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I am really impressed by the accuracy of the machine. Some mechanisms still baffle me. Can't wait to study this more.

I'm very glad with how the gearbox works; the less I have to deal with the battery box switch, the better.

Sariel is uploading midnight american time, so that means it'll only be online 8 AM tomorrow for us europeans. I have the day off, so I'll see then.

There are plenty possible causes for noise, but the typical one is that not enough light enters the camera. You could add more lights, but it's easier to use a longer exposure time with a lower ISO setting. Hey, if you've got them, all the more power to you. You'd be silly not to use them. This was just for the people who may not have the money or the hardware; with some adjustment a standard camera can still produce great results.

Why would you need fast lenses? 99% of the time you're taking a picture, your model will be completely stationary. Get yourself a tripod, and your exposure time can be anything you want. Here is 15 seconds exposure time, no additional tweaks:

I've got an understanding with my girlfriend. She's got hobbies she spends her money on, and I've got mine. We share all the expenses like rent, food and so on, and as long as those get paid, everybody's happy.

Adjust the height of the caster wheel?

I prefer to work outside, but here's my indoor setup: -Big sheets of paper for a nice background, and to bounce some indirect light on the model. -Tripod (very useful) -And my silly point 'n shoot still gets the job done:

A modified plug which can be used to power PF elements, by connecting it directly to a 9v battery. It's supposed to replace Lego's own bigger batteryboxes. It's not produced by Lego itself. Link to a topic about it: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=99405

And how much do you think it'd cost to invest for 10 models? And you'd have to be absolutely sure you'd sell all 10. Selling models is very hard to get profitable. It gets even worse when you haven't even built it yet. Just one suggestion; if your buyer isn't willing to pay the price you've calculated; just walk away.

I find that "age" and "maturity" don't necessarily go together. Also, I wouldn't want to discourage young builders from posting here. If someone posts something that doesn't work (an empty topic, a question that would better fit elsewhere) it's very little trouble to report the post, or politely explain to them how the forum works here. I'd like to think that our members are mature enough to help the newbies along.

This may be a bit offtopic, but please don't get discouraged by what others build. I still struggle with that myself; wanting to live up to expectations, making stuff that blows everything else out of the water, and in the end it just doesn't. The only solution I've found is not building for an audience, but just for yourself. Do you have fun building it? Then it's good. And keep in mind that all the people you look up to started in the same place you did. Also, on comparing yourself to others:

I am well aware that this, in and of itself is an empty useless topic, but it's about something that has been bothering me for quite a while now. Can y'all please stop posting topics with "I want to build this thing! Check back later for more details!" I get that many folks are very enthusiastic about what they're going to build, planning to build, or the ideas they have. But these are just empty announcements, that are pushing down the topics of people who actually put in the effort and have something to show for it. I really don't mind people documenting their build along the way in a [WIP] thread. Or people asking for help on how to build a certain something. But please, for the love of the flying monkeys, put in some effort first. Show some pictures. Every cell phone, watch and tablespoon takes a picture these days.

I'd think that this would give a clearer impression of what the goal is; [media] [/media]So while none of these toys are motorized, they do all have springs to automate the transition a bit. If you have the time, look up some toy reviews of the MASK line, some of these are pretty clever.

Great theme! Though I suppose there will be many more bandits than enforcers. I won't be joining (other people can use the prizes better than me) but I might just build a cop car anyway.

From what I can see it's a very nicely made model, but the pictures are really blurry. Would it be possible to take some more with your camera resting on something, or on a tripod? That would improve the quality a lot.

I'll grant you that it's all very subjective. For example, two or three of the vehicles you've posted have that charm for me that I just don't see in the 8865. And there are tons of reasons why the 8865 looks the way it does. Cost being a big one. The eighties being another. Doesn't stop it from looking awkward, unfinished, and pretty much unlike any real car I've ever seen.

I didn't do it myself, I had it done by someone who works with scale models. For reasons I won't get into they won't be sharing their methods with me or anyone else. I suppose your best bet would be to ask at a store where they sell supplies for scale modelers. Sorry about that.

dhc6twinotter; it was kind of odd, typically weight distribution doesn't have that much of an impact. Saberwing40k; I believe the computer got the job done better than a camera rig would. Well, I say the computer did it, but I still had to manually rotate the movie frames to make sure it came out right. The panels are painted, sadly. It's not something I'd usually do, but it was too sweet an opportunity to pass up on. I console myself with the fact that I didn't functionally alter the parts, so anyone can still build this. BusterHaus; what's not to be trusted about these parts? They grip as well as tires do. Also, I secured them on both sides, so they can't slip off their axles.

The rolling shot was rotated on the computer. I had to zoom in a fair bit, which is why that shot is a bit blurrier than the rest.

Actually, the wet ground causes the wheels to slip, which means it won't roll over at all. (The final shot, where it just brakes in front of the camera, was done on slippery asphalt) A high center of gravity helps a lot to keep it going, but for best results it should be in the exact center of the vehicle. If it's too far up, it won't keep rolling, and get stuck on its back.

. Actually, this model took both a full year and just two days to make. We built the first prototype at my place about a year ago, just to see if it could be done. It could. In the mean time, I had been thinking about how to add steering to it, but the result was so bulky that it just wouldn't roll anymore. So, when I stayed over at his place a week ago, we finished and filmed the build. In case you want to take a look at the internals, there's an LXF file here: http://vayamenda.com/lxf/bugroll.lxf