One of the things most of my customs end up being are remakes of older models. I got the inspiration for this one while idly flicking though some old catalogues, and coming across a picture of the 1977 Offshore Rig set. I rather liked the idea, and my town needed a bit of industry. The idea had never really occurred to me before, and it fitted nicely with the Shell branding all over bits of my town (service station, tanker, racing cars, towtruck etc.). However, looking at the instruction scans, it was a bit too primitive to just be built up.

The basic construction was pretty sound, so I did loosely copy it. The supports are identical, just using rounded 2 x 2 bricks as opposed to square ones, and the bore is the same aside from the colour change. I decided to work the Shell colour scheme into it all. The enclosed room on the original isn't actually big enough to hold figures, so I reworked it as an open station, with a couple of nice-looking dial pieces in there. I also modernised the heli-pad, strengthening and enlarging it so it can hold a full-scale helicopter. Sadly, the old-style antennae had to go, as they fetch about £10 each... I did retain the pneumatic tubes for the oil taps, but these don't render well on LDraw.

Then it was just a case of building a helicopter and a small tanker. The helicopter was easy, as I simply built the helicopter from this set, but in Shell colours. The oil tanker is a bit more original, but hardly complex - I simply used the ship pieces that came out around the early 1990s and some 2-stud thick bricks to build up a hull, before adding a superstructure and some taps.

The only problem with the thing is I still don't have the correct blue base that came with the old 373 set - it's unique to that set. The new rig lines up on this perfectly (presuming LDraw has the dimensions correct), as it's built on near-identical foundations. Obviously, it'll work on any blue base that's ~40 studs in width, so maybe combining two of the 32 x 32 stud ones would work - I haven't the space to try this, sadly. It's fragile as a standalone model, but overall I'm happy with the end result.

I'm currently working on instructions for the set, but for now hopefully the CAD screengrabs and inventory will help, while the 373 instructions at Peeron.com provide a good start.

DAT Files (for LDraw, MLCad etc.)

Parts List

I always loved the 1979 Bus Station when I saw it in catalogues, and soon tracked down the parts to build it up. However, I wasn't so keen on the bus, so decided to build another one, a little larger but still in keeping with 1980s-era Lego Town. I'm not 100% satisfied with the final design, especially the side "door" and that it can still only hold five passengers, but I can't think of a lot more to do without beefing it up and making it so big it won't fit on the roads. Incidentally, I use the HC514 tile for the front, while the torso for the Harry Potter Knightbus conductor works splendidly for a nice detail.

Sadly, on the .DAT file, instructions and screenshots I managed to miss the rear lights, though I did include them on the parts list.

Parts List

Instructions

A simple little model, part of my ongoing Grand Prix theme. I decided a Pacecar was in need, and decided to beef up a sports car-style design. I used the maintenance car from Set 2140 , just stripping out the took rack and adding some lights to the back. Also added some nice beefy slicks. Add one Res-Q driver and space for a suitcase (i.e. first aid kit), and the result is a simple, cute model.

DAT File (for LDraw, MLCad etc.)

Parts List