42121 Hydraulic Excavator - MODs and Improvements

[Jundis]

Hi guys,

just started yesterday evening and came up with a MOD that changed my two main concerns about this model: Independent bucket movement and upper boom movement range. My only issues now are, that it looks a little bit more cumbersome than before and can't be actuated from the frame but from the boom itself, but regardless it works really nice. Here is a before (upper) and after (lower) mod:

 

You only need those extra pieces:

 

First, you need to disassamble the boom to this stage:

 

Then, mod it like this:

 

Rebuild the upper boom like this:

 

And connect both booms, the inner thin T-shaped liftarms are inverted and hold the actuator:

 

Leftover parts are:

Edited March 5, 2021 by Jundis

[doug72]

Images not showing 

[Jundis]

1 hour ago, Doug72 said:

Images not showing 

Really? Strange... all of them? I used my normal image-upload platform as usual....

[Ribsey]

I can see them....

 

[doug72]

1 hour ago, Doug72 said:

Images not showing 

Now showing but take a long time to fully appear and I am on super fast broad band 220 mbps, same on main computer and iPad.

Edited March 5, 2021 by Doug72

[Jundis]

Next time, I'll lower the resolution. Thanks for the info @Doug72 ! :-)

[lmdesigner42]

Really nice mod! Adding independent bucket articulation is the first thing I would have changed for this set. The boom is no longer as sleek as the original, but it should be a lot more playable.

[Anio]

1 hour ago, lmdesigner42 said:

Really nice mod! Adding independent bucket articulation is the first thing I would have changed for this set. The boom is no longer as sleek as the original, but it should be a lot more playable.

I am not sure a knob on the arm is more convenient regarding playability...

[Jundis]

1 hour ago, lmdesigner42 said:

Really nice mod! Adding independent bucket articulation is the first thing I would have changed for this set. The boom is no longer as sleek as the original, but it should be a lot more playable.

32 minutes ago, Anio said:

I am not sure a knob on the arm is more convenient regarding playability...

Picking up pieces is way easier with the moveable bucket. Although I admit, it's not the ultimate solution. It may be possible to still maintain the thickness of 3 studs and integrating another knob at the main structure, this would be a complete rebuild of the arm. I rather like my simple solution :-)

[efferman]

Only some minor mods on the boom, but i have done some heavy duty work.

[1gor]

3 minutes ago, efferman said:

Only some minor mods on the boom, but i have done some heavy duty work.

 

You really enjoy playing in the dirt...