42055 - Bucket Wheel Excavator

[JimDude]

Apart from the colour-vomit, which even extends to the truck there is something that bugs me, other than the "MOC-look": the 'tail' - for lack of a better word - is sagging. On an official set, that's just plain weird.

[Jub]

Now what will it take to turn this baby BWE into one of the truly massive one like bagger 288 or 293?

[GoldVillage]

First picture made no justice to it. It is growing on me. A lot.

It grew alot on me too! wondering if the top end is meant to be a carrying handle

[Jub]

I think the top of the superstructure is for structural integrity

[roppie11]

The half turntable ring will be for slewing the discharge conveyor.

Anyone worked out the diameter of the new turntable parts ?

i counted 18 studs, maybe it's 19 or 17

[deehtha]

There looks to be about 14 of the new gear rack. It looks like they are designed as quarter arcs. It also looks like the structure is a little weak, you can see the back half of the arm sagging a little.

Are the tracks in black and dbg?

[plethorabricks]

Yikes, this is huge. What could the B-model possibly be?

[roppie11]

Yikes, this is huge. What could the B-model possibly be?

it will have a bucket wheel and a lot of tracks i think. the new gear rack is gonna be used as well a few times.

they always use as much of the special parts as possible. i don't see other noticable parts. they probably are there but i cant see them.

edit: i tell it like i have a source but this is just what i think.

Edited January 26, 2016 by roppie11

[doug72]

Would make a good bulk ship loader

[Tommy Styrvoky]

Wow it has at least 5 of the new turntable pieces, looks like a replacement for hailfire gears. Maybe it's time to get a couple of those and make a turntable for a MOC. Though I think this set is too tall and ugly, hopefully someone will make a ultimate version of this and make it look like a proper bucket wheel excavator with several sets of tracks.

[Richard Dower]

what part # are the yellow buckets?....is this a new part or a new colour?

[Kaanere]

The cabin looks minifig-scale...

[IJsmuts]

WOW It's ugly!! But also soo cool that TLG is releasing a set like this. I think when this set will be available we all love it. And if we dont we should buy it also, just because to encourage TLG to release more out of the box sets like this. Because it's ugly... but also soo cool!!

[dr_spock]

I think it is a good part pack too or a starting point for something bigger.

[DoGoods]

I thought for sure this color vomit set was a moc until seeing the YouTube video.

I'm very interested in the curved gear racks, and hope they can be used for slewing rings/turn tables.

[aol000xw]

What was b model? mobile ?? processing plant?

[doug72]

B model, mobile aggregates plant.

[DoGoods]

mobile aggregate processing plant was the B model

[Ngoc Nguyen]

BWE's B model: Mobile Aggregate Processing Plant!

[XAxles]

Something like that, I hope? Would look great when modified as a War Rig, that's for sure.

Edited January 26, 2016 by XAxles

[Konsta90]

Much better in the video. Now I like it a lot.... 2x Claas + that baby + very possible the Porsche... Bye bye new PC...

[cloud]

Much better in the video. Now I like it a lot.... 2x Claas + that baby + very possible the Porsche... Bye bye new PC...

This

[Erik Leppen]

I'm not so sure about this.

At first sight, it looks like a bunch of beams. I realize that it needs to be strong, but I prefer an intricate and compact model with lots of details, and and the Claas looks much more promising to me personally than this. Of course I'll be curious as heck to know what the inner workings are, but I'll be close to 100% certain I won't be buying this.

Part of the problem is the colors. Not so much the pins and axles, but the gray and dark gray mixed seemingly randomly. If only they made the 5x7 box beam and the 5x11 panel in dark gray, there would already have been a lot more color consistency. Also the yellow stripe makes it look really crowded with too many color bands and things.

I would have prefered a completely dark-gray frame with dark-blue as the main color and yellow for some details like the fences. The huge yellow wheel and all the yellow turntables are kind of an eyesore, to be honest, and of course, I'd much prefer having that absolutely wonderful new ring part in a more neutral color.

So, I really hope they revisit the colors.

Also it remains to be seen if the functionality justifies the size, or that a 2000 piece set could have been just as functional. There better be loads of functions.

That said, I applaud the bold move by TLC to release such a wildly otherworldly model as a 4000 piece (and probably 400 euro...) set. I bet they do it just to seek the limits of what can be sellable.

[John Daniels]

So ugly in the first pic, but the pic of the box makes it look a lot better. The color vomit is just outrageous, how many people who can't tell what a part is if it isn't color coded, are going to be able to build an almost 4,000 piece set? TLG needs to figure out that anyone interested in technic has a high enough IQ to not need such ridiculous measures.

[allanp]

BWE's B model: Mobile Aggregate Processing Plant!

Well of course it is, did anyone think it wouldn't be?!

Seriously though, the problems with the XL motor is raising it's ugly head in the model. See how jerky the movement of the front wheel and conveyors are? The long axles that drive them are moving too slowly and with too much torque so they are twisting which causes the jerky movement. You need to have those long axles spinning very fast but with very little torque (with the majority of the gearing down being at the wheel) so that those long axles can transmit the same amount of mechanical power without twisting. this would make for a much more solid looking movement.