The Technic Confessional

[Vectormatic]

Maybe not a real sin, but i really dont care for most of the technic lineup. I mostly care about race cars/bikes and occasionally something airplane like

Ive only bought one set this year so far (the small gyrocopter), and im contemplating getting older sets on bricklink to get my fix, everything on shelves right now is boring and meh

[jam8280]

Many things become possible when one embraces selective impurism...

I cut axles to length whenever the need arises, just like pneumatic tubing.

I cut the bushes off 3L bush pins to get the bush colors I want -- great for color accents.

I also fit my working LEGO powerboats with highly efficient counter-rotating props meant for hobby shop RC boats -- huge difference in top speed and steering response with no prop walk!  (LEGO props are strictly ornamental.)

I cut the ends off round-tipped 4L antennas to make high-performance tips for my LEGO spinning tops. No other tip comes close in terms of long, smooth spins.

 

And when safety demands, I've even been know to resort to (gulp) glue. Without it, the black and yellow throwing arm in this fully functional floating-arm trebuchet shatters after 2-3 hurls, sending shrapnel far and wide. With it, the arm can survive 20+ hurls of up to 20 m using the 4.7 g hard rubber wheels at bottom right as projectiles. (The 0.5 kg metal counterweight that makes this range possible isn't kosher, either.)

I used to try to avoid such transgressions whenever possible. Now, I don't hesitate.

[Didumos69]

11 hours ago, jam8280 said:

...

This hurts! I almost clicked 'Report post' .

[Paknaloid]

.

Edited January 4, 2018 by Paknaloid

[jam8280]

5 hours ago, Didumos69 said:

This hurts! I almost clicked 'Report post' .

But being bad feels so good!

[jam8280]

I see that several other respondents also practice unapologetic "selective impurism". In working models, the idea is that small, carefully selected departures from purism can yield big gains in performance.

Consider this pull-back motor-based flying rotor launcher. The rotor shown can reach altitudes of 15 m -- far higher than any other I've tried -- but only with certain key modifications of the yellow 5.5L "twisted propeller".

Since the prop's center hole is slightly larger than an axle, the first mod was to drill out the hub so that a stopped 8L axle could pass through as shown. The stop kept the prop from leaving the axle behind on take-off. (The rotor needs the long tail for directional stability in flight.) Then I wrapped the top of the axle with a bit of Scotch tape before seating the prop to keep the axle from spinning inside the hub during launch. That yielded a rotor that could climb to 4 m -- already higher than most of the other rotors I tried.

To go from 4 to 15 m, I then hand-sanded the slab-like prop blades into proper airfoils. What a difference! No off-the-shelf LEGO prop can touch that! 

So you see, selective impurism pays -- especially in working Technic models and gizmos.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 29, 2017 by jam8280

[cloud]

I'm not certain that I feel guilty about it, but some may be sheepish to do this or just down right against it. I sometime use old "dead" laptop and power bank Lithium ion batteries in pairs(with proper balancing charger) with no power out limit instead of the various Lego power boxes as they are smaller with more stored power. At a max 8.4v, it won't hurt. That said I also use 3s LiPo batteries with a 10V 2A automotive power regulator to get extra oomph. All within spec, but not quite lego sanctioned.

[Didumos69]

18 hours ago, Paknaloid said:

Last night while putting the finishing touches to my Mod'ed 42056 I managed to lose a rubber band and 12t wheel inside the PDK shift unit.  Because of the extremely compact, excellent re-design of this by @Didumos69 which I was building, combined with my laziness, I took to some tweezers to try and extract them/re-attach the band to the half bushes without taking anything apart.  Result - a severed elastic band, scratched liftarms, and a teardown and rebuild of the PDK.  Maybe my sin was a blessing in disguise - I have learnt patience and the need for a steadier hand = PDK now complete and functioning as it should.

Haha, I recognize the unwillingness to take things apart properly when these kind of things happen. I have bent and scratched some beams while modding the Porsche. I even destroyed some pins.

Btw, I'm happy to know you used my PDK redesign .

[Jim]

I have a Technic confession to make...

I don't know how to say it, so I'll just throw it out....I'm starting to seriously like the "color coded" red and yellow axles. There you have it!

[Alex Ilea]

Me too @Jim but without overusing them!

[Didumos69]

2 hours ago, Jim said:

I have a Technic confession to make...

I don't know how to say it, so I'll just throw it out....I'm starting to seriously like the "color coded" red and yellow axles. There you have it!

I'm starting to like them too. I just love the way the modules of @Paul Boratko's Outlaw look with the red and yellow axles. I think it's because they make it more easy to distinguish parts, which is very convenient for perceiving technical modules. They shouldn't stick out too much after bodywork is added, but as part of the inner assemblies they are very okay, imo.

Edited August 12, 2017 by Didumos69

[Leonardo da Bricki]

I must admit, at first I was appalled when Lego began introducing color-vomit axles. However, I find myself using them to distinguish between functions: red is steering, yellow is drive. Original black and gray axles are used in some areas to avoid showing the bright colors, or for other extraneous functions.

[Aventador2004]

3 hours ago, Jim said:

I have a Technic confession to make...

I don't know how to say it, so I'll just throw it out....I'm starting to seriously like the "color coded" red and yellow axles. There you have it!

I love color vomit!

[Jim]

I'm glad I'm not alone. I hated it when TLG first introduced them, but now I find myself grabbing yellow 5L's instead of black ones.

I am also starting to like a more colored chassis. When I only use black and grey I find it dull. So I introduce red connectors and yellow beams for mechanical sections.

I guess TLG's decision isn't so bad after all  

[Aventador2004]

Just now, Jim said:

I'm glad I'm not alone... but now I find myself grabbing yellow 5L's instead of black ones.

You mean grey? And I find it more fun.

[Jim]

Hehehe, yes grey! That's why I need and love color coding  

[TechnicRCRacer]

I have to admit that I love some color coding, only if it is symmetrical, mostly unseen, and NOT brown. 

Not sure why, but I do not like brown in technic sets

Edited August 12, 2017 by TechnicRCRacer

[mocbuild101]

I personally don't know if I like them yet... Because I only have 1 set with them in it! (so far..)

6 hours ago, Leonardo da Bricki said:

I find myself using them to distinguish between functions: red is steering, yellow is drive. Original black and gray axles are used in some areas to avoid showing the bright colors, or for other extraneous functions.

That's a great idea, it better to find a use for them, rather than just keeping them separate.

6 hours ago, Aventador2004 said:

I love color vomit!

I noticed that...

4 hours ago, TechnicRCRacer said:

Not sure why, but I do not like brown in technic sets

Well I guess it does look like it's dirty, but then again, I'd like to see what a brown Technic MOC looks like

[dr_spock]

I recall a bunch of brown axles in Pirates sets. Yellow and red axles also show up in Friends sets. 

41324-19 by dr_spock_888, on Flickr

 

[Jim]

8 hours ago, TechnicRCRacer said:

I have to admit that I love some color coding, only if it is symmetrical, mostly unseen, and NOT brown. 

Not sure why, but I do not like brown in technic sets

I am not too happy with the brown color for the axles, but I don't really object either. I store all my 3L axles in pins (not the 3L blue of course) in the same container and using different colors, it's very easy to find them.

I don't like the fact that they changed the 5L with stop from dark tan to reddish brown. 

[TechnicRCRacer]

12 hours ago, dr_spock said:

I recall a bunch of brown axles in Pirates sets.

I have 12 7L axles in reddish brown from Queen Anne's Revenge.

[Erik Leppen]

I never liked the term "color vomit" because I was never really against it. On the day 3L pins became blue instead of black, I liked how you can read pictures of models much better. That's what color coding does. I can't stand when people use black 3L pins - it just feels as if something is wrong.

I use color coding too. In my recent instructions you will find colored axles. It's somehow more fun, and makes it easier to read. I do try to do it the same way though as TLC does it: one length = one color. So if 6L is red, then all 6L are red. And if I need red 8L, I try to make 6L and 10L black and 12L red again. For some reason I really like doing things "official style". Coincidentally, I needed yellow 7 and 11 axles in a new model I'm building, and red 6L, so it fits the color scheme exactly. (That model is almost done, so I will show it shortly on the forums).