DLuders

@ Tomik: Nice Scooter alternate!

@ PlaneCrazy: Since you bought your own string, how did you drill the holes in the sides of the 1x1 Round Plates to replicate the 8868 Crawler Crane's two x127c41 "String with End Studs 41L Overall"? Did you use a dab of cement on the ends of the string to attach them to the Round Plates?

@ Captainmib: Since Lego Element ID #4211889 is Bricklink Part Number 41678 ("Technic, Axle and Pin Connector Perpendicular Double Split"), recommend buying one from a nearby Bricklink store. It would be faster and less expensive.

If you are not a Lego purist, I think it has great merit:

@ Nico71: My sister had a loom when she was a teenager -- your model is a good replica of it! Are you planning on making a garment with it?

Yes, it was (note the yellow stripe on the right edge of the 8081's box):

On Brickset's Cuusoo Corner, it said: "This afternoon the Cuusoo team made a statement about brand standards that outlines what makes a suitable LEGO product. It states that they will not make products that feature: • Politics and political symbols • Religious references including symbols, buildings, or people • Sex, drugs, or smoking • Alcohol in any present day situation • Swearing • Death, killing, blood, terrorism, or torture • First-person shooter video games • Warfare or war vehicles in any situation post-WWII to present • Racism, bullying, or cruelty to real life animals."

I would simply get the substitute, inexpensive 14mm balls in bulk, and keep those Great Ball Contraptions (GBCs) running! See this Eurobricks topic about "LEGO GBC Balls vs Round Plastic 14 mm Collar Beads made in China". People are fascinated with the GBC MECHANISM, not the characteristics of the balls themselves. Who cares if the balls are not genuine Lego parts? The CONTRAPTION is the special thing people want to see. I don't understand why one would starve their GBC (from lack of balls) just to stay 100% Lego. One could argue that the balls are "expendible" (just like the old Lego rubber bands that nobody uses anymore). Yes, it would be nice if Lego Cuusoo got the 10,000 votes and TLG started producing the GBC balls again, but I wouldn't let that stop you from enjoying your hobby.

Yes, 5,000 supporters! Mahjqa has posted an interesting variant (on the left), from his Flickr photoset:

What a nice, colorful Lego Technic vessel! The photos are also well done -- thanks for sharing them!

@ sqiddster: See this Eurobricks topic for ideas on possible alternatives.

Thanks, Sinner, for hosting the "To Sail The Technic Sea" contest. My only suggestion is that the public voting phase NOT be "Frontpaged" on Eurobricks. The non-Technic people (whose votes may have overwhelmed the regular visitors to this forum) may not have really UNDERSTOOD the complexities of each Technic entry. Although I did not place an entry into the contest, I was a bit disappointed that a non-Technic creation won 2nd Place: I know that the Steampunk Shark Submersible is a fine creation, but I'm afraid that the non-Technic peoples' votes pushed it to the top, ahead of many more worthy Technic entries. This was not a "Steampunk" contest.

At this moment, Mahjqa's Motorized Tachikoma has 4,950 supporters on Lego.Cuusoo.com :

@ Swils: Nice MOC! This forum's moderator (Superkalle) will tell you that you can post your virual MOC in this forum IF you also post the LDD .lxf file. Here is how to do that. Otherwise, this topic will be moved to the Sci-Fi forum.

@ Captain_Scarlet: You should go ahead and order your extra Power Functions parts. Even if your LDD design may need to be refined once you build it, be assured that motorizing the Lego Technic 8110 Unimog U400 set has been done (in these YouTube videos by and ). Since you are new to Eurobricks, when you hit the RED "Reply" to a post, please don't QUOTE PICTURES. Repeating a long string of images (just to place a one-line reply) is bad form. Instead, hit the lowermost BLACK "Add Reply" to only post your words (and not the same pictures again). This topic is long enough as it is (69 pages!). If you could, please "Edit" your post above to remove the pictures (designated with the ".JPG" extension). Thanks.

@ Dashy93: Welcome to Eurobricks! Alas, Part 32165 is not available in Lego Digital Designer (LDD) 4.2.5; I typed in the Part Number in the small search box above the LDD Parts Pallette, and nothing came up. However, there IS this 32475 part (shown below) that's in the LDD Parts Pallette:

@ Lego Otaku: Besides HiTechnic.com (which you already know about), have you seen the NXT products available from Mindsensors.com? What about this 8-LED Brick Lites kit available from Artifex Creations?

Parts List on Flickr

You may want to ask your question on the Mindboards Forum. You could also make your own NXT-compatible stuff by following Philo's suggestions.

Wow! :thumbup: It sure has a lot of great features:

The Family Vuurzoon recently posted their Lego Mindstorms "Mindy" robotic cheerleader on MOCpages. "The Lego Cheerleader Minifigure is adorable and now she can dance too! It's Mindstorms technology that brought her alive. Watch the video to see Mindy dance to the music." "Mindy is balancing on only 2 wheels. A gyro sensor from HiTechnic (certified & sold by Lego) is used to detect unbalance. The Mindstorms NXT computer calculates the required power to the wheels, to prevent that Mindy falls over." Read & see more about its NXT programming on MOCpages. Maybe it can be programmed to do the Macarena!

@ Raphy: Griddy is still available for download from Lasse DeLeuran's software webpage. I just downloaded the 654-kB Brickgraphics ZIP file, and it unpacked fine on my computer.

I doubt that is true. Years ago, Barman (Barry Bosman) posted these ideas for new Lego Technic parts on his Brickshelf gallery. Note that one of the parts shown DID COME TRUE (as Part 87082 shown below), and I see the very "3L Technic Connector with 2 Axles and Center Pin Hole" that is available from Shapeways.

I converted Grohl's 189-step photo-sequence Building Instructions (for his 8052 Mobile Crane alternate) into a single, 26.2-MB PDF file that can be downloaded here via SkyDrive. All the pages are numbered for ease of printing. Grohl's photographs are very clear; he sure thinks of a lot of GREAT alternates for Lego Technic sets!