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I was lucky enough to find two copies of 4852 The Final Showdown on clearance
($12.99 ea.)!!!
After building the set, I was intrigued by an alternate model shown on the back
of the box of a drawbridge. I made the alternate and noticed that it really
didn't work well as a drawbridge because it was designed poorly. I set out to
create my own alternate model using my two copies of the set and just a few
extra pieces. Here is what I came up with:
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/thomasmain/Alternates/4852/dsc00002.jpg
An obvious improvement is that my alternate can use two lanes of traffic (thanks
to having two of these sets). I did run into some issues while building that I
wanted to share, though.
In order to get the required clearance for the road plates to lift, I had to
have a gap:
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/thomasmain/Alternates/4852/dsc00004.jpg
I worked out a way that this could be just a half-stud gap and that's acceptable
to me. What are some other ways of working around or working with having a gap
on a drawbridge like this?
Becacuse of the way these ramp and road plates are designed, I couldn't figure
out a way of using jumper bricks without raising the whole structure by a plate
height, which made the small ramps at the bottom ineffective. I think I came up
with a creative solution by placing jumper bricks along those small ramps:
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/thomasmain/Alternates/4852/dsc00006.jpg
The half stud offset makes the transition from roadplate to small ramp ok for
most minifig scale cars. I also think it looks neat with the yellow and black,
although it's a very inefficient use of jumper bricks.
As for the rest of the model, I tried to keep it in line with the style of the
original:
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/thomasmain/Alternates/4852/dsc00003.jpg
I wanted to build some stairs up to the gondola to make it more realistic, but I
had trouble coming up with something that didn't make it look way too busy and
crowded in that small space. I may still try to build something (an elevator
perhaps?).
Here's the Brickshelf folder with pictures I took (available after mod):
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=86953
Anyway, just wanted to share my adventures with this set. I really like it. I
would never have bought one at $50.00, but finding two for $25 was awesome!!
--
Thomas Main
thomasmain@myrealbox.com
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