Brickbuild Factorio Designs

[aka13]

I'm almost as excited as you are

[SauerkrautPudding]

After my count there were 2 pieces missing.
But no big things, just a 1x3 plate in green and a 2x2 tile with 2 studs. I can borrow this from my kids..
I am not complaining however:
Other pieces i got too many of. I think its 15 pieces too much overall...

Started the build now!

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[SauerkrautPudding]

Steam Engine completed:

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The parts have a really good quality.
Only on one piece there was a big difference in color (light bluish gray) but thats it.

The building experience was awful to be honest:
Mostly because of some stability issues and wrong building order in my instruction. Its tricky. Because the platform is only holded up by 8 lift arms and I even had to remove 1 because I messed in planning. I forgot to put in 1 axle for a gearwheel and I only have a longer one currently so it blocks the position of the liftarm right now.

That brings me to the next topic: the mechanism has some flaws as well. Because of play in a liftarm-assembly, 1 gear is stuck blocking the whole mechanism. I removed said gear for now until i have a solution. Another thing was my planned rubberbands. The ones I ordered are too big and I cannot just wrap it around twice since I only have a narrow bushing for it so it only works for a couple of rotations before snapping off.
The connection between the "Generator" and the platform is unstable. The plattform can wiggle a little bit so the gears do not line up all the time. Need some reinforcement there too.

Main problem for the building experience is that if something comes loose underneath the platform - there are some annoying spots for sure - there is no way to get it back without ripping apart the whole thing.
The base for the platform liftarms are heavily integrated into the generator base and the "gear wall" so this has to go before you are able to disconnect the platform to turn it around. Happened on a regular basis. So I need to make the whole thing more rigid and/or make it more accessible.

Despite it sounds pretty negative I am happy so far. It looks as expected and its a nice display model.
All the issues are also within my expectations and I will deal with them before my next order.

But I wont provide a BOM and Instructions until I am satisfied.

[aka13]

Nice! Congrats on haviong you drawing materialize finally

[SauerkrautPudding]

This guy is also done:

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And this build was a really nice experience. Only some really small things in the design that I will fix later on:
Sometimes I used 2 bricks next to each other that can be replaced with a single brick (eg 2 1x2 bricks next to each other --> replace with a single 2x2 brick).
This has 3 reasons:
1 - trial and error during the design process and then it slipped through when reviewing the instruction
2 - some parts were listed as "not existent" at the shop. But they only have some missmatch in specific bricks. They have it in stock but they use a different number in their system. After 2 or 3 models I realized this and I can get the parts. Thats why I only used 2 2x1 brackets next to each other because i thought they dont have the 2x2 ones.
3. And finally some parts I didnt know existed. Like a 1x5 plate - I cannot remember them from my childhood.
So I used 1x3 plus a 1x2 plate. This can be simplified now.

And yes, thats it! Otherwise a really sturdy brick. No mechanism, no moving parts. The Gobrick pieces hold together really well. I even threw the thing into the air and catched it again. Not a single piece fell off lol.

[SauerkrautPudding]

Overhauled the Steam Engine to get rid of all the flaws - need to compare the parts list for version 2 and what I have in stock now to order the missing pieces with the next batch. The model has a higher part count now but they are 99% standard bricks/plates to increase stability.
Recorded a Video reviewing the real V1 model where I explained the issues and another video where I show you in the software how I solved it there.
I will stitch that together tomorrow if I am in the mood and upload it to youtube.
Will post the link when its done - dont expect too much however: I dont have the proper setup to record models and its a pretty low effort thing anyways since I plan to keep this as a pure Hobby with no responsibilities.
But this has also some benefits for those who are interested: I will post all my BOMs and Instructions for free as soon as I am completely satisfied for free (I guess I can do that on rebrickable).

Next on the list is to clean up the Boiler too - Here I just have to combine some pieces reducing part count and cost and I can share the instructions before completing it 100%.

I plan to make a Video for all models where I show it to you and also provide links to the parts-list and instrucions and also show you how I exactly ordered it.

[eugenekay]

And finally some parts I didnt know existed. Like a 1x5 plate - I cannot remember them from my childhood.
So I used 1x3 plus a 1x2 plate. This can be simplified now.

1x5 Plates were introduced in 2021. I find them deeply unsettling, but a necessary addition to the parts catalogue. I only have a few in my collection. The technic version dates back to the 1990s and is very useful for helicopter rotor blade mounting.

Overall, nice creations! Keep it up.

[SauerkrautPudding]

Thank you for the clarification - I just stumbled across this piece on a Bluebrixx set my kids got for Christmas.
Interesting how much have been changed since I was a kid.

[aka13]

The technic version dates back to the 1990s and is very useful for helicopter rotor blade mounting.

Are those still in use? I have not seen them in my childhood, only in old lego collection of my older friends. I did only start playing around the 2000s, I would say.

[SauerkrautPudding]

Yeah they seem to be used a lot. If you click on eugenekeys link you find the set-list if you click on the "426 sets" (top right)
There are plenty released in 2025

[SauerkrautPudding]

Its easier to get more information in a video so I made this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4Ol0SMqFUQ

A small tour around the Steam-Engine, all its (current) weakpoints and how I lan to solve it.
English is not my first language so be patient...

[aka13]

Yeah they seem to be used a lot. If you click on eugenekeys link you find the set-list if you click on the "426 sets" (top right)
There are plenty released in 2025

Ah, thanks, I last "productively" used bricklink 15 years ago I forgot, that such a handy button exists.

I watched the video, nice build results nevertheless.
The swivel at 06:03, AFAIK the 3 long pins in black are the sturdy ones, and grey/beige are the ones for the movement. Is it not the same for the cloned bricks?
I like the changes you have done, very interesting, how the second revision will hold up.
Also, I don't think anyone is really pushing for build instructions, until the creator is satisfied with his creations

But do keep us posted.


PS: Also, all the beams used for the pump have such strange shapes. Is this a lego standard brick, or some patent shenanigans?

[SauerkrautPudding]

On the cloned bricks you can get the pins in any color you want basically but you are right, that I made some mistakes here:
I ordered all pins without friction ridges (basically the grey Lego equivalent). Thats a big reason why there is so much play in the system.
For Version 2 I changed all of the needed pins to have friction ridges.
One downside: I need to sort those pins into those 2 categories in my collection from now on by looking REALLY closely.
But I don't want them color-coded like Lego. Especially not like their pin/axle connectors - they use Tan for the ones without friction and Blue for those with friction and thats really ugly in my opinion.
If I had real Lego only I would at least change all the pins (and the other ugly colors like 2 wide red axles or azure Gears to Alt-Lego)

The liftarms of Alternative Bricks are known to have a different mould on the sides. Does not change anything function-wise and I don't know the reason for that.

[aka13]

Ah that's pretty sweet, being able to pick and choose the color instead of colorcoding, but the sorting indeed will be a major pain