42129 4x4 Mercede-Benz Zetros Trial Truck [VIDEO REVIEW]

[pleegwat]

5 hours ago, Sariel said:

@Bartybum Because, as shown in the reviews, the steering motor is built into the front axle. And there is no easy way to move it into the chassis. So if you want to "copy the front axle across to the rear to give it 4WS", you're going to need a second steering motor or else you'll have no way of making it steer.

Even when losing the diffs (including everything related to diff locking)?

[Bartybum]

7 minutes ago, pleegwat said:

Even when losing the diffs (including everything related to diff locking)?

Technically it should be possible, since y'know... it's Lego

[Sariel]

If you get rid of the diff lock mechanism, that will free up one port in the hub for another motor, yes.

[Scoar Sonander]

Even then it would be hard, since the We-do m Motor is smaller than a PU L Motor. I guess you would haver to remove the gearbox and simplify it. If you removed the difflocks and added 4WS, presumably you would want a proper crawler, so then it would be best to remove the diffs at all, so the car could climb properly.

[Bartybum]

1 hour ago, Scoar Sonander said:

Even then it would be hard, since the We-do m Motor is smaller than a PU L Motor. I guess you would haver to remove the gearbox and simplify it. If you removed the difflocks and added 4WS, presumably you would want a proper crawler, so then it would be best to remove the diffs at all, so the car could climb properly.

This is exactly what I'd like to see someone do. Remove the diff lock and give it better steering

Oh and fix the bonnet in place lol

[Sariel]

1 hour ago, Scoar Sonander said:

Even then it would be hard, since the We-do m Motor is smaller than a PU L Motor.

@Scoar Sonander Sigh... Again, the steering motor is in the front axle. So if you want to copy the front axle across the rear, the size of the WeDo motor is irrelevant because you won't be sticking the other steering motor where the WeDo motor was.

49 minutes ago, Bartybum said:

Oh and fix the bonnet in place lol

You only need to put some simple bull bar on top of the front bumper to keep the hood shut.

Edited July 18, 2021 by Sariel

[Sariel]

A relaxing day in a forest testing the 42129's off-road capabilities:

 

[Ngoc Nguyen]

The constant hood popping must be frustrating.

[MikeTwo9398]

Looking at the terrain I think the Zetros performs very good.

I agree with @Ngoc Nguyen the hood popping open must be frustrating....

[Maaboo the Witch]

51 minutes ago, Ngoc Nguyen said:

The constant hood popping must be frustrating.

Good ventilation for the engine though.

[Polarlicht]

How much sand inside the gears and hubs etc.?? :D

[Bartybum]

3 hours ago, Sariel said:

A relaxing day in a forest testing the 42129's off-road capabilities:

*snip*

Interesting video :) Have you found that the poor steering angle significantly affects the offroading experience?

[Scoar Sonander]

This video also strengthens my urge to cover the undersides of all my Vehicle-Mocs in Panels so that stupid sand and dirt don't get to my shiny gears...

[howitzer]

I love how the tyres make indentations in the sand, makes it somehow feel much more "real" than I expected.

I assume that the gears were a complete mess after this exercise though? Can't imagine them taking very well all that sand and dirt that must have entered the drivetrain...

[Sariel]

There wasn't really so much sand, more like fine dust and some grass.

[Polarlicht]

So in what state are the gears, hubs, axles etc anyway?

[Mr Jos]

The tires are in the wrong direction in the speed build and the rest of video, but correct on the first image. (Your first video) OCD triggered :D

For me personally no interesting items as I like LBG for most of my parts, and the electronics without deep programming is not for me.

[Johnny1360]

Thank you very much for you rather insightful review, very well done and I hope you continue doing them. Really helps with deciding whether to buy or not, I really appreciate hearing the cons, as it is generally far to easy to heap praise on new sets.

[J159753]

Sariel - your review videos are a gold standard. Thanks!

Have you ever considered adding occasional subtitled commentary during the speed build? E.g. 'note the unusual use of piece *** to hold the 24t gear in place', 'an unusually tricky sequence as the outrigger is very fragile until mated with the chassis', etc. ?

[Sariel]

22 minutes ago, J159753 said:

Sariel - your review videos are a gold standard. Thanks!

Have you ever considered adding occasional subtitled commentary during the speed build? E.g. 'note the unusual use of piece *** to hold the 24t gear in place', 'an unusually tricky sequence as the outrigger is very fragile until mated with the chassis', etc. ?

Thanks. I think that adding commentary would make the already complex editing significantly more convoluted, so I'd rather focus on discussing such things later, when the set is already assembled. I know this isn't exactly what you meant, but please keep in mind that these reviews are already taking days to make and I have a job and a family and an occasional need of sleep :)

[Celeri]

12 hours ago, Sariel said:

A relaxing day in a forest testing the 42129's off-road capabilities:

 

Dang, that thing is just soooooo slooooooow... 'Tis true that I am far from being an expert in trial trucks, but I am pretty sure anything going this slowly even scaled to this model's size would be just laughed at over and over!

[J159753]

9 minutes ago, Sariel said:

I know this isn't exactly what you meant, but please keep in mind that these reviews are already taking days to make and I have a job and a family and an occasional need of sleep :)

Thoroughly understood! :-) I just hope the videos continue to be worth your while to create for a long time to come... 

[Jundis]

12 hours ago, Celeri said:

Dang, that thing is just soooooo slooooooow... 'Tis true that I am far from being an expert in trial trucks, but I am pretty sure anything going this slowly even scaled to this model's size would be just laughed at over and over!

If you want more speed, you loose torque. For a climber, I think this speed of the model is appropriate.

[Celeri]

On 7/20/2021 at 11:10 AM, Jundis said:

If you want more speed, you loose torque. For a climber, I think this speed of the model is appropriate.

I know that, thanks ;)

When looking at the videos, it seems that this model has a bit too much torque for its weight and will exhibit its real power on perfect grip slopes conditions, which reduces its playability, especially since driving is pretty much its only real function. TLG should have implemented a low/high gearbox to allow for more playing scenarios.

[Bartybum]

9 hours ago, Celeri said:

TLG should have implemented a low/high gearbox to allow for more playing scenarios.

Without adding another hub, the best solution for a high/low gearbox probably would have been to have it synchronised with the diff locks, so that you can select between a running mode and trial truck mode.

It'd be interesting to know if Milan originally intended for a high/low gearbox to be included, but couldn't get it to work due to space and/or time constraints.