pleegwat

How likely is it that they'll reuse the wheels from the mars rover?

I've got a spool with (originally) 50m of 1mm white nylon cord which has served me well, though the colour is not ideal. https://www.praxis.nl/gereedschap-installatiemateriaal/ijzerwaren/bevestiging/touw/sencys-polyamide-koord-wit-1mm-50m/5033468

For any research, you definitely want to look at plotters rather than printers.

Just checked some DIY store websites, 50m or 100m spools of the right thickness are not a problem but colour is. The only reasonable one is a dark brown natural fiber which isn't smooth enough. Hence my suggestion to try a craft store, which is more likely to carry painted rope. Maybe sewing supplies? I'm sure they use thread in those quantities, but probably thinner than you need. Of course, you could build something in technic to make thicker rope out of thread

I have used generic DIY store polyamide cord. It was somewhat stiffer than lego cord, and annoyingly it was white. I think I paid €5 for 50m, but it's been a few years. I would suggest checking nearby DIY or crafts stores for what kind of thread they carry.

Having just finished the build of the undercarriage, apart from disliking the shape of the tracks, I also dislike the way the drive motors are attached. They, along with the battery box, hang between the tracks on one side where the original only has air. I'm unsure how this could be fixed though. Certainly the planetary hub would have to be dropped. Most likely this would involve a gear train similar to what 42100 had. Though hiding an angular motor inside the tracks should be easier than doing the same with an XL motor. Also, moving the battery box to the centre of the undercarriage would either weaken it structurally, or eliminate all semblance of ground clearance.

A brick-built reel with a larger minimum diameter has been mentioned.

Guess the app can't deal with longer rope then. Good to know for those of us also wanting to try different configurations.

Or three valves plus a pump section. 7 plus a pump section if you use the new selectors from the yamaha. But your setup is definitely easier to extend - and may be more fun to watch too on the show floor.

My thoughts on modding: Replace the rear boom with a beam-built version (since I suspect that can take the extra weight) Use the freed up girder segments to lengthen the main boom (possibly also one on the jib) Move the plastic counterweight to the superstructure Move the trolley out a bit. Build a box and fill it with non-lego counterweight. The problem with this concept is that I only own 5 of the 16l link elements without counting what comes in this set. And those are red. I'd have to resort to using beams instead.

Why drill? A simple density test should be conclusive. Submerge one in water, check how much displacement you get. Significant metal content should get you well above a gramme per millilitre.

The ball rollers may not be realistic, but they are probably the easiest solution for omnidirectional rollers which can take significant load. Wheels which are offset from their pivot would take less weight, while wheels whose axle is directly under the pivot would need to be actively rotated.

So, next contest to only allow original stickers applied to the specific piece (mold/colour) the donor set applies it to?

Vertically stacked bricks with pin hole have their pin holes 1,2 studs apart (centre to centre). You want to put two plates between each to to get exactly 2 studs between the pin holes.

I expect if they add clutch gears beyond 24z, they'll also add longer forks.

Perhaps, but I expect a good video presentation makes a bigger difference, and we generally leave people free in that.

Rigid hoses?

I built a saturn V launch tower off rebrickable instructions. The thing is a meter and a half tall, and it really gets tricky to work on the entire thing. You end up having to move it to floor/side table/desk and sit down/stand up to get the bit you want to work on at a comfortable height.

No flipping required. AD, CF, EH, GB. Or, for six consecutive speeds: AD, BE, CF, with the BE being a flip. As far as I can figure, four consecutive gears from two selectors is not possible.

With the 135° separation, I do not think 4 consecutive positions is possible, though 6 or 8 is.

You could use axle extenders to lengthen the switches, but that would look weird and the switches might interfere with each other so you may have to pull them off again after operating the switch.

when turned 45° clockwise, it would extend out 3.51 studs (2.5 × √2) to the side of the center of the vertical axle.

Just had a stray thought. These turntables turn 90° corners. But could one be adjusted to 180° for a reverser? Or could you build a large one for two trains with integrated reverser, so it acts as a passing module?

Isn't it too high though? The original has a 4 stud distance (pin-center-to-center) vertically between the rear axles and the mountpoint of the turntable, and so does yours. Of course the old turntable is much higher, but I think you're still too high.

I own sets from the 90s which would require cutting the flexible hoses, but if they ever required cutting the rigid ones that's even longer ago.