ER0L

Thanks a lot imvanya, I remember I've seen this before. However, as far as I can see via your link MILS roads are tiled, so my system won't work there. In my experience SNOT roads and pavements offer a lot of possibilities in Town related, vehicle-based layouts (e. g. you get nice curves and thin road markings, also the exact positioning of buildings is much easier than with baseplates, last but not least you can easily install streetlights with cables underneath a hollow pavement) whereas MILS seems to be a great thing when you're focussed on large train layouts with rather demanding landscaping requirements.

OK, but what is "mils roads"? Is there already a road system with moving vehicles? I'd obviously be quite interested in that. Here you can see the 2nd Lenkwerk layout consisting of 3 modules plus a small Monorail setup. I can say that it was quite a success and will hopefully be continued in the future. The idea is to add another feature or even module at every event. Here you can see the module setup without buildings, vehicles and stuff. This makes it quite easy to set up a layout in no time. Thanks for looking!

HI all, since there'll be another exhibition soon I'm actually revamping a lot of builds. This is some stuff which has been reactivated and properly modularized on an actual R66 plate (see below). I've combined it with the PF monorail (which in fact is much larger and also has a second train, however it gets quite difficult already to control all the moving stuff, that's why I try to keep things easy to navigate). Looking at this I get the impression that it's a good idea not only to have some moving stuff on a Lego layout but also to illuminate what can be illuminated, trains included. However, it should be done at an early building state, otherwise it might be difficult to be implemented. Regarding the actual R66 modules: One MDF board (3x4 baseplates, 19 mm) with roads, baseplates and railroad tracks + one foldable table (can be omitted if there are suitable tables at the location) + one 60x40 eurobox with buildings, vehicles, minifigs and all other stuff needed on this special module = one R66 module. Thanks for looking!

I might have missed quite a few of your buildings over the last years but it's great to see you're still active and building your high quality stuff. Really love the whole thing, colour and shape wise. There just can't be enough art deco architecture built out of Lego.

Thanks imvanya for your kind words, I remember your great car MOCs, too. However, there was a time I thought I had come to an end with what I was trying to achieve, most of the models I wanted to build I had built. Also, there was a problem of space, I had just no more room for new models. However, since I might be able to exhibit my stuff more often there's the goal to work on the things I already have and maybe add new things to improve the layout. So maybe there will also be new builds in the future, though probably not so many vehicles. To be honest I took a look into the actual Speed Champions range to see if something is suitable to be conversed to minifig scale ("City Champions", as I called them back in the day). However this looks rather difficult considering the much too big 8 studs width. (Ask TLG to make things smaller to better fit into your City surrounding and they'll make it bigger ... ). I really like what you did with your Meteora, though, but how to build a superlow super sportscar with that windscreen plus the City mudguards? Anyway, let's see what will be coming up in the next few months.

Hi all, a few years have passed, and there hasn't been much Lego building in the meantime. However, most of the models and especially the Route 66 layout still exist, and there has been a small exhibition in my home town. I just showed my part of the 2018 larger Route 66 layout presented in Györ, Hungary, together with Gábor Horváth and Steffen Kasteleiner. However, since there is the RC Greyhound Bus, it is now possible to have oncoming traffic on a road in a Lego layout, which might be a rather rare sight:

In my opinion the best supplier for devices to lighten up your Lego city is - Lego. Also because it's, well, Lego. Especially the Light & Sound stuff (high quality electric parts still working well today which don't even cost much, see Bricklink) is quite helpful here. This way you don't need any third party parts (and definitely no modified bricks). I'm using a combination of PF LEDs and L&S lights for my City layout, even for vehicles. If you're interested in such things, you may want to take a look here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/er0l/albums/72157646066952981

@peedeejay Thanks for the mention. Yeah, I guess police vehicles are quite important in a Lego city - also because they are (often, not always, alas) where the action is. You might want to take a look at the Dodge Charger from SharpShot which I guess might fit in very nicely here, also because it's got a kind of Town-ish approach, whereas I would probably have something larger in mind. Great Police Station btw., I had already seen it on Flickr. I especially love the atmosphere of the interior which for whatever reason reminds me of "The Wire". I also like the exterior - this is "moccing in modular style" at its best (would fit smoothly in any modular street), and there's some really nice stuff going on.

@SharpShot With permission from Ben I'm uploading his 2019 rendition of your Charger here (more pics on his Flickr): 2019 Dodge Charger Pursuit by Ben, on Flickr

Emergency Vehicle 2019 - Ambulance with emergency lighting Ambulance with working emergency lights (1/40 scale) by ER0L, on Flickr Hi all, I'm changing the title of this thread to "Emergency Vehicle of the Year" - there are enough cop cars now, I guess. 7w/8w. 100% Lego. Here you can see the ambulance in action: https://www.flickr.com/photos/er0l/49248900118 There was no time for Lego in the last few months. However at least the annual emergency vehicle had to be built - which was also motivated by another visit to the Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg some weeks ago (biggest model railway worldwide). There you may learn a lot about conceiving a model layout, also regarding the necessity of having as many emergency vehicles as possible (and with working lights, if that can be achieved somehow). Also, an Ambulance was still missing on the Route 66 layout, and I had wanted to build one for a long time. The vehicle is based on some actual specs I found on Demers Ambulances (https://www.demers-ambulances.com/model-comparison-chart/) which is a great thing. Scale is pretty much exactly 1/40 (meaning I found suitable measurements for most aspects on several prototypes) with the exception of width (8w is a bit too wide) and probably the height of the cab (though there is this type of heavy duty pick-up truck considerably taller than a human being, I guess). Of course, the design possibilities were a bit restricted by the necessity of including the light gear, but the design does its job, I guess - like on the vehicle it is supposed to mimic. Still no fan of the SC wheels which look too big (and too sporty) on practically everything - but well, there aren’t many alternatives for this kind of vehicle if you want to avoid the usual tire stretching. Another restriction were the parts at hand since I’m trying more and more not to purchase a few missing parts just to finish a MOC. The lower section is blue just because I didn’t have two of the white arch bricks - I think it looks nice as well. In any case it’s great to see that Lego parts of several decades can still be put together smoothly to create something working nicely: Take an old battery box, some L&S lights (working perfectly in spite of their age), some cables plus an adapter cable (!) to connect the PF LEDs for headlights and rear lights. No need for the more modern stuff. Also, no need for third party lighting stuff at all. Thanks for reading all this. Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to all of you! Hopefully there’ll be more MOCs coming from me in 2020.

I really like the design of these - they somehow look like enhanced and highly detailed versions of City vehicles, as if there were a product line of vehicles made especially for, say, modular purposes, yet very playable. Also the built stripes are a great touch. My only complaint would be that I think the 6w ladder is too narrow compared to the 6w/7w ambulance and looks a bit tall, also when the wheel size is taken into account. I guess 7 or even 8w (and maybe larger wheels) would look better on this one. (However, I'm glad not to find a link to Ideas here - not because they aren't better than at least 95 percent of similar stuff there, but just because such sets don't have a chance anyway and it is nice to see that there are still moccers on EB pursuing their own ideas instead of looking for potential buyers of their works. But that's just me.)

By setting down the Mini (smaller wheels, flattened roof) and making the figs a little taller you get a much better ratio between fig and car (see below). Regarding buildings and trucks: I don't think you can because then you get giant scales which don't match anything in larger surroundings (thinking e. g. of joint layouts) and which are much too parts consuming. Au contraire, I would say (see above). The only exception I can think of are US landyachts of the Seventies and Eighties (which also are much more difficult to replicate than one might think). In another sense it may be correct to say that older cars are easier to replicate than modern ones because they have a certain shaping to them at all - whereas modern designs often are absolutely interchangeable, at least in my opinion.

For newcomers (and children, of course) it might be a good idea - the models as such look much better than before. However it's obvious that all SC 6 collectors will be very disappointed when placing the new SC 8 models next to the old cars - the latter will look even uglier than they did before with their 4w canopies combined with 6w bodies which never worked in my opinion. Be it as it may - the disproportioned SC 6 design scheme is history now, which is a good thing in itself. But instead of opening a completely new chapter and taking odd widths into account like they did on the Mini they just went the easiest way by making the SC line completely uninteresting for City builders - at least scalewise. 8w (plus mudguards, to be correct) is a width I have chosen (after long considerations) for trucks and buses. And boy, those are large vehicles. An 8w+ Ferrari would look absolutely ridiculous next to, say, an 8w Greyhound Bus - the more so combined with a 6w+ City truck.

This looks great indeed, even in terms of a 6+ building style which I prefer. And do I really spot a 6 to 4 windscreen part? Never expected them to do that. That would mean a completely new era of minifig scale sports car building. Hopefully this part will be available unprinted, too. However, that's great news for all minifig scale car moccers.

Some of my assumptions seem to be correct, some not so much, see https://www.flickr.com/photos/er0l/47965799562. However, we know now that both cars stem from designer Adam Grabowski (= Misterzumbi; if you're interested in minifig scale car moccing and you don't know who that is you should quickly look up his MOCs) The bad news is (if I understand correctly) that there won't be a "Bandit" Trans Am set, neither as a Speed Champions set nor in another range (which so far doesn't even exist). Too bad!