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Thanks for the massive update Blakbird, it is really cool reading about the history of Technic. Did you read the book Brick by Brick, which deals with the crisis at LEGO and how the company resolved it. I look really forward to reading your opinions on the models themselves. Will you be adding the Mindstorms sets, and sets such as the CyberMaster or the Dark Side Developers 9754 kit?

If you like that, you should get the 8275 or 8458. Or if you want a smaller set, the 8437 (also has the red pistons).

I got some red 24t and 12t gears from the 9754 but I never understood why LEGO coloured the gears. What was the point of that?

I love that you have mixed the old and new cylinders! You could try using an old pneumatic distribution block to make it possible to force down the boom cylinders?

Nice that is has two steering modes.

@vliet that one is already very old, I remember an article in KIJK in the nineties about that model. It was indeed huge.

Man, that lego is dirty!

I would love some more of you thoughts on TECHNIC models Blackbird! Loved reading the existing articles. Convinced me to get a Control Center II.

Can't you use the dampened shock from the Silver Champion and other sets from that age? Then you can leave the pump and the hoses away.

Bought it about a year ago second hand. Loved the set, only minor annoyance is the stickers that go over multiple parts. I loved how the gear from the steering wheel connects - on an angle - with the gear from the turning mechanism.

Thanks for the review!

Thanks for a great review!

That's very ingenious!

It is usually used for connecting a worm wheel with a 36 tooth gear, for example for creating lifting arms. See 8280 for example, the arm with the water nozzle can be lifted by rotating a crank, one of these gearboxes is in the middle of this construction.

I recently got this set second hand. I could not get the software to work, not even on a Windows 98 virtual machine. There are no printed building instructions, since these were only provided with the set in the software. I worked around it by queueing all the .mov files on the cd in a video player and using the pause button a lot. It comes with many teal pars, and it has a massive amount of thin lift arms. Some gears, not too many. In my brick, one of the motors is locked and I can't get it the other two to run at all without the software.

Seems like he could use some diffs between the tracks, they seem to slide over the ground an awful lot.

I built the 42006 and it's very nice. I do recommend making the crane a bit lower by removing the two lowest yellow beams (between the two light gray frames). It seems a bit high on its tracks and by lowering the body a bit it seems to gain some stability.

There is some yellowing on those cylinders, OMG!

The outer u joints don't look like they bend at the right offset, I think you should use a 4L liftarm.

Yes this one, it's pretty neat.

I built the sportscar alternative to the 8458 also by Nathanael Kuipers. I must agree, it was a wonderful build.

Marvelous, great work! It's really, really nice!

I think these parts are supposed to be "weak", the way the the instructions create the model allows the beams to flex / bend a bit relative to each other so that both rear wheels are not totally fixed together in their suspension.

I just wanted to add a little note to this topic... Got the 8544 for € 55 from Marktplaats, the Dutch Craiglist. I really is as marvelous as every review is saying. I loved constructing it, the little details like the way the tubing is guided through the vehicle, the way the scoop stays level as you lower / raise the front bucket, the little ways the frame is reinforced, the way the differential is off-center, and of course the three cylinder fake engine under the bonnet. The only thing that sucks is the steering, because there is almost no weight on the front axle, it barely works when driving in reverse.