Lipko

I tend to agree. I would do some studies in some Lego CAD software to see how the body would look before investing in any parts. I had one or two projects where I started like this and quickly abandoned because I realized I won't be able to make it the way I wanted. Nowadays I have more routine and can decide all this in my head even without making actual studies. I just hope study means what I intended

Absolutely! Especially that he was not that critical about CADA...

Anti-roll bars are more for track vehicles than for offroad vehicles I read somewhere. You don't have that much cornering in the desert but have bumps that affect one wheel so it's not that good if both wheels are affected (hittinh a rock with one wheel with too strong anti-roll would flip the car). I guess it's a balancing act depending on the exact racing conditions.

Technic gearboxes were never realistic... The fuctions usually didn't have their submodels. What is this EB Nelson Mandela effect? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_memory#Mandela_effect

I don't know... As an adult, I don't see that significant set quality decrease, sets were never that awesome, the awesomeness simply comes from nostalgia. Sure, there could be some non-vehicle sets, but too much of them would also be boring ("Okay, some complocated sh*t again"). Those are suitable for Meccano. Just go through all the models and try to be objektíve. One true problem I see is the part quality. I bought some parts recently after 4 years and I was shocked. Clutch power is so inconsistent that I have to sort parts for "important connections" and "not relevant connections". This is totally against the Lego principle of having compatible and interchangable parts no matter the year/decade they were made.

That's what I call a proper contest theme! Generic and specific at the same time! I wish I had time to enter

I'd only get parts that are not available in certain colors in Lego. Parts that may be available in the next years but I don't want to wait. But I don't know how to look for specific parts. I will just ask it now. So: Does come in red, and in dark blue?

Sorry if it was asked already, but is there something like bricklink for CADA parts? How do you find out which parts exist and can you order them somehow?

Thanks for the comments! I thought about it a bit and narrowed the problem down to the following main points: I presonally don't care much about the livery, or Dakar in general. The main goal was and still is to have something that looks good (complies with todays standards like having no gaps) and is playable by kids. - achieved, and the model still has the chance to be successful in the Technic community. Having an unrealistic livery will have a big negative impact on the public success outside the Technic community. The model probably won't be blogged by Dakar sites or by the real car's manufacturer, or even by generic car sites, even if the shaping would be spot on. Conclusion: I will go for custom livery (but change it if by any chance the parts would be available in the right colors), and accept the fact that I won't be famous... Which is only problem because I don't have much time to build, only for following my reputation. Which is a menial attitude but whatever

Hi all! This is a more general Lego question, but I think Technic suffers from it a bit more, and I also think that it is a fairly typical question. So: I'm building a Dakar car modeled after a specific car and there is a big design problem: there are some key parts that are not available in the correct colors. The car only existed in black and one racing livery (I have found another livery but I couldn't find out what was it about, and that's not doable either). What would you do? (I don't like the black Lego version for many reasons). come up with a custom livery and try to get away with it (if it was Formula One, this would not be an option, but maybe Dakar is not familiar to that level of detail for most people. so maybe the model would be enjoyable that way too) paint/sticker the parts (100% cover, which itself would trigger pretty much all purists, including myself). The car is a car, not a truck with flat surfaces, so also technically this is very difficult. hope and wait for parts become available in the right colors.... call it a generic Dakar car even if the shape itself is regogniseable discard the model All the Lego rally models out there modeled after a real car are accurate in colors too, or are there "custom" colored models too? Thanks for the comments in advance! Lipko

Your UTV is beyond lovely.

There sshould be a 2L pin with bushing and a axle-pin connecting the T with the wing and the L beam at the same time.

I cannot do better, if I could, I would already have done so. It's not about your skills, you know that, I know that you are the best Technic car designer probably, and honestly I haven't built any MOCs ever except Crowkillers' Vampire GT, so I can't comment on the building quality. What I was trying to say that CADA is just too similar to Lego for me, and I'm trying to undertand why that bothers me, and why I feel that strange "sect" vibe about these dreamy CADA opinions. And suddenly I became the villain. It would definitely be easier to discuss this in person with a couple of beers, that's why I asked about CADA events. Another point I feel CADA is not there yet, it's AFOC base. BTW if I had the time, I'd buy CADA just to try, but I can't make the time even for my own simple MOC. Another "feeling" I have, is that if CADA would divert more from Lego, and go for, say, (partly) metal parts with the possibility to become better than current RC models, no one would have a bad word. CADA and LEGO are unique (as I know but I may be wrong, not counting copy cats), that these are construction toys that are also look awesome on the shelf. So two almost the same brands filling the same niche alone, dunno, fells unconfortable.

Okay, I'm going to stop too, because I don't want to start qouting people here, and maybe I misunderstand the, but I feel hatred from towards TLG from some of you (especially you, Bruno), and even hatred towards Lego fans ("fanboys", "victim cards", and other such expressions) for some reason. Everything Lego does is crap, CADA is the "dream" company. So your vision about " anything we like according to our own vision and be happy" sounds a bit wierd. You seem to be happy bashing LEGO and "fanboys" actually. For the review: the chassis is quite flexible, turning radius is huge (and even huger with 4 wd), doors and chassis deform when operated, steering wheel connected by friction. Just some things TLG models get bashed for all the time. Okay, you mentioned some bugs that were trivial to fix too, some of them are more like building instruction mistakes than design mistakes. I'm not saying Lego models are perfect, or very good, but I don't see that huge difference between the quality.

I see that on both "sides". I'm waiting for some other reviews, sorry, but yours was just too positive to be believable. And I do have a feeling against CADA at the moment, but I could not point out what. Maybe that I don't believe that two brands with almost the same content and system can co-exist for too long, and Lego has still way more inertia. I don't want to invest and "play" on both sides then to find myself outside both. I wish more than anything (I'm overacting) that Lego would co-operate with hobby designers in some other ways than Ideas. CADA has this, but at the moment that's the only appeal they have.