petero

Thanks, Brickdoctor! I never thought to check the official sets. I'd completed my version by the time I read my mail, and I'm pleasantly surprised how close I got. I had only a few pieces different than it should have been. The beard brick didn't work for me either, and I substituted the same two plates that you did. And it confirms that the Bricklink inventory has at least one error - it uses three yellow hinge plates instead of the hinge bricks. Peter

I'm trying to build the Sarcophagus in LLD (and eventually with real bricks), but I'm running into problems. Here is the Sarcophagus in Bricklink: LLCA Sarcophagus Does anyone have the instructions for this set? The picture is so small that it's hard to make out details, even when the picture is enlarged. From looking at the picture and comparing it to the inventory, I'm not sure the inventory is accurate. For instance, it looks to me like there's a hinge just above the inverted 1 x 3 slopes forming the upper legs, but the inventory doesn't show the hinge bricks. Hopefully this will become the innermost coffin in a Tutankhamun-style nest of coffins and shrines. Thanks! Peter

Since the parts are being solvent bonded, here's another trick that may work. The theory is the same as hot water - use expansion and contraction to loosen the bond. Place the magnet into a small ziplock bag, with a few drops of water. Seal the bag and place in the freezer overnight. Allow to warm up to room temperature, and see if the bond has been weakened or broken. Repeat as necessary. This trick is used by plastic model builders as a way to loosen solvent bonds in old model kits. It doesn't always work, but it's a good technique to try. The cold should have no effect at all on the plastic, decorations or stickers. The only caveat is that LEGO plastic is different than the styrene plastic that models are made of, so it's possible it won't work at all. Sorry, I don't have any magnets, so I can't try it myself. Peter

7327 Scorpion Pyramid - Theme: Pharaoh's Quest This is an LDD 4 model. 7327 Scorpion Pyramid Of course, the base does not exist in LLD, so I created a brick-built base to match the stud locations. The entire base is colored 312 Medium Nougat, to differentiate it from the rest of the set. It can be removed, or changed to the proper Sand color, by using the color picker. The tank tread for the car is not in LLD. The Khepesh swords have been substituted with 30173 Ninja swords. I have also used Calabar's outstanding brick-built sarcophagus again. There are no patterns or stickers, as always. Peter

7326 Rise of the Sphinx - Theme: Pharaoh's Quest This is an LDD 4 model. 7326 Rise of the Sphinx The only substitution I remember making is the Khepesh swords. These were substituted with 30173 Ninja swords. There are no patterns or stickers, as always. Peter

Thanks, Calabar. It's fixed Peter

7325 Cursed Cobra Statue - Theme: Pharaoh's Quest This is an LDD 4 model. 7325 Cursed Cobra Statue The cobra's hood is omitted. The Helena Tova and Mummy Warrior figures are approximate, since there's no inventory for them in BL. Helena's hair is wrong, as is her hair color and probably the mummy's colors as well. In order to make the snake attach to the tower, I substituted the longer blue friction pin with a shorter pin and 2x2 plate. These are shown in front of the tower. There are no patterns or stickers, as always. Peter

7307 - Flying Mummy Attack - Theme: Pharaoh's Quest This is an LDD 4 model. 7307 - Flying Mummy Attack The Flying Mummy minifigs don't have wings, and I've substituted the Nemes headdress for their Horus masks. There are no patterns as usual. Peter

Very nicely done! Egyptology is a hobby of mine, and it really looks the part. Where did you find instructions for the game? As far as I can recall, nobody has ever found any indication of how it was played. Peter

All interesting points, but I'm going to step back and look at the big picture. If I'm looking for really major changes that have caused the continued existence of LEGO, here are a few biggies: 1) The adoption of plastic bricks 2) Creating pre-packaged sets that build a specific item, rather than random bricks 3) The minifigure Back in the 60s, when I grew up with LEGO, there were no sets or minifigures, just containers of bricks. The biggest advance I recall from then was 2x4 bricks with wheels. (And what a manufacturing nightmare those early wheels and axle bricks must have been!) Take away any of the three points above, and I believe LEGO would not have survived. The rest are just minor details Peter

1383 Curse of the Pharaoh - Theme: Studios This is an LDD 4 model. 1383 Curse of the Pharaoh Only a few substitutions in this one: 1) The spider shown as part 30328 by BL, was replaced with 30238. This is probably a BL typo. 2) The hinge plates 4276 and 2452 were replaced with 44301 and 60471. 3) The glow-in-the-dark skull inside the top of the monument is shown as white. As usual, there are no printed pieces. Peter

I've found a minor bug in LDD Manager. If I try to import a model whose name contains an apostrophe, I get this error: 3075 - Syntax error (missing operator) in query expression "<filename>');'. For instance, when I try to import 5958 Mummy's Tomb.lxf, the error is 3075 - Syntax error (missing operator) in query expression "5958 Mummy's Tomb');'. It's just a minor oops in the code... shouldn't take more than a minute to fix. Peter

I just loaded LDD Manager on my WinXP laptop, and it works perfectly . EDIT: Now I've loaded Access 2007 Runtime (on my Vista machine), and tried again. Same errors as always. So I doubt it's the runtime, but something that's not right on my system. Hmmmm..... Peter

I've done a bit more troubleshooting. I uninstalled the runtime, restarted my system, and ran LDD Manager without it. I received exactly the same errors as I had with the runtime installed. Then I downloaded the runtime again from your site and installed it from the new copy. The same errors persist. This leads me to believe that the runtime is not installing properly. Microsoft apparently no longer has the 2003 runtime on their site, but they do have Access 2007 runtime. Have you tested LDD Manager with the 2007 runtime? Peter

It's linked at the bottom of the post with the error messages, but I'll save you the trouble LDD file Peter

That makes sense, since the error before it is an unzip error. However, when you first looked at the problem, you also said so I assume that's not the cause of the problem. I've tried several files without success, all of which open with LDD. I have an old laptop running XP Pro, so I think I'll try loading LDD4 and LDD Manager on it and see what happens. If nothing else, it will give another point of reference, since the old laptop has most of the same programs, firewall, AV etc that the current one has, but with XP instead of Vista. Peter

UPDATED: 5988 - Pharaoh's Forbidden Ruins - Theme: Adventurers (Desert) Lots of color corrections, added two minifigs, and a few other minor corrections. Link to updated post Peter

Thanks Calabar and Superkalle. I think I've finally got it. In Step 2, I was clicking the "Color picker tool" in the Paint menu, not the "Color selection tool" in the Selection menu. No wonder it wasn't working It was obviously a PEBCAC* on my part. Now, if only I can remember long enough to actually use it On a related subject, is there a better tutorial for LDD than LEGO's online help? That's about as useful as, well, most help files. And if that's not an insult, I don't know what is! Peter *PEBCAC - Problem Exists Between Chair And Computer

Speaking as a long-time programmer, since you've already done it for part numbers, it would be easy to replicate it for color codes (And Superkalle is thinking "Easy for you to say ") The specific case is where I've screwed up the colors . For instance, using the wrong shade of light gray. Rather than trying to select each of the dozens of bricks scattered throughout the file, I would like to say Replace Light Bluish Gray with Light Gray, and have all of them change. Type or select the old and new color names/codes, press the button, and it's done. The difference between a global replace, and the current LDD method, is that I'll never do it if I have to select the bricks one by one. With all the best intentions in the world, I know myself well enough to know it would never happen. Peter

According to the BrickLink inventory, it's 2343 Minifig, Utensil Goblet, which isn't in LDD. Peter

Yes, I realize it can be done that way. What I'm looking for is a global one-click replacement that can be done without selecting bricks. Think the equivalent of a word processor's Replace function. Peter

I didn't think the runtime would change, so that's why I didn't bother downloading it again. Does LDD Manager have a function to globally change the colors of pieces? For instance, to change all Dark Bluish Gray pieces to the old Dark Gray? Peter

5978 Sphinx Secret Surprise - Theme: Adventurers (Desert) This is an LDD 4 model. 5978 Sphinx Secret Surprise Once again, I've used Calabar's outstanding brick-built sarcophagus. Several obsolete pieces have been replaced with their modern counterparts: the car windshield, the hinged door under the tall obelisk, and a yellow goblet. The paper tent does not exist in LDD. The biggest substitution is the baseplate. I've created a brick-built replica that has the proper shapes and elevations to show all the studs in the correct places. The entire baseplate is colored 283 Light Nougat, to differentiate it from the set's tan pieces. To revert to the original set's inventory, simply remove all of the Light Nougat pieces. As usual, there are no printed pieces. Peter

Thanks for looking into it! The only other possible cause I can think of is the runtime version. I downloaded the runtime on 22 May when you first released LDD Manager, but never installed it. I installed the 22 May version a few days ago, rather than downloading it from your site again. I also have the LDD Manager 0.9 beta file. Would it help if I uninstall 0.95 and try 0.9? Peter

5919 In the Valley of the Kings - Theme: Adventurers (Desert) This is an LDD 4 model. 5919 In the Valley of the Kings Once again, I've used Calabar's outstanding brick-built sarcophagus to replace the sarcophagus and cover inside the building. The car has been redesigned, because it uses the sarcophagus as its body. I've tried to stay close to the original design of a sleek single-seater. The other substitution is minor. The trap door at the front of the building (under Baron von Barron's feet) has stops made with two 2452 Hinge Plate 1 x 2 with 3 Fingers On Side pieces, which aren't in LDD. I substituted 32028 Plate 1x2 with Slide. As usual, there are no printed pieces. Peter