BusterHaus

The stress depends on the torque being applied, which can vary through the system. I think the extra gears offer more protection to the universal joints, but not only by reducing the torque. The extra gears also introduce slack and flex to the system (resulting in energy loss and less efficiency), which allows the system to better absorb sudden changes in the torque like acceleration from a stop or reversal of direction. It's kind of like having a very primitive clutch.

Haha! Great plot twist! I'd like to add another vote for some pictures of the bubble making mechanism.

That's a fantastic model. Looks like yet another happy customer - congratulations! Thank you for sharing the WIP pictures.

Very nice project. It looks so light. Have you tested the wheels with more weight?

Where does Styrofoam fit on the list of allowed items? I'm working on a barge crane and thought of trying to make it float with polystyrene inserts.

Haha! Swimming to get to the MOC - that's dedication! That's a very entertaining video. As for the reception problem, it may be a result of the antennas being placed horizontally. Certain antennas are designed to be operated in a specific orientation, and placing them in a different configuration affects their performance. I'm not sure if it's the case with Lego RC antennas, but I would try out the motors with the antennas placed vertically.

What is the judging criteria? Is it aesthetics? The ability to lift the most weight? The tallest crane? Best replica?

This is great! I love that it's just a single barrel being transferred all the time. Congratulations on the reliability, too - I wasn't sure how long a cloth guide would hold up.

If you want a way around using stickers, try putting a different colour beam in between the panels. It would give the eye something to follow. The other method is to do what supercar builders do: leave gaps in the body that the eye fills naturally. It's a big adjustment when you are used to studded bricks - one I'm still learning. I don't think technic panels are supposed to be used to create full surfaces, but rather to suggest shapes.

Nice work getting the shape of the car. It's fun to watch the evolution of this project. The rear fenders and front running boards move with the doors unlike the car (unless I'm mistaken?), was this done to achieve the shape or to make it stronger? The shape looks great, but that rear fender sticks out quite a bit.

It's nice to see the functional rudder and the size of this beast is quite impressive, but the proportions seem a little off. The nose looks too small or not tall enough, the rudder assembly seems a bit wide and I think this is a set that really benefits from having stickers - there's a lot of unbroken white surface that makes it look rather heavy. But that's just aesthetics, and I'm not sure I could do better, so great job overall.

Excellent model! Those curved panels give some nice options for new shapes.

*cough* When is the next contest? I really enjoyed this one and would love to see another one sooner than later, even if there is no sponsor or prize(s).

I'd like to take a look at it for the steering. Thanks.

The electronics layout is great - all the heavy parts are on the bottom. How are the CV joints holding up? Do the tan pins get worn out over time?

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to Jim and all the participants - this was a very fun contest.

Great rotor head, and the blue colour is very sweet. The landing skis look like they should be a bit longer in the back, even if it would not be to scale.

Hi Victor, If your camera has a manual mode, I highly suggest trying it out. You can set your own white balance, control the over/under exposure and set many other options. Try playing with those two at first and looking at the results. Here are some suggestions about the first (non-adjusted) picture you took: The picture is much too yellow, as shown by the "white" background. This can be controlled by adjusting the white balance. Look for a Tungsten or regular (non LED/CFL) bulb setting. The blacks (tires, bottom of vehicle) look like they could use some more definition. You can overexpose the picture a bit and see if that helps. It will also overexpose your background, making it whiter. Don't go too far, because overexposing washes out colours, making them less vibrant. Some of this can be corrected with saturation in the post process. Be careful with the post process. If you have a source picture that requires a lot of adjustments, it is easy to overcorrect some areas when fixing others. For example, while making the background white, you can make the blacks gray and non-natural looking. You managed to avoid this, but having played with your source picture here, I can't imagine it was easy. So the better the source picture, the less adjustments, the better the results. Finally, try to step back from your result picture for and see how it looks on its own, not compared to what you started with. Your result has a much cleaner background, but could use a little bit less magenta/blue. This is noticeable on the gray IR receiver, exhaust tips, bottom of the picture where the shadow is located, and the roof panel. This can be adjusted in Gimp by playing with the saturation of specific colours in Hue-Saturation.

CLR will probably do the trick. If you do use WD-40, wipe it off after cleaning the balls. It is not a grease and can make rust spots on hardened steel.

Can you post an example of the results, Victor? A picture is worth a thousand words.

Wow. Did you test the lifting capacity? And did you call the folks at Guinness World Records?

Nice work, it's very functional and looks good, too. How big is the correction every hour? And is it consistent? Do you think the correction could be done mechanically, without the NXT unit?

Incredible work! I love the single motor powering so many functions, and that they're all mechanical. It screams efficiency and lower weight. The colour scheme looks very good, too.

Great work on these models, they have some really nice shapes. The blue one has some very impressive SNOT techniques, it's simply stunning. Keep it up!

Awesome! Just last week I was twisting these tracks into loops, thinking that it would make a pretty good roller coaster track. I think you did it more justice than I would have.