RohanBeckett

I've had a quick search, but can't find anything... Is there a way to force LDD into Offline mode? I'm installing it on computers at schools, that I work in... and Students use an authenticated proxy for Internet Access. LDD can't traverse an authed proxy (doesn't prompt for credentials like browsers do), so it just gives an ugly offline error at the start. Would be nice to disable this completely! Does anyone know if there's an Offline=1 line, or something I can add to the preferences.ini? At least I can turn on Universe mode, so kids get access to ALL bricks! :) RB

Ditto..I'm also not saying studless is rubbish... While I don't own 8258, I do have 8455, and 8265 8455 is an awesome set.. I didn't mind in the slightest that it didn't have a single stud! 8265 (and a few other recent technic sets), re-introduce some studded construction.. and I think they are much better for it. A blend usually produces the best result. Anyway.. yes.. this thread is about worst sets...... just looked through my collection.. but I can't find any more that I really dislike! :) (maybe I'm selective in what I buy!) RB

I fully recovered from my Dark Age in 2004... The first big set I got for my birthday was the 8426 Truck It was my first true studless set... and after unbagging all the parts, I was unsure of whether this was still Lego... or some new toy called 'Peg-O' Seriously.. I couldn't believe the amount of black friction pins this thing had!! The model was ok, but I found the frame quite flexible, and the mechanics quite basic, and boring... it sorta looked OK, and at least had a couple of pumps/valves. a month later, I got 8434 Aircraft To me.. it's one of my all-time bottom Technic sets.. boring build, and not the most fun to play with. If it had some sort of ratchet system to spin up the propellors.. or even just a manual crank, it would be so much better. Oh.. and the B-Model is truely pathetic.. a very small Helicoptor.. with a lousy 1:1 gear ratio for knob to rotor.. and the tail rotor isn't even connected! Just try and compare this set, with say, the original (852), or 2nd ever Technic Helicopters (8844), and I'm sure you'll agree which ones are better! Also.. don't get me started on the awful dark-metallic-grey + black parts used in this kit. Near-on impossible to distinguish, while building! One good thing that came from me getting these 'mediocre' sets: It drove me to scour ebay/etc to buy a LOT of older 80's/90's sets that I missed out on, as a child/teenager.. and I've enjoyed them all immensely! :) RB

wow.. from the stills, I thought I'd be impressed when I finally saw a video of all the gears meshing.. ...and then I see the axles between the gears rotating perfectly without hitting each other.. and it's even MORE impressive! Funny.. I have 100+ technic kits... but only *ONE* of those 36t gears.. and I only got it last year, with the small 8270 Rough Terrain Crane! (and even then, it's not even used as a gear! :) RB

I used to use a nickname for years online (Darmok - from a Star Trek Episode) But I've kinda of outgrown it... It's like I have nothing to hide behind any more.. I'm happy enough to use my full name, or rbeckett for most online signups.. Especially since there's not many systems in the world that limit you to 8character usernames! ;) RB

Working fine here.. out of interest, here's a nifty site you can use, whenever you suspect a site is down, but arn't sure if it's your end: http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/ plug another URL into that... and it'll soon tell you whether it's just you... or the site really is down. RB

Can't help you with the Hauler, but I can show you a few pics of my modification to the 8264 B-Model - Flatbed Truck. ..which, IMHO, is a much better, and more fun model to play with. I have a 2.5yr old nephew, who runs past duplo, in order to play with his Uncle's Technic! Just by the level of detail, and intricacy, I can tell that he knows it's way cooler than toys for his age! Luckily, studless Technic is actually very strong, and hold up to his playing. But yes... with this model, I noticed that he didn't know when to turn off the motor.. and even then.. although he could operate the switch.. his low dexterity always caused him to flick it from one side to the other.. it was very hard for him to push it gently, to get it in the 'OFF' position in the middle. So one night, I sat down and modified it. Toddler-friendly on/off switch Modified Cabin - opening doors PF M Motor -> Double Bevel -> 8t gear -> 24t Clutch Gear -> 3L Universal Joint -> Linear Actuator Video here: http://picasaweb.goo...feat=directlink Hope this can be of use for modding the Loader model. Note that I used more parts than what was included in the kit.. but nothing unusual.. just extra beams/pins/axles/gears, etc... I'm still not a huge fan of studless building... but modding an existing set, definitely improves your skills in this area I ended up pulling apart the bulk of the chassis in order to do this mod.. as well as rebuilding most of the cab. But it's a fun way to practice studless building.... really.. it's all about learning the NEW spacing/clearances between things. RB

Although I loved model team, and wished for it a LOT when I was younger.. ..in some ways, from a technical standpoint, many Creator sets have much more mechanical functionality than Model team ever did. I consider the 'Make and Create - Designer' (2003) sets very much a precursor to Creator.. 4402 Sea Riders, 4403 Air Blazers, and 4404 Land Busters have some very good mechanical details.. especially the amazing 4403 main model Helicopter. A very clever ratchet system, similar to the 8232 Technic chopper. But MUCH bigger mechanism, and completely hidden... you press the two rear angled fuselage panels to start the rotor spinning The Creator black sports car has already been mentioned - with a very detailed engine bay, interior, and steering.. And then there's the following years' 4993 Cool Convertible, with the amazing retractable roof! I'll admit that some Creator sets arn't as complex or detailed as some of the later Model Team sets... but they are pretty close! RB

ok... so I've been disassembling all my original technic models for the last 6 months.. and sorting tubs of parts... and decided it was time I build something again.. your little bike looked like a challenge for this evening... building it from just one photo.... How'd I go? Of course I didn't have enough white to do it in correct colours... and I decided to put some oldschool Police 1x2 tiles on the back.. the only 2-hole beams I have are in yellow, so it wouldn't have looked too good. Interestingly.. the 4-hole liftarms, that make up the front forks.. where you've got that 1-round trans-orange 'light'... the liftarm hole has absolutely no clutch power. It's loose.. and I couldn't even get the pieces to sit in there for the photo! so I stuck them to the next hole down. I might play with the front - headlights.. as they look a bit silly sticking out so much! also might re-make it in colours I have more of... red, yellow, or blue <edit: Fixed the images.... and also.. it's stood up to the playtime of my 2.5 year old nephew!> RB

I have some in an expanding folder.. others in some Magazine-style racks.. and the rest just stacked in a pile on a bookshelf. When I was younger, my mother used to laminate (contact adhesive paper) all the instructions, so they wouldn't tear. She also used to cut out the pictures from the boxes, and then stick them to the sides of plastic Ice-Cream containers (and use contact to cover them), that I used to store my Lego in, when I had such a small collection sigh.. I sometimes miss the time when all the Lego that kept me happy for years fitted into a small childrens suitcase... nice and handy to take away on trips to play with.... ...glances at the 10 x 35litre tubs of ABS bits behind me ... now it'd barely fit in the back of my car!! RB

I know it's a year or so old.. but I picked up Creator 6742 the other day... and decided to try my first bag-build! have to admit.. it was very fiddly.. the cheeseslope windscreen pieces too forever to get positioned, and lined up before I could push them into place! almost gave up a couple of times... but glad I persisted! :) Now I've done it.. I might do a quick review of this set.. as I see it hasn't been reviewed yet! RB

You REALLY need to add: I'm on a Horse at the end of this paragraph.... RB

Hi Blakbird.. curious why there's no reference at all to the original crown/bevel gear, in your Technical Fundamentals page... especially since it's been around since 1977! RB

Heh.. funny.. Back when I was a kid, my sister, and 2 other friends would build/play in Lego towns.. Although we had some pirate sets, and some original lego coins... we didn't have enough for currency Each of us had shops, and could trade with others.. and we did the same thing... we used transparent 1x1 square plates for money and even then.. it was obvious that the rarer pieces would be worth more. $10 - Red (most common) $20 - Yellow $50 - Blue $100- Green (rare) A side-effect of using those pieces: none of our cars had head, or tail lights!!! :D RB

I love the faith you have in your construction.. and the weather.. that you risked RC gear.. motors AND a mobile phone out there! :D Would be interesting to see how fast someone could make a Lego boat.. even if the hull wasn't 100% lego.. Add more motors? Have you tried other Props? Would be interesting to compare these parts for underwater propulsion: Also.. it would be interesting to replicate this drive mechanism: RB

I seriously didn't think a Lego tattoo thread already existed! hehehe RB

http://www.obviouswinner.com/obvwin/2010/5...ack-tattoo.html Ok... so own up.. who in here got this done on their back? Not bad detailing, and perspective, actually... RB

as see on BoingBoing today: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/10/lego-...ation-of-t.html basically a Lego version of this: The machines' sole purpose in life, is to turn itself off! :D RB

Did a search, and didn't see this mentioned anywhere: http://www.meettheboss.tv/broadcast/?contr...mediaFileId=289 unfortunately, you have to sign up to watch the full thing - which I'm doing now :) <edit> very interesting video.. well conducted interview.. and I think all fans of Lego should be proud to have someone like Jørgen at the helm of this company! RB

Interesting solution to the problem of hiding, and mounting motors.... you simply didn't! But it still looks very good.. and probably made construction a lot easier.. and quicker to get to the fun of playing with! (by the way.. us technic people DO play with their models, don't we??? ) RB

Thanks for the comments! Yes.. a lot of classic space.. Heaps of little sets from 1979/1980, etc... StarFleet Voyager... Galaxy Commander Star Defender 200 was always a favourite, and Sonar Transmitting Cruiser was one of my biggest sets, and probably one of the last big Space sets I got, before 'requesting' more Technic sets for birthday/Christmas :) I don't actually think I got a single Blacktron set... although I got a few M-Tron ones Yes.. i'm guessing it was around 1988/1989... although I cropped the photos.. it was out in the backyard of the new big house we moved to, and the backyard was still pretty barren.. not many trees! I used to love building this Super Space truck/van... think of an 'A-Team' style van.. but with large technic truck wheels.. huge windscreen at the front.. ramp at the back, to drive up other buggies.. flip out turrets, etc etc.. I used to spent hours doodling in school/lunchtime all these wild and crazy spacecraft ideas.. then come home and try to build them! I wonder if I can find those sketches.... RB

I might be able to remake it with original parts... I have all my childhood lego in a big box behind me.. Unfortunately, I 'played-with-it-to-death', and as a result, most parts are in very poor condition.. scratched/scuffed/dull/broken. Plus the box it was stored in, was kept in my fathers steel shed, and suffered about 20 years of VERY hot Australian summers... a lot of the pieces are very brittle now. I don't have many new space sets these days ..apart from my beloved 8480 Technic Shuttle! :D RB

This set: http://creator.lego.com/en-us//Products/Vehicles/4993.aspx has 2 samurai swords... items I wouldn't normally have (I'm mainly into technic/creator) they are used for the windscreen wipers! RB

I'd forgotten about this one for at least a decade or two.... then I re-discovered these photos... so glad they were taken! Film was expensive.. so it must have been a decent enough model for me to convince my mother to take a couple of photos! I'm pretty certain this would have exhausted nearly every white/blue/black/grey piece I had... I was always loath to use any other colours in spaceships! (it just wouldn't look right!) All the buggies and mini-ships docked with the main spaceship, and it had plenty of hatches, and folding pieces! You can probably guess the main Lego sets I had, by some of the unique pieces in it! (is that 2 rare trans-yellow antennas on it? ) RB