Brickworld Virtual GBC - June 2020

Virtual GBC - June 27, 2020

For the second time this year, I will be participating in the Brickworld Virtual GBC loop alongside several other talented builders.  There will be 10+ loops displayed, and I will be co-hosting alongside  Bob Luzenski, and GBC Legend Tom Atkinson.

I'm sure we will see a ton of new modules this weekend, I will be debuting several myself.  Hope to see you there.

Information on the event and how you can purchase a pass to join in can be found here: https://brickworld.com/brickworld-virtual/

Video of my Lego GBC loop that was shown at the Brickworld Virtual Con Spring 2020

I recently participated in the Virtual GBC loop that was happened at the Brickworld Virtual Con event, last Saturday.  5 other builders and myself prepared a home layout and then walked through it while answering questions and providing some additional information on each module in the layout.  Hosts Bob, Rafe, and special guest Tom Atkinson kept things interesting and enjoyable as we ran through each of the loops twice.

It was a fun time and I hope to participate in the June show as well.

9 Module Layout Video

I set up a small layout here at home last week to test out a few of my more recent modules.  Results were mixed, Rise & Run had some issues with the pistons that I will need to fix if I want to bring it to BrickCon 2019.  Everything else ran great, enjoy the video.

Solaire 🌞 on Beyond The Brick

Brian Brannan gives a quick interview at the Brick Fiesta 2018 GBC layout.  Brian hosted a GBC workshop at Brick Fiesta where 30 Solaire modules were built.  Thanks for the continued support Brian!



And if you have ever wondered why the module is called Solaire: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solaire_of_Astora

BrickCan 2018 GBC Layout Videos

Here is a few videos of the GBC layout from BrickCan 2018.  You will notice that there is a few more modules running on Day 1, including the Akiyuki Train.  But after 8 hours of operation, a few modules were removed or replaced for Day 3.

The Day 3 video is full of Great Ball Pit module fails, including: Tilt-Shift overloading itself, Pumping Station Jamming, BB-8 Loader Exploding, and BB-8 needing some manual stimulation.

Enjoy!

John Shermans Day 1 Video

My Day 3 Video

BrickCan 2018 GBC Layout Report 🇨🇦🏀⚽️🇨🇦

BrickCan 2018 has come and gone.  The GBC layout at the show was the biggest it's ever been at BrickCan, and possibly the largest on the west coast of North America.  The final total of modules still in service for the Sunday public hours was 43.

 

7 builders collaborated on the layout over the weekend:

• Dave De Gobbi
• Jason von Innerebner
• John Sherman
• Kevin Mitcham
• Matt Norman (GreatBallPit)
• Spencer Dickson
• Steven Walker

Best GBC Module Award went to Hippos GBC by Spencer Dickson 

The layout was run in 2 hour sessions with a 30 minute break during the public hours.  We had a total of 7 sessions bringing the total runtime to a little over 14 hours including testing and video work.

And now for a report on how my modules I ran at the show:

• GreyLime - Balls would sometimes jam up the top of the conveyor.
• Tri-Sep - No issues
• Inclination Pumping Station - Tipping Ramps were a bit slow, ball pump would jam up frequently.
• D.R.O.P. - Was running too slow, I modified it after day 2 to run at 3x speed for day 3.
• BB-8 Loader - Exploded multiple times due to the teeth pieces separating from the axles and getting caught on brick.  This module needed to be stopped every 30 min to reseat the teeth to prevent the explosions.
• GBB-8C - The gravity fed hopper would back up frequently and needed to be cleared manually.
• Trench Run - No issues
• Morgan's Mine - No Issues
• Solaire - Day 2 and Day 3 a few moments of balls binding when being pushed out of the module, I think this is due to the yellow wheel becoming loosened (didn't appear to be an issue after making sure it was put together properly)
• Reservoir - No Issues beyond outputting too fast
• Upslide - Multiple failures: Input bin walls popped off, ball pusher started to bind strange, I had to repair a major issue with the rotational pushers drive  gear slipping.
• Tilt-Shift - Input bin agitator failed multiple times on day 3, and was also popping balls out of the hopper non-stop.  This would result in extra balls falling into the lift mechanism overloading it so that no balls could rise to the next level.
• Ball Bridge - No issues after doing repairs to the hopper on day 1.
• Roadwork Redux - Running in stand-alone mode, multiple jams at the pump.

Modules brought but not run:

• Mine Loader Remix
• Container Yard Remix
• Bucket Boost
• GBCRamps Backup

I now have a lot of rebuilding and tweaking to do, as well as breaking down a few modules, that I no longer feel are reliable enough for public display.

Inclination Pumping Station - A Lego GBC module

Hey everyone,

Today I present my latest creation, the Inclination Pumping Station which is a 3 in 1 module.  You can run the 3 parts individually, or all together.  When combined together they are all powered by a single Power Functions XL motor.  When separate they can use their own individual Power Functions M motor.

Here they are individually.

Here they are in a small layout.

Here they are combined.

The module is very strong thanks to the brick and beam construction used throughout.  The long gear chain however has questionable reliability.

Here is the video.

I will be creating LDD instructions for these modules, and provide them free of charge here on the blog, when I have some extra time.

Greyline Series Conclusion

I'm happy to have concluded what I'm calling the Greyline series of modules.  This series  included Greylime, Reservoir, Tri-Sep, and Bucket Boost.

Greylime was my first Great Ball Contraption module that was built late 2016.  Tri-Sep was recently completed early 2018.  I did work on other modules in between this timespan, with half of those not making it to a working model (like most GBC).

I'm glad to have created 4 modules that are quite unique from each other, showing off different lift mechanism, while being fairly reliable.  Bucket Boost drops the most balls, so I hope to have it tightened up by the time BrickCan 2018 begins.

Please enjoy the video.