Lego questions by newbies, and not-so-newbies

[SuspectimusPrime]

I am putting the final touches on my own custom. It has taken me ages to do as it ended up much more complex that I first thought. I had to take it as a learning step bit by bit as I never found suitable guides. It was basically an evolution. As I went on building it, I kept revising the build based on functionality and vision of what I wanted to accomplish. There were a lot of compromises along the way too. Also structural integrity was a big concern, specially around moving or pressure parts.

Unless there is already something pre-existing that matches your custom build closely, you just need to get a basic design plan, order a few bricks and then begin with the foundation. As you build it, you will know what other parts you will require.

Thanks for your feedback, kup. Glad to hear that project you mentioned earlier is drawing to a close!

Time is against me on this project, as I want it for a specific purpose. Though if I don't make it I do have a plan B and C. The general idea was to swap out colours from 75101, however it has evolved to changing the wings and potentially adding a payload section. I figured if my other adjustments are symmetrical then it should retain structural integrity (much higher than pre-2013 sets).

I downloaded LDD last night and had a play with it. Seems easy enough however there's no way to test for structural integrity. I'm trying to limit multi-angled joints so in theory (going to eat these words) I should be able to save myself multiple orders and seriously save on time/reordering.

Just want to achieve the minimum viable product here. Not adding moving parts, additional play features, or too many others parts that offsets the centre of gravity. Got ideas on extra features, but I might only consider those after the first build is done. Plenty of silly add-ons and mods ideas out there to play with later on: http://i.imgur.com/qG4lpz3.jpg

[kup]

I tried LDD for a bit and noticed that it was difficult to creatively envision solutions. As you mentioned, it also doesn't really give you much in regards to structural integrity which a lack of can break a build and may even cause you to have to redo the whole design to reinforce it. I advise to only use LDD to get some concept happening but do not use it as your eventual blueprint.

[SuspectimusPrime]

I played around with it for about an hour in the past couple of nights, and it's definitely much harder to visually put things together. I found ready-made LDD files for 75101, and quickly swapped out the colours to what I wanted. Changing the wings to a different shape with no moving parts is turning out to be more of a challenge, however it should be a bit easier once I get a handle on all the shortcuts (mainly 3D rotating) and common features.

One mistake I regretted quickly was playing with swapping all the colours first (turned out mono-coloured), which made it visually more difficult to see the pieces. Going to redo that this weekend by segmenting it.

I am fairly happy with the cockpit and might consider ordering the pieces for that right away. Doubt I will be able to get all the pieces I need from a single seller. A finished product in 35 calendar days might be too ambitious at the moment with work and holiday plans as well.

[DELTAprime]

I just bought my first Lego in over a year. The Portal set for the discontinued Lego Dimensions.

Anyone know why the portal gun is made from rubber and not plastic? Honestly the paint apps on it don't look up to Lego standards, it feels like it was made cheaply in China.

[Golden Phoenix]

Anyone know why the portal gun is made from rubber and not plastic? Honestly the paint apps on it don't look up to Lego standards, it feels like it was made cheaply in China.

Probably to prevent breakage or as a safety thing.

[PaddlesPrime]

Is Hobby Warehouse a good place to buy LEGO from? The have a discontinued set I want for a semi-reasonable price.

[BruiseLee]

Is Hobby Warehouse a good place to buy LEGO from? The have a discontinued set I want for a semi-reasonable price.

I've bought from their eBay store a few times. All good.