[MOC] Model Team MAN TGS 8 x 4 Cement Truck with SBrick

[Lasse D]

My MAN TGS 8 x 4 Cement truck has been upgraded from Power Function to SBrick, but rather than killing the old red truck, I made a new Bright Light Orange / Dark Red version with a series of small upgrades:

In the video I go through the functionality and compare it to the old version:

The truck was finished a couple of weeks ago, but I wanted to improve some details before making a video and posting it here.

The most "controversial" change (at least when I it comes to changes which I'm unsure of) is the windscreen. To replace the 12x2x4 windscreen that I'm using in everything with the 12x3x3 does change the whole aesthetics of the truck quite dramatically. The A-pillars might be too massive now, but I have chosen to keep it. For the picture above I have also reduced the angle of the windscreen slightly in order to better fit the A-pillars than shown in the video.

Another battle was to use either a single time or details in two plates width to cover the SBrick:

I ended up using 2 plates (the gray 1x4 and 2x3 plates under the tiles) which protrudes just a bit too much on the side. Still I like it better than simply using tiles as seen on this earlier version: 

It doesn't look better, but it looks more realistic (at least in my opinion. It's the same rationale I'm using with the windscreen)

And just for fun. Here is the same picture with a slow shutter speed and the barrel rolling:

 

Here is how to program the SBrick for the truck:

 

Here is the old thread for the red truck:

 

BrickShelf gallery, once approved: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=568737

Building instructions to appear once I have made all those I promised for the DAF.

[Erik Leppen]

This is just perfect. I always admire people who can build cement trucks, and this one is st a perfeft scale with so many details, and a nide color scheme. Great job, also how you managed to fit everything in!

[WvG_853]

This really is a classic and I'm glad to see you are still tweaking it. Building it is on my to-do list. I am interested in instructions for the sbrick version, but I will probably stick to the red (or blue) version.

Out of curiosity: although the standard battery pack fits greatly in the design, have you considered using the smaller battery pack? Would this not give you a bit more flexibility and potentially hide the battery pack completely?

[Lasse D]

On 25/2/2017 at 8:00 PM, Erik Leppen said:

This is just perfect. I always admire people who can build cement trucks, and this one is st a perfeft scale with so many details, and a nide color scheme. Great job, also how you managed to fit everything in!

Thanks. I used a home-brew computer program to design the barrel. My first cement truck (the blue one) was drawn by hand, but I'm not as satisfied with the result.

On 26/2/2017 at 10:09 AM, WvG_853 said:

This really is a classic and I'm glad to see you are still tweaking it. Building it is on my to-do list. I am interested in instructions for the sbrick version, but I will probably stick to the red (or blue) version.

Out of curiosity: although the standard battery pack fits greatly in the design, have you considered using the smaller battery pack? Would this not give you a bit more flexibility and potentially hide the battery pack completely?

Thanks. The reason behind my choice of battery packs is mainly that  I only have a single LIPO, while around 40 (or is it 50 now?) 6 x AA packs. You are right. The Lipo will allow for a better looking model since it can be hidden more easily, and I have seen that it holds enough power to drive a model for a couple of hours, which is more than enough. I will see if I can get some more of them as right now I can't even find the one I have!

[AFOLegofan66]

thanks for the Sbrick tip....very useful!!

[Lasse D]

You are welcome.

I realized that it is difficult to understand what I am saying while the drum rotates, so I have added closed captions to the video.