42128 - Heavy-Duty Tow Truck

[Touc4nx]

I've found this set today in a local store and I started building it.
The chassis has really a lot of beam stacking. I'm not sure about the benefits of it…
Due to the beam stacking, a rear wheel steering will be hard to implement

[Void_S]

38 minutes ago, Touc4nx said:

I've found this set today in a local store and I started building it.
The chassis has really a lot of beam stacking. I'm not sure about the benefits of it…
Due to the beam stacking, a rear wheel steering will be hard to implement

Possibly it was made to make it as rigid as possible, as having a manual pump right in between the axles must have a quite strong chassis which will not bend under the "pumping".

Plus, each designer has its own style and while Milan's architecture with amazing detailing and heavily use of weird techniques and system parts may not be rock-solid (but still rigid enough), Markus's style is more about the heavily over-embraced liftarms.
Possibly, because previously he mostly worked with a bigger scale models and now had to deal with a smaller set but still followed his relatively "bulky" solutions.

Edited July 26, 2021 by Void_S

[Verodin]

Hopping on the tow truck fan club train  But why oh why has TLG made this set so (relatively) expensive in Sweden? 1900 SEK = 187 EUR. Found it with 30% off from Danmark, but still... 

Looking forward to building it! 

Edited July 29, 2021 by Verodin

[pleegwat]

Mine arrived today, and I noted something curious when I arrived at phase 2. The list of hoses mentioned at the start of that section included a hose that wasn't in the bag of hoses included in the box. Checking the inventory in the back of the booklet, it lists far more hoses, specifying 3 or 4 copies of hoses for which I only got one in the set. I suspect this to be an error in  the manual, but it's not something I've encountered before.

[Polarlicht]

You know lego did a great job with a set when "Held der Steine" is happy with it

[howitzer]

I just ordered this from the local retailer, should arrive on maybe Tuesday or Wednesday. Can't wait to get my hands on it.

[TechnicRCRacer]

I am going to try to get this today — I’m driving across the state for something (unfortunate timing) and will stop at a LEGO store on the way. Hopefully they don’t run out of stock by 2 as apparently there will be shipping delays in NA.

[TechnicRCRacer]

Unfortunately they ran out right when I arrived. Looks like I have to wait 60 days 

[Toitoine]

Set bought this day and started to build it.

the new crossed beams looks very useful !

[msk6003]

I'm doing live building now

[Polarlicht]

Received mine today. Not that blue pins bother me enough. This one on the box and all press photos is not pushed all the way in...

[kai836]

Does anyone know if it's possible to replace the white panels with black ones? I feel it would be a good color combination with 8285 vibes!

[Void_S]

21 minutes ago, kai836 said:

Does anyone know if it's possible to replace the white panels with black ones? I feel it would be a good color combination with 8285 vibes!

Actually, I'm doing it already and today will publish the result once it renders.

[Verodin]

Got mine today and wanted to start building immediately, only to find I can't stand hanging above the instructions due to a strong chemical smell (ink?). Have to let it air out a while first. It's so fresh from the factory.

Anyone noticed this?

[Touc4nx]

4 hours ago, Polarlicht said:

This one on the box and all press photos is not pushed all the way in...

I noticed that too, it's on every picture on the box.
My perfectionist side is screaming 

[Scoar Sonander]

4 hours ago, Polarlicht said:

 This one on the box and all press photos is not pushed all the way in...

 *Snip*

This is going to haunt me for the rest of my life...

[Verodin]

Just had to check the box.... that can not be unseen, thank you for that 

Btw, it's nice to build with some blue again! It's been way too long. (I'm talking about panels and beams, not the pins!!!)

Edited August 10, 2021 by Verodin

[Polarlicht]

Looks like i still got the old 41678 connector in my set...

Edited August 10, 2021 by Polarlicht

[kai836]

13 hours ago, Void_S said:

Actually, I'm doing it already and today will publish the result once it renders.

Nice, looking forward to seeing it!

[Void_S]

5 hours ago, kai836 said:

Nice, looking forward to seeing it!

Here is: 

 

[howitzer]

Heavy duty tow truck doing some heavy duty towing:

It was a nice build and a surprisingly lengthy one for me, though I did make some mistakes (and also had to take several breaks due to non-building related factors). I would've liked to cut my own hose, or at least they should've included a measuring line somewhere, as telling the different length hoses apart by eye is hard. I applied some very minimal mods right away (swapping the steering 20T and 8T gears for less knob-turning and putting the tiles of the front grille vertically rather than horizontally) and of course I left the stickers out, but beyond that it's like the original. As is 8868, beside a replacement hoses here and there. I might have to do the white panel replacement (like in the Brickset review) in the rear of the cabin though, as it doesn't look that good without stickers.

After everything is said and done, it fulfills every expectation I had for this set. The functions work great, though without stickers guiding you, it's a bit difficult to operate them.

[Touc4nx]

16 hours ago, Polarlicht said:

Looks like i still got the old 41678 connector in my set...

I think that the new version isn't implemented yet…
If you check rebrickable parts list, they use the old one.
The only set using the "new" one is the zeros for now.

But I think it's confusing, as the instructions clearly show the new version of the part…

[Verodin]

By now I've encountered 1 minor issue, the engine just exploded when driving backwards. If the fake engine setup is not properly aligned (the moving piston mechanism) it gets stuck and if you continue to drive it, the red bricks holding the 'pistons' just break apart. It worked fine in the beginning, my guess is that pumping might have misaligned some parts. But not sure if that's the reason. And it's also not the 1st model with this type of fake engine that this exact same issue with this type of fake engine (always only when driving backwards). I wish TLG came out with a more dedicated engine part 

Edited August 23, 2021 by Verodin

[jorgeopesi]

I am building mine on my own way just for fun and I do not have any problem but it is a Technic engine...

[AVCampos]

Just as what happened with the brick-built engines with square pistons that evolved into the dedicated parts we know today, I don't doubt we'll get somewhere in the future dedicated parts to build smaller engines.