fair and give the money they want. As a test builder, that's what happened for me. And of course, after I get the instruction, I gave money. Well, if I would have been compelled to buy like many of you probably will, I would have done so. My point is that if a MOC really deserve to be sold, trust me, it is this one. I know 8880 well, and this concept car is IMO much more impressive. One more thing : 15$ is a rather small amount of money regarding the VERY high quality of the model and the instruction. @ Milan : you spend so much time to provide HQ instruction, or to design MOCs that are optimised down to the last part, or whatever because you are a perfectionist. And you appreciate when the job is very well done. And then, when you look at the final result of your own work, you think "Yes, I did it !".

Thank you ! Yes, the trans-clear support are actually not very visible given that the engines are very big. The engines are very stable because they lay on the ground with 3 points (2 supports and 1 wing). Moreover, the pressure on the support is only vertical (weight), so, there is absolutely no problem with the support. On the pod, it is far less stable because the support are much taller (17cm each). The cables help to make the pod a bit more stable. Making a model looking dirty is not an easy task. I can do it pretty easily on the greebs where I can use several colors such as LBG, DBG, tan, copper, dark tan, etc. But it is much more hard on a surface which is supposed to be all the same color (orange). As I said in my previous messages, I put some tiles to add some textures. But it is not that easy. Indeed, the surface must not be overloaded with that kind of things given that on the real model these surfaces are empty (no details I mean). So, I put few tiles only. I think that studs and white flexs do more or less the job to change the textures. Moreover, I do not want my model to have no studs. I'm indeed very proud of building my models with Lego bricks. And it is important to me to show that. Thank you ! :) And I would like to thank a lot Kieldaman for the frontpage.

I take this as a compliment. I have indeed a very critical eye. If I can be pretty harsh with some models, on the contrary, on other models, I can give a very positiv opinion. In fact, it would be unfair to use his critical eye only to give negativ opinions.

It is indeed just an impression. The 3rd diff is an option.

No, AWD is possible too. :) With AWD and no middle differential, it works fine. Like 8265 or 8459, for example. Oh yes, it is ! As far as I know, no, there is no file to get the right part list in few seconds. You have to create your own part list in a wanted list, with that inventory : http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/8455/tbs201107191p204.png http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/1831/tbs201107191p205.png

Thanks everyone ! Well, If you say so... I can read English and understand what means "(Anio) Rides with Sebulba". However, I do not really get what this tittle mean. No. Official sets are not modified.

Hello, You just need to read the tittle to understand that the model I'm going to present is a marvel. The instruction has not been released yet. But as a test builder, I had the privilege to get it 2 weeks ago. Oh, if you had seen my face when I got the instruction... I was like Gollum with his precious... Or Sheldon Cooper with Leonard Nimoy's napkin, if you see what I mean. I had THE instruction of THE supercar most Technic fans dream of... What was hard was to wait for all the parts. Because when I got the file, I was still waiting for pretty big BL orders. Well, this morning I get the last ref I needed : 4 very light gray liftarms. What should I say first ? Well, building this Concept Car was one of the best building experience I ever had ! The car is nice and has a well executed shape. The interior is interesting. Only few well located parts, and the whole interior seems to be gray. For a car, we also have some basic features : doors, hood, trunk. Not so impressive, but it helps to make the car realistic. What really impressed me the most is that everything is so well engineered. Everything is very carefully designed. The build is modular (even more modular that 8448), all the parts fit perfectly together. Something jaw-dropping is when you put the gear box on the chassis. You could nearly throw it into the car for it just to fall at the right place ! The dashboard of the car is very strong too, no matter how uncommon the angles are. Actually, with very few parts, everything is linked together to make the build very strong. The instruction is also stunning. I've seen some very clever trick to make the build strong and surprising. Example, on the front axle : When you look at the chassis, the model seem to be very simple. Everything is optimised. But trust me, it is damn hard to build in a simple way. Nearly each part, whatever it is a connector or a "L" shaped liftarm, is used at his full potential. Each part has a reason to be. It's amazing. Regarding the features, we quickly understand that this concept car is designed to be like a real car. It has a very high educative value compared to the Supercars Lego may release today. All the wheels have independent suspensions. And I've NEVER seen suspensions working so well. They are strong and smooth at the same time. Just look at the video. On the front, the back or the side, I only use one finger to play with these suspensions. Ok, the chassis may touch the ground sometimes. Nevertheless, that's nothing compared to how well executed the suspesions are ! The steering mechanism is also much more smooth than 8448, thanks to the 12t/20t gears. One turn of steering wheel is enough to steer from the left to the right (or the right to the left :p). Some people may regret that the is no HOG. A HOG ? What for ? Do not forget : this Concept Car is meant to work like a real car ! So, you steer with the steering wheel. The transmission is interessting because you can choose between 3 modes : A wheel drive, front-wheel drive, or forward-wheel drive. It is very easy to switch from a mode to another. Under the gearbox, there is no differential. That's very understandable. Indeed, if only one of the 2 axles drives, all the power would leave to the non driving axle (don't know if my sentence is clear O_o). The gearbox is the same as 8448 regarding the gears, but it is studless. With the reverse gear, the frictions are very high. But if I remember correctly, 8466 and 8448 also had this "problem". Other gears work fine. :) The engine can be located at the back of the car. Well, personally I prefer when it is at the front. The video : So my conclusion : when instruction is released, make everything you can to gather all the parts and build this beauty ! You will not regret it ! Indeed, it is IMO better than 8448. Well, to make things even more clear, it is the best super car I've seen so far. Thank you, Mister Kuipers for this stunning model! And thank you Joshua for creating such a beautiful instruction ! PS : I have Nathanaël's agreement to show you these 2 pages. edit : do not forget that the easiest way to gather all the parts of this Concept Car is to use Rebrickable : http://rebrickable.com/catalog/nathanael/concept-car And a comprehensive review on TechLUG : http://www.techlug.fr/review-lego-technic/NK01/concept-car-nk-aa-nathanael-kuipers-2008

Hello, I've been MOCing for 3 years now. And it' been a while I wanted to do a video with all my UCS models, whatever they are sets or MOCs. So, yesterday, I did it. With that vid, in 20 minutes, you get a summary of 3 years of work, 22 models and more than 45,000 Lego parts. Some pics on my FlickR : Enjoy !

Thank you for your kind comments. It's greatly appreciated. :) Yes, but apparently moderators think it doesn't.

Thank you all for your very kind comments. There are lightsabers in the cones (3 4L and 2 3L, if I remember correctly).

Thank you ! :) Yes, I know what will be my next project. Yet another tricky ship. I do not plan to do a Death Star II. Yes, 10143 has lot of flaws, but I do not think a can do something significantly different and well done. Actually, the thing would be to mod 10143. :) No flickR account, indeed. Is it really necessary to have one ? Why ?

Hi, Well, I gonna answer everyone. Sorry for posting such a long message. :-s Thanks for your comment about the greebs ! :) Regarding the tiled/studded surfaces, I tried to put some tile to hide some studs. But I do not want to put too many tiles. Indeed, I like studs. It is important to me to see them. On the wedge 4x9, it was hard to put tiles. :/ Cause I think it would have "harm" the conical shape. On the wings, the grid + 2x2 tile + grid tend to reproduce the movable fins (they are open, sometimes, in the movie) and to modify the texture. Thank you ! :) I wouldn't say that I'm very good at photoshop. But I know everything to do a very nice display card, thanks to Oxycrest, a friend. :) I'm pleased to see that you think it could be an official set, because it is always the approach I have when I do design a model. I do my best to respect very hard rules and standards. But I doubt TLG do But TLG will never contact me to produce this or something similar. They already did they podracers. If one day I'm contacted by Lego for my MOCs, I'll let you know. ^^ Thanks ! :) Thnak you :) Yes, it was a real pain to gather all the parts. :/ I confess that I love this orange color too. :) Thanks ! I gave my word to one friend (not 2, juste one) that I would do my best for him to be able to reproduce the model. In exchange, he gave me his word that he would keep for himslef what I sent to him. So, I guess that you will see 1 other Plug-F in the next months... :) Thanks ! Hum, regarding the painted parts, I have really no regret. :) I know what will be my next model. But I think I will stop Lego for this year. I did 3 MOCs in 2011, which IMO pretty much regarding how slow I work. Thank you. You know, to do great MOCs, you must just have some key ideas in mind. - First of all, you must think than you can do it. Indeed, why couldn't you do great MOCs ? - Secondly, you mustn't hesitate to spend as much time as necessary. You have to do, do, do and redo, and redo again to get the result you expect. - And thirdly, you have to be very demanding with yourself. Set the bar high. :) These 3 ideas are key points, before building. If you have not much skills in designing and finding your own building techniques, that's no big deal. You just compensate with time. You are bound to success if you spend hours and hours. ^^ Thank you :) Yes, the bulbous part you are talking about should be a bit bigger. But since a part like that do not exist in 4 stud wide and high, I did it with 3 studs. It is not 100% accurate. However, it is certainely better than a blocky (and thus not perfectly round) shape designed with bricks. :) Thanks a lot ! It's true that the color and the overall shape of the vehicle make the Plug-F Mammoth very original. Thank you all ! Oh, I forgot to specify that I took inspiration on 10019 to do the conical shapes. I did not used rubbers outside like 10019, but magnets inside. :) edit : WTF !!! How hell I didn't see it !!! Let's reprint the card...

Great review ! Typical today. :/ The MOC is IMO much better. The street lamps are a very nice addition (edit : well they are not at scale, but I like them ^^ /edit). Moreover, there are more variation in the colors. And that's nice. On the official model, the roof has some "stair effect". It doesn't look good at all. Instead of the 2x4, I'm nearly certain that there was room for some SNOT (like the front of the Marsk train for example) to avoid that.

EDIT : Professional building instruction available here : You can email me at setechnic@gmail.com /EDIT Hello everyone, Et voilà ! My latest UCS MOC is finished. And it is the podracer of Sebulba. UCS Sebulba's Podracer by Anio, sur Flickr UCS Sebulba's Podracer by Anio, sur Flickr With my UCS AT-TE, it is the most complex MOC I've been working on so far. And in fact, when I consider how tricky the build is, I think this MOC didn't took me that much time to design. Note that I've painted some parts. Indeed, they did not exist in the right colors. I do not feel guilty at all about that, even though I'm a purist. I just paint parts to have the part in the right colors. I did not use paint to add details or create new colorst. I will replace these painted parts by real Lego parts as soon as they are produced. :) Here is a picture of the structure of each engine : Some more pictures : UCS Sebulba's Podracer by Anio, sur Flickr To do all the details, I've used DBG, LBG, copper, and few tan and dark tan pieces. I think the final result works pretty well. On each sides, there is the flamethrower. Both can be opened. I did the energy binder with transpurple parts. It is not exactly the right color (trans-pink would be better), but I had no choice given that the parts I needed have never been produced in trans-purple. UCS Sebulba's Podracer by Anio, sur Flickr UCS Sebulba's Podracer by Anio, sur Flickr View from the rear : The pod was very fun to build. And I must say that it is much smaller than what I expected. In fact, the engines are sooooo much bigger than the pod. The pod is not very complex, but it has all the necessary details and the right colors at the right places. :) The minifig is a bit too small. But it is not such a big deal. :) UCS Sebulba's Podracer by Anio, sur Flickr Depending on the ressources we use, the size of Anakin's and Sebulba's podracers vary a lot. Sometimes their engines seem to have the same size, and sometimes, the engines of Sebulba are much bigger than those of Anakin. So, I would say that my podracer of Sebulba is more or less at scale with the pod of Anakin. If you want to know more about the building process or anything else, let me know. ;) And a video of the MOC : Hope you like it !