dr_spock

Welcome aboard.

I have worm gears in most of my GBC modules. I use bushings to keep them from sliding around. That and lubrication seem to help with noticeable wear and tear.

Congrats Milan. Happy indexing! I think it is ok for Milan to enter contests. Over at Pirates BoBS forum, the leaders are allowed to enter contests and challenges but are not eligible to win physical prizes since leaders also do the judging. If no conflict of interest then not a problem.

The stud shooters are also used in other themes like CITY, etc. It's not a licensed piece that is specific to one theme. There is some economy of scale and better ROI for that part and mold versus blasters. Perhaps AFOLs can try to engage Disney to force LEGO to put in normal blasters as a term and condition in their Star War licensing agreement. Convince Disney that stud shooters are hurting the SW branding.

There are probably some business constraints that designers have to work under such as, costs, certain colors/parts have to be used to maximize parts efficiency with other themes, etc. Like software development, every components and features carry a cost. When management budget you with X amount, you more or less have to work within, unless you can convince them to budget you more. Some times you have to prioritize and drop features. Once a while word doesn't get to marketing and you see a feature listed on the website product description that is not in the actual set like coins, cups and scarves in the LEGO Friends Mia's Magic Trick set.

Very good. It looks edible. Although you could get hair stuck in your teeth if you try to eat it.

You could try to create a dummy Facebook account like Greg Carmichael if you want to keep your personal stuff separated. Set up a new email address somewhere for FB to point to.

Thank you for the info. They seem to cost 4x the SG90 servo.

Nicely done. A suitable establishment for a monopoly on beer service. Have one for the road. Cheers.

Shiver me timbers, pirating fort designs. Nice build and scene.

Avast, t'is a mighty fine story and build!

Wow, that was quick results. Congratulations to the winners. It was a fun and different mini-challenge. Good work, Kwatchi.

The ancient model railroader in me would say, "color matching paint would fix that wheel problem." The LEGO purist in me say, "just put some LEGO boat weights in the tender."

Neat idea. I like the small size. What type of servo are you using? How relatively cheap are they? I bought some SG90 servos last summer to play with but got side tracked with other projects. SG90s are bigger though.

Thanks. I wish LEGO did too. As a fan of LEGO trains, some times you gotta do things yourself instead of waiting and waiting for LEGO. I believe I've seen your chess set in the Pirate MOC forum over the summer. I think you should to try a different marketing tactic of your Ideas. The successful 10K LEGO Ideas made use of many different avenues of promotion. If you aren't doing it already, try to get popular bloggers, news stations, YouTubers, social networks, etc. to help spread the word about you. You need to reach outside of the LEGO fan base community because Pirates isn't all that big when you think about it. Perhaps, doing something on International Speak Like a Pirate Day to generate interest. Maybe pirate cosplay people might interested in your chess Ideas. Be creative. Hmm, I wonder which side I played in the last Eurobrick's Pirates Forum Tournament of Retribution. The Reds have a short sassy haired queen. Some like long, some like short. It would have been nice if LEGO included those epaulettes with their chess set along with shakos. I can live with the Bluecoats being not as well dressed as the Redcoats. Thanks.

I think each person's bodily secretions is different based on genetics, diet, environmental factors. If you're an acidic or corrosive type of person, it might be good to wear gloves before handling LEGO with paint or print on it. Plus you don't leave fingerprints behind that could etch into the painted surface. Handle like curators of priceless museum paintings. Animals and plants can secrete waxes that are esters. According to one material chart, esters and ABS have poor compatibilty. Esters also reacts wtih water to produce alcohol and organic or inorganic acids which may not be great for paint.

I like the stud shooters. They're more fun than flick fire missiles. Also work better for target practice than pew-pew with megaphones. Day 036 of 365: Stud Shooters by dr_spock_888, on Flickr There are after-market sources for more realistic weapons if needed for your MOCs.

Beautiful layout. Well done!

Yes, there are pics in one of my old topics: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/84269-mod-8881-pf-battery-box/ It is one way of doing it. Plus I can reuse the battery box with batteries in an emergency by unscrewing the power jack.

Well done. Very good GBC.

Wonderful MOC. I like how you did the side windows on the locomotive.

MOD of the LEGO 40158 Pirates Chess Set to Redcoats versus Bluecoats. It seems like a logical chess set to do. Redcoats vs Bluecoats Chess by dr_spock_888, on Flickr I limited myself to use only parts I had in my collection. No Bricklinks were harmed in the making of this chess game. Let the Tournament of Retribution commence.

You could attach a timer to the 9V train speed controller so that it only runs during certain times of the day. I think you can also get programmable count down timers where some presses a button and it run for a certain amount of time. Or build something that triggers it when someone is standing in front of the display. I use silicone lube on my GBCs. I still get some wear and tear on the plastic, less than without lube. At some point, parts will need to be replaced.

Welcome to Eurobricks, thorin.

I believe the old 9V train speed controller uses a LM317 regulator. I think it can do above 1.5A. You're going to need more than one of them to drive 12+ motors. I use AC to 9V DC wall adapters to power my stationary MOCs. I have a bunch of them from various old electronic equipment like modems, etc. I adapted my PF battery boxes to use them. I have lots of PF battery boxes and don't feel like cutting up good PF extension cables to make adapters. The current limiter can be desoldered from the battery box circuit board if required.