Davey

Very cool! I love the concept and the overall build is great. The only addition I would love to see is a hill to perch this on top of. This would be a great addition to a mountain scene on a train layout. -Davey

Are there any other kinds of mosaics? Seriously though. Stacy and I will be bringing a number of new MOC's for our layout along with some stand-by favorites. We've built a few new buildings and some new trains that should make the layout even more exciting. In addition to our layout, the LEGO NES will be in attendance as will my OTOMech Model TK-MM. Not sure what else at this point...guess we'll have to wait and see. -Davey

I commented on this on MOCPages but had to say something here as well. Again, welcome to the LEGO Train addiction...you can't build just one! This is a great work and even better knowing it's your first train. The colors are great and the design is really sleek. It almost has a 'steampunk-esque' feel which I really like. What kind of coaches will you be running behind this? -Davey

It was shown in an article in Issue 6, Volume 2, Summer 2009 of Brickjournal. I believe it was referenced as a 'Sea-Tron Monorail' and was designed around 1990. The article itself was called 'The Truth About SPACE!' and was written by Mark Stafford. It included some great quotes from Jens Nygaard Knudsen and Niels Milan Pedersen. Worth checking out if you can get your hands on a digital or print copy of that issue. I did manage to find a Brickshelf image of the scrapped set/theme. Cool stuff! -Davey

I voted for the #6399 Airport Shuttle as I love the set design and it has that wonderful Classic Town feel. That said, I own two copies of #6990 and one copy of #6991 (plus a ton of extra track). For me, MOC-ing the monorails is so much fun. CopMike's Metroliner and Emerald Night MOC's were really the inspiration for me to get into monorail in the first place. I'd love to get a #6399 in the future...but wow are they expensive. Perhaps I can convince Stacy to get one for my birthday. -Davey

Great work Matt! I love the color scheme and the shrouds on the sides of the engine capture that streamline look really well. I think what I like most though is the way that you and Eilif went about gathering your prototype information. Purchasing old broken model railroad cars is a brilliant idea!!! I will certainly be 'stealing' this technique and will be watching for cheap broken models when I head to the various train shows. Great work here and look for this to show up on Classic-Town.net soon. :thumbup: -Davey

Interesting concept Brickster. I like the idea of the 'pizza display', but agree with the others that the pizza would have to be a little bigger to satisfy my needs. I think that some thing about 30" x 70" would be the minimum size I would want to attempt. I think 60" x 140" would be a better size for a display like this. I agree with Gambort though that a really well done small display ala Aliencat's 'Escape From Planet Monday' beats a large, but sparsely decorated layout any day. Oddly enough, Stacy and I have been struggling with the addition of depth to our layout while still maintaining the flexibility to display in different sizes and configurations. I might be going to a more modular layout design soon, but we'll see. I just don't want to lock myself into a specific 'look' just yet. Again, great job on bringing up another thought-provoking topic. :thumbup: -Davey

Great work here! Lots of nice SNOT work to achieve the proper vent look at the rear of the loco. The only thing I would love to see is the addition of some railings along the side to really finish it off. Again, great work here. -Davey

Great job Peppermint_M! These look fantastic. The only thing I could think of to improve might be to make them out of some sort of fabric similar to the Asajj Ventress skirt/dress. I really like the plaid-punk skirt. Bang on! :thumbup: -Davey

Wow! This is really a jaw-dropping setup. I love the combination at Classic Space and Neo-Classic Space. The Galaxy Commander redone in Gray/Blue/Yellow is a nice touch as well. It was nice to see inclusion of a little Classic Space Monorail action...always a winner! :thumbup: Thanks for posting the pictures for those of us on this side of the pond. -Davey

Sérgio: Here are some additional pictures of some of the side grills disassembled. If you have any other questions, let me know. Basically they just ride in the groove and are held in place by the 4x6 plate on the top. It's actually surprisingly sturdy. Enjoy! -Davey

I guess I'm just not sure we need threads for each individual band out there...but that's for the mod's to decide.

Dude, you might want to chill on the 'insert band name here' threads. Do a search and there are already a number of threads to discuss music. I don't think we need individual threads for every band here. -Davey

How is this related to LEGO?

Welcome to Eurobricks and glad to see that we have another person who has succumbed to the allure of LEGO. It sounds like you have a good base collection from the 70's and 80's and you'll find many of us consider those to be TLG's golden years (although lately they are really giving the classic sets a run with the new modular and UCS stuff). As for MOC's, it's always difficult to tell how much a MOC will cost when you start mainly be cause you have no idea how many pieces are going to be in it. One thing you can do is try building virtually in either L-Draw or LEGO Digital Designer. L-Draw will let you output a part list which you can then use to check what parts you do and don't have. You can then head over to Bricklink to price the parts you don't have. This is one way to do a test build before you commit the cash for the final piece. You can also do a multi-color test build with the pieces you have and then order the pieces in the colors you want once you know what is needed. It all depends on whether you are comfortable building 'virtually' or not. If you want a general cost for a MOC, just take the piece count and multiply by $0.07/piece to $0.14/piece. Unless you use a lot of rare pieces or rare colors this should give you a ballpark estimate. As I mentioned above though...usually you don't know the final piece count until you are finished (even then I usually don't know how many pieces my MOC's actually contain). Getting started MOC-ing is a simple as grabbing some bricks and snapping them together. You would be surprised at what can be built with basic bricks in standard LEGO colors. My LEGO NES and my Miniland Rainbow Brite MOC's generally used standard LEGO pieces with a few specialty pieces and rare colors. But overall it was stuff that is easily found. It really comes down to finding something you want to build and then just sitting down to build it. Start small and work your way up. Most of all...have fun and be sure to share your work with us here on EB!!! Welcome to the asylum. -Davey

Ricecracker pretty much covered it. The only thing I will add is that that the value of the goody bag contents alone last year pretty much covered the registration fee. Definitely worth registering as an attendee. -Davey

Sergio: I'll see if I can get some pictures taken in the next couple days and I will post them in this thread. It's an odd building technique...but it works. -Davey

That one isn't mine. You're thinking of Swoofty over on Flickr. I linked to his page as well because he inspired my Dash 8-40B. I'm not sure if Swoofty sells any of his stuff (I don't think so) and right now I am not selling any kits. The biggest problem with making this a kit are some of the pieces are in rarer colors. Sorry. -Davey

Thanks for the front-page Brickster! I should note though, that it doesn't use the BNSF yellow train base. The base is actually brick built using standard plates and Technic plates where the motors attach. As for the steps...I have to defer credit on those to Swoofty, TallTim, and Jaster over on Flickr. Those guys have been inspiring me something fierce lately. -Davey

Hey all! I've been frantically building the past few weeks trying to get ready for the 2010 La Crosse Model Train Show and haven't had much time to post my work. I finally got a chance to take pictures of my latest locomotive, a GE Dash 8-40B in CSX livery. It is based loosely on this prototype. I was also inspired to build this after seeing Swoofty's B40-8 that he built in six-wide. He is one of my favorite train builders and I have learned so many new techniques from him. His stuff really pushes me to get more creative with my builds and I strongly encourage all you train builders to check out his photostream on Flickr. I used a bunch of odd SNOT techniques on this one to get the look right. It's very solid and pulls like a beast with two 9V motors under it. I have also recently built a GE ES44AC, but it is currently on display at our local library so no pictures of that until sometime in March. Hope you all enjoy! -Davey

For Stacy and I it's a bit of a mix. Usually we will build the set at least once. If we like it once it is built, it might find it's way onto our layout as a semi-permanent fixture. Examples of this are: Cafe Corner, Green Grocer, Train Engine Shed, BNSF Locomotives, etc. In addition, if we like the set, but it doesn't fit on our layout (eg: Death Star, UCS MF, etc.) we try and find somewhere in our house to display it as part of our decor. We are using LEGO in our decor more and more at home and our friends seem to really get a kick out of it when they come over to hang out. If we're not too keen on the set design, then the set generally gets broken down and pieced out into our collection. Most of the smaller sets fall into this category but we do have some small cars and what-not out on display. We keep the instructions in folders which are in file-boxes and are sorted according to set number. The boxes themselves get stored under our layout table...although we might need to figure out a new solution soon due to the sheer number of sets we have acquired. The other thing I make sure to do is catalog all the sets and pieces we buy so that I have a better idea of what is actually in our collection. This helps significantly when planning larger MOC's or series of MOC's. Glad to hear you're getting addicted like the rest of us. The more the merrier!!! -Davey

Great job on this little service station. I the Classic Town look and feel and the glass roof design is stellar. Again, excellent work and this has been featured on Classic-Town.net. -Davey

Great idea for a thread! My favorites go like this... Modified Plate - 1x2 w/ Door Rail...in orange of course. 6x5 Plant Leaves Fabuland Tri-cycle Pink Plate w/ Flower Knobs And who could leave out the cuteness that is the... Crouching Cat So much LEGO goodness. -Davey

A little pillaging and burning never hurt. I can't wait to meet all my fellow EB-ers who are planning to attend BW 2010. We might have to schedule some kind of 'meet up' during 'World of Lights'. Bring your own growler/flask/cooler/etc. -Davey

This is a really well executed Star Wars vignette. I love the redesigned T-47 Snowspeeder and it is one of the better designs I have seen out there. The cockpit design and interior appointments are really spot on and give it more of a 'UCS' feel while still maintaining the Minifig scale. I also love the attention to detail such as the pilot/co-pilot seat and the underside rebel markings. The vignette is also really well done. Starting at the bottom, the base looks great and really helps to finish the MOC off and make it something that is truly display quality. I believe I commented on the blaster-thingy on Flickr which is a great design. The trench is a nice touch and adds some depth to the MOC. And the T-47's position flying over the rebel infantry conveys a sense of motion and excitement that really draws me in. Great work! -Davey