peterab

I can completely understand the choice of length, perhaps moving the middle windows out one stud each would have the same effect. It's a great model as is anyway. I really like the working doors.

Yeah it would affect Eurobricks, the quality of Mocs would be higher, the drama over adult themed Mocs would be lower, the quality of disscussion would be higher since the AFOLs wouldn't be as likely to be scared away, the jobs of moderators would be easier, and there might be less crapy spelling and LOLspeak. We would also lose a few very talented builders. That's why the rule is there, and the admins take a 'don't know, don't care' approach in inforcing it. MOCpages is a good example of what happens when there is open slather access offered to kids, it becomes a place where few adults feel comfortable. I think the number of inane questions, which show the poster hasn't read the preceding thread might also be less.

This is very nice, and although I'm a seven wide fan, I think this looks better in 8 wide, since it allows the great wheel treatment you've done. When I first looked at the pictures I didn't notice the false third wheel, so it works for me.

I like it alright, it's a very nice moc. I'd probably lengthen it a bit, so the longer gap between the middle windows is more pronounced, and the roof vents are longer. Now I'm off to look for more pictures of the pantograph on brickshelf, I think I may have to borrow your design in the future

Oh this is very nice, I particularly like the sleek look of the sides due to the tile join being hidden by the logo. I like the reinforcing bars too. You've got a right to be pleased, from experience, I know it can take some time to improve when you attempt to make more detailed Mocs, but this makes it seem for you it was effortless.

I have to agree the colour scheme is great, the contrast between the yellow and dark red really lifts the otherwise flat grey. I like your model too, despite not being particularly into US prototypes.

I agree, the main reason the Lugnet community splintered, is due to the censorship of this sort of disscussion. It's fine for the admins to set the rules, and enforce them, but the users also must understand those rules. Without the ability to question them this is more difficult.

The ByShop link on your MyBricklink tab, list shops by the most matches on _your_ wanted list. It sounds like exactly what you want, and has little to do with shop size. You should spend some more time fiddling with the search options on bricklink to become more familiar with them, it really does work rather well.

I see you've joined up too Rick. Up to this point Jamie was pretty safe given all his stalkers were in Australia

I've been on since 07:00 yesterday morning and it's now 00:32 so thats 17 and a half hours straight. I'm not addicted, but I am avoiding doing other things. Like work.

That's not a particularly helpful way of approaching the problem, since good stock at low prices tends to change regularly. Compile a wanted list, then use the By Shop link from your My Bricklink page, and it will list the shops that have items on your list. You can change the settings so it show them in the order of the most unique matches, and exclude any shops not in your area etc.

Thanks for the response Brickster, and given the veering off topic in the town thread I can see your point, but it was unfortunate the original topic was also stiffled. My personal view was that it wasn't particularly town related, so moving it might have been warranted, but I guess EB doesn't really have a forum where that image would fit nicely I'm particularly heartened to hear that while individual mods act immediately if they feel it's needed, that there is a review to allow reflection. I'll let you know the very next time I notice a lame post from the kid who gets up my nose. At least I'll know then that his posts have been looked at by the mods.

I can think of several buildings here in Melbourne which are the length of a city block, and some of the European cities I've been to had much larger ones. Terraces of similar buildings are common throughout the world too. I sort of agree that this isnt the same level of creativity as a completely custom Moc, but the mods to the inner 3 CC's are not insignificant, and would have been tricky to achieve while still looking 'the same' as the corner buildings. I've seen many less inovative mods of modular buildings on Lego train club layouts (mine included). I'm not sure I'd pay that much for the Moc though, but others might.

I think since it's just after Christmas, and the products in question are aimed more at AFOLs than their primary market, its understandable, however I can also understand you're dissapointment. Lego is probably focused on manufacturing the next batch of new sets, and these parts wont become a priority till the new trains are released. Once the new trains are in production, I'd hope the stock of these parts would become more reliable on S@H, though the whole trains line seems to be a niche market in the wider Lego Group picture anyway.

Nope, I only own one 9V motor, and have never opened it. I'd guess though that from the looks of them, there is a standard form factor for these so lots of manufaturers make similar stuff, and you can chose details like voltage (obviously somewhere about 9V or slightly above) and current draw, and a shaft on both ends. I have no real experience of motors but have worked in the electronics industry so my guess is based on experience with similar stuff. I'd probably do a web search for electric motors, maybe from electronics shops till you found a manufacturers name, or do a search directly for manufacturers of electric motors with online catlogues. I think someone else recently posted that the rated maximim current was 300mA, and the voltage is about 9V (the manufacturers rating may be higher than Legos actual use to give a kid friendly margin to avoid burning the motor out). Those figures should help to narrow down a suitable model once you find a catalogue. I'd also reccomend ordering on or two to test before doing a bulk purchase. Depending on the size of the eventual bulk order they think you might make, some manufacturers will send out samples free for design and testing purposes, but they normally do this only if they think your a product designer, so you don't want to let on your not if you try for this. It might be interesting to compare with the inards of the RC train motor, because if they are the same size, we might also find a solution to the weakness of them at the same time as repairing 9V motors.

I really like this attitude, but it doesn't seem to be reflected in the action that was taken in the recent town thread with the bondage Moc. I was a little disapointed the image was removed. I found the Moc amusing, especially since I interpreted the inspiration sited as subtly satiricle. The fact that a few people got upset and cried 'who will think of the childrenz' got it removed, despite the stated intention of the site banning children so potential adult content wouldn't offend, makes me think not all the mods and admins are on the same page. I can see there must be some line drawn, but this was clearly a Moc of interest to some. It clearly wasn't porn to me because it was made from LEGO bricks. The subject matter was distasteful to some, but if that is the criteria, I would like to request banning the bionicals and star wars forums. Or I could act like an adult, not look at stuff I'm not interested in, move on when I see something I dont like, and expect others to do the same. I actually found the jihad that sprang up against the bondage Moc to be far more worring than the Moc, because it suggests to me that the members who were upset can't seperate a Lego Moc from real life, cant accept that others may have widely different sexuality to themselves, and when faced with that reality need to erase all suggestion of it. This is all a minor issue compared to the continued annoyance of one or two posters in the trains and town groups who are clearly not adults because they post like mentally impared six year olds, yet they seemed to have charmed lives, since I assumed they would be banned outright weeks ago. I've considered reporting every post one of them has made, but a) I'm a newish member and my interpretation of the rules may be wrong, and b) I don't really want to cause extra work for the mods. I guess in the final instance I'm for consistancy, both of guidlines and admin and moderator action. I'm fine with the admins choosing an arbitrary standard and applying it how they see fit, even if it excludes amusing bondage Mocs, but it has to be consistent with the expectations formed from the guidlines, even if that means the guidlines are changed to say " the staff are powerfull and capricious gods who will ban anyone they deem abberant on whim ". Oh and I thought a lot of this adult only forum stuff was to stop US kids getting screwed ... but I might be wrong

I've never actually bought any, but I did search around for 12V replacements for my 4.5V motors at one stage. The company who made them still exists and still makes motors in a very similar form factor. I think the main difficulty would be dealing direct with such a company, since most of us wont want to deal in wholesale quantities, but at least the manufacturers may be able to point us to an online retailer. As I remeber the motors themselves were not particularly expensive, but shipping from Europe would add to the cost (the original manfacturer for 4.5V was named something like Bueler).

Well you could, but if you buy an RC train it comes with a battery pack and IR and remote already, so you dont really need to. The RC remote wont work for PF trains, but if you buy a PF train (which comes with a remote) as a second train in the future, you could just use the appropriate remote for each train, or buy a battery pack and IR receiver for the RC train at that time, to use one remote for both trains.

These are great buildings, I particularly like the scale of them, not quite so large as the official modular houses, but still urban. I also like the muted colours and the street life.

There are two PF gear motors, the medum and XL motors but ther is another option; The RC motor (which looks like the 9V train one) also works with the PF battery box, and there is rumoured to be a new PF motor, like the 9V one with more power than the RC one, which will be included in the 2010 train sets. Part of the advantage of the PF stuff is it is all an interchangable system so you can mix and match components.

The cheapest place I could find on Bricklink with 5 of them charged US$299.99 each which works out at 1060 Euro. Seems OK to me. Not a great bargain, but also not a ripoff. It is a lot of money to be spending all at once though, and buying 5 you might expect a bulk discount.

As you say each has its disadvantages. I'd say a lot depends on the age of the kid. Teaching a kid about short circuits may be hard but teaching them not to make reversing loops might be easier, though sometimes they can be subtle. At least the short circuit protection in the 9V controller is pretty good as far as I know, so while the trains wont run, a short circuit wont damage anything. To build a working RC/PF train only requires a motor just like the 9V one and a battery box so I think this is simple enough for kids. I dont think adding in the IR reciever and controller are much of a jump except for the youngest kids. I guess I'd sum it up as a simple 9V track will be the simplest, however will get a bit more complicated if you want to run more than one train, or have fancy trackwork. An RC/PF setup will be slightly more complicated at first, but follows the same pattern with each train so doesn't get any more complicated.

Nope it clearly states pick up only in the description.

If you want them to run at different speeds or to stop them individually, yes. They need each to have thier own electrical circuit to be independant.

On the other hand if the less detailed sets of the past were offered now, they probably wouldn't sell very well, as kids expectations are much higher now.