roamingstop

No MOC is a failed MOC; it just might not result in what you expect to see, and you can always learn a new trick or two. We have a few of these types of wagons close to where I work - I get to see them most days. My view: Switch to dark red uprights (if available). The primary red colour does not work. Alternatively as suggested dark bley. Change the base away from primary coloured black; it is too dark for modern waggons. Whilst black is often the painted framework colour, the dirt, grime etc often mean it looks dark grey. It is also a weee bit short... :( Did you ever see the Railbricks version of these waggons? http://www.railbricks.com/build-instructions/cat_view/24-freight-cars http://www.railbricks.com/build-instructions/doc_download/77-50-flat-car-rb-f0001-pr

Many steam engine sets for garden railways contain an extra car which adds battery powered sound effects; the intensity of sound related to the speed the car is drawn at. Railside signals could be used to add 'whistle'. However it does not add 'whistle' to the child / adult / remote control unit. FOr children especially, the ability to whistle on command is probably more appealing than a trackside device.

In LDD everything is ahem possible. Actually I am working on this version with the base from the new cargo trains / Andythenorth design and this would represent the "Vivid" russian tanker much better. But for now it is not too bad. Once I have photos I will upload the LXF for others.

Along with AndytheNorth, I had also been inspired with a longer version of 10016. The physical model is in the still to finish category, and with multicoloured parts (until Bricklink orders all arrive). However I share with you the designs and welcome your feedback. The tanker was inspired by this photo of a carless petro-carrier. Screenshots of the LDD versions are below. Dark blue Lego did not (yet) make dark blue cylinders... pity. But the other colour schemes are valid. Dark red and yellow Octan coloured

And Switzerland. Cool... just got paid! But on-line purchases does not seem to work. However they do list the new tram and truck sets.

Excellent building.... and yes it looks remarkably similar to an Erotik club in our local town. Down to the green lights, red lights and balcony on the corner, with glass windows on the ground floor. No I dont go there - but it is hard to miss as it is in the middle of a residential area.

Shrink those PDF's Actually I was really impressed with the PID tutorial - it explains it in a relatively simple way; although of course it then opens the question of doing more advanced PID control, pole placement designs, anti-wind up, and then starting onto SISO, SIMO and MIMO systems, LPQ, MP-QP and other algorithms. Ahem ;-) Oh wait... im not sure they are implmented onto Mindstorms yet. It would perhaps be interesting in a future issue to look at the different mindstorms / NXT platforms (RobotC etc) as a special issue.

Recently I was setting up some SNOT ideas, and wanted to build at odd spacing / gaps (e.g. compare the train base above with the studs of the tanker which lay perpendicular) - short of building every combination (which is what I eventually did) it would have been useful to build and say - this combination of parts = 7 studs, another combination is 7.2, therefore would not fit. (in the end I used the 'snap' feature to prove whether they would fit). Or you place some parts artistically / aesthetically, and then need to work out the best way to set up intermediate parts to complete the build. An example - I am working on a small shunter / switcher engine which incorpoates the battery box as part of the chassis, but I needed to know height tolerances on the wheels in order to make parts work. I eventually built by hand and measured for myself. How many people build a model and then want to know how big it is - and sit there counting studs?. Im sure dimensionalise is actually a low priority feature... but it would be nice. Another aspect would be to measure the angle between two parts. Ill update the picture above to illustrate; but better visualised with hinge / swivel plates.

A moc up picture = 1000 words. Unfortunately I have used 86.39k of my 100k global upload quota... somehow? Ill try to link in from a website. Scroll bars (stolen from word) to move the object left / right and up / down within the current field of view (pan). A third scroll bar could be used to move forwards / backwards (but not zoom).

* Addition of Lego Technic Engine / Cylinder / Crankshaft assemblies. I believe these are still used in many models, especially the engine crank-shaft elements which can shift an axel by 0.5. * A recently used palette (like last 5 elements or MS Office multiple clipboard). I know I could just place the elements on screen and use them as needed, but then I might have to zoom / spin around a lot and loose useful camera views. * Slide / scroll bars around the edge of the screen which can help pan and shift the view. Zooming in and out or Shift + right click is ok, but sometimes it is useful to slide along the principle axis (I believe ML Cad has this). * With regards to earlier comments about placing multiple elements together; it would be good to have a 'right click' and 'nudge to left element', nudge to right element' (etc) and 'nudge manual...' (brings up dialog box and allows you to specify the nudge as a fraction of a stud, e.g. 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 etc. * Dimensionalise! I use this a lot in autocad type programs; where ive joined multiple objects, perhaps rotated some, and want to know what the final dimensions are. It would be useful to nomimate two connection points and display the distance in stud lengths. Autocad has direct distance (3D length) and planar lengths - e.g. display the 3 X/Y/Z distances between two 3D points * Object Projection during rotation. When aligning some elements it would be useful to have a vector projected along the principle axis of the object during movement. E.g. with the Hinge plate swivel, two vector lines would project along the 1x2 direction. These axis lines could be used to help final alignment. * Annotation. Whilst there are bugs etc in LDD alignments, and missing items, it would be nice to add text to say 'elements here should actually be touching'. Or 'Place a 1/2 bush here'. Note localisation, i.e. due to different languages will always be a problem; so perhaps annotation could be like a call out; showing one or two pieces which can be cross out (wrong) or ticked (add here) or rotate (curved arrow). * Improved element catagory groups (search). Seems to be requested a lot (in different forms), but the icons used to different elements are a little strange. For PaB and DBM it is probably fine to keep. In Universe mode it would be good to have more logical catagories (e.g. train elements, roof elements etc) or allow you to have the same element in multiple groups, or even 'my favorites' which can be stored (a little like the special colour palette files). I still have to get to grips with the group function. In packages like Autocad, Coreldraw, etc, I expect to be able to select a group of elements, press CTRL + G, and then move / rotate the group as a whole. Perhaps im missing something in the visualisation. The group could also be applied to the submodel problem of the instructions. I.e. grouped elements are built together. Even if it means lots of small groups are built at the start of the model, it would still make more sense than now. Perhaps ive not found it yet - but a technic gear align mode would be good. Drag and drop new technic gear to its mate, and have it rotate so the teeth mesh properly (and then keep this rotation angle). For simple gear trains it would be useful. At what point will LDD + universe mode shift from a childs design tool (with AFOL additions) into a more serious Lego CAD Design tool?

A semi-useful hint - also check the sellers recent feedback as well. If they are 95% of the time a buyer, but occasionally sell knock off cameras, rolex watches and such like then you are likely to be on a looser. Ive had a couple of bad ebay experiences - nearly always my own fault (for not checking the details well enough), and another had missing instructions (shown in the photo, listed in details, never posted to me) for which I got a refund (after opening resolution centre). But other times ive been lucky - without a photo I obtained a MISB Santa Fe 10022 for 1/3 of the Bricklink price. Somehow reading the sellers feedback I just felt it was honest. Power sellers can be a real pain as well - once their numbers are above 1000-2000 the odd one or two negative feedbacks wont influence them. Bricklink has always been great, a real community feeling and sellers / buyers know what they are doing (most of the time) and are mostly happy to correct mistakes.

Im on the same wavelength having been designing up some LDD versions in Dark Red and Yellow (from the Farmyard sets). Ive also seen other versions on Ebay (search 'Lego Custom train') and recently a XXL version (I lost the bid) which was 3 cylinders long, and looked really nice. I really like the improved flatbed / design - did you have to use pieces from the Cargo train or was there a large bricklink order(s)?

You can find the sub-models of the train sets on Ebay and bricklink... Whilst individually the prices are much lower, buying a complete set typically costs about 1.25x the full price. However this adds flexability if you only want parts of the set...e.g. the cool crane of set 7898, the Emerald Night (without carriage) and multiple tanker elements... Or if you have the cash upfront, buy the whole set and sell off the unwanted sub-models.

I once sold a load of MOC's and old space sets before embarking on a PhD of enforced dark age (and before I had a digital camera to record them). What I remember is that the complete older space sets sold much better than the MOC's - which were viewed as spare parts as instructions did not exist (in those days ML cad was buggy). I lost out... it was not worth selling the MOC's and I was disappointed... but cest la vie. For the OP thread... If your children really like their MOC's then I would encourage them to take photos and submit to something like MOC Pages, Brickshelf etc, and get feedback from the Lego community (as a parent you might have to moderate the various comments). Importantly; try to get your children interested in creating the digital versions / instructions (e.g. in Lego Digital Designer)... and have the files available for download. This will allow them to gain skills, and minimise the (probable) disappointment of seeing their MOC sell for a lot less than they wanted. If their models are downloaded regularly then they could think about bulding the MOC's to sell directly. They should also review their older models and see which ones they could live without. Ebay prices can be relatively low, Bricklink is probably better but less likely to sell quickly. This would allow them to gain some pocket money to spend on Bricklink or more recent models...

Technically Correct; but the Korean one transforms by hand... the one I posted transforms using NXT gearing and is more remote controlled. But hey - both models are great; and have good features. For child playability... the Korean one is probably best (and looks more accurate). For AFOL 'RC everything' then the second is probably more interesting... especially with the way the geared tracks work.

So definitely not my work - but saw this on Engadget... and well its pretty nifty. http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/19/transformable-wall-e-gets-recreated-with-some-love-lego-and-diy/ Just makes me think poor old Wall-E is getting old Link to original source: http://sites.google.com/site/nxtwallet/

Could you not mount a small tyre / wheel onto the gear shaft (by bevel gear); and use wheel on wheel movement to power it and make a slimmer design?

Depending upon which website you read (and whether you also read German) tracert is the windows version of trace route; or Tracer T or ... and Lets hope it rectifies itself soon. Ive not had a reply from Jeramy.

Did not know there was an RS485 on there. Now that is a neat... but the NXT protocol would need to be written. Damn I wish I had more hack-time... ;-) Currently my head is full of Quaternion theory.

From my home computer I get godaddy.com. tracert produces.. (below). Either a buggy DNS or the site lapsed and is still mirrored in places. I sent an email to Jeramy, but no response. Im sure a minor hiccup - just depends whether the domain name is released to others... :( 1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.1.1 2 * * * Request timed out. 3 12 ms 11 ms 11 ms <REMOVED> 4 14 ms 11 ms 11 ms <REMOVED> 5 186 ms 186 ms 185 ms 84-116-130-89.aorta.net [84.116.130.89] 6 186 ms 187 ms 186 ms 84-116-130-30.aorta.net [84.116.130.30] 7 186 ms 187 ms 185 ms us-sjo01a-ri2-gi-3-0-0.aorta.net [213.46.190.102 ] 8 189 ms 189 ms 190 ms mpr1.sjc7.us [206.223.116.86] 9 191 ms 193 ms 190 ms xe-4-1-0.er1.sjc2.us.above.net [64.125.27.90] 10 195 ms 195 ms 194 ms xe-2-3-0.er1.lax9.us.above.net [64.125.24.17] 11 199 ms 199 ms 200 ms ge-2-1-0.mpr3.lax9.us.above.net [64.125.31.94] 12 202 ms 203 ms 229 ms xe-1-1-0.mpr3.phx2.us.above.net [64.125.28.69] 13 204 ms 203 ms 204 ms 64.124.196.38.allocated.above.net [64.124.196.38 ] 14 * * * Request timed out. 15 * * * Request timed out. 16 * * * Request timed out. 17 * * * Request timed out. 18 * * * Request timed out. 19 205 ms 203 ms 204 ms ip-64-202-160-153.secureserver.net [64.202.160.1 53] 20 * * * Request timed out. 21 205 ms 207 ms 205 ms parkwebwin-v02.prod.mesa1.secureserver.net [68.1 78.232.99]

As I had never used Internet Explorer to visit railbricks, there would be no cache?... Deleted my firefox cache; removed all cookies... went back to the site. Works fine... Downloading PDF's and stuff also works fine (which should not be stored in the cache). I did a traceroute on the website. (tracert command in windows). No mention of godaddy.com or the broken pages here. If you have a different nameserver (ns1 or ns2 etc) then this could also be at fault. 1 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms 192.168.1.3 2 20 ms 10 ms 11 ms <REMOVED for privacy> 3 38 ms 10 ms 10 ms <REMOVED for privacy> 4 10 ms 10 ms 9 ms ge-3-2-0.400.ar3.ZRH1.gblx.net [64.213.54.109] 5 130 ms 130 ms 145 ms te4-0-1-10G.asr1.HOU1.gblx.net [67.16.133.226] 6 151 ms 164 ms 153 ms The-Planet.TenGigabitEthernet2-3.ar2.HOU1.gblx.n et [64.214.196.58] 7 146 ms 167 ms 163 ms 2-2.dsr02.hstntx2.theplanet.com [74.55.252.38] 8 145 ms 156 ms 167 ms po2.car11.hstntx2.theplanet.com [74.55.252.206] 9 143 ms 144 ms 143 ms ns1.siteground187.com [209.62.39.7]

Still working for me - Seems I can access most webpages and PDF's. But it did not work at home last night. I can also access via Internet Explorer (which I never use). I wonder if one of the DNS / Name Servers is misconfigured?. As that could explain why certain routes work and others not.

Back now when I just checked. I think it took a day for the payment to be registered.

Great review... a definite buy. What makes this set really great? Functionality? Lots of pieces? Look and Feel? Technic gears? Learning new technic ideas for your own models? The Crane Truck had good look, feel, playability and interesting building techniques. Similarly with Bulldozer. The Excavator brings this to a new level. But in the end, the flagships seem to combine these main features, (above) and could therefore encompass many different ideas. Speculation: An RC car with gearbox and lights. However PF functions with speed control make the use of a gearbox more redundant.

Hmm just restarted LDD after a few days of non-use; with 'free build', select view->universe mode and I suddenly get a load of debug messages A runtime error has occured. Line 50 Error: 'DD_belatedPNG' is undefined. Never seen this before... but I know it tried some form of update. Version is listed as 3.1.3, brick 114.3. Sometimes it continues; sometimes requires reboot.