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8451 was released in 2003, contains 183 pieces, and features articulated steering via HOG and tilting bed.Brickset reports a retail price of $20, and that's about the same as the average BL price. The B-model of this set is a road grader, the only one seen in Technic.
The parts
The panels in this set is somewhat of a rarity, this item is only seen in this and the 8455 Back-Hoe.
The smaller panel #5 is a bit more common, and featured in the above sets and the Hauler.
The wheels are 6 of the Tire 43.2 x 28 Balloon Small, which are perhaps most known for their presence in the Power Puller set.
There aren't many gears in this set, but these 5 are enough to make the dumper and the road grader function.
A model: Dump Truck
The front part with the cocpit is made first as a separate element. It consists mostly of thin liftarms, and the HOG axle runs through the center.
The HOG is geared down to a 1:2 ratio with these meshing gears.
Here is the finished cocpit. Turning the HOG light moves the perpendicular axle connector from side to side.
The bed tilting works by a lever mechanism. Simple, but effective. This is how the tilting setup looks before the bucket is placed.
Half the bucket in place. Now you can see the whole tilting mechanism.
Now that the bed is finished, all that remains is attaching it to the front.
A 2 axle secures it in place, you can see it to the left of the DG 3/4 pin. The 6 wheels are attached by frictionless pins. Now the model is finished.
Turning the Light Gray 20T DB gear tilts the bucket.
This is as far as it goes. Enough to lose any load.
In comparison with 8264, it's simply dwarfed.
B model: Road Grader
This build starts with the rear end and axle leading to the scoop/bucket. Interestingly, this has more steps than the main model; 44 vs 29. It uses 162 pieces, leaving 21.
Here you can see how the grader arm is elevated.
This 12T DB gear is mounted directly on a pair of 3L thin liftarms with a frictionless pin. This will act as a HOG.
The grader is mounted, now the front axle is all that remains.
This model uses a pushrod system to steer. A set of liftarms links the input to the axle.
And finished! Let's have a look....
That grey gear is easier to handle than it seems.
The steering angle is limited by the axles with bushes on them. But still the grader is able to make tight turns.
Scoop movement:
Verdict
This is a nice little set, which works flawlessly in all ways. The dump truck looks really nice, considering the limited parts supply. The road grader also looks better than the 8828 B-model, but I've seen far better MOCs around. It's a bit bigger than your average mini set, such as the Tracked Crane of this year.
Thanks for watching/reading. As always, big pics are @ BrickShelf
Edited by Lost_In_Noise, 19 November 2012 - 12:30 PM.
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