Davey

Four Feet of Snow... To all my Midwestern friends...it has been a long winter but I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Spring beckons. -Davey

Straight ballin'. Lionel's new motto...don't hate the playa...hate the game. Love the concept and the car is sweet. Love them wheel arches especially. -Davey

The only real issues would one of two things. Extreme heat, which I doubt you would see with your setup, could be an issue with lights. The other issue would depend on what kind of lighting you are using. If it emits a significant amount of UV (similar to sunlight) then you could see yellowing over long periods of time. Older fluorescent lights used to emit UV which is one reason a lot of old PC/ABS computer monitor housings are so yellow. It just depends on your setup. If it is standard tungsten light, then you should be fine. -Davey

Great idea for a MOC! We use these all the time to test our plastic materials at work. As a Composite Materials Engineer...UTM's are near and dear to my heart. Working with those helped pay my way through university. I really like these and might have to borrow your idea to build a couple for my desk at work. Great job! -Davey

That is a lot of color, but I'm really drawn to both the color and the design. It does have a bit of a flower look to it and I think that gives it a more organic feel and seems to fit Admiral Captain Commando Squidtron quite well. I just wonder how long until he gets pulled over by the Space Police for driving this hoopty. -Davey

Nice work on this one and converting it to PF. I'm still not sold on the cover for the battery box. I'd like to see that either smoothed out or extend down the entire side and actually make that main body 4-wide + 2 plates. I think it would clean it up a lot. Otherwise, really nice work. -Davey

Okay, so I absolutely LOVE the concept of this. A LEGO comic based on the Final Fantasy universe is fantastic. I especially like the use of the Gungan whatever-they-ares as Chocobos. Very clever. The design of Le Gospel is very detailed and evokes a medieval yet slightly Steampunk vibe much like the Final Fantasy world. I also thought I detected a bit of a nod to White Knight Chronicles (I think) when the price was killed and Cinder was fighting in her flashback. Was I correct? Anyway, a really nice follow-up to Part I. I went back and read that as well and really like it. I can't wait to see more of these from you. -Davey

I know it's been awhile since I've posted anything and I have been building. Honest...I really have. I just haven't had that much time to take pictures and I actually haven't actually finished a MOC in awhile. Most of my stuff is WIP's right now. Anyway, a few weeks ago I was watching "The Flightline" and they had a feature on Rare Aircraft which is a restoration shop in Faribault, MN that specializes in WACO aircraft. Oddly enough, the owner Roy is a dead-ringer for the Pilot in the new Series #3 Collectible Minifigs. I'm also friends with the team over there and they do all the maintenance on my airplane, so I decided building an ode to them would be fitting. So here is my WACO-Inspired Biplane. As I said, the team at Rare Aircraft specializes in WACO's and this is based on the YMF-5 and UPF-7. Not a straight build of either but incorporates features of both. Getting the tail shaped was probably the hardest part and there is a lot of SNOT there. I'm glad it came out looking as big and burly as it did. WACO's are big aircraft and I think this captures that "big-ness". Of course the PIC in this aircraft is my interpretation of Roy Redman. Hopefully he finds that flattering as I mean it with the utmost respect. All of the guys over at Rare Aircraft really are hero's to me. The strings on the landing gear do a nice job holding them together as this one is heavy and wants to spread the gear legs a bit. So this is what I've been working on lately. There's more coming, but it might be awhile. I just had to build this for my friends over at Rare Aircraft. They build some of the most amazing artwork I have ever seen and you need to check out their site. http://www.rareaircraft.com/ You can also see more pictures of this at my Flickr Photostream. I've missed you all and sorry I've been so absent lately. -Davey

I agree that LEGO is evolving as "play" evolves in general. The fleshies was a great way to distinguish licensed properties from non-licensed. And the color change was a necessary fix to improve overall color consistency. It's a change that I think has made the product better overall. Studless building is certainly an evolved building technique and is just another step forward in my opinion. For me, the "Cafe Corner" standard of building was a massive evolution for Town, much like the "Emerald Night" was a big step forward for Train fans. While LEGO has kept the core product lines intact, they are doing a great job of evolving those lines with the times. In addition, they now realize that the TFOL and AFOL communities are a whole other demographic that they never saw before and they are actively marketing to these two groups. That is another major shift in the business philosophy of LEGO Systems A/S. I don't think that LEGO will ever innovate (again) to a point where they get away from the core of the system of play. My understanding is that any evolution now will be related in some way to the system of play. The core value that LEGO Systems A/S holds dear is the idea of a system of play where everything is compatible over the range of product. I think we will see this continue for many, many years. -Davey

It's not the heat/cold cycle that is doing that. It's the UV radiation breaking down the butadiene portion of the ABS and making it more brittle. UV is one thing ABS does not handle well. -Davey

So maybe I'm the minority here, but my wife is just as into LEGO as I am. In fact, as many of you know, Stacy is also a LEGO Ambassador. So how did it begin... Back in 2002 we got married, bought a house, etc. A couple years after moving in (maybe 2005?), my Mom and Dad gave us a call and said that they had been cleaning out the storage room behind the garage at their house and found my LEGO collection. They asked if I wanted it and...well...of course I said yes! I brought it home and Stacy helped me to sort out the pieces and instructions and clean up some of the pieces that had gotten dirty over the years. After we had things kind of sorted out, I asked if she wanted to help put some of the sets together to make sure the pieces were still there. She said sure and that was the first step to her becoming an AFOL. Shortly after, we built a 4' x 8' table in the basement and built a small little town. Stacy enjoyed building houses and setting up funny little scenes with the Minifigures while I enjoyed building trains and construction equipment. In March of 2006 (I think) we attended a local model train show and it just so happened that the Greater Midwest LEGO Train Club and the Twin Cities LEGO Train Club were there exhibiting. We met a bunch of the club members and talked LEGO for the better part of four or five hours. We spent a lot of time looking at their layouts and Stacy got really excited about the building possibilities. After we came home from that event, she was hooked. We started buying more and more sets and getting more and more involved with the community. Then in 2008 we took the next step and decided to start exhibiting. That year we did the local model train show and then Brickworld 2008. I think going to Brickworld really cemented our desire to be a part of the LEGO Community especially due to the great people we met there. As a result of being involved with Brickworld, Stacy and I have had the chance to do a lot of LEGO-related activities and she just gets more and more into it every year. I think the key things that helped get her interested in LEGO were: 1) Seeing a huge display with lots of amazing building possibilities. 2) Having a desire to have a creative outlet and being able to use an artistic medium that is "easy to use". 3) Meeting other community members in person and seeing what a great community we have. 4) Having something she and I can do together and both enjoy. 5) Having something fun to do in the cold winter months. 6) Getting actively involved in the community and seeing just how much she can contribute. I think this Christmas she's actually getting more LEGO than I am. Yes...I am a lucky guy. -Davey

I see this as LEGO giving something to younger kids to work with that will allow them to design track layouts for themselves. I think this and BlueBrick are aimed at two completely different audiences. I see this as a gateway to BlueBrick and I think it's good to see LEGO putting some dollars behind marketing trains to kids. Those kids will eventually migrate to BlueBrick. -Davey

Your unbuilt sets will be fine in the cold weather. As others have stated, if they were put together, there is the (albeit) slight potential that differing CTE values between trans and non-trans bricks might cause some cracking...but I seriously doubt it. Exposing the bricks themselves to cold weather will do nothing to the ABS provided you do not load/deflect the bricks at all. At low temperatures, the strain to failure of plastic materials decreases significantly so the amount you can "flex" the pieces before they break decreases. If they are just sitting outside, you will be fine. FYI, my day job is as an engineer for a thermoplastics company in Minnesota. -Davey

Actually both the silicone and PTFE are approved for FDA food contact in the United States. Poisoning would not be an issue in any way. I am an engineer in the plastics industry and we sell PTFE and silicone materials into medical and food contact applications all the time. -Davey

Thanks! The tables can be moved...in theory. They are bolted together on each side with 5/16" bolts so moving them around is pretty easy and we've changed the configuration in the basement a number of times. It's just a matter of getting underneath, unbolting the table, and moving it. The idea is to have a solid piece for display, which is very sturdy, but still have the ability to customize the layout when we want to. That being said...the tables are not really what I consider "portable". We're pretty much confined to moving them around in different configurations in the basement. Taking them to a public exposition somewhere would be a lot more difficult as each 30"x30" table weighs about 10-15 lb. I could have built them a little lighter to allow transport but as I wasn't planning to take the tables outside of the house, it made sense to go with something more "heavy-duty". The design I used is something similar to this: http://www.gplr.org/html2/media/table.pdf However, I substituted 2"x4" boards for the 1"x2" boards listed. I think I also went with 1/2" plywood instead of 3/8" but I can't remember. Those two substitutions make the tables more sturdy but also a lot heavier. -Davey

I've started using a Teflon lubricant from DuPont on my Emerald Night and my PF Hogwarts Express. I haven't done any comparisons versus lubricated and non-lubricated but anecdotally it seems to run more quiet and I see less "dust generation" after a couple hours of running. I think it makes a lot of sense to lubricate gear trains that run for long periods of time or are highly loaded (high PV rating). On another note, I'd love to see LEGO incorporate a lubricant package into the plastic. A migratory silicone or PTFE would be easy to do. -Davey

Yeah, I bought one of these used at BrickCon this year and have been looking for stickers for awhile. I think your best bet is to take a scan of the original from Peeron.com or Bricklink and then make your own waterslide decals. Finding an original sticker sheet could be very difficult (and expensive). Just my $0.02 based on experience with this set. -Davey

But you pack so much awesome stuff into your 5m x 5m space! Stacy and I love looking at pictures of your layout. All that wonderful 12V goodness. You really put together an awesome layout, especially given the space constraints. -Davey

Hey Rob! While I've never seen any specific LEGO Train DVD's out there, there have been a few documentaries on AFOL's that featured a number of train layouts. In addition, I believe that some of the LEGO Club TV episodes featured footage of LEGO Train layouts. Unfortunately, there is no one location where all this is pulled together. It might be interesting to have something like that though. Someone with more cinematography skills than I should look at putting something together. -Davey

Looks great Brickster! I love the design of the church in the center. I really love your Train Town designs. Keep 'em coming! -Davey

Stacy and I opted to go with tables mainly because I don't like being hunched over trying to build on the floor. In addition, our layout is in our non-finished basement so the floor is concrete. Getting it up off the floor is easier on my knees/back as well (geez I'm sounding old). My reasons for wanting tables would be as follows. Easier and more comfortable to build on. Flat/level surface for running trains (the key is building a sturdy table). Reconfigurable (depending on table design). Better for display (looks more professional). Potential to store boxes/bricks/etc underneath. Easier to hide wiring for 9V and lighting. Stacy and I opted for a modified PNLTC design for our tables. They are 30" x 30" so they hold nine of the 32x32 baseplates or four of the 48x48 baseplates. You can see the tables in the picture below as we were constructing the layout. The nice thing about the 30"x30" design is that they are very reconfigurable so you can alter your layout to meet the needs of any space. Our particular design is a little more "heavy-duty" than the original PNLTC because we were not planning to move ours much. As such, I used 2"x4" studs as the frame for the table which gives a nice solid frame for the plywood and minimizes any flex in the tables. I can easily walk on mine without any worry. You can also see in the picture below what I meant by using the area underneath for storage of boxes/bricks/sets/etc. by raising it up off the floor, you maximize your storage space which in my case is a must. You can also see below that we have "cut-outs" in the center of the layout so that you can access the whole layout to "play" with everything. Kids that come over to our house seem to love that! We also made sure to have the table-tops at "eye-level" for the average 8-10 year-old which increases the "wow factor" for them it seems. So there you have it...my reasoning for using tables versus putting my layout on the floor. Stacy and I have been thrilled with the tables thus far and are glad we made the investment to put them in. -Davey

Can't wait for June 2011 to be here! Announcements like this just serve to build the anticipation. This is going to be the best Brickworld yet! -Davey

I love it! Great little scenes and an excellent addition to the series. I especially like the sleigh design using the whips. Very innovative use of parts. Great work! -Davey

Love it, Tony! The Sepia tone really sets this off. Nice work! I'm loving this series. -Dave

So...has anyone seen a TRU Item Number or a Target DCPI number for the Series 3 figs yet? -Davey