relhak

I'm able to access B&P through the normal page today, add parts, and go to checkout. But when I click the Place Order button, it says 'Sorry! We're unable to authorise your payment at this time. Please contact customer service.'. Anyone else having this problem, or have you been able to place an order today?

I'm also on the KCBL WFRR team, and it's an honor to be considered in the same league as the Eurobricks team. You have some of my favorite builders, and it's been a joy to see your layouts these past two years. Come on by our booth next year, drinks are on us.

They're kind of useful instead of hacking quarter straights/curves. But they don't connect directly to ME rails, they make a god awful derailing sound as trains pass over them, or just cause steam engines to derail outright. But I built this handy siding with them (sticks to the pennlug spacing).

I had a show where I simply laid ME track on bare baseplates. About a third of my track wasn't glued completely (I put the MEK on too thin - it needs a full drop per joint). I had two spots that wouldn't stay attached for more than a half hour, so we were literally going around every 5 minutes pushing them back down. Otherwise they'd derail the train. We couldn't run the Maersk or Emerald Night with the snow plows because they'd catch the ends of the rail Same with the Maersk's cargo car which rides about a half plate above the rail. I tried a show with unballasted, unglued ME rails, and had to replace it with Lego R40 before we even opened. I know people who've far less problems with their rails, but they got earlier batches. MEK= Methyl Ethyl Ketone. It's about $10/quart in the paint aisle at home improvement stores. Use it outside with a fan, as it's really rough on your brain cells. It dissolves the plastic, leaving it welded together when it evaporates. No mess, but if it drips down the plastic, it will wash away the color, leaving a whitish mark.

I wouldn't recommend ME rails for a kid. They're built from separate rails and ties, and their clutch power is pretty bad so they tend to pop apart easily. Like complete separation from a 10" drop. Plus they often have some slight bowing up, which leads to derailing when they start working themselves apart. They need to be glued and fully ballasted (the weight reduces the bowing) to be anything less than very frustrating. Don't get me wrong, I have at least a full loop of each size, and use the 72/88/104s mostly. But I also have a 10x10 layout at home and run 10x15' (or larger) displays at shows with longer train cars that don't do well on R40. And I fully ballast anyway, so it's not as much extra hassle for me. stuart

I think it got bashed by a viewer and then the train brough it down. It was just 2 inches inside of the plexi barrier which was held up by a 1x2. Easily flexed into the bridge. The only other thing I can think of was that I forgot to check the vertical struts. It holds 2 2L bottles, so the super chief and a few lead weights are nothing. Next time it will be at least 12 inches inside of the plexi. And have a valley under it to catch... debris. Stuart

Here's my design for a modular elevated track system for running down modular city streets. It goes around road corners, spans over ground track (enough clearance for the xmas train), and lines up between normally ballasted tracks. My feed has pics and video of it in use for our club displays. https://flic.kr/s/aHskkWx5Np

Auto-delete empty groups, or at least hot-key the Yes/No selection so I can just press 'Y'. Having to move the mouse takes forever when I'm cleaning up empty groups. The ability to lock the parts of a group together, so I click any element in that group and the whole thing is selected. The ability to specify which two pieces should be connected to each other when connecting one group to another. That should drastically reduce the CPU computation load when joining two complex models. The ability to lock the ground level. Place wheeled objects and minifigs on top of a surface without having to connect them to something. Minifig perspective camera mode. Android/iOS model viewers. (I design on PC, but want something mobile when I fetch parts and build.)

I help run a public display that includes a 9v train loop that runs 2-7 hours per day, 365 days/year. We beat our motors and track to death. The curves tend to get a lot of plastic dust dumped on the track, which eventually creates dead spots until they get cleaned (sometimes just once a month). I'm looking for a way to smooth out the current to go over the dead spots (and reduced any start-stop wear). We have a timer to keep the train from running constantly, so it can't be a battery recharging from the track. I was thinking that adding a capacitor could keep the motor running for a half second (or more) until it hits a fully powered area again. Maybe around a .5 - 1 farad supercapacitor, added via the power tap connector on the top. This will probably take a polarized cap that would be destroyed if the motor is reversed. But we only run in one direction, and can leave a sign to not reverse. Or just add a diode to the track power. But if there's a cheap way to switch the polarity, it would be good safeguard. I took physics 102 20 years ago, but never really put it to use. So I'm sure there are more knowledgeable people here that could point out any flaws in my idea. Any input, or links to someone who has done this before? Stuart

I believe this is in the license to prevent Megablocks and Kreo from using LDD to develop their own sets. Or so they can sue the daylights out of them if they do.

3D printing is more of a threat to the more traditional glued and painted plastic modelling community. Imagine being able to download, modify and print designs for Warhammer space marines or ships instead of paying $5-10 per model and still have to glue it all together. But replacing 10c pieces that require precision mold machining to create parts with clutch power? I don't see it. Though I could certainly see people doing custom weapons, window frames, cockpits, and other specialized elements. But I think it would more likely just force Lego to up their creativity.

If any set meets the criteria of #2, this is it. I immediately thought of #3 when I first saw MWT and thought it would have to be broken up to 5 sets of around $50 each, which violates #6. This set is like Diagon Alley plus two extra buildings. I think Lego wants to appeal to non-Lego fans, not just put out a set for the die-hards. It would be ok for their new theme design challenge, but still heavy on the rehash factor even if they didn't have TLR coming out soon. Don't forget, they also went further back in time and created the Lone Ranger TV series so they would have an excuse to block the MWT and save themselves the 1% royalty. Seriously though, the modular building line was based off of Market Street, which was also a fan design.