What are you building right now?

TheLoneTensor

And another one that's been brewing. This is the Nickel Plate Berkshire 765 locomotive. Fully motorized, headlight, tender tail lights & backup light, firebox glow and even a lighted lantern on the tender's platform.

Also attached is a pic of the actual (and still operating http://fortwaynerailroad.org/nickel-plate-road-no-765/ ) engine when it stopped in my town one day.

arl100

Recently finished building 6987 Blacktron Message Intercept Base. Liked it so much I have used it as my 'avatar'. Simple yet well detailed for its time.

TheOneVeyronian

Bit bored tonight, so I created a mech walker called "The Doomball", as more of an experiment than anything else really:

A few more screenshots are available on my Flickr

LMetcalf

My husband and son Jason got this at a garage sale and are working on it now. I hope all the parts are there. The minifigure is included!

Bluefairy_56

@TheLoneTensor‌ wow they are amazing. We collect and run HO electric trains, and those are amazing. Well done..

theLEGOman

manfromunkle said:

theLEGOman said:

Have you put the piece below the sticking cog in the wrong way round causing it to stick out and catch the other piece?

The problem was a tan pin inserted backwards below the tan (bevel) gear and behind the black gear. Perhaps that is the piece you are talking about. The picture shows the pin in the incorrect position.

Yeah, that's the one I was talking about.

AFFOL_Shellz_Bellz

Back to finishing #10220 after the missing parts arrived from BL order, only to find out the rigid hoses that make the luggage carrier are missing and I don't have spares! Holy crapola - I think this must be the 5th order of a part here and a part there! Meanwhile the Sea Cow is about 10% done, the alternate build of #42009 is about 70% done, the Raptor for #5884 is chasing around the USPS somewhere, and there are several new sets sitting still in the Lego Store bags across the room from me. We did finish #7894!

Bluefairy_56

AFFOL_Shellz_Bellz said:

Back to finishing #10220 after the missing parts arrived from BL order, only to find out the rigid hoses that make the luggage carrier are missing and I don't have spares! Holy crapola - I think this must be the 5th order of a part here and a part there! Meanwhile the Sea Cow is about 10% done, the alternate build of #42009 is about 70% done, the Raptor for #5884 is chasing around the USPS somewhere, and there are several new sets sitting still in the Lego Store bags across the room from me. We did finish #7894!

Murphy's Law comes to mind lol

TheLoneTensor

Bluefairy_56 said:

@TheLoneTensor‌ wow they are amazing. We collect and run HO electric trains, and those are amazing. Well done..

Thanks, I love HO scale, but only have O-scale now. The 2-8-4 engine is a bit big, nearly O, but it's a monster engine to begin with in real life with nearly 6-foot drive wheels, so it's still really in Lego scale. As @Paperballpark‌ mentioned with his trains, expanding to 8 studs width really opens the possibilities for details. It's also the kind of thing I find myself modifying constantly (it looks a bit different every day).

Paperballpark

I haven't quite gone to 8 studs. My last one was 7 wide, which I think is an acceptable compromise.

TheLoneTensor

Right, I thought you did 8 for some reason. Anyway, the Emerald Night is 8 wide, so there's that precedent.

Paperballpark

I gave my legs a rest today after spending most of yesterday on a 12 mile walk. I spent just under 5 hours today sitting down and building #10243 Parisian Restaurant :)

prevere

arl100 said:

Recently finished building 6987 Blacktron Message Intercept Base. Liked it so much I have used it as my 'avatar'. Simple yet well detailed for its time.

I love that Message Intercept Base. That trans-yellow gigantic panel is a beautiful thing.

AFFOL_Shellz_Bellz

#70810, Just completed page 200 of the instruction book. Does anyone else dislike when the books are thick and cumbersome? I'm wishing if TLG wants to put all the instructions in one book they make it spiral bound.

Shib

^ I get why people might want spiral bound, but I personally hate spiral bound books. As well as the Lego collecting I have a bit of a tendency to buy more notebooks than I will ever need but I never buy spiral bound, cheap and nasty. I'd say the better thing is the availability of digital copies of instructions, most people will be fine with a bit of wear on the instructions, if anyone wants to avoid download the digital instructions and have them on a tablet/laptop computer while building.

mathew

I loved the spiral bound book included with Fallingwater. The issue with the thick bound instructions like the one included with the Sea Cow is that they don't lay flat. This means you spend more time fiddling with the instructions and it messes up the flow of building. And don't say just lay a paper weight on the book. Still counter intuitive.

Shib

Have to admit I haven't seen any spiral bound instructions books. Not saying theres no point to having spiral bound instructions books but personally I just don't like spiral bound.

CapnRex101

I have no preference between the two, although the spiral bound booklet in #10188 made the build feel particularly special as I recall.

Shib

Hearing spiral bound described like that is really odd to me, its probably just because my background. To me spiral bound books are the cheap option. The Delorean was the first set I had with a high end type instructions book and I loved the set the more for the feel of the book, the slightly heavier stock paper, the blacked edges and the extra little factoid bits. had that been a spiral bound I'd have assumed it was penny pinching and that would have taken a bit of joy out of the set to me personally.

I appreciate the difference when you're looking at a really big instructions book, but as i said before in that case I'd rather go to the digital instructions, have my iPad with them on and go that way over a spiral bound book.

mathew

You're confusing cheap grade school spiral bound with the ones used for a few of the high end lego sets. The Lego spiral bound books are very high quality with deep rich color and sturdy card stock pages. No comparison. Also when I'm building Lego I don't want a computer screen in front of me.

Shib

I'm not confusing them, i know there are different types of spines used, different papers etc for spiral bound but to me spiral bound is still the cheap option. As I said before I haven't had any sets with spiral bound instructions and I'm not saying they are rubbish, I'm just saying that to me I see any type of book spiral bound and I feel its the cheaper option. From my background I know that spiral bound books are generally cheaper to produce. I get why some people might like them but I personally don't, equally i get why some people wouldn't want to use digital instructions but I don't mind them its just personal preference.

mathew

I've used both digital instructions (out of necessity) and spiral bound and there is no comparison. Spiral bound wins in a landslide.

Shib

If the choice was just a spiral bound book or just a digital file included with the set I would go for the book, I'm old fashioned and like to have a physical copy of things, but in terms of having something that feels more special I'd rather have a proper glue and string bound book wight the option for a digital file if I wanted to save the book's condition - that was the sentiment I was trying to get at from the start but I think between comments it got a little bit lost.

mathew

But you missed the point that a spiral bound book will actually lay flat vs a large glue bound book that will not lay flat and constantly flop closed. You assumed that a lego spiral bound book was of low quality. They are not. You're reading instructions not War and Peace.

Shib

I did neither and I really wasn't trying to start an argument about it, I was just expressing my opinion.

Shib said:

. Not saying theres no point to having spiral bound instructions books but personally I just don't like spiral bound.

Shib said:

I appreciate the difference when you're looking at a really big instructions book.

Although I didn't explicitly say anything about laying them flat I do appreciate that is the benefit of them.

From the off I said that I hadn't had a Lego spiral bound instruction so I wasn't trying to comment specifically on the quality of spiral bound books made but lego but just expressing my preference.

Again sorry if I've not made myself clear at any point, I do get why people might prefer spirals, but i personally do not - I am not trying to change anyones opinion but just expressing my own opinion.

mathew

No problem. But after you use a spiral bound manual you may change your opinion.

Shib

It possible, but I'm a stickler for really nice books so I think that the part of me that buys antique copies of books and handmade journals will probably over rule the practical side. :-P

To try and get this thread back on subject I think I'm going to update my little business card holder scene, last one was castle based (see below) I'm thinking maybe superhero themed for the next one

emilewski

I just bought a used 10030 UCS ISD and the manual is not spiral bound, but rather glue and binding. All the pages are falling out and out of order and if I turn a page it separates. I wish it was spiral bound. :( I may have build it via digital instructions as the manual is falling apart as I try and build from it.

Shib

If al the pages are there you could always hole punch and put them in a folder.

khmellymel

I too dislike spiral bound for anything. I have lots of nice spiral bound items (for example, my Tokidoki day planner is of exceptional quality), but prefer a bound book. Hence, I may buy spiral bound out of necessity*, but leave it untouched and use an alternate (ie, I bought a Moleskine planner to actually use).

I think I'm just obsessive about having "nice" things (ie, looks good, not necessarily practical!). I always build using the PDF copies of Lego instructions anyway, and keep the paper copies in a file folder so they get nice and flat. Lord help anyone who messes with my paper copies!

I'm toying with the idea of removing some of the spirals from books I have and getting them re-bound, "properly" as I'd term it LOL. Living in China last year turned me onto it; all the print shops do it, so my university notes are all book bound instead of in binders or notebooks (though I did get the poor quality version of this done, it IS only class notes afterall!) Thinking of getting nice binding done for comics issues too (reading copies). But good book binding is expensive :(

*Necessity = usually means collectible ;-)

monkeyhanger

i always find colour differences a bit poor on digital copies viewed on screen. Black and DBG are very hard to tell apart. Printing on the colour laser printer at work is much better than viewing on screen.

mathew

Just curious how you handle Lego sets where instructions don't have cardboard backing. Flip out and start pulling your hair out?

khmellymel

If I'm desperate, I do get out the paper copy and compare. Usually I find that the black colour in the PDF is outlined in white, though, which is what I go by. Or trial and error.

@mathew, I kid you not, it does kind of agitate me. I used to be a lot worse, but I'm much better now. I do tend to find I care a little less about the smaller instructions that come folded in boxes, but I'm pretty good at flattening them out :)

You should see how I choose books at the bookstore, or boxes for items I know I'm gonna keep sealed. Some things I own two of purely because I can't bear to "damage" one with use (like I have reading copies of Harry Potter and hardcovers to... not read).

My oddness knows no bounds. My other "thing" is that I hate clutter. So owning two copies of things... oy vey. I make good use of plastic totes.

I probably sound crazy, but I'm not! Totally... normal... ;-) The moral of the story is... I take care of my Lego! :D

mathew

Eh, we're all a little crazy. I'm the same with boxes. Lego Store employees were eyeing me while I selected the perfect Palace Cinema box. I'm not overly concerned with instructions though. I like to keep them nice but they are made for building which means they will get stained with fingerprints and folded. Gives them character.

Paperbackwriter

I was at the lego store today. I always volunteer to take the worst box, within limits, of course. I usually damage the box so I try and leave the good ones for those who really value them and will take care of them. I understand why people want pristine boxes, but I'm a slob so why waste a good one on me.

mathew

If I'm paying full price (which I was for the Palace Cinema) then I want the best. If I am getting a hefty discount (like I did when I bought an Imperial Shuttle from Amazon Warehouse a couple years back) then I don't expect the best.

Paperbackwriter

Like I said, I understand. But it just isn't important to me. I'll wind up either trashing the box or throwing it away.

Bluefairy_56

@Paperbackwriter‌ I totally agree with what your saying. I throw out the boxes too and store the sets in sealed containers, all labeled and stacked. I certainly don't care what the box looks like. It's what's inside that's important to me.

plasmodium

Between my brother and I, we probably throw out 2 out of every 3 boxes, as you can usually store two or three sets in each box.

talos

I have been building my Creator modular buildings for a while now, its currently sitting on the dining table, with just a little room to spare on one end, I am not sure where to put them next! Next to add will be the Fire Brigade set. I think I will add it to the end of the street, next to the town house. I like how the back yards all come together in the center of the block. :-)

Faedian7

My son and I are going to be having some fun tonight! Horizon Express x2 + motors, etc. My son is only 2 and a half so not a whole lot of help there except playing with the cars that I have already built.

Can't wait!

rancorbait

Melting Manhunter :oP

TheOneVeyronian

Now the Mixel competition has ended, before reassembling my Mixels back into their official sets, I thought I'd try creating an "ultimate" Mixel using all 9 Mixels. I got this:

More pics on this page - just scroll right to the bottom and they're there.

Bluefairy_56

I just finished my Haunted House. It's excellent.

Bluefairy_56

I have no idea why it's sideways. It was right way up on the iPad.

TheOneVeyronian

It's one of those days for me when I finish more than one MOC! This time it's another Bugatti Veyron... but done to 7-wide so it's minifigure scale and City friendly:

As ever, there's loads of comparison shots on my Flickr.

In case you're wondering, a real brick built version of the SUV in LDD in that link is coming soon ;-)

AFFOL_Shellz_Bellz

@TheOneVeyronian‌ seeing that mixel with the Raptor parts I have to ask, did it originally have two left feet?

GreenArrow57

Just finished the Palace Cinema - a fun build. Going to take a break from the modulars now, got city airport and the Seacow to do.

maniac

Just picked up #8293 Power Functions Kit. Having a play about with it to get familiar with how it works.

Would like to have my Orange VW Camper have working lights and movement. Will probably be picking up extra Power Functions to do this.

jadedanc

Working on the Imperial Hotel right now. Interesting to say the least