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In lugnet.technic, Jetro de Chateau wrote:
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TechnicBRICKs has just received official confirmation from TLG that the
1H2010 set 8049 will include pneumatic pistons and has posted some
preliminary pics. That means Pneumatic elements are back!
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A big Thank You to TLG for listening to AFOL requests for pneumatics and
producing set 8049 for 2010.
To celebrate, here are the pictures of my latest pneumatic system.
It allows the cylinder to be commanded to any position.
• not just the two ends
• not just two ends and one position in the middle
• yes, any variable position within its travel!
The variable input is at the red sliding beam.
The variable output is the position of the turquoise lever.
Techniques:
• dithering of valves (with the motor crank) overcomes their hysteresis and
stiction
• offsetting the valve levers removes most of the deadband in the
middle
• feeding back the output allows closed loop control of cylinder
position
This uses no more pneumatic or PF parts than the contents of sets 8049 and 8293,
so the parts will soon be quite accessible.
How it works might take a little
more understanding!
More detailed description / info
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/mbellis/Technic/Pneumatics/cont-var-pneu-ctrl/2_cvp_info.txt.
Folder http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=405269
You could say pneumatics has just gone analogue!
No longer is it a 2 or 3-state system.
PLMKWYT
Mark
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Everybody is welcome at Scotfest.
In case you haven't been before, Aberdour is in Fife, just over the Forth Bridge
from Edinburgh, and is not too far from Edinburgh Airport, its also has a
railway station on the east cast main line. It is a small seaside village.
People have come and made it a weekend holiday, bringing their family. The
village is interesting with castle & beaches and various walks. Some have
visited Edinburgh, last year some partners went on a boat trip to Inchcolme
Island to see the birds & Abbey.
Of course there is LEGO, we always have a "show & tell" which is very popular
where everybody has a chance to talk about what they have brought. There will
also be a few short games, a chance to chat and buy, sell and swap LEGO.
The event will take place in the Boat Club, which is in a fantastic location and
accommodation is available at local hotels & B&B's which have had very good
reviews from past AFOL's. I will post details of Hotels & B&B's, you may have to
book soon as it is the holiday season. The Forth View Hotel is always popular.
It would be on the Saturday starting at 10am, lunch would be provided and finish
at 5pm then we normally go out for a meal in the evening.
This years theme is Scotland, as it is the "Year of Homecoming" so you may want
bring along your LEGO kilts, haggis, shortbread, tartan (I shouldn't be giving
too many ideas).
David
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After going to a railway exhibition last Saturday (23rd May), and buying some
books, I was inspired to build some new wagons.
I added working features, such as opening doors, as well as SNOT lettering.
Most are real UK wagons but I also did the Awdry character “Scruffey”.
The new plate modified 1x2 with bar on end is quite a useful piece for
drop-sided wagons. Black droid arms are useful for supporting the tubes
underneath. The tubes represent parts of the brake gear and supports, but
working brakes might have been overkill :classic:
More technical info here:
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/mbellis/Trains/Wagons/New-Wagons-May-2009/2009_wagons_info.txt
There are 4 wagons, the first picture of each here:
“Scruffey”:
Grampus 12ft wheelbase drop-side wagon:
LMS 5-plank open wagon with lime load and opening side doors:
SC coal wagon with opening side and end doors:
Folder when moderated: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=385528
Includes some open-door and underneath pictures too.
Hope you like them.
Mark
Mark Bellis 8mm Scale LEGO Trains
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=62749
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In lugnet.trains, Mark Bellis wrote:
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In lugnet.trains, Dave Sterling wrote:
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In lugnet.trains, Jonathan Wilson wrote:
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We all want new larger radius curves and other things. Also, Big Ben
Bricks, BrickArms and others have been able to successfully mold and sell
new custom parts.
Has anyone ever considered extending this and doing some kind of molding of
new track pieces ourselves? Has anyone ever done some investigation of how
much it would cost for a mold for a larger radius curve or other new track
shapes?
Would people (and e.g. train clubs) be willing to donate towards the
(potentially high) costs for producing such a mold? (my guess is that once
the mold is made, the actual costs of producing the parts would not be huge
in bulk volumes)
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I think some people have investigated this in the past for 9V and found that
the cost was to great to warrant proceeding. That said, it is probably more
feasible for the ‘RC Track’ since you would not have to deal with the metal
rails.
However, it appears that LEGO might be fixing the track geometry issue with
this nifty new element.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jastermereel08/3335067544/in/pool-legotrains
Only time will tell though.
-Dave
ToT-LUG
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With a little modding to the internal curves of the parts shown in the
picture above, it might be possible to support ballast from underneath the
track like this:
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/mbellis/Trains/Ballasting-Track/ft_ballast_m_bellis.jpg
Mark
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Here is a further picture, showing 64 flexible track pieces in set 8867.
The gaps between the two halves of each track piece are smaller than in the
previous picture, and there are fewer studs for attaching ballast:
http://www.aquazona.cz/smf/download/file.php?id=1729&mode=view
To ballast it means either a bit more modding (4 holes punched per piece, a bit
laborious for 1000 pieces in a layout) or a compromise on ballast width. Take
two 1x4 plate hinges per track piece, one black and one bley or dark bley. Swap
the halves so that each hinge is half black. Attach the hinges to the two studs
in the middle of each track piece. It’s better if the hinges face the inside of
the curve because the hinge can be opened a bit in some cases. This needs two
curves on the layout, each curve using the left halves of one hinge colour and
the right halves of the other colour. This will provide alternate black and
grey stripes to represent sleepers and ballast. Unfortunately the ballast will
not be the full width between the rails but it does have the advantage of not
needing any support from below the track.
I first used bi-colour hinges in ballast on the crossover:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=3277249
Unfortunately the hinges are not yet available in black, bley or dark bley in
PaB online.
Alternatives with clip plates and rods might work, giving a wider ballast
between the rails, and perhaps enhancing the randomness because grey and black
colours would merge more. It might not be quite so easy to show clear sleepers
though, unless grey clips would look like a small ballast spillage on top of
them, which is OK in the middle 2ft between the rails.
Mark
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For the sixth year I am organising a LEGO Show in Petersfield, South Hampshire.
When: Sat May 30th 2009
Where: Main Hall, Community Centre, Petersfield, Hampshire, GU31 4BW
Entrance: Free (public 11:30am to 2:30pm, others 9am to 5pm)
Like before, the plan is to have several larger display areas interspersed with
smaller display tables and seller tables. Unlike last year, this time I have
booked the other large room in the centre, so we'll have more space to spread
out! I will arrange main sellers to attend, but all exhibitors are encouraged
to bring sets/parts/etc to sell/trade and there will be no charge for this.
Pictures from previous shows can be found here:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=28000.
Petersfield is on the main A3 between Guildford and Portsmouth and the A272
between Midhurst and Winchester. It is also easily accessible from the A27/M27
South Coast road. Rail connections are good as it is a major station on the
Waterloo to Portsmouth line. The Community Centre is just outside the town
centre and has ample free on-site parking. It is about a 10 minute walk from the
railway station (allowing for carrying heavy LEGO bags). The Community Centre is
on the corner of Ramshill and Tor Way (top right on the map). Click here for
more details. (Note: the red circle is wrong as the Community Centre is at the
top of the first left off Love Lane. Also note that there is no left turn from
Ramshill into that road, you must turn left into Tor Way, then left into Love
Lane, then left to the Centre).
Information for exhibitors/sellers The hall is available from 9am for
exhibitors/sellers to set up, and we must be gone by 5pm. The show will be
advertised locally and open to the public from 11:30am to 2:30pm.
Once again, entrance will be free.
William Howard - Show Organiser
Supported by the Brickish Association - http://www.brickish.org/
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Blimey, it's a bit quiet in here recently :-(
Not been around for a few years...glad to see lugnet is still going
though! Thought I'd post the url to a friends blog where he is showing
progress on his project to build a model of Canterbury Cathedral. Still
got a lot of work to do but it's looking impressive so far. Might also
explain the lack of grey bricks about the place recently...
http://blog.jstott.me.uk/2009/02/15/canterbury-cathedral-in-lego-update/
I'm sure he would welcome comments,
Cheers,
Darren
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This truck was my first attempt to merge Technic and Model Team into one MOC:
I built it quite a while ago but only recently took the pictures. Since I make
more concept models and not many finished Technic MOCs I thought it would be
good to post it.
As well as the usual steering, differential, opening doors and motor drive, the
truck features an automatically-raised centre axle, which drops when a trailer
puts weight on the 5th wheel. The 5th wheel is sprung in a way compatible with
the 8872 transporter trailer pin scheme (a bush trapped by a latching lever).
There are 12V headlights but I hadn’t yet wired them up inside.
I admit that few trucks have a centre axle that both lifts and steers, these
being mutually exclusive options for real trucks, but the idea was to put lots
of Technic functions into a more realistic looking truck. It’s not modelled on
any particular type and the sleeper cab may be longer than a real European one.
A shame some of the bricks have faded in the few years it’s been built. It’s
not been anywhere near a window sill!
I’d really like to see TLG put many Technic functions into Model Team models and
make new Model Team sets with more “play value”. It might be more commercially
viable than a full 1:13 scale truck set (a real pipe dream!).
Mark
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After some intensive building over the last 2 weeks I have completed 20 modules
of a new 8mm scale British railway layout to a reasonable standard. The layout
features track slopes of up to 1 in 30, varying by 0.5 plate/12 stud length.
All the points and the double crossover are pneumatically controlled from behind
the backscene wall on the left of the picture below (hence .technic cross-post).
Each point took about 3-4 hours to build a baseplate, ballast it, add a
mechanism, get the support heights right and add all the control panel
connections in a way that makes maintenance easy. Modules measure up to 48x48
studs and have removable air connections. Using mostly rigid 3.2mm tubes to minimise the
balloon effect, the points farthest from the control panel need 5-6 pumps of the
pump cylinder to operate.
I’ve put in a few of the scenic features I prototyped earlier, like point heater
cubicles and conduits. The ballast colours vary according to how fast trains
will be going and where they would stop. There’s more foliage and track
furniture to add, but that can wait till I’ve built more modules and finalised
signal positions. I’ve tried not to make the layout too busy but rather to aim
for the look of a real British railway.
More detailed description of features
Brickshelf Folder (39
pictures)
Please let me know if anything about the layout inspires you.
Mark
Mark J E Bellis 8mm Scale
LEGO Trains
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