Saruzeufel

Sounds great! As a suggestion for topics: maybe construct them in the way "build X but with/without Y" and then draw random topics for things to build (car, truck, construction vehicle, mechanism, etc.) and then a constraint added to it (with at least 3 axles, without using black pieces, with at least one mechanical function beyond steering and driving, etc.). This way the topic can be something everyone understands without beeing too generic (aka. boring) for the more advanced builders. Additionally they would be highly reusable for future challenges without having to come up with completely new things every time.

I can confirm this, I was (and probably still am) one of those kids. The header rotating the wrong way alone would have been enough for me to not want the set.

Tore an old half finished MOC apart, tried to come up with something creative and am still stuck at that point.

Because it is missing CAT's signature delta tracks (raised drive sprocket) it looks more like a Komatsu D375A to me or something inbetween the two

I assume that is done so the header does not spin when it is lifted... to give it a "drive mode" and a "work mode" (since you can't fold it for a proper "drive mode")

I really liked the B-models for their often very creative and unusual mechanisms or part usage. I found them very inspiring sometimes, especially on small to medium sets. Some B-models were even more interesting to me than their A-model (looking at you 8464) I have to say though that recently the B-models were less interesting (except for something like 42121) so I did not bouild them as often as before. It feels like them beeing gone now is just the endpoint of the lost interest in them.

Wow! This is brilliant. I thought about building something with a distribution gearbox as well but this is just on a whole new level. To use the shifter motor with a secondary directional mode to have two distribution gearboxes is mervelous... also the mechanism for the turntable is so simple but well thought out... I might have to copy that for a future project ;) Really well done!

Fantastic MOC! Love the little detail that the joysticks are attached to the valves and thus move when operating the bucket.

I really don't like how this turned out... no tractor tyres, the attachment is not foldable from what it looks like and half of the discs on it turn the wrong way.

It really is a shame. I always liked the honesty and the clear presentation in his videos. While I sometimes disagreed with some of his points of view, I always liked his sarcastic humor. I often found myself surprised after watching his reviews and bought sets I would have skipped otherwise...

The one that meshes easily with those double bevel gears (12, 20, 28, 36) is 27938 (slightly larger diameter but only 1 stud long worm gear). This one meshes with the other gears (8, 16, 24, etc.) quite nicely without weird offsets

Oh well, guess I'll have to stick to the white panels from my spare 42100 then. Thanks for quickly clarifying!

Nice idea, looking forward to that contest! Two questions regarding color scheme: 1 - does it have to be pure orange or is the color "flame yellowish orange" form 42099 also ok? 2 - would it be ok (for example for a tracked vehicle) to have an undercarriage or other functional areas in mostly DBG but the upper and most visible parts in white or orange?

I doubt there will be a dragline excavator, at least not a flagship one, because of how they work. The digging works mostly by gravity and having the bucket being dragged through stuff at a certain angle. Regular excavators or loaders already work quite poorly as Lego models because the stuff you dig is mostly smaller pieces that roll everywhere. A dragline is even worse in that regard. Also playability would suffer from the very slow speed you unwind the cables with (even worse effects than on a hydraulic to LA conversion) unsless Lego makes it some clever mechanism to let the bucket drop by disengaging the drive from the cable drum and let it spin free (in that case it would be a cool set for this mechanism alone)...

I just tried it out for you and sadly the gearbox induces so much friction into the system that with this swapped gearing (assuming you ment step 386, not page) the single motor is barely able to move the actuators. It is now much much slower and at times the motor stalls completely. Maybe this works with some of these powerful rechargable NiZn batteries that provide higher voltage than regular batteries, but I would not count on it working well either.