[REVIEW] 42043 - Mercedes-Benz Arocs 3245

[eliminator]

B Model

For those of you who have built the "B Model", approximately what percentage of the parts were used? Is it worth building?

[Ngoc Nguyen]

6 hours ago, eliminator said:

For those of you who have built the "B Model", approximately what percentage of the parts were used? Is it worth building?

It used about 95% of the parts, especially all the liftarms, even those with stickers. The remaining parts are small connectors, some axles, and a half of the clamshell bucket.

For me the B model is a fun build, but the final result is disappointing, lack playability, and doesn't look as good as the A model.

- The truck looks disproportionate because the big cabin stays the same, but the body is shortened. From side angle it looks bad, with the gap between the front mudguards and the wheels. It can only look good when it's in 3/4 angle.

- The outriggers are flimsy and can't really support the crane. That leads to the problem that after a while the base of the crane tend to bend downwards.

- The crane rotation is really slow, and can't be done manually, because it uses a worm gear.

Since I bought the set I have only built the B-model about 2-3 times. The rest of the time the set stays at the A model.

 

Edited October 19, 2016 by nguyengiangoc

[eliminator]

nguyengiangoc, many thanks for your comments. I'll give the B model a shot!

[asd111]

Hi Guys,

got my 42043, overall a great set. Unfortunately got 3 issues with it. Maybe you know how to fix - or some common mistake during the built.

1) the 4L axle from the fake engine tends to slide out of the crankshaft especialy when opening the cabin or using the suspension as the liftarm that is holding the axle with z8 gear is mounted to the front bumper which is not well connected to the chasis.

2) Front axle tires rub against the suspension links when fully steered

3) the front suspension does not really suspend anything - when driving across my fingers for example it just turns the wheels a bit and shakes the whole truck. Rear one works perfect.

Hope you can help me with this.

Merry Christmas :)

[asd111]

Bump, no one experiancing this issue :( ?

I checked for building mistakes but dont see any.

[Ngoc Nguyen]

1 hour ago, asd111 said:

Bump, no one experiancing this issue :( ?

I checked for building mistakes but dont see any.

For the first issue you can add a 1/2 pin on the remaining part of the 4L axle.

[agrof]

Hi asd111,

I just checked mine, so my answers:

1. correct, it really can slide out, but I have never experienced this. The axle should be 3/4M longer to be blocked correctly by the 13M black liftarm. 

One hint: I changed the gears to 2x z16 gears to make the engine run faster, maybe this is a reason, as these gears have more friction, than the z8 ones. 

 

2. You probably mounted the wheels with wrong side inwards, the "hollow" side should face outwards (Page 236 - Step 84). I checked, in case of opposite placement it really rubs.

3. The front springs are much stiffer, this causes the effect. You can replace them with softer, but then the front will lean forward - can not withstand the weight of the cabin, the crane, and the battery box. I think it is an acceptable compromise.

Hope, this helps.

Edited December 30, 2016 by agrof

[Mantarri]

I don't know if anyone has brought it up, but how does the Merc compare to 8868 air tech claw rig?

[Dazenie]

Hi I am a new member after visiting this great website for a while. I have built the a and b model and am about to rebuild the a. Just wanted to check that the cab, front grille and most of the crane (apart from the end) are exactly the same and I don't have to breakdown and build them up again. 

[Ngoc Nguyen]

14 minutes ago, Dazenie said:

Just wanted to check that the cab, front grille and most of the crane (apart from the end) are exactly the same and I don't have to breakdown and build them up again. 

Cab and crane arm are the same. You still need to build the new base and do some hose routing.

[Dazenie]

34 minutes ago, nguyengiangoc said:

Cab and crane arm are the same. You still need to build the new base and do some hose routing.

Thanks

[Mantarri]

I've received my copy of this now, the parts look so awesome!

Once I've finished the A model, I'm thinking of making a C model that looks like the 8868 Air Tech Claw Rig.

[Mantarri]

Finished it yesterday.

 My thoughts:

  The build process felt more interesting than the BWE, I got to see some cool mekanisms; instead of building intricate framwork 2/4 times over.

  The pneumatics: So. fun!  You just need to be gentle to get pretty precise movement.

 C Model thoughts:

   Dually Pickup truck with some sort of 4 wheeled trailer

   Remembrance model of the Air Tech Claw Rig 8868

   Wheeled excavator

   Backhoe?

 

Definitely worth it for $125!

Other: I purchased it used from Rossibrick on Bricklink, shipping was quite fast, and parts were in great shape, I'd buy from her again for sets for sure!

[johnchan1982sydney]

Excellent review

[1gor]

On 7/2/2015 at 0:38 AM, nickless said:

It would have been nive to see the slightly larger 32003 tires from the Black Cat and Racing Truck make a return. You can always mod the Arocs, of course, but ten of those tires will set you back dearly...

First of all I'm sorry to post my comment so late, but I've waited more that year and half for following answer from Mercedes Truck local distributor (because I'm no customer I'm not important...): Real Arocs 3245 has almost always tires 385/65R22,5 which are 1066mm in overall diameter, so 62,4 x 17 is (you may guess) and real truck is some 2500mm wide in scale 1:17 it is 15cm. 32003 tires are good to represent 445/65r22,5 tire which is 1168mm in outer / overall diameter...so despite fact that I would like that 32003 tires returned it is not properly scaled for 1:17 model, but for 1:16 model. 

sorry again to bump into relatively old review. speaking of review we all know that Jim is making excelent reviews with great photos...so no need to comment that skils

[Spooky]

absolutely another master piece from LEGO..I want that set but How can I find unopened box I don't know.. 

[Jim]

8 hours ago, Spooky said:

absolutely another master piece from LEGO..I want that set but How can I find unopened box I don't know.. 

It can be yours for 188 euro. There's only one in Turkey, so I recommend pushing the button 

https://store.bricklink.com/serhan&itemID=107071630#/shop?o={"invID":"107071630"}

[Robert Cailliau]

I did not find this set so very good.  The pneumatics don't really work as well as I would expect, probably due to the not so very good compressor, but also due to the hoses to the pistons.  The gearbox that drives it all is complex and has a lot of friction.  The geometry of the steering is good though.  But I would certainly not rate it as the best Technics set ever.

There are some excellent sets, and some that are rather disappointing.  Admittedly, it's very difficult to make Technics sets that work well and in the end are also good-looking.  The Arocs gets 5 out of 10 from me.  The bucket wheel excavator (42055) is the best one I have built: everything works well and all dimensioning is correct (*)

Then there is the whole issue of creativity:  building a mechanism with the new-fashion beams that have no studs is sometimes frustrating, as there is no easy way of getting a half-unit offset. (**)  But that has nothing to do with this particular set, it's a general remark.

Robert.

(*) the ferris wheel, 10247, has Pythagorean triangles that are wrong, one of them has a side that is off by 2.77mm (implemented: 132mm, Pythagoras: 129.2308mm); there are several Pythagorean triangles in the bucket wheel excavator but every one of them is correct!  (If you need elucidation: a Pythagorean triangle is a right-angled triangle in which all sides have integer lengths, such as 3-4-5 (because 3x3+4x4=5x5), which is needed in the case of Lego where everything has to fit a discrete grid).

(**) For example: making a 40 tooth wheel mesh with a 16 tooth is difficult: the axles need to be (40+16)/16 = 3.5 units apart.  3.5 is easy with the bricks with studs but not with the studless beams.  I'm trying to design an astronomical clock that's as good as John Stouffer's (https://www.buildsteam.com/home/introduction-to-the-lego-astronomical-clock) but will sit on a table top instead of needing a large drop. Using only the "new" Technics "religion" of studless beams is very difficult, and I have actually given up and reverted to the beams with studs.

Edited August 16, 2017 by Robert Cailliau

[Andy D]

When I first built this set I thought it was "just OK". I am just not that into pneumatics. The build was fun, I even built the B-model. I found it on sale and bought 2 more for parts. When I was through with my assembled model I just took it apart and put the parts into my inventory. In the last year I have decided to keep some sets I enjoy assebling as sets so I can assemble them again, and just recently I found a fairly good price on the AROCS so I decided to get it to keep in my "I will assemble again sometime" stack.

some of the functions don't function as I would like, but that is just my bias about pneumatics and how they function. I believe I would give this set an 8/10 (a B) and I will assemble it again someday. One day I will publish my list of "I will assemble again someday sets" 

Andy D

[Robert Cailliau]

Yes, "someday" is also on many of my lists…  ;-)

Anyway, perhaps I should research techniques for getting 0.5 unit distances with the studless beams.

Another "someday":  publish a list of parts that would be useful but do not exist.  Many of them are connectors.

[Aventador2004]

9 hours ago, Andy D said:

and just recently I found a fairly good price on the AROCS so I decided to get it to keep in my "I will assemble again sometime" stack.

I envy you for being able to buy 4 Arocs sets! I have nowhere close to that kind of money to spend.

[Andy D]

13 hours ago, Aventador2004 said:

I envy you for being able to buy 4 Arocs sets! I have nowhere close to that kind of money to spend.

Whoops! I misspoke. I only have 3 AROCS. I did not pay full price for any of them, all were purchased at very good discounts, so maybe I only paid a little more than the cost of 2 sets to get 3.

Andy D

[Aventador2004]

4 hours ago, Andy D said:

Whoops! I misspoke. I only have 3 AROCS. I did not pay full price for any of them, all were purchased at very good discounts, so maybe I only paid a little more than the cost of 2 sets to get 3.

Andy D

Someday I will get one, I currently own only the pneumatics from it (at discount!).

[Spooky]

On ‎8‎/‎16‎/‎2017 at 9:54 AM, Jim said:

It can be yours for 188 euro. There's only one in Turkey, so I recommend pushing the button 

https://store.bricklink.com/serhan&itemID=107071630#/shop?o={"invID":"107071630"}

woaww there is 42009 too..

[DutchChris]

Amazon.co.uk has it for 145 Euro, Shipping to Turkey will probably hurt though.