Dfenz

There will be five brick.ie members going along this year. Its the first time in Skaerbaek for most of us including myself. Hope my LEGO survives the Lufthansa flights!

Having built one very large train station last year (see the separate Heuston Station thread) and a second smaller station for Skaerbaek 2012 I would strongly agree with the comment above that you should start with figuring out how wide the windows are to be and work from there. I agree that 64 studs sounds way too large. Judging from your picture I'd guess that you'd probably first try a 4 stud wide window with perhaps an additional 2 studs to allow a frame to be recessed from the wall. If you leave a gap of 4/6 studs between the three end windows and proportionately work from there you'll probably get a width of just under 40 studs before any protruding bits such as canopies and the curved section of wall. As I learned you should be thinking modular at an early stage. Two or more 48x48 baseplates aren't easily boxed especially if the station is high so you might want to build each section (or even wall) separately and attach together when displaying. Any canopies etc. and other delicate bits should be completely removable for transportation. One other point to consider when building train stations is the platform height. The first station I built sits on a board that is about 4 plates thick so the 'platforms' had some height, although not much. It wasn't a priority at the time but it still annoys me. My more recent project has platforms that are much higher to line up train doors a bit better without using steps up to a raised platform. Hope this helps. Train stations aren't always as easy as they might first appear but the results can be fantastic when the right building is chosen as the subject matter.

This looks quite similar in theory to the version produced by Duq. There's a picture here and here but no doubt there are better pictures around.

I keep my parts and sets separate from the kids (7 and 12). They have their own stash of (unsorted) LEGO parts in various buckets. They dip into my parts from time to time and many of my sets, e.g. Star Wars vehicles and minifigures are borrowed from me. I know they swap/borrow/buy/sell parts between themselves from time to time and occasionally I've had to go searching for parts in their storage boxes. The main reasons for keeping the parts separate are: - safe storage and monitoring of whereabouts of more valuable sets and parts and more delicate stuff - sorted parts v everything in one box approach - latter doesn't exactly help MOC building - requirement to keep some (e.g. Star Wars) sets together - ability to give LEGO presents to kids - not much point if everything all ends up in one family LEGO haul anyway. The problem with 100% sharing LEGO would be that not everything would go back into its proper storage area and I'd find it impossible to build any MOCs under those conditions - I'd end up buying pieces we already had. For Brickset purposes I don't bother to separate out the sets as they get registered once I've acquired them in the shops no matter which one of us they are destined for. As a final precaution I've told the kids that the sets they have been given are actually provided on a 999 year lease basis with a condition that should they ever (or rather when they) leave home their sets stay at Dfenz LEGO HQ unless otherwise given permission to leave - no AWOLs just AFOLs!!

I've just completed some new Irish Rail Mark IV locomotives and carriages for an upcoming exhibition. I've still to add some additional livery. Brick built doors open but not automatically. IMG_5728 by Dfenz, on Flickr IMG_5732 by Dfenz, on Flickr IMG_5735 by Dfenz, on Flickr

To pardon the pun this seems to me to be rather 'pointless' without a close up of the switching mechanism. There have been other threads recently where people have put forward ideas for remote switching so a close up of the mechanism would allow people to compare your approach with the other approaches used so far.

Also available at same department store chain at Alexanderplatz in Berlin.

Its been an expensive month. the following were picked up yesterday, 14 May in Berlin: 9500 Sith Fury Class Interceptor 9497 Republic striker class fighter 9499 Gungan sub 9498 Saesee Tin's Jedi Star Fighter 9516 Jabba's Palace 9515 The Malevolence 9496 Desert skiff Earlier in the month I also picked up an R2D2 UCS for the special minifig.

Congrats to all the organisers of the 2012 event. As ever it was fantastic and the 'treasure hunt' in the park was a nice new feature. Already looking forward to 2013 in Gunzburg. As pointed out above Munich is a lovely place to visit and there is a LEGO store accessible from the city centre by tube for those travelling via Munich. As for accommodation, please don't rule out the euro-hotel over the breakfast issues 3 years ago as it is by far the most convenient hotel to the park with a handy sports bar/ bowling in the carpark. I've stayed there several times since. That being said, I haven't checked out Legoland's own accommodation adjacent to the park. PS - thanks from Bfenz also. The journey back via Berlin was very worthwhile as per my other posts in the relevant threads.

I was in Berlin yesterday (Monday) taking the scenic route back from the Eurobricks event. Imagine my surprise when I managed to pick up some of the new summer 2012 wave of sets. The sets I managed to pick up were: 9500 Sith Fury Class Interceptor 9497 Republic striker class fighter 9499 Gungan sub 9498 Saesee Tin's Jedi Star Fighter 9516 Jabba's Palace 9515 The Malevolence 9496 Desert skiff Not long to wait until they come to a store near you (at least in Europe)? Bfenz was happy as she picked up some summer 2012 LEGO Friends sets also.

Not long back from The LEGO Show. It took me several hours to dismantle my train station layout last night and pack it carefully in the boot/trunk so that I still had room to bring home the suitcase. It was a fantastic event - much better than last year. Most of the public seemed happy enough and some kids kept coming back throughout the day looking for another train to be taken out of the station and sent through the tunnel. There seemed to be plenty of things to do with the 'drive your own train' area proving very popular aswell as the bright bricks workshop beside us. The mosaic was great fun and my wife was perfectly happy to do a complete square of lime green. Loved the new Sopworth Camel and Lords of the Rings sets. Now unpacking everything and getting ready for tomorrow's flight.

I've sent you a PM. Thanks David

There is a session in the evening for AFOLs that are not attending AFOLCON. This is on the AFOLCON site for Saturday evening after doors close to the public. "AFOLCON Special Session (located in The LEGO Show cinema) Open to all AFOLCON attendees, The LEGO Show exhibitors AND any other AFOL visiting the show, this is the time to get to know other AFOLs. We'll be inviting any AFOLs that we find during the day to hang back and meet us, LEGO and you! Signe Lonholdt will be giving us the inside information on "ReBrick revealed" I've no idea how the organisers will spot the AFOLs from members of the public. I'd imagine having a bunch of kids in tow would be a no no.

Is it 10193, medieval market village? I think its the menu sticker>

A quick question, does anyone know if we have to arrive at a particular time on Wednesday for check-in etc. I'm flying in to Hamburg on Wednesday but I intend to visit a theme park near Hamburg first before travelling up to Billund. I'm just wondering how much time I have or if the keys can be left with one of the Eurobricks event organisers for collection. It won't be as late as when I drove from Dublin two years ago but I'd prefer not to have to rush to Billund for say a 6.00pm check-in.

If anyone is going to AFOLCON, there is a slot where these problems can be demonstrated directly to one of the LEGO people responsible for quality control.

Same for me. I travel to AFOLCON this Thursday til Tuesday and the day after that I fly out from Dublin to Billund!

I have to agree with the above. The LEGO Fabrik attraction has the best pick a brick facility I have ever been in and I've been to plenty of LEGO stores and Legoland parks. Its a warehouse full of potential. I picked up lots of sand green bricks there last October and lots of tiles (including the then newly released 1x3 tiles) in useful colours on previous visits. While in the park don't forget get to check out the sales tent for more parts.

With respect to this "I'd use "at once" if no form of "to be" is used. => I'll do it at once. => I'll phoned her at once." The 'phoned' should be 'phone' as the future and past tenses are being combined - was it a typo? Earlier in the thread there was a reference to 'The Big Ben'. As its a name I'd normally drop the 'the' and simply say 'Big Ben'.

Personally I think a cube shape would be less interesting. The 2 studs/ 5 plate ratio offers plenty of opportunities for SNOT techniques and technic bricks with holes combined with technic pins or 1x1 bricks with studs on the side make it fairly easy to turn bricks sideways. Part of the fun is in the challenge.

I wouldn't use 'with' or 'by' and indeed 'by' is probably incorrect. 'Through' and 'with the help of' are much better. Downloading and listening to music 'are' great activities (plural). Downloading and listening to music is illegal (where both activities are a combination and its the combination that you are going on to describe rather than something that applies to each activity separately). Another example might be drinking and driving is illegal. Its a fine line sometimes. My two cent but hopefully the academics here will come up with further analyses.

V-LB-02F Single decker Dublin Bus now completed to go with the double decker - again in 7 stud wide. Decals still in preparation. Dublin Bus single decker by Dfenz, on Flickr and Dublin Bus single decker by Dfenz, on Flickr

Twin Iron train bridge designed to carry tracks over gaps at tables at exhibitions Iron train bridges by Dfenz, on Flickr I am aware that other people have used similar trapezoid parts ( http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=55767 ) for train bridges. This is something I'd planned a few years ago and I was fortunate enough to acquire around 30 of these pieces back then for much lower cost (and from one store) than would be the case today. Its only last weekend that I actually put the pieces into the use they were purchased for. Incidentally those particular pieces can be combined in different ways to make a large roof structure, e.g. for sheds or train stations, if they are turned upside down and rotated about 45 degrees to rest on the angled edge.

V-LB-02E I've reduced the height of the bus and narrowed the gap between the windows. Hopefully these look better. I managed to retain most of the colour lines.

I've just noticed that the Danish X-Factor performers will be in Legoland on Saturday 12 May. Not sure how big an attraction they are but the park and surrounds might be busier than normal.