[MOC] Mini 42157 John Deere 948L-II Skidder

[Ngoc Nguyen]

 

In the anticipation of the set 42157, I have created a smaller version of the John Deere 948L-II Skidder. 

Functions:

- Liftable front blade

- Articulated steering

- Grapple arm

- Grapple articulation and rotation

- Openable doors

- Chair that can rotate 360 degrees

 

Other features include:

- Fire extinguiser

- Joysticks on chair armrests

- Winch drum behind the grapple arm

 

The biggest challenge during the design process is the lack of connectors and liftarms in green. This shortage has an even larger impact on the design, because a model at a small scale requires different types of connectors to achieve the intended shape. Even though some connectors technically do exist in green, they appear in very old Technic sets (1990-2000 ones). Therefore, a restriction I imposed on myself when designing this set is that I have to avoid as many as possible those old Technic connectors in green. In other words, I want to use the green parts that only appear in recent sets.

In the end I was not completely successful in reaching that goal, but I was close. Thanks to the recent John Deere Tractor and the Monster Truck that the liftarms in green return. This design only uses the green liftarms from these two sets. The green 3x11 panel has not been available recently, but it's not old. Its last appearance is in the 42078 Mack Truck in 2018. The only rare connector in green in this design is 3 of this:

They can all be swapped with black ones with little effect on the overall look.

Another part that I'm not quite satisfied with but don't really have any alternative is the slanting bars in front of the cabin. At that angle I can't use any existing connector like #3, and can only use universal joints. However, universal joints don't exist in black, so that part is not consistent with the pure black structure in the real model.

At first I planned to include double differentials and a working engine as well, but the placement of the mini LA in the rear prevents the former, and the linkage to control the front blade the latter. In the end the lack of those things don't really matter anyway. Overall I'm quite satisfied with how the design turns out.

Instruction: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-142846/nguyengiangoc/john-deere-948l-ii-skidder/

 

Edited September 7, 2023 by Ngoc Nguyen

[Jundis]

Beautiful! 

Just have to love this scale, as you may included all the functions for the upcoming Lego set with 1/3 of the pieces :D

Did you build it in bricks and can show some pictures?

Where did you hide the actuator knob for the front blade? :-P

[Ngoc Nguyen]

38 minutes ago, Jundis said:

Where did you hide the actuator knob for the front blade? :-P

Front blade is controlled through a lever on the other side. There's no actuator because there's no space inside the front.

 

38 minutes ago, Jundis said:

Did you build it in bricks and can show some pictures?

I only built the function modules separately with pieces of mixed colors to test the functions, and I already disassembled them.

 

38 minutes ago, Jundis said:

as you may included all the functions for the upcoming Lego set with 1/3 of the pieces :D

No drive train and fake engine though.

 

 

Edited March 24, 2023 by Ngoc Nguyen

[arijitdas]

@Ngoc Nguyen - I think this is a great moc. Though this is a manual model, it would be great if you could please add a video exhibiting all the functions. 

[Ngoc Nguyen]

Shamelessly changed the thread title to hop on the TC25 trend 

Will change it back later!

[SaperPL]

You should have waited with the release of it. Also where's thy physical model? :D

[Ngoc Nguyen]

Just now, SaperPL said:

You should have waited with the release of it.

I know right? I kinda regret publishing this too soon now. The reason is that I'm not sure if Jim is gonna organize a shrinking contest at all given his reservation, and I thought electronics would be allowed so I was confident on entering with the Airbus instead.

[Ngoc Nguyen]

Since this set doesnt really sell well I've made the instruction free. I'd be glad if someone gives it try,

[Ngoc Nguyen]

On 3/24/2023 at 2:14 PM, Jundis said:

Beautiful! 

Just have to love this scale, as you may included all the functions for the upcoming Lego set with 1/3 of the pieces :D

Did you build it in bricks and can show some pictures?

Where did you hide the actuator knob for the front blade? :-P

Photos are finally in! They are submitted by user seregiz on the Rebrickable page.

[Ngoc Nguyen]

Also whipped up a pretty cover image.

[Jundis]

So cool :-)

Would have scored very high for the last TC :-P

[Ngoc Nguyen]

4 minutes ago, Jundis said:

Would have scored very high for the last TC :-P

Imma tag Jim to see how he'd grade this 

@Jim If you have time, can you give this a quick scoring according to TC25 criteria  Just scores no explanation needed, just for fun

Edited September 7, 2023 by Ngoc Nguyen

[Malany Bricks]

At first ,I thought it was an alternative model to the John Deere 9620R 4WD Tractor LEGO® Technic (42136) set, very cool model, I like it.

[seregiz]

I'm glad to see my photos here! Nice Cover )