MetroiD

This one looks more like a mod than a MOC - at least to me personally - especially seeing as you've used most of the details / constructions / patterns etc. which the original itself utilises. If I were you, I'd take the original to pieces as well and create a new, bigger and more elaborate Service Station. That way you'd avoid the obvious segmentation that can be seen now (two separated yet closely-situated sets of gas pumps; a washing station in between buildings...) and can also formulate the separate areas and services better.

The "Private League" sounds doable, if not quite plausible. I'd give it time though. Remember, in the 90s, that's what Arsene Wenger, Sir Alex & Co. wanted as well - a separate league of the 20 top European teams. Did they ever get it? No, fortunately! The Prem League is still intact and as to the Champions League - despite its multiple transformations over the years, the basis is still the same. If anything, that idea has been applied as part of the former UEFA Cup's new format. Anyway, back to F1 - I don't think anyone can make a sound judgement at this point in time. Especially not with F1 management changing this year. I think this will cool down in a few years' time, but until then we'll be in for a few rather interesting seasons...

I also love the Classic bike to bits!!! Unfortunately, its scale makes it look rather weird when placed alongside a 4- to 5-wide car, or a Modular set. The more years pass by, the more that good ol' bike starts to look like a scooter instead of a motorcycle - and there was no way I'd have my town's minifigs riding around on scooters and perfectly identical sports/ or dirtbikes (as are the ones coming out with the current mold :) ).

Thank you guys! Yeah, I enjoy building minifig-scale bikes - I hadn't built one for quite a long time, but now that the inspiration is back, I guess I'll be starting work on a few other machines as well pretty soon. That said, I can't imagine any other bike requiring so many "weird" solutions as I've used here for the Speed Triple :) Thanks Cam :) Actually the most "thought out" part of this MOC were the headlights. Getting those right was crucial and also the first thing I set off to do before building anything else. Only after that did I start work on the body, and the exhaust pipes sort of just... happened. I didn't really struggle to get the structure right, I was just sure I had to have something that resembles the Speed Triple's original pipes as closely as possible. After mounting these on the bike, I realised that the construction is actually the same one which Pirate MOCcers use to depict shooting cannons. Funny how many uses LEGO pieces can have P.S. Here's a little "gift" to all Speed Triple fans around here... And a confirmation as to just what the Triple is capable of :)

I did... check out the previous page, would you?

New pic uploaded :) Sorry, did a little moving around of our Brickshelf folders recently and I guess that's the result :]

As a "peace pipe" (tho I hope that's not required - smoking is bad for ya :P), I offer thee... my signature :] Hope you guys enjoy it, seeing this here thread was part of the inspiration which brought about my latest minifig-scale bike.

Sorry for resurrecting this thread (which was actually one of my first topics on EB :) ). I made a few slight modifications to the Daytona, so I thought I'd share those... If anyone of you wonders what the other bike featured in the first pic is - it's a Triumph Speed Triple

1050ccm producing 132 HP @ 9100 RPM. Mere digits, but they convey most of what the Triumph Speed Triple is about. That is -- raw power. And real British pride. As one of the world's most celebrated naked / streetfighter motorcycles, the Speed Triple has long been a respected feature and a contemporary fashion icon of sorts in Triumph's line-up. With this one, the idea is brilliantly simple: you either adore it or you're driven away by its design. As you could expect, it has long been one of my most favourite bikes. Ever. Its most distinct features, as re-designed and introduced back in 2005, are undoubtedly the bike's ever-present double round headlamps and the beefy upward-bent cut-off exhaust tailpipes (reference pic). Those were also the pillars on which I've tried to base my MOC of this wonderful motorcycle. Underneath that muscular body is a unique "heart" that pumps out of 3 chambers instead of 4, which is the norm in inline motorcycle engines. The inline-three-engine, which has become a trademark of norm-defying Triumph engineering down the years, lends the bike an unmistakable sound coming out of those chunky pipes - and a top-notch performance to go along with that. Clean white is a rare colour as far as motorcycle patterns are concerned and one of the few colours in which the Speed Triple has made multiple appearances over the years. Obviously, Triumph thought that this bike was bold enough to sport the "clean 'n mean" look. And sales figures have proven that their presumption was spot on. Don't be deceived, this one is not a "girly-bike" by a long shot. In fact, its aggressive nature, especially in the low range, turns this one into quite a monster - but it is still a rather tamable monster and one that can provide you with a fun, exciting and unbelievably agile ride. Judging by this bike's heavy looks, you probably wouldn't believe it, but it scales in at just below 190kgs, which is quite impressive. Seems like Anne here has managed to get a firm grip on those 190 kilos - and Joe the Biker has finally found a kindred soul to roam the roads with! A size comparison between my two Triumphs - as you could expect, their dimensions are pretty matched up. Despite that, I had to make sure that the Daytona still feels lower to the ground than the Speed Triple, as in real life. This last pic of our happy bikers couple is also a link to my other Triumph minifig-scale bike, the Daytona 675. More photos of the Speed Triple - in this flickr set

I'd have Koenigsegg (or Königsegg) over Toyota any day!!! I can't see them joining F1 anytime soon though (or am I wrong here?). It's a shame that Toyota have decided to leave. While it's certainly true that their team failed to live up to the high expectations (especially when compared to their huge success in American racing series such as NASCAR), I did see them as a nice team which was developing in the right direction...

Ebay If you're patient and lucky enough, you might just manage to snatch it for even less than that - I highly recommend you give it a shot.

Hmmm. A civilized argument can be expected in areas where people are as passionate about products as motorcycles. That said, I don't think anyone was flaming or advertising anything or anybody, CGH. Big Cam, all good :). I didn't think anyone would have been so sensitive to my words ("take most, if not anything people say with a pinch of salt" is a personal motto of mine which is best applied for my own words, obviously :P). In hindsight, you're absolutely right about that "never had a reputation" rant and I appologise to you and all Honda fans who've felt offended by that. However, I've grown used to discussing bikes in that cheeky "red ones are quicker, green ones are uglier, etc." way, which is how you'd discuss motorcycles with your mates. Guess it isn't always applicable online, but you (or anyone else, for that matter) shouldn't be offended so easily, I never mean anything to come out that way

Cam, I think you need to calm down a bit. First off, I'm definitely not filling anyone's head with anything, just sharing my opinion. I try my best not to sound like a know-it-all and if I sometimes do, it's probably in areas where I know my facts and digits. Bikes are not governed by facts and digits, personal preference is of utmost importance in that area/ market, and so sharing opinions is a natural thing, with noone's opinion good enough to be deemed final. The fact that I'm not a fan of Honda does not in any way mean that I don't like their motorcycles, especially some models. I think you failed to see the difference there, and are hence being a bit _too_ judgemental. By the way, statements such as "Reliability is synonymous with the name Honda" are what I'd call biased by your definition. All of the top bike brands are very reliable and that is a fact. What's even more of a fact is that reliability depends on the rider, and not the bike. That said, I recommended Kawasaki precisely since they are the only brand you could say has actually "dominated" the AMA Motocross Championship. While the 250cc class may be rather equally divided with 3 wins to Kawa, Honda and Suzuki each within the past 10 years, in the 125cc category only KTM and Suzuki have managed a win inbetween lengthy periods of Kawasaki domination. Those are facts as you requested. Furthermore, I also have a lot of offroad-riding friends (in fact, most of my biker buddies prefer off-road riding) and while each of them has their own preferences, almost all of them own a Kawasaki as a back-up or primary off-road motorcycle. That tells me a lot about those bikes' reliability. Now that we've cleared that up, I do hope I haven't been misunderstood - I'm not vouching for Kawasaki or KTM or Husqvarna or any other brand. I'm not saying Honda is a bad brand either (what insane person would ever say that anyway?!). No hurt feelings, I hope. But I totally subscribe to that last thing you said there. When one buys an off-road bike, they have to make sure it fits their own style and at the end of the day that's the only thing that matters. Peace! edit: formatting ;)

I wasn't aware of this one having been entered as an official entry for the contest? Or does any MOC that is posted within the time range of the contest automatically get entered? As to the other thing - there are no pirates per se featured here. Pedro Alvares Cabral was an explorer who set out to colonize South America for the needs of Portuguese commerce, while also spreading Christianity in those new lands (hence the original name of Brazil - Terra de Veracruz - as in Land of the True Cross). Since those two processes were carried out simultaneously, the outcome was a land where religion was even more crucial to colonizing than in North or Central America and the effect which Portuguese explorers, settlers and missionaries had on the local population ensured that the vast territory of modern Brazil remained under exclusive Portuguese control for quite a long period. Back to the skin colour though - I think it looks very adequate here, mostly because of the obvious difference between "White Man" and the natives. For increased accuracy, I personally would have used the heads and bodies of natives from the Indiana Jones series rather than the Islanders - but as I said, the MOC still looks absolutely brilliant.

The 4551 (Classic Town Crocodile Loc) and 10105 (My Own Train Black Engine) are both are very nice models which are very MOCcable, on the one hand, but should also appeal to your kid. However, if you go for one of those, you'd need to buy rails, 9V motor, etc. separately, which could prove to be a bit of a bother, especially if you want to run the train straight out of the box. Now if your child enjoys "fast" trains, you should probably go for 4511 with its biggest advantage over 4560 being the fact that it comes with a speed regulator and transformer and so is absolutely ready to run.

Thanks Tony, helpful as ever :))) Duq, don't worry, I'm not going to continue this any longer, I hereby peacefully give up my attempts of hijacking this thread :P Btw, I am soooo going to copy that (as an idea of course, not the train design itself... although I must admit, the cars are very Christmasy...) P.S.: And yes, of course, it is the best Christmas train I personally have ever seen - in fact, it was probably your first MOC I ever saw ;]

Two words: V-twin Streetfighter. Not a common combination at all and a very promising one - of course, provided that Buell'd had the engineering capacity to develop it, which they obviously didn't.

If you ask me, that would be one of the most sound investments! MV needs to have its marketing sorted out but if done right, this could be one of the best and most sought-after bike brands - not in terms of actual sales, but in terms of desirability. After all, even now they have some of the best designs and engineering solutions - the only problem is that they're not really pushing for that exclusive brand image like they should. Pity to see Buell go though. Especially seeing as I'm a huge fan of streetfighter designs... Guess when it comes to two wheels, you either are a Jap manufacturer and rest assured you'll always sell enough to cover your expenses, or if you produce bikes elsewhere, you're in for a gamble. On a brighter note, did you know that two of Germany's best riders recently bought MZ and are planning on producing a MotoGP-inspired 600cc? Sounds a bit like the Triumph story to me, minus the brand factor of course, but let's see how that will work out :) P.S.: @CloneCommanderDelta7: If you're planning on doing serious off-road, don't go for those Hondas. They never had a reputation for building reliable off-road machines (and I'm NOT just saying this because I'm not a Honda fan). Kawasaki's line-up in that aspect gets better by the year and I'd recommend a KLX any day! The Husqvarna bikes are also a classic choice, if you can get your hands on one of those that is, and the CR 125 is the way to go there. Suzuki's DR-Z125 is also not a bad option, it has a good reputation and is sensibly priced... Whatever you choose, I wish you best of luck and lots of fun with it :) Even if you don't join a club, just finding local experienced riders might be enough of an incentive to learn and develop your skills.

The forced perspective!!! That's brilliant! Loving the angle on those rocks too - now that's realistic... Btw, is that the iron cross? Oh, and just a heads up: Pedro Cabral had a long beard ;) Although I can't really see the minifig face you've used from your photos, so that might be irrelevant.

This is precisely what I was planning to do with my Toy Store. Should I have ordered two of those? Hmmm... In any case, wonderful mod! I really enjoy how you've managed to keep as close to the original while providing the whole building with a sense of realism! Looks extremely Chrismasy :)

I voted for a Train Level Crossing. If done in BNSF / Super Chief / Train Shed style, that should be a wonderful set. Heck, even if it's just another regular City-style Level Crossing, I'd go for it - it's long overdue and my expanding railway is in need of such a structure! As to the other choices - I'm pretty sure we'll never see an official Roundhouse due to all the reasons Duq has already pointed out. Same applies to having an officla Bridge set, I don't think TLG would dare to officially release that - it just wouldn't sell. The Water Tower is a bit dated and useless for all but one official LEGO train - hardly a marketable idea. And as Train Stations come and go, I don't think even an Exclusive set would be able to come close to the level of detail which Teddy and kris kelvin more recently have managed to achieve... But stations will fortunately always be available and always a winning card, as long as they offer a bit more than the fortunately-soon-to-be-retired 7997. That leaves us (alright, me at least :) ) with a limited choice. The Mill sounds fun, but cannot be directly related to Trains and sounds too AFOL-ish, so I wouldn't hope for that, even though it could be made into a lovely set. I can see a Cargo Depot offered as a regular City set, since it does make sense and could be made in a way that wouldn't be too expensive yet very "playable". Same applies for a potential Switching Tower, even though it is also a bit more of an AFOL structure. All in all, the Level Crossing and Cargo Depot (and probably the Switching Tower as an outside chance) seem like the most plausible alternatives to me in terms of sets which LEGO would officially release. I'd love to see either one of those next year and if done properly, I'd surely buy it :) P.S.: I don't own the Shed (Come on the Blues! ) either, unfortunately. At the price it's currently commanding, I don't think I'll be buying it anyway, I'd rather MOC one myself later on and combine that with a roundhouse.

Thanks for the clarifications JD :) I admit, I didn't see the curve of the knees at first. Now it's all clear... Still, I think that minifig would look great if you somehow managed to squeeze in his head as well. Otherwise sitting down there just doesn't make much sense. I'm sorry if I'm being too much of a bother...

I have to disagree with those two points. First off, if you've tried holding anything at head level while floating / swimming, you must have noticed how your body is indeed suspended up to your neck... The position and posture of that minifig in the water with the paddle in his hands is absolutely perfect. As to a mast - perhaps Admiral Croissant is right about the width and a tumblehome might be useful there. However, adding a mast would ruin the dimensions of the ship. A mast is placed in the center, remember - and if the mast were that close to the hull, that would be the weirdest ship possible. Adding something to the deck would be a good idea though - perhaps some barrels and a loose rope would look nicely? Or a bucket for the fishing pirate there?

Couldn't resist pointing out just how great the Spaniard is, could you I have to agree though... Regarding Button - guess next season will show who's right and wrong. I enjoyed seeing him win the championship and would love to see a British fight next season. 5150, you say that Button has done nothing for the last 10 years. Well, what has Massa achieved then? All these years, Button was helping push mediocre Honda along and Hamilton was the one branded as the boy born with a silver spoon seeing as he had an arrangement with McLaren and he was a home-grown talent (which is not wrong in any way, unless you're a Ferrari fan ;). Massa, on the other hand, spent his years spinning cars and commiting one mistake after another, all the while "learning his trade". Then Ferrari took him (cheap wage, perfect second driver), at which point he saw fir to... continue spinning. And crashing. He's been consistent in doing that ever since. Don't get me wrong, but even if perennial underachiever Nelsinho Piquet had the backing of the entire Ferrari team with the developments they'd had up until a year ago, he would have been fighting for the championship (instead of fighting in courtrooms :P).

Big Cam, TheBrickste's question regards the colour of roadplates... not baseplates As to what you said there - roadplates are only good for Classic Town buildings, and even those can't really be big enough to look realistic if built solely on a roadplate.