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I got shipping confirmation for my Mindstorms NXT 2.0 ($195.96 after coupon) today.

3D design (like LDD) is one of a class of applications that can take advantage multiple CPU cores very efficiently - only if the application was correctly architected for this in the first place. LDD has to do a large number of geometry calculations every time you move or rotate the model. They could, in theory, offload much of this to the graphics card, but the capabilities of the graphics cards out there and graphics library versions vary so much that it may be better to perform the geometry calculations using the main CPU (hopefully across multiple cores) and offload only the rendering functions to the graphics card. Disk I/O access should not be a bottleneck for LDD as the entire part library can easily be cached in DRAM memory.

Yeah, in this case, the part is available in red instead of old gray and the model looks better with the red frame anyway. It would have been a lot worse if one of the main doors were missing...

And here is the finished "product"... Mother's Day Roses

Here is the LDD model (zipped LXF file) for the rose... rose.zip

Especially if you are working at very low resolution (e.g. few tens of studs in each direction) it may be a good idea to pre-process the image to "cartoonify" it before converting it to mosaic. http://www.photoshopcstutorial.com/photo-effects-tutorials/cartoon-drawing-tutorial.php

Do you know how to upload an LXF file to Eurobricks forums? I tried it yesterday and could not get it to work...

I did spend a bit of time trying to reverse engineer this. It is certainly possible to build the roses without using any illegal construction techniques (e.g. glue) though the actual result is a bit fragile. I was not able to make a complete LXF due to some LDD quirks but you can get most of it done in LDD...

Did you color the front rims of the Lotus 43 and Lotus 79 yourself? If yes, what kind of paint did you use?

Excellent work! Did you consider flipping and rotating the 3x5 liftarm at the top front of the rear fender (32250) such that it simulates the air intake for the rear brakes? A couple of other relatively rare Technic panels (49815/49816) may also work quite well in that area.

This looks quite good actually. It appears to be designed in such a way to make it very easy to modify the outer shell...

This is a very unique model, it is completely different from other LEGO supercars I have seen to date. Excellent work! :thumbup:

Bought LEGO City Police Helicopter (7741) for $8 at Target yesterday. This is an excellent small set, especially at this price.

Those appear to be x1825 tires from 8146 Nitro Muscle on custom chromed 44772 rims.

What a collection of beauties! :thumbup:

Thanks for the quick answers. Just curious, is there a reason why you chose not to implement the more "conventional" select -> copy (CTRL-C) -> paste (CTRL-V) method for copy and paste? I am guessing this scheme is what most people are familiar with, it can also be provided as menu options for novice users.

This is a very capable program, but I am having some problems with the user interface. Let me know if I am doing something wrong: 1. I couldn't find a way to copy and paste a brick or a subassembly (other than the last brick added to the model). Is there a way to select a brick or a set of bricks from a model in progress and make a copy of that set? 2. When placing a brick. even when the program detects an automatic connection, do I always have to push space bar or enter to lock it place?

If you change the seat configuration, it looks more like a Vespa than a chopper...

So it does have a differential and a real engine!

Wow! Excellent work! How much does it weigh?

This is a superb MOC in every way. The exterior design is fantastic and the interior is even better. I do hope that the folks at TLG see this and decide to bring to market as a "Factory" set some time in the future....

1x1 Technic Brick with studs on two sides.

This is definitely one of the most unique MOCs, can't wait to see the finished product!

Excellent work! Amazing detail. I love the ships and the small scale vehicles and the scene and everything else!

Excellent retro model!