beelzibus

So you were able to get one from a store in a shipping carton? Stratford point blank said that they couldn't supply it like this, company policy. I've already sent a snotty email to Lego about it.

Heads up for anyone who does want to buy 42056 and is able to get to London, The Lego Store at Stratford Westfield do have them in stock and are selling them. Hardly visible though, tucked away right at the back of the store, nothing on display, quite amazing for such a hyped set.

As someone with a somewhat restrictive slush fund, I have to make my Lego purchases very careful choices. For this reason I haven't bought a new set in years, preferring to concentrate on Bricklink orders to enable me to buy exactly the parts I need for my MOCs. All my Technic sets have been bought used and only as and when I've snagged them at favourable prices on ebay or similar. This Porsche will hopefully be the first official set I have bought in years.I think it looks amazing. I'm a big Porsche fan anyway, I really do like the presentation, I like the scale and the features. The price? Well IMO when I look at the price of Lego in general, I don't see it as that out of the ordinary. If I have any gripes it is the following, why add calipers and not some representation of discs? Why on a set of this calibre do we have stickers that we know will degrade and not printed parts, and lastly, and this applies to all Technic sets, why oh why can Lego not produce more of the smaller parts, pics and such like in specific colours to blend in more easily? How many times have we seen blue, red and tan pins blighting the visual aesthetics of an otherwise impressive set? Is it really too much to ask for some pins to have been made in orange for this set? They have the mould, and the raw material, it would have looked so much better. The same also applies to gears and suchlike, why bright red and yellow gears, surely grey would have looked so much more 'technical' and appropriate. I can't do much about the blue half pins visible on the body, I guess replacing them with light bley might make them stand out less, as will some other part substitutions in the chassis, It would also be nice as some have said to try and fill the void under the headlights in some way, and maybe graft in some brake discs, small details perhaps, but these are the things where I feel TLG have not excelled. As for the colour? I love it. Orange is my favourite colour anyway, and looks perfect on the GT3, I can't think of a better choice.

Hi, many thanks for all the kind comments. I'm glad people like what I've done. Regarding the photography, what you see here is a mix of two lots of pictures, some taken by me with just a basic point and shoot small digital camera in normal daylight, and some taken by a friend of mine with expensive fancy kit, lighting, silver umbrellas and heaven knows what else. I also don't know what if anything he did after taking the pics before sending them to me. It took me 18 months before someone was able and willing to come to mine and take some 'decent' pictures, much of the reason that although finished over 2 years ago, this creation has only just been made public. I will never be able to take such high quality pictures myself, I just don't have the kit, nor do I have the money to get such kit. I suspect I'm not alone in this situation. Yes I realise that such lovely presentation really does help, but I do question whether as a hobby we're starting to worry more about the presentation and photography than the actual Lego. Also I think it's worth pointing out that those of us that build big, further compound the issue, it's relatively simple to take really good pictures of small vignettes and groups of figures, quite another thing when the build is as substantial as this. Personally a bunch of figures on a 16x16 and surrounded by a few dozen bricks, rocks of some foliage does nothing for me. Such things can be turned out in minutes, and IMO show little of the builders skill, should we not as a hobby be encouraging those who really 'build', rather than criticising their lack of photography skills or equipment?

Wow! 201 views and not a single reply. Good job I build for myself and not to score points on a forum.

Castle Number 2, that's a strange title for a thread, well yes, a bit I guess, but I didn't really know what else to put. A few years ago I built a castle, I posted it here: http://www.eurobrick...11&hl=beelzibus It was pretty well received I think, and here is the 2nd castle. Some 4 years later. It actually was built over a one year period and has been finished about 2 years now, it's just taken this long to get some half decent pictures and post it up for all to see. So First off a couple of overall pictures to show you the general lay of the land. SAM_0032 by Andy, on Flickr SAM_0024 by Andy, on Flickr SAM_0036 by Andy, on Flickr OK so overall size is 132 studs long by 100 studs deep. Top of the highest tower is 70 bricks tall. As with my first tower, every room is fully furnished, and you can gain access either by lifting a roof off or removing a wall panel. Also all rooms correctly lead off another room, stairs or corridor, there are no strange situations where a room couldn't actually be accessed if it were real. The portcullis and draw bridge are remote controlled using PF components, there's a gearbox in the room above the gatehouse, one motor controls both, and functions are switched by moving the flagpole on the inner wall. I think the rest is probably self explanatory. SAM_0046 by Andy, on Flickr SAM_0045 by Andy, on Flickr Castle Fleet (43 of 43) by Andy, on Flickr Castle Fleet (42 of 43) by Andy, on Flickr Castle Fleet (41 of 43) by Andy, on Flickr SAM_0021 by Andy, on Flickr Castle Fleet (19 of 43) by Andy, on Flickr Castle Fleet (9 of 43) by Andy, on FlickrCastle Fleet (8 of 43) by Andy, on Flickr Castle Fleet (6 of 43) by Andy, on Flickr Castle Fleet (11 of 43) by Andy, on Flickr Castle Fleet (12 of 43) by Andy, on Flickr Castle Fleet (22 of 43) by Andy, on Flickr I have some more pics of other details I'll post up in a bit.

Fantastic job, I love the way that all the ordinarily grossly oversized minifig and Bellville/Scala fig accessories actually for the most part are in scale!

Sorry I've had a busy few days and not had time to get on here. When you say the towing lines being far apart, do you mean in length? If so it's something that frustrates me, no matter how many times I adjust them they always seem to go out of sync.

I have some, I always figured they weren't as good under increased angles. I shall have a play. Thanks for your comments. Regarding axles bending, yes sheer weight I think, shame but little I think can be done. Yes, at the rear certainly, I think again I should obtain some and have a play. Thanks for your kind words. Clear foil, that sound interesting, I shall have a google. Cheers. Thank you. Yes I particularly like the rear suspension and the use of the Bionicle piece, shame they only come in Dark grey. I wish I could find who's idea it was it's a work of art. The number of times this truck has been built and rebuilt is astronomical, one slight change internally means a whole lot of stripping down, and rebuilding, and, if it doesn't work, do it all again. I think I tried maybe 6 or 7 front axle/steering designs. Thanks for the compliments, it means a lot coming from you, I love your work.

Do you mean http://alpha.bricklink.com/pages/clone/catalogitem.page?P=32494#T=C and http://alpha.brickli...age?P=92906#T=C

The earlier steering set up was rack and pinion, getting two working in unison and with suspension was the issue for me, I ended up with about six UJs, play was a big issue.

You came up with some great ideas that helped me fix issues I'd been working on for way way too long. So thank you.

Thank you. Your comments are appreciated. Thanks for the compliment Nick. From you it means a lot. I've always enjoyed your work. I think your last comment is the crux, PF just wasn't designed to do this. I have tried the steering, on the move, it makes no difference. The earlier set up I had was fine as long as the truck was rolling, but the two axles weren't syncronised enough due to play in the various joints, and there was no front suspension, something I really wanted to add. When I saw the 42043 steering I figured that would fix both problems, but it's created another. As for drive, well separating the two axles isn't an option, although I see how that should improve things. I've tried looking at changing gear ratios, but I'm so confined for space I keep coming up with dead ends. Maybe one day I'll have a brainwave and come up with a solution.

Thank you for your kind words. I'm afraid taking pictures of small stuff indoors is not my strong point. Landscapes, cars, all OK, but models, no sorry. I did have a friend with some professional photography kit take some pictures a while back, but I don't want to push him timewise, I know he's very busy, and since those pictures were taken I've changed quite a bit, so they're not really relevant. If I can figure out improvements to the drive and steer functions they'll be more rebuilding.......Is a project ever really finished?

Stickers isn't something I'd even considered, I shall have to give it some thought. I think you might be right that it could add something aesthetically. How would I make custom stickers that look good?