allanp

Eurobricks Grand Dukes
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Everything posted by allanp

  1. This is fantastic! Creative and fun, very nice job
  2. Yeah but we do get a set list with prelim prices and piece counts about now don't we? Are they coming out for the other themes yet?
  3. It's only my opinion but I'd say that's a good deal.
  4. If I'm paying anywhere near full price then I don't want to have to expect some enterprising programmer to step in where Lego buggered off from! The old control centers from the early 90s are still just as functional and reprogrammable today as they were when they was first released, same with the code pilot from 1997. The programs of today might be comparatively more complicated and require a small screen to make, but small screens and a few buttons really aren't that expensive to incorporate into a new "control center +" type remote nowadays. The original control centers and code pilot haven't left anyone stranded at all. They have been discontinued for at least 2 or 3 decades at least but will never be useless landfill as they still work perfectly. They never needed support from third party devices, smart phones, computers, fan developers which can come and go or anything. You might have to clean the contacts for the wires but that's about it. The wires themselves unfortunately had a habit of degrading but even those can be replaced fairly easily, and modern wire coatings don't rot nearly as much if at all.The thing is, Lego is priced like quality, heirloom items that can be passed down through generations, the bricks made in the 50's still fit with the bricks of today. Longevity over many decades is very important FOR Lego but doesn't seem to be very important TO Lego anymore. But (to bring things back to the LR13000 for a moment), the quality of the rest of the set still seems very good and will last a lifetime. The rest of it is heirloom grade Lego as far as I can tell. The design and build is excellent and you get so many large frames and truss pieces that if you can find one for a price that's about what you would pay if it didn't have any PU components then it's a really good deal actually. It feels about as big and strong as a fairly large Meccano crane if anyone remembers Meccano! This thing has an enormous overhang from the front of the tracks to the hook, and most of the power from the hook winch motor is very efficiently directed right to that hook. So the fact that, given enough counterweight, you can stall the hook winch motor without breaking anything on the crane is a testament to how solidly and authentically engineered this set really is. The tracks could do with some D11 style tensioners but that's about it. I do think there are AFOLs out there that are willing to pay 700 euro for a truly spectacular set. This thing could have been it, if it wasn't for the afore mentioned PU issues and shortcomings. If it had a physical (maybe even fully programmable 90s control center size) remote with dual, twin axis joysticks and so on, then the value would have been much easier to see even if they couldn't actually afford to spend that on Lego. There's 20 dollar kids toys that come with some form of physical remote, for 700 dollars there's really no excuse to replace it with an app!
  5. This is a can of worms, but in short, we really don't like using a phone touch screen to control the model, we want a physical controller with real buttons and levers and such. Replacing a proper, physical controller with an app is cheap and nasty even if the app was well developed, which it isn't. Then there's the reliance on the need to code if you want to make a MOC. Lego is about building and playing in the real world, not coding in the computer. But now they have given us that ability, it would be regressive to remove it now. Besides, that's what mindstorms was for, and now it's dead! Then there's the whole being reliant on third party smart devices in general. Smart devices and their operating systems go obsolete in no time at all. By tying their products to smart devices they have given their expensive products the same short lifespan. While some may complain that a physical controller would be expensive, I had to buy a new phone because my old phone couldn't run the powered up app. How on earth can someone be excluded from buying a Lego set because their phone isn't new enough?! I bought this phone when the Liebherr excavator was released, it was the very latest and quite expensive smart phone at the time and will likely be obsolete soon. Lego should be a way to get away from our screens, not push us more towards them. And kids lives today seem dominated by the bloody things, either they spend too much time on them, face real online dangers from them, get mental health issues from them due to seeing everyone else's lives through the edited highlights of social media, or they can be bullied if their parents aren't rich enough to spend their money on buying a smart devices for their young kids. We are in a cost of living crisis, and the last thing parents need is even more pressure to buy their kids a smart phone, and definitely not from Lego of all places. But Lego, instead of caring about any of that, just assumes every kid has one and if they don't, tough because they want even more profits then they already have. It should be said though, while I think most of us here would agree with the need for physical remotes, and many would agree with a lot of it, some of the points I have mentioned here (namely the point about children's mental health and safety online) have only been brought up by me afaik, these are my views. I can't speak for the whole forum on anything.
  6. If you can ignore the whole control+ thing it's a actually pretty great model. Ideally, you'd want a discount roughly equal to the cost of the two hubs at least, then you don't feel like you're paying for them! @kbalage has a good price breakdown on it in part 2 of his review.
  7. Merry Christmas everyone! After not building the Technic flagship on Christmas day for the past three years (a new record for me!) I gave in to this one for a decent price and saved it for today. If we ignore the already much discussed cons of control+, I gotta say, this so far has probably been one of the most enjoyable Technic builds since the studded era ended in 2003! I can only imagine how repetitive the boom sections would have been without the new boom pieces so that's a big thumbs up for those! And the thing is solid, absolutely built like a tank. Yes the price is high but at a good discount it feels not too bad for what you get.
  8. Of course you might be right, it gets even harder when you remove space from the 3x3 to add holes to connect to it. Buuuuuuut, if we made the holes only half a stud deep, and increased it to 3x3x4? One of the 3x3x5 GeekServos has two outputs which makes things easier as you can sandwich the servo between two valves, and as the valves axle hole has fairly low friction, you could slide the servo left/right to interface with either of the two valves directly at the axle hole for a pretty much slop free engagement. You'd also program it so that the mode switching is disabled and greyed out if the servos aren't centered (like if you are still holding one of the other pneumatic functions). A line of 5 of those would be 25 studs long by 7 studs wide, or 21 x 9 studs depending on configuration. So here we have a 25x7 stud valve block that has to go along the length of the chassis. I still think that miiiiiiiight be possible with the hubs either side of it. However, if they are to try to usher in a new age of RC pneumatics, what if they had a pre built servo valve block thingy, each with two servo motors and two valves (totally enclosed with no manual lever) in a single block powered from a single port. Is that even possible? BTW, all of this is assuming that they insist on every flagship being fully RC. It also assumes that they even want to continue to develope PU in it's current form, I am having doubts!
  9. Hydraulics is the absolute dream! I don't think you need to worry about absolute positioning. You only need that for inverse kinematic control which isn't really needed or realistic for a backhoe.
  10. It would be a massive challenge to say the least. It's a white whale of a project. But the problem with pretty much every RC technic set to date (maybe with the exception if the Zetros and this year's Liebherr) is that RC was implemented at the cost of mechanical authenticity. The same is true for the PF days as well. So instead of adding play value to authentic mechanisms, RC replaced them. Having individual motors power each individual mechanism isn't realistic and would be wasteful, as you would need at least 10 pumps, but each function is only getting power from a single pump, which is pretty slow and weak. Better to have somewhere between 4 and 8 pumps working together, with every function having access to the power of all pumps combined. But I do think it miiiiiiight be possible, if we get a new micro servo that's probably about 3x3x3 with a massive internal reduction, 5 of these to nicely control the 10 valves and another in the front axle for steering. Then you need one large motor for the main engine for drive and the multi pump compressor and one more micro servo for the mode switching. The main motor and compressor would be under the narrow hood and the hubs would be maybe mounted vertically Infront of each rear wheel? Or mounted under the rear axle perhaps. But yeah, with the current parts it's next to impossible, but with micro servo motors I think it becomes doable. But if the flagship absolutely has to be control+ and fully RC then that's the only way to do it for me, unless you make it truly monstrous in size which would require all new wheels and 3 stud diameter cylinders, which is even less likely! Besides, I really want this thing to play and function well, with lots of speed and power, not slow as molasses and with barely enough power to move itself. This thing if done with gearboxes and LAs would be more complex that 42009, which had so many spinning gears and axles that there was barely any power left to lower the outriggers, 95% of the motors output power was wasted on moving all it's gearing. The PF excavator barely had enough power to raise its own boom and the Liebherr excavator, whilst being quite powerful and very well engineered, moved way too slowly for a JCB backhoe. With pneumatics, it really doesn't matter how complex it is, or through how many joints and sliding (side shift) parts the power has to go through, to maintain the same speed and power right to the function. No need for overly complex, power wasting gear trains which limit the number of functions you can have, just run the hoses to where the power is needed and it's job done. Think of it another way, if the completely unloaded compressors internal friction uses 20% of the motors power (I don't think it would use even that), and you have enough pumps to stall the motor at maximum pressure, that's 80% of the motors power routed directly to the function itself. Lower the front bucket and rear stabilisers and watch all 4 wheels reliably and easily fly up off the ground.
  11. We've already had several control+/La based sets, as well as several PF/RC/La based sets. We have never had an RC pneumatic set of any kind. Not saying everything should be pneumatic, variety is best, however we are definitely overdue a pneumatic flagship, as well as a pneumatic RC set.
  12. Why do the motors need to know where the cylinders are? The engine in a real JCB doesn't know where each cylinder is. That's the the operator is for!
  13. Well, they way I see it, there are two acceptable options for a flagship back hoe, both options being fully pneumatic of course, I mean, that just goes without saying! Option 1: There is no control+. just a simple battery box and a motor driving the pneumatic compressor (minimum 4 pumps for this bad boy, ideally though it would have a new, more space efficient 6 barrel axial compressor, equaling 6 motor pumps in a single unit roughly the size of a medium motor). Functions would include inline 4 engine, 4wd, planetary hubs (yes, planetary hubs on a non-motorised model to spin the engine really fast!), steering on a tilting front axle. Pneumatic functions would outnumber even the mighty 8455 with front bucket raise/lower (2 2x11 cylinders), front bucket tilt (2 2x11), front bucket open/close (2 new cylinders with mounting point near the top as well as the bottom), rear stabilizers (2 new cylinders with mounting point near the top as well as the bottom), back hoe side shift (um, maybe 1 2x11 with a sort of chain/string arrangement to increase range of motion), back hoe slew (two new cylinders with mounting point near the top as well as the bottom, see picture), back hoe shoulder joint raise lower (1 2x11 cylinder), back hoe elbow joint (1 2x11 cylinder), back hoe telescopic boom (1 2x11 cylinder) and back hoe bucket (1 2x11 cylinder), totaling 10 pneumatic functions. The hoses would be all black. This is for a more authentic look but also, with this many functions and hoses, I highly doubt that the current 3 colours of hoses will be enough for fool proof instructions. So I propose a new system of hose hose identification, either with stickers applied by the customer (just some 2-3mm wide coloured bands that are long enough to wrap twice around the hose basically) or have some colour applied to the end faces of the precut hoses in some way. This way they have as much colour coding as they like where it is needed, while only having to make one colour of hose. Option 2, the full control+ option. This would likely be the most complex and probably the most expensive set ever. I would have all the same functions as option 1, using all the same pneumatic cylinders, however everything is RC and controlled via 2 hubs. This would be done by having two modes of operation plus one extra function, a motorized rotating seat which turns to face the front or rear, which would signify what mode you are in. Front facing mode: 1) Engine (this can switch between driving the wheels and automatically driving the compressor whenever any of the pneumatic controls are activated by the user) 2) Steering, 3) Mode switching (this rotates the seat to indicate front facing mode whilst also mechanically links 5 servos to the five pneumatic valves for the 5 front facing pneumatic functions below. Using a spring loaded differential to switch a 2 function gearbox, continuing to try to rotate the seat after it has reached it's limit will switch the engine from driving the compressor to driving the wheels. A small gear shifter in the cabin will also move to signify that you are either in drive or compressor mode) 4) Front bucket raise/lower 5) Front bucket tilt 6) Front bucket open/close 7) Rear stabilizers 8) back hoes side shift Rear facing mode: 1) Engine (this can switch between driving the wheels and automatically driving the compressor whenever any of the pneumatic controls are activated by the user) 2) Steering, 3) Mode switching (this rotates the seat to indicate rear facing mode whilst also mechanically links 5 servos to the five pneumatic valves for the 5 rear facing pneumatic functions below. Using a spring loaded differential to switch a 2 function gearbox, continuing to try to rotate the seat after it has reached it's limit will switch the engine from driving the compressor to driving the wheels. A small gear shifter in the cabin will also move to signify that you are either in drive or compressor mode) 4) Back hoes slew 5) Back hoe shoulder joint raise/lower 6) Back hoe elbow joint 7) Back hoe telescopic boom 8) Back hoe bucket.
  14. Have we all made preparations for the big day boy and girls?! You know, (often times in the past anyway) boxing day, December 26th, when we get the first rumours and lists of the summer wave of boxed goods from Lego! Set expectations appropriately, forget all the things we've been asking for (they do listen to us but marketing and the higher ups pay their wages, not us!).
  15. That depends. As someone who values the internal mechanisms over the external looks, I complained that the Ferrari was too similar to the Sian because it was too mechanically similar. If they made the same car but with improved/more life-like mechanics then that would be better for me than having a different car but with the same mechanics, unless of course the mechanics are already so good and life-like that they can't really be improved, then keep them the same but change the car! But they are quite far away from that yet. With all this talk of automatic gearboxes, and if TLG insist on only ever doing exotic supercars for their 1:8 ucs series, well maybe something like a 1:8 scale RAM TRX might make a good regular flagship? With new metal axles for the final drive, new buggy motors but in a more usable shape, and a properly working automatic gearbox which starts in first and automatically goes up through the gears. Then when it encounters resistance (like a hill), it senses the increased load on the motor and down shifts automatically. There would also be RC controlled hi-low range and diff lockers and so on. A real nice looking, 5000+ piece crawler that could literally tow my 97kg self while sat on a skateboard! But not before a JCB flagship of course !
  16. Nooooo, not the manual stick shift option on the Cummins! I feel like freakazoid... https://youtu.be/FZy6jmwDeuA?si=KV6Uab6VaHJNQfAX
  17. I still think it's a bit of a shame that they stuck to only doing supercars, when there are a bunch of other cars that could have the same "wow factor", but it's never too late for the theme to evolve is it? A RAM SRT-10 with it's stick shift manual transmission and V10 engine in 1:8 scale could be a 5000+ piece monster! I did think the TRX would be great till I just found out that they only do it as an automatic. What's up with that? Why the heck is there no manual stick shift option?! Anyway, back to the SRT-10, as I posted on @kbalage youtube video, but in reference to the TRX (thinking it came with a manual stick shift option), it would have a more detailed than ever V10 under the hood, including rotating cam shafts and drive belts on the engine. It would also have a stick shift gearbox and transfer case in accurate locations (so no gearbox in the rear!), and the suspension and steering would closely resemble the real thing, with working steering wheel and a discreet/removable HOG. The engine would be geared to spin quite fast in the lowest gear and it would use the new hubs introduced in the etron. Although not specifically mentioned in the instructions, the gearing and build quality of the transmission would make it suitable for easy motorisation by the customer using buwuzz and one or two buwuzz buggy motors. It would also be a modular build just like the real thing, with the engine and gearbox being built as separate and accurate looking assemblies that could look good on display on their own, and then placed into the chassis. It would have a bunch of other nice details such as a fully detailed interior (probably with quite a lot of system pieces) and the other things under the hood (such as the turbo, battery, air intake, etc) would also be recreated. For new pieces, it would have new wheels with deep, positive offset and realistic tyre tread, stronger (maybe extruded aluminium) axles used for the prop and final drive shafts, a few more sizes of gearbox gears (to add to the current 16t, 20t and 24t) and a new 8880 gear shifter but studless and with 8 positions instead of 4. The 8480 style sliding axle shifter isn't very nice to shift, 8880's ball joint style shifter is more realistic and much nicer to shift gears with.
  18. This is referring to a sidereal day vs a solar day:
  19. The accuracy of the gear ratios is very impressive, I'm liking this thing more and more! Does anyone know what the white parts on the base are for? Are they to indicate something or can just be swapped out with black or something?
  20. Agreed. Being a Technic set designer isn't just sitting there building MOCs. You are taking the lead, designing a complex product for a very successful company making them millions while working in a very small team. It's not about academic qualifications, though they are required where I am, it's about being able to solve problems that they never taught you, as well as being someone who will fit in with the team. From what little I've seen of the Technic team, as a lead engineer I would happily offer anyone on the Technic team a job. As for the new piece in the harvester, that does indeed look quite useful
  21. Yes, it is and I do expect them to be used in the next car, with more of their potential being revealed. But as we have already had 4 flappy paddle cars with the 5th likely to be already finished and with flappy paddles only, it would be nice if the 6th or 7th was stick shift. It would also use the new shorter drive ring, 24t clutch gear (among other new sizes of course!) and the Yamaha's more realistic selector forks.
  22. Ah right, I guess I was getting confused between a fully gated H style shifter with an up/down sequential shifter. I thought I did see a H style shifter but with a clutch (automatic clutch maybe?) and with flappy paddles, but can't be sure as I can't remember where. Top gear most likely but on what car? I might be miss remembering. But still, it would be great to get a proper H shifter, especially now that we have more realistic shift forks, and because we haven't had one since 2001 I think? And we have only ever had one that shifted nicely with a realistic ball joint action and that was 8880 (the 8480 sliding axle style ones are not nice to shift), and we've never had a properly realistic one that utilities push/pull rods and linkages between the gearstick and the shift fork. All the official Lego sets had their shifter go directly into the drive ring.
  23. I do hope we get the new Yamaha parts in the next car, plus a few more gear sizes. It has taken so long to get to three! But I'd also love to see a traditional stick shift, 6 to 8 speeds but with the nice ball joint action of 8880, not the clunky and sticky sliding axle approach that began with 8480. I could be wrong but I think some, or even most, modern supercars with a stick shift also have flappy paddles. Would be interesting to see how they could integrate both. Like, with the stick shift, you could go from any gear directly to any other gear. Then with the paddles you would be able to sequentially move up/down through the gears from wherever the manual stick shift was in. I don't know if that's how it works in real cars with both stick and paddle shifters. Maybe there's a button you have to press to select which shift option you want to use?
  24. These space sets are first half sets, where my tolerance for childishness and lack of realism is somewhat higher. If they were second half sets I'd be more disappointed. But actually liking something and merely tolerating it are two different things. I know why I like the orrery, but I'm not sure why I like the other Technic space sets. I just kinda do!
  25. Yeah, I was thinking of something aimed at testing the waters for Technic sets aimed at the opposite of sex. Maybe the girly colours are a bit stereotypical but whatever, if it works it works!