LennyRhys Posted August 1, 2015 Author Posted August 1, 2015 @OzShan, yes - every time I make a mold, I'll use the same master. Granted, it's a fair bit of work to set it up, but as you can see from the results it's well worth taking the time to set up a good mold. One thing I would do differently is to use clay instead of plasticine; that blue stuff was very good for the job, but it was an absolute NIGHTMARE to remove from the master and also very messy. @BachAddict, definitely in excess of 100 hours and I'm still putting in roughly 8-10 per day, but I don't want to make the buckets prohibitively expensive which is why I decided to charge per bucket rather than charging for my time. This is primarily for the Lego community, not for me. And with any luck, this will prompt TLG to get their proverbial donkey in gear and give us a new backhoe bucket for the first time in 20+ years! Final price will be £20 per bucket plus shipping. In the UK that works out to be quite a neat £25 which includes 1st Class Recorded postage. We're going on holiday tomorrow and I plan to take a few buckets with me to finish them up and post them out. I know that it'll likely be a while before I'm ready to fulfill all 25-30 orders, but I can certainly do a handful, and that will give people an idea what to expect from the bucket and how it looks on the model. I'll update later today when I've done some finishing work on some of the buckets! Quote
MaxSupercars Posted August 1, 2015 Posted August 1, 2015 When I look back... I would call this topic as "The birth of the new bucket"... Really impressive to watch it from the birth to final product and selling... :) Good work! :) Max... Quote
LennyRhys Posted August 1, 2015 Author Posted August 1, 2015 Thanks Max! So I'd say I've reached a milestone: five buckets have been drilled, sanded, varnished & packed and are ready for immediate dispatch. I have set up a Facebook community for the bucket so that there is a place where transactions can be handled. I don't want to circumvent forum rules by conducting business here as this is not the marketplace and I don't have 100 posts yet, so if you want to place an order for a bucket, please use the Facebook page and not the forum messaging system. In saying that, please share your experience with the bucket here for the benefit of the wider Lego community, and don't hold back - we need the good and the bad! And importantly: UK shipping only for the moment. Please bear with me on that one! There are a few things I'd like to note, some of which have been printed and will be supplied with each bucket: The bucket is NOT a Lego element, and therefore it should not be treated as such. Polyurethane resin is hard plastic but it is likely more brittle than injection molded ABS, so please handle the part with care. All cast parts will be physically identical because they came from the same mold, however there may be some very small air bubbles on one or two edges of the buckets which will vary from part to part. The finish of each bucket may have some minor blemishes (e.g. patches of shine) which is a result of the casting process - sometimes the release agent left a sheen on the part, which is why I have chosen to give each bucket a very quick spray with matte varnish. You may wish to further coat the bucket with varnish, or even paint it as I did the prototype. Geometry is good but not perfect - that's what you get with handmade parts. If you do happen to have an accident and break or damage the part, don't worry - it should be relatively easy to repair with good quality super glue. And I think that about covers it. Of course if any of you have questions or are unsure about anything, please let me know and I'll answer here in the thread for the benefit of everybody reading it. Pics: Quote
Richard Dower Posted August 1, 2015 Posted August 1, 2015 @OzShan, yes - every time I make a mold, I'll use the same master. Granted, it's a fair bit of work to set it up, but as you can see from the results it's well worth taking the time to set up a good mold. One thing I would do differently is to use clay instead of plasticine; that blue stuff was very good for the job, but it was an absolute NIGHTMARE to remove from the master and also very messy. @BachAddict, definitely in excess of 100 hours and I'm still putting in roughly 8-10 per day, but I don't want to make the buckets prohibitively expensive which is why I decided to charge per bucket rather than charging for my time. This is primarily for the Lego community, not for me. And with any luck, this will prompt TLG to get their proverbial donkey in gear and give us a new backhoe bucket for the first time in 20+ years! Final price will be £20 per bucket plus shipping. In the UK that works out to be quite a neat £25 which includes 1st Class Recorded postage. We're going on holiday tomorrow and I plan to take a few buckets with me to finish them up and post them out. I know that it'll likely be a while before I'm ready to fulfill all 25-30 orders, but I can certainly do a handful, and that will give people an idea what to expect from the bucket and how it looks on the model. I'll update later today when I've done some finishing work on some of the buckets! i think the price is reasonable....when you have a final product made, could you maybe make a Youtube video so we can see it?....give us specs and how you went about making it etc. Quote
Captainowie Posted August 2, 2015 Posted August 2, 2015 give us specs and how you went about making it etc. That's in the first four pages of this thread! Quote
LennyRhys Posted August 3, 2015 Author Posted August 3, 2015 So I'm ready to ship buckets in the UK from tomorrow (I think the PO is closed today). Provided that goes OK, I'll be shipping internationally when I get back home. Quote
theozboy Posted August 8, 2015 Posted August 8, 2015 Have received my bucket, I've just temporarily fitted it to my copy of Jurgen's Zorex excavator, I had a grab on it so need to refit the large LA and figure out some linkages. Thought I'd share a couple of quick photos with it on. I plan to fit it properly tomorrow and take some more photos showing the range of motion and to test it properly. Quote
LennyRhys Posted August 8, 2015 Author Posted August 8, 2015 Thanks for sharing - it looks good! I'll be back home Tues/Weds this coming week so will be ready to start shipping buckets to the wider world, all being well. Quote
LennyRhys Posted August 17, 2015 Author Posted August 17, 2015 It's been a while but I'm back from holiday now and I plan to start shipping out more buckets this week. I plan to start a thread in the marketplace so please place your order there when the topic has been created. Thanks for your patience! Quote
TheNextLegoDesinger Posted August 17, 2015 Posted August 17, 2015 maybe add the link please thanks Quote
Nazgarot Posted August 17, 2015 Posted August 17, 2015 You'll get my order as soon as you post a link! -ED- Quote
LennyRhys Posted September 4, 2015 Author Posted September 4, 2015 Just a quick update as I realise I've not posted in this thread for a while: My wife just had a baby, so I'm a proud father for the second time (yay!), which means that the buckets are going to take a back seat for a little longer (until now I've been working on an MOC, which I hope to share soon). I'll let you all know when I will be ready to take orders, but be assured I have not forgotten about the buckets and you will get one when they are available. I must admit that it saddens me how much 8043 is worth now... frankly I think it's ridiculous for a set that has "only" 1123 elements, which is small by today's standards. For those of you who got it at a reasonable price, I salute you! Quote
N-4K0 Posted September 4, 2015 Posted September 4, 2015 Congratulations I don't think it's such a big problem with the price. One can always just BrickLink the parts, most of them shouldn't be too expensive, I guess the price comes with the IR receivers and remotes. Quote
Henkl Posted September 5, 2015 Posted September 5, 2015 Congratulations. Is it a boy or a girl? And are mother and child healty? Quote
Jay Psi Posted September 5, 2015 Posted September 5, 2015 (edited) Many congratulations ... on having another pair of hands to help you with making endless batches of buckets! Here's to a good life for our newest BFOL. Edited September 5, 2015 by Jay Psi Quote
LennyRhys Posted September 5, 2015 Author Posted September 5, 2015 Thanks folks. Mother and child doing well, and it's a girl this time so now we have one of each! Quote
zux Posted September 8, 2015 Posted September 8, 2015 One can always just BrickLink the parts, most of them shouldn't be too expensive, I guess the price comes with the IR receivers and remotes. Check the price for panels #5 and #6 and you need 5 of each. That's 60EUR+ just for 10 parts alone. Quote
N-4K0 Posted September 9, 2015 Posted September 9, 2015 Nah, you could just use shorter panels, I'd do that Quote
BachAddict Posted September 11, 2015 Posted September 11, 2015 Or change the color... White is cool! Or leave them off completely. It still works beautifully! Quote
LennyRhys Posted December 9, 2015 Author Posted December 9, 2015 A small update - the buckets are now all finished and ready for shipping, so I will be posting a For Sale thread later today. I've already received a significant number of requests here on the forum and through my Facebook page but I still have buckets available if anybody would like to purchase one. Please stay tuned for more information! Quote
LennyRhys Posted December 9, 2015 Author Posted December 9, 2015 For Sale thread is now up here, Yesterday I finished up the buckets by drilling approx. 150 holes first using a Dremel and then again by hand using a vice and 5mm drill bit. All buckets are test-fitted with a LEGO shim (3 bricks wide) to ensure that the holes are aligned and not too tight. The final stage was an overall sand with 600 grit paper and now the buckets are ready to be packed. I will try to update this thread with more photos when I have the time. Quote
SevenStuds Posted December 9, 2015 Posted December 9, 2015 That's really excellent craftsmanship! The details are super clean! I made models from styrene in my student days so I know how tricky it can be to work with. Every time I had to go buy chloroform at the pharmacy, I had curious looks as I had to convince them it wasn't for anything too mischievous. Hope you get them all sold quickly! Quote
LennyRhys Posted December 9, 2015 Author Posted December 9, 2015 Haha thanks SevenStuds! :) I'm sure they will sell, but first it will be good to see one on 8043! It's been a long wait! Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.