Jay Psi

Looks like I'm pretty close to the "average" vote - my 1st, 3rd & 4th places came 1st, 2nd & 3rd. Jim, was there anyone whose votes matched the end results exactly from 1st to 3rd, 4th, etc? Fell free to tell me off if you think I'm being lazy! Congratulations to the podium finishers, and well done to everyone that entered this great contest.

Time for me to make this thread slightly more useful... The 42043 Mercedes Benz Arocs is currently available at Amazon.de for €159, a €40.99 (20%) reduction on their usual price. That's £112 at the current conversion rate, a sizeable reduction on the current Amazon.co.uk price of £146, not to mention the £169.99 RRP. Even with shipping to the UK it is still under £125. It's been hovering between €159 and €170 for a few days now but I think it will stay at the current figure until the Christmas shopping picks up (is Black Friday a thing in Germany?) Looks like I have no more excuses not to familiarize myself with the latest and greatest Technic offering!

We've already had a C-Model contest, at the back end of last year. I don't remember any stipulation about instructions, I think it was taken on good faith that every builder stuck to the limits (600 parts, maximum of two sets from 2005 or later). Here are the general, voting and results threads if you want to find out more about how it went.

Err, the link is in the opening post. Go to Stefan's Bricksafe page, find the Aventador Anniversario, download the PDF instructions.

1: 10 3: 6 6: 4 9: 3 17: 2 16: 1

Just to add to this point - when we think about authenticity as it applies to Technic (it is part of the mission statement after all) the first thing that comes to an AFOL's mind is replicating the functions accurately, but authenticity also applies to making the model look like it's real life counterpart. Let's also not forget that the main target audience are children, who may not even bother with the realistic mechanisms and innovative design solutions if the set looks like someone has dropped tins of paint on a block of Swiss cheese. It helps that Lego are a increasingly shrewd with the panels they introduce, as they have to be to justify the cost of production. Yes there will always be concerns about colour vomit but that applies to the liftarms and bricks as well. Stickers? They'll always be a pain but I wouldn't want to see Technic without stickers if it meant ditching the panels they stuck on to.

Bear in mind these opinions are entirely based on the angle(s) we see in those pictures, but in the absence of anything else to go off for the bigger sets I'll take what I can get. The heavy lift helicopter looks really good to my eyes, even in the rather drab white/orange (+ DBG stripe) combination. It has some of the best panelling I've ever seen in an official set. On the other hand the drag racer doesn't do it for me at all, but with two Tumbler tyres confirmed I'm looking forward to their prices dropping sharply on Bricklink. The airport fire truck really does look like a miniature version of Lucio Switch's monster!

With an absence of a like feature, please accept this thumb up: I'm actually surprised I haven't seen that factoid on here before now. I'd like to think I can build quickly if I needed to, but it's more important to take what I can from building the set. This can (should) be enjoying the model coming together, but I find it useful to look at the techniques the designer(s) have used and see if I would have done the same or not. For an upper bound I remember 42009 taking me ~20 hours, but I deliberately spread it over 6 days (one for each booklet). Building 42000 for a friend took ~4 hours, but that was about as quick as I get.

Ah yes, I forgot that the Power Puller had manual steering (I only bought it for the wheels...). That would tick all the boxes and as long as the steering isn't too prone to bump steer it should keep the drag racer going straight under power.

If I had money to bet, I'd put some on the Drag Racer having Tumbler tyres; the days of TLG making new moulds for pieces that have limited use are long gone. But I don't have any money spare, because it looks like I'll be using it to buy almost all of the 1H2016 sets! Are we sure about this? I don't see anything in the description that implies new pistons. New coloured pistons, maybe, but even that's a long shot to me. What I'm quite interested in is how the motorization will work. There was zero mention of steering (and why would there be? I doubt a Lego drag racer will have enough power to lose control out-of-the-box!) so will it end up as a PF version of what we see with pull-back models? If it was designed to move with the M-motor then I can't imagine it being that quick. I agree, it must have some mechanism in there. Maybe a linear actuator (sorry allnp...) connected to a linkage that pushes on the ground to tilt the model until it rests on the wheelie bar, which will probably have a small wheel on it so the bar doesn't drag on the ground. The large Tumbler tyres will help with tilting the model (if they are in this set).

I think you might be missing a trick here

Resistance is futile. You will give in to the yellow side It looks like you're planning on building cars. In that case, you will want a good compliment of wheels, suspension and powertrain parts. Luckily most of these can be found in various supercars, and doubly so because they aren't yellow! Sets like 42000 and 42039 should be easily available and have lots of the parts that are used in the MOCs you describe. They are available in older sets (8070, 8448, the legendary 8880) as well, but these sets can fetch a high price because they aren't produced and contain parts that haven't been used in a long time. As you have mentioned, it would be useful to be able to compare and contrast the techniques used in these sets to the way experienced builders do. Of particular note are red pieces - because red is a very popular colour for supercar MOCs, red bodywork pieces (especially connectors and flex axles) are not cheap. If you're not too picky about what not-yellow colour you want then you can get more for your money, so to speak. I wouldn't be too fussed about motorizing your MOCs just yet - in my opinion it would be better to get a handle on the fundamentals of car construction rather than rushing to make it RC. However 42030 would still get a yes from me because it gives you a full complement of PF pieces (one of each type of motor, two remotes and two receivers) and other nifty pieces like portal axles and green cylinder blocks. If I were to make one recommendation MOC-wise, it would be Nathaniel Kuiper's Predator. As well as being a great example of advanced building techniques, IIRC Nathaniel designed it to use pieces that are readily available and in good supply (apart from the wheel covers, but the I think the instructions offer alternatives), so it isn't expensive to Bricklink the pieces.

I don't know if it's the wait talking, but those sets looks more substantial than the smaller 1H sets of previous years. It looks like the mould for the mudguard panels from 42039 is being put to good use in both the Hydroplane racer and Go Kart.

Purely from a shelf life standpoint I'd go for 42000 - it will be out of production sooner and probably cheaper now. In a year or two 42039 will probably be the same position as 42000 is now (i.e. more readily available and cheaper). The big positive I would take from 42039 (new gearbox parts) doesn't apply if you are looking to motorize the set. Both sets are relatively easy to motorize, a quick search shows how it is done for either set. I suppose 42039 might be easier because there's more space inside the body if you want to keep the look as close to the original as possible. Edit - Here's an example for both sets (both using XL motors), so you can see what sort of changes you would need to make and get a good look at the pieces/construction involved:

Here's the video for you: And your Brickshelf folder isn't public yet, which is a shame because I want to see as much of this beauty as possible! The use of panels at the front and rear is superb, you've taken a relatively simple boxy shape and given it some spot-on styling cues that make it very striking and very reminiscent of low-riders. It's impressively large as well, I make it 31 x 60 studs? It's no wonder you have so few parts left (and have made good use of them).

I was of the assumption that the IP Car would somehow work in the Tumbler tyres, just because they aren't likely to come in any other 2016 sets (Claas Xerion maybe?), but new wheels would be appreciated. Doubly so if they put the mounting holes on the outer edge of the wheel so the steering pivot can be inside the wheel like it should be...

That's a very neat MOC you've got there. Thanks for the diagrams and the explanation as well. As for that video, here it is embedded: Take a look at my signature if you want to know how I got it to work

Bricklink is usually good for set inventories. Here's the part list for 8232, for instance. As for instructions, Lego has most of them online, and I've not had to look elsewhere for them.

You're a big fan of the Cargo Plane I take it? Thanks for the detailed description. That's a little disappointing, but in line with what 1H flagships have been recently.

We had a thread on this recently, but if you didn't know the part numbers you probably wouldn't have noticed. I'm sure a mod will merge this thread into that one soon enough. As for me, I've used the back (flat) end of a butter knife to separate them and it works with no problems. Slide it in to the centre of the hub and then lever the hub away from the portal axle along the length of the knife. A decent amount of force is required but no damage has come from it with ~10 axles disassembled.

Looking forward to it, but don't put yourself out on our account. I'd be okay with waiting another few days if it means you're not potentially going to get in trouble.

That's good work, especially in taking sensible approximations where the monorail is portrayed inconsistently across the franchise. However, I think you could have been a little more accurate. For instance, I don't see any possums (dead or alive) hanging around in the electrical compartments, which would be a disaster as your MOC is obviously solar-powered. I hope the brakes don't malfunction and the control panel doesn't fall off at least. I suppose the big question is where do you go from here for your next MOC? A lollipop skyscraper? A giant magnifying glass? An elevator to nowhere? I think that should be enough references to the "Marge Vs The Monorail" episode...

Not true BB, I'm definitely interested. But coaxial helicopters isn't something I (or most others I would guess) know much about, so I can't add anything useful to your excellent explanations. But if you need any encouragement to continue, here it is Edit - It would seem my opinion is relatively widely shared...

You might have just built the first tank Lego would actually consider making, although from the video I suspect animal rights charities might not like it! It's a typically inventive twist that is a feature of all of your MOCs. Pictures of the innards would be very much welcomed.

No the fin wouldn't be licensed, but the preliminary model (with fin) very closely resembled the 2011-13 Audi R18. I was even surprised at the time that they had managed to get away with making so similar without getting the lawyers involved. While the final model does look more generic, the front end is still very reminiscent of the Toyota TS040, and like that car 42039 has a V8 engine. I could be being paranoid on Lego's behalf, but I think that they wanted to make sure nobody could point any fingers, hence the lack of BHF. It also makes the set look nicer to my eyes - I know almost everyone has become used to the fins and holes on LMPs now but that doesn't mean the cars wouldn't look better if they were removed. Comment of the day right there!