187 replies to this topic

[sverre]

Great truck. Impressed with your engineering skills.
My guess for the truck is Volvo..?

[Lasse D]

No correct guesses yet, although I like how some of you might have used the logo as a hint.
My bet is taht the *** ******* will stay un-guessed until I present it.

Ricecracker, on 09 August 2011 - 05:00 PM, said:

(...) Are you going to make the trailer extendable, or a fixed length?

Fixed length and simple so that kids can build and play with it without trouble. I am looking into the mechanism of the leg and will start posting prototypes soon.

[DJRBM]

Impressive!

Is it a (Nissan Diesel) UD Quon 460? Now part of Volvo, formerly Nissan.

Edited by DJRBM, 11 August 2011 - 08:37 PM.

[Richie]

How did you manage to keep all those 1 x 2 grille tiles in place?

[Lasse D]

By using rubber bands. That is why the upper tiles are upside down (so the bands reside within and make space for the upside-down 1x6 tile above) and why there is a pin beneath the grilles.



It's not a Nissan.

Edited by Lasse D, 12 August 2011 - 12:58 PM.

[Alasdair Ryan]

Its a seddon atkinson?

Edited by Alasdair Ryan, 12 August 2011 - 01:17 PM.

[Lasse D]

Nope. I would have told you when you guessed Iveco. AFAIK, this truck has nothing to do with Iveco.


I have a breakthrough in the trailer design.

The legs go down when the bumper is hit and stay down until the truck pulls it forward again.


Instructions are here:


This is the latest version of automated legs on the trailers. By following the link to the instructions above you will see the small yellow trailer which has simple legs that either stay up or own and the Octan trailer where the legs are activated by going into reverse.

Edited by Lasse D, 15 May 2013 - 11:40 PM.

[Alasdair Ryan]

Have you came up with a steering trailer were the power ot the trailer goes though the 5th wheel?

[Lasse D]

Alasdair Ryan, on 13 August 2011 - 05:18 PM, said:

Have you came up with a steering trailer were the power ot the trailer goes though the 5th wheel?

No. But you can give it a try.

Meanwhile, I have completed a physical version of the trailer:


I'm looking into a new trailer design where the bumper is pushed causing the legs to go down and the truck to be decoupled at the same time. Pushing the bumper again pulls the legs up and allows for a truck to couple on again.

Earlier trailers, such as the Police trailer and Coke truck trailer have had this kind of decoupling system, but they were electric.

[Lasse D]

While planning the mechanism described above, I have completed one for a sturdier, simpler and more reliable truck frame. By having permanent locked-diffs 4WD, it has much more grip than my other trucks and the simplified steering mechanism is more stable. The cost being no more automatic decoupling and lifting axle.


I will soon post pictures of this new truck - it can't possibly take long to build!

I am also looking into a container crane. If you have some schematics for huge container cranes lying around, then please share them with me :)

Edited by Lasse D, 01 August 2012 - 10:06 PM.

[Lasse D]

I have been away for a while.
Meanwhile, I have been building a crane  





It was exhibited at LEGO World Copenhagen 2012, but unlike normal MOCs, the Model Team creations were used by the kids throughout the opening hours.
I had two trucks (basic versions of the FAW Jiefang 6x4 trucks), some trailers, containers and this crane.
Another exhibitor, Klaus, brought the ships, and lots of containers.

There were two other podiums, one with Mike's Crane, and the two large motorized LEGO models, while the last podium had a Maersk train and Barman's container crane (made using his building instructions).





During the 4 days, the kids were truly stress testing the models  

[timslegos]

Wow that is one huge crane(the red one).  Nice job it looks really cool.

tim

[davidmull]

Is it an ERF or a MERC?

[dr_spock]

Nice cargo cranes.  Great you did some hands on for the kids.  How did they handle the kids?  Any issues?

[Lasse D]

Thanks guys. I will keep this thread updated as the models are improved.

davidmull, on 29 February 2012 - 04:18 AM, said:

Is it an ERF or a MERC?

I had to mix designs because even the smallest feeder would be way too large for the space we were given.
I am planning om basing the next one on the smallest "Portainer Crane" feeder / unless Maersk suddenly wants to give me a ton of Maersk blue bricks, then I'm game with a super post-panamx  

dr_spock, on 29 February 2012 - 04:31 AM, said:

Nice cargo cranes.  Great you did some hands on for the kids.  How did they handle the kids?  Any issues?

Nothing but issues   If there is even the slightest problem with anything, then you can be sure that the kids will find it. I will base my next crane on the stuff that went wrong with it. For the trucks, the largest issue was the railing which gave way a couple of times, resulting on the trucks crashing to the floor, shattering. Unfortunately LEGO didn't allow us to borrow pieces to replace the broken ones, so the trucks didn't run very well the last couple of days and needed almost constant mechanical repairs (stuff doesn't work well when gears are missing some teeth).

Edited by Lasse D, 29 February 2012 - 09:11 PM.

[Alasdair Ryan]

Nice crane, would you be interested in finishing this truck i started a while a go?I am just too busy.

Edited by Alasdair Ryan, 29 February 2012 - 09:36 PM.

[Lasse D]

Alasdair Ryan, on 29 February 2012 - 09:26 PM, said:

Nice crane would you be interested in finishing this truck i started a while a go?I am just too busy.

I feel your pain. My absense is also because of being busy at work, so I'm like the last person you should ask

I already have a huge back log of models that have to be built/rebuilt:
-FAW Jiefang: Both Model Team and Creator model need to be redesigned for better playability
-MT Scania: Needs similar redesign
-Creator Scania should be built like the FAW trucks for playability
-Renault Magnum need the same redesign
-MAN needs a redesign for dispensing bricks instead of GBC balls
-Coke trailer needs redesign for weight savings
-The crane must be redesigned to use NXT, be enlarged and use better fitting (staircases, control room and so on).

And that's not even counting the new designs which have to be built too!

[Alasdair Ryan]

Sounds like your going to be busy then.

[Saberwing40k]

is it an actros truck?

[Lasse D]

Alasdair's Scania? No. It is a Scania.


Now. I have collected the experiences from having the children drive my trucks at LEGOWorld 2012. These were both with the following frames:


The trucks had the following problems:
- Could not sustain fall from even a foot.
- Did not turn well on the slick surface.
- Were difficult to drive precisely.
- The rear latching mechanism stopped working once the rear bumpers were half way off.
- The steering assemblies ate the gears raw.
- The front wheels got caught in the fenders.
- The XL motor brushed against the longer trailers when turning.

I have now rebuilt a truck with the following frame:


It has the following advantages:
- Low motor placement gives more space to build the cab nicely. Besides, trailers do not brush against the XL motor and since the surface is flat, the motors will not touch the ground.
- Full liftarm construction should make the damage from falling less severe.
- The latch mechanism is much stronger and the fifth wheel is placed further back to make it easier to use.
- Dual diffs makes the truck easier to turn.
- Shorter lengths between the axles makes the truck turn tighter and puts more weight on the rear wheels due to better weight distribution.
- The steering is slower, allows more precise movement and the gears are all locked so the steering mechanism stays intack when used.
- The steering is wider for aestetics reasons.
- The 15 liftarm allows the cab to be secured in the top for improved structural integrity.

I will make a comparison video once I get time... and there's light.

Edited by Lasse D, 01 August 2012 - 10:08 PM.

[Richie]

So these are universal frames, to be used with any of your trucks?

Nice to see another approach of your truck chassis. I'm not a huge fan of the rear tyres, but I suppose you choosed those for traction.

[Alasdair Ryan]

I like the changes.
I must have another go at making a model team truck soon.

[timslegos]

Wow that chassis is impressively compact.  Will you make instructions?

tim

[Lasse D]

Thanks guys.

Richie, on 21 March 2012 - 11:23 AM, said:

So these are universal frames, to be used with any of your trucks?

Nice to see another approach of your truck chassis. I'm not a huge fan of the rear tyres, but I suppose you choosed those for traction.

These are frames for mode robust and simpler versions of my Model Team trucks. They are supposed to be robust enough for children to play with them for hours when on display at LEGO events.

I am planning on making 4 trucks on this basic frame - all with instructions so they will be easy to repair.

The rear tyres are, unfortunately, the only ones with enough grip on the really slippery surfaces of 8x16 tiles. I really want to make duallies with normal tyres, but they simply didn't have enough grip.

timr, on 21 March 2012 - 08:06 PM, said:

Wow that chassis is impressively compact.  Will you make instructions?

tim

Thanks, and yes. I have just completed the LDraw model of the first truck (FAW Jiefang):



Stay tuned for a comparison with the old type of FAW Jiefang from 2011.

Edited by Lasse D, 15 May 2013 - 11:41 PM.

[Bigfoot]

A Volvo or Kenworth.