Blakbird's Lego Technic Collection

[DLuders]

For those (like me) who have not seen Blakbird's Lego Technic collection, here are a few pictures posted on his Brickshelf gallery a few weeks ago. I missed my chance to see it on the first day of Brickcon 2011, but perhaps I'll have another opportunity someday.... This has got to be the largest Lego Technic collection outside of The Lego Group's internal collection, since Blakbird owns every single Lego Technic set ever produced plus a lot of great MOCs by the world's best Technic builders.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them. He has more Lego: "Some modular houses and monuments not contructed yet."

[

[Sariel]

Only one way to sum it up.

[Alasdair Ryan]

Only one way to sum it up.

I think that cat is about to eat your hamster Sariel.

Do you have any other of Jennifer clark legos moc's other than the digger?

Edited January 17, 2012 by Alasdair Ryan

[Jim]

Every set...and then some!!

It's amazing.

When will there be a Blakbird Museum of Lego?!

[Burf2000]

I think he might even have more technic Lego than me, well for now anyway.

I have most technic sets but I have a lot of bulk!

[Lipko]

Holy f.. sh..

Can I get married to Blackbird?

[nychase]

Ive asked Eric about the JC models. I believe his response was no...not yet. He mentioned the Baldwin (which I believe is one of the greatest technic accomplishments ever)and how he had half-finished the CAD's for it but hadn't devoted the time to finishing. I would absolutly love to build that Crane, its largely the reason I both stayed away and came back to legos. Knowing that someone out there could do that when I couldn't figure out a silly dumping mechanism that I was satisfied with really discourged me. Nevertheless...there are some considerations with that Crane.

A) lego still never made 1x6 thin beams in white (10 years later)

B) You could try with LA's Now, but the boom mechanism was the lead screw

C) Its still just so awesome I still fell like a replica would be inferior.

Consensus?

Not to take away from Dluders but the model I am referring to is HERE

Edited January 17, 2012 by nychase

[Smrgol]

I really want him to adopt me! There is sooooooooooo much stuff, I do hope he has it insured that must be worth a fortune!

[Meatman]

Consensus?

Not to take away from Dluders but the model I am referring to is HERE

I suppose it is very good, but as you said, isn't 100% Lego and has modified parts. I also don't care for MOCs that have printed stickers all over them, but that is just my opinion.

[me00rjb]

Ive asked Eric about the JC models. I believe his response was no...not yet. He mentioned the Baldwin (which I believe is one of the greatest technic accomplishments ever)and how he had half-finished the CAD's for it but hadn't devoted the time to finishing. I would absolutly love to build that Crane, its largely the reason I both stayed away and came back to legos. Knowing that someone out there could do that when I couldn't figure out a silly dumping mechanism that I was satisfied with really discourged me. Nevertheless...there are some considerations with that Crane.

A) lego still never made 1x6 thin beams in white (10 years later)

B) You could try with LA's Now, but the boom mechanism was the lead screw

C) Its still just so awesome I still fell like a replica would be inferior.

Consensus?

Not to take away from Dluders but the model I am referring to is HERE

I have literally just finished reproducing Jennifer's crane - it's taken a while and is the most complex of her models I have attempted. I've managed the skid-steer loader and the skip-truck so far, but got stumped by the mini-excavator. Her models are also the reason I returned to Lego. I know Eric has reproduced the larger excavator, so that’s nearly a full set!

In terms of the points you raise, it's the 1x7 thin liftarms that still aren't made in white, but you can now get them in blue, which I felt was an acceptable compromise.

I made a custom lead-screw for raising the boom, as I don't think there is an acceptable Lego solution. This won't be to everyone's tastes, but I can live with it.

I did feel when reproducing it, that I may be taking something away from the original! Especially considering I have incorporated power functions receivers, to use the IR controllers, and not RC like Jennifer used. Again, an acceptable compromise to me, but some people may consider it desecration! For that reason, I'm a bit reluctant to post pictures!

Richard.

[Krize]

Stunning!

Btw, who build this huge 6-wheeled yellow pneumatic dump truck on the first picture on the black/red heavy hauler? Are there more photos of this MOC?

[timslegos]

You could adopt me right . i mean i even live in the US!

tim

[technicfan]

Stunning!

Btw, who build this huge 6-wheeled yellow pneumatic dump truck on the first picture on the black/red heavy hauler? Are there more photos of this MOC?

I 2nd that, can we please have some more pics of the ADT dump truck PLEASE. Very nice collection .

[bb15080]

I 2nd that, can we please have some more pics of the ADT dump truck PLEASE. Very nice collection .

this one was build by designer-Han

http://www.eurobrick...1entry1146805

http://www.designer-han.nl/lego/

Edited January 17, 2012 by bb15080

[Blakbird]

Do you have any other of Jennifer clark legos moc's other than the digger?

That's a good question! The answer is yes. I propose a contest in which the Eurobricks Technic readers try to identify all the MOCs on my shelves by looking at the pictures (there are larger versions at Brickshelf). I think all of them have been presented here in this forum at one time or another, so they should be recognizable. According to my records, there are 30 of them. Bonus points for getting both the designer and the model name. The winner gets..... nothing. Except the admiration of their peers.

When will there be a Blackbird Museum of Lego?!

That would be a dream come true, especially if I could charge admission! However, the truth is it wouldn't get much business. Despite what you are reading in this thread, USA based Technic fans are not only a tiny minority of the general public, they are also a tiny minority of AFOLs. My displays at BrickCon get virtually no interest. There just isn't much interest in Technic in the USA. I clearly need to move to Europe. Which country will have me?

Holy f.. sh.. Can I get married to Blackbird?

I'm afraid I am already taken. You and my wife can fight to the death over me. You will lose.

I really want him to adopt me! There is sooooooooooo much stuff, I do hope he has it insured that must be worth a fortune!

I tried, but insuring LEGO is actually pretty difficult. They just don't know what you are talking about when you ask them about it. I *think* I'm covered, but I bet they would try to weasel out of paying if it ever came up.

I have literally just finished reproducing Jennifer's crane - it's taken a while and is the most complex of her models I have attempted. I've managed the skid-steer loader and the skip-truck so far, but got stumped by the mini-excavator. Her models are also the reason I returned to Lego. I know Eric has reproduced the larger excavator, so that’s nearly a full set!

I did feel when reproducing it, that I may be taking something away from the original! Especially considering I have incorporated power functions receivers, to use the IR controllers, and not RC like Jennifer used. Again, an acceptable compromise to me, but some people may consider it desecration! For that reason, I'm a bit reluctant to post pictures!

Your compromises are indeed reasonable, and in fact even Jennifer has said she would build them differently today than she did at the time. I think I speak for everyone when I say that we do want see your copy though. I don't know if you did a CAD file for it, but if so I'd like to see it. The files JC posted for the Baldwin are incomplete.

[BobBongo1895]

I´m speechless.

Blakbird Quote: Which country will have me?

You are welcome to germany everyday, everytime.

[JunkstyleGio]

The Netherlands would gladly grant you asylum.

And we got ESTEC!

So that would be no problem if you were looking for a job...

[matias bendtsen]

He belongs in Denmark were LEGO was invented.

[nychase]

I tried, but insuring LEGO is actually pretty difficult. They just don't know what you are talking about when you ask them about it. I *think* I'm covered, but I bet they would try to weasel out of paying if it ever came up.

With regard to insuring...

I have... a few sets... much like Eric and what I have encountered is the following. You can insure them in a few ways but a separate declarations isn't really practical for insurance so you really wont notice a difference vs a standard homeowners policy. Unlike my fiance's ring which travels the world... legos don't usually "travel" with me neither are they a huge theft target given their relative high weight and size vs value (assuming a common thief). But, while I haven't actually had a claim I can tell you that I have been reassured that I would get back every cent that I could prove each model was worth. In this regard, Bricklink is invaluable. Because it has a rolling 6 month avg with documented sales prices I can easily prove the "going rate" for each of the models. This is especially important because for many models the value is greater than the sum of their parts (5571 flirts with that line quite a bit). Where you lose...and will always lose (investment or insurance) is with MOC's. MOC's have no value exceeding their avg part value (which didn't stop me from building the lubriciously expensive "Grazi's Tow Truck") What this also means is that for me to really get my money from a claim I need to inventory my parts collection...which despite extreme organization would take months.

[me00rjb]

Your compromises are indeed reasonable, and in fact even Jennifer has said she would build them differently today than she did at the time. I think I speak for everyone when I say that we do want see your copy though. I don't know if you did a CAD file for it, but if so I'd like to see it. The files JC posted for the Baldwin are incomplete.

OK, you twisted my arm! I was considering posting it once complete, but here's a preview (sorry about the terrible photo!):

I think that's the logic I used to justify my changes - had Jennifer built them today, I'm sure she would have taken advantage of the parts available. However I still wanted my version to be instantly recognisable as the original. So I maintained the older style 9V motors, but used conversion wires and 4x IR receivers, 1x PF battery box and one old-style 9V battery box (with the silver-foil trick to make it work with PF). I used Light Bluish Grey rather than old grey - and surprisingly all the required parts are available. I had to build a lump behind the cab to house the chassis IR receivers - this is in my mind the biggest deviation from the original, but I just couldn't fit them in anywhere else. Not sure I'm happy with it, but there are similar features on other cranes, so I don't think it's stretching reality too far.

I almost daren't use the word 'improve', but I think I have improved on the boom lifting mechanism, using the newer LA brackets, with which mine interfaces. I redesigned the lead screw to look more like a hydraulic cylinder (it needs painting still, I only test-fitted it yesterday), the actual lead screw is totally hidden inside the piston and the cosmetic casing.

This would never have been possible without the CAD files Jennifer posted on the website, even though incomplete. I did fill in most of the missing bits in CAD, although there are some areas I'm sure she changed during the build that don't quite match up. I tried to stay as close as possible to the original where possible, however I had to design certain areas myself, for instance the area under the superstructure, around the turntable. It gets very complicated in there, so I gave up on CAD at some point and made the necessary changes in the brick. So yes, there is a CAD file, but it's not complete and isn't exactly as-built (either my version or the original)! The build started easy but it took me an eternity to work out some bits, and routing the wires and hiding them took longer than the build! How someone designs something like this in the first place is beyond me.

I’m still not sure if I have ruined a design classic or not!

(Apologies for the thread-hijack)

Richard.

[nychase]

OK, you twisted my arm! I was considering posting it once complete, but here's a preview (sorry about the terrible photo!):

I think that's the logic I used to justify my changes - had Jennifer built them today, I'm sure she would have taken advantage of the parts available. However I still wanted my version to be instantly recognisable as the original. So I maintained the older style 9V motors, but used conversion wires and 4x IR receivers, 1x PF battery box and one old-style 9V battery box (with the silver-foil trick to make it work with PF). I used Light Bluish Grey rather than old grey - and surprisingly all the required parts are available. I had to build a lump behind the cab to house the chassis IR receivers - this is in my mind the biggest deviation from the original, but I just couldn't fit them in anywhere else. Not sure I'm happy with it, but there are similar features on other cranes, so I don't think it's stretching reality too far.

I almost daren't use the word 'improve', but I think I have improved on the boom lifting mechanism, using the newer LA brackets, with which mine interfaces. I redesigned the lead screw to look more like a hydraulic cylinder (it needs painting still, I only test-fitted it yesterday), the actual lead screw is totally hidden inside the piston and the cosmetic casing.

This would never have been possible without the CAD files Jennifer posted on the website, even though incomplete. I did fill in most of the missing bits in CAD, although there are some areas I'm sure she changed during the build that don't quite match up. I tried to stay as close as possible to the original where possible, however I had to design certain areas myself, for instance the area under the superstructure, around the turntable. It gets very complicated in there, so I gave up on CAD at some point and made the necessary changes in the brick. So yes, there is a CAD file, but it's not complete and isn't exactly as-built (either my version or the original)! The build started easy but it took me an eternity to work out some bits, and routing the wires and hiding them took longer than the build! How someone designs something like this in the first place is beyond me.

I’m still not sure if I have ruined a design classic or not!

(Apologies for the thread-hijack)

Richard.

I just spent at least 5 minutes just staring at your model in absolute awe. You have not ruined the model at all and you have managed to enhance it with the addition of 4 IR receivers. I am truly impressed. If you read my above posts than you would know that my lego collecting has culminated around eventually building that model. Do you care to give up the CAD file that you used that was mostly complete? I can't think of a greater gift to the lego (technic) community then to eventually get full CAD's and instructions for this truly legendary model.

I also couldn't imagine engineering this model...the time it would take...

Edited January 17, 2012 by nychase

[timslegos]

Wow she is beautiful! i dont know how you managed to fit all those receivers in?!

tim

[Alasdair Ryan]

Any body checked who was viewing the forum?.....nob someone called Jennifer Clark.

Edited January 18, 2012 by Alasdair Ryan

[Jennifer Clark]

Indeed!

I read these forums from time to time to see what's happening, and was surprised by Richard's model!

Brilliant achievement, and I think it's marvellous that you've upgraded it to use the modern Lego parts. I look forward to seeing more photos and perhaps videos of it working, especially with the newer components.

I realise the use of custom components on the one I built is not to everyone's taste, but if I remember correctly, I wanted to build the model without too many compromises while staying within the limits of what TLG might realistically do in terms of new parts :-)

Jennifer

[Alasdair Ryan]

Ah welcome to the forum jennifer, it's nice to see another girl here other than Sariel,and i hope that you will dig out your lego collection again soon.

Edited January 18, 2012 by Alasdair Ryan