So LDD has a new version. Yay! I'm honestly torn on this one. First, near as I can tell, there was no brick update, just the software. Second, it displays differently than it used to. I'm about to see how the new screenshots look. Third, and this is a good thing, the hinge tool is
way easier to use with that little wheel thing up in the corner.
Anyway, on to the pictures.
RogueIce wrote:(This isn't even the most expensive thing I've made yet. I have a weird-ass scifi battle vehicle/transport thing with pew-pew lasers out the ass. That's currently around $240, and I'm still tweaking it every now and again)
Speaking of this, and just to prove I'm capable of doing something other than emergency vehicles, I had planned to showcase this puppy. It's probably a bit wank-tastic, but who cares? So I go to open up, LDD gives me the usual warning that it's an old model, so it may not open right, blah blah, and that one brick was placed incorrectly and was removed. No biggie, I figured; my cars had some problems like that on the doors and it was easy enough to fix.
Turns out, I was
wrong:
Yeah. Definately more than one brick. The weird thing is, apparently they're still there, but they just don't render! Sounds odd, but look at this:
Yep, it's highlighting a brick that's there, but isn't displaying! It appears this model broke LDD. Although it didn't, because my other designs load fine. And when I reloaded this one after checking those, it was still weird (though slightly less this time). I even closed LDD, restarted it, and opened up the model and it still has the invisible bricks. When I move a brick, it's visible. When I put it back, it disappears again. So I have no idea what the deal is here...
Anyway, since that one's borked, you're stuck with...yet another emergency vehicle out of me.
This one is a police command post truck. Inspired by the actual LEGO model of same, but as usual bigger, more detailed...and more expensive.
First up, the frontal shot:
Note that the one on top is the model, as it actually is. The second is just to show "what was" before. You see, when I did the new bumper designs, rather than the grille lights, I actually made it look like the second (bottom) image of the truck (this is also how official models do it, basically). I thought that looked pretty neat, but eventually I just went with grille lights and used the angled bricks on the bottom row as a bumper. Well since this is a truck I sort-of revived the old scheme; since it's a double height grille, I put the transparent blue angle bricks on the edge as a different form of grille lights, since I figured this wouldn't have it. At some point I've changed the emergency lights for police vehicles to all blue, hence why the red transparent light isn't on the finished model. So I basically tossed the second image up there for a little note on the evolution of my designs.
Here's a side view. You can see I did the ball joint connector, and you'll notice I have a second connector coming off the back. More on that later. Biggest thing to note here is the door, which hinges up (unlike the official model, which has the whole side of the truck hinge). Also those clear 1x2 bricks are meant to be spotlights. I also did a ladder for the minifigs to climb up, and the stands are retractable.
A back view. Nothing that exciting here, except noting that pretty much every emergency service vehicle I make gets the traffic control lights. You can even see it up on the cab.
And here's a view inside. They basically sit in front of two computers, and have that clock. Don't ask me why the red and green lights are there; I saw something like them on the official model, and I guess I just copied it. I'm sure they serve a purpose. Also notice the trans-yellow 1x2s. Yes, I'm anal enough to make sure they have lighting inside the trailer. Also, those vents on the front of the trailer are for air conditioning, and you can just see that I also included A/C vents on the inside. Like I said, I'm a bit anal about some of these details.
Another view of the interior. You can see the negotiator/command guy in the back at his desk. He has a walkie-talkie because there's no phone piece (I think there is in LDD, but it's non-uploadable so screw it).
Here's a view of the back of the cab. You can basically see how I did the top joint. I also included one on the back, for a more traditional type of trailer, like you'd use to carry a boat on or something. I actually
was making such a trailer for an alt-version of the model, but when I had made a ton of progress, LDD crashed and I hadn't saved.
Since then, I haven't yet bothered to go back and redo it, but I probably will eventually.
This is a close-up of the ball on the bottom of the trailer. Basically included to let you know that yes, I took the time to cover it up.
And an interior view of it. Obviously, I didn't take the time to actually make the A/C extend back to the interior wall. I suppose this setup is a bit unrealistic, but hey, it just goes to show I'm not
totally anal, just a bit overly anal; a subtle yet important distinction.
Although yes, I did do a SNOT for the ball joint. Blow me.
And finally, in case you didn't know, these are the three pieces that go into it. The receiver on the cab is basically indentical, it just has the socket peice instead of the ball.
So in all this I realized; I forgot to give it truck-like rearview mirrors, and instead stuck with the car style ones. Especially annoying, because I updated my police van and ambulance with more truck style mirrors! Of course I realize I did this
after I took and cropped the screenshots, so I'll just show the ambulance as an example.
There you can see the truck-style mirrors. I also included the orange "running lights" (or whatever they're called) on the top. I also made some adjustments to the side emergency lighting and spotlights.
A rear view, to show the clear 1x2 tile I used as the mirror itself.
And finally, a "driving" view centered on my police car. Demonstrating that, if you're far enough back, you can see the mirrors. Which also means, the ambulance driver can see you! At least, that's what all those bumper stickers I see on semis tell me.
Well, that was a freaking huge update. Tell me what y'all thought, please.
your mirrors. The fifth wheel and pin are also very nicely done. You guys are getting really accurate with your trucks, more than I ever thought possible at that scale.