Sariel

Well, I'm sure an opportunity will come for you to own another beast like these. As for me, my automotive plans are more decent ;)

I'm not. I was thinking more like black body with yellow racing stripes + dark gray interior. I envy you owning that thing - every single day of that :P

I, on the other hand, think he would do even better as a goalkeeper. Once you put him in front of the gate, there is no space left for any ball. I did, as I ran into a couple of problems with a supercar of this size. I'm seriously thinking of stopping and building something simpler first, on a chassis of similar size... say, the 1969 Dodge Charger.

Yet another little adventure with the WeDo system, started with a joke of one of my co-workers who said that I should build a table soccer for us to play in the office. When I finished laughing, I though - heck, why not? As usual, I will provide just some media files and links for those of you who are willing to learn more. So: Full description with photos: http://sariel.pl/2010/06/table-soccer/ BS gallery: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=436648 And a video which should be quite illustrative as to what it does and how: I hope you like it. You better do, or you may have some vuvuzelas coming your way ;)

Which is completely wrong. There are many trucks with portal axles and traditional u-joints, with 3:1 gear reduction between the wheel and the u-joint, and I've never seen a single u-joint break in these. I believe that before you discard a model because some part is used, you should see how it's used.

1. The motors apparently run slower, but no problems other than speed. My netbook's battery was drained largely, indeed. 2. Yes, you can even launch multiple programs with the same key.

At this weight and size not really. If something that heavy starts and stops quickly, the stability suffers.

We've been talking about the WeDo kit for a while, which prompted me to move my lazy butt and to make some use of mine. So, with two USB hubs, 4 motors and the official WeDo software I did this: As usual, the full description is here: http://sariel.pl/2010/06/pf-arm/ And the video here: I hope it sheds some light on the pros and cons of the WeDo system.

Seconded. I have used a vehicle of almost the same weight in a Truck Trial race with a single XL motor geared down 5:1, and it still had more torque than it needed. Seems like with the kind of a drivetrain you've used it should be able to push through walls.

You're right as far as the 385's regular version goes. However, Caterpillar offers demolition kits for many of its excavators (385C included), which consist of a long reach arm and lifting/tilting system for the cab. Here are some examples: Obviously my version is not a demolition-ready one. I just liked this feature and wanted to include it anyway. I think it's completely unrealistic. It wasn't meant to be, by the way, and the description explains why. If you follow the respective link, I'm sure it will answer many of your questions. I damaged the gear that rotates the superstructure. This is my error, I should have used a worm gear for it. Again, the description covers this issue extensively.

Datasheet: Completion date: 11/06/2010 Power: electric (Power Functions) / pneumatic (fed from internal compressor) Dimensions (with the arm in ‘resting’ position): length 80 studs / width 28 studs / height 35 studs Weight: 3.5 kg Suspension: pendular bogies Propulsion: PF XL motor geared down 9:1, through a subtractor Motors: 2 x PF XL, 6 x PF Medium, 1 x 71427 Large model of a front shovel digger from Caterpillar. It uses 9 motors, 6 linear actuators and a bit of pneumatics. I designed it for a public display, which basically means that it had to be immune to the devastating curiosity of little creepy monst... erm, I mean kids. Built under four weeks time, it proved to be my most functional excavator model and a successful beans strewer. There are links to every possible material on it attached below, including pics, more pics, a video and a description, so without a further ado let me just point you to whatever your pick is: Brickshelf gallery: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=434851 Brickshelf WIP gallery: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=434852 Video: (a bit longish one, my apologies) Full description: http://sariel.pl/2010/06/caterpillar-385c-front-shovel-excavator/

Killough platform. The last one I've built needed 36 wheels, in three sets forming three omniwheels.

Talking about underrated sets, personally I'm very fond of the 8436. Superb design (remember, it's all liftarms and old Technic panels) plus excellent playability with the pneumatic functions, and don't forget three various modules to play with. Also a very universal choice of parts, as we can see from many fan-made 8436 mods & alternative models.

Am I the only one who thinks the topic name should be changed as it is seriously misleading right now?

I've explained it when I described the Rubicon at my website. Rubicon was built beyond the required scale and was allowed to join the race as an exception only.

On the contrary, it is exactly in the 1:13 scale.

From my experience the 62.4x20s tires provide good traction only on flat surfaces. The problem is the tread. The tires I've used have very, very deep tread with sharp edges. Compared to that, the 62.4x20s tires are almost smooth.

You can use your arrow keys to move from one pic to another too.

With a modified steering system, yes. The steering system here is actually inferior to the one used in the Rubicon, but I needed it to make Hummer's wheels protrude forwards. Come to think of it, I think we can safely say it has a ground clearance equal to one fat hamster :)

I did: http://sariel.pl/2010/05/hummer-h1/ Plus there are instructions for a similar chassis at my website's download section.

Ok, this will be my first MOC posted here, so please be gentle with me. Power: electric (Power Functions) Dimensions: length 41 studs / width 20 studs / height 19 studs (not including aerial) Weight: 1.518 kg Suspension: pendular, stabilized with 2 shock absorbers per axle Motors: 1 x PF Medium, 1 x PF XL I've built this model for a Truck Trial race, with focus on its look and accuracy even at the cost of performance (hence the relatively small wheels and low ground clearance). It features 4x4 drive with no differentials, full pendular suspension with shock absorbers for stability, opened bonnet, doors and trunk, headlights and rear lights with PF LEDs and some basic cabin interior (e.g. a full set of sets, a steering wheel, a radio station). The trunk is opened by a pair of damped shock absorbers and locked by a simple manual catch, and the bonnet has manual catches on the hull's sides. The entire model is powered from the 8788 rechargeable battery located above the rear axle and accessible via trunk, and driven by a single PF XL motor geared down 4.5:1 (3:1 gearing is done already at the wheels' hubs). It uses portal axles and has 5 studs of ground clearance under all parts of the chassis. It did well in the race (it placed 4th out of 11 vehicles on the first section) until both chains in the drivetrain broke at once and I was forced to give up. The lesson is: never ever use chains to drive a TrTr vehicle, and I mean _never_. You can find a complete description along with the photos here: http://sariel.pl/2010/05/hummer-h1/ And you can see a video directly here: (but watch out for rodents!).Hope you enjoy it. PS. If you're scared of rodents (tricky sneaky little beasts), here are two parts of a vid covering the whole race we held:

I believe that part makes it clear that the reviewer was unaware of the fact that there are two independent control outputs at each of the 4 channels. It generally sounds like the Power Functions were something new to him, as all the features he mentioned were present upon the introduction of the dual speed dial handset which took place over a year ago. To introduce 8 channels would be make no sense for TLC nor for us - it wouldn't just require a new handset, it would also mean that you have to buy new IR receivers to make any use of the 4 additional channels, and all of it with the current PF system being released relatively short time ago. You don't turn the core architecture of the system upside down only a year or two after its release. For those who haven't seen what the 8879 handset can do, here's a short vid presenting it:

Funnily enough, I often come across NetCarShow looking for some reference material and this photo was among several photos I've been looking through to get the general idea of Wrangler's look :)

They are certainly no good choice for some really challenging obstacles, like the ones we have in our races. Generally, if you don't have option to lock the differential at any moment (which involves complex mechanisms), your vehicle's performance will be severely degraded by the differential. Removing the differential completely, on the other hand, won't do any harm, unless we're talking about a vehicle with some really big weight, wheelbase and very wide tires. It will only result in larger turning radius and some additional strain on the drive motor while turning, that's all.

I really love to hear that :) Well, I guess that's my only option given the amount of new ideas I keep getting. It's this or quitting my job, which is out of question, at least until I find a very wealthy wife ;)