dhc6twinotter

Both 8043 and 8110 sets are really good, and I think selecting which one to buy really depends on what you plan to do with the sets. If you are into displaying the sets, then both sets have a nice wow-factor. If you are looking at playability, then I think the remote controlled 8043 is better. If you want a set that offers a good parts assortment, then it really depends on what you want to build. 8110 would be more useful if you want suspension parts for 4x4 Crawlers, or other off road vehicles. 8043 would be more useful if you plan on building construction equipment. 8110 has pneumatics, 8043 has linear actuators. 8110 has more parts, but 8043 has more PF elements. They are very different sets, and It's hard to say which one is better. They are both great. It really depends on what you want to do with the set. Kroes, since you specifically asked which of the two sets is the most interesting in terms of the solutions adopted and mechanisms, I would say 8043. The gearbox is marvelous, as well as the drivetrain going down to the tracks and boom LAs. Because 8110 uses pneumatics, it mechanisms aren't as complicated as 8043. 8110, 8043, and 42030 are all pretty different and compliment each other well.

A modular museum would be awesome, especially if it were something like a transportation museum. It could include a small train locomotive, old car, and maybe even an old plane. A set like that would probably be $$$$$$$ though...

Hey Kane! My name is Daniel (or Dan--whichever you prefer), and job permitting, I hope to be there as well this year. I should have some Technic stuff to display, and maybe a little something for my LUG's display.

Somebody over in the City section built a really neat bumper cars ride. There have been numerous roller-coasters posted here as well. The LUG I'm part of just started a theme park that they display at various events. I haven't seen it in person yet, but I do know they have a carousel and one of those drop rides (nxt powered). I'd like to contribute a log flume, rotating observation tower, and maybe a few other rides. I think a theme park or fair ground is a great idea, and it adds some nice movement to a layout. It will be neat to see what you come up with.

Efferman, you're doing an excellent job designing these. TLG should hire you as a parts designer.

The CV used for the Unimog steering is the only one I can think of, but I've never actually looked to see if the axle moves within the CV housing. With the geometry of the steering shaft and suspension set up like it is, I would think there is some movement, but I'm not sure.

Awesome project! I like how you built those tracks. I never realized the halftracks used chains. Pretty interesting!

1) Find something I want to build 2) Write down the functions and what kind of motor should power it 3) If more than 8 functions, I group the functions into the most logical pairs to operate through a gearbox 4) Make a rough sketch of gearing and functions layout 5) Scale to tires 6) Build the insides first, starting with the hardest part(s) 7) Build body 8) Test and probably rebuild (I often rebuild most parts of a moc at least once, sometimes many more times)

Entry 1 - 2 points Entry 5 - 3 points Entry 6 - 1 point

Welcome to the forum! It's nice to have you here!

Thanks Dennis! The wheels were pretty difficult and took about 4 hours each. I built them at work. Thanks for the music tip! Saved to my bookmarks. Jurgen's is better. My backhoe is larger with a few more functions, like the independently controlled stabilizer, extending stick, fake engine, 4WD with center diff, and dual drive motors; but all this adds weight, complexity, and takes more room. My backhoe worked ok at the first couple of shows, although I did break a couple of the old style 16t gears at Brickfair. Paul Boratko was kind enough to give me a few of the new style gears, which held up great. After those first few shows, some problems started to develop. Some of those problems were probably a result of a last minute design change that, while a good idea, wasn't implemented properly and ended up putting stress on the drivelines for a few functions. Lots of lessons learned on this moc. I'm sure Jurgen's backhoe is much better designed, and I think it has a much more efficient layout, especially placing the motors in the boom. Someday I'd like to build a second version, and hopefully with some additional functions and a smaller package.

I did make a day trip to Waterton Lakes National Peace Park in Alberta, Canada. The CA border patrol took me in for questioning when they noticed my car full of stuff. That set me back an hour or so, but that wasn't as bad as the U.S. border patrol taking my tomatoes upon re-entry to the states. I also drove along the north side of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, and Vancouver Island was within view. Never made it to Mexico, but I did get close a couple times. I drove along Arizona state road 80 and passed through Douglas, AZ. Douglas was a mile or so from the Mexican border. I also visited Big Bend National Park, and I was literally a stone's throw from Mexico. I even had a Mexican ride his horse across the Rio Grand to sell me some trinkets. And yes, I've done plenty of oil changes. I actually put about 35,000 miles on the 4Runner during the 1.5 years I was away from home, but I didn't count 10,000 since most of that was driving around southern California while staying with friends for several months.

I don't fish, but I asked my dad about your issue. He's an avid fisherman who has probably 30+ rods and ties his own flies. Here are several things he says to check: -The spool may be on backwards. -The line may be fed on the spool wrong. -The reel may be on backwards. Reels are made for left and right hand use, and you may have a left hand reel setup for right hand use, or the other way around. Some reels are interchangeable and the reel can easily be flipped around, depending on the seat design. If that doesn't help, you might be able to take your rod to a Cabelas, Bass Pro, Gander Mountain, etc for some help. Most Wal-Marts have a counter back in their outdoor section too. Just some ideas there...

Congrats to Paul! The pro tag is definitely well deserved!

I just completed a roughly 25,000 mile journey around North America in my 2000 Toyota 4Runner. I love this vehicle, and having the rare manual transmission version makes it a bit funner. On the Alpine Loop in Colorado. Elevation is around 12,800ft: Somewhere on the Montana/Wyoming border east of Yellowstone National Park: In the Sierra Mountains, California: Abandoned mine along the Mojave Road, California: Driving around Oceano Dunes in California: Colorado side of Dinosaur National Monument: Fun times!

Interesting design. TMV 6x6 perhaps? Steering is a bit different, but the axle spread is similar. The company that builds those, Jerr-dan, also makes a twin steer version that is one of the largest tow trucks on the market. These models have a 3rd set of stabilizers in the rear. I thought about building one, but it looks too odd.

Awesome looking tow truck! Love that old-school look.

Both the scraper and boat look great! Very nice job building the hull of the boat. I like that.

The iMovie on my iMac has slow-motion, but not sure if the iPad versions do. iMovie is a pretty good video editing software. Much, much better than Windows Movie Maker, and it is much more user friendly than Adobe Premier Elements (glitchy program, imho). I shot my last video with a DSLR, and I'm quite happy with how it turned out. Only downside to using an older DSLRs, like mine, is the lack of continuous autofocusing, but new DSLRs have continuous autofocusing. I also built a little rolling LEGO camera cradle to use for some of the shots. The video of my Case tractor was the first one I made, and I used a HD Sony Handycam. I drove the tractor around with one hand, and used the other hand to hold the camera. That was tricky, but it turned out ok.

I used to work at a Chevrolet dealership, and we had a new Corvette come in the shop straight off the car hauler. Turns out it had a defective torque tube and made a terrible grinding noise. The mechanic had to remove the front and rear suspension, the transaxle, and exhaust system to get the torque tube out. Anyways, he had parts strewn all over the shop floor, and I went over to check out what he was doing. I was surprised to learn the Corvette still had leaf springs. It's a neat setup. Sorry, off topic...

I was wrong about the Dodge and Chrysler mini-vans. I just double checked, and they switched to a coil sprung torsion beam rear suspension in 2008. I'm pretty sure the Sienna and Odyssey use coil sprung independent rear suspension.

I've never seen a Watts Link done with LEGO, but that's not to say it hasn't been done before. Also, I was doing a bit more reading in the wiki entry I posted, and apparently the Australian V8 Supercars use a Watts link in the rear, except they mount it backwards and mount the link ends to the axle housing and put the center point on the vehicle chassis. It's a clever system.

We'll I guess I'm really late to the party! Good to know that parts are much larger. I got all excited when I saw that yellow 40t gear. Oh well...

I just received a new LEGO Education catalog today, and while thumbing through, I noticed this: https://www.legoeduc...uplo_w3_dec2012 It looks like there are some new gears, as well as a few axles in new colors. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like we have the following: -Yellow 40T gear -Blue 24T crown gear -Red 24T gear -6 or 8T gear (can't tell which--maybe both?) -Green axle -Blue axle -Larger pulley wheels The gears appear to have beveled edges, but I'm not sure they are beveled enough to mount two gears perpendicular to each other. The yellow 40T gears might be a good alternative to those of us who need yellow hubs on our machinery mocs. Anyways, thought I'd pass that along. EDIT: I'm looking at these gears again, and it looks like the teeth are spaced further apart than those on a Technic gear. These Duplo gears look like they have a larger diameter than the 24 and 40T Technic gears, and I'm curious to see how compatible they would be with the Technic gears. Also, I wonder if they are more than 1 stud wide. I dunno…what do you all think?

I've always wanted to go to Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Italy, Austria, and Switzerland; but unfortunately, I've had no first-hand experience traveling within Europe. If you do make a trip, please post up a trip report. I'd like to someday take a couple months to travel around Europe, and I'd like to see what you did. It sounds like you are going to stay within Europe, but if you decide to go a bit further and visit the U.S., I can give you some suggestions, particularly in the western part of the U.S. I just wrapped up a year and a half long trip driving around the U.S., and I spent 6 months straight camping out. There are a lot of neat things to see here. Keep us posted. It'll be neat to see where you end up going.