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Model of Fairfax Connector's 2008 Orion VII NG (07.503) transit bus. The model features motorized drive, steering, and pneumatically operated passenger doors. It also has an opening engine door to access a removable Cummins ISL engine model. Functions/features: Drive Steering Working steering wheel Pneumatic passenger doors Opening engine door Cummins ISL engine model (removable) Fairfax Connector, the transit agency serving Fairfax County, VA with service to Washington, D.C., operated an extensive fleet of Orion transit buses throughout its history. The fleet began in 1985 with a fleet of Orion I buses, with more units joining the fleet through the early 1990s. By the late 1990s, the agency began acquiring Orion V buses of various lengths. In 2008, Fairfax Connector acquired 26 32ft-long Orion VII buses (model 07.503) numbered 9770-9795, of which inspired my model. Throughout much of their service life, the low 9770s were assigned to West Ox Division while the remainder were assigned to Reston, notably serving the Reston Internal Bus Service (RIBS) routes. Unfortunately, the final active units of this series were retired recently at the time of writing, as this series of buses have been fully replaced by 2024 and 2025 Gillig Low Floor 29’ buses. On a trip to the DMV (DC/Maryland/Virginia) area in March 2025, I had the opportunity to ride bus #9789 on the RIBS 1 route, and I included video clips from that ride in the beginning of my video. I decided to build a model of Fairfax Connector’s Orion VII NG primarily for the aesthetics: Fairfax Connector uses a multi-color livery with yellow in the front, red in the rear and a white curved stripe down the middle. All my previous bus models had a primarily white livery, with either a simple stripe livery or a stickered livery. I decided that my challenge for this model is to design the entire livery using only LEGO elements, with stickers only used for the logos, fleet numbers, and destination signs. The building process began in Stud.io, designing the bodywork in System pieces with a mix of regular and SNOT building. Thanks to the variety of colors introduced for many System elements in recent years, some of them as recent as this year (e.g. part 73230 in yellow), I was able to put together a livery that uses wedge pieces extensively to model the white curved stripe. On some of their buses, particularly the older ones (e.g. these and the 2007-09 New Flyer D40LFRs), the livery even extends onto the roof. Thanks to a Google Earth capture of the Reston Town Center, where the RIBS routes originate and terminate, I was able to get a view of the roof of the bus to model the livery on the roof. There are unfortunately very few clear photos of the roof of these buses, so my design is probably still approximate, but still I really liked the result especially when viewed from afar. The chassis came next after designing the bodywork. I initially wanted to do the entire chassis in dark bluish gray as the real-life bus has a gray floor, but I figured since I have much more black Technic pieces than DBG (and because all my previous bus models had a black Technic chassis and frame), I decided to do it in black. A challenge here was packing all the electronic components in. Due to limited space, I had a single Power Functions L Motor connected directly to a 28T heavy duty differential via a 12:28 reduction. I was worried whether this would be enough torque for the model, so I tried to avoid using more pieces than necessary throughout the build. Fitting the PF rechargeable battery box and the SBrick into the chassis was particularly challenging, as the front half of the chassis is low floor. I ended up squeezing them in on either side of the Cummins ISL engine model, and there was just enough space for it to fit between that and the body panels. The Cummins ISL engine model was taken directly from my New Flyer D60HF model, but connected to the drivetrain with an 8T gear instead of 16T. I initially thought of keeping it permanently affixed to the chassis due to the electronic components packed tightly around it, but fortunately I found just enough room to insert a few removable 3L pins to easily secure and dismount the engine model. The front portion of the chassis, which is low floor, turned out surprisingly sturdy even at only 2 studs thick. I think what helped was using plenty of reinforcing elements like part 3167, which kept the layers tightly bound here. This is much better than my first bus model, my New Flyer XD60, where the low floor section was 3 studs thick on average. The chassis still protrudes where the front axle and PF Servo Motor for steering are located; I initially thought of placing the servo in the roof frame and transferring its drive down via a vertical axle, but I didn’t want there to be too much play in the steering mechanism. While designing the chassis, a challenge was making sure to always include attachment points for the bodywork, including the SNOT sections, to create a seamless fit with no interference once the bodywork is installed. My original plan for the pneumatic functions was to make the passenger doors and engine door openable pneumatically via remote control. Even though the real bus has the engine door opened manually, I figured this would avoid having to find space for a separate manual opening mechanism. However, there ended up being just enough space behind the SBrick to include an axle that can be pushed to open the engine door ajar, just like on my previous Orion V model. This meant both pneumatic functions could be used for the passenger doors, but I wanted to have a single pneumatic circuit instead of two separate ones for the two doors like on my New Flyer D60HF model. My original plan was to have two PF L Motors each control a valve and control a single compressor through differentials. However, seeing that the front and rear doors often do not open at the same time on North American buses (especially if the rear door is push-to-open or only opens when a motion sensor detects an exiting passenger) I decided to make them openable separately by switching valves for the front/rear doors. The compressor and the valve for open/close is driven by a PF L motor, while a PF M Motor switches two additional valves that control whether air flow goes to the front or rear door. A challenge was making sure all the pneumatic hoses were routed correctly; the front door’s pneumatic cylinder retracts to open the door, while the rear door’s cylinder extends to open it as the rear door on Fairfax Connector’s Orion VII NG buses open outwards (though most agencies I’ve seen has it open inwards like the front door). I also decided to use all pre-cut lengths of pneumatic hoses to make things easier when I make the instructions, as on my New Flyer D60HF model, the instructions has the user cut hoses to specific centimeter lengths. Overall, I am impressed by how this MOC turned out, especially with the fully brick-built livery. It looks seamless from afar, although I do wish LEGO made more wedge pieces without studs as the finish is a bit stud-heavy. This also meant I could not include stickers for the Fairfax Connector phone number and website URL printed above the windows of Fairfax Connector buses, as those would end up passing over a few studs. Nevertheless, I managed to capture all the major details, such as the slightly curved front end and the uniquely shaped rear grille. The model also performed pretty well; although the drivetrain could perhaps use more gear reduction, its setup was also very efficient so it was quite fast when driving without feeling underpowered. I’m a bit sad that I didn’t finish the model before the last units were retired, but at least I managed to capture one of Fairfax Connector’s most iconic vehicles of the 2000s in all its glory in a LEGO version. Video: Photos: -
I know I had just finished a bus model (the Orion V 05.505 model), but I figured why not get started on my next one 😂 so here it is: a 2008 Orion VII NG (07.503) bus operated by Fairfax Connector in Fairfax County, VA. This will be my first model of a DMV (DC/Maryland/Virginia) region bus. I took the above photo of bus 9777 in August 2022, right after BrickFair VA that year. At the time, a good portion of them were used on the RIBS (Reston Internal Bus Service) routes; their numbers continue to dwindle as newer 2024 Gillig Low Floor 29' buses enter service to replace them. A year ago, I had the opportunity to ride bus 9789: If I can fit it into my schedule, I plan to go to the NJ Historic Bus Festival again this September. Last year I brought my New Flyer D60HF model there, and since it's an articulated bus, I separated it at the articulation joint and packed the two halves side by side in a duffel bag, which narrowly fit the size constraints of an airline carry-on. For this year's event, I plan to bring this model and the Orion V I just completed; since both are ~1:18 models of 32' buses, I should be able to pack both into a carry-on duffel bag like I did last year. My plan is to first design the model in Stud.io, then wait until after Brickworld Chicago in June to start the building process. I will likely need parts from my New Flyer D60HF model, which I am planning on displaying at Brickworld, so I am waiting after Brickworld when I can disassemble that model to have the parts to build this one. After the bus festival, I plan to save it for display at Brickworld Chicago 2027. The tentative list of functions are: Drive Steering with working steering wheel Pneumatic doors (most likely synced) Wheelchair ramp (?) Cummins ISL engine model with moving pistons Opening engine door (perhaps pneumatic, fed from the same pneumatic circuit that feeds the doors opening) Since most of my bus models thus far have had pretty much the same core functions (drive, steering, opening doors), I want to add another function here that have not been incorporated into previous bus MOCs. A wheelchair ramp may still be quite challenging to add at this scale, but I could probably use the doors' pneumatic circuit to power another cylinder that can open/close the engine door. While they're typically opened manually on real buses, my recent Orion V model demonstrated that it's pretty difficult to include a functional handle at this scale that does not look out of proportion (I resorted to using an axle that you can push on from behind it to open it slightly). So I could probably add a valve that can direct the compressor to opening/closing the engine door. Another challenge I gave myself this time is to design the entire livery using LEGO pieces, i.e. no stickers. I'm pretty impressed with the results so far, but still it's not the smoothest curve (as the white stripe between the yellow front/red rear on Fairfax Connector buses is very well rounded). Still, I feel that using LEGO pieces to achieve is preferable to using stickers, like many official sets are doing these days. This will also be my first bus model to not be primarily white for the livery - it will really get me to be creative with piece usage, and the model already contains a combination of normal brick/plate stacking and SNOT building, especially where the livery is made using wedge plates/tiles. As of right now the wheels look a bit small to me, but the height seems pretty similar to my New Flyer D60HF model (which uses the same tires) so it may just be a matter of perspective as the model really only has one body panel and the doors designed as of right now. Below I've attached some Stud.io screenshots so far. Let me know what you think!
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Hey guys, here is another small vignette from Star Wars Episode VII - The Force Awakens. It shows the attack on Takodana. You can see a battle between the first Order and Ressistance Troops in the forest around Maz' castle. Star Wars Episode VII - The Force Awakens - Attack on Takodana by KevFett2011, auf Flickr Star Wars Episode VII - The Force Awakens - Attack on Takodana by KevFett2011, auf Flickr Star Wars Episode VII - The Force Awakens - Attack on Takodana by KevFett2011, auf Flickr I hope you like it, what do you think ? Greetings KevFett2011 -
Built for the 7th annual Expand the Winter Village Contest. All the doors open, there is a pop out ice block function, and a secret compartment under the house for hiding presents. The building itself was inspired by this model. It was quite an enjoyable build process, especially the wooden porch section. The ice house is particularly busy in the winter months, as blocks of ice are cut and then put into the storage shack to await delivery via truck to customers’ homes. Lots more pictures on Brickbuilt Thanks for looking, C&C welcome!
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Today I started my next project, a model of the new T-70 x wing from star wars. I think I have the back wings figured out, here is a concept for it. Colours not final obviously. I'll continue to add to this thread as I make more progress. I decided on light gray for this. White just looks out of place to me and it doesn't appear that way even some of the time as the T-65 did depending on lighting. The wings (at least from my limited reference) are also seeming to be slightly thicker on the new ship, so I went with a snot design instead of 2 plates thick. I think that curve arch piece is the only really sufficient way to capture the curve of the wingtip with fidelity so I based the design on mounting each laser on each wing with those piece. Next, I'll tackle the front wings and engine assembly, maybe the rear fuselage.
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My new Gundam,this only a part of my new personal project... Link with more photos http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/376746
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In LEGO JANGO FETT UNCHAINED Jango Fett returns for revenge as a recapitated Bounty Hunter. Based on, without affiliation, Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained. Thanks for watching, please subscribe and such.
