ColletArrow Posted July 3, 2020 Posted July 3, 2020 This excavator is one of many I've built over the years, but the first I've shared. It came about from looking at Google Image search results for "road rail excavator", with a good helping of inspiration from @Hod Carrier's excellent model. It's not based on any single prototype - the build was mostly dictated by what parts I had available! I decided to incorporate a series of strings to control the main boom, the dipper and the attachment, from gears on the side of the superstructure. Elastic is used to return the dipper and attachment when the string is slackened off - or it was, until the one I was using for the attachment split before I took these photos. It should be fixed between the black and DBG plates and at the top of the cylinder, to represent the hyrdaulic ram. The cab took several revisions before I was happy with it. It uses some frankly ridiculous offsets and SNoT, which I'm sure anyone with a wider parts selection could build much more efficiently! Hey, it works, and I managed to include an opening door so I'm happy. The rear side isn't particularly interesting; I incorporated the control gears into the grille areas so they don't stand out quite so much. Finally, thanks to an extra manual hinge point (just behind the spotlights), the boom can be folded up fairly compactly for transport... ... yet still has enough reach and stability to be able to lift and lay track panels. Thank you for looking! And if anyone's interested, more photos and the LDD file are available in my Bricksafe Folder: https://bricksafe.com/pages/Collet22/road-rail-excavators Quote
LEGO Train 12 Volts Posted July 3, 2020 Posted July 3, 2020 So little but so great! I love this cute excavators ...it could be a real set I'm going to download the ldd file right now! Quote
SteamSewnEmpire Posted July 3, 2020 Posted July 3, 2020 Unless the middle cab bar is integral to support, I'd dump it. It looks too much like a jail. Quote
zephyr1934 Posted July 4, 2020 Posted July 4, 2020 6 hours ago, LEGO Train 12 Volts said: I love this cute excavators ...it could be a real set It's too good to be a set, great work! Quote
ColletArrow Posted July 4, 2020 Author Posted July 4, 2020 (edited) 13 hours ago, SteamSewnEmpire said: Unless the middle cab bar is integral to support, I'd dump it. It looks too much like a jail. It's not integral, I put it there to make it look like a grille-protected cab to hide the fact there's no windscreen. But here you go: @LEGO Train 12 Volts, @Jerry McGlade & @zephyr1934 - thank you! I feel its full of holes (quite literally with the technic boom), but I'm glad you like it. I'll draw a diagram to illustrate the string paths, since the boom will be very floppy without them! Edited July 4, 2020 by ColletArrow Speelling Quote
SteamSewnEmpire Posted July 4, 2020 Posted July 4, 2020 (edited) 7 hours ago, ColletArrow said: It's not integral, I put it there to make it look like a grille-protected cab to hide the fact there's no windscreen. But here you go: @LEGO Train 12 Volts, @Jerry McGlade & @zephyr1934 - thank you! I feel its full of holes (quite literally with the technic boom), but I'm glad you like it. I'll draw a diagram to illustrate the string paths, since the boom will be very floppy without them! I gotcha. I think a lot of smaller excavators lack a windshield though, so ditching it is likely okay in that regard: Edited July 4, 2020 by SteamSewnEmpire Quote
LEGO Train 12 Volts Posted July 6, 2020 Posted July 6, 2020 On 7/4/2020 at 7:09 AM, zephyr1934 said: It's too good to be a set, great work! I guess you're right Quote
A Wild P42 Posted July 8, 2020 Posted July 8, 2020 It has tank treads! Now that's breaking the rules.... Great MOC! Quote
Paperinik77pk Posted October 20, 2020 Posted October 20, 2020 I lost this one...but it's very nicely done and it's really cute!!! Quote
WesternOutlaw Posted October 22, 2020 Posted October 22, 2020 Intricate detailing for a small model. Excellent! Quote
ColletArrow Posted October 22, 2020 Author Posted October 22, 2020 On 10/20/2020 at 11:15 PM, Paperinik77pk said: I lost this one...but it's very nicely done and it's really cute!!! 8 hours ago, WesternOutlaw said: Intricate detailing for a small model. Excellent! Thank you both! I'd somewhat forgotten about this MOC, so it was nice to be reminded of it. I don't think I'd call it a particularly detailed model, because the main focus was on getting the functions to work realistically. Reading through the previous posts, I saw that 3 months ago I said I'd draw a diagram of the string set-up - so here it is! Red, Light Blue and Green are the three operating strings, spooled around various axles in the engine compartment, threaded around the boom and tied to their respective sections (denoted by the "x"). Two pieces of elastic help return the dipper and bucket - the dark blue band wrapped around the boom and dipper, and the lime green piece representing the bucket's hydraulic ram. Unfortunately, that last one was missing when I took the photos of this model, because it had snapped! It's possible to use the excavator without it, provided you only want to use the hook attachment rather than the bucket. I hope this clears a few things up. If you want to build the model, a reminder that the LDD file is available in the Bricksafe folder: https://bricksafe.com/pages/Collet22/road-rail-excavators Quote
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