dhc6twinotter

There's also this new part:

Pretty cool looking bike! The steering pivot is in the center of the hub, and the rim is shaped like a donut to fit round the hub. The grey steering linkage you see in the picture acts like a push/pull rod which appears to be connected to some kind of steering box or other linkages beneath the fuel tank. I'm not sure how the steering gets connected from the handle bars to the gearbox, but I assume there's a few more linkages under the fuel tank. Also, according to the article I've posted below, the rear wheel also steers, but it is not connected to the handle bars. It's a self-steering wheel and relies on a dampener to keep it centered. This would be neat to build out of LEGO, but I'm not sure how you would go about building the front and rear hubs. You would not be able to use a regular LEGO rim inside the tires. Off the top of my head, the only thing that I think may work would be to use a couple of large turntables for the rims/hubs and figure out how to mount a tire around the turntables. I don't ride bikes, nor do I know much about their handling characteristics. However, I see several major flaws with the design. First, there is no suspension on either the front or mid axles. Both axles do have pivot points for the swing arms, but no springs. Second, the engine is placed backwards with the transmission in front. The power is now going the wrong way, which would essentially give multiple reverse gears and one, slower forward gear. The article I posted below says, "with the engine reversed, the drive sprocket is itself driven by a belt and pulley, to get the correct drive direction back." I think most of the people here in the Technic section know that adding a belt to something doesn't reverse the direction. The bike would need a couple gears meshing together instead. If I were to buy a bike with a pushrod type steering like that, I would would want some form of redundancy. A single linkage connecting the front wheel to the handlebars offers no redundancy. If the linkage, the knuckle, or whatever else under the fuel tank fails, I'd be dead. If that bike were to ever make it to production (doubtful), it would need steering linkages on both sides. The guy who designed it looks like a great designer, and knows enough about engineering to make a compelling design. There are some pretty major engineering flaws though. I found an article about the bike: http://www.motorcycl...etter-than-two/ That sure would be a cool Technic project though!

Nice!

Cool! Toyota dealer sounds great! I drive a Toyota too! Awesome barber shop too!

Depends what you want to do with your sets. If you buy to display on a shelf, then either will be fine. They're both great in their own way. If you buy based on playability, then the RC components make 8043 funner to play with. If you like to build mocs and you are looking for a good parts pack, then I would buy 8258 for the parts and whatever PF elements you want from the LEGO website.

I'm thinking the same. The things I've built so far are not things that LEGO would consider building. Far too expensive and complex. I plan on building some simpler mocs, similar in style to an official LEGO model.

I don't know if LEGO is looking specifically for B model type stuff, but I'm sure whatever you can put in a portfolio is beneficial.

They have job postings on their website every now and then. I would not be surprised, though, if some people were contacted from LEGO directly. Grohl used to post here in the Technic section. He is a talented builder and did a lot of "C" model mocs. He started working for LEGO a year or two ago. From what I understand, he was turned down initialy after filing out an application, but was later contacted for the position. I believe he designed the new helicopter set.

Hard to say. Sometimes the sets will go to the sale section, but sometimes they don't. The only Technic sets I recall seeing in the sale section were the 8258 Crane Truck, 8043 Excavator, and 8041 Race Truck. All of those sets sold out quick once they hit the sale page. IIRC, the Crane Truck and Excavator were only available for about 1/2 day once they hit the sale page. If you really want a set, I'd suggest you just go ahead and buy it. Waiting for a sale that you could easily miss isn't worth it, especially if it's a set you really want. All the sets you mentioned are good sets too. Just my $.02.

And to make things even more interesting, there are actually two different lengths of 5.5 axles. Older ones are slightly longer than newer ones (or maybe it was the other way around…can't remember). In addition to the other axles that Milan mentioned, there is also a 3 with stud, 4 with stop, 4 with center stop, 5 with stop (new), and 8 with stop. If you are using M motors, you could mount them by using a 1x4 technic brick on the front with a couple of pins. L and XL motors could be done the same way, but addition side bracing would probably be a good idea. Mounting it that way would eliminate any 1/2 offset. Alasdair Ryan posted a good way of mounting it. Other methods to solve the 1/2 offset could be by using a 8 and 16 or 16 and 24 tooth combinations. That would give you an extra 1/2 stuff offset. You would have to use one of the following bricks if you did this:

I used to be the same way. Before my "dark ages", I never really cared if my models looked like any real thing. All I cared about was proper functions. I built trucks, forklifts, tractors etc that were, to be honest, quite ugly. They all had proper functions though! The only model I built that was based off of the real thing was an F14. It didn't look too bad, but the flight controls weren't accurate. However, once I got back into LEGO, I was much older and found myself trying to build more realistic things. Once I discovered bricklink and the ability to get whatever piece I needed, I realized I could build something as realistic as my skills, or lack thereof, would allow. Regarding both questions above, I think it is really up to the builder. I build mainly heavy machinery and aircraft, and I like the additional challenge of recreating a real object as closely as possible. Some people, particularly those who build truck trial vehicles, care more about performance than authenticity. Both ways are perfectly fine, and like I mentioned, it's really up to the builder how they want to execute a project. In the end, it is really up to you how you want to build something. The forum has people of different ages, different skills, and different backgrounds, all of which contribute to each person having a unique build style. You can build something however you want, and that is the beauty of LEGO.

Congrats to the winners! Awesome entries! Thanks to Jim for doing the work for this, and thanks also for the very detailed results.

Hey guys, Sorry, I haven't made any more progress on the forwarder. I haven't touched it in nearly a year. I'm still traveling and spending time on the road. I've done several back country exploration trips in CA, and I spent another 6 weeks in the Philippines. I should change my username to hobo dan or something. I'm back in NC for the holidays, which gave me a bit of time to work on my Triple entry, but I didn't finish it in time. I would like to finish it, and I may still try to get my entry done before I fly back to CA. My LEGO is split between NC and CA, which makes building a bit more of a challenge. Once I get settled down and all my LEGO consolidated in one place, I'll try to finish up the forwarder. I would also like to build a feller buncher to work alongside my forwarder. Waiting this long has paid off in some ways. All the green pieces from the tow truck will be very useful to have, and I think the new worm gear will work well in my forwarder. I'm looking forward to getting back to my LEGO. I have a bunch of unfinished projects and other projects I want to work on. [EDIT] Cleaned up the grammar a bit.

Looks really good, LT! I like your building style. I grew up in a small, country town, and many of our stores were very similar to this. My suggestions for next shop: -Grocery store -Small engine (lawn mower, weed eater, etc) repair shop -Automotive repair shop -Video store -Ice Cream Parlor -Automotive supply store -Small library Great layout thus far!

42022 Mini-Backhoe 42006 Excavator 42009 Mobile Crane MKII 41999 Boss Crawler Plus a couple of modular buildings.

I have two threaded 10L axle and nuts. The axles came in 4 sets offered during the late '80s. Not super rare, but probably the rarest parts I have.

I use a Canon T2i DSLR with 18-135 IS lens. It does HD video well, but my only complaints is the lack of continuous auto focusing in video mode. Once you figure out how to shoot with no continuous focusing, It works great for filming LEGO. One advantage of shooting with a DSLR is that you have a manual focusing ring. It can be fun to play with, and that is something that only the higher-end video cameras have. Newer DSLRs (Canon T5i, 70D, and some Nikon models) have continuous auto focusing in video mode. The video below was shot with my Canon T2i camera: Proper lighting makes a huge difference as well. DSLRs can be a little more forgiving, but good lighting is important, almost more important than a great camera. I still have a lot to learn in this respect, and I've taken some pretty terrible pictures with my DSLR. If you have a proper light setup, you can get by with a cheaper camera. Tripod or something else to sit your camera on helps too. If you're looking at point-and-shoot cameras, I really like the Canon Digital Elph line. I have an old SD450 that I carry with me as a backup. It has no image stabilization and It's terrible in low-light situations, but it's a good camera otherwise. I think all the cameras in the Digital Elph line have IS now. I'm still learning all this myself, but those are just my thoughts based on what I know thus far.

Welcome, Gee! My story is similar to yours, and I just got back to LEGO about 5 years ago. Nice to have you here! As far as good parts pack goes, I would say 42009 crane is probably the best one currently out. 9397 Logging Truck is also fairly good. 8258 Crane Truck from a few years ago is an excellent parts pack, but only if you can find one for a reasonable price.

That is awesome. This guy is one of my favorite builders. I always thought he was in his 40s, so the fact that he is only 22 and doing this stuff is really impressive.

I used to want that set so bad! It's a great set, and TLG should definitely make a new one. The LEGO City Garage (7642) came close though, but it was more of a repair shop than an actual truck stop. A proper truck stop should have the following: -Repair center -Fuel pumps -Restaurant -Accessory shop -Tow truck -Two trucks (one long-nose semi and one cab-over truck with trailer would be awesome) -Truck wash and/or scales would be a plus, but not necessary.

I'm pretty happy with the current gear selection, however, I do wish there were more idler gear sizes other than the 16t. A 16t clutch gear would be nice too, since the 24t can be a tight fit in places. I would also like a 9L gear rack.

I don't think the early half-track had power to the front axle. You could just not add power to the front axle and say you built an early model. This topic may be helpful: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=51300

Voted! There are some amazing entries. Thanks! Totally agree!

2: 3 points. It's awesome that all three items were built from the same set. All three items also go together well, so an extra point for that! Thanks for including the part count in your entry topic. 14: 1 points. I like the use of wind-up motors! Thanks for including the part count in your entry topic. 23: 2 points. Probably the most original entry. It's great that each item is also motorized! 30: 2 point. Probably the most complex entry and deserves a couple points. Thanks for including the part count in your entry topic. 27: 2 points. A great, unique model! Thanks for including the part count in your entry topic. There are some great entries!

That part has been out since at least the mid '90s. My Nighthawk helicopter from that era had two of them on the control stick, and I believe my Rebel Wrecker set had some on the front suspension as well. It can be a very useful part to have.