Trainz - an inspiration to the LEGO Central Florida Project

Since 2010, which has led a preliminary version of what I am about to talk about, I have been working on a rail route in Trainz Simulator 12, which carries forth modern rail operations out of Tampa, FL.

It should be no surprise that it is the inspiration for me to model key parts of Central Florida, some to the inch (Plant City Depot) and some very improvised (Bypass Canal).

GFLUG themselves has been at it building the downtown Tampa skyline with tens of thousands, and lately have taken to improvising Polk St. and making it double track and run-through grade.

One interesting thing about working on two things at the same time is this... Your research and photos, videos, and whatnot kill two birds with one stone. This means photo and video of the 78th St. bridge have helped my LEGO and Train efforts. I'd say it's efficient.

But one idea I just developed today while doing Rockport in Trainz Simulator is this. I want one of the dueling yards to BE Rockport! Dueling yards, a 2010 concept, is where trains get stationed in two polar ends of the layout, then sent in various channels of trackage through the layout, allowing 5-6 to run simultaneously.

After a bulk purchase helps me finish parts of Plant City, I'll be planning for Rockport. Perhaps my work on there will be simple. I am looking for these gems:

• The rock conveyors... this will be a fairly complicated construction using technic parts and whatnot. They don't have to be that large in retrospect. 
• The BIG shed that holds all of the wet rock shipped in on trains like O842, O843, the works. I'll be looking at 40x90 studs for this one; it's a large structure and cannot be mistaken aerially with the CSX logo on top. I'll be looking for a 2013 purchase to include the grounds for a "curve the 1x2" technique to happen for the roof
• 4 yard tracks on the opposite end of the conveyor/rock transload. I guess this can hold the trains that are waiting while an outside track that passes the chute holds the mainline trains, passenger and freight. Remember, compromise. 1 chute, 1 mainline track, 3 yard tracks on the emptying side.
• a little loading dock to Tampa Bay. This can accomodate the tug from the 2011 harbor, 4644, provided minor modification.
• US 41 crossing - I guess if space is out like candy, lol

If positioned right, Rockport can give the north view a gaze of Downtown Tampa in the close distance. Because this area is only best known by railfans, I best recommend any fruition that comes of this to be in the Tampa or Plant City big-league shows. It will make a terminal point very interesting just to gaze at, making the layout space much more efficient, while it is known it's green table cloth and 9v track as it is. Also, at its finest, I can run a wet rock train into the rotary facility and have a little fun. :) It'll be nice to have a PF controlled engine pair pull the cars in and out slowly as they get "rotated" (either figuratively or literally, depending if I can get ahold of old magnets and technic hole brackets)

Let's see how it goes. Of course, it's all in the drawing board, but who knows.

LEGO Digital Designer 4.2

So the new version of LDD is out. Finally. But wait, what happened to Design by Me? Where is it?

Design by Me was abandoned by the company for God knows what reason. Oh wait, I know. It is just too inefficient the way it is. They say it could not have been meant to be, and I agree. You cannot write home a system which has a 10 USD processing fee, already overpriced elements, an untold amount of days processing, and an untold amount of days shipping. I think it lasted a little longer than deserved. I like the idea, and I'm sure millions did, but I guess LEGO saw it as an embarrassment to them.

It is ridiculous sometimes to order a tile for 9 cents a piece when Bricklink has it for cheaper. Same with the bricks. A 1x2 brick in red goes for 11 cents a piece while in store PAB you can fill a cup of them for 2-4 cents. Online PAB still exists, fortunately, but some parts of that are too much. Though the harm from ordering parts and paying premium is not completely evident in Online PAB, multiply the single ripoff element by hundreds when doing DBM. You really have to be rich or have superfluous income to do that.

What I would rather wait for is for LEGO to have a better streamlined custom order service similar to LUGBULK, but less complex. Maybe a faster, cheaper one will do as well. Maybe domestic set making would be a better idea as well, instead of doing it in Denmark. The palette can be shipped in K-boxes and unloaded to a distributor in the US whereas they bag up your set. Or maybe the next idea is to do the design for CUUSOO, but that you have to be 18 and the model has to be an ingenious design.

Now the GOOD thing about it is one stop designing. Now LDD is a considerable CAD rendering program, like MLCAD. LDD has two conventional modes, but I'm happy with the former. LDD mode and LDD extended are the names. LDD extended is like your LEGO Universe mode but it has been simplified. But I do like what they did to the selection of the casual. They added 183 new types of elements and fixed 70 bugs. But additional to the new elements, they provided many existing and new colors for the existent bricks. Yes, some colors that don't exist are there, but what I do accept about that is the ability to create a LU LDD mode model easier without constantly changing the color. Pretty much what I need is on there, and for that I am happy. Besides I have not even ordered from the online service since 2007, so it does not register for much of a loss by me.

LEGO CUUSOO Age Restriction

So, LEGO CUUSOO, the design what you want, post it, and let 10000 people support it service has restricted full privileges to adults. This is due to legal binding housekeeping they don't want to impose. I'm OK with it as I probably won't have much eye candy until I turn 18 anyway; besides you don't want one with 10,000 supporters blown away because the creator is too young and his parents may be snobbish brats and hold him off. The email I received, with no personal information but my name, is reproduced below.

---

Hi Tolga,

Thank you for being a member of LEGO CUUSOO (http://LEGO.cuusoo.com/).

The LEGO CUUSOO Terms of Service and Project Guidelines have been updated, and
you now must be at least 18 years old to create a Project. We determined this
change was necessary for the legal agreement required should a project reach 
the 10,000 supporter threshold.

You're receiving this message because our records state you are under 18 and y
ou currently have a project or draft project on LEGO CUUSOO. In accordance wit
h the TOS change, any published projects you own have been un-published and ar
e no longer visible on the site.

You have not lost any of your work; we have not and will not delete your proje
cts. You can still access your projects via the Projects tab on your My Page, 
and you can re-publish them when you turn 18. When you do, you won't lose any 
supporters. When you re-publish your project, the supporter count will show th
e same number you had before.

If you have questions, please first check out the LEGO CUUSOO blog. If the pos
ts there do not answer your question, email us by replying to this message.

LEGO CUUSOO blog
http://LEGOCUUSOO.posterous.com/

We realize this is disappointing news, and we're sorry. You are, of course, we
lcome to keep supporting other projects and leave comments to encourage the cr
eators. 

Thank you,

The LEGO CUUSOO Team

LEGO 10224 - Town Hall

Town hall, a photo by Chicken Boy on Flickr.

This is the new 2012 Modular Building produced by LEGO, another Jamie Berard design, and a continuation on the use of bizarre colors to get the design done.

Once I saw the dark orange, I was very happy. Dark orange is a color I haven't had much of except for slopes and a few plates. Just recently I added a wee 20 or so parts off of the Pharoah's Quest line. Now the ability to have "cold, hard brick" is here.

It looks like the outlines of the 1x8 brick are visible, which is just great. In Plant City, FL there is a tavern which is painted the equivalent. This can really help my build. I am believing by the small thumbnail images the baseplate (or the tiles) are dark tan so that helps.

This building is also the tallest of the modulars according to a stand-by-stand comparison with the two previous buildings. You can even make out that it's a hell of a structure here. It beats the Grand Emporium by about four inches.

What I like is the focus on the first floor entrance. I like the capitol style awning over the entrance, and the steps. The clock is an excellent touch as well.

Now, what I DON'T like are the following:

The Dark orange components of the façade impose a very basic look. It looks blocky especially with the log bricks. Yes, there's bits and pieces of something on the window tops but it looks a bit simple compared to the likes of the Brigade and the GE.

It looks too much like Fire Brigade in structure. But then again, how would a town hall look? Though, you can imply it is a direct replacement of said building.

As much as I like the provision of dark orange, it does not look right in a Town Hall setting. Maybe Berard is thinking deep / out of the box in that most brick buildings have a nougat color in retrospect.

But anyway, the set looks great and I am looking forward to an overall review. As they say, don't judge the book by its cover. And I am showing you a share of its cover.

Filling Up a Pick A Brick Cup the Right Way

Continuing frugal LEGO bologna, while I had my camcorder working in winter break (which it incurred the same problem from November by the end of the break) I managed to get a how to recorded on a sort-of efficient way to fill up a pick a brick cup off of the LEGO store. The two part video will be uploaded as follows:

Part 1. The base and the spine. The base of the gimmick large cup can suit a multiplicity of certain elements, mainly 1x2 or the like. The clearance and capacity will be specified in the video. Cups should also have a spine, mainly if you want to grab some brick. It also makes filling in the top of the cup much easier; this section is definitely another challenge.

Part 2. The sides and construction. You can master the sides in various ways. Do expect some airyness, though. I show various ways and even ways I do not recommend. At one point I did not fill one side completely to capacity but since I was on a sort of a rush I did explain how to do it right; mainly this entails big plates and whatnot. In the end I will have a practical with the finish of the cup and explain the parts to load on.

Recommendations: While not in the video these are the parts you should cup up, the parts you shouldn't, and the parts that can be saved for K-boxes, in the voice of a city builder.

DO:
Plants, foliage, as needed. Tiles, 1x2, 2x2, etc. Plates: 1x2, 2x2. Bricks should be fairly small, the spine is for the big 2x4, 2x6 makes.

DON'T:
Round 1x1 plates in lime or orange; these are good filler but they become absolutely worthless. Big bricks, gears, and super sized plates that are not bulked in the center. Duplo elements (if ever) and animals are not strongly recommended save for light bulk.

K-BOX:
Bricks, plates, tiles that are essential to the city (ie. 2x2 dark tan, 1x4 gray, etc. Parts that you know will make a sort of profit reselling in the long term (dark red wedge, foliage, even dark tan tile if they rotate out of it)
One person got 10 cups of 1x2 bricks with the joiners in white (ie. the hinges seen in Diagon Alley). 10 cups = 150 bucks, and he paid only 50. I do believe they go for 70 bucks, though.  Always ask (if you have a big budget for PAB bulk) what's in the back and if you can get it.

Other advice:
You know it; the PAB cup itself is a way to sort of rip off novice or low interest enthusiasts. People often are too lazy to stack anything, and sometimes just throw stuff. The 10%, the frugal people of course patronize the space with a sort of strategy, but even with strategy you leave open air. It's I guess what's to the best of your ability. If you do it right you can have 500-700 elements in the cup.

ALWAYS! Use the 50c. discount when you can. It certainly drives your cost down a little bit. Also you're putting less junk in your house (excess PAB cups).

More to come, including the PAB Holiday box, as it is filling season for that without a doubt.