Other Pete J's thread of Lego building (current project: 76210 Iron Man Mark 44 Hulkbuster - Alternate)

Tip wait for a sale, Lego typical goes on sale a couple times a year, buy one or two sets a year and store until kids are old enough. Or asleep.

 

@Pete J - How about this for yer next project...?

 

One of my friends, inspired by my recent Lego splurge, is planning an Endor diorama. It might end up the same scale the way he's going.

Found it:



Bought the instructions

 

So, I'll be getting back to the SD this weekend. I'm hoping to get through a whole stage, but we'll see.

Parts are turning up for the GT500, all orders are in for the pulse rifle (though need checking) and I'm waiting on one more order for the Throne.

Meanwhile, this makes me VERY happy:

 

Unfortunately SD progress was halted as I couldn't find two parts for the canteen's sneeze guard. I've reordered the missing parts, plus some other missing bits from other orders. At least it gave me time to do more part sorting for the fighters!

 

Whelp, had my first disappointing Lego part seller to deal with today:

All Lego part sellers are allowed to specify terms and conditions - this one said that if there's no response to his communications within 24 hours, he'll cancel the order. Fair enough I thought, as I check my emails (and BrickLink, for that matter) at least twice daily, and have never had a problem with any other sellers (I've even been praised on occasion for my quick and friendly communication). I placed an order on the 27th Jan. After waiting for a while, I decided to chase it up last night. This morning I received a snooty message saying that he had tried to email me multiple times and had no response, therefore the order was cancelled and I was to have no refund.

I sent a reply back telling him that I'd had no emails or messages through Bricklink from him (and was unimpressed with his customer conduct); additionally, I knew that my email address was correct as I had had no problem communicating with other sellers (I double checked my junk email folder just in case too - nothing). I opened a 'not shipped' problem ticket to BrickLink and left a negative review for the store - whilst doing this, I noticed that the store actually had a relatively low customer rating compared to others. The seller got back to me quickly and claimed that I'd 'misread' and that I would be getting a refund (I went back to check the original email and again, he was lying).

If you're curious, the store in question: linky

Ah well, the store has the honour of being the first to be added to my 'Disliked stores' list. At least he had the decency to refund my money though - although that was a reversal of his original stance.

I've reordered the parts, though annoyingly it's had to be two orders. At least I got to buy some additional minifigs: Nick Fury, Bearded Captain America and 1989 Batman.

 

A nice weekend spent drinking cider, eating good food, watching Rick and Morty (Rick is my new idol) and Lego building:



The ship is becoming more 'alive' now. The canteen is built and a couple of off duty storm troopers are sleeping in the bottom bunks of the sleeping quarters; the slide that holds the TIE fighters is also in place.

There were some difficult bits. For a start, there are several 'high contact area' bits which I assume Lego have a policy of not having in their official designs due to the force needed to push things into place. I had to 'massage' some bits for a while until I thought that they where fully engaged. There were also some bits where the slightly flexible nature of Lego was abused to force things into place. The wall/window bits that look onto the hangar were particularly difficult as I had to ignore the instructions and half the walls in order to get them in position before building the rest of them. Also, there were some tiles that had to be half lifted to insert a piece and then be pressed down again.

I have also bought the instructions for this, because I'm now apparently going to have an Alien themed shelf:

 

How much are you spending on all of this?

 

Don't worry, it's not that expensive: I've got better at selecting sellers. Plus I have no ball and chain or little ones to worry about.

 

My Saturn V arrived today. I think I'll put up a thread when I'm done...

 

It's a really good model, which uses a technique known as SNOT (Stud not on top).
IIRC, there's only about 16 visible studs on the outside of the entire rocket when it's finished.

 

Hah! I've always wondered what 'SNOT' stood for in the Lego community

 

You mean it's real terminology...?

 

There's a lot of SNOT going on with this model!

EDIT:

24 visible studs .

 

Another nice weekend of building:



Power core and the start of the rear bridge now present, not to mention a Bespin Guard filling in as a chef. No more tricky bits, but I suck at putting stickers on straight . Maybe I should try the washing up liquid approach.

I've also ordered the parts for the Alien and Powerloader. The APC has some annoyingly expensive parts, so I'll keep an eye on prices. Meanwhile, the minifig army continues to grow...

EDIT: Oh, and also bought a shelf to put up to hold the Light Sabers and Han's pistol.

 

Heh. Just thought I'd mention this:remember I couldn't find a couple of of bits, halting building a couple of of weeks or so ago? Well, I found them, perfectly hidden under another small bag of other parts .

 

Been at the folks' this weekend, sorting out the orders for the Mustang. Annoyingly, some parts are missing and some 'new' parts are not new. Ah well, I'll make another order as it's only a few quid. Also, my friend's flat warming party has been postponed next weekend, so SD building will advance soon.

Now for some sad Lego related news:

The LEGO Chief Designer who created the minifigure and launched the classic themes, Jens Nygaard Knudsen, has passed away at the age of 78.

 

I...couldn't help myself:



Truth be told, if anyone here wants one, get it now. I managed to get a new, sealed one off evilBay for RRP. They're getting more expensive.

Now, apparently there's an upgrade guide on Rebrickable...

 

More progress:



Lots of greebling . While the end effect is good, owing to my OCD way of building, it took bloody ages. Fortunately, it's probably the most intense greebling part of the build, but there is more on the upper decks to come.

I also found an awesome upgrade to the UCS Hulkbuster:



What's brilliant about it is that it just needs a smaller set to be added. Unfortunately I'd already ordered the parts for another mod but I'll no doubt be able to put the parts to use in another MOC.