peterab

The Creator line of sets generally have three sets of instructions. Other than that there are generally none. In the past there were alternate models pictured on set boxes, but this is no longer the case as Lego found it led to too many requests for instructions which didn't exist. Since the set you asked about contains mostly generic bricks you might find inpiration from the thousands of older instruction scans on Peeron (http://www.peeron.com/scans/). Peter

As soon as I saw the handrails going up the side I thought of 1x2 plate modified with handle :-) Unfortunately I cant see where I'd put them on your model and legthening it would lose some of the westerny feel. You could consider curved slopes for the roof if you dont like it, but I think it works here.

I'm glad I asked, your Mocs are very interesting, especially the second one.

I really like some of our local trains, and have been interested since high school, but eventually want to have a whole layout, and European towns are denser, and you can model a greater range of architechture, from the medieval to the modern. And I just really like the systematic nature of Germany's steam loco's. After the German states unified they tried to share components between designs to keep maintainance costs down, so their are standard boilers, cabs tenders etc. I've always wanted a round house full of uniform looking but different engines. By contrast our local Victorian trains had an initial grand burst of track building, then a history of neglect almost ever since, with a bunch of bad technical descisions, and ownership changes thrown in just to make it sadder.

I voted not at all, as I live in Australia, and primarily want to build German prototypes. BTW welcome ZueriHB, I'm sure we'd all like to see your Swiss models.

No it seems that the new year releases happen in Australia first. This is the second year in a row that the Australian catalogue released through the lego club has been the first offical sightings, and our releases have been earlier than most of the rest of the world. I don't think Australia is being used as a test market, we're probably way to small to give any reliable figures for larger markets such as the US or Germany. My guess is since we are not seen as an important market to TLG, over Xmas they are happy for our retailers to have product shortages while they concentrate on keeping the bigger markets stocked. I've heard it mentioned they even relocated their warehouse over Xmas this year in Australia. Since they have to restock our retailers anyway early in the new year, we get the first lot of new stock, giving a little time for the rest of the world to sell any remaining Xmas stock. All speculation, but I think it fits the known facts. I'm still drooling at the pics of this set. I'm not sure when I'll get it, but I definately want it.

I really like this wagon, and I noticed the old windows imediately. It reminds me a lot of set 131, which was one of my favourites as a child. I agree with Cpt Zuloo about the bogies, and maybe the length. I also hope you keep building more carriages for this train.

I agree with your dissapointment about Australian pricing. The first two modular buildings had discounted introductory pricing for a few days, so perhaps that UK price will rise in time. I would really like to see a Lego store in Sydney or Melbourne, so at least we could avoid the expensive shipping.

Welcome to realistic Steam trains :classic: The reason why you so often see pictures of the running gear of train mocs on Brickshelf and flickr is it normally takes some time to get it right, so people share the successful techniques.

I'm pretty sure there have been other AFOLs who have produced stickers for trans panels. It's probably easier than the arches too, and you may already have the panels in your spare parts :-)

Looks really good with the stickers LT. I'm a conformist! as someone says so often

Nice Mod Allan, I find it interesting that people dont see the original model as realistic. It's pretty spot on for deliveries to service stations around here. The shorter tankers like your mod are used for aircraft re-fueling at Melbourne airpot though. Do you have these shorter types in New Zealand? What are they used for?

I'm confused, you say next you will build a steam engine, but this doesn't look like a train to me Seriously though, it was great to see this at Brickvention, along with all your train Mocs.

I really like your Moc, but the round windows look odd. You could use round tiles istead of the plates, or even better use 2x4 arch bricks so you can set the round tiles into the arches like this I've just checked that those arches are available in orange, and they are pretty cheaply, so your sins cant have been too evil

Yeah, that should work, but there are other options to. In principal you run into trouble when you have more than two axles or two axles which are too far apart. Due to the tight radius of LEGO track 'too far' is about 14 studs for standard size wheels. Some of the possible solutions are; flangless wheels (Used a lot on large steam engine drivers), allow an axle to slide (used often on C bogies), allow a bogie to rotate (this would work on the front end of your train, and may allow the pistons to stay fixed in place), allow the bogie to float and turn (suggested above and used on EN). In the case of your train, I'd try a rotating front bogie, and a flangeless driver on the back wheel. You need one solution for each 'set' of wheels as it were, otherwise the position taken by one set will still result in the second set causeing friction on the rails. The reason I chose these options is you may be able to get the small wheels to rotate around pistons fixed to the body, and therefore add working drive rods. If this isnt important to you the EN solution with or without a blind driver should be OK to, though the front of the engine will hang further out around curves, and you'll probably have to fit the pistons higher to clear the bogie or fit them too the bogie. BTW I really like the look of this redesign, it's as much better than the original, than the original was of your previous work (not that previous engines were bad, but it was far less original buildwise than these).

I prefer 7 wide, because I find it easier to fit more details in, and therefore get a more accurate looking engine. I find 8 wide too big, both compared to the six wide LEGO trucks and the track radius. The most difficult disadvantages of 7 wide trains is getting bogies connected and baseplates for large carriages. I'm not sure I'd even know how to begin a working pantograph, I'd love to see someone else attempt it though.

I felt the middle section of your model looked more crowded than the prototype photo, and made it look a little short. It's sometimes a difficult choice between options when using selective compression, and the final result often depends on which feature you focus on.

Stud - the little round things on top of LEGO bricks that hold them together Rear Fender - the back bumper bar Tap - The things that turn the water on and off in a kitchen, the piece you used for your stand is often called a tap piece because its often used as a tap.

As a member of Ryan's LUG, I'll answer. Brickvention ran last weekend. It was hugely succesfull this year, almost to the point of swamping us. MUGS has about thirty regular attendees, about ten of us are on the commitee. BV had about 60 registered attendees and over 2700 visitors. These were both large jumps from last year and that caused some headaches, and there were also the usual minor problems that needed to be dealt with. All the commitee members (including Ryan) were working pretty solidly the whole weekend, or else they were manning their display. I'm pretty sure Ryan will eventually post some more images of the technical functions, but I also know he will be at a commitee meeting this evening, because we are still tying up the loose ends, he works full time, and has two kids.

Hi angel1802, Thats a very nice motorbike, it looks a bit like a classic unfaired bike to me. I agree about the stud above the headlight, and I also think the tap as a kickstand looks a bit odd, but I'm far from experienced at bike Mocs and can't suggest anything better. To give it a bit more of a classic feel this would look good with the white and maybe some other parts replaced with dark red or green, but that may not be what your aiming for.

That all depends on where you are (I can't tell from your profile), but in general the Emerald Night is a S@H exclusive, so is only available through S@H and LEGO brand stores. It was available through Myer stores in Australia but sold out the first day.

I think the grey boiler is fine, Big Boys had them (at least partially), and I believe there were grey British and Prussian prototypes. Not sure about western prototypes, but generally if it can be imagined it was done somewhere. I agree with Sava and Cpt. Zuloo, the colouring isnt right. I'd expect to see the decorative colouring on the features, ie the domes, cab, running boards. The yellow looks like only the frame has been decorated which looks odd. Otherwise I think it looks OK, though larger wheels on the pony truck, and perhaps trying to lower the boiler might still improve it.

It was bound to happen , despite English being my native language, my spelling is poor, so I carefully chose the word less in my rant In my defence at least I'm not doing it deliberately and I try to capitalise and punctuate correctly. I think the fact the age rules are subtle, (ie intended audience is 18+, but if we can't tell from your behaviour then younger members will be tolerated) adds a reasonable test of maturity. If you don't get it, then you are probably not ready for Eurobricks :-)

Hi Ryan, Welcome to Eurobricks. I also saw this in the flesh, and it is completely awesome. For anybody not really believing the piece count, you are probably underestimating the size. The model is huge, nearly 2mx2m, and the interior is packed with detail and minfigs. Ryan's Mocs are a highlight of Brickvention for me each year, and he is a really freindly and funny guy while doing it. He's also modest, as he failed to mention this was voted Best in Show. Peter

First I was thinking of 'transclear brick 1x2 » 4 studs» transclear brick 1x2 » 8 Studs » transclear brick 1x2 » 4 studs» transclear brick 1x2', but to avoid making it longer you could try 'transclear brick 1x2 » 3 studs» transclear brick 1x2 » 8 Studs » transclear brick 1x2 » 3 studs» transclear brick 1x2' I think the middle windows need to look further apart than the gap between the windows on the end. One of the good things about your Moc is the colour, orange is still a rare colour for me so I understand you may not have a free choice in parts.