Hello and some help needed ;-)

[RetroAndMore]

Hi there,

just joined. Well, I'm from Germany and doing things with Lego for a long time, but with 13 it was over since my C64 got in my house. I often got some parts during the years and made a good sortation, but didn't found real time for creating something bigger. But now I'm on a new project and I could need some help.

Because I stopped at the sets 8862 and 8865, I'm still more a classic Lego user and don't really like the very high number of available parts. I'll stay with my Technic models with parts up to the year 1989, the year I bought my last Lego set as a kid. The most important parts are available till this time, and the sets are ageless. Think about it: The classic 8860 with its large 24x43 tyres, bricks with lots of holes and unsynchronized gearbox never gets old. The 8880 supercar is also great, despite there is something better today. But the newer, studless Technic sets with masses of new parts, axles and pins in different colors and so on are not the same. And nearly every model now has power functions and whatever. It's gotten a bit boring, there's nothing *really* special since a long time. Only more parts in more complex sets.

That's why 'back to the roots' is a much more interesting way, getting the best out of less parts. This is somehow similar to the C64, it also has just 1 MHz and about 40 K free RAM for the user. However, with good programming techniques and two disk sides of 165K this is possible. By the way: The C64 can't play samples, but in this demo it plays two synthesizer audio tracks and mixes three 8 bit samples in realtime... the tone effects are done with the filters pf the SID.

In 1989 not even the 9V motors are available. But that's not bad: The cables are much more flexible than any 9V cable. If you unscrew the cables from the connector, you can move them through various holes in the model. It's also easy to create longer cables, and they can match the color of the model. The 4,5V motors are dirt cheap, if they got loud, just spray some WD40 in the back holes, then they're working great again. They also have another advantage: The 4,5V system is TTL-compatible, so you can solder own electronics, use microcontrollers or an Arduino. This allows much more flexibility, and it's cheaper than a NXT. I also like the old penumatic system, it often looks better because there is just one pump connector. And there's the 64 mm pump. The old penumatic system also is rather cheap when you buy it from an private seller.

 

So, but now I'm on a new project and need some help because I don't know all parts. I have layouted it (actually 106x70 studs ;-) and found the most parts, but now I need something with a handle/hook like here. It's for a door which should be closed with a bar, so the hook must be at least 1 brick away from the holder brick/plate and 1 brick high. I also checked out Technic parts, but didn't found anything what has a thin L-Shape like this hook. Do you have an idea?

I'm also searching for a good Lego color palette: is this one good? It contains RGB and CYMK values which is nice.

Oh yeah, the avatar: The 880 12V motor is my favourite Lego part. This has a background: As a kid, I was never pleased with the 4,5V motor because it has so less power, so I excpected more from the 12 V motor. It was so difficult to find one, after searching and asking in different shops one seller found one, in a bottom drawer with replacement parts. But the motor was in a typical Lego bag, not the complete set. I don't know anymore if I was pleased with the 12V motor back in the days, however, the memory from this event is still great, and so it is my most favourite part ;-) It's also interesting: I have lots of 4,5V motors here, and two 12V motors. Of course, I tried them as generators. A 4,5V motor is powered from its battery stick, driving another 4,5V motor as generator results in very low power, a yellow 4,5V light brick is very dimmed and another 4,5V motor won't work. Using a 12V motor as generator, it generates enough power to get the light brick at full brightness and it's also possible to drive another 4,5V motor. Speaking of light bricks: My weirdest Lego part is this one. It's from 1958 and I got in in a pack of different lego sets on a flea market.

Greetings from Germany,

RetroAndMore.

Edited July 10, 2017 by RetroAndMore