nerdsforprez

Hey everyone, Here is a new rendition of a crawler I built years ago. Re-did the whole model in the old, first generation slotted pins www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=115080&hl=molds and also used a variety of other methods to strengthen the model. Check out my mocpages for more information. http://mocpages.com/...hp/422162����It is a little bit of a read but I think well worth it. Quickly, the goal of this model was to make it strong enough to really utilize all the power PF XL motors provide. I think often we get caught up in complaining that they are too weak.... when actually, I think they are fairly strong, slow, but strong. I think the real problem with lack of power in some builds is simply not using the power effectively. A lot of power can get lost in bad Technic connections and /or the axles. Regular video: Blooper video: http://youtu.be/b_lgMkH-zKO

Expensive... but extremely strong. http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=Eezo

Much better :sweet:

To be honest, you have to be a little careful...... they really don't look the best for crawling. "off-road" in the RC world doesn't necessarily mean crawling. Lots of RC off-road trucks are for racing, and therefore traction is important they don't have huge nobs because they also have to have speed. These tires aren't the best for crawling. Look at the nobs. Not the best. Better to look for tires that specify they are for crawlers rather than just "off-road" -- after just a few seconds of browsing, at least IMO, these look like better tires for crawling.... http://store.rc4wd.com/Trail-Buster-Single-Scale-19-Tires_p_717.html

This is a good discussion and perhaps worthy of a new thread. I see benefits of both. I do think, in some ways, not all ways, it takes more skill to build small. It certainly is difficult to fit so much into small places. Yet at the same time I think big actually is getting a bad rap. I actually love big models. I know the limitations, many of my projects are 3-4,000 pieces. But big is just imposing. I love 'em. Small takes more dedicated attention and developed taste to appreciate.... whereas size just slaps you upside the face with "Look at me I'm awesome" -- Also although technical skill is an absolute requirement for building small, building big also takes a lot of skill. Because Lego has such limitations in terms electronic functions (PF motors limitations) and strength, that much planning and technic skill is needed to build big as well. in addition, just the shear number of pieces it just takes so much time and patience to build big. Both have their pros and cons.... and I think both pose their own unique requirements and level of difficulty.

I love these huge trucks. Not in looks, but in shear size and overall mass, it reminds me of a nicolas tractomas or something The first impression one gets by looking at the beast is that it has terrific pulling power

Ditto to what others have said..... also, I like the solution with the pneumatic tubing. Clever. I am surprised I have not seen that used in bodywork before. It is still Lego after all and soft axles, especially of certain lengths are getting so rare.....

I finally got around to reading this thread. I love pneumatics and have used them successfully in several build s. Personally I would love to see some truck trials with only pneumatic engines. That would allow some muddin and boggin competitions not really possible with current truck trials because of electronics. Also.... Surprised not to see the work of Alex Zorko (lpepower) mentioned here. I think he had some of the best lpes available.

I have a project I am currently working on, likely be posting soon, where I busted a u joint with nearly no angle to it. XL motors are pretty strong. If they can twist axles only 5 studs in length they can bust u joints, angle or no angle no problem with the right gearing

Crap I love this. Once upon a time I thought about blogging about how to appropriately step on Lego. The trick, IMO, is to roll your ankle and fall the minute you notice you are stepping on Lego. It might sound dramatic, but for those of us where this is a constant problem then it is not considered dramatic at all. Another trick would be what I call the "mine sweep" method......where when you are entering your kids room at night because they stole your laptop, and you don't want to wake them, is to scan the floor with your foot in a sweeping motion ahead of you. This helps you avoid stepping on Lego and falling down in excruciating pain waking up the whole house...... But with these I don't have to worry about any of that..... :classic:

Infinite number of possibilities here..... but like has already been pointed out in the post; lack of weight (unless you build something crazy big) and lack of a true pulley, or at least one that is relatively reasonable to build with. To build a true pulley system into a hook block with Lego it would have to be crazy wide. Or..... drill out the middle of the pulley wheels, which... is "cheating" according to purists anyways.....

I don't pretend to know the answer to this..... and surely I am not offering some sort of definitive argument.... but I think yea, in essence, you captured it well when you state if its metal and not plastic then its alright to go third party. But I'll just add two things.... first, I am not saying its "alright" - this sounds like I am making some judgment or something. I don't even pretend to wield that kind of opinion!!! I am simply saying that some might find it more acceptable... second... you still ask, again where do you stop as if there is some infinite amount of options when sticking to your own statement of "if its metal and not plastic"... which is exactly my point. Yes, that is where you stop because although there may be a good number of Lego elements that have metal in them we can avoid the buffoonery of applying the "where do you stop" query to applications such as exchanging regular Lego liftarms with these: Or in other words exchanging plastic with metal. I don't think many would be okay with this..... this defeats the purpose of Lego. And... for the record, many seem pretty open to using third party actuators, pneumatic tubing, etc..... I did this same thing a while ago. Documented it here:http://mocpages.com/moc.php/420370 Really depends on what you are building and using the hook for. In this build The hook block I built was pretty much the same size as the HB I got from the die cast metal model I got. However, I bought the diecast crane after the build.... wished I would have used the diecast version. Very expensive, I know, I know. It really depends where your hobbies lie I guess. Lego is, and always will be the funnest for me and my number one hobby. But I dabble in RC cars and models as well.... and I love it. I know others on the forum do as well. For what it is worth, if you can afford it, I highly recommend the crane. I likely will be buying another, large crane in the future, likely a crawler or something. It was a lot of fun to assemble and display. Not a problem at all. And I agree.... I like to hear and discuss others opinions on all things related to Lego. That is the purpose of the forum and it works so well when everyone plays nice

It looks like @dr_spock beat me to it. Sorry for the slow response. Essentially, any diecast metal shop (if they sell large items, such as cranes) will have a variety of hook blocks. I just picked up the Liebherr 11200 LTM from a store and got a 60 ton regular hook (not hook block), a 150 ton hook block, and a 350 ton. They are really really cool. I did a review of the model, check out my youtube page if interested; here is probably not the best place to post it. You are right..... but that was not the point I was trying to make. "But where do you stop? For pretty much any mechanism you can imagine, a brickbuilt version will be larger, or less efficient, or less robust than a 3rd party solution" -- That would defeat the whole purpose of Lego. What I am saying, (not the response you were responding to but as the OP of this thread) is that even the LEGO version is not brick-built. It is metal. One piece, not plastic.....so technically, perhaps sold as Lego but not Lego material. I wonder if they even do the mold? I wonder if they contract out for the piece. Anyways..... I digress.... the Lego version is metal so why not just buy another metal one that is much better, for pretty much the same cost. I think that is the reason that perhaps we can draw a line between Lego and third-party pieces and not get into the whole "but where do you stop" business......

So, although not all agree, I think there is more or less a general acceptance of third party tires for Technic builders. Again, not universal, but perhaps a majority of people are okay with it. We regularly, if not a majority of the time, see large crawlers, trucks, etc, on this forum with third party tires. Why the acceptance? And given whatever rationale, can we apply this rational to others parts as well? For me... so much cranes lately (I just got done voting) has given me to think about the Lego metal hook. I mean, technically, I guess its Lego, but literally.... hmmm difficult argument here. If the viability of the hook being Lego is debatable in the first place, why not use other, third party hooks that can be so much better. The Lego hook is what like 20-30 bucks? 30 in the US where I am (more or less). If it is just metal, why not perhaps use like a third party block hook? So much cooler, and just like the Lego hook, all metal. I get that these can be built out of Lego, I have done several myself, but given the popularity of the metal hooks, personally I would prefer just to use third party hooks. Here is one example: Hook blocks such as these can be purchased for about the same price as the Lego metal hook, but IMO are much much better. Smaller hooks are also available. What do others think?

Whew! Glad this did not close before I had a chance to vote. Work has been a "B" lately :angry: !!! 16: 10 1: 6 9: 4 6: 3 10 2 17: 1 Great job to all contestants.....

Be cool to see a large wind turbine, like you said. One of the common applications of big mobile cranes; to lift the blades of such turbines to their mounting points. Agreed, I would love to see this.....

Congrats man.... For what it's worth i think design-wise, yours was one of the best.

Thanks guys.... I thought it was available. I could have posted this in the Technic forum, where i am more of a regular, because I knnow I have seen it in some of the LDD instructions that guys and gals have posted there, but I see that this is the forum to post all things LDD so I posted it here.... you guys came through.... Wow...... I have a lot to learn Categorizations are so much different. The panel I am alluding to is not under panels but under pins???? Weird. Noticing lots of other, IMO incorrectly categorized items, in the pin group.

Good advice..... but one quick question....this post may have applied to a certain thread but I would like to keep it b/c I anticipate many more questions. Questions other than the "find-that-brick" ilk. So..... if I have other "find that brick" questions (which I am sure I will, I will post them to the recommended post. Other than that... I will keep this one so I don't have to keep making new ones. Thank you for the response.

Thanks all for your help in the past. I am starting a whole new thread for my questions. Being that I am new (long time builder, but new to LDD) I will likely have many questions as I work on a fairly ambitious project. This way I don't have to begin new threads each time I have a new question. As many of you, I first try and always find a solution on my own before i bring it to the forum. You can be sure that if I am bringing to the forum I have done at least some research. Perhaps not exhaustive research, but at least a good faith try. I have looked online for updates, and apparently LDD is supposed to automatically get updates of bricks. I am running version 4.3, so not sure if that is the latest version or not. Anyways, I am looking for the technic panels listed below with no success. How do I get these panels added to my LDD?

Man, I fully support the bumping of topics when it leads to me finding builds like these. Great work. Sorry that it was pirated for Lego Ideas......

Perfect.....thanks.

Hello All, Long time forum member.... but doing my first project using LDD. Is there a way to move the center point of zoom? Whenever I zoom in or out, if always focuses on one certain point of what I am building. What I want to do is change than center point where the zoom is focusing, so I can zoom in on other parts of my build. Any suggestions?

yes... that front end :wub:

I would like to formally start a conversation of adding this MOC to the HOF. http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=116846 IMO, it is every bit of gorgeous as the supercars already added, and it also includes an amount of power (4XL motors) that I don't think we have seen in a supercar yet. It is a marvelous build.