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Subject: 
Re: New Moc - Lego Fair (and apparently 5 cents was overpriced)
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.org.ca.parlugment
Date: 
Wed, 20 Oct 2004 02:31:15 GMT
Viewed: 
2723 times
  
In lugnet.announce.moc, C. L. GunningCook wrote:
  

The trials and tribulations of my latest adventure with one of my MOCs.

Welcome the the gauntlet. The woes of the Mechanized MOC Builder.

   ..... if you would rather skip the rambling...... the pics can be found here

The struggle is part of the joy, so I read on!

   This past weekend I had the pleasure of participating in my first train show.

Ahhh, good way to get your feet, nay, MOCs wet.

   At one end of the display it was decided to have a kids area where they could build. There was to be a small loop to run a train. I requested the middle section of that track for a condensed version of a theme park, because I thought that the kids would really get a kick out of seeing the rides.

When the park was nearly completed, my kids ask “Are you going to get them running soon?”

Ohh noooo, the dreded task then befell you.

   ME? Get them running?? That will mean motors and bushes and gears... OH MY!! I tell them gently but firmly “The rides are not going to move”... as looks of disappointment cross their faces, I quickly realise, a fair that doesn’t have moving rides is just not going to cut it.

So with great amounts of guidance from my oldest son, I reluctantly agree to motorized the ferris wheel. Surprisingly, once we get that one moving, I get hooked, and together we work on getting the other 6 rides running.

Hey right on.

   Never having participated in a train show before this event, and never having to move my MOC very far the idea of building modular didn’t even enter my head.

doh!

   Lessons learned...

A cumbersome size MOC with underdeveloped structure holding a top heavy design, mixed with a 8 hour drive on a major freeway..... I *should* have known that this can only spell disaster. Well sure enough, by the time I arrived in Ottawa, the fair had taken quite a beating.

Been there, done that. Pardon the phrase, but I hear ya.

   Then in a moment of graceful elegance I drop the rcx resulting it its programming being wiped clean. Ah brilliant!!

Arrrg.

   With some help and parts loaned out from other members we quickly put some of the rides on battery boxes and feed the others from a regulator.

Sweet. AFoL click.

   Unfortunately, the rebuild just didn’t have the same integrity the original design had, mainly because of two reasons. One, I couldn’t really recall exactly how it supposed to go back together, and two, there is a bit of a time crunch. Deep down knowing fully that the design is now flawed and very unstable, I pretend that it’s fine, and run the monorail as it should have run, only to have it come crashing through the park, wiping out a few other rides with it as well. Well this is the point where you either pack it in or have a good laugh, and just shake your head at your own stupidity. Of course, the laughter begins.

This is always a tough thing. Hence my zen state of study before a show. Just in case!

   Apparently the fair was doomed from the beginning, because by the end of the show, when it was oh so carefully carried out to my vehicle it collapse completely in this grand moment of slow-motion domino effect disaster resulting in a huge round of laughter.... I must say, I have never seen one of my MOCs die such a graceful death.

Oh man, no comment.

   Janey “(Apparently I should stick to building houses) Red Brick”

tah, you have many skills. You can build anything you put your mind too.

   A moment of silence for the figs that were knock from their seats, and a round of applause for ParLUGment for putting up with my self-destructing theme park. You guys totally rock!!!

I must say, the folks from ParLUGment are a talented lot of builders.

Your park has many cool things to look at and you had the guts to motorize it. Any advice for others that may think motors and gears are to much of a hassle? I’d like to see more MOCs like this and there are some great ones out there, no doubt, that have similar functionality.

Nice work.

e



Message has 1 Reply:
  Re: New Moc - Lego Fair (and apparently 5 cents was overpriced)
 
(...) Thanks Eric.... As for the motors and gears, I avoided them as long as possible, I truly did. A few times I did play around with some gears, I never seemed to be able to get them to line up the way I wanted them to. Well apparently (as my son (...) (20 years ago, 20-Oct-04, to lugnet.org.ca.parlugment, FTX)

Message is in Reply To:
  New Moc - Lego Fair (and apparently 5 cents was overpriced)
 
(URL) The trials and tribulations of my latest adventure with one of my MOCs. ..... if you would rather skip the rambling...... the pics can be found (URL) here> This past weekend I had the pleasure of participating in my first train show. At one (...) (20 years ago, 19-Oct-04, to lugnet.announce.moc, lugnet.town, lugnet.org.ca.parlugment, FTX) !! 

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