beach_dr

I've been busy with this for the last couple months - work gets in the way. I finished the build last year, but sorting photos took a while... Hope you enjoy! How Baracuda Bay came to be – the story of Redbeard There is a legend which tells of a great pirate which brought terror in the Carribean. Feared by his crew, filling the hearts of other captains with dread. At the sight of his great galleon, flags where raised in surrender before a cannon had to be fired. He amassed great treasures of gold and jewels. His name was Redbeard. But the legend does not tell the full story. Who was the real Redbeard? Previously unread parchments have been located, which give us a new in-site into the man of legend, and those who served him. This is the real story. Redbeard was feared on the open ocean. But Redbeard did not fear the open ocean. His great galleon was easily tossed upon the waves. With only a toad for company, he managed to stay afloat, and guard his closest possession, a map to a secret, deserted island of treasure! After weeks at sea, he arrived at his destination. The island was smaller than the stories had told. And it was not deserted! A lone sailor had made the island his home, and was feasting on crab barbeque when Redbeard moored his mighty ship. The sailor introduced himself as Port. Himself a pirate by trade, he had been marooned on the island years before. Port knew nothing of the map. Port knew nothing of the treasure. But Port did know greatness when it stood before him, and pledged his allegiance to the Redbeard. Though, he did admit, he had not made a thorough search of the island in his years there, and was excited to be part of the treasure hunt. Immediately, Port set to work, collecting flotsam in order to build Redbeard a port. The port would need to reflect the majesty of the vessel moored there. They had started to make some progress with the pier, when a massive monsoon hit the small island. Redbeard and Port took shelter in Redbeard's ship, sheltering toad, and keeping the precious map safe! After days of wind and torrential rain, the clouds lifted and the sun broke through. Redbeard and Port were surprised to find an entire new island had been washed up adjoining their island home. The precious map had washed into the bay, but Port bravely waded out and retrieved it. As they set out cleaning up the debris, Redbeard found the storm had uncovered an ancient relic on the beach. He set out cleaning it, so that he could use it to locate his position on the treasure map.. While Port was distracted building castles in the sand! As Redbeard destroyed the sand castles, they heard a muffled cry. Out to sea, they saw a stranded creature balancing on a barrel in the waves, coming towards their island. No more crab barbeque, Port dreamed! But Redbeard saw the newcomer as a good omen. He would not allow Port to touch the rather porky Ollie. Instead Port was sent out alone on the ship to retrieve further flotsam to aid in completing their stately port. Soon a staircase was built, complete with a lookout and a barrel of rum. From his vantage point, Redbeard could survey the entire island, and look for signs of the hidden treasure Port continued building. Redbeard continued emptying bottles. Ollie continued scavenging, and making Port's stomach growl... Port was learning that Redbeard was a hard taskmaster, as his legend would later tell! Redbeard was also a compassionate leader, and seeing Port had completed a significant part of the port's foundation, allowed him to finish the last drops from his most recent bottle of rum. And then, one Tuesday afternoon, as everyone was getting ready to light a fire and enjoy another crab dinner, Port noticed something floating in the bay. After he called out to his captain, Redbeard immediately noticed there was something floating in the bay. Taking credit for the astute observation, he called back to Port to go and retrieve what he had found. Port dragged a large chest ashore, and sure enough, it was filled with GOLD. Redbeard had discovered the treasure cache on his prized map! Redbeard instructed Port to hide his treasure safely under the port foundations, where it could not be washed back out to sea. He knew, that just as he had set out in search of the prized treasure, he would not be the only one trying to find the secret of Baracuda Bay! The treasure was too large to safely place aboard his great ship. He would stay on the island and get ready to defend against the bounty hunters that would surely show up! Meanwhile, at a Caribbean port not far away, somewhere near Barracuda Bay... A pirate named Robyn Loot was gathering a mottley crew for a treasure hunt. But, unlike Redbeard, she did not have a ship. Yet. What she did have was a treasure map and a very persuasive pistol, to motivate those disinclined to work. She shared her plans with a nobleman, sorry, noblewoman, the gracious Lady Anchor, who decided to invest in the project. The crew started with a sleeping quarters. A great place to recover from a hangover. Which unfortunately seemed to be a very common condition afflicting the men. Lady Anchor had noticed that progress was somewhat slower than had been anticipated, and was ready to pull up her sleeves and lend a hand. Day after day, Robyn struggled with the pirates acting, well, like pirates! After sleeping quarters had been completed, a bar was laid out, a beer keg brought to tap, and rum rolled freely! Even Lady Anchor joined in for the occasional drink, laughing at the boys trying to show off. If you can't beat them, join them! Or, at least consume enough rum that your labour problems seem to fade into insignificance! This new approach served Robyn well, and her ship made surprising progress! With the deck taking shape, the quest of sailing for treasure was becoming more tangible every day!Lady Anchor seemed satisfied with the progress of the ship, and bananas and tea were shared all round as reward. Such a type of reward is becoming of a Lady, after all. The view from the top is great! However, the pistol aim from the top isn't, and the crew took the opportunity to break into the bar and help themselves to more rum! The bow of the ship was starting to take shape. Not having yet found the treasure trove of gold, Robyn had to stick to yellow paint to line the figurehead up front. Gracefully modelled after Lady Anchor herself! Quartermaster Riggings took great care carrying the bust over the deck, though perhaps a little too much care, enjoying being so close to a Lady! And the the masts were erected! Dark Shar Doubloons enjoyed a rum atop the main mast while lifting the Skull and Cross bones. Pirates did not seem to lift an eyebrow to underage drinking. The skeleton crew helped with the rigging, while Benny and his parrot cheered them on. Wait, Benny..? Work started on the stern of the ship. Everyone conceded that a bar and a large supply of rum would not be enough to sustain them over the Caribbean seas. They needed a kitchen. As the ship had mainly taken shape, Lady Anchor thought it a good opportunity to assume a commanding position in front of an archway and order the crew around. But the crew where still taking orders from Robyn Loot, and they had other plans for the archway, and Lady Anchors comfort! A kitchen needs walls, after all. Easy does it! Quartermaster Riggings inspected the work in progress. One panel to go and the captain's quarters will be complete! Robyn Loot cleared left over bottles from her desk to make space for the all important maps And with that, the Black Seas Baracuda was christened onto the water! Starboard was so excited he grew a moustache for the occasion! Robyn took to the helm, while Lady Anchor waved goodbye to the port as they set of on their treasure hunt! Across an ocean, Captain Redbeard felt a change in the winds. “Someone is coming for our treasure!” he declared to Port. Immediately, they began fortification of their small island, readying cannons, and the terrifying Flying Shark! “Land Ahoy” called out Starboard “Ship Ahoy” called out Port The skeleton crew set out opening the canon hatches. And then, suddenly, Robyn Loot realised the error in her ship design... Too many beer kegs, not enough canons! Captain Redbeard smiled as he told Port to get ready to fire! The first shot from the canon split the bow right off the Black Seas Baracuda! Rigging collapsed, as Quartermaster Riggings barked out orders to the crew to try and hold the ship together! Starboard fell overboard and cling onto the rigging to try and avoid death-by-shark! Ollie the pig took shelter in the long boat, and hoped no-one hungry would notice him. The ship broke apart and collided with the island. But instead of a battle, suddenly pirates found themselves enjoying the company! Turns out Port and Starboard had more in common than matching moustaches... They had matching T-shirts too! Robyn Loot invited Redbeard to share the captains quarters. And thus the Baracuda Bay Island Pub was born. Strictly Pirates only! No pork was to be served. And the hidden gold was slowly forgotten. Redbeard became the legend of the ocean! Because he always had a full keg above the bar! And even the skeleton crew could find love!

Hmm took several months to organise 36 photos. I think that project might have to wait for my grandchildren!

Regarding the colour inconsistency problem: I know someone with a cheap Chinese clone of this model, and it has no colour issues at all between the lime green parts. Even the flex axles match the lime green panels. So it can be done If a clone company can get it right, I hope Lego pulls up their socks for future models!

This is not a set review, there are plenty of those going around for the Treehouse. I decided to tell a story while I built it. Hope you enjoy reading! Meet the Millers. They're a typical family. Angie and Jack worry about their kids, getting too much screen time, and never getting any fresh air. These days it's getting hard to have any type of conversation, they're glued to their phones. One night, when Charlie and Alice had finally gone to bed after the WiFi was switched off, Angie was paging through a magazine. “Look at this, Jack. Here's a great article on getting out of the rat race. Think of the fresh air! We may just get our children back!” They agreed it was just what the family needed! “Dad, we're, like, in the middle of no-where! There's no signal for my phone! What am I supposed to do here?” moaned Charlie. “Help your sister with the fire, while your mother and I get the tent sorted out.” “How long are we going to be here, mom?” complained Charlie further. “Consider this your new home!” exclaimed Angie. Alice thought it could be fun. No more irritating boys to deal with at school. Jack thought a little landscaping would help improve the surroundings. He hired a TLB and had great fun digging a trench to divert a stream towards their new camp site. Charlie stared at the coals of last nights fire and why his sister was so happy in a cap! “If we want to live in a treehouse, we've got to plant a tree!” Jack dug a hole, Alice was given the duty of carefully placing the seed down inside. “Why does she get to do it?” cried Charlie.i “I am the eldest, it comes with certain privilege,” replied Alice. “Hey look, mom, dad, its a real tree growing! It's got flowers and everything! I've never seen anything like it!” Jack and Angie knew they had made a wise choice! Alice chose to enjoy marshmallows over the fire. Some time later, the tree was starting to get strong enough for Charlie to climb. To think, this would become their new home! But it had a little more growing to do still. It's the first summer living out in the country. The little stream was cool and refreshing after a hot day in the sun. The tree had grown quite a sturdy trunk, and cast some welcome shade over the tent. It was time to start building something more permanent. Winter would be coming and a tent wasn't great protection from the cold. Jack cut down a few branches, and with Alice's help, started cutting planks. Charlie just wanted to climb the tree. While Jack and Angie assembled planks into floor boards, Alice demonstrated how she had perfected the art of making fires. Charlie was starting to think his big sister was actually quite impressive! “Alice, you're supposed to be helping, not just lying in bed reading!” “But mom, your new bed is sooo much nicer than the tent!” Jack just smiled while he brought more wood. Charlie tried to be invisible enough to not get coerced into helping! “I'm glad you remembered my Ship-in-a-bottle!” “Of course, dad, it was your birthday present, we wouldn't leave it behind” replied Charlie. Alice was becoming an expert at making the bed. “You know its for your dad and me, dear. I don't think it's big enough for 3. Or 4... You and Charlie may have to sleep on the floor” winked Angie at her daughter. “You've got such a cool room!” cried Charlie. “Are we going to cut down more branches for the roof?” “Be careful up there! We don't want to to sprain an ankle, we're a long way from a doctor!” warned Jack. “I've ordered some roof timber, we can get this room nicely insulated and warm” “And not a moment too soon!” observed Angie. “The weather is starting to change, summer is leaving us.” After a week of assembly, a roof was ready to be lifted onto the room. Charlie helped guide from above, while the other three family members struggled with getting it up. There must be a better way... Roof on, and winter coming, it was time to pack up the tent. Rather crowd into a small, warm room, than a small, cold tent. After months of tent living, the Millers were not too sad to see it go! “You know, dad, what would be really nice, is a proper bathroom. I'm getting tired of digging a hole every morning! And with winter coming, it's going to be very uncomfortable going for early morning ablutions.” Alice looked at her father with pleading eyes. “Okay, we'll start building a proper bathroom” “Mom, dad, the tub can go right here” directed Alice. Charlie had still managed to avoid most of the hard work, and helped to direct his parents from the side. A real toilet! With toilet paper! Alice could hardly remember what such luxury felt like, it had been so long since leaving their old home behind! “Charlie, help me get this roof assembled” No more hiding, Charlie was finally forced into some family labour. He cleverly designed a pulley system to help raise the roof in place. Much easier than last time, and Charlie could now once again direct the rest of the workers. Meanwhile, the seasons moved steadily on, with winter looming just around the corner. Leaves started to fall, but a warm (if not small) family room, a well equipped bathroom, and a roaring bonfire was all that was needed to keep the Millers in good spirits. But they knew that the children needed some more space. With some practice at building, the third room was assembled very quickly. Charlie managed to escape the hard work (again) and catch up on some reading, while the ladies watched Jack get busy with the roof. Winter arrived, the rooms had been completed just in time. The family roasted marshmallows, while talking about plans for the new season. “Once our tree grows a little more, it will be strong enough for us to start moving up in life” Jack commented to the family, with a smile. Spring has arrived!! A time of new growth, new life, new promise! And the tree had grown taller, with strong new branches shooting out. To start moving up into the tree, first you need a way to move up into the tree. The family started construction on a staircase to get them up to branch level. “Great! We're in the tree! But what now?” asked Charlie. “You can't expect us to carry our rooms into the tree. They must weigh a ton!” exclaimed Alice, nervously. “Don't worry, I have a plan” reassured Jack. A man with a plan! “Wow, dad, that's awesome!” called out Charlie. He eagerly climbed up on the roof to help with the chains. Alice stood at the top of the stairs, ready to assist. “Easy does it!” Angie and the children helped position and secure the room on the branch. Next up, the bathroom. This time, Alice had a turn riding on the crane as it hoisted the wooden room up into the tree. The bathroom was secured onto another large branch, positioning the rain water tank to help catch some run-off from the branches above. Finally, the children’s bedroom was also secured. Jack gave Charlie and Alice a chance to play and swing on the crane pulley. It was better than the fun fair! At last, a proper tree house! Jack built a swing near the mushroom patch, Angie tended the fire for cooking, while the children helped hoist supplies up to the rooms above. Alice spent a lot of time with the telescope. Nobody noticed she was not looking upwards at the stars... But rather, she was admiring something a little closer to ground level... Early mornings had some surprises... But family meal times where always looked forward to. And everyone had something to say, conversations flowed like fresh pumpkin soup! While Jack and Angie tended to the vegetable garden, they commented on what a good decision they had made for the family. Moving out of the city, away from the endless pressure of the online world. The children seemed genuinely happy, life had slowed down to a relaxed pace. What could possibly pop this bubble of tranquillity they found themselves in? Suddenly, everything changed for Jack and Angie... Their perfect world came crashing down with 4 words. Only Charlie seemed amused. “Mom, I've met someone” called Alice... “I'd like you to meet Dave!”...

Thanks! Was a fun build, especially building in such a round about way. My daughters weren’t very impressed with Dave joining the story!

12 April, 1961, the President is interrupted during a private moment with news that Russia has sent a man into space. 25 May 1961, the President stood before congress and proposed that the USA commit to landing a man on the moon before the end of the decade. In September 1962, he stood before 40000 people and announced that We choose to go to the moon! However, by 1966, with a new president in charge, budget overruns and little progress, in a secret meeting with top science advisors and NASA officials, the presidency passed the highly classified Lunar Exploration Geopolitical Ordinance no. 102 of 1966, which later became known as LEGO 10266. It described creating a realistic enactment of a lunar landing, to fool the Russians and the general US populace. 50 years later the documents have been declassified. A team of construction experts, and a media crew, was carefully selected for the project. All materials developed thus far were packed in a sturdy box which was delivered to the assembly site. The box contained artistic impressions of what the lunar mission should look like, and special features present on the lunar lander mock-up. Workers confirmed that the space suits within should be a good fit! All materials where packaged in individual sterile bags, straight from the assembly lab at the JPL. Bags where numbered 1-4, with 1 unnumbered bag, which correspond to various stages of the project build. A large instruction booklet was included, which had several pages of background information about the proposed moon landings, and further information on the current project at hand. A blueprint of the lander was included, which workers carefully studied. A large sticker sheet was included – which was a little disappointing. Surely a project of this magnitude and budget should have allowed for printed parts? Perhaps the budget cuts were more severe than anyone imagined. It seems printed parts stay in the realm of ideas ® In order to stage a good moon landing, you need to start with a good stage. Bags 1, and the unnumbered bag, are used to create the stage. Construction of the base is suitably solid, with details added to recreate the moon surface. The instructions also outline new parts added in each step in red, the first time the construction crew had noted such markings. Some of the parts for the stage showed distinct moulding marks, which had not been seen under the previous administration. Budget overruns on the space program where starting to show. It is nice to note that the mission designation tile IS printed! Once the base is complete, it provides a good stage for the apparent lunar landing to filmed, and secure spots for landing legs to rest in. The crater adds some moon drama, but for the purists dedicated to finding fault with the staged landings, a crater is probably not the best place to touch down. Bag 1 also contains the first astronaut mannequins. Outfit options were lined up, but opinion polls had shown that the “1980's space man” look was just too futuristic for the audience of the time, and so a re-purposed divers outfit was used. The torso of the main suit is printed with a nice NASA logo, but this is completely obscured by the diving overlay. The choice probably is most representative of the bulky spacesuits of the era. Note that there are no hair pieces for the astronauts, either they're fully suited up, or they're bald! The helmet sections also have a nasty habit of popping off with minimal handling, not a tight fit like other helmets/hair pieces. The faces of the astronauts differ slightly. Guess which one is scheduled to take that first “giant leap for mankind”? After a few short weeks of hard work, the staging area was complete. The film crew did a few test runs with the astronaut mannequins on the landing stage to fine tune the lighting and ensure realism was acceptable. LEGO 10266 passed all phase 1 testing, authorisation was given to proceed to phase 2. Results of some of the lighting tests have been made available - flag relays and crater accidents. Later, events these were removed from the official simulated landing program. It was thought they may raise suspicions with Russian analysts... Phase 2 begins. The designer had stated an objective was to capture his envisioned octagonal shape for a space craft. The best method to capture an octagonal shape, is to start with an octagonal frame. Makes sense... It all looked so easy on the blueprint, but the construction crew found that SNOT techniques could be a little challenging! “Click Klick Katt” While generic construction worker no.1 struggled with clicking, generic construction worker no. 2 was confused as to why they had to bring a cat? After a tough morning of building, time for a smoke break behind the oxidizer and fuel drums. Fortunately, for everyone involved, they where empty! The octagon is slowly taking shape. It must be noted, that until the four light grey 2x4 plates are fitted, it is extremely fragile, and falls apart just by glancing at it with a mildly unfriendly expression! Handle with great care! (Not just because of the rocket fuel on board) More plates fitted to cover the gaps and strengthen the frame. It's a hard days work, but somehow, you can always manage a smile!! And that hard labour completes Phase 2 of the project. Phase 3: The blueprints called for gold foil lining. NASA's overstretched budget cannot afford gold foil. Especially for something destined for a warehouse and not outer space. Luckily, being prepared in a Hollywood studio as it was, much Hollywood gold was found in the Wild Wild West studio next door. Some of the gold was noticeably fake. Hopefully it could be hidden in a way that would not be readily seen by hoax-busters. It's a pity, for such a high class project, to have to make do with defective parts. Gold is in place, but now there is a mess of Technic parts! What a headache! Once the Technic was figured out, and final touches added to the base of the lunar lander, it turns out to be a pretty sturdy piece of engineering. It is a pity that those colour coded fuel and oxidizer tanks are no longer visible, but at least there is some left over gold for the workers to take home! Are these landing legs that are being built, or something much, much more interesting?! “I feel like a princess!!” And with that, phase 3 is complete. Again, testing to ensure phase 3 meets requirements was successful. The stage supported the lander without showing signs of collapse. Basic mannequin placements where tested to ensure they could interact properly with the model. Authorisation was given to proceed to phase 4. When starting a new day, it is always helpful to start with a fresh pair of pants. Thus phase 4 started with building a washing machine. Or so the constitution worker thought... After nothing happened for a while, and still nothing happened for a while longer, he realised it was in fact not a washing machine, but the roof of the module. The work was ahead of schedule, and workers found time to relax with some bumper cars. After some fun, and a degree of whiplash, they turned them over and carefully applied stickers to simulate instrument panels, and would later use them to form part of the module structure. In typical government department fashion, after completely underspending on the gold foil and printed parts, NASA provided fuel cells to be installed into the fake lunar module. This may be understandable if they could actually be seen by careful analysts scrutinising the landing footage, but they are completely built into the wall structure of the ascent stage, only the workers themselves would know they are there. Millions could have been saved by just using a standard 4x2 black brick. The basic structure of the ascent stage has studs not only not-on-top, but also on the bottom, the sides, inside out, upside down... and enough space for 2 astronauts to stand. No recreational space available though. Exiting through the hatch, for a fully suited astronaut, has been likened to giving birth. Hands at the sides, twisted slightly to pass through the small orifice. Even one hand up will lead to a breached delivery, and you know how difficult it is to find a good Astro-obstetrician on the moon surface! Luckily it was never intended to go to the actual moon..! At this stage, it seems the administration realised that there was never going to be a moon landing. Time was short, budget was depleted, and the last section of the ascent stage is just thrown together in a standard building technique of slapping blocks on top of each other. It is the least exciting part of the whole project, but just something that has to be done. The model is finally completed. It compares favourably to the earlier scale models of the moon landing project, and was believed to be much more realistic, and believable, than the smaller model. It's all in the details! The film crew gets ready for the big moment. Months of hard work all culminate in this – will the staged moon landings hand the tempo in the space race back to the USA? Lights, camera, action! “That's one small step for a man, and one giant leap for mankind” And the rest, as they say, is history! In summary, LEGO 10266 NASA Apollo Lunar Lander is a great set to build, filled with interesting construction techniques, and makes an amazing display piece for any space fan, LEGO fan, or anyone who is wowed by the amazing achievements of mankind 50 years ago, using asmuch computing power as a modern desk calculator. I hope it helps bring some of the wonder of that time into perspective for a new generation, as it has with me. And, by reading this review, you can see that even historical sets designed for display can have great play value!

Thanks for the thumbs up! Nice to know that someone enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Just for fun... I thought it was too much blue to not make something fishy (staring at my blue Malawi cichlids swimming lazily around). My first real attempt at building without instructions! It has no functions. And I have not yet built the Bugatti...

Decided to build B model and add motor from the beginning Motor and standard battery box fit in quite well, though won't be able to change batteries without dismanteling half the helicopter... Took the grey floor panel out to fit in the battery box - needed some minor modification on sides to fit in box, and moved some of the rotor gearing a bit further backwards, which actually simplified the layout! Fitted a small liftarm to batterybox switch to activate it from right side of helicopter. Function switch on left side for rotors/wheels remains unchanged. M-motor slotted into tail section just behind gearbox. Where instructions gear up rear rotor with a 20/12 gearing, I switched the gears and geared the motor down 12/20. No place to build the clutch system from A-model into the structure, the M-motor does whine for a moment as rotors stop spinning. Lost the tail rotor, as not essential for dual rotor helicopter to actually have one... And hopefully, a video of the rotors spinning. If it imbeds... View My Video

Down at the bottom end of Africa you still can't get truckloads delivered from Bricklink... And internartional incoming small packages have a nasty habit of disappearing in the postal system. So I kinda have to make do with what I have

I didn't have money to buy 42030, so I thought I'd build from parts in my small collection. I also didn't check the inventory first, so I reached several points in the build where I realised I did not have the required parts, and had to make a plan... And once I finished the chassis, I realised I didn't have enough yellow for the body (not enough YELLOW, sounds impossible!!) So I thought I'd build body in Red, something like this... No dog bones in my collection, so steering mechanism was made of axles and connectors: Also not enough large gears for the LAs, so had to revise with clutch gears and 8-tooth gears End result: And having fun playing in the dirt! Pity about the yellow chassis showing through, I tried to cover it up as much as possible. But wouldn't have had enough red to build a red/black chassis either... Think is a little different from the original, I like the RED!

In our lego stores price set to be same as 42000

I just bought 8455, arrived last week, as all the hoses looked like so much fun! And I was not disappointed! I much prefer the way the model works vs 42006 and 42009 for instance. The hand pump also seems to work a lot faster than the tiny motorised pump on 8110. So my vote goes with pneumatics

Hi My name is Jon, live in a small sunny beach town in South Africa. Only recently came out the Dark Ages in August, when I was browsing through a lego catalogue while sorting through some of my daughters stuff and saw some things I liked... And suddenly there are several big boxes lying around a little dent in the savings account Apart from Lego, I enjoy photography and adventure motorcycling. Though at least now I have a hobby the little kids can join in too!

My daughter, and I'm sure Barbie too, would prefer a lot of pink panels, but strangely they're not very common in the technic line?

Thanks for posting the instructions, was lots of fun to build, havent built the A model yet though... As far as instruction colours go, found the blue background nice, just loaded them on tablet, easy enough to position well for building. Had to change out the little grey bits on the rear axels for slightly bigger grey bits, but fits with no issues, just an extra pin needed. And the best thing about the model: it is scaled perfectly for Barbie, so my 4year old daughter loves it evem more! She's getting quite good at the controls!

Hi I'm new here, new to Lego too, didn't even know about techinc until3m ago... And then I bought 8110 and everything changed... Finally my parts box arrived (9398) and got round to trying to motorise. Haven't read ALL 62 pages, so forgive me if it's repeated Was suprised how easily servo motor slotted in to chassis, ZERO mods needed, it's like it was designed for it! I see some people have placed theres over front axle, I slotted in in just in front of rear axle and sterring works very well. To drive it I fitted 2 L motors into battery box recess, needed a few rebuilds to re-inforce the gears enough (hey, zero technic experience before this, so it was a learnign curve) but drives it well. First tried to run an 8 tooth gear onto centre diffs large toothed ring, but kept skipping if going got tough, so settles for a 16 tooth onto the smaller tooth section at the front of the diff. Was hoping to not have to change the gearing in the portal hubs, and speed was fine with the 8 tooth, apart from the skipping. with 16 tooth installed at the diff, had to gear down the hubs... Great seeing what everyone is doing!