Recreating expensive UCSset by purchasing individual pieces?

[neim343]

All credit on how to mount goes to etcknight, he shows how in this thread...

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6446

[kjklock]

I've been planning to Bricklink and build a UCS Falcon for a few years now. Seeing and reading this post has encouraged me to finally get going with this project. Yesterday I started gathering all the parts that I can out of my spare LEGO bins. I feel like I'm doing pretty well so far, but sometimes I come across a bunch of the correct part, but in the wrong color. Besides looking through the instructions to see where all the parts will end up in the build, I was wondering if anyone has gone through the trouble of annotating a list of which parts are on the inside (and therefore could be substituted for color) and which parts are going to be on the outside (and therefore need to be 100% correct). For example, I have a ton of "Technic, Pin Long with friction Ridges Lengthwise" in blue, but I haven't seen any in black (which is what the set calls for). I would imagine that this substitution is going to be OK, but I don't know for sure if the ends of some of these pins will be visible on the outside of the build. It would also be nice to know if I can substitute other colors for some of the 243 needed "Light Bluish Gray Plate 2 x 3" plates that I have none of.

Has anyone made a list like this for the 10179 UCS Falcon?

[jmfbtb]

Kjklock,

I used Rob's spreadsheet that is linked here:
http://forum.rebelscum.com/t1055998-17/#post18416640

You will need to compare the recommendations against the parts pricing on Brick Link or other sources. There is no reason to match all of the internal colors unless you are trying to recreate the original set in it's entirety.

For example, Lego picked yellow for the 90 degree technic piece in the frame to make the instructions easier to use.

Jeff

[kjklock]

Jeff-

Thanks for that link. Unfortunately, I can't download the spreadsheet for some reason. Perhaps it's because I'm trying to do it from work and it's getting blocked. I'll try it from home and see if I have any better luck.

Thanks again...

Ken

[kjklock]

From home, I was able to see all the pictures and open Rob's UCS Falcon Parts List spreadsheet. That is a very helpful thread and it gave me a great deal of insight into the project that I'm embarking upon. Although Rob made a few color substitutions and a few parts substitutions which he listed in his spreadsheet, I intend to make far more color substitutions for parts that are on the inside of the build. I'm doing this to further reduce my overall cost of the project by maximizing the use of all the spare LEGO elements that I have in bins in my LEGO room. I have started a spreadsheet to keep track of what parts I have, what parts I need, and all the color substitutions that I could make. When I'm done, (which will probably be in the Fall of 2013) I'll post my spreadsheet here so others can make their color substitution decisions without having to do all the advanced work. I think it is going to really reduce cost to be able to make a Bricklink wanted list with many of the parts that are "regardless of color". I plan to keep track of everything, so I know exactly how much this project ends up costing me. Actually placing the Bricklink orders and beginning the construction won’t even start until after we move to Colorado in July, so I have plenty of time to do all the research and analysis of which parts can be swapped for color without affecting the outward appearance of the set.