Pictorial review: 8286 3-In-1 Car

[Lost_In_Noise]

The 3-In-1 Car was released in 1996, contains 734 pieces and two Technic minifigs with white helmets. The amphibious car features steering via HOG, a winch in the front and a towing crane in the back. The trailer has pendular suspension. The helicopter features rotating props via a crank.

Before buying this, I supposed 3-in-1 Car meant that you could rebuild it into 3 different models. Now I see that they meant that the car itself consists of three different models. And all for 60 $, great.

The box is the old flip-top style which shows the parts assortment, and suggests playing themes of the set.

This set is the one I have with the most diverse wheels assortment. There are 4 sets of 6578, 4 of 6594, 3 3483, a 4084 and a 3641, for a total of 13 wheels.

EDIT: Although 8872 has more wheels.

The instructions have separate parts for the car, trailer and helicopter. First off, it's the suv-like car.

The frame is the first part to be made as usual.

I really don't like this way of constructing sets. starting with the guessing game of how many studs these plates are apart. They should rather have you turn the model over to place the plates.

The same setup on the left side. If you look closely, you can spot the error I corrected between this shot and the previous one.

The rear trailer hitch is placed.

Front steering.

Rear license plate.

And lights.

Two of these goes in the front and back.

The steering rack that goes to the HOG.

Front fender.

HOG added at step 16.

Front fender finished:

The center console has radio , phone, an automatic gearbox and ventilation.

The sides of the cabin is placed. No opening doors this time.

Some side slope bricks in the front.

Side supports in the back made of 8 axles and perpendicular connectors.

The doors stay open thanks to the 3 axle with stud.

The rear wheel suspension consists almost solely of perpendicular axle and pin connectors. You can see the propellers in the back.

The front winch is next.

Finished. The rubber bands pushes the 1/2 bush against the 8T gear, stopping the winch from retracting.

Next is the towing crane for the flatbed.

The small rubber tire is placed on a half-bush-resulting in a very slippery control. It reminds me of the great 8880.

Crane finished, now all that remains is the windshield, made of yellow flex axles. The HOG light is also placed.

Putting on the wheels wasn't a trivial task, caused by some old bushes.

Car finished, now for the trailer.

Starting with some bricks...

A Steering Knuckle Arm with Ball Joint is attached to the front of the trailer.

Pendular suspension for the wheels.

Finished.

The helicopter base.

Rear wing. It has a 24T crown gear and an 12T bevel in the back, suggesting a main-to-rear prop ratio of 1:2.

The rear driveshaft har a 8 tooth and a 12T bevel attached, resulting

in a 1:3 final drive ratio.

Engine and rear prop placed.

The main prop diveshaft casing placed.

Main driveshaft in place. And 8T gear gives this the same ratio as the rear.

A pulley wheels drive the rotors.

Landing gear in place.

A camera.

Lastly, the canopy and rotor.

3-in-1 car in action:

The helmets can be placed on the dash.

Rear end suggest that someone with CN initials made this model. I don't know.

Comparison with 8849 Tractor with log loader and 8872 Forklift transporter, its scale is somewhere between those two.

Thanks for reading my longest review yet. If you like this set, vote on the poll, someone is always watching.

Big pics @ Brickshelf

Edited September 24, 2012 by Lost_In_Noise

[timslegos]

I love these pictorial reviews, I get to see sets that I would never had known about before.

On a technical side, some of the photos were just a tad over exposed (too bright), otherwise great job on these reviews.

tim

[Alasdair Ryan]

Very nice review,I have cast my vote............

Edited August 25, 2012 by Alasdair Ryan

[Lost_In_Noise]

I love these pictorial reviews, I get to see sets that I would never had known about before.

On a technical side, some of the photos were just a tad over exposed (too bright), otherwise great job on these reviews.

tim

In my first reviews, I didn't use any exposure compensation, and couldn't tell the pins from the bricks. That's the reason I chose to over expose all shots for these reviews.

Edited August 25, 2012 by Lost_In_Noise

[Rijkvv]

My cousin has this set, and it was always fun to play with. I think this set has to score on playablility rather than technical complexity. The Dutch catalog described the vehicle as an amphibian vehicle, and by the looks of the two screws it looks it indeed is. The biggest disadvantage for me is the use of stickers. As I remember from CP5670's* quality reference, some sets already suffered from stickers peeling off and that's one reason for me not buying the set. The headlights are STAMPs, and if they were some plates on top of eachother, it would be easy to keep them intact. But they are placed on some bricks next to eachother. That's why I voted Decent, it would have scored better if there were less stickers.

Good review, I first thought you forgot to mention the play features, but I should have read better.

[Lost_In_Noise]

(...)The headlights are STAMPs, and if they were some plates on top of eachother, it would be easy to keep them intact. But they are placed on some bricks next to eachother. That's why I voted Decent, it would have scored better if there were less stickers.(...)

That's probably why they were missing in my set. A lot of my second-hand sets suffers from missing stickers, nowadays I use a sharp knife to split the STAMPs when I place them.

Edited August 25, 2012 by Lost_In_Noise

[Blakbird]

Nice review!

Before buying this, I supposed 3-in-1 Car meant that you could rebuild it into 3 different models. Now I see that they meant that the car itself consists of three different models. And all for 60 $, great.

I'm pretty sure that "3-in-1" refers to land, sea, and air.

[parda]

Excellent review and one of the best technic playset with technic figures!