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[REVIEW] 42023 - Construction Crew
Jim posted a topic in LEGO Technic, Mindstorms, Model Team and Scale Modeling
REVIEW - 42023 - CONSTRUCTION CREW FINALLY, THE TECHNIC FIGURES ARE RETURNING?! The title of this set made a lot of people wonder about the Return of the Figures. Unfortunately this was not the case. Nonetheless, this still is a special set, because recently we've started a Technic Triple Build contest and one of the competitors came from an unexpected quarter. It seems TLG was way ahead of us and already anticipated our contest. Let's see whether they have a chance of winning with their 42023 Construction Crew entry Before I start, I want to thank TLG and Bonaparte for giving me the opportunity to do a review on this set. It's my first official review and I appreciate it very much! Since I didn't have a DSLR at the time, I borrowed a Canon EOS 600D and started experimenting with it. So special thanks to my friend as well, for letting me use his camera Note: Every image can be clicked to show a high resolution version. SET INFORMATION Number: 42023 Title: Construction Crew Theme: Technic Released: 1H 2014 Part Count: 833 Set Price (MSRP): DE 59.99 EUR / UK 49.99 GBP / USA 69.99 USD Price per Part: DE 0.072 EUR / UK 0.060 GBP / USA 0.084 USD THE BOX The box measures 48cm x 28cm x 7cm. The size of the box seems about right for a set with around 800 parts. FRONT SIDE The front of the box shows a Dump Truck, an Excavator and a Front Loader collaborating in their construction activity. Looking at the image I wasn't filled with joy or excitement. Just three small vehicles, right? Noticeable are the new tires on the Front Loader. At this point I was anxious to see which other new parts are in this set. BACK SIDE The back side shows the build being divided in three models, each using two bags. It also shows some of the functionality per model. B-Model The lower left corner shows a laptop with what appears to be the B-model for the Front Loader, a Road Grader, no it isn't, it's a Scraper. Makes you wonder whether there are alternatives for both other models as well. The box says Find inspiration model on Lego.com/technic but doesn't mention building instructions. There's also no 2-in-1 logo, so it's not entirely clear whether this is an official B-model. Although it would be confusing to have a 6-in-3 or 4-in-3 or something CONTENTS OF THE BOX Opening the box reveals the six bags, numbered in pairs. Since every model has it's own color, it's immediately clear which bags will be used for which model. Every model has it's own instruction booklet and there's a single sticker sheet combining the stickers for each model. O my, what's happened to the Excavator booklet?! The downside of not having a card board back, like the bigger sets have, is pretty clear. The booklets and instructions are loose in the box and, therefor not protected and susceptible to damage. Luckily the sticker sheet was in mint condition. HIGHLIGHTED PARTS One of the most exciting things about new sets is new parts, or existing parts in new colors. Turns our that this set contains a ton of cool parts! 3x5 I-FRAME (BEAM I -FRAME 3X5 90 DEGR. HOLE Ø4.85) First of all there's the 3x5 I-Frame previously dubbed the Dog Bone Frame. Some people where pretty accurate in predicting the looks of this part. 3L LONG AXLE PIN (CON. BUSH 2M FR. + CROSS AXLE) You might have never missed it, but now it's available, it can be very useful in certain situations. 3L WORM GEAR (3M WORM GEAR) The new Worm Gear is an alternate solution for the Worm Gear Screw. The main difference is that it needs two axles, instead of one going through the gear. So the new gear doesn't slide freely over axles. 49.5 x 20 TIRE 2014 would be a year in which new tires would be released. Well, here they are. These tires are perfectly suited for smaller scale vehicles. They use the same rims as the Tire 43.2 x 22 ZR, but as you can see the diameter is 49.5mm instead of 43.2mm. This provides a more realistic proportion, especially suitable for trucks and construction vehicles. Basically they are small Unimog like tires. Big thumbs up for TLG! SMOOTH AXLE AND PIN CONNECTOR IN BLUE Since Blue is the new Black these, it's great to see TLG made this parts available in blue. THIN 3x5 L-SHAPE LIFTARM WITH QUARTER ELLIPSE IN WHITE Although not very rare and not in very high demand, this part has not been released since the Cool Movers (2004) PART LIST Here's the complete list for all 833 parts. THE BUILD The build consists of three vehicles. Each vehicles uses two bags. Excavator Dump Truck Front Loader EXCAVATOR Let's start with the first bags, the excavator. The base uses the new Long Axle Pins in collaboration with a Long Pin with Stop Bush. This is a combination we will probably see more often, since we end up with an uneven symmetrical construction, which is commonly used in studless models. This is the first time we see the new 3x5 I-Frame (a.k.a. Dog Bone Frame) in action. It is used to connect to the Small Turntable (Small Turntable Base and Small Turntable Top). A 6L axle is connected to a 8T Gear Type 2, which is used to turn the body of the excavator. An I-Frame on each side of the Small Turntable. At the rear you can see the axle used to operate the mini Linear Actuator, which is used to raise and lower the boom. The body of the excavator is starting to take shape. The mini LA is connected to the boom and one of the 11L Liftarms is connected to the I-Frame. FINISHED MODEL The excavator has three functions, rotating the body, raising/lowering the boom and operating the bucket, which can be done by using the Pole Reverser Handle on the boom. TLG hasn't made many small excavators. Besides the 8047 Compact Excavator, which actually is a different vehicle, there's the 8419 Excavator. This excavator looks way better and much more realistic than it's predecessor, if you can call it that. I think it's safe to say that this is the first proper small scale Excavator. EXCAVATOR MISCELLANEOUS BUILDING STEPS DUMP TRUCK The second model is a blue dump truck. Like lots of other vehicles, we start building the steering mechanism. In the image below you can see the new Long Axle Pin used to pivot the 7L Liftarm. At the same time it is used to connect a 3L Perpendicular Axle and Pin Connector. At this point the front of the truck is finished. A 12T Double Bevel Gear is used for HoG steering. I was surprised by the looks of the cab. It looks so realistic, even in this scale. This set is growing on me! After the cab it's time for the dumping bed. The bottom of the bed is attached to a mini Linear Actuator and the sides are made up of two grey panels. There's a hatch at the back, which will open automatically if you raise the bed, using the beforementioned mini LA. The stickers give the dumping bed a more realistic look. Especially the sides look way cooler with the stickers applied. FINISHED MODEL After attaching the dumping bed to the chassis, the build of the truck has finished. The 12T gear is used for HoG steering and the black axle connectors are used to operate the dumping bed. The turning cycle is pretty big, but that's expected for a small set like this. Raising and lowering the bed does work pretty good with the mini LA's. DUMP TRUCK MISCELLANEOUS BUILDIING STEPS FRONT LOADER Last but not least is the Front Loader. The new Worm Gear and new Tires are used in this model. The build start with the rear end, where the HoG steering mechanism is located. Two 8T gears are used to drive a 24T gear, which is connected to the front section. The new Worm Gear is used to drive a 24T gear, much like the current Worm Gear. The main difference is that the axles don't go all the way through the gear, so you'll need two axles or an axle and axle pin. The new gear is more compact than the other version, so it's easy to integrate into your model. This part won't entirely replace the other version, since that one can be used in different ways. But this new version will probably be used much more in future sets. It does make me wonder whether it would have been possible to lose the Bushings and just have a 1L Worm Gear. Here you can see the new Worm Gear driving the 24T gear, which is connected to the boom. Like the HoG steering the worm gear is connected to a 12T Double Bevel Gear, which is located on the back. FINISHED MODEL The finished model looks stunning. Obviously the new tires are the stars of this model. It would have been hard to make a small scale front loader without them. Like the excavator, the bucked is operated on the boom, without gears. FRONT LOADER MISCELLANEOUS BUILDING STEPS PARTS LEFT At first sight there's a lot of parts left. But having three models, means three small batches left. SUMMARY At first I wasn't very excited about this set. The fact that it matched our Triple Build Contest made me a bit more curious. After building the excavator I realized that it looks good, it has the functions you would expect and that it reflects the real deal pretty well. The truck was the least appealing model, but after the build I was also enthusiastic about this model. The front of the trucks just looks very nice and realistic. In my opinion the Front Loader is the best looking model of the set. The new tires are great! The build was fun, but not very challenging. The fact that you are building multiple models, does make up for this a little bit. Every model does have two or three functions, which makes for great playability. The downside is that the functions are fairly simple. Great thing about this set is, that it has loads of new exciting parts! PROS Loads of new parts. Lots of variation in parts (wheels, tracks, mini LA's, small turntable, etc). 3 models in one set. Lots of functions (8 main functions, divided over three models). All three models look very realistic. CONS The build is never really challenging. Functionality remains pretty basic for a set with around 800 parts. SCORE Design 8: All models in this set look very realistic. Build 7: Three fun builds, but it never gets very challenging. Functionality 7: Lots of (simple) functionality divided over three models. Playability 8: Especially for kids this set offers lots of playability. Parts 8: Loads of new cool parts. Value for Money 8: Having all these new parts makes this a set worth buying. 7,7 Surprisingly Cool Thanks for reading and please rate this set at the top of this topic! All review images can be found on my Flickr page