brickginger Posted April 15, 2021 Hello all! My son of 6 year old got his swimming certificates A, B and C in only one year of time. So he earned a nice gift, don't you agree? He found the MK sandcrawler on the www and so I bought it for him in November 2020. A nice heap of bricks. As a complete newbee in this scene I later on found out it was a stolen MOC. But that wasn't the worst thing. Shortly after it became clear that my son suffers a severe neurological disorder, leading to a complete loss of hearing and speech... that's hard indeed...but let me stay on topic... I bought the official manual from Christian, which eased my mind and soul and helped me to clear out a lot about the build too. Also about the adjustments made by MK - and the chances they missed to make improvements on already mentioned points (thank you all!!!) of attention by remaining them completely unchanged or choosing a solution making it worse. Nevertheless, as said meanwhile I started to get the impression it's a nice heap of bricks to start with. But hey, who says I am able to know? Despite his illness was my son busy with making a complete hallway in this monster. He likes to go off-road and has a lot of original ideas. And to my luck he wanted me to step in to help realize them. It resulted in a - seen on itself - very ugly structure, but imho very nice addition to this beautiful MOC. Specifications: electric operated roller shutter and sliding doors on both sides (all with friction clutch - easy in operation), lights on inner walls and in the ceiling, stable platform for mounting Buwizz/switches, prepared for fitting a large third level interior, fitting in the MOC without the need for making adjustments (only remove the existing hallway parts). See pictures, rendered from Studio 2.0 groetjes Jan-Paul Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr Ogel Posted April 15, 2021 Congrats to the certificates, nice to hear that children nowadays still learn to swim. But also really sorry about his disorder. Actually I cannot imagine not to be able anymore to listen to music e.g. David Bowie. And also back to topic. I don't think MK wants to improve any ripped off mocs. So this MOC is giving everybody enough room to add an interior and it would not have to my mind to impelemnt your additions. But there are pretty good, thanks for sharing Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brickginger Posted April 16, 2021 (edited) Hi again! Next our attention was on the fragile front hatch door, rudded almost every time on (fully) closing and opening. I presume that everyone who built this MOC meanwhile fears the rattling noise of the gear. The front hatch door is a masterpiece of construction on itself, thus far we couldn't discover a means of improving stability - propably there isn't one (other than disgusting thoughts of glueing the thing). Therefore we looked at the driving gears theirselves and the second floor unit as a whole. Second reason to tackle the second floor unit was that it bothered us that we weren't able to get the conveyor belts running without rudding also. It resulted in a partly new construction of the second floor unit under preserving the existing look. Key features: the left and right gear unit from the hatch door are coupled (and driven by means of friction clutches), the principle of how driving the conveyor belt is altered and optimized for inward direction of movement, under the hood a special guide prevents tearing the middle two belts, a removable front slide offers an entrance for less complicated mounting of the belts, integrated ceiling (with light unit) for the first floor unit, the chute at the end of the belt offers also the possibility of lighting. The downside of these alterations is that mounting this unit necessitates adjustments to the first floor unit, but the good news is that this is already in preparation, See pictures, rendered from Studio 2.0 - yeah, experiencing the image-upload limits already already reached by the first post.... allright then: is to be continued... groetjes Jan-Paul Edited April 16, 2021 by brickginger Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brickginger Posted April 16, 2021 conveyor NEW v7.1_2 by brickginger, on Flickr conveyor NEW v7.1 by brickginger, on Flickr Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brickginger Posted April 17, 2021 Pfew! All that rendering is very time consuming... therefore a couple of HiRes printscreens to illustrate I wrote. Adagium: "Ein Bild sagt mehr als tausend Worte" Schermopname (11) by brickginger, on Flickr Schermopname (14) by brickginger, on Flickr Schermopname (12) by brickginger, on Flickr Schermopname (10) by brickginger, on Flickr Schermopname (15) by brickginger, on Flickr Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brickginger Posted April 18, 2021 (edited) See pictures of first floor! Ofcourse I couldn't resist to integrate the jail - built by Mika (the one and only brickginger) on his own, and with his own twist, after he meticulously had studied the highly inspiring photos from bricksmarlin earlier in this thread. He even tries his ideas out in LDD by now! The base frame was adapted on front (to mount the first floor unit easier) and rear (reinforcements to mount the rear back and sidepanels on a more stabilized foundation - that's the idea anyway). Furthermore I tried to be thorough by incorporating all earlier recommendations of you all earlier in this thread in making the subframe manufacturable (for example the plates between lower en upper technic bricks on both sides). Partly also by choosing another path. There will be more to follow! Schermopname (23) by brickginger, on Flickr Schermopname (21) by brickginger, on Flickr Schermopname (20) by brickginger, on Flickr Schermopname (25) by brickginger, on Flickr Edited April 18, 2021 by brickginger Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brickginger Posted April 19, 2021 Before adding the third floor, I had to mount the second floor unit, followed by the hallway section: Schermopname (28) by brickginger, on Flickr Schermopname (29) by brickginger, on Flickr Our idea of the third wall section. Most of it inspired by you all and to mention the photos made by bricksmarlin again!! Mika insisted here had to be some gantry crane implemented - above the chute seemed logical. By circumstances we were not able to take a look at the real thing in the galaxy far, far away. Can anyone find Wally... eh, the Jawa? The ceiling is still missing, also the top panel with the familiar and famous huge fans, Will be next. Schermopname (31) by brickginger, on Flickr Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brickginger Posted April 22, 2021 Well.... I seemed to have proven the rule again: sometimes you loose when you try. You have to know: before uploading a contribution in this thread, I am building a few steps in advance. For every step Mika and I test the ideas to adapt the drawings and to edit the corresponding manual. The hatch door, while fragile, wasn't mounted until yet (except when we followed the MK manual in our first approach) Driving the hatch door appeared to demand much more torque than thought in advance. This leads to that I have to go on my knees begging the community for forgiveness Where the friction clutch does it's job perfectly for the sliding doors and roller shutter in the hallway unit, it does not work under full load of driving the hatch door. I tried a fourth belt on each side, but that gave still a unsatisfactory result. Lacking another idea at this moment, I returned to mounting the gears again - and take the "rattling of death" for granted.... But let's not be sad: the ceiling of the third floor interior is coming! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brickginger Posted April 22, 2021 So, the ceiling. It is prepared to guide a towing line from the machinery above (is ready, I will post it later) Schermopname (33) by brickginger, on Flickr The ceiling on it self is led on a rim, for that purpose integrated in the top of third floor unit. In this stage lies freely. If you would turn the sandcrawler upside down ("don't try this at home") than it would fall out. Schermopname (34) by brickginger, on Flickr Well, regarding the ceiling: in the case of you ignored turning the sandcrawlar on it's back I have a solution: "lock her up!". Is done by mounting the upper frame structure. Slightly altered for better alignment of the ceiling to the side walls of the third floor interior. Schermopname (35) by brickginger, on Flickr Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brickginger Posted April 22, 2021 Let me emphasize that the idea of making such a ceiling comes from bricksmarlin! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
muhkuh Posted April 22, 2021 On 2/1/2021 at 7:31 PM, cavegod said: You need a technic 1/2 pin and a cheese slope. no idea why they are not inbthe instructions. MK bricks have stolen the design you're on your Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brickginger Posted April 25, 2021 Cruyff, yes, I mean the football player, is also famous of his pronunciations. "You will only see it when you get it". And I am on both feet again! I solved the problem with the friction coupling of the driving units of the hatch door. It works! Smooth closing, while Mika with both hands over the eyes expecting the RUD again, sighed relieved. On opening the door lowers and lowers, touching the ground, bends, bends further, bends even a lot more and... desintegrates. Not an particular example of rudding, more SSD-ing. (solid state drive slow scheduled disassembly). We can live with that! The altered gearing, 8/24 in stead of 12/20 is to compensate for the nominal rpm of the L (390/minute) versus the XL motor (220/minute). The latter had to be replaced. Schermopname (55) by brickginger, on Flickr Schermopname (56) by brickginger, on Flickr Schermopname (57) by brickginger, on Flickr Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brickginger Posted April 25, 2021 The toppanel above the third floor as we made it as one single unit ready for mounting. Schermopname (47) by brickginger, on Flickr Schermopname (66) by brickginger, on Flickr Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brickginger Posted April 25, 2021 (edited) I really thought the cockpit section needed no further attention. But there had to be light at the stairs, Mika rules!. Last but not least, Jawas are little people. That is not a problem, but has his own consequences. One of them is that they have been complaining a lot about the limited view out of the cockpit. Can you find Wa... the Jawa in this picture? Than I do not need to say more. Schermopname (51) by brickginger, on Flickr Some say... ... there is a certain Jawa crewmember using a orange box to stand on when he is on schedule in steering the Sandcrawler.... Schermopname (96) by brickginger, on Flickr As the image clarifies, that's not a very ergonomic solution, And would never comply to safety regulations here on Earth.... So we found it reasonable to redeem the request for a costly adjustment of the cockpit as a whole. We don't want to have more accidents. The outer hull has already paint damage enough. Schermopname (50) by brickginger, on Flickr Schermopname (46) by brickginger, on Flickr Edited May 3, 2021 by brickginger Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brickginger Posted April 27, 2021 (edited) As seen in the posts before we prefer as much as possible a segmented way of building. Assembling in units, finally put them together. Also handy if (scheduled!) disassembly is necessary. Therefore the sidewalls are slightly modified. On the sidewalls circumfering the hallway entrances seen at the rim, on front and rear. The sidewalls more on front by 1. adaptation of the hinge on top-front; 2. integrating the hinge low-front makes mounting easier, and 3. substituting the panel in the front rim by three bricks 3x1 improves the stability. To mount the latter walls correctly is not possible in any program I know of (sometimes I wished that bending/torsion of such a panel l - as it does in real - would be possible in the program also). But lucky enough the designing program is hardly forgiving:at the end you don't want to encounter "surprises" by building according plans in real. See pictures, on which the all the walls are mounted. I had to use a trick, by deleting the lower-rear hinges of the sidewalls mentioned above. In real you ofcourse let the hinges in place: the ABS allows the necessary torsion needed to fix these panels with ease. Schermopname (74) by brickginger, on Flickr Schermopname (71) by brickginger, on Flickr Schermopname (72) by brickginger, on Flickr Edited April 27, 2021 by brickginger Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brickginger Posted May 3, 2021 In between (while heading to the front parts) time to present the winch. Pulls like a horse! As we did with other parts before: in one segment mounted on the vehicle. Leaves space enough for applying LEDs in the ceiling. Tiny detail is the application of technic bush 1/2 toothed, two interior ridges # 4265b on the axle. Gives on the axle the opportunity to lead the rope through and make a nice knot. The rope can be led through the hole in the ceiling, to tie up the hook. That ceiling part with the hole is easy to loosen upward, so winch-rope-ceilingpart-hook can be preassembled as one. I will make a picture of that later on today. In the following pictures the differences old vs. new. In the last one only the (for illustration purposes made red) parts are maintained from the original build. On one side from above, on the other... you're right Because we use BuWizz, we don't need the open grid as an entrance for IR anymore. Therefore we could apply trans-clear plates as part of the support structure for attaching the motor. All is documented in Studio and step-edited. Schermopname (89) by brickginger, on Flickr Schermopname (81) by brickginger, on Flickr Schermopname (82) by brickginger, on Flickr Schermopname (83) by brickginger, on Flickr Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brickginger Posted May 3, 2021 Why not take a photo from the real thing? Yeah. I must admit that I at the same time wanted to find a proper way of illustrating wiring in the manual (even if it's not isolated copper but a piece of rope...) Designing all with the parts library from Ldraw - although very neat and suitable for purists - appeared very time consuming. Second is that any other user of the same file would had to manually import the same parts in Studio too. Therefore I choosed a relatively quick and dirty method: import a printscreen in CAD, do what I like and export it as bitmap again. Taking the loss of some resolution for granted; imho the result is still the worth seeing. Schermopname (94) by brickginger, on Flickr Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brickginger Posted May 3, 2021 Problem with LowRes solved. winch with rope HiRes by brickginger, on Flickr Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brickginger Posted May 8, 2021 (edited) Mika has to be hospitalized next week so we necessarily take a break. But we decided we will be back in a better condition...!! Before leaving we want to share the actual status with you. Although the third floor section added some stability, it was not enough to gain reproducible results by mounting the front and side walls of hatch and cockpit. It still remained shaky, as already earlier experienced by everyone who built this vehicle. If you push here, it deforms elsewhere. We concluded that # 14419 is not the solution, but part of the problem. We pulled it out. In order to grant the front enough rigidity, we developed a suspension structure. Ugly again (see our first post), but very effective. Before building in real all done and step-edited in Studio, because that saved us a lot of time and money (preventing buying parts for trial, followed by dumping them on error) We made the toppanel of the cockpit an integral part of the upper technic structure. Ofcourse it had to receive a "sunroof" because we wanted to preserve the possibility of looking on the interior. In the following several screenshots. Every mounted unit had to undergo a few modifications, maintaining/improving the looks, but above all "under the hood": stabilizing the construction. Have fun! Schermopname (143) by brickginger, on Flickr Schermopname (146) by brickginger, on Flickr Schermopname (101) by brickginger, on Flickr Schermopname (140) by brickginger, on Flickr Schermopname (151) by brickginger, on Flickr Schermopname-_153-with-rope by brickginger, on Flickr Edited May 8, 2021 by brickginger Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Javi Posted May 31, 2021 Brickginger Where can I get the instructions from? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brickginger Posted June 1, 2021 Hello Javi, thank you for your interest! Hopefully you can read my following reaction in Spanish by using Google translate! Very good question. Which can't be answered with just one sentence.... My main principle is: all my contributions in the form of step-edited *.io files - ready to generate pdf-instructions with by the user (through Studio 2.0) are free for the community. By community is meant: every registered user of the instructions - as distributed by AllOutBrick (email-adress found at the first page of this thread). I do not need to become rich, I only wish Mika will recover... and have fun together. But the nature of each contribution is different. Some are slight modifications, some are complete new, and some are in-between. Imho must be clear that slight modifications can not be illustrated / explained without embedding the original instructions: because these are copyrighted and domain of AllOUtBrick / Cavegod. I myself am not free to distribute them, but If they agree, you can have these. On the other hand there are some complete new contributions. Like the interior part with the sliding doors (my first contribution). Or the suspension unit. Or the winch. Or the ceiling. You can have these for free, just send me a message through this platform. Difficulties may arise on my contributions which are only partly using the original plans, but are for more than 50% new, which is the case with the conveyor part (second level interior as you commented on Flickr), or the third level interior. Imho I you can have these also for free. As neither AllOutBrick nor Cavegod gave any comments thus far: this is the opportunity to do so! (perhaps I should say that donations are welcome) Momentarily is a (for more than 50%!!) new construction underway for the lower technical structure. So.... stay tuned I should say... groetjes Mika and Jan-Paul Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Javi Posted June 1, 2021 4 hours ago, brickginger said: Hello Javi, thank you for your interest! Hopefully you can read my following reaction in Spanish by using Google translate! Very good question. Which can't be answered with just one sentence.... My main principle is: all my contributions in the form of step-edited *.io files - ready to generate pdf-instructions with by the user (through Studio 2.0) are free for the community. By community is meant: every registered user of the instructions - as distributed by AllOutBrick (email-adress found at the first page of this thread). I do not need to become rich, I only wish Mika will recover... and have fun together. But the nature of each contribution is different. Some are slight modifications, some are complete new, and some are in-between. Imho must be clear that slight modifications can not be illustrated / explained without embedding the original instructions: because these are copyrighted and domain of AllOUtBrick / Cavegod. I myself am not free to distribute them, but If they agree, you can have these. On the other hand there are some complete new contributions. Like the interior part with the sliding doors (my first contribution). Or the suspension unit. Or the winch. Or the ceiling. You can have these for free, just send me a message through this platform. Difficulties may arise on my contributions which are only partly using the original plans, but are for more than 50% new, which is the case with the conveyor part (second level interior as you commented on Flickr), or the third level interior. Imho I you can have these also for free. As neither AllOutBrick nor Cavegod gave any comments thus far: this is the opportunity to do so! (perhaps I should say that donations are welcome) Momentarily is a (for more than 50%!!) new construction underway for the lower technical structure. So.... stay tuned I should say... groetjes Mika and Jan-Paul Thank you so much Mika👍 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Javi Posted June 2, 2021 On 6/1/2021 at 4:39 PM, Javi said: Thank you so much Mika👍 Hi Paul I already bought the instructions and the inner part and renewed but it only shows in Lego Digital Designer which is complicated to use and takes time to get instructions. But I liked your design more. I wish Mika to recover. Best regards. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brickginger Posted June 2, 2021 Thank you again! Indeed we try to integrate all suggestions given in this thread with my own ideas to make improvements on this MOC - which are at least doing fine for us (and perhaps for the community too). It deserves it. Our belief: if you put your hands on such a thing as this is, than it has to be right. Correct me if I am wrong, but you should have received instructions in a pdf.file and a bunch of (unfortunately partly wrong named) *.lxf files. It is not necessary to generate the instructions yourself within the LDD environment (besides: letting LDD do this mostly results in practically useless instructions, LDD only throws bricks on each other without logic). The reason that I (and meanwhile Mika too!) use Studio is the possibility to make instructions from scratch exactly in the way and building approach you want/like. I had to look at a few tutorials on U-tube, but as soon as you understand the principle, you will learn quickly. But you're lucky because you do not need to know or use all this: when you open a step-edited third party *.io file (for example one from me ;-) within the Studio - environment than is generating your own pdf instructions only a few clicks away (*). The great advantage of this procedure is that the filesize of a single *.io file is very small (below 3 Mb for the whole MOC = small download). Studio offers the possibility to generate the pdf in stunning resolution with ease (far better than the pdf you already have), but the resulting file requires ofcourse corresponding space on your harddisk. Thus far I didn't generate pdf's of the whole thing, but only of the object from my first post. It resulted in a 250 Mb pdf. I assume the whole MOC will exceed 1 Gb, if distrubuted as pdf with good resolution. Not very practical. (*) Open... > Instruction > Page Design > Export (parameters: All, pdf, 4x, save as... and go! groetjes Mika en Jan-Paul Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cushski Posted June 18, 2021 How do you purchase these instructions ? I've sent you an e-mail a few days ago and heard nothing. Hope you can reply @cavegod Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
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