Everything LEGO thread!

I've ordered multiple times from both Pick-A-Brick and Bricklink.

Pick-A-Brick just has basic parts and colors, but I think prices are generally lower. I use them for lots of similar bricks for walls, and for example flat titles for sidewalks, etc. You can order any quantity you want. Biggest complaint is it takes about 4 weeks for the orders to arrive (a week to ship, and three weeks to arrive here in the U.S.).

Brick Link orders usually show up in 3-5 days, and of course you can search by part number and find anything. When I'm searching on Bricklink, I'll search by price, quantity, and that they're located in the USA (for speed of shipping/receiving), and look for stores that have the most parts I'll need to limit using multiple stores (saves on overall shipping). Also I prefer parts listed as "new."

 

So before I started buying modular buildings and built a Lego city, I had started with the old 9-volt Lego trains. Which I thought I'd share some pictures here.

This is most of the 9-volt track that I have. If I had a basement (and someday hopefully I will), this is how I'd have the track layout, or I'd move the far right side out further to make room for a modular buildings to fit into the layout. Last time I looked on eBay, this is about $500 worth of track. With the long straightaways, I can get some good speed with having two power regulators hooked up to the track.




I currently have three locomotives with 9-volt motors, and here is one original motor still in the box. About five years ago, I found two of these on eBay and bought them as backups. These originally sold for $20. I paid $60 and $100 for the two motors, which I ended up selling one of the two back on eBay for $120.




These were my original train cars from 1992. One of the locomotives had the motor die. I did't have use for these and wanted them to go to a good home, so I sold these to a collector that was going to display them on a wall. They were in perfect condition being that I usually kept them boxed up.

 

this is what I am going for. this particular picture is someone else's lego interpretation of it, but mine will be smaller. Also I don't like how the nose droops down in the front (it doesn't do that on the actual one (on the video game).

 

I thought it was the Normandy, but because it is sitting flat in the render it threw me off.

 

Had to look up the Normandy and came across this site...figured it might inspire some MOCs
https://ew.com/gallery/23-coolest-onscreen-spaceships/

 

The fuselage itself is actually is pretty flat on the bottom. I guess it does curve down the slightest in the front, but I feel that the curve would be too exaggerated in lego form.
I may need to work on the arch a little more though. the highest point of the arch might need to be a little longer than I currently have.

 

Yeah, it needs more hump in the middle.

 

I finished the Charger the other day! It was fun but I think it would look better as a Creator set. I wish they would make a new product line that was a combination between Technic and Creator.

 

https://youtu.be/2ieGV5pv6Ks

 

got this today.



ordering A-Wing tomorrow and get this free



added the AT-ST Mandelorian walker at last minute

 

Wange Notre-Dame, 99.9% done.

So, a mini review. This isn't a copy of a set that I know of, although I'm hoping that LEGO will come out with an Architecture set. There is an incredible MOC with way more detail than this set has. This is about 1400 pieces and cost me about $46 shipped.

With LEGO, most of the building techniques and order make sense, as they pay people to design them in such a way. Here there were a couple sketchy sections where it was unstable for a bit. It is solid once together, though. There was also a time building the buttresses where it would have made way more sense to build them as a unit in one step than going back with adding single pieces over the course of several steps. Then we also collapsed the rose window assemblies trying to get the window panel on, that should have also been put on in one piece. The bags are also obviously not numbered so you are sorting them yourself. I'm not looking forward to sorting Tower Bridge, that has 4x the number of pieces.

The medallions that go in between the buttresses also have no purchase, so I will have to glue them on in some capacity. Not a huge deal, but not uncommon with some pieces. Although when I first got back into LEGO around 2007 from the early 90s, I thought the purchase on the then LEGO sets had way less than the ones from my childhood. That's the remaining .1%.

Until a genuine set comes along, or the price for the MOC parts comes down significantly (I think it's well over $300 if my math is correct from multiple stores), then this will be very treasured. We stayed a street over from here when we went to Paris last year, unfortunately after the fire so we only saw what was left. I'm happy.

 

Thanks for the review and pic
Can you post a pic straight on from the front?
Thanks in advance!

 

for a decent size company like LEGO, their website is HORRIBLE.

*end rant*

 

Finally got all of my old ships rebuilt; there was a bit of a delay waiting for a few replacement parts. Still need to finish gathering all of the minifigs and get some string so I can attach the jibs to three of them. Miraculously, the Armada Flagship (white/blue) had survived intact all these years.



The original Black Seas Barracuda next to its updated version from Barracuda Bay. This set holds a lot of nostalgia and is what set me onto my early pirates obsession. However, the new version is far more striking and clearly benefits from newer molds and building techniques.

As an aside, Lego sails are now much thinner and cheaper feeling than the older cloth.



The whole fleet together. Six of the eight are official sets.



Also finished the ship I was working on in Studio. Fairly happy with how it turned out, and we'll see if it ever ends up in physical bricks.

 

from yesterday.
this is just bag #2
sooooo many pieces

 

So I put the sails on my pirate ship. Wow... impressive! It's big enough that it's hard to take pictures of. It's an amazing set.








The bar.




This ship splits in the sections. The front lower deck was open (on left), so I put some stowaways in there. The center lower deck has a bar and sleeping areas.




The back lower deck has a cool kitchen layout.

 

These arrived quicker than I thought they would.

 

Tower Bridge sorted and ready to go.