Sariel

Sorry for the unusual topic, but I could use your help. There is certain top secret book project I'm working on (can't say anything yet, sorry) and I need to contact some Technic builders about it. There are a few builders I'm having a really, really hard time trying to reach and I thought perhaps some of you have contacted them or know how to reach them. They are: - Gyuta K. (maker of the Autoloader Tank) - Madoca - Senator Chinchilla - Spiderbrick - ZED (the Russian guy who I believe hangs around Doublebrick.ru) If you can pass me any contact info or ask them to email me at sarielpl@gmail.com, it would be extremely helpful. Some of these guys are present at Mocpages, I know, but it's hard to reach them this way. Thanks!

That would be Hamsters of Fat, I think ;)

Small obstacles, sure, and it can take some larger ones when at full speed, thanks to momentum.

As for the Lego models in cold weather, I hear the Eneloop rechargeable batteries do rather well. I was toying with the idea of strapping a chemical hand warmer to a RC unit, but I'm not sure it's safe - the warmer can supposedly reach even 50°C.

It was -20 °C, the video shows that information. I don't think you can insulate batteries with Lego bricks, they don't exactly keep the cold out.

More: http://sariel.pl/2014/01/ripsaw/ It's just a dead simple thing I made to relax from more serious stuff. Nothing special, but the suspension system works nicely.

That sure looks way more precise than my drummer.

Are you sure the chassis is long enough to prevent turnover when starting? The real Ripsaw has 3 bogies in each track rather than 2, and I happen to have a Lego Ripsaw model of my own about half of the size of yours, which gets almost vertical when starting on a surface with good traction.

Nope.

Maybe. In my experience, the current stickers come off clean if you just peel them off slowly at a very sharp angle.

I've seen it without stickers and it looks better than I expected - it shows some nice shapes. I've never quite understood all the hatred towards stickers - you can take them off at any moment if you have problem with them. Of course, with a set that has over 50 of those it's not going to be easy.

He can squeeze through the bar on the prow's lower side, just like he did with the door open. Hamsters are very squeezable ;)

Aaaaand finally the 42025 Hovercraft:

Don't forget the new worm gear is important for the front loader in the Construction Crew. It's used in a space where the old one wouldn't fit.

Not that I have noticed. It's much heavier and seems to have poor traction in the back because of being front-heavy.

Allow me to get back to the subject with this 42026/42027 Race Truck review. I should have the 42025 Cargo Plane B-model review in a few days, too.

The gearbox instruction is now available: http://sariel.pl/2014/01/enzo-gearbox/ I was going to call it a simple one, then realized it's 25 steps long.

The tank's engine placement is actually important for combat. Many mid-WW2 German tanks had engines in front, and the result was engine and/pr transmission damage whenever the front armor was penetrated, often resulting in catastrophic fire or at least immobilizing the tank completely. In the Tiger tank, for example, the engine was moved to the rear to make the tank harder to kill. Today almost all MBTs have rear-mounted engines, but there still are exceptions such as the Merkava which was designed with focus on crew survivability, so the tank has front-mounted engine and an escape hatch in the back of the hull. I don't know about the driveshafts thing. All front-driven tanks I know have front-mounted engines. This has no impact on the turret height, except that the turret is sitting closer to tank's rear end.

From my experience, driving both ends doesn't work as well as one could think. I suppose the track isn't the best way to sum the torque delivered to two different sprockets, perhaps because it's flexible and sensitive to differences between these two sprockets' speeds.

I'm not saying these blades were used here, they're obviously way too big. I don't know about the rubber tip's aerodynamic properties, but it's rather small and stiff.

I beg to differ: http://www.bricklink...asp?P=99013pb01 These seem closer to the shape we see on real aircraft. The Education blades are really oddly shaped.

Somehow I feel that my hamsters are more likely to fly than this thing...

Thanks, it's actually a round plate inserted into a pin hole.

Just under 2 kilograms. In a bag, I guess?

It's not perfect, but then it's my first Ferrari: Tons of photos and some reading: http://sariel.pl/2014/01/ferrari-enzo/ I will also be publishing the gearbox instruction in a little while.