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1/30/2020:
Got a Gamer Guy CMF yesterday as a gift at work. Now I have to run through my CMF stash to find some duplicates that might be interesting.
I’ve been thinking about my LUGBULK #1 and #2 picks. I really want to have a compact system to transition System into irrational stud distances and back again quickly. This is necessary for SNOT wizardry in three dimensions. In thinking about this, a bar grid would need to be built every time for this, requiring one of these parts for each stud, and so I’ll be using these at a high rate every time I use this method. My probable buy amounts just went up into the hundreds range.
The clip and bar system with 3.2 mm hole is the tightest way to do this and connect back to the cubic System stud positions that I can think of. I want these two parts as my picks.
Transitioning from bars to studs is pretty easy with Technic bricks with the bars threaded through pins, and clutch can be varied to scoot the assembly back and forth along the bar grid to get the assembly, built off-stud, into the desired position along the newly created axis.
I gotta get back to designing the new cowlings for the Warlock this way instead of relying on the limited possibilities of Pythagorean triangle stud distances.
Plenty of room in there for the Rover @zaximillian just not with a driver.
I’m intrigued but having trouble following. Wondering if you can post a pic or list the part numbers?
Transitioning from bars to studs is pretty easy with Technic bricks with the bars threaded through pins
Bottom center construction:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/71/e8/2e/71e82e46dc91b1b7f965f9e5f990e9da.pngSince you can slide the bar into any position relative to the brick you can create any offset.
Plenty of room in there for the Rover @zaximillian just not with a driver.
Huh. Looks like there’s even room for cheese wedge chocks to hold the buggy in place, huh?
Bottom center construction:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/71/e8/2e/71e82e46dc91b1b7f965f9e5f990e9da.pngSince you can slide the bar into any position relative to the brick you can create any offset.
Thank you, @randomdan! This is exactly what I plan, seating the bars into parts 11090 and 23443. These two parts, @rachelh, they will transition bar and Technic back to studs again, and since the length of the intervening bar doesn’t have to sleeve all the way into 11090 or 23343, this can create the irrational distances required for the third stud surface in a triangle. That’s my thinking.
Ah. Now I get it. Thank you @randomdan and @zaximillion for furthering my education.
Plenty of room in there for the Rover @zaximillian just not with a driver.
2/10/2020:
I was noodling around in LDD, trying to apply the building solution to the Warlock cowlings. It turns out that the first construction is too long for that space, and inserting a bar into these 2 stud long bar to clip connectors makes the construction 6 studs long. The only way to make it smaller is to replace the bar with a T-bar…
…which gave me a new idea. Instead of placing the bottom center construction onto the bars, I’m now trying out the T-bars, turning the stems of the Ts toward each other, sleeving a full Tehnic pin on, then mounting 1×2 Technic bricks with a single hole onto that. This makes a 2×2 stud space to point the cowlings on, and the use of the T-bars means that the connection distance is minimized.
However, this brought the cowling down toward the prong quite nicely and opened up space near the fuselage, and requires a connection point there, so there’s a domino effect that’s happening in the styling of this G-Fighter.
As a result, my attention is pulled back to the G-Fighters, and I might just dive into a total refit here once I get started on the cowlings, as the Heavenly King proved to me that geared rear landing gear is going to take up quite a bit of space.
2/11/2020:
Scored another Galactic Bounty Hunter CMF from a buddy at work who’s going through CMF series 19. Now I have two, and that’s a Blacktron team for me.
2/14/2020:
Here is my current LUGBULK order rationale:
(25) DOUBLE SPHERE 2X2X1 2/3, W/ KNOB, BLACK: These are 2x2x2 spheres, and I can use these for miniature chemical storage tanks, gas bladders, or energy field generators or containment. In short, this is a greeble part to me.
(8) BASE PLATE 16X32, DBG and
(16) BASE PLATE 16X16, DBG: These I consider as subdivisions of the larger baseplates, and will serve as test beds for larger builds, and to act as modular baseplates to fill in 5″ areas of display, allowing me to build toward the edge of a display area more often.(300) HOLDER Ø3.2 W/TUBE Ø3.2 HOLE, BLACK and
(300) 3.2 SHAFT W/3.2 HOLE, BLACK: These two parts, with a T-bar or other bar lengths linked between them, allow for irrational stud lengths because of the play that the sleeved bars give within them. This allows me to build off-stud in three dimensional space.(50) MINI LOWER PART, ORANGE: Space pants. Mostly. My Outer Colonies space faction wears orange and both light and dark bley, utilitarian colors for a more rugged space force. Also for a small orange Classic Space construction team and racing suits for my Grand Prix drivers.
(25) PLATE 16X16, WHITE, and
(25) PLATE 16X16, DBG: My United Earth Fleet buildings will be white, including the floors, lending a sterile, smooth feel, while my Outer Colonies buildings will be DBG for a more rugged, unrefined and utilitarian look. Larger plates are actually less necessary than I thought, as play functions and interior walls break up large plate sections, but the 16×16 is a great way to create open space with far less support and resulting brick.(175) BRICK 1X6, LBG,
(350) BRICK 1X12, LBG and
(350) BRICK 1X12, DBG: Vertical rock strata on high MILS cubes. These LBG bricks will also serve as surface rock formations on United Earth Fleet DBG regolith, while the DBG bricks will serve as surface rock formations on Outer Colonies DBG regolith.(50) GRID PLATE 8X8, LBG: Grating for blast areas, hatches for access to greeble within a MILS’d space baseplate, and caps for the ends of evolved space containers once landed, such as the George house. This is a similar construction to The Stacks from Ready Player One: space containers landed on top of and around each other and linked.
(50) MINI OXYGEN BOTTLES, ORANGE: Emergency oxygen for the Outer Colonies personnel, standard for every OC spacer and compartment, and used as pneumatic or hydraulic bottles for OC machinery.
(5) MINI UPPER PART, NO. 5062, ORANGE: These are the Classic Space torsos for my Neo-Classic Space construction team. Five guys is enough for me to create for a CS themed area.
(25) FLAT TILE 1X2, NO. 219, METALLIC SILVER: This is a fabulous, attention grabbing greeble part for a critical or higher precision machine.
(118) FLAT TILE 1X2, LBG,
(100) 1/4 CIRCLE TILE 1X1, LBG, and
(100) FLAT TILE 1X8, LBG: These are critical parts for my LBG logo and larger lettering design systems.(100) ANGULAR BRICK 1X1, LBG: This is another greeble part as well as SNOT wizardry because of the half plate offset.
(200) FLAT TILE 2X2, LBG: Tiling for flat tarmac on custom built landing pads.
(300) PLATE 1X1, W/ 3.2 SHAFT AND 1.5 HOLE, LBG and
(300) PL.ROUND 1X1 W. THROUGHG. HOLE, LBG: This part transitions studs to a bar and clip system, and also acts as a stud reversal part in combination with the 1×1 round plate with hole. Also a decent greeble part.(100) GOLD INGOT, LBG: Greeble. Great for caps on overhead cam engines, or anything pressurized really.
(500) BRICK 2X4, LBG: Superstructure brick, both for MILS and to connect the vertical Duplo constructions to a MILS cube’s outer wall.
(50) PYRAMID RIDGED TILE 1X1X2/3, LBG: Finishing parts for LBG rock spires.
(50) RIGHT PLATE 2X4, DEG. 27 and
(50) LEFT PLATE 2X4, DEG. 27: These parts are for detailing, as I use these on the sides of a cockpit box to transition it to the fuselage of a fighter. I also use wedge plates to contour patio decks to break up their squarish shape.(25) PLATE 1X1 ROUND W/ 3.2 SHAFT, LBG: This part has two points of articulation once the round edge of the 1×1 stud is considered. Also, small robot feet.
2/18/2020:
I have a regular visitor to my building who just got into LEGO to build DC Superheroes small dioramas. He’s collecting all the Green Lanterns he can get, planning on creating a half circle of these guys doing the oath on a lighted platform.
So, since he’s into the Flash, I walked him through the Bricklink process to order a set, since he wanted the Reverse Flash / Zoom fig, which is rare and expensive. I also gave him some building tips and introduced him to LDD so he could design before he spends money.
Long story short, he bought the Speed Force Freeze Pursuit, set 76098, and as gratitude, gave me all of it after pulling the figs.
Free brick for me!
I saw this one recently (incidentally this was probably my favorite display at BFVA19). It made me think of Rich because at one point we were talking about using Duplos for support structure when landscaping, and I said I found they didn’t click directly to a baseplate well, and when I built my park in 2014 I used a layer of regular brick in between the baseplate and the Duplo. Rich claimed that even though it’s on the loose side when you initially put it on, once it’s built in to a strong structure, it will hold together well. I admitted that I’ve never tried it.
If you make it to the end section of this video, he talks about how the display breaks into sections for transport, and pulls some plates apart and lifts them up so the viewer can see them, and he is in fact putting some Duplos right on the baseplate, and his stuff seems to hold together just fine. Not that we ever doubted Rich.
Yeah, Ben. What I’m trying for now is a little different in that I’m trying for a MILS cube that can be then torn apart for landscaping, much like we dig into a MILS baseplate for far more shallow things like ponds, greeble, or other things.
What’s happening in my case is that yes, Duplo on a baseplate is very, very weak, but one layer of System bricks is enough to hold everything together fairly well.
At Q4, I tore down a MILS cube, which was 5 bricks tall at that time, and rearranged the Duplo brick and the System layer to leave a 2 stud border all the way around as space for dirt and soil strata plus connection points. Multiple people in the basement physically shook the superstructure across the X and Y axes, and it passed that acid test.
Disassembly, and the superstructure’s weakness, happens when you pull upward, because of Duplo’s low clutch between those layers.
The layer of System bricks *is* required, but I think that it’s better to have it on top rather than on bottom of each 5 brick tall layer, simply because that’s also where plating will go. Creating hillsides remains brick intensive, but that’s always going to be the case for every exterior surface area, and in a larger cube, that surface area is, well, cubed, not squared.
Thanks for reminding me of this, Ben. I’d like to get together with some architecture guys and test the flexibility and limitations of the system I have.
3/5/2020:
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. No design, no building, no inspiration. Minecraft has taken over for the time being, as it provides me with a cheaper and more efficient illusion of accomplishment.
Still interested in finishing the #21 race car, a vertical MILS landscape standard, the White Raven, refitting the FS-39G Warlock with new cowlings and full landing gear from the Saito Heavenly King, and designing a new Vic digitally for a fan on the Gradius Discord. In no particular order.
When energy, focus AND time permit.
5/19/2020:
My mini Dark Age, partially because COVID bummed me out, is ending. I am in the process of investing another $175 into 4 BL orders for racecar detailing (stickered) parts, and starting to build the colorful if mostly undetailed racing suits.
It turns out that most of the cars are striped along the wheelbase, so making the racers’ fire suits’ arms and legs a different color from the torso and hips matches most cars.
Among the teams I will be working on or building out further toward completion are:
The #1 Octan pit crew
An alternate #2 in orange and black to compete with the black and lime #2. One will make the field, one will be given away.
The #3 dark red and orange Smell Zwell car. I found some new stickered parts that will add black to it.
The #13 Blaster Boys car. I am ordering big sticker sheets to really have maximum options for livery on this car. The #13 was the “bad guy” team in World Racers, so I have a lot of options from all of those sets.
The #18 car. I’m still on the fence between blue and yellow and blue and medium blue for the car, but I’m leaning toward the latter, as this version has a unique fire suit fig torso.
The #21 car. This was the “good guy” faction from World Racers, but the color scheme included lime a lot of the time. Since this is an Octan team also, I’m going to merge the more powerful contrasts onto the 21 car, which may add black to the white-red-green so far.
The #23 SpinWear car. I like the way this one is shaping up in white, blue and red, but the #23 circular tiles are NOT tiles like I thought, but road signs with clips. Some wizardry may be necessary to get these onto the car.
The #33 unsponsored team in yellow and red.
The #43 unsponsored team in orange and DBG.
The #55 unsponsored team in blue and red flame.
The #57 Fire Ghost car.
The #77 car.
The #96 car.
The Pace Car.
Race officials.
Track signs.
And many racing suits to put into existing cars I have already built.As soon as these BL orders start arriving, my mini Dark Age ends, and I can take one more step toward having a full LEGO race field like I’ve dreamt of since I was a kid. I’ll even have more than that so that, eventually, other LUGgers can adopt and improve one of the lesser developed teams if you want.
5/21/2020:
Getting back into the saddle. Rebuilt the rear ends of the #2, #3, #4 and #5 cars to add room for the gas cap. Loaded the #5 car with the white/chrome stickers of the NUTY REZ, YUBI and CellFISH sponsors. This car is much more developed as a result, if heavy on the sponsorship side compared to other cars, as I used multiple sticker sets here.
Tonight’s goal is rebuilding the rear ends of the #6, #7 and #8 and #12 cars so I can be ready to build the big #13 project as the BL orders come in. I may also rework the front shaping now on cars with black or orange centers that I have the parts to make deeper air intakes using the Vehicle, Mudguard 4 x 3 x 1 with Arch Curved, part 28326. The #4 entry of LEGO’s Racing Cars set did this, set 60256), so I decided to include this shaping option.
@willmcdine: I am now looking for a unique firefighter printed leg part for the #17 team. It’s a lime set of legs with yellow bands near the ankles, and it looks generic enough to use for that team, but I can’t find it on BL. A little help?It’s a lime set of legs with yellow bands near the ankles
To my knowledge LEGO has not make any kind of legs like that, a quick Bricklink Search looking at all green legs confirms that unless it is a new part, It does not exist.
It’s a lime set of legs with yellow bands near the ankles
To my knowledge LEGO has not make any kind of legs like that, a quick Bricklink Search looking at all green legs confirms that unless it is a new part, It does not exist.
I found it! The yellow is around the knees, not the ankles. It’s part 970c34pb01.
It’s a lime set of legs with yellow bands near the ankles
To my knowledge LEGO has not make any kind of legs like that, a quick Bricklink Search looking at all green legs confirms that unless it is a new part, It does not exist.
I found it! The yellow is around the knees. It is part 970c34pb01.
5/25/2020:
2 of my 4 BL orders came in, and I used the sticker sheets to get very close to completing the Blaster Boys’ #13 car. It’s a lot more red than I wanted it to be, but it still looks good, and will be complete with driver. I still have to fool around a little bit with the spoiler and maybe add more black instead of red at the rear end, but this “bad guy” car will definitely make the field. It’s a matter of color blocking instead of design at this point, fine tuning the livery.
Other cars that I am officially working on now are the Track Marshal / Pace Car, and the #23 SpinWear car.
I have learned that bigger projects over 200 parts or so die unless someone else cares about them, so I’m limiting myself to smaller segmented projects that I can assemble into bigger things later. It’s compartmentalizing things and giving me that dopamine hit of progress and completing something far more often.
Rich, what ideas do you have about how to display all these vehicles in a public show?
I’ve had a long time to look at these cars, and in any display, the least sponsored / worst looking cars simply won’t make the cut, dependent on space. They can be parked at an angle in a simple door to door display and still look good because of the color splashes.
If we’re depicting a race, then I can bring them all, update the race as it goes, and swap out cars throughout the show.
The other part of this is that there will be so many that I can give a handful away to others and still have a full race field if I wanted to.
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