dhc6twinotter

The helicopter sounds intriguing. Hopefully it has counter-rotating blades. The 9396 helicopter must have sold well enough for Lego to offer another one so soon. I haven't even built my 9396 helicopter yet...lol.

Interesting...thanks for the clarification.

Looks good so far! Is this just the trailer section and the tractor is yet to come, or are you no longer building the GSK55 trailer based crane?

I actually don't mind having unlimited part/size contests, and I think it's nice to have one every now and then. It's nice to see the crazy Mocs that an unlimited contest can offer. Size doesn't always matter either, as evident in the TSATS results. I really like the iMovie software that come with Mac OSX, although I'm not sure if the version for IOS devices is the same. iMovie doesn't have all the features of Adobe Premier, After Effects, or Final Cut Pro; but I find it to be very user friendly. Windows Movie Maker is terrible. I've also used Adobe Premier Elements 9, but I found it difficult to use and rather glitchy. Years ago, a friend of mine always used the Sony Vegas software, but I couldn't tell you if it's any good.

If the rumors are true, this is going to be a great year for Technic! Just some thoughts I have: -If it is a tandem rotor helicopter like the Chinook, then I doubt we will see realistic cyclic and collective control, especially at this price point. For forward/reverse flight, the Chinook uses varying amounts of collective between the forward and aft rotors, which is controlled by the cyclic. There is also a collective lever that controls the collective in both rotors in unison. To achieve all this movement, TLG would have to create a control mixer, which I don't see them doing. Then there is also rudder pedals to control left/right movement of the rear swash plate, and left/right movement of the cyclic to control front swash plate. That all being said, I'm s sucker for airplanes and helicopters, so I'll probably buy it. -The Volvo Wheeled Excavator sounds fantastic, and it could be a worthy successor to 8455. -The Xerion sounds great as well, although I'm curious to see if it will be RC. IMHO, the only way to create a practical tractor and attachments is to use pneumatics. The cycle seems to introduce an RC set every two years, but I don't see that being the case with the tractor, so perhaps the IP car will be RC instead. -A car with a price point of 300 doesn't sound too appealing to me, but I hope I'm wrong. Just my $.02.

I know there are at least two Arial Atom MOCs out there.

Have I missed something? How do we know this dragster isn't another pull-back model?

I like it! That's some clever gear usage right there!

lol! For the record, I'm part of the camp that thinks a 100% Lego RC airplane will never achieve controlled flight.

That part has no where near the surface area that an RC plane would require. Most planes don't have symetrical airfoils for the wings either (the exception being some earobatic aircraft).

Is this the first set to include both blue and LBG half pins?

I have a tweeker that I use mainly for the small screws on the IR remotes. I've also used it pushing axles out of bushings. Otherwise. Just my hands.

I don't think the rear springs mounts will work very well with the stiffer springs. The springs will probably pop off the axles whenever they are compressed. The front of the truck also has the battery box, which is part of the reason why stiffer springs were used.

8265 front loader uses a couple of the top piece to fill I the gaps on the sides. 8436 crane truck also used a couple of the middle part.

LEGO should re-release a set and let fans vote on which set it would be.

I don't know that I would ever use the red part, but I may use the rack piece. Two of them could be placed together to make a long rack, or one could be used as a linear actuator.

A forwarder would offer a nice level of playability, but perhaps a bit too similar to 42043. A road grader would be nice, as would a remake of 8455 or a truck with forklift.

I think the complexity is great, but the playability of some models can be confusing, particularly when pneumatics and motorized functions are mixed. Both my nephew and I were pretty bad at controlling 42008, and i suspect 42043 will be the same. The problem is that the pneumatic valves are logical to operate, but mixing easy to use pneumatics with PF functions that require us to select a function and switch the battery box is confusing. I really like the method LEGO used to set up the gearbox in the new crane, and if they can use the same method for all other sets going forward, they would greatly improve the playability.

I have a t-shirt with a rendering of Crowkillers transmission on it. Blakbird did the rendering. Bought the shirt at a convention.

Thanks for the review Jim! Great review and fantastic pictures. This set looks amazing! I'm looking forward to building this. It looks like the suspension design has some compromises, but considering the small amount of space, I'd say it turned out nice. The new turntable will come in handy, and I really like the longer pneumatics. Those will be useful on one of my current projects.

Jim, can you clarify whether or not Mad Max style is allowed? Some of the discussion makes me think there are going to be some Mad Max style entries.

Nice to see another plane builder here! Great radial, and I don't think you can get much smaller than that, unless you ditch the cylinder blocks.

I agree 100%. I would add the teaser topics to the list as well. I tend to lose interest in those pretty quickly. WIP topics are nice, but please, none of the above.

So, are you wanting to replace the engine core with a LEGO RC motor that turns the fan? How do you plan on controlling the aircraft once it is in the air?

I'm working on a road grader that will use the longer pneumatic cylinders, including the 1x11 cylinder. If that works well, I may get back to my forwarder project. I'm planning a super-B truck with pneumatic side dump trailers, and I'm also working on a F4U Corsair, but I haven't decided whether or not I want to use pneumatics.