DLuders

On his Brickshelf gallery http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=440388 , legodenny has 13 pictures of his single 8881 Lego Power Functions (PF) Battery Box modded to handle EITHER 6 ea. AA batteries, one 9V battery, or AC current coming from a DC transformer. If your PF Battery Box is "buried" deep inside your model, it would be very handy to be able to recharge the batteries (or run off of AC current) without having to use the expensive 8878 PF Rechargeable Battery Box . I know that the old-style 9709 Lego MINDSTORMS RCX v1.0 programmable brick had an AC outlet to be able to power robots -- it's a handy feature. If you are interested in getting more details about legodenny's modification, write him at his e-mail address posted on that Brickshelf folder. P.S. Be sure to check out his Technic MOCs and set mods at http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?m=legodenny -- his collection is SO ORGANIZED!

If you have not done so yet, please visit http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=44975 to VOTE for your favorite Lego Digital Designer (LDD) builders. Voting ends Thursday, August 12, 2010, at 21:00 hrs. Central European Time (CET). "Rules for voting Each member who registered on Eurobricks before June 3rd, 2010 can vote. Members who joined after that date are ineligible to vote. Contestants may not vote for themselves, but are welcome to vote for other entries if they want. The voting will end on the 12th of August at 21:00 CET. "How to vote Have a look at the entries and decide which ones you like the best. You now have a total of 3 points to distribute freely among the entries. For example, Entry A gets 2 points and Entry B gets 1 point. Have a Look at the first post below to see example of how to cast your vote. "Note: In this contest, all themes battle against each other. Your job is to award points to the BEST of them all, regardles of theme."

Hmmm, it didn't update for me in the northwest corner of the USA just now. When I opened LDD, it spent perhaps 1/4 second "loading bricks" , but I still have Version 3.1.3 & Brick Version 114.3. I'll check back tomorrow and try again to get the update.

Would Sariel's Transverse Subtractor be useful for your MOC?

Whoa! You have enough NXT 2.0 bricks to teach a class of eager youngsters about robotics! Here's the link to the Eurobricks index to help you post your pictures: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=18583 . Does your Lego NXT Alligator look like the one in renchiou's YouTube video below?

Here's the link to the 10214 Tower Bridge video (on Shop.Lego.com): http://shop.lego.com/Product/AssetPopup.aspx?p=10214&AssetType=49&s_button=moreViews . Press the rightmost "tab" that you see on that screen.

Bricklink has many of the x45pb03 Soccer Balls for sale:

Download the "BrickStore" program from Brickforge: http://www.brickforge.de/software/brickstore/index.en.html . "Some things you can do with BrickStore...: Browse and search the BrickLink catalog. Easily create XML files for Mass-Upload and Mass-Update either by parting out sets or by adding individual parts (or both). Download and view any order by order number. Download and view your whole store inventory. An easy way to use this for repricing, is to use the BrickLink Mass-Upload functionality. Easily create and upload Wanted-Lists (this is not 100% complete yet - see below ). Price your items based on the latest price guide information. Create XML data for the BrickLink inventory upload. If you load files which contain items with obsolete item ids you can fix them using the BrickLink catalog change-log (this could be automated with some support from BrickLink). Calculate differences between two documents: you can easily check, if it is possible to build a set given your current inventory."

@ Superkalle & Cadder: I have the "Lego Collector's Guide" book that I bought at Legoland California. There are some differences between the two U.S.S. Constitution sets. Sold in 1978-1978, Set 398 has 1,033 pieces, while the 2003-2004 Set 10021 has 973 pieces. That's a difference of 60 pieces, so I recommend that the LDD file for Set 10021 "count".

There are 29 "open" Bricklink stores based in Singapore: http://www.bricklink.com/browseStores.asp?countryID=SG .

Does anybody know whether the opening draw bridges could be MOTORIZED with Lego Power Functions elements? If an AFOL is willing to model the "missing" side towers and raise the model with taller bridge piers, then one might as well add a remote-control drawbridge too.... Compare the real (grimy) Tower Bridge (from http://www.fmschmitt.com/travels/England/london/towerbridge/towerbridge.html ) with the clean set:

Fugazi linked to one of the two available 2x3 Light Bricks -- the 54930c02 "Electric, Light Brick 2 x 3 x 1 1/3 with Trans-Clear Top and Yellow LED Light" ( http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=54930c02 ): There's another similar one too -- the 54930c01 "Electric, Light Brick 2 x 3 x 1 1/3 with Trans-Red Top and Red LED Light" ( http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=54930c01 ): If these are still not what you are thinking about, check the two pages of "Electric Light and Sound" light brick parts on Bricklink: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogList.asp?catType=P&catString=123 .

On this TechnicBRICKS Blogspot post, Conchas wrote about the 9760 Lego E-Motor. Amongst other things, he wrote, "On the other way this one shouldn't be very useful as a LEGO Technic motor (unless for instance to build an high-speed fan) exactly because of its characteristics (low-torque/high-speed), when what we demand is exactly the opposite (high-torque/low-speed) - Eventual characteristics, for the the so desired S-motor... "It shouldn't be a coincidence that...this new E-motor is not marketed as a Power Functions motor, like the M and XL versions on the same page, are! The prefix 'E' (Energy) is not suggesting any alignment with the other ones, which use size prefixes (M and XL). Also the 4x6x4 form factor, curved only at the topside, suggests a very specific use like in the Wind Power Generators."

On his Brickshelf Gallery, Nico71 has posted 25-step Building Instructions for his Lego Technic Unimog Axle: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=440484 . He wrote "Building instructions of the axle of my unimog, the best I have made. Powered by SR3D builder and Lpub4." 47 photos of the axle assembly appear at http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=440367 . The Unimog uses a "94mm wheel, very strong portal axle with turntable, pendular axle with shock absorbers, BB [battery box] in the frame...."

On the website http://technic.lego.com/en-us/Competition/PreviousWinnerDetails.aspx?contentid=206244 , the winner of the July Lego TECHNIC Competition is robin7520's "The Space Driller". The theme was "Space". "This machine is made for rough terrain on strange planets. the front of the 1st part (caterpillar) collects alien rocks and on the 2nd part we have the drilling installation. it drills holes with a drillhead or laser. it has several pistons to move the drillarm. the whole is motorized":

RULES! I like the new 8043 Motorized Excavator:

You can buy them at Shop.Lego.com: http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=8866&cn=87&d=328 . For non-US customers, just change the "Country" in the dropdown menu on that website. Cost = USD 10.99 .

222Doc has 33 photos of his X-2 robot on his Brickshelf gallery . I think that he needs to make it look a bit more attractive , like this chicken (from Moko's Brickshelf gallery):

Attention US & Canadian AFOLs: Shop.Lego.com FINALLY is selling the 8043 Motorized Excavator (plus all of the other large 2H2010 sets)! US Customers: http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=8043&cn=57&d=70 . Price is US$199.99 (the same price as Toys R Us). Canadian Customers: http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=8043&cn=57&d=70 . Price is CAD $249.99. LIMIT FIVE PER CUSTOMER. Now is your chance -- don't delay because they're going to sell out!

Attention US & Canadian AFOLs: Shop.Lego.com FINALLY is selling the 8043 Motorized Excavator (plus all of the other large 2H2010 sets)! US Customers: http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=8043&cn=57&d=70 . Price is US$199.99 (the same price as Toys R Us). Canadian Customers: http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=8043&cn=57&d=70 . Price is CAD $249.99. LIMIT FIVE PER CUSTOMER. Now is your chance -- don't delay because they're going to sell out!

@ BricksOnWheels: Wow! Did you get your bricks at Chromebricks.com ? Are there any pieces on your MOC that are not normally available in the "Chrome Silver" color?

On Bricks'n'Gears , legozzblog describes a Lego Technic 6-Cylinder Radial Engine for World War II-era aircraft. The first video below shows "An...updated version of the Lego Technic plane built around the radial engine. Besides the 6-cylinder engine and dual controls, this version has an updated canopy opening mechanism and updated shock absorbers....It has tandem seats with 2 functional sticks, openable canopy and gears with springs." It reminds me of the yellow 8855 Prop Plane (shown below). The second video is a quick, 7-second clip showing the radial engine's hand-cranked piston movement. The design is based on the one on Betula's Brickshelf Gallery . For those who want to build a 4-cylinder Radial Engine, check out bricktech's 6:48 YouTube video for a step-by-step instruction: .

It's a "known issue" that the 57518 Technic Link Tread Large cannot mate up with the 57519 Technic Tread Sprocket Wheel Large or the 57520 Technic Tread Sprocket Wheel Small . Maybe the upcoming Lego Digital Designer 4.0 (to be released in September 2010) will have it. See this Eurobricks post for discussion about the problem.

The closest that TLG may get to producing a "G.I. Joe" set is the current http://shop.lego.com/product/?p=7595&LangId=2057&ShipTo=US (which is part of the Disney "Toy Story" theme):

Are you talking about the 852996-1 "Lego Club Max" ? You could buy him on a keychain at Shop.Lego.com: http://shop.lego.com/product/?p=852856&LangId=2057&ShipTo=US .